ruby
I take the hot chocolate from across the counter and thank the barista again. I make my way back to my pile of luggage that is creating a fortress around a wall plug. I had just got off a ten hour flight that my phone had not made it through; there was no way I am going to lose this charging port. I step over my large duffel bag and crouch down in the small space on the floor. My phone is at twenty percent, which seems impressive since it's been dead for a good two to three hours.
On either side of me are huge rolling suitcases. I had shoved every article of clothing I possibly could into the bags, hoping to not have to spend money on new clothes unless it is absolutely necessary. The duffel bag at my feet is full of my pajamas, shoes and toiletries. My other carry-on bag is my laptop case. In one side is the laptop and sandwiched against it is my sketchbook.
"Ruby Devon." A voice says over me. Taking a drink of the hot cocoa, I glance up to see a tall, blonde boy in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pajama pants standing in front of me.
"Caspar Lee." I say, standing up in my small confined place to hug him. I had met Caspar a few times since I've been friends with his cousin, Regina. Regina is my best friend, and she has been for at least seven years. I've known Caspar almost as long, but I don't really know anything about him besides that he is Regina's cousin and a YouTuber.
"Nice fort." He comments, pointing at all my luggage.
"I had to protect the charging station." I say. He laughs before leaning down to pick up my duffel bag and pulling the handle out of one of the other suitcases. I grab my phone and charger, as well as my computer bag and remaining suitcase.
"Have you already exchanged out your money?" Caspar asks, pointing to the small machine in the corner of the airport lobby. I nod, drinking more of the beverage in my hands. "Are you cold?" He asks.
"Well, I'm used to it being almost ten degrees warmer by now in LA, but it's not too bad." I respond as we exit the crowded building. I'm not one of those aspiring artists-to-be who tried to the run off to Hollywood in hopes of becoming big. I've grown up in LA. I've never lived anywhere except right by the ocean my entire life. Until now. London is not by an ocean, so I can't exactly just walk outside and look at the beautiful waves crashing on the shore anymore. It'll take some getting used to.
"How's Regina? She didn't seem to happy about you moving over here." Caspar asks, standing by the curb trying to find a taxi to stop.
"Yeah, she's not. We've been living together for quite awhile. About a year or so. I just needed a change of scenery, though." I answer, nudging him when I see a black taxi driving towards us. He raises his hands to stop it.
"Also, about living together, I've sort of got a roommate, but you can take my bed." He says as we shove my suitcases into the trunk off the car. I get into the backseat before I answer him.
"I hope I'm not intruding. I'll try to be out on my own soon." I say. Regina didn't say anything about Caspar having a roommate again.
"No, it's fine. I don't mind." He insists. "But, yeah, we just recently moved back into together, Joe and I did. We'd lived here before for awhile and then we took our separate ways, but it's just not the same. It's also really lonely to live by yourself. It was just better for the both of us to move back together." I nod along to his story as I fiddle with the half empty cup.
I'll be completely honest, I've never seen any of Caspar's or Joe's YouTube videos. I'd seen the two in other people's videos, like Alfie Deyes, or Marcus Butler, but I don't watch their personal videos. Regina used to always threaten me when I would bring up Caspar's channel. Regina tried to close me off from Caspar because she had this fear that he would try to date me, and in some parallel universe, I would want to date him.
"Regina said that she would come visit sometime soon." Caspar says, trying to break the weird silence in the car.
"She lies." I smile at the thought that Regina might actually get on a plane to come see me. "She's still terrified of heights. She'll never get on a plane."
"She's still scared of flying?" Caspar asks, laughing. I let out a small giggle before finishing off the drink in my hands.
"Yeah. That's why she didn't come with me now. I thought she was going to jump at the opportunity to live in London, but she didn't want to come." I respond.
I stare out the window and into the dark. Lights flicker everywhere as we drive down the road. My plane took off from LAX at four in the morning. London is eight hours ahead of LA, so after a ten hour flight, it's around ten o'clock at night over here. I got to sleep a little on the plane, but I was never fully asleep. I know I'm going to be severely jet-lagged for a few days.
The taxi pulls up by a huge apartment building. I can barely see most of it because of darkness, but there are a couple of windows that are lit up. I assume that one of them is Caspar and Joe's. I begin pulling my luggage from the trunk of the car as Caspar pays the driver. He then joins me around back and helps me pick up all my stuff. "Here we go." The blonde says, holding the front doors open for me to enter. He takes me up a floor and then down a small corridor. We stop in front of a set of French white doors. Not bothering to unlock it, he pushes it wide open.
"I'll take your stuff down to my room." Caspar says as he shuts the door. He puts the duffel bag over his shoulder and takes the other suitcase from my hands. I hold on to my computer case, while I kick my shoes off by the door.
"Thanks." I call to him as he starts down the stairs. I glance around me quickly, seeing an overflowing dining room table that can't actually be used for eating at. A Foosball table sits right next to the stairs, and adjacent to that is a small living area with a couch, two chairs, and a TV.
