Fiona waited until the front door closed before she shouted across the apartment, "I don't get why you can't still make videos while you're gone!"

I rolled my eyes and went to her bedroom. Where my room was powder blue, gray, white, and silver, hers was black, bright red, and gold. She wanted everything to reflect her ideal living space since I'd nixed any bright red and only agreed to any black if it was outlining an intricate pattern. I was totally fine with that, except I still had to come to her room sometimes.

Like now.

"Because you can't exactly film one video from two separate places at once and broadcast it all live. Which is what our shows are: live."

She leaned back in her office chair and pressed her lips together. "That's not what I meant. You love watching those videos where people talk about things in their lives or whatever, so why can't you make videos like those?"

"We're going to do vlogs still. Didn't you watch the show?"

"Not yet. You know I'd rather not watch live videos!"

I shook my head fondly. "Right. Well, I'm going to find some dinner and then I'm going to play video games for the rest of the night."

"Have fun," she said as she returned her attention to her laptop.

---

L: So... Tell me about this place I'll be staying at.
L: And an address, maybe?

S: I'm not sure I can trust you with that information yet.

L: Dude.
L: I'm walking blind into this. I'm not even sure you're Shawn. For all I know, Trina is sat at your computer talking to me.

I cringed the moment I sent it, but it was too late - he saw it. What made it worse was that he didn't answer. My first instinct was to apologize, but I held back. For all I knew, I was right.

After a minute passed and I was beginning to wonder if he'd actually left the conversation, the messaging app said I had a video-call request. It simply said 'Shawn' and didn't have a picture. I answered it and almost right away tanned skin and dark hair and big brown eyes filled my screen. I barely stopped myself from jumping a little at the abruptness.

He smirked at me. "See?"

I studied his face. Something about him was familiar, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. "I do see," I said back, voice quiet. I didn't want Fiona to hear this conversation. I hurriedly plugged my work headphones in and adjusted the mic. "So, are you gonna tell me about the house now? I'm assuming you were joking when you said you didn't trust me."

He just looked at me, face not betraying anything. His eyes closed partially, making me wonder if he was tired. "Sure. It's nice, new, and in a school zone. It's got the complete 2018 setup for all of your social media needs. Wall screens in every bedroom, one in the living room, fast internet, and, probably most importantly, a fridge that shows you what's inside without needing to open the doors."

I snorted and immediately felt my cheeks heat up. "Sounds great."

His smirk grew a little bit and he studied my face. "You look different."

"I took off my makeup from the show," I said, lightly trailing my fingertips over my eyelid.

He shook his head. "No, that's not it. I could tell that the moment you answered my call. No, it's something else. I can't quite place it."

"Well, maybe it's the camera. My laptop camera is trash compared to the camera I use to film."

He shrugged but didn't look entirely convinced. "Maybe." We fell into a comfortable silence for a few moments. It surprised me a little. especially since we were both practically still strangers. "I do trust you," he said eventually, voice quiet. He ended the video call before I could respond.

A moment later, I received a message containing an address. I sent him a 'thank you' and he sent back a 'welcome'. I leaned back in my chair and began to process everything. He trusted me, and he wanted me to trust him. The video call when I expressed doubt was enough evidence to that point.

---

The next day I was off of work for once. No show to prepare, no customer service to get up for - a day entirely devoted to doing nothing. I went to bed late, excited for a day to stay inside and play video games or watch TV without doing a single thing.

But things didn't seem to want to go my way.

Fiona, as I expected, woke me up around 6:30, dropping something in the kitchen. I nearly fell out of bed when I woke with a start. "You okay?" I shouted at my door.

"Yeah," she shouted back a few moments later. I rolled my eyes, but I got out of bed to see what happened. When I got to the kitchen I found her on the floor, apparently rearranging our pots in the bottom cabinets. She glanced up and saw me. "I'm so sorry - I didn't mean to wake you up. I was just going to get a head-start on spring cleaning."

I stared at her for a moment. "What are you talking about? It's May! If anything, you've about missed 'spring cleaning'," I told her, making quotation marks.

She shrugged, sorting things back into the cabinet. "Well, better late than never."

I crossed my arms and leaned on the counter. "Spill."

She froze. "What?"

"Something's up that you're trying to not think about and it's making you nervous, so spill. Tell me what's bothering you."

She ignored me, silently putting things away. I uncrossed my arms and hopped up to sit on the counter to wait her out. Once she had all of the pots and pans organized, she stood up and just looked at me. Finally, she sighed. "You know how they're sending you away for training?" I nodded. She caught her lip between her teeth and began chewing furiously.

"Fi, you're going to break the skin," I told her and she sighed, releasing her lip and mumbling. "What?"

