Five Years ↣ D. DOBRIK

iii

As Scotty pulled up to his house, he turned down the radio and stared at his best friend. Ausha turned her head away from the window at the loss of her favourite song and threw a glance at Scotty.

"What?" She asked softly. Scotty parked the car and rolled up his window. He got out and ran around the car to open her door for her, leading her to the hood of his car.

"You know I love you right?" he questioned, throwing his arm over her shoulder. Ausha nodded and set her head on Scotty's shoulder. "Good, now that you know that, if you ever leave my fucking house again without a note or a call, I will murder you and take your dog away." Ausha lifted her head off her friends shoulder and looked at him.

"Scotty I don't have a dog?" Scotty smiled and kissed her forehead. Ausha followed after her friend in confusion. The door to his house swing open and the darkness greeted her. When the lights flickered on, a group of people with cameras were shouting in her face.

"I know you didn't get to celebrate your birthday back in Newport, so I brought my friends over here to give you the party you deserve, happy eighteenth birthday Aush!" Ausha looked at her best friend with tears eyes, which only got worse when his friend came out of the kitchen with a small black puppy in his arms. Ausha gasped and walked slowly toward the man, pushing the anxiety of approaching a stranger aside.

The man allowed Ausha to take the puppy from his grasp, tipping his hat politely before walking away. Her best friend kissed her forehead and patted the dog in her arms.

"His name is up to you, but we found him on the streets. He's healthy, and I decided to bring him home for you. But you clean up his shit and piss you understand Huxley?" Ausha nodded and let out a small sob. "You may be a legal adult now, but you still can't drink. So if I catch you drinking tonight, that dog is getting thrown in the fire pit out back."

"We don't have a fire pit!" Ausha exclaimed as Scotty walked away.

"Then I'll build one dumbass!" Ausha watched her best friends back as he disappeared into the crowd, leaving her alone with her nameless dog surrounded by people she didn't know. She watched the people in the crowd mingle, before she decided to head to her room with her puppy. Ausha slipped into her room and locked the door.

The black puppy ran in circles around her room before he found the mattress on the ground and decided to sleep on it. Ausha smiled and slipped off her shoes, ready to sleep next to the dog. Her phone chimes from her back pocket, and she looked at the text sent from an unknown number.

(506)2949271
Hey! How are you?

She could only assume it was one of the two boys she met at Target. Target! Fuck, her comforter! Ausha's head dropped, and she angrily slipped her shoes back on her feet so she could run out to Scotty's car and get her blanket. Ausha texted back a quick reply to the mysterious boy, before slipping her head out her door and checking to see if anyone was looking. Ausha ran through the growing crowd of people, slipping past all the adults and grabbing Scotty's keys from the rack by the front door. Ausha ran down the concrete steps in front of the house and straight into someone's chest.

Ausha audibly groaned once her back hit the corner of the step behind her, even louder when a pair of hands picked her up. Her eyes were tightly shut, she believed closing her eyes would shield her away from anymore pain, a stupid thought, but she could only hope.

"Hey! Hey Ausha are you okay?" David's voice drowned out the ringing in her ears. Ausha held her palms to her ears and slowly sat down on the step she just fell on. She hummed in response to David's question, wiping a sly tear from the corner of her eye.

"Hey Dave! How are you? Can I call you Dave, or is it strictly David? Would you like to see my dog? Wait — don't answer any of those yet, how do you know where I live?" David grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently.

"My friend invited me here for a party, where are you going?" Ausha opened her eyes and peeked at the doe-eyed boy.

"My comforter is in Scotty's car, Toothless and I are going to be cold tonight without it!" David nodded his head and walked down the steps, holding Ausha's shoulders gently, guiding her toward the sea of cars. Ausha took the lead, tugging the boy's hand so he'd follow her. The two made their way to Scotty's car, David watching the beautiful girl with careful eyes.

"So David Dobrik, what do you do for a living? Or do you still live with your parents?" Ausha laughed joyfully at her stupid joke. David smiled at her laugh — he knew in that second that he wanted to make her laugh for the rest of her life.

"I actually moved out here a month ago. I graduated high school back in Vernon Hills, then I moved here with my friends. I don't have a good job, I'm just a Viner with a dream to become something more." Ausha pulled her head out from Scotty's trunk at smiled at the boy.

"I'm positive you'll get there, but you just need to work for it. Any ideas on how to kickstart your career?" David's cheeks were tinted pink, she was the first person to not make fun of his dream, most people laughed and asked what college he was planning to attend.

"Actually I bought a camera a couple days ago, I was going to start vlogging my days and posting it on YouTube. I already have one video up, but I want a lot more y'know?" Ausha slammed Scotty's car trunk shut and grabbed David's arm with her free hand.

"Do you have it now?" David nodded and pointed to his car down the street. Ausha chuckled and shook her head. "Davey, I hope you realise someone could've stolen it." David shrugged, refusing to smile at the new nickname she gave him. The two walked side by side to David's car to get his camera.

"We're going to vlog this party. I'm too young to drink, but I know for a fact everyone else is drinking. There's going to be weird things in there!" David nodded and followed Ausha back into the house. He ignored all of his friends calling for him to drink with them, and he trailed after Ausha to her room like a lost puppy. Ausha slipped into her room and David followed after, making sure to lock it behind him so no one would enter.

David immediately laid next to her dog on the mattress, messing with his camera as Ausha took her shoes off. She laid on the bed, setting her head next to his.

"Are you ready to film?" Ausha questioned with the brightest smile. David nodded his head and turned the camera on and flipped it over so he could look into the lens as he spoke.

"Hey guys, I've made a new friend, please introduce yourself to the people!" Ausha looked up at the lens and grinned.

"Hi! I'm Ausha Huxley and you're watching David Dobrik's vlog!" David laughed and set down his camera.

"Let's go party!"