Turn That Frown Upside Down- Part 13

“Why are we filming this again?” Lauren asked from the dining room table. We had invited her over to help us with filming our last moments together.
“Because it’s funny!” I mumbled through the tangled mess of arms and legs. We were playing Twister and Anthony’s hand had (accidentally?) hit my butt.
“Hey, don’t stare at my ass back there!” I yelled at him.
“Too late!” I heard him chuckle.
My arms were spread out across the mat, but my legs were closer together. Nicolette was on my left, her right arm crossed my left arm and her right leg crossed both my legs. Anthony was directly behind me. His right arm was in between my legs and his left arm lay one space next to my left leg. His face was (purposely?) facing my tight jeaned butt. Ian was behind Nicolette and I had to wonder if they had planned it out to be as sexual as possible.
“Can you please slap Anthony every time he looks at my ass?” I asked Lauren.
I heard her walk up to him and smack him on the top of the head.
“Ow!!!” He lifted up the hand that was in between my legs, hitting one of my private parts, causing me to jump up, causing Nicolette’s legs to come flying out from under her causing her to kick Ian in the face causing him to fall down onto Anthony’s legs causing him to fall flat on his stomach. Lauren was on the ground howling in laughter.
“Well that was fun, I’m glad I got a concussion to remind me of you two.” Ian rubbed the part of his head that Nico had kicked.
We tried to untangle each other from the Twister mat, and finally succeeded. Lauren had subsequently ceased laughing and sat on the ground, legs sprawled out in front of her. She turned the camera towards herself,
“I’m sorry guys, but wait until you watch this video; that was HILARIOUS!” She turned it back to face our group.
“What’s next?” She asked.
“Charades?” I suggested.
“Why not? I have a box of ideas in my closet somewhere…” Anthony trailed off into his room. We heard shuffling and loud thumping before he exploded out of his room.
“My closet tried to eat me.” He said with a straight face which made us crack up.
He laid the box on the coffee table that Ian had moved back from Twister and we separated into teams.
“You wanna be on our team Lauren?” Anthony and I asked her.
“Heck yeah!” She brought the camera with her.
Ian and Nicolette were first. They started with a movie; Ian did some weird gestures with his hands before galloping into the hallway.
“What the hell?!” Nicolette exclaimed, “Stallion? Gone With the Wind? Brokeback Mountain?!”
“BINGO!” Ian tapped his nose and sat down, “Twenty points for us!”
“Twenty points?!” I smacked his hand that was writing down the score, “Um no, you get three for terrible acting. Besides, I’m the score keeper.” I took the paper and wrote down the score.
“Okay Anthony, you’re turn!” I said after I finished the score.
Anthony took a card, read it and laughed. It was another movie, but instead of galloping, he started kicking and punching the air! He rolled on the ground, popped up, punched an invisible man three times then pointed to his ass.
“Kick-ass?!” I shouted.
“HELL YEAH IT IS!!!!” He cheered and sat down.
“That deserves twenty points!” I wrote down our cheating score.
“You douche nozzle, you get two for terrible karate moves!” Ian tried to snatch the pen away from me but I retreated.
“No!” I pretended to bite him and moved to the other end of the couch.
The rest of the night continued with charades and ended with an un-cut special showing of the video they were gonna post Friday.
When it was time for bed, I led Anthony into my room.
“The last night we’re spending together for a while…”I trailed on.
“Might as well spend it with you.” He finished my sentence before laying me on the bed. He kissed my neck. I gently pulled his hair in indulgence; feeling the air rise in temperature. His lips climbed my neck and reached my lips. I kissed him back, tasting the newly fresh chewed mint he had eaten probably for this specific occasion. Our lips intertwined, our tongues touching ever so slightly. He raised my arms, kissing them as they went over my head. Unfortunately I was getting pretty tired; it was past midnight. Anthony was in the moment so I felt bad when I had to tell him I needed to sleep.
“I’m sorry.” I whispered as he lay down next to me.
“It’s fine.” He whispered back.
I turned to lie on my side; he followed and scooted closer to me. He put his arm around my waist and intertwined his fingers into mine.
“I’m gonna miss you.” He let out in a breath.
“I’m gonna miss you more.” I kissed his hand that was held in mine.
The last thing I heard before drifting to sleep was Anthony’s soft breathing and my thumping heart.


I woke up alone for the last time this week. Anthony wasn’t in my room but a note on the night table was. It read,
“Hey Tailynn, Ian and I went out to buy a special breakfast for you and Nicolette. Will be back in fifteen minutes, :) Anthony”
I smiled at the note and sat up to take it off the stand. I folded it and placed it on top of my suitcase. I stood up and stretched; I was still tired but knew I had to get up and get ready to leave. I left the room without fixing my hair or fixing my left over makeup. I didn’t care as long as Ian and Anthony weren’t around. I went into the living room seeing Nicolette on the couch, watching early morning TV.
“Hey Tay, did you get Anthony’s note?”
“Yeah, did you get one?”
“No I was up when they decided to get breakfast for us.” She gave me a half smile, “I don’t wanna leave.”
“Oh hun, me neither.” Our conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door.
Nico giggled as she got up to answer it, “Oh guys, did you really forget your k-”
She cut her sentence short when she opened the door. I was curious to see who it was since I knew it couldn’t be the boys. I snuck up to the doorframe next to Nicolette. A tall, slender, blonde haired girl stood in the doorway. Her hair was perched on top of her head, big sunglasses engulfed her face and she smelled like a flower shop had just exploded.
“Oh, I’m sorry, who are you?” Nico asked.
“Me? Oh god, really? I thought he told you honey.” She was chewing bubblegum.
“Told her what?” I stepped up to defend my best friend.
She rolled her eyes, “I’m Ian’s girlfriend.”

