CHAPTER NINE: Actual First Contact

WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER. IF YOU THINK IT WAS AN UPDATE/NOTICE THINGY FROM ME, YOU ARE WRONG. GO BACK AND READ IT. AGAIN. FO REALZ.

*le time skip – three weeks*

Oh lawd. Oh jeebus. Today is the day. Holy poop nuggets, I'm nervous. In about two hours, Mitch is going to Skype me.

Since Minecon, I went back to college. I spend all my free time recording little flash games and maybe livestreaming if I have time. Mitch and I have been chatting (that word totally reminds me of a room full of suburban, Midwestern moms) on and off. We've just been getting to know each other a little better. My inner fangirl has been relatively quiet lately, which is good but a little scary. Something's probably gonna blow up in my face.

Anyway, we arranged to Skype today to brainstorm some ideas for new series. If I'm lucky, we could record, but I doubt it. We've got about 800,000 subs now, but still…

I do homework in the meantime, only letting out a squeak once in a while. My roommate, Lizzie, came in a couple times to check on me. Also bring me snacks.

We're connected on a spiritual level sometimes. She knows all about Mitch and Minecon, and also the fact that he's Skyping me tonight. I had to bribe her with gummy worms to get her to not sit outside my door and eavesdrop.

I happen to be in the bathroom when he calls.

"LIZZIE SAVE MEEEEE!" I yell from the bathroom. I hear her run from the living room into my room and answer the call.

We live off-campus in an apartment, in case you were wondering.

I hurry as fast as I can to wash my hands and get back. When I finally get into my room, Lizzie and Mitch are having a completely normal conversation like they've known each other for weeks.

"Oh, she's back. I'll probably see you again sometime," Lina says. She waves goodbye and skips out of the room.

"Who was that?" Mitch asks.

"That was my roommate, Lizzie," I say. "She's aggressively friendly."

"Oh. I see, says the blind man," he says. I smile.

"Hey, do you mind if I play Minecraft while we talk? I'm bad at just straight-up brainstorming. Gotta get that inspiration 'n stuff." I know I sound nervous. It's probably because if I hadn't just peed, my pants would be real damp right now.

"Sure dood, no problem," he says.

"Coolness," I say. I log on and go on the Hive to play hide and seek.

"So what's up?" I ask, trying to fill the silence while I get into a game.

"Not much," he replies. "Just recording and stuff. How's life on your end?"

"Oh, y'know, college and stuff. Recording. All that jazz."

"Fun."

"Ya."

"How's Belle?" he asks.

"She's pretty good. She's hating school, as usual. How's Connor?"

"He's excitable, as usual. He almost never stops talking about you guys. Did you know that he gave Belle his phone number?"

"Really?" This was news to me. "Does he know she has a boyfriend?"

"Yeah, she told him right away. He was bummed at first, but now I think he's just glad to be her friend." I smile.

"Coolness," I say. I'm struggling for a way to keep talking, but I don't have to worry long.

"Got any ideas yet?" he asks, raising one eyebrow. I giggle.

"No, not yet. I'm playing Stand, so…"

"Oh, Hide and Seek?"

"Haha, yeah. The seeker is being beat to death by a herd of flowerpots."

He laughs. "Seriously?"

"Yus. You are big noob sir. Not big surprise," I say, imitating Mitch's own voice. He laughs. We make small talk for the next few minutes. My game ends and I get into another.

"What if you made a death maze minigame? Like, after you walk across, the blocks fall down, so you can't go back. You could have, like, four identical mazes stacked on top of one another," I suggest.

"Four chances to get it right," he says, catching on. I nod.

"Might not be the most interesting though, 'cause – OOH BABY!" I interrupt myself. "LAST HIDER! YEAAAH BOY!"

"Oh, GG dood," he says. "I don't know about the maze idea, but – "

"FLAMING BUTT NUGGETS OF SACRED PTERODACTYLS!" I yell, interrupting him.

"What?" he asks, laughing slightly.

