If Only

"I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up"

Within the next couple of months, I filmed several more videos with the cast. I got to know everyone fairly well. I knew a whole lot about Ian, but didn't know much about his past, and I was curious as to why he hadn't told me much about it.

I walked into the break room of the building and saw the whole cast waiting for me.

"So," Liv started, "you've clearly been in a lot of our videos lately."

"The majority of them actually," Drew remarked.

"And we all have a wonderful time filming with you," Reese commented.

"And the fans love you," Brian added.

"We were wondering," Robert said with question in his voice, "if you'd like to be a permanent member of the cast."

I could feel Ian's eyes on me, and I saw out of the corner of my eye that he was smiling.

"You can still make videos on your own channel obviously," Reese assured. "You'll just be working here."

"Are you kidding?" I could barely get the words out because of my overwhelming excitement, "yes. This has been my dream since I was like eight years old."

They all cheered. Robert told me we would film a video announcing it in a few minutes. I turned my head slightly to take a glance at Ian. He was the oldest in the room with the rest of the cast being in their twenties. He had a smile on his face, but I could see a faint look of worry in his eyes.

After we filmed the video, I went home. My parents had just gone out of town for a business trip my dad had in Florida, so I had the house to myself. I could stay up as late as I wanted and wouldn't have to be quiet about it. It's not like I was going to have a party or anything; I didn't want to disturb the neighbors. Plus, I wasn't that kind of teenager. I only had a couple friends, and I honestly liked it that way.

I changed into my pajamas. It was late April, so it was getting hot in California. I wore shorts that were cut about six inches past my hips and a thin, almost transparent, light blue tank top. I never wore this kind of stuff, but I hadn't done my laundry, the AC was pretty bad, and it's not like anyone was going to see me.

I began walking down the stairs and stepped a little too far, making me just barely miss the next step. I tumbled down most of the staircase. Luckily, it was carpeted, so I didn't crack my skull open on any of the edges. At the bottom of the staircase, I struggled to stand up. As soon as I stepped up off of the ground, I immediately fell to the floor again. My ankle was not cooperating with me, seeing as it was throbbing and stealing the blood flow from the rest of my body. I grew worried and overwhelmed with pain. I guess I really couldn't stay home by myself. It was the first day and I already hurt myself. I army-crawled on the floor over to my phone that was sitting on the coffee table. After scrambling for it from the floor, I called the only person I thought of calling.

"Katie?" Ian spoke on the other line.

His voice was soothing. I began breathing slowly, the sound instantly calming me down.

"Katie?" He said again. "Are you there?"

"Yeah, uh, I kinda need your help."

"With what?" I could tell he was concerned, "are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I tried not to worry him.

"Well then what happened?"

"I just fell down the stairs and can't really stand up." I chuckled, "I've fallen and I can't get up."

He made a faint laugh, "I'm on my way."

He hung up. I rolled over onto my back and laid there, waiting. About ten minutes later, he came into my house and walked over to where I was laying on the floor. He knelt down next to me.