Secrets Not Lies

Chapter Twenty-Three - the First of Many

"Phil is not on fire?" I read in confusion, leaning in front of Phil to see if I'd read the title right.

We'd spent the day filming a Q&A type video, which had been a surprising amount of fun. Afterward, we'd sat down at his desk, where he showed me how to edit just in case I ended up losing our bet---which I doubted.

"Yeah," Phil answered, turning from the screen to look at me. "Your channel is going to be called Danisnotonfire, right? I combined our names."

I gave him a skeptical look. "I'm still not sure about the name—or if I'll even have to start a channel."

"I guarantee people will love you," Phil tried to convince me.

I shook my head but didn't say anything. I didn't feel like arguing with him, as it would end up nowhere.

It was two days after Christmas which meant my parents had left. I was thankful for that, and even if I missed them, I knew living with them would never work again. Phil and I could kiss whenever we wanted now—which was quite often—and we hadn't left the house in a week. It was nice having nothing to do.

As Phil clicked the upload button, I held my breath. I figured Phil's subscribers were nice if they like him, but I didn't know what they would think of me. Probably not much considering Phil was still the main person in the video.

"There, it's up," he told me excitedly. "I can't wait for you to start your channel. You have some funny stories to tell—like when you set your pasta on fire in University."

Despite not thinking I was going to end up a YouTuber like Phil was convinced, I laughed along with him at the memory of that terrifying incident.

Phil relaxed back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest. His eyes roamed from the screen in front of him to me with a slightly unimpressed look.

"What?" I asked.

"I just remembered we have to do groceries today," he groaned. "I don't want to go outside."

I sighed with annoyance as I remembered how low we were running on food. We hadn't gone grocery shopping since before my parents stayed with us.

"Can't we just put it off another day?" I whined, hoping he would say yes.

He looked to be debating it but, in the end, shook his head. "I don't think we'll eat supper if we do that."

Slumping down in my chair with a tired look, I said, "Fine."

"Let's get dressed," Phil suggested, already getting out of his chair.

I closed the tab on his computer before reluctantly getting up too. We wandered off to our rooms, slowly getting changed to procrastinate going out.

We ended up leaving our apartment not long after to be hit with an icy, swirling wind as soon as we stepped outside. I shoved my hands into my pockets, squinting through the blizzard of snowflakes ahead of us.

Just as I'd predicted, I was already fed up with the snow.

After trudging to the store and picking out a bare minimum of food from the shelves, we lugged our cart over to the queue to pay for everything. We were both impatient, wanting to get home, so we stood in an irritated silence at how long it was taking.

I noticed someone hovering close behind me and Phil, and just as I glanced at them, they tapped Phil on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, but could I get a picture?" the girl asked. It seemed like she couldn't decide whether to be nervous in front of him or excited.