A Walk Apart (Episode 4: All In)

Chapter Six

What am I doing? Ashlee stood at the entrance of Seedlings, hunting down Jared to make sure the coast was clear. If she was going to be so paranoid, she should have stayed home. Except she was too afraid that if he came by while she was there she'd feel guilty for pretending not to be and would open the door to the conversation she'd been running from in the first place. Now, here she stood. Searching through every face in the lobby to know which direction not to go in. Her heart had to be worn out from all the false alarms that shook it into flight mode. Why couldn't she have fallen for someone boring and uncomplicated?

Music caught her attention, stealing it from Jared momentarily. She had never heard it before, but she had to know the name of it. She turned to see where it was coming from and found Adam sitting on a lobby sofa, watching something on his phone. She walked over, lured by the singer's soft voice and sat next to him. She leaned in to get a good look at the screen. No way. "Is that you?"

Adam tapped the video quiet. He had a sour look on his face. "That's me. Enjoying the comfort of solitude while expressing my most private feelings when your sister pressured me into sharing them with the world. And now I regret every second of it."

Brie was right to get him out of his comfort zone. How could he regret sharing it? He had an amazing voice. Angelic. She wouldn't have been surprised if the video skyrocketed him to the top of the music charts. He'd probably get ten times more views than her entire channel. "If I could sing like that, my vlogging experience would have been astronomically more successful."

Adam looked at her, his interest piqued. "You vlog?"

"I am currently on a three-month hiatus. I am almost a hundred percent certain I was the only one watching." Not that she could be that disappointed considering the lack of entertaining content. It started off as a video diary, recaps of her day to day life for the whole world to see, and possibly learn from. Seeing the stagnant two digit view count caused her to question if she was cut out for it. Hence, the delay. One day OliveBubblesxox might make a comeback. Adam could even make a special guest appearance. If he wasn't too busy touring the world.

Adam grew quiet and pensive. "I was thinking about singing at Open Mic Night."

"You should."

"I can't."

"Why not? The crowd will love you. You might even win." She wasn't just saying it as a supportive friend. He was legitimately good. Shockingly good seeing as she never saw it coming. Was he not hearing what she had heard?

He leaned his head back on the sofa. "The crowd isn't who I'm worried about." Something was bothering him and she wanted to help without pushing him for the explanation he was purposely talking around. He spent hours every day picking people up out of their slumps. It was time to return the favor. "You have talent. Good talent. Don't let it waste away behind your fears."

As Adam drank in the advice, the lobby doors opened and Ashlee's heart jolted. This was not a false alarm. "Hide me."

Adam frowned. "What?"

Ashlee pushed him to his feet and cowered behind him, hopefully out of sight, as Jared's footsteps moved closer and closer until they stopped. "Hey, have you seen Ashlee?"

Adam scratched above his ear. "I'm not sure I know an Ashlee."

Ashlee closed her eyes and held her breath, fearing that any subtle movement would give her away. She'd be exposed. One glance and Jared would see everything.

"Okay. Thanks." Ashlee heard the disappointment in his voice and again felt guilty for being a coward. She waited for Jared's footsteps to blend in with the lobby noise before she felt safe enough to come out of hiding.

Adam turned around, appropriately confused. "Why did you just make me lie to the new guy?" Ashlee watched Jared walk away, heading home to talk to his girlfriend most likely. Adam no longer needed a response. The picture was clear. "Got it."

***

Thanks for reading!

-Love, Charly