Chapter 3

Just until going to the café in the morning, Danica’s biggest headache was to unpack her clothes in her new house. But she was grateful that she did not because now she would not have to repack before moving into the Rose mansion.

“Dani, where are we going? Are we going back? What about my birthday wish?” Aziel had no idea about what was going on. As much as Danica wanted to tell him the truth, she wanted it to be a huge surprise for him.

“For once, can you keep quiet and help me with the luggage?” retorted Danica, to which Aziel stuck out his tongue and ran outside, leaving her alone with the stuff near the hall. She huffed. “This kid.”

“That boy came to the cafe after a long time, you know? It felt nice seeing both of you together once again,” commented Stacy, who was standing behind her. “His ideas are childish, but they get the work done, don’t they?” She chuckled lightly. “He solved your issue within a few minutes. Living in a house full of celebrities – that is like a dream come true. That too, with hot celebrities.” Stacy winked at Danica.

Danica rolled her eyes. “This will be torture,” she mumbled under her breath. Living with her crush of nine years under the same roof, how hard could that be?

“Dani!” Aziel called out, which made Danica alert at that instant.

Wishing that her brother was fine, Danica dashed out with Stacy following her. “Aziel, are you okay?” she inquired and looked at Aziel. He had a big grin on his face.

“Dani, look. My favorite Hernan Matias is at our doorstep. I cannot believe he is here,” he squealed, glancing at the tall blonde guy with his shades on.

Danica didn’t follow his regular videos, but Aziel would watch those all the time. He was a big fan of Hernan.

“Good afternoon, Hazel. Did you miss me?” Hernan winked at her, taking steps toward Aziel at first. Once reaching him, Hernan took off his shades and bent down to meet Aziel’s height. He gave a big smile and ruffled Aziel’s hair, asking, “How are you doing, Aziel?”

“You know my name? How? Do you also know Dani? And why are you here? You won’t happen to be my long-lost brother, would you? Or are you here to adopt me? Please do. I’ll follow you anywhere.” Aziel’s enthusiasm made Hernan chuckle.

“Consider something like that. I, along with some other people, had been very close since middle school. We basically grew up together. Also, I saw you as a toddler, so you could say I’m like your long-lost brother,” responded Hernan, patting his head lightly.

Seeing how Hernan dodged a few questions, Danica was sure that Troy explained everything to him properly. Speaking of Troy, he was supposed to pick them, not Hernan. Maybe he was busy with his shoot, she thought. She would not admit but she was actually hoping for him to come.

“Wow! Dani, you never told me that you had such an amazing friend.” Aziel put his hand on his and questioned, “Who are the ‘some more people’? Do you have more amazing friends?”

“You will know soon,” answered Hernan on behalf of Danica. “Why don’t you sit in the car while I help your sister with the luggage?”

Giggling, Aziel ran toward the car. Hernan chuckled at his eagerness before looking back at Danica. He approached her and cupped her cheeks. “What’s up, my hazel? Missed my attention?”

She rolled her eyes before slapping away Hernan’s hand. He was back to teasing her like before. Probably, he was too surprised to be his flirty self when he saw her yesterday after such a long time. “Shut up, blond. Stacy will really think a chiclet like you is my boyfriend,” Danica let out.

Stacy stifled a laugh. “Oh dear, I remember you guys. My memory isn’t that weak.”

“And,” Hernan spoke up, putting his hands in the pocket of his blue denim, “Troy will kill me if we date.”

“Why will I date a guy, who is not even interested in girls, in the first place?” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Besides, stop dragging Troy in everything.” With a huff, she handed him her house keys. “Put my things in the car. They are inside. After getting everything out, hand the keys to Stacy. In the meantime, I will chill out in your car.”

Hernan smirked as he watched the girl in an off-shoulder pastel dress getting inside the car. “She is still defending Troy. Some things never change, do they, Stacy?”

“Not in their case, at least. You better call me every day because things will start to sp*** up in their lives,” Stacy responded with a big grin plastered on her face.

***

Danica gasped seeing the Rose mansion. She had only ever seen it in the WhyNTube videos. After all, it wasn’t owned by her former close friends three years back. Back then, everyone lived with their parents. There was a momentary sadness that she was absent in all those times when they started to live on their own in a new place. Yet, there was a profound admiration for them as well – about the fact that even after graduating high school, the four of her friends stuck together.

