CHAPTER 34: The Digital Natives

It was a lot like getting married, actually. There were papers to be signed and stuff to move in and decisions to be made. They even went as far as putting a ring on it, to make it official. Casey stared at the horrible gothic ring on her finger. She never liked gothic stuff, nor did she ever like skulls and bones. But she was wearing a skull with flowers on her right ring finger because Jack, Finn and Will wore gothic skull rings on their fingers as well.

Is it weird that I live and study in Bristol but my office is in London? She shrugged and looked around her. The small, white office was populated by posh modern furnishings in white and black. Very masculine... Not very me, but what can I do? I work with three men! There were potted plants everywhere in the office, all of which, Casey thought, seemed to have been named George. The only thing that's different in it was Casey's own space, a little corner in the long white desk that ran along the glass window. She bought a new Macbook Air which had a cover bedazzled with a pink Disney Princess decal and some pink jewels. She had a pink pencil holder, a pink Post Its pad, a pink wireless mouse on a pink Disney mouse pad and a jar of Gummy Bears from the endless supply her fans have been sending her. Candy was something the people from Digital Natives could never have enough. In fact, they have all developed a habit of making sure their jar of Maoams never ran out.

"Oh, hey Casey!" Will Darbyshire greeted as he sat on his own desk. He took off the Canon DSLR camera which seemed to have a permanent place around his neck. "Hey, Will!" Casey said, smiling at him. Will, she found out, was a very quiet but amiable guy. He had a very special air in him that makes him such a good company. Best of all, he had wicked talent in photography and editing that amazes Casey all the time. "Do you have any idea what the meeting would be about? Jack won't tell me and Finn hasn't answered my texts yet..." she asked.

"I think I do, but I'm not telling you either..."

"What?! Why?"

"You just have to wait and see." Casey could have sworn she heard a trace of snicker in his voice and she suddenly felt nervous. Now that Jack and Finn were, technically, her bosses, she had no way of knowing exactly what their plans were. All she knows now is that her channel, TheFreeCasey, which somehow seemed to have been gaining more and more followers everyday, is now under the twins' self-made new media company. This means that every video she creates will be produced by the twins though she still had creative control over her channel. She was surprised by how much business savvy and marketing know-how Finn had. After all, he was just a 20-year-old design undergrad. He was too young for building a small empire of YouTube channels. But then again, he wasn't alone on the business. Jack, who's considered as the creative director of the company, has ultimately become the face and the driving force of the brand. His business relations and smooth talk has carried the company to surprising developments despite the fact that it's small and undermanned. Somehow, Casey felt herself relaxing. No matter what it is they're planning, I just have to remember that they know what they're doing.

A few minutes after, Jack came in with coffees for her and Will. "Good morning people!" Will smirked in response and fist bumped with Jack while Finn approached her, hugged her then kissed her on the cheek. "Good morning beautiful!" he said. Casey smiled and greeted both the twins warmly with a hug. "So, what's the meeting all about?" Meetings at Digital Natives aren't actually as big as Casey have imagined. It's more like a catch up between four people instead of two. And unlike most companies, they didn't have to prepare presentations or lock themselves in a conference room (although they have one). All they do is sit around a medium-sized round table in the middle of the office and talk about their current and future projects. "Right, Will, what's the update on that eye piece we've been scouting for?" Jack said as he sipped his coffee. Casey listened as two bantered about high-end equipment that she never even knew she would need in making YouTube videos. She looked around the table and realized that between the four only Finn had bothered to take down notes. Oh, nice handwriting... "That's great man, thanks. Uhm, Casey when are you moving in?"

"What? Oh, I only really have my laptop so that's fine."

"No I mean when are you moving here in London?"

"Uhm, wha- I'm not moving to London, Jack."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes."

"Well then how about your transportation? Are you going to drive everyday to London just to shoot a video?"

