A rapid knocking on my bedroom door interrupts my sleep. I groan and roll over to check my small clock on my night stand. It reads 5:30.
I've been sleeping for about 10 and a half hours, which isn't bad, but I definitely could've gone for 12 or 13.
I roll off the mattress and slip a plain black hoodie on over my white t-shirt. Once I reach the door, I can hear voices outside.
I open the door to see Matt, Mason, and Koby standing patiently at the door.
"Everything okay?" I ask.
"There's someone at the door," Mason tells me.
"You guys kill me..."
I shove them out of the way and head to the door. I reach for the handle and yank the door open.
A tall figure stands at the door wearing a suit and tie. His slick black hair and stern expression make me a bit worried about what he's here for.
"Are you Fawn Grey?" His deep voice sends me into a pit of anxiety.
I swallow. "Yes, may I ask who's asking?"
"I'm here on behalf of my client. He has been falsely accused of many crimes and charged for allegedly sexually assaulting young women," he explains.
There's only two people I can think of that did that.
"May I ask for the name of your client?" I say carefully.
"That's not important. He was sent to jail for this crime a few weeks ago and I need your help. I believe that you were one of his victims."
"Okay, this has got to be a joke. Aren't I supposed to get a call or something for this kind of stuff?"
"I prefer to be face-to-face."
I shiver from the breeze that comes in. His black hair remains unbothered.
"I'm sorry, but until you give me a solid reason as to why I should help you, the answer's gonna be no," I say bravely.
He nods. His mouth tightens into a thin line. "Very well. I'm sorry for disturbing you and your husband. Have a wonderful day."
He walks away and I shut the door. I turn around and see the same three boys standing there.
"What are you looking at?" I say.
"What'd he want?" Matt asks.
I can't really get mad at Matt since it's Matt, so I say, "Just some guy wanting to talk to me about helping a criminal who was 'falsely' accused of sexually harassment and stuff like that."
"So you think it was him?"
"I don't know who else he could've been talking about," I lie. There's one more person, but I don't tell them. They don't need to know about him yet.
"Who's him?" Koby interrupts.
I let out a breath of relief. At least that gives me an excuse to dismiss this sensitive subject. "I'll explain later, but right now I need some coffee. Anyone else?"
^○^
8 o'clock rolls around soon enough and the boys on the couches slowly wake up to me and the others playing Monopoly at the kitchen table. They came over and we made teams so that they could join in on the "fun".
Cam and I ended up winning with only 5 million dollars left. Cam made a stupid joke about being able to give a dollar to each one of his subs with some leftover to buy himself a Tesla. I then chose to kick him off the team and keep all of the play money to myself. He cries and moans in the corner, but we all sit and laugh at his immature behavior.
"So what're we gonna do today?" John asks me.
I think for a moment. "I'm not sure. I was thinking that since we've been running around this entire trip that we could just chill here or at Racc's place and just play games and stuff."
Mason raises his eyebrows. "And bet?"
"No betting," I laugh. "If you guys wanna bet, don't bet me involved."
"Yo, F. Mind if I do a little vapey boy?" John asks, pulling a Juul out of his back pocket.
"Okay, first of all: My name is not F. Second of all: No, you know the rules."
"Aww, don't be such a b----."
"John, you know how I do things around here. Don't act so disappointed."
"But I am! Obviously I'm gonna be disappointed if I can't do the one thing that brings me joy and makes me feel cool and confident," he whines.
"Well, sorry. You're just gonna have to stoop down to my level for a few more days," I joke.
"Dang, I was really hoping to pick up some chicks while I was here, but now I'm gonna be stuck like this. Sexy as f---, but uncool."
"Join the motherf---ing club," Mason joins in.
The group laughs as I get up to grab my phone from my room. I enter my bedroom and grab my phone off of the nightstand. I have a few notifications from Twitter and Snapchat telling me I got a few snaps from people. Probably streaks, but I don't care about them. I ignore their messages and leave my room.
As I enter the hallway, I almost bump into someone. I look up and see Cam towering over my small figure.
"Sorry, but where's the bathroom?" He asks.
"Really Cam?" I sigh. He gives me a small, awkward smile. "It's down the hall, last door on your right."
"Thanks," he says. I begin to walk away, but a hnad drags me in the opposite direction.
Once we're right next to the bathroom, Cam stops.
"Cam, what is it? Is something wrong?" I ask, not even trying to hide the concern in my voice.
"No, nothing's wrong really. I just wanted to apologize for last night. What I said about you and Mason was rude and inconsiderate."
"It didn't bother me," I say. He cocks an eyebrow at me and I let out a short breath. "Okay, maybe it did, but I promise I'm fine now. I was just overwhelmed and tired, that's all."
"But did you think about what I said? I know I'm apologizing for saying it, but I was being totally serious. Every word of what I said was true, was it not?"
"I don't know, Cam. I really don't remember much of what you said because I was so tired."
He nods and slowly steps into the bathroom. He starts to close the door, but leaves it cracked a bit to stick his head out. "Hey, if you ever want to talk to me about it, let me know. It's not like I have anything else to do anyway."
"What about your channel?"