"I died," I say, making an angry pout face. He laughs. We continue like this for a few more hours, tossing around ideas and playing minigames. Eventually, we end up both playing minigames and only making noises when something happens. I want to ask him to record, but I'm too nervous. I glance at the clock as I take a drink of water.

"Whoa, dood, it's midnight," I say. I don't actually want to stop talking with him (I mean, come on, I'm a fangirl), but I have an eight o'clock class tomorrow.

"Do you have to go?" he says. He sounds a little disappointed. I try not to get my hopes up.

"Yeah, I know, but I have an early class tomorrow, and… yeah," I finish lamely.

"Ugh, fine, I guess you can go," he says. I can tell he's hiding a smile.

"Fine then, I will," I reply, pretending to be indignant. I, of course, can't keep a straight face and start giggling. "Bye, Mitch."

"See ya later, dood," he says. I end the call, and take another deep breath.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYYYYYY!

"I can hear you thought-screaming from here," Lizzie says from her bedroom across the hall.

"No you can't."

"Yes, I can. Now go to sleep."

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

In about ten minutes, I'm gonna call Lily. I'm somewhat excited, 'cause she seems like a pretty cool person. I've been following their new Instagram (is that creepy?) to see what she's up to. We've been texting back and forth for a few weeks, and I can tell that she's getting more comfortable talking with me. Which is good, because it's hard to have a decent conversation with someone who's still in the fangirl stage.

I make sure I have food and drank and stuff before calling her. When she answers, it's not her.

"Oh, sorry, I must have the wrong contact," I say, and go to end the call.

"No, you're fine. You're Mitch, right? Actually, don't answer that question. You are. Lily will be here any minute. So what's up?" the girl says. I barely have time to process what's she saying before she's staring at me, expecting an answer.

"Um, not much. How about you?" I stammer out. She has long-ish brown hair, brown eyes, and blue metal glasses.

"Oh, I'm pretty good. So do you like Lily?" she asks bluntly.

"What? Why would you ask that?" I'm genuinely confused.

"Oh, she's back. I'll probably see you again sometime," she says. She waves goodbye and skips out of the room. Lily sits down in her place. Her brownish-reddish-goldish hair is in a messy bun on top of her head.

"Who was that?" I ask, still totally confused.

"That was my roommate, Lizzie. She's aggressively friendly," she says. I smile.

"I see, says the blind man," I reply. She smiles, and I notice a dimple in her right cheek. She asks if she can play Minecraft, and I say of course. I mean, our careers are kind of based on it, so… y'know. We make small talk. She busts out with an interesting phrase when she dies, and I laugh. Our interactions aren't quite natural, but they're surprisingly close for it being the first time we've really talked. Kinda weird, considering she's fallen asleep on me, but whatever. We bounce ideas back and forth for a few hours. Eventually, we end up just playing games and only talking when we die or something. We go on like this until she says she has to go.

Stupid college.

Oh well.

We say our goodbyes, and she ends the call. I head up to the kitchen in a good mood.

A/N TIME! YOU KNOW YOU LOVE IT! : Hey guys! QD here with part two of promised update. Yay! I hope I can be able to update more frequently now that I don't have as much to do. Anyway, I don't think I have much else preliminary to say, so here we go!

-I do have a dimple in my right cheek. Also, I have a half-dimple (if that makes any sense) on my left.

-Random phrases spouted in excitement are the best. Period.

-I love putting my hair in topknots. My hair is currently too short to actually accomplish that… but whatever.

-The college I'm going to does allow living off-campus.

And for the fictions:

-Lizzie is based off of two of my friends that I love equally (you know who you are :) ). One of them looks like her, and the other is very social (at least, more social than me).

-I would not lose track of time and be caught in the bathroom like that. Probably. Maybe. Hopefully.

-I would try to avoid an eight o'clock class if at all possible, even though I'm more or less a morning person. I just really, really love sleeping. Yep.

So I think that about wraps it up! As always, please review, favorite, etcetera. You beautiful individuals are seriously the best! Much luv!

-Quiet Defiance