2 kids

Another day's victim.

Alex.

I'm being chased by a camera again.

It has happened too many times in the past three days. One of the prices I have to pay for knowing Mae. Constantly having a camera stuck up in my face – morning to night, on every occasion. For eighteen years I've survived her obsession with recording almost everything we do anywhere we go, but today I feel like I might accidentally kill her. She's stubborn and knows how to get on other people's nerves. Ever since waking up this morning she's been running around with her camera, vlogging like a crazy youtuber. I wouldn't be complaining if she would've chosen someone else as her today's victim. I was chosen yesterday; I have been chosen today. If she chooses me again tomorrow, I'm losing my temper.

"We need our memories documented, Alex," she repeats every single time I tell her to put it away for just one minute. I'm not asking her to never touch it again, I'm just asking her to put it away for a day.

"A party?" River groans. "That's old, used too much. We need something new, more original."

I walk over to him and peek over his shoulder. "What is it?"

Wordlessly, he hands me a sheet of paper over his shoulder. "Ideas for the new music video."

I don't even look at it, just hand it back. "Yeah, I'm not in the mood to read it now. We won't have a chance to propose our ideas?"

"Who knows?" He shrugs. "Honestly, this time it doesn't seem like they want us to. I had some ideas in my mind and Ace suggested something yesterday, but – " Ace's ideas were original, yet most of them got turned down. "I don't know. There seems to be a problem with communication in the management team these days."

"Hmm, we'll see. Maybe we can convince them."

"You've pissed off too many people, Alex."

His voice is stern, but I say, "Don't blame just me. Ace is responsible too."

"I don't blame you. Sometimes I wish I could cause the same trouble as you."

I pat his shoulder. "You still can. You can still bring the old River back."

"I'm not sure I want that," he laughs. "I'd rather be this boring, responsible River than –"

"A crazy free spirited kid?"

"Everything has its pros and cons, and consequences."

I almost tell him I can see the old River lurking underneath. I almost tell him he'll bring him back soon, but this time in moderation and with full control. Instead I grin at him.

Mae comes running back to us. She practically shoves the camera to our faces, attacking us with a thousand questions. River, glad it's finally not work related, answers them all. I, on the other hand, glad someone else has fallen in her trap, begin to slowly walk away.

"Alex," she calls after me. "Don't walk away. Come back."

I shake my head without turning around and keep on walking. I can hear her feet picking up the pace, so I speed up. Once she realises I'm running away, she yells my name once more before speeding after me.

"ALEXANDER LYNCH!" Her high pitched voice resonates through the air.

Oh no. Almost my whole name.

At the bottom of the hill I turn around. Mae's running down the little hill, camera clutched in her hand tightly. I bet everything I have, every single little penny and the last drop of my sanity, that she's filming. I'm surprised she hasn't tripped yet.

Her body frame nears me too fast, no signs of slowing down. The magenta -burgundy – wine red coloured hair jumps up and down, the curls creating a red halo around her head. At first I think it's just an optical illusion, but soon enough I realise she really isn't slowing down. It's not a big or steep hill, but you can still easily trip and roll down when running.