New Girl - The Creatures

Chapter 9

I scrutinized my appearance in the mirror, dissatisfied with it yet again. I had changed my outfit about 3 times, unsure of each one. Since Sly failed to mention the formalities of the event, I wasn't sound on whether I should be dressy, casual, or both. I decided to go the safest route and attempt a dressy casual look.

Doing absolutely nothing with my hair aside from assuring that it wasn't frizzy, I chose to do take a similar approach with my eyes, settling for just dark brown mascara and subtle dark brown eyeliner at the base of my lash line. I never really used foundation, since it'd look weird to cover up the constellation of freckles that danced across my upper cheeks, the bridge of my nose, and the few that resided beneath my lower lip.

The outfit part was what was killing me. Part of me wanted to be comfortable and wear jeans and a mock turtleneck without the sleeves, and then part of me wanted to dazzle a certain someone with this really cute blank tank dress I'd just bought from Forever 21. I decided to go with the latter, but remain true to my roots and wear my gray high top Converse. I made sure to put on more deodorant and use light perfume as a safety measure, and after grabbing a dark maroon purse and putting my phone and wallet in it, I went downstairs.

I had spent so long dwelling on what to wear that I was second to last to be completely ready. Aleks was the last to emerge, having exchanged his own casual attire for a button up dark gray shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows paired with black skinny jeans. I rode with Seamus in his car, along with Sly and Aleks. Sly told Seamus where to go, and we were soon on the highway, the twilight blooming around us.

Sly grilled me with questions, though they were far less curiosity-oriented like Seamus' and much, much more personal. "Are you a virgin?" Sly asked suddenly with the tone of an intrigued small child, having just heard my answer to his previous question. He'd asked me how many boys I dated, and I told him the truth; I'd never dated anyone, but I almost kissed some guy named Mark at a birthday party in the 8th grade. It was truth or dare, as cliche as it gets.

I felt my face grow a vibrant fuchsia while Aleks laughed in the back. "What the fuck dude? You don't just fucking ask someone that," he said through chuckles.

"I mean, the answer is pretty obvious, if the only time I've ever almost kissed someone was a greasy kid on the soccer team at a middle school birthday party," I said, trying to smile and laugh as well, though feeling completely mortified. Seamus said nothing but seemed to be repressing laughter as well.

"Can I ask the questions now? You're gonna end up scarring her, dude," Aleks said, wiping his eyes. Sly pouted but agreed. Aleks asked far more innocent questions, like what my favorite game was and what kind of photography I liked to do since I'd mentioned it during the first round of questions Sly had asked.

Thankfully, the inquisitorial conversation was over for the time being, since we'd pulled up to a Longhorns. Jordan, Dan, James, and Max stood outside and walked towards Seamus' car when we arrived. It wasn't very busy, considering it was a Wednesday night during March, so we were seated fairly quickly.

Everyone was in varying forms of dressy-ness, Jordan easily being the suavest. He had on a tie but still wore his signature red hat, much to the dismay of the stuffy diners around us. Seamus chose to be more casual, and only swapped out his t-shirt for a black shirt in the same style as Aleks'.

Dan was recording, per usual, but we had a table in the corner so no one around us was inconvenienced by the presence of a video camera. There was, thankfully, enough chatter in the restaurant that we weren't too loud in comparison.

"So Sam, how has your first week of living in the Creature House been?" Dan asked, camera rolling on me. "It's actually been really fun, I was worried you guys were going to be psychopaths and that the police would find me dismembered in your fridge," I said, laughing at how paranoid I'd been in the days leading up to my move.

"Well Daniel, we'd better plan something else for her initiation," Jordan teased, as though I'd just given away their plan. I laughed, and the waitress returned with the drink orders we'd made before Dan began filming.

I sat back and let the guys control the conversation since they were far more acquainted with the dynamic and humor of their channel than I was. I'd begun to grasp it earlier this week, but it was always a dice roll when I chose to make a quip or remark on camera, and my streak of successful jokes had been unbroken thus far. The last thing I wanted to do was say something lame on the night I was to become a member of the group.

Seamus was sitting on my right, followed by James, Max, Dan, Jordan, Sly, and then Aleks on my left. As I sat back and sipped on the raspberry iced tea I'd ordered, the conversation turned from banter about menu options, predominantly conducted by James, to the reason why we were here. We all knew, of course, but the viewers didn't.

I had restrained myself from reading the comments, a tip given to me by both Jordan and Max, so I had no idea how they felt about me or how they'd react to this. Hopefully, the girl viewers would be happy, or would they be jealous? My mind raced with the numerous possibilities until my thoughts were punctured with Jordan clearing his throat.

"Creatures of the Creature hub and all you fans out there, we have some very special news. Any of you that have been up to date with videos from the last week obviously know Sam here," he paused so Dan could turn to me, in which I chose to act upon instinct and flip off the camera. James laughed, and Jordan continued as the camera went back to him.

"We've decided to make her our first ever girl Creature! And our first ginger one too. So be prepared for more Sam content, she isn't going anywhere anytime soon!" he finished, and there was mock applause as I pretended to bow in my seat.

"I'd like to thank my mom and da-" I began, but James interrupted saying, "You don't get a speech, shut the fuck up," I aimed a kick at him under the table, but hit Seamus instead. He wheezed as he clutched his shin, James' cackling in his year. "Fuck, I'm sorry Seamus! I'll bust your fucking kneecaps later, James," I said, grabbing Seamus' arm and apologizing profusely.

After injuring the only guy that's ever called me beautiful, the rest of the dinner was casual and fun, and I relaxed more with my humor with the camera rolling.

It was when we got back home that things got interesting- in more ways than one.