"We're not going to shoot everyday, are we? I mean, I'll still be studying so..." Casey left her words hanging as she looked at the twins. Am I saying something wrong here? Jack and Finn looked at each other like they were telepathically sending messages. "Well," Finn said finally speaking up. Casey tried to focus though her thoughts are filled with how he looked very handsome in his crisp white button down shirt and jeans. "We were actually hoping you'd move in with us down here..." Any girl would have swooned upon hearing these words coming from Finn Harries, but familiarity has already made Casey immune to all this. Instead, she raised an eyebrow as he spoke. "I mean, Jack and I reckon it might be hard for you to manage your time. We've tried it before, Jack's been in the exact position as you are right now, and we found it very hard to work whilst studying." Jack crossed his arms and leaned back to his chair. He stared at Casey who was just mulling over this little fact and he felt a little twinge of guilt for having to put her through it. He leaned towards the table, put up his elbow and propped his chin on his hand as silence enveloped the room. Come on, Case...

"Jack, is there something you want to say?" Finn said. Jack looked over to his older brother and knew, instantly, that he needed to speak up. Finn's wearing his this-is-fucking-serious face again which he often used to tame Jack's uncontrollable energy. "I... I hate to put you through this, CC. I've been in this position and I know how hard it is to choose between doing something that you absolutely want and doing something that you know you need. I know that studying drama in Bristol is something you also want, but you have to remember that what you're achieving on YouTube right now, your 60,000 plus subscribers, your growing fan base, is very fleeting. It's an opportunity that you could either grab onto now or throw out of the window in a snap" Jack said as he snapped his fingers. He leaned back to his chair again and waited for Casey to speak up again. Her almond colored eyes bore through him and he felt his heart melt inside.

"I know that Jack, but you also have to understand that my dad and I worked so hard to get a scholarship in that Uni. You know how hard it is to get a spot in Bristol U. I want to finish this... And I know that it's not going to be easy but that's why I said yes to you guys," she looked around the table and surveyed the three gentlemen whose intense eyes and focus were centered right on her. "It's because I trust you and I know that you can help me with this. I want to study drama and I want to be a YouTuber and I want to do them both... At the same time. I know I can do it but I need your support..." her eyes met Finn's gaze and he smiled and nodded. "And I need you to trust me." She looked directly at Jack whose knotted eyebrows slowly relaxed as her eyes met his. He sighed heavily. "Fine, we'll fix everyone's schedule to coincide with yours. When's your first day of classes?" Casey smiled sweetly and breathed a small sigh of relief. "September 1st!" she answered cheerfully. She handed them a copy of her schedule and explained how she wanted to upload her videos throughout the week. "Wait, September 1 is like... A week from now, isn't it?" Will said as he looked from Casey's schedule to the twins and then to Casey. "Oh yeah, how are we going to shoot your music video then?" Jack said. As if on instinct, he looked over at Finn who was scanning his notes from the last brainstorming they did. "Oh yeah, we need to do the shot list, we need to start recording, we need to find a garden, a hill, a band, some instruments, costumes, extra people, a co-star, a choreographer, a crane and most of all…" he stopped to look at the people around the table. "We need a leading man." Casey realized that it was a lot to do in a week. Damn, this seemed so easy to do when we talked about it over Skype last week.

"Wait..." Casey could almost see the bulb lighting up on top of Jack's head. He knew they could pull off a good shoot in less than a week. What he wasn't sure of is if they could find an actor for Casey's music video in less than a week. But in the few seconds of silence he had, he devised a plan that would allow them to shoot in two days if only... "I have good idea..." he muttered, snapping his fingers as he looked at Casey. He had a cheeky smile on his face that made Casey curious and Finn a bit nervous. "What if the love interest in your music video is played by Finn!"

"Woah, no. I-" Finn leaned back to his chair as the three looked at him conspicuously, their stares making him bolt upright. "I refuse to do the acting here, come on... Jack should do it, he's the actor here!"

"But Finn, he's already the director!" Casey said.

"Yes, but I'm the producer!" Finn argued.

"You're not going to do much during the shoot as a producer, Finny..." Jack said, his eyebrows raised at him, pressuring him all the more. "I bet Finnsey fans would go ballistic over this..." Will chimed in, his grin widening as they watched Finn squirm in his seat. "Please, Finny?" Casey said leaning towards him across the table, her big brown puppy eyes and her pouty lips bringing him to edge. "Alright! Alright!" he said, putting his hands up in surrender. I deserve another kiss for this.

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