Changing my Life

Chapter 18: The Livestream

It was the next day. Mark was doing his monthly charity livesream, for the American Cancer Society again, and he asked me to join him. I figured it would be fun, so I helped Mark and Wade buy snacks and drinks to last us the whole 12 hours. Mark had just gotten the pizza, and they decided to take a break and answer some questions from twitter. They were dying at some of the edits Mark's fans made. "OH, Riley this ones for you." Wade said. I looked over at his monitor. Someone asked if I could sing. Aw heck. I sighed. They were close to their goal, and it was for a good cause... "What song?" I asked. I could almost see the gears turning in his head as Mark thought. People made requests, all for song I either couldn't sing or refused to. Then someone requested "Roll On" by Kid Rock, a song I actually liked. Mark moved and gave me his chair, and stood behind me.  I went and grabbed my guitar and began to play. I sing along quietly to the lyrics, nervous. None of the fans had ever heard me sing, only my friends and Mark. I kept my eyes off the camera, trying to ignore the eyes on me. Wade, Mark's brother Tom, Lauren and Jordan were there for the livestream. I heard Wade whisper something to Mark and tried to keep from flipping out. My stomach was full of butterflies. I felt Mark place a comforting hand on my shoulder. I began to sing and play a little louder, with more confidence. Mark seemed to think I was doing well, and I knew my friends wouldn't judge me, so what did it matter. When I finished the song, everyone clapped, causing me to blush furiously. While Wade Lauren and Jordan carried on a conversation about my singing and guitar skills, Mark leaned in close and whispered, "You did amazing." He then stood up, and I moved to go put my guitar back in its place. When I returned, Mark and Wade had started a match of some kind against Lauren and Jordan. They were all laughing so I sat down and watched. Singing had winded me slightly as I wasn't quite healed yet. I noticed Mark continuously giving me worried glances out the corner of his eyes.

~AFTER THE LIVESTREAM~

We all sighed when Mark hit the end record button. It had been a log, worth while 12 hours. I had tons of fun hanging out with my friends all day. They all slowly began to go home, first Wade, then Lauren, and finally Jordan. "We have to do something tomorrow, while I'm still in town." she told me before departing. Finally, it was just Mark and I in his messy apartment. He gave me a look and sighed, then we began cleaning in silence. He looked like he was thinking about something, so I left him alone. When we finished straightening up, I looked at him, hands in my back jeans pockets. He gave me a small smile before walking into his room. I stood frozen for a moment before walking downstairs to my apartment. I sat down on my shabby couch beside Sparta. Thankfully Maddie returned her earlier in the day, as she was watching her while I was in the hospital. I scratched behind her ears, wondering what had just happened. Why was he giving me the cold shoulder all of a sudden. I frowned, blinking back tears. No, I wasn't going to cry. Every other man in my life had made me cry at some point or another, and I wasn't going to let Mark Fishcbach be one of them. I got up and went into my room to take a nap, angry. I had no clue why he didn't want to talk to me, but if that was the case I sure wouldn't bother him. I closed my eyes and went to sleep, feeling more a lone than usual.