Six Months Later
POV: Jade
"Okay, I can officially say, rock climbing is not for me," I say to the phone as I catch my breath.
Everyone in the comments is eating this up, my failed attempt at actually rock climbing.
"Look at Skylar go though, she's a pro," I turn the camera to face Skylar who continues to climb and hasn't noticed I stopped.
"You better not be filming my butt!" She shouts down.
I giggle and zoom in on purpose.
"It's a nice ass, I say the world deserves to see." I tease.
'lol Jade's so funny, I like when she's holding the camera.'
'America's ass.'
'rock climbing sucksssss'
I zoom out and giggle reading the comments.
Skylar has a go-pro on, we film and edit videos to post daily. But also go live when we are doing something interesting. We've gotten the routine down pretty well. We are editing pros now. As of today, we have officially been on the road for six months. And have gotten into lots of adventures together, also fights, but mostly adventures!
The first couple of months were hard with her still in school and graduating and all that, but we made it work. We are still, "only friends", although we have had a few slips here and there. Skylar's vlog is so popular that she's sponsored by Nike, and several mental health organizations and companies. And even landed her first commercial about mental health stigma. She doesn't even need my money anymore; all her sponsorships and merch deals are paying for this. Which actually made her very happy when she realized she didn't need to depend on me anymore.
Of course, me being a famous person on her vlog every single day doesn't hurt either. She has nearly 7 million subscribers now. Almost more than me.
Almost.
"Skylar! I stopped climbing!" I call when she still hasn't stopped.
"Huh?" she turns to look down at me.
I wave.
"Jade," she frowns.
"I'm tired, my arms hurt." I pout.
"We are almost to the top!" she calls.
Ha, yeah right she said that half an hour ago.
"Well water break then," I pout.
"Okay! Climb up, there is a ledge we can rest on!"
"There is a ledge here," I pout.
She gives me an annoyed look.
"Fine!" I huff.
I clip the phone back to my chest and start climbing again.
"People of the internet, I would like to point out that Skylar has got me into the best shape of my life," I grunt as I pull myself up. "Against my will, I might add."
"You got it! Almost there!" Skylar calls.
"Sometimes I really want to murder her," I pull myself up more. "On the bright side, maybe I should start doing my own stunts, will I get paid more for that?"
"Here," Skylar outstretches her hand once I reach the ledge.
I grab it and she hoists me over the edge, we sit down to catch out breath.
"Let me see," Skylar outstretches her hand.
I unclip the phone and hand it to her.
"Okay," she says to the camera. "I may have underestimated rock climbers, my apologies."
"You think," I grab the bag off my back and dig out the water bottle.
"Fighting gravity is harder than it looks, but also more rewarding. I feel like this is cleansing in a way. Like the metaphor is not lost on me that we all have our mountains we have to climb and climbing this mountain makes me realize how far I've come in my own climb of my own mountain." She says to the camera.
I take a big drink of water.
"I feel a sense of relief and clarity climbing this mountain. It really puts things into perspective. But I'll save the full speech for my upload tonight." She says.
"Here," I hand her the water.
We switch, she hands me the camera and I give her the water.
"While I am not a fan of rock climbing, I do think it helps clear your head. Keeps you focused on the task at hand, which can be a great stress reliever." I explain to the fans.
"Okay, who has the question of the day?" Skylar asks.
We started doing this thing two months ago where we ask the viewers to ask us a question of the day. Sometimes the questions are silly, sometimes they are serious, and sometimes they pry wayyyy too much. You never know what kind of questions you will get. Skylar and I take turns picking at random.
"You pick today," I hand Skylar back the phone as I dig around for the graham crackers.
The sun is in my eyes so I squint hard. The sounds of air blowing and birds chirping, have me taking in a deep breath. I chew on my cracker and admire the amazing view. Moment's like these are everything to me. Seeing nature in its raw untapped glory. Sitting on a mountain with my best friend. This is living, this is life.
"Okay, where are we sleeping tonight? Tent, rv, or hotel." Skylar asks.
"You don't fool me, I know what you want." I tease.
She laughs.
"Don't let her fool you guys, she's been bugging to stay in a nice hotel all week," I say.
"Jade!"
"You have, the veil has been lifted. That's right folks, Skylar isn't as rough and tough as you think."
"Sometimes a girl needs a good hot tub soak and complimentary breakfast. Plus cable and internet." She whines.
"You hear that, spoiled. That's what she is."
"Jade," she whines.
I giggle.
"Give me a real question the day," I stretch.
"Only if you agree, hotel tonight."
"Fine, I agree. But you are paying this time."
"Deal," Skylar says.
I watch her scroll through the comments, laughing at some she reads. Before finally picking a question.
"For you Jade, which is worse. Rock climbing or caving."
"Ugh don't bring it up."
"It's in internet fame forever." Skylar chuckles.
A couple of weeks ago we went caving and I screamed like a little girl when a bat flew at me. Then slipped, fell deeper into the cave, got stuck, ripped my pants, and sat in bat guano. Literally the worst experience of my entire life. Skylar was laughing the whole time, apparently, I didn't have proper cave shoes.