She squeezed her eyes shut and blurted, "They're removing my job and reassigning me to the Life Bar in Memphis."

I gaped at her, letting her words sink in. She was leaving. She was going to leave me here - to do what? Live here alone? My parents weren't in St. Louis, and I didn't really know anyone else I'd feel comfortable living with. I didn't want to follow her to Memphis. In that moment, I felt like all I'd built - my life, my career, my relationships - were beginning to slowly crumble.

It was an irrational feeling, I know, but I couldn't help myself. My mind was racing to catch up with my emotions.

Suddenly, I wanted nothing more than to get to Dallas and get away from this mess that was my life.

"-okay?" Fiona was asking as I forced myself to tune back in.

"Huh?"

"Are you okay?" She looked rather worried. I couldn't blame her.

"Ah, uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." We were silent for a long moment. "When are you leaving?"

"A week." So I had one week. Another silence passed between us. "You're going to come with me, right?" Something in her tone sounded almost panicked at the thought I wouldn't.

"I..." I rubbed my forehead. "Let me think about it?" I didn't mean for it to sound like a question, but I couldn't change it once it was out.

Her shoulders dropped. "What's there to think about? It's literally just changing apartments! It's not like you're going to have to find another job there!"

I slid off the counter. "But this is my life! Here! What about when He Said She Said comes off of hiatus? What then? Do we live stream a video chat?"

"I'm sure you'd find a way," she said quietly, her tone hinting at defeat but also something else brewing under the surface. "Liz, we've been best friends for years. Can't you just try it? Please?"

Her words were laced with hurt. It surprised me a little. What didn't surprise me was my lack of an answer for her. "Let me talk to Kyle, okay? I want to discuss the show before I make a final decision." Her face fell. The hurt and anxiety she'd clearly been trying to hold back was showing. "I'm sorry," I said quietly, reaching out to give her a hug.

She took a big step back and I let my arms fall. "I have to get ready for work," she mumbled. I watched her walk out of the room while a tide of sadness began to rise in me. What was my life?

---

Around 10 AM I found myself standing in front of Kyle and Davis' apartment. They didn't have a second job - and, in return, had a very small apartment - so they regularly slept in. Surely it was late enough in the day. I still took care to knock softly. It had nothing to do with me secretly not wanting to tell Kyle about Fiona being relocated. Nope, definitely not.

A few minutes later Davis appeared at the door, his reddish-brown hair sticking up and his eyes squinted. "Liz? What are you doing here so early?"

"I wanted to talk with Kyle. He up?" I stood on tiptoe, trying to see around the 6-foot giant in front of me.

He raised an arm and leaned on the frame. "Not yet." He eyed me a moment before stepping back and aside. "Wanna come in and have some coffee? I was just about to make some."

"Sure," I said, slipping past him. "Thanks."

"No prob," he said as he shut the door quietly. Their apartment was so small that it was basically one room plus a bathroom. The living room and kitchen were one room with two doors off of it and a large section of the main room sectioned off by a curtain. Right now, it was pushed aside and revealed a messy bed and clothes-strewn floor with an overflowing dresser.

I walked to the sofa, which was the only place to sit besides the office chair at the tiny desk, and slid a pile of games out of my way as I lowered onto it. It was so obvious it was two young, single guys that lived here.

"It'll be ready in a few," Davis said as he appeared next to me. "Want something to eat while we wait?"

I gave him what I hoped was a gracious smile instead of either a cringing or a disgusted one. "No, thank you. I ate before I came over."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself." He walked away, banged around a minute, and dropped next to me with a muffin. He turned on the TV and offered me the remote, which I turned down. He gave me a shrug and began scrolling through Netflix. About the time he settled on something the coffee finished. We got up and made up our mugs.

When I was making my way back to the couch the door to Kyle's room opened, revealing him in a pair of pajama pants and t-shirt. He was rubbing his eyes mid-yawn. He took a few steps but stopped when he saw me. "Liz?" he asked in a gravelly voice. His eyes suddenly opened all the way. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "Does something have to be wrong for me to just-"

"Yes," he interrupted. "Now, tell me. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I said dismissively. He pressed his lips together but got a mug out and made himself a cup of coffee. Davis went to the sofa and plopped down, promptly turning the show up.

Kyle shoved the coffee pot back and hopped up on the counter. "What's going on?" he asked in a hushed tone.

"They're relocating Fiona," I said in the same tone of voice.

He raised an eyebrow as he sipped his coffee. "So, that's it? You came over here to drag me out of bed and tell me your roommate was going to switch jobs?"

"They're moving her to Memphis, and she wants me to come with her."