The Youtuber Project (Troyler AU)

Chapter 2

By time we arrived at LAX, it was the next morning. I guess one of my disadvantages in the game was going to be jetlag, but that shouldn't last too long. There had been a bedroom for me in the private jet, and I had to admit, it was rather comfortable.

However, I was woken up to a rather unpleasant surprise. Jack. He popped his head in my room, and shouted at the top of his lungs "WAKE UP!" I practically fell off my bed. I mentally reminded myself to add that to the list of why I already hated him. 

"What?" I moaned, rubbing my eyes and trying to adjust to the daylight that was pouring in through the windows of the jet. 

"We've landed, Troye. It's time to get your bag and head to the studio." His voice sent shivers up my spine. Slowly, I reached down to grab the bag and followed him out of the room, giving myself a once over in the mirror as I passed it. I looked good enough, I guess.

We exited the plane, and I couldn't express how happy I was to not be so confined with that Jack guy. That sense of freedom was shortlived when I realized that we would be taking the same car to the studio. Great. 

Once we were settled in the Uber, Jack began to speak. "Now, Troye. You won't know who the guests are until the show actually begins. Don't worry, they don't know either. Each of one of you will be brought into the house individually to meetup with the others. Actually," he said, glancing down at the clipboard in his lap, "you will be the first to enter the house."

I nodded, trying to act as if I was interested, but I was mostly thinking about Tyler. There was no doubt he would be there. I had to think of a way to get around our awkward relationship. Unfortunately, we couldn't just freely talk about it, even though it would be the first time since Vidcon that we'd seen each other in person. That was supposed to be Playlist Live Tristate, but oh how that had changed. In fact, this was starting only three weeks after Vidcon.

What was I going to say to him? Was I supposed to say anything at all? I know that's what the producers and Jack wanted. In fact, I was expecting him at any moment to tell me that he expected some Troyler action in the house, even though that was not something I was really comfortable with yet. 

"That sounds great," I said instead of expressing my concerns about Tyler. I didn't mind being the first to enter the house at all. At least I would get to pick my room first. Finally, something good was happening.

The car came to a hault and I peered out the windows. Jack got out of his door and I mirrored his actions. I looked up, and towering over me was what I assumed was the building. It was huge! I could tell my assumption was right when I saw Jack starting to walk toward it, and I did the same. 

When I first entered the building, I knew that they meant business. The building was very professionally furnished, complete with a front staff crew and offices to my left. "Good morning, Troye," a few of the people at the front desk said, not bothering to look up from their computers. Well, at least the workers were friendly.

"Don't mind them," Jack assured me. "They're just stressed right now. A couple of the cameras aren't working."

"Completely understandable."

Jack lead me to the right, down a hallway which had ten doors, five on each side of the hallway. Jack lead me to the one which was the furthest away from us on the right side. "This is your dressing room. The show will be starting in one hour. Somebody will fetch you when I'm ready for you." He took a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. It wasn't as fancy as the private jet or even the lobby of this building, but I was sure I would be able to deal with it for an hour. There was TV on the wall, which definitely was a big plus. 

I turned around to ask Jack if I could actually watch TV on it, but he had disappeared. I tried the door, but it was locked. What if there's a fire? 

Luckily, there was no fire. I spent the hour watching an episode of Gossip Girl. It was literally the only thing other than the news that was on, and I honestly didn't want to hear depressing stories. Finally, the clock hit 3 o' clock, which marked the first actual television show. I switched the channel to watch it. 

Jack appeared on the screen. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Youtuber Project. As you might know, Youtubers are becoming more and more popular every day. What you might not know is how close some of them are with each other. However, this summer, all of that will change when ten of them are put up against each other for the chance to win 1 million dollars!

It's almost time to meet the contestants, but before we do that, we will take a short commercial break. We'll be right back."

Not one second after they cut to commercial did I hear a short rap at my door. "Are you decent?" a female voice called.

"I hope so!" I called back. 

The woman flung open the door. She was wearing a headset, and she pressed a button and began speaking into it. "Turn all TVs off in dressing rooms, I repeat turn all TVs off in dresing rooms."

I could feel my stomach lurch. They really would have no idea who was in the house, would they? 

She lead me out of my room and into the door that was right next to it. I walked in to the sound of applause. I love applause. In fact, I live for it.

The lady told me to stand at the top of the stairs and to wait for my cue. I obeyed, and watched as the cameras turned back on along with Jack's fake smile. 

"Welcome back to the Youtuber Project. We're just seconds away from meeting our first contestant. In fact, he's in this room right now! Please give a warm welcome to Troye Sivan!" I guessed that was my cue, so I jogged down to the stage and listened to Jack give a brief summary of who I am. "Welcome Troye. Are you excited to be apart of this?"

"Of course I am," I said, trying to add as much enthusiasm into my voice as possible.

"Well you won't have to wait too much longer, since the door to the house is opening right now!" he said, smiling at the camera and then me.

The door behind me opened and I at it. Was I really ready to do this? Was I ready to leave all my privacy behind and allow millions of people to watch me at all hours of the day. Most importantly, was I ready to see Tyler? I didn't know the answer to any of these questions, but I did know that it was too late to back out now.

Slowly but steadily, I walked toward the door, and didn't stop until it had shut tightly behind me.

A/N

Okay I'm sorry Tyler hasn't actually entered the fic yet but I needed two chapters to set it up? OKay? I promise he'll be in the next chapter and chapters to come. 

How are you liking it? I'm working my butt off on it!