Anyway, someone screen-recorded the whole thing, made it a short compilation of me freaking out and it went viral. Sigh.
"Caving, way worse. Always caving," I say to the camera.
"Okay, now you pick one for me." Skylar hands me back the phone.
"Also, to whoever spread that video around, I will find you, and I will kill you," I say to the camera.
Skylar laughs.
I scroll the comments for questions for Skylar.
'ask her to marry you'
'it was me, I made the video.'
'no I did.'
"We all made the video.'
'Ask Skylar about choosing to be off her medication.'
"Finally a good one," I say
"Lay it on me." Skylar opens a bag of chips.
"First, give me," I reach for her go-pro.
I usually wear my own but I forgot to charge it last night. She hands it over and I put it on before reading the question.
"Someone wants to know why you chose to be off your medication and how it affects you," I say.
"Good question, good question." She agrees with me.
Skylar has really become a figure in the mental health field. She started a movement where lots of sports athletes came out about their own struggles with mental health and all that. She is single-handedly erasing the stigma surrounding talking about mental health. Even actors have come out about their mental health struggles and politicians. It's amazing.
"There were a few reasons I chose to stop taking my depression and anxiety medication." Skylar starts. "It was actually a decision weeks in the making. Jade and I would spend hours a night talking about it, I talked to my doctor and my therapist, and my friends. Just trying to get clarity. I told them all that while taking the medication did help, it also made me feel... I guess trapped in a way. Like stuck in this box, unable to get out. It did help me not have many episodes of severe depression and while on it, my anxiety was low. But when I would get episodes of depression, it was just so much worse. I could feel myself changing, feel the medication changing me. I felt like I was a shell of my former self. Like some switches in my brain were turned off and not working. It just made me feel uncomfortable in my own skin." She explains.
Skylar has also gotten a lot better at communicating her feelings. Which has only made me fall even more in love with her. Which I seriously thought was impossible.
"I'm not saying everyone should stop taking their medication. I am saying, those medications specifically, were not working for me. So while I am off my medication now, it is not forever. I'm letting the medications run their course and get out of my system before I visit with my doctors and talk about what else I can try and do. These past couple of weeks have been hard, there is stuff you don't see, things that happen behind the scenes when the cameras are off. I'm sure Jade can tell you all about that." Skylar says.
So I do, I turn the camera to face me and give Skylar back the go-pro before telling them what happened.
"The first week Skylar was off her medication, we had this big argument. She started crying every night, so full of depression. It was like her brain was on overdrive. We actually had to stop in the middle of canoeing because Skylar had this big breakdown. Just started screaming and crying, that was why we cut the stream that one time. She went ballistic, someone called the cops on us, and we had to go to the hospital and have her checked out. It was pretty scary." I explain.
Skylar shifts uncomfortably.
"But we powered through like we always do. Best friends forever. I had to call in some reinforcements, a certain Heiress and one annoying little sister did the trick. We took a pause, regrouped, and decided if we wanted to keep doing this or not. Made sure the sky wasn't falling, and then kept on. While we always seem happy on screen, sometimes at night, not everything is easy. Skylar and I fight, sometimes I'm tired and frustrated and want to go to a hotel, and sometimes she is. We make it work. Skylar off her medication was a bit of a speed bump but like all mountains, we continue to climb." I pan the phone to the mountain we are currently on.
"So for those of you facing that mountain," Skylar says. "Wanting to know what you should do next. Don't do it alone. Ask your friends, family, or anyone for help. If it wasn't for Jade, I would have probably quit and gone home. No one, I don't care how tough you think you are, can go through something like this alone. Ask for help, talk to people, if your medication is making you feel off, ask for alternatives. There is no one pill cures all, everyone is different. What works for me, may not work for you. Just take it one step at a time, and talk out your issues before making any big changes. And when you start to get overwhelmed again, remember, you aren't alone. Even if no one in your family understands, we do, there are links in my bio, numbers you can call to ask for help. It's never too late to make a change." Skylar says.
I smile at her.
She smiles back.
"Daw, look at us, advocates for good mental health." I playfully nudge Skylar.
She giggles.
"Come on, we have a mountain to climb."
"Speaking of we should probably tell them," Skylar says.
"Don't word things like that, you are gonna give people the wrong idea about us," I chuckle.
She rolls her eyes.
"What Skylar is referring to is that we are going to be taking a small break after this video," I say as Skylar packs up the water and snacks again. "Maybe a week, maybe two weeks. Just a moment to relax, unwind, and figure out where we plan to stop next. See family, friends, etc." I say to the fans.
'They are so getting back together.'
'yesss take some time to unwind (smirk emoji)'
'thanks for the advice! I needed to hear that today.'
'Do what you guys gotta do, we'll still be here when you come back.'
'Awww love you guys.'
"Speaking of friends, one is waiting for you at the top of this mountain," Skylar chalks her hands again.
"What? Who?" I clip the phone back to my chest.
"Climb it and find out," she smirks and starts climbing again.
"Ugh! And these harnesses give me a wedgie!" I call after her.