"Are you being paid to pretend to move in?" A voice says, scaring me slightly. I look around the corner to find a kitchen. Standing the middle of kitchens is Joe Sugg, Caspar's roommate. The brunette boy stands in nothing but a towel that is wrapped tightly around his waist. His hair is sticking to his forehead, still wet from, I'm assuming, a shower.
"Um, not currently." I respond to his weird question.
"Are you positive? Caspar once paid some girl to be his girlfriend for a few hours just to prank me." Joe defenses. I watch as he reaches into a small fridge built into the cabinets, and he pulls out a small plastic container filled with blueberries.
"I'm not getting paid. I've known Caspar since I was a bit younger. He is letting me stay here for his cousin, Regina." I say quickly. "I'm assuming you have a Mac?" I ask, changing the topic. It seems to catch him slightly off guard, but if I don't get my computer plugged up soon, it will definitely die, and I will lose the file I've been working on. I packed literally everything except my Mac charger. I had meant to save it when I got off the plane, but by the time I had found a wall charge and got a drink, it was too late.
"Uh, yeah." He turns around and picks up a charge plug on the corner counter. I make my way to it and pull my computer from my bag. I shove the plug it in and open it up at the same time. The drawing is still there shining bright at me.
"Do you draw a lot?" Joe asks. I can hear him step closer to look over my shoulder at the drawing of Regina on my screen.
"It's definitely something I enjoy doing." I smile, saving the file and turning the computer off. I turn to face Joe, who is standing a few steps from me. The height difference between Joe and Caspar is slightly hilarious. I come up to Caspar's shoulder, but I'm almost as tall as Joe is.
"Caspar didn't tell me that you were moving in with us." He says - which is quite obvious - while pushing his hair up on his head.
"I'm Ruby Devon." I say, sticking out an hand for him to shake.
"Joe." He says, shaking my hand. I can feel the calluses on his fingers, but it's nothing different than mine. I have them from drawing and hours upon hours of gaming.
"Yeah, I know." I answer. The smile on his face slightly fades. I can tell what he is thinking. He thinks I'm some big fan of his who is madly in love with him.
"She doesn't watch your videos, Joe." Caspar says, popping up from the stairs.
I nod along to what Caspar says. "I only know you from other people's videos. I don't watch Caspar's videos either."
"Regina hates me." Caspar says, and I laugh quietly.
"Yeah, she's not your biggest fan." I yawn and stretch. While my mouth is open, Joe pops a blueberry into my mouth. Caspar and him laugh as I cough, almost choking. Okay, so maybe deciding to live with two boys wasn't the brightest idea I've ever had, but the options were scarce. I don't think I could live with someone who isn't slightly strange, though. Especially after living with Regina. She likes to think that she's not as weird as her cousin, but she is. I love her anyways.
"Can you just show me my room? I'm still pretty tired from the flight." I say, turning to pull my sketchbook from the computer bag on the counter.
"I'll show you." Joe offers before Caspar can say anything. The blonde closes his mouth and gives Joe a short look. "I'm heading down anyways, for some clothes." He shoves the remaining blueberries into his mouth, except for one, that he throws at Caspar. Joe smiles at me and waves me on as he begins walking towards the stairs.
"Good night, Caspar." I call walking a few steps behind Joe.
"So, how long was your flight?" The brunette asks, turning slightly on the stairs. I see three little moles lining his left jawline.
"Um, ten hours. I boarded at four in the morning, back in LA." I answer when I step off the bottom step.
"Wow. Eight hour time difference. That'll take some time to get used to." I agree silently as Joe flicks on a light switch near the bottom of the stairs. "This is Caspar's bathroom, and yours. Or you can use mine, because there's no telling what will ever be in his bathroom." I can't tell if that was meant to be bad, or if I just interpreted it wrong. Either way, Joe's bathroom seems like the safest bet, currently.
He walks a bit more before sticking his hand into a dark room and flipping another switch. "Caspar's room. Now, your room, it's actually pretty clean at the moment." I look in and see my suitcases piled by the dresser next to the bed. It's a small room, but it's cozy. "And, over here is my room." Joe says, walking over into a room opposite of the bathroom. He walks in and picks up clothes off his bed. I notice the door by his bed. It must be the bathroom.
"Nice." I comment awkwardly. "Well, I'm just going to head to bed, okay? I'll see you tomorrow."
"Night, Ruby." He calls. I turn around and walk into Caspar's room. The comforter on the bed is a plain striped pattern, nothing flashy which I'm very grateful for. I pull my phone charger and phone from my duffel bag and plug it into the little extension cord on the floor. There's no lamp that I can leave on tonight. I hate to leave the room's light on all night, so after pulling my long, dark hair into a ponytail, I flick the light switch down. I crawl into the bed with the clothes I've had on for the past, at least, 24 hours. I hadn't bothered to actually put on clothes to get on a ten hour flight, so I went in my pajamas, which is simply a sweatshirt and athletic shorts.
I look around the dark room for nearly an hour before I begin to get tired again. I become scared, though, as soon as I begin to doze off. I know what will happen if I let myself go to sleep, but I have no choice. I can't just stay up all night; I'll die from exhaustion. I, finally, regretfully, begin sleeping at almost one o'clock in the morning.