Ghosts (A Christian Yelich Story)

Chapter Three: The Ground Rules

The woman, who finally introduced herself as Ellen, the show's executive producer, started spewing rules like a drill sergeant at basic training.

After cell phones only at specific times of day, we also learned about:

1. On site meal availability: 8:00 am, 1:00 pm, 7:00 pm.

2. Designated film times: the film crew will not be present from 4:00 am to 4:00 pm, so nothing we say or do during the time frame will be captured or used against us in the editing room.

3. Filming locations: we will visit six "haunted" sites in the United Kingdom in the next two weeks.

4. Off site: we can go off site from 4:00 am to 4:00 pm any day as well. This flexibility will allow us to stay caught up on our work and/or athletic training.

5. We will have one full off day during the two weeks of filming.

6. We will have an assigned partner who we will room and work with at each site. The partners are not likely to change throughout the course of filming.

The rules were less harsh than I was expecting, and I was relieved to learn we would get some daily alone time. I started to feel a little more comfortable until I remembered he was here.

The woman continued, "Now that we established the rules, why don't you all introduce yourselves to one another and break the ice? I know some of you are already acquainted." She seems to look straight at me while making her snide remark.

"Why don't we start with you, Blaine, and go around the table?" She pointed at the man closest to her.

"I'm Blaine Andersson, and I'm a former receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars. I was born and raised in Connecticut, but I attended Alabama for college. Two totally different worlds."

We continued to go around the table, and, before we got to me, we heard from:

1. Kaylie Brown, a model and "influencer" who also runs a successful lifestyle brand. She lives in Los Angeles, and I've definitely seen her around. At 6'0" with gorgeous skin and hair, she's hard to miss.

2. Marcus Frazier, a recently retired Los Angeles Laker professional who "puts Jesus first" and "loves God and his family." He also seemed pretty into Kaylie already, but that's usually how it goes. I'm actually pretty sure I've seen him at parties.

3. Thomas Stanton, a billionaire who owns huge stakes in various social media platforms, including Tinder. He seems high as fuck, so I plan to get to know him better.

4. Landon Plano, an actor from a Netflix series I've heard of but couldn't find time to watch. He comes off as relatively normal for a male actor. By normal, I mean unassuming. Quiet.

5. Polly Paisley, a porn star turned motivational speaker who now enjoys anti-porn tirades. Yawn.

6. Priya Pérez, the most beautiful person I have ever seen in my life. I was too enamored by her face to pay attention to the words she was saying.

7. Christian Yelich, an outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers, a team I actually grew up watching due to being born and raised in the city. For whatever reason, he looked at me when he introduced himself, which made me extremely uneasy. Why was I so bad at being regular?

It was my turn now, and I hadn't thought much about what I was going to say. "Uh, I'm Annie Delaney. I started my career in sketch comedy, but I now mostly do television and film work."

"You look really familiar. What have you been in?" Marcus asked cheerfully.

"She was in A Time for War with me. That's her biggest role to date." He-who-would-soon-be-named answered smugly.

"Thanks, Asher. I didn't realize I was unable to make words happen," I remarked coolly. I paused before continuing, "I was in A Time for War with Asher Michels, which was nominated for Best Picture last year. Other than that breakthrough, I've mostly played the best friend in generic comedies. A lot of them."

Christian Yelich, the outfielder with a curiously strong jaw, tried to cut the tension between me and Asher. "I recognize you from Key and Peele sketches. Still haven't gotten around to A Time for War." He smiled at me. Once again, a bit off putting. But nice. I guess.

"It's not actually very good," I joked. Asher rolled his eyes.

"It's a great film," Asher said defensively. "And Annie is very good in it."

The compliment took me a bit off guard. What was going on?

"Anyway, I'm Asher Michels, singer-songwriter-turned-actor," he kept it short, allowing the final two cast members to introduce themselves.

They were Emily and Layla Dawes, a musical duo who were actually getting a lot of air time as of late.

Asher continued to glare at me, as Ellen prepared to announce partners.

Knowing that partnering me with Asher would make for the best television, I prepared myself for the worst.

Did Hannah know about this before sending me to the wolves?