She laughs.
"Seriously worse than the ones I have to wear on set," I grumble as I chalk my hands and start climbing again.
"She just likes to watch me suffer," I grunt as I pull myself up and hook into the next rung.
About 20 minutes later we finally make it to the top.
As far as mountains go, this is a relatively small one and easy to climb for beginners. Still not fun.
Skylar helps me over the edge where lots of cars are waiting and a tent and the smell of food hits my nose.
"Hand me the phone," Skylar says before I can go investigate.
I do.
Then I unharness myself and walk over to the tent.
"Surprise!" the entire cast of Evil Eyes jumps out from behind the Rv.
"Ahh! What! Oh my god! You guys!"
"Did you miss us?" Andrea asks.
I run right into her arms.
She laughs and whirls me around.
"Ew you're all sweaty," she says.
"Shut up." I giggle.
Everyone comes to hug me and I hug everyone.
"Tada," Mika hands me a little gift.
I open it and it's a photo of everyone when we wrapped up filming season two. It warms my heart.
"You guys," I hold it close to my chest.
"Hey don't go crying on us," Callen says.
I laugh through the tears.
I turn to Skylar who is talking to the phone but filming me.
"Skylar you did this? Why?" I say to her.
"Well, I remember you said you were feeling lonely and isolated last week when we did that hike and thought some familiar faces could cheer you up. Found Andrea's number in your phone and boom, famous people pop up party." Skylar says.
Everyone laughs.
I run to her and hug her.
"Thank you," I mumble into her shirt.
"Well you brought my annoying little sister out to cheer me up, I thought it was time I return the favor."
I sniffle and pull back, smiling.
"Are we gonna party or what!?" Peter calls.
Everyone laughs.
"Okay, time to sign off. We have a party to attend," Skylar says to the phone.
"Always eat your fruits and veggies," I say.
"Never drink and drive," Skylar adds.
"Live every moment to the fullest."
"And remember you aren't alone."
"And always be your truest self!" everyone says in unison.
That is our signature sign-off.
We always say two random things before saying live every moment to the fullest, and You aren't alone before we say the last line in unison.
Skylar ends the stream.
We high-five.
"Okay," who drove the RV up here," I laugh.
"We were actually hiding before you even started climbing. Mika and I waited until you were out of eyesight before driving the RV up here, Skylar snuck me the keys when you were putting on the harness." Andrea explains.
"Oh my god," I laugh.
"Go shower up, food is hot and ready." Andrea slaps me in the butt.
I giggle before following Skylar to the RV.
She takes off the Go Pro and puts it to charge.
I quickly shower and change, while she edits the video for today.
"You coming?" I ask as I towel-dry my hair.
"Be there in a sec, just gotta finish this and shower."
"Want me to bring you something to eat?"
"It's okay, I got it. Go have fun."
"Okay," I pat her on the head before walking out to join the party.
Everyone cheers and I bow.
Soon music is filling my ears and lights are bounding off the clouds in the sky.
"Emm, so good. Who made this." I say as I stuff my face with BBQ.
"We hired locals. Nothing like BBQ in Texas." Callen says.
"Also, who the hell's idea was it to climb a mountain in the Texas summer heat?" Andrea asks.
"Don't look at me," I take another bite.
Everyone laughs.
"Look at the view though, breathtaking," Mika says.
"Emm," I hum in agreement.
"Sooo," Andrea says.
"What?"
"You and Skylar?"
"Will you stop, I told you we are—"
"Just friends," everyone says in unison.
"You guys suck." I laugh.
"Jade come on, make your move already."
"No! Skylar just needs time, that's all. I'm taking it slow and steady."
"Too slow if you ask me."
I elbow her hard in the gut just as Skylar comes out to join everyone.
"Here, got you some." I hand Skylar a plate.
"Thanks," Skylar says.
"You okay?" I say when I notice she's being distant all of a sudden.
"Hmm? Yeah, I'm good." She forces a smile.
"It's okay if you aren't," I say.
"I'm fine, go have fun." She walks off.
I frown after her.
"She good?" Andrea asks me.
"I don't know," I say.
I watch Skylar walk to the mountain edge and I have a mini heart attack before she sits down to eat. I sigh before walking over to her and sitting next to her.
"What are you doing? Go have fun," Skylar giggles.
"What makes you think I'm not having fun now?" I ask.
She shrugs and averts her gaze.
"Skylar," I grab her hand in mine. "Hanging out with you is just as fun as going to a party. I don't think having a party is better than being with you. I'm just happy you did this, happy to see everyone again. That doesn't mean I suddenly don't appreciate you or want to abandon you. I want you to have fun too." I say.
"When I saw how happy you got, how being here makes you so excited... it just makes me feel like I don't measure up to that. Like, you'd rather be here with them, than with me."
"That's not true," I assure her.
"I know... I just get in my head sometimes." She admits.
"Well get out of your head and into this party, come on. Everyone is waiting for you to join the party." I tug her hand.
"Okay," she giggles before letting me lead her back to the party.
"Aye!" everyone cheers.
We both laugh and have the time of our lives.