Dating a YouTuber?!

Chapter 5: Flirty

I finally turned on the phone to see a text from an unknown number. Could it be him? Why did I care so much? Goddammit.

*Hi Abbs ;) Did you give me a real number or is this someone else?*

Of course, he would call me by the nickname. Or at least I assume it is him.

*You have the wrong number. No Abbs here* I reply. Immediately after I spend another text saying that I was just kidding.

*You almost got me. Was getting the feeling u didn’t like me. What are you doing this weekend?*

My heart sped up and I had completely forgotten that my sister was still sitting next to me and now she leaned over the view the screen and I was too slow to react. Damn, I knew I should have gotten one of those screen-coats that makes the screen dark unless you look at it straight on.

“Hashtag flirt-alert!” she almost screamed and snapped me out of my temporary comatose state. “It’s Nate, isn’t it? My sister is going out with a famous YouTuber! I’m so excited! Could you please convince him to do a collab with me? That would help my channel tremendously.”

I have always been very expressive with my eyes and right now I was glaring daggers at my sister. Talking about being inappropriate. And wrong, I most certainly wasn’t going out with. I never dated.

“I don’t…”

“I was kidding, Abbey! But it is him and you do like him, correct?”

I was speechless. I was never speechless. I always had something to say. Granted, mostly I kept those thoughts to myself but I had never been this unsure of myself. Emma didn’t knew he was talking about a photography job.

“Not a date,” I finally said. “He wanted to hire me for another job,” I added.

“To what? Take photos of him half-naked?” Emma giggled.

I sent her a stone-cold look.

“Come on, don’t be such a prude. Just text him back before he gets too worried. He’s probably waiting by his phone.”

Realising Emma might be right; I quickly put my fingers to the screen and typed.

*I don’t have any plans. Why?*

“That actually makes me sound rather pathetic,” I said when I stared at the words.

“Yes, but you kind of are. In an cute way of course,” Emma said and got out of her chair. She planted a kiss on my forehead before going back to her room, probably to be on the social media and going to promote herself.

Next I knew the phone was ringing. I never talked on the phone with anyone other than mum or dad. Hands trembling I picked it up.

“Hey Abbs, you don’t have your phone on Facetime?” Nate’s voice rang through the phone.

“Uhm, no. I guess not. I only really talk to my parents and neither has a smart phone,” I explained.

“What about your friends?” he asked and sounded genuinely curious.

I felt slightly odd speaking about my friendships, or lack thereof, but it was nothing to be ashamed of. I did have friends when I was little but then I started getting anxious being around people and pushed away the few friends I had made.

“Don’t really have that many friends, or any really,” I said completely blunt.

A pause filled the line. He probably thought that was weird. Most people did have friends.

“Oh, I didn’t mean…” he started.

“Hey,” I cut him of. “No need for pity. It’s a personal issue of mine but I’m fine with it.”

“You’re quite extraordinary,” he said slowly, and seductively? My mind was running of to places it shouldn’t.

“About the weekend?” I asked, trying to get him and my own mind back on track.

“Yes, I’m going to hit three mil this early this weekend and has something special planned for it. I wanted to know if you could come and take photos?”

“Congratulations, that is a lot of people. I guess I’ll come,” I answered.

“Just so we’re clear, I’m asking you to come and have fun and take photos that you can post on your blog if you want to, but it’s not a job,” he said.

He was inviting me. Not because the YouTube headquarters or whatever had asked him. I instantly got anxious.

“What would this special celebration entail? I’m not much for surprises.”

“I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else, okay? That includes your sister.”

“Okay, I won’t tell her,” I promised.

“I have set up a group of games and challenges that me and a lot of my YouTube friends are going to do in pairs. The main video will be up on my channel but all the guys will be filming too. It’s going to be so fun and I know the viewers will enjoy it.”

He sounded really excited.

“How many are there going to be there?

“Zoe, Alfie and Marcus – the people you met in Brighton. Then Joe, Caspar, Jack and Finn, plus a couple of people from HQ and then me, and you if you agree.”

I wanted to stop and think it through. My gut told me to agree to the invitation and jump in with both feet while my head reminded me that I would be surrounded by people I didn’t know and without my sister or anyone as support system. I wondered why he would want me there anyway.

“What do you say? Or is the connection gone on us? Hello?”

“I’m still here. Just thinking. I would be a bit overwhelming to be honest but I would love to come,” I finally settle on. I could live my life sitting on my hands, or I could get off my arse and go experience it, for better or worse.

“Great, I’ll text you the address. You live in London, right?”

“Yes,” I confirmed.

“Great, then it won’t be too far to travel. See you the day after tomorrow!”

“Yes, bye and thank you for the invitation,” I said politely.

I heard a muffled laugh and I assumed it was caused by my formality.

“Farewell, Milady.”

I was expanding my comfort zone, even talking to a stranger on the phone, and now I agreed to a large gathering, after my standards. I took a deep breath. I felt the concern in the pit of my stomach, would I be able to handle the change that was guaranteed to follow after this?