“Wow. Am I still dreaming or what? This is too miraculous to be true. Dani, pinch me,” Aziel let out in awe, poking his sister who just smiled at him. The mansion was huge and beautiful with blue tiles covering the roof. The fountain in front of the entrance gave it a much-refined look from the outside. The golden painted walls screamed that it was going to be a week filled with thrilling adventures.

“If I pinch you, you will wish I hadn’t,” she informed him.

He giggled and ran to Hernan. “Can you give me a tour of this mansion right now? It seems familiar. Do you live here? Oh my god, is it the Rose mansion?”

Hernan looked amused at Aziel’s excitement. He said, “Fine, let’s go for a house tour. I will answer all of your questions on the way.” He grabbed Aziel’s small hand and glanced at Danica who was still standing on the porch. “Hazel, why don’t you go inside and meet Troy first? He must be waiting for your arrival.”

“F-shut up, blond.” With that, she walked inside. Danica couldn’t curse in front of a kid after all.

As soon as she stepped in, she immediately knew it was the familiar living room, where Troy had shot most of his YouTube videos. The cameras were set in every direction, and Troy was recording something wearing his mustard-colored merch which had the label ‘Stones forever’. He is busy shooting his video, that’s why he couldn’t pick us up and sent Hernan, she assured herself.

“Hey, Stones. Welcome back to Troy’s Reels. Today, I am doing live since it’s been decades since I made one. No, actually just three months, so don’t come to kill me just yet,” Troy spoke to the camera, which an unfamiliar man was holding. Danica guessed it was Troy’s cameraman. “In today’s live video, I will be pranking my twin, who is my annoying sister Gabrielle Kingston. She will walk by the living room within a few minutes with her boyfriend, Trevor Bennett.”

A small smile formed on Danica’s face at the mention of Gabrielle. She was dying to congratulate her closest friend for finally being able to confess her feelings to Trevor. She was ecstatic to see the news on-trend two years ago and glad that her ship had sailed. After all, she shipped those two of her best friends ever since high school. But soon she gasped hearing that Troy would prank Gabrielle. She was well aware that Troy’s pranks were always dangerous, especially for a celebrity figure like Gabrielle, who had had shootings every day. Little did she know he actually had something really horrible planned for his sister.

Hearing the gasp, Troy turned to look at Danica and winked at her playfully. She looked around a few times only to realize she was the only one standing in that place, near Troy. Her breath hitched realizing that her old crush had just winked at her. To prevent any words from her mouth, she bit her lips.

She stood there like a statue, waiting for Gabrielle to come, also trying not to stare at Troy who had gotten way more handsome over the years.

Meanwhile, Hernan was enjoying the little kid’s company. He showed Aziel around the house and promised to shoot a vlog with him. After the mansion tour, Hernan entered through the front door along with Aziel. He smirked seeing the time on his wristwatch; it was 4 o’clock, which meant it was time to see Gabrielle getting pranked and he would love to have Aziel watch it too. After all, he would get to witness a live prank between celebrities.

Everyone got alerted as soon as they heard the sharp clicking of heels coming from the main hallway, indicating the arrival of Gabrielle. Gabrielle and Trevor walked into the living room, hand-in-hand, making their way toward the main door. As Trevor’s eyes were wandering around in boredom, he caught one of Troy’s men standing on the second floor with a bucket in his hand. He also noticed the surrounding cameras, especially the cameraman standing near Danica and Troy. He immediately understood what was going to happen.

On the other hand, Gabrielle was busy talking over the phone, so she failed to notice any of the traps and Danica. “Yes, I’m heading out right now,” mumbled Gabrielle, as she continued walking straight.

Knowing Trevor would have to teleport to stop Gabrielle right in time, which isn’t scientifically possible yet, he let go of her hand and took large steps toward Danica behind Troy’s back. He couldn’t let whatever the bucket contained fall on his girlfriend’s perfectly styled hair, especially when she had to go to shoot within an hour – he would hate to see her suffer. Without a second doubt, he was willing to sacrifice his former best friend for the sake of his beloved girlfriend, so he reached out to Danica and mumbled in a quiet, apologetic voice, “I am sorry, Danica.”

Danica furrowed her brows. Before she was able to face Trevor who appeared behind her out of nowhere, she was pushed toward Troy. Gabrielle had almost reached Troy, so the man on the second floor poured the color of the bucket.

Danica’s chest harshly collided with Troy’s at the sudden push, making their lips touch. The pink hair dye from the bucket was now spilled all over Troy and Danica while their lips remained connected to each other. No one was sure why they were so shocked. Was it because they kissed or because they kissed on-screen with almost two million viewers watching the live video of the famous WhyNTuber, Troy Kingston?