Lights, Camera, Action

Visitors

TWENTY-EIGHT: VISITORS

Mark's POV

Things were going pretty well. Alyssa had a really tough week, and I hated seeing her go through times like that, but she seemed to be doing better lately. Fortunately I could always tell when something was wrong, but I still worried about her. Sometimes she did a better job at hiding her feelings than others, and I was always afraid that she might hurt herself without me even suspecting it. I never saw any new cuts on her body, though, so that was a good sign.

Although Jack and I kept in touch, we hadn't recording anything with each other for a while, so we decided to play The Forest together again. We had a recording session so we could upload some videos of that, but decided that we would make a habit of playing some games just for fun and not for Youtube more often. Even Alyssa would probably join in if she was ever around when we decided to play online together.

Despite the fact that things were going well, it could only stay that way for so long. One day, when I was coming home from grocery shopping, I ran into some fans. However, they were fans who happened to live in my apartment building. That wasn't exactly a problem, as long as they didn't come looking for me, but of course, they did. I was playing Bloodborne a few nights later when I heard a knock on my door. I was really confused as to who might be spontaneously showing up at my place at eight PM, but I answered the door anyways. Sure enough, I recognized the guy - he was one of the people I saw the other day. He was really nice - he mentioned that he lived a few doors down so he noticed me leaving one day as he was coming home and he just wanted to say hi. I tried to be as kind as possible, telling him that I was busy but thanks for saying hello. He took it well and was on his way, so I assumed he got the message that while I loved meeting fans, my apartment was my own space for myself and friends only.

However, that wasn't the case. Maybe a week and a half later, Alyssa showed up at my place to hang out and she seemed a little weirded out when she walked through the doorway.

"I was getting some looks while I was waiting outside the door for you to answer," she told me.

"What kind of looks?"

"A few people were just kind of staring."

"Oh, some fans live here and they recently discovered that I live here too. One of them showed up at my door last week. They're probably wondering what a beautiful girl like you is doing at my apartment," I decided.

"That or they recognized me and were judging and hating me," she replied.

"I doubt it. I haven't seen any jealous fangirls around yet," I said.

It didn't end there, though. The more Alyssa came around, the more they would interact. The third time she came over after the visitor at my door, she told me that he asked if she was my girlfriend. Apparently when she said yes, he told her that he thought we were cute together, which was sweet. It still felt weird, though, knowing that people were always knowing when I was coming and going and that fans could come to my door at any time. I just hoped that word didn't get out about where I lived. It wasn't okay for people to always be knocking on the door to say hi, let alone come in and have a chat. That was just crossing a line for me unless it was someone I was doing business with or if it was some kind of special situation.

I prepared myself for having to make a move to another apartment. I really didn't want to have to leave the one I was currently in, though. If I had to move, I didn't want to do it for a while and I would want Alyssa to move in with me. She was happily living with Aubrey now, though, and the two of them living together made it easy for them to run their Youtube channel anyways. We had sleepovers frequently enough. The Cyndago guys offered to let me move in with them, but I decided to wait it out a little. Moving was a big, annoying process and there was a chance that I could have a talk with the people who had been hanging around my place and convince them to give me space if it got too extreme.

After some time, both Alyssa and I were left alone. I mentioned how people kept hanging around my apartment in a video and talked about how it was my one place where I could be alone, and I think they must have gotten the message. Although they weren't really doing anything bad, I didn't want them to think that they could just stop by anytime and always be staring and hanging around. Privacy was a difficult thing for me to get at times, so I wanted to be able to cherish every bit of it.

"I'm glad you don't have to move. That would have been a little ridiculous," Alyssa decided while we were in the car one day after the visitor situation was over with.

"Yeah. I know they meant well, but it just felt weird knowing those guys were always watching out for me and even you, when you'd come over. I'm glad I didn't have to go talk to them about it or anything. I didn't want it to have to come to that." Cool For the Summer came on the radio and I turned it up for Alyssa. "This is your jam, isn't it?" I laughed.

"Yeah, I guess. I've been listening to it a lot though, so it isn't as exciting anymore," she responded, turning the volume down a little. I couldn't believe that. I thought she'd never get tired of it.

"Oh, alright. Did you want to hang out tomorrow and watch Jack and I fail at Rocket League? We're going to do a recording session of it."

"No, that's alright. I can always watch the videos later, when you guys release them. It'd probably go smoother if I wasn't there watching anyways, right?"

"I guess so." Something seemed off with Lys, but I wasn't sure what. I'd figure it out eventually, but I didn't want to push her over the edge, so I let it go for the time being. Hopefully it wasn't too big of a deal.

Hey guys! It's a short, boring chapter, I know. The next one is going to be more interesting, I promise! I already have plans for it. Also, I know I keep mentioning it on my page over and over again, but I really need questions from you guys for the 1k milestone video I'm making. I want to be able to record the part of the video where I answer your questions by Thursday. The reason for this is that I'm going back to college on Friday and it's much easier and less awkward for me to record myself answering your questions in my house where I have privacy rather than in my dorm room with my roommate awkwardly listening. The challenge part of the video is probably going to be more relaxed and funny, and I know my roommate and friends are going to want to see that and possibly even be involved in it, so I don't mind recording that at school.  I'm not trying to rush you guys, but it's just that 1k came fast and I didn't get the word out for the video quickly enough. I only have 5 questions so far and I want to answer more! That being said, you can leave any questions you have for me (personal, writing related, story related, serious, or silly) in the comments of this chapter, in my inbox, on my message board, or in the comments section of this book:  https://www.wattpad.com/story/47381084-1k-followers-video-requests   Anyways, thanks for reading. If you enjoyed the chapter, please vote for it and leave me some comments and questions! :)