picture us (d. dobrik) (book #2) Wattys 2018

Rude Awakenings

I was rudely woken up by cold water which made the realization of my pounding headache ten times worse. "Get up, David, we are going to Disneyland to cheer you up as well as ourselves." I looked up at Satan's messenger and saw Scott and Kristen standing over me. I rolled over and closed my eyes, hoping they would go away. "David, we already told you once. Don't make me tell you again."
I scoffed, "Your dad voice is shaky. Try again." Scott huffed and the next thing I knew, I was being dragged out of bed and out of the room. "What the fuck?! Scott, what are you doing?!"
"Obviously you think you're a smartass, so I'm just going to drag you to the shower so that you don't smell like death."

He dragged me into my bathroom and stood at the doorway, blocking any chances I thought I had of running. "Now," he began. "Are you capable of showering yourself or do Alex, Jason and I need to assist you as if you were a toddler?" I glared at Scott before sighing in defeat.

"I can shower like the fucking adult I am." Scott and Kristen nodded and Kristen left the room. She came back a minute later with clothes and left again. Scott stayed behind and sat on the counter by the sink. "Don't mind me, I'm going to sit here and read a book because I don't trust you or anything you say right now." I grumbled some colorful adjectives about Scott before stripping, turning the water on, and stepping in. I flipped him off to which he feigned offense and continued reading.

When I finished, I grabbed my towel and wrapped it around my waist. "Get out so I can change."
"No, you can change here, and if you want a bit more privacy, there's a curtain!"

Scott was getting on my nerves at this point. I hated him for the entire hour that I was under his careful watch. When we finally made our exodus from that bathroom, I made my way to the kitchen. Alex stood at the stove with Jason, Gabbie, Corinna, and Dom. They were all surrounding the stove. "Where's Chiqui?" Jason held up his cup of coffee in greeting. "Gave her the day off. She doesn't need to see you like this right now." I rolled my eyes and sat at the table next to Kristen who was focused on a parenting book. "Okay," Gabbie cheerily said. "David, I know you're hurting and I understand where you're coming from. I called everyone here to help make you breakfast and take you out for a much needed friend day at Disneyland." She set a plate of pancakes in front of me, Alex set some scrambled eggs down, Jason brought [really burnt] toast, and Corinna brought orange juice. Dom came and sat across from me and dug into the toast.

"You guys, I'm fine!" Jason snorted and set his coffee down. "David, you are anything but fine right now. You just got your heart torn out by the girl you love. Frankly, you deserved it for sleeping with Katie." I groaned at the mention of Katie's name.

I wouldn't admit it at the time, but Jason was right and I was being incredibly stupid.

The doorbell rang and Scott went to answer it. Zane and Heath walked in, Zane looking more pissed off than Heath. "I don't like this one bit," Zane moodily breathed. I rolled my eyes. "No one even called you Zane." Kristen slammed her book shut. "I called them, David. I called everyone here. You need to stop being moody and acting like the victim." I kept my mouth shut because pregnant Kristen was a very easily irritable person.

Gabbie sighed and motioned for everyone to sit at the table. "David, we are all here because we love Audrie and she wouldn't want you to be feeling like this. We are also here because we love you and we know that you didn't mean to hurt her." I ate my pancakes in silence, listening to Gabbie go on about the girl I wanted to marry, the girl I hurt.

An hour later, we were in my Tesla, Scott at the wheel, and I finally felt what all my passengers felt. It was crowded. I took out my phone, but Gabbie plucked it out of my hands and placed it in her bag. "It's a phone free day, David Dobrik. Enjoy the intimate moments you share with your loved ones. You never get them back once they leave." I looked around at everyone in the car. Scott and Kristen dropped any preparations they were doing for their baby whose arrival was approaching faster with each day that passed. Jason should've had his kids, but instead he was babysitting me. Alex and Dom should've been playing video games and keeping the apartment alive. Corinna should've been checking in on her family. Zane blamed me. Heath wouldn't admit it, but he blamed me too. Everyone dropped their lives to make sure I was okay. After what I did to the person I swore I loved.

We arrived at Disney and I felt the tensions between everyone and me fade away. There was something about Disney that made people feel happiness and just hakuna matata.

Gabbie took my arm once we were inside the park and dragged me to where Mickey and Minnie Mouse were strolling, the rest of the group close behind. We took pictures with them and some of the other Disney characters that were roaming around.

As we roamed around in search of a roller coaster or a show, I accidentally bumped into some guy and spilled my water on him. "Oh, shit, I'm so sorry! Um, here, I have some napkins."
"Thanks, man. It's fine, I wasn't watching where I was going." The guy had a bit of a lisp and had reddish brown hair. He kinda looked like Jonah Hill before the weight loss. I giggled and stuck my hand out. "I'm David Dobrik."
"Yeah, I recognize you from YouTube. I'm Nick Antonyan, this is my little brother Vardan." We shook hands and I shook hands with his brother. I grinned wider, all sadness lost. "You remind me of Jonah Hill." At least five hands smacked me in different places. "David!" Nick laughed and sighed. "I've never heard that before. That's funny."
"How would you like to be a part of our little group? You would be in the vlogs and would be ridiculed by mostly all of us, but it's okay because we insult each other on the daily." Nick laughed once more and nodded. "Only if you can reference me to Jonah Hill more. The man is a God." I laughed and clapped my hand on his shoulder. "Sure thing, Jonah." Everyone laughed. We exchanged numbers and contact information and went out separate ways.

The day was filled with rides, Disney characters, songs, shows, and memories. I felt my sadness being stripped from me due to the distraction being given to me by the people who loved me.

Despite my rude awakenings, Disney day was a good day.

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wow I suck..