"What channel?"
I open my mouth to remind him about the Youtube channel that made him famous and stuff until I realize that he's joking. I wave a hand awkwardly at him to tell him to use the bathroom and he laughs at me.
I return to the table with everyone else and see that they started a game of Uno. I join in since it hadn't gone all the way around yet, but I get skipped by John. John is pretty much the best one here when it comes to Uno, but I don't plan to let him win today.
^○^
He won. Three games in a row. I throw my remaining two cards down in frustration and he laughs as he does a mini victory dance on his chair.
"You cheated!" I cry.
"Prove it," he says.
"I can't right now, but you cheated. There's no way you're this good at anything."
"I dunno. I'm pretty good at vaping, but I can't show you 'cause it the rule."
I squint my eyes at him. "Okay, no need to mock me. I'm just saying that it's unfair how you won."
"I can't help it that you suck at games," he teases.
I slap his wrist and he yanks it back with a big goofy grin on his face. I laugh at his face. The guys had put away the game as we were messing around, so they decided to go play a game in the living room. I almost join them, but I don't. I'm sure they'll be fine for a few minutes while I make a phone call.
I leave the room and go upstairs to my room. Once I unlock my phone, I go to my contacts and find the name I need.
My finger hovers over the green button. Is it really worth it? What if it's the wrong number? What if they changed it? Will they even want to talk to me?
I press the green button despite all of my thoughts telling me to do the exact opposite. It rings and I slowly put the phone up to my ear.I bite my lip impatiently, waiting for the dreaded hello that I haven't heard in such a long time.
Just when the I almost give up and end the call, I hear a click. Then someone's voice. "Um... hi."
A tear rolls down my cheek when I hear his voice. Neither of us say anything. My muscles are tense, but my mind is relieved.
"Is something wrong?"
Two tears simultaneously drip off of my face and onto the carpet beneath my feet. That feeling of loss and hopelessness fills my brain and it's almsot too much to handle.
"Nope. Nothing's wrong," I finally get out.
"Why'd you call?" He asks in a gentle voice. His voice is still the same. Years have gone by and all of the memories rush into my head.
"I... just wanted to talk."
"Well, what about?" Still gentle and calm.
My breath hitches and I let out a whimper. "My feelings are everywhere right now and I have no one else that I can talk to about what's going on."
"I thought you said nothing was wrong," he whispers.
I sniff and tuck my free arm under my other arm while I hold the phone still next to my face.
"But they are. I don't know what to do. This is scary."
"Well, what's scary?" He asks. I don't say anything. "You're fine. You can talk to me. I know our past is rough, but we're both human. Talk to me. Please."
"Do you believe in love at first sight?" I ask reluctantly.
"Depends on the situation and person."
I take a deep breath. "Well, you know how when you've only known someone for a few weeks, but you get really close? Like best friends?"
"Mhm," he hums in agreement.
"And then you aren't so sure if you want to be friends anymore? Like, something more?"
"Yeah," he mumbles.
"That's how I feel right now." I pause, then add on. "But with two different people."
"Well, that can happen sometimes. I know it happened with me, but in the end I had to choose."
"So, you're telling me to choose between my two best friends..." I trail off as I already begin to overthink everything.
"Look, I know after whatever happened before might make you skeptical of every wrod I say, but you need to trust me. You'll know when you make the choice if it was the right one or not."
I sniff again and clear my throat. "And if I make the wrong one?"
Nothing for a few seconds. "Trust me. You're strong and brave and smart enough to make the right one."
I don't want that to be the end of our conversation. Think, Fawn. Think. Anything to make him stay.
"Well, I have to go. I have an appointment to go to in a few minutes, so I should get ready for that."
"Wait."
He doesn't speak for a moment, and I picture him being surprised. "Yeah?"
I haven't completely thought this through, but I say it anyway.
"Dad, I feel so lost."
I told myself not to cry. Don't let your guard down around him. He doesn't need this, he doesn't want it, doesn't care. But I do. I fall to my knees and let all of the emotions pour out of me. Tears cover my rosy cheeks, my hands begin shaking, my head hurts.
"Oh, honey," he says. He sniffs and I sense that he's crying right along with me.
"Dad, I don't know what to do. What if I love him? What if I mess up? What if he doesn't like me back?"
"Sweetie, you're overthinking it," he says. "You are a beautiful young woman. You were always strong and courageous. Any guy would be stupid not to like you. Or love you."
"But I'm scared. I'm so scared. Of rejection, of failure, of losing him."
"I thought you said there were two people."
"There were, but I didn't want to tell you that I'd already made up my mind. I just wanted to talk and to ask for advice, but now I don't know what to do."
"Well," he pauses, "All you have to do is be yourself and you'll be just fine. I promise."
"And what if he doesn't feel the same about me?"
"Accept it. There's no way you can be best friends with him for that long, develop feelings for him, and then push him away because he doesn't have the same feelings. Just continue being friends and move on. Chances are that if he rejects you, you'll find someone even better who will accept you and love you and cherish you more than he ever could."
I wipe my tears away and stand up. "Thanks, Dad."
"Does my little princess feel better now?"
I let a laugh slip out before I can stop it. "Yes, I do."
"Good."
A small smile creeps onto my face. "Dad, I have a question."
"Shoot."
"Do you remember when we went to church that one time and I met that boy in Sunday school?"
He laughs. "Yeah, I do. What was his name? Derek?"
"Yeah, him!" I laugh with him. "And do you remember how when Mom found out that I liked him, she called his parents and told them to make sure that he stays away from me because she didn't want me getting that close to a boy at such a young age?"
"Oh boy, and when we told you, all you did was cry for the next three days. You were heartbroken," he teases.
"Hey! Young love is a beautiful thing!"
"Not for her it wasn't."
"Hey, how is mom by the way?"
"As busy as ever," he tells me.
"Not surprised," I sigh. I never am. She devoted her entire life to this project called LIFE. All they do is buy large plots of land, clear it completely, and then plant new trees. Sure, it's a good thing for the earth, but all she ever did was talk about hwo she just planted 10,000 new trees in so-and-so. She took the question, "So how's life going?" very seriously.
"Yeah, she's gained a lot of progress on her LIFE project," he says. "She's planted in total 2 million trees in the country, plus an extra half million in Canada and Mexico each."
"Wow, that's great!" I sit on my bed and uncross my arms. "Do you think she remembers me?"
"What are you talking about? Of course she remembers you. How could we forget about you?"
"I dunno. I figured after all these years, she would've just forgotten that I exist."
"Princess, we think about you all the time. She misses you so much. She still sets a place for you at the dinner every night she's home. She watches your favorite childhood movie every chance she gets."
"Really? Superman?"
"Yep, the one with that Brandon guy."
I laugh and he gives a half-hearted chuckle. How is this even happening right now? After years of ignoring each other and distancing ourselves, this is what we do? Laugh and pretend like the past never happened?
"Look, I'm sorry about everything that happened before. I really wanted to call you so many times, but I kept telling myself that you were busy or didn't want to talk to me. I was worried that you were disappointed in me."
"If you ever need to talk, I'm always here. Whenever your mom sees that you post on social media, she's the first to see it. She can't stand being away, and neither can I."
"Maybe things could be different," I mutter.
"Maybe."
I bite my lip anxiously waiting for him to say something else. When he doesn't, I remember that the guys are playing a game a downstairs. "Well, Dad, I better go. The guys are probably wondering where I am. Plus, I gotta go in the bathroom and make sure my face isn't all red and puffy so they don't get suspicious."
"Alright, you do that. I'll let your mother know you called."
"Thanks, Dad. I'll call when I figure things out."
"You better figure things out fast then, huh?"
I smile. "Yeah, bye Dad."
"Goodbye, my princess."
I want to say it, but I'm afraid he's already hung up. I say it anyway.
"I love you."
A few seconds pass by and I think he's gone. I almost pull the phone away from my ear, but I hear his voice for one last second before he hangs up.
"I love you. I always have and I always will."
The phone beeps and I drop my hand to my side. A million thoughts race through my head, but I push them aside. I have bigger things to deal with right now.
Why did I call him? I could've talked about it with Cam, Matt, Toby, or even Racc. But why'd I choose him? Whatever the reason, I'm glad that it was him.
The bathroom mirror has a little dust on it, but I can still see myself just fine. Thankfully, my face doesn't stay super red and puffy for a long time after I cry. I look like I just sneezed, but my face looks just as ugly as it always does, so I breathe a sigh of relief.
I leave the bedroom and step carefully down the stairs.
"Oi, c---! Where you been?" A familiar voice hollers.
"Just had to make a phone call, nothing too major," I yell back at Mason.
"Get your a-- down here right now. We need you to settle something for us," Swagger says, even thought I'm already at the bottom of the stairs.
"I'm here, what?"
He points at the T.V., where two poorly covered anime girls are sitting side by side. "Do you think that the first one is hotter or the second one?"
I roll my eyes at him. "I leave the room for two seconds and this is what I have to come back to?"
"It's an important question!"
"The second one, I guess."
Cam pumps a fist in the air and yells, "LET'S GO, BABY!"
I giggle at the childish behavior and head to the kitchen to grab a cup of water. After the conversation I just had, I think it's pretty well deserved.
"Fawn! Get in here!" Mason yells again.
"What is it now?" I whisper to myself.
I head back in and immediately regret coming back when I see another pair of anime girls with their tiny bikinis on sitting next to each other and smiling seductively.
This is what my life has become. I went from being a confident editor to a girl, who happens to be straight, judging anime chicks for my male friends.
They all look kinda the same if I'm being honest. The only thing different about them is the hair.
OH THIS CHAPTER YA'LL
I had so much fun writing this, but HOLY COW WAS IT HARD
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I mean if you didn't, that's fine, but...
WE ARE NEARING THE END OF THE STORY.
I have about 3 more chapters planned out, so be ready. Also, I know some of you will be like, "wHy ArE fAwN aNd MaSoN nOt ToGeThEr YeT?"
Chill. Next chapter, my children.
Anyway, yeah. Love ya <3 Peace
🌼KC🌼