Turn That Frown Upside Down- Part 12

When we treaded in the house, Nicolette gasped, “Why are you guys soaking wet?”
“Look outside Nic, it’s raining.” I giggled at her expression. She looked exactly like the :O emoticon.
“I know that, but why didn’t you bring an umbrella?”
I shivered, “Because I wanted to kiss Anthony in the rain.” I smiled and made my way to my room to get dry clothes. I heard Anthony trailing behind me once again but heard him trample into his room to follow my example.
We both came out of our rooms at the same time but stopped at the entrance of the bathroom door.
“Ladies first.” He offered me forward with a swoop of his hand.
“Nah, you look colder, you go ahead first.” I mimicked his gesture.
“I insist.”
“No, I insist.”
“Okay if you say so, I’ll go first.” He started to walk into the bathroom but I blocked his way,
“Well if you really want me to go first then I will.” I laughed as I backed up into the bathroom, keeping my eyes on his gorgeous stringy now black hair.
But instead of waiting in the hallway like I had supposed he would, he followed me into the bathroom.
“Hey, I thought we agreed to keep the sexual tension on the down low.” I giggled.
“When did we ever make such a deal?” he reached for two towels hanging on the shower door and handed one to me. I bent over so my hair hung in the air and folded the towel in between my wet hair to dry it off.
“When you were half naked in your bed this morning, that’s when.” I said when I stood back up.
“Ah well I don’t remember promising you that I wouldn’t keep my hands off of you now did I?” He reached for my wet t-shirt which I had now realized was see-through and my black bra was popping out at everyone.
“Well, I am soaked; I guess you could help me get dry.” I smiled as he kissed me.
“I was thinking a little more than just helping you get dry.” He said through our kisses.
My wet sticky t-shirt had finally managed to come off, showing a white belly; with the exception of a little green alien head tattooed next to my belly button.
Anthony immediately noticed it when he took the towel to dry me off.
“That’s cute, when did you get it?”
“For my 19th birthday.” I kept my answer short and simple so we didn’t lose the tension.
I reached my arms over and pulled Anthony’s shirt over his head; it was tough since the shirt stuck to every part of his body but when it was off, I wrapped my arms around his neck to kiss him and accidentally pushed him so he hit the door.
We laughed with our lips locked and didn’t even notice when Ian asked what we were doing. Anthony jumped when Ian pounded on the door,
“What are you two doing in there?”
“Nothing Ian, go away!” I snapped at him.
“Stop making babies in there!” Anthony laughed at Ian’s statement.
“Never!” he shouted.
“We’re not doing anything like that Ian, geez!” I chuckled.
When we heard Ian’s footsteps drift off down the hallway, Anthony began kissing me again but I digressed.
“He chilled my mood.” I grumbled.
“Screw Ian, he’s just jealous he’s never gone all the way with anyone.” Anthony tried to convince me but I just laughed,
“Yeah right.”
We separated so that we could finish getting dressed and finally shuffled out of the bathroom as if nothing had happened. Ian had just sat down next to Nicolette when we entered the living/dining room. Lunch was piled in front of them; we must’ve just not noticed it when we had first walked through the door because it seemed as if they had made it speedy fast.
All the more, we sat down and ate the food they had prepared for all of us. It was a silent lunch; I didn’t know why Nico and Ian were so quiet, did something happen while we were away?
“So guys…” I tried starting up a conversation, “what did you do when we were gone?”
“Nothing, just work.” Nicolette said through a stuffed mouth.
“Yeah, just work and nothing.” Repeated Ian.
“Something’s not right.” I had to bring it up.
“Of course it’s not right! We’re leaving in a couple of hours!” Nicolette burst out. She ran into our room and slammed the door.
“I’ll be right back.” I excused myself from the table and made my way to our room.
When I opened the door, I saw Nico angrily throwing things into her bag.
“Anthony and I talked about this during our walk,” I said softly, “we agreed that we could stay for one more night.” Nicolette froze in her tracks and looked at me.
“Really?”
I nodded, “yes, really.”
She squealed and jumped into my arms, “We’re gonna make tonight last!” she said.
We came out of our room feeling great and when I saw Ian’s face, he looked both happy but worried.
I sat in Anthony’s lap and he wrapped his arms around my waist.
“Let’s do something as a celebration for our last day here.” I announced.
“Let’s film a video!” Anthony piped up.
“You always wanna film everything!” Ian chimed in.
“Hey, videos are memories best friend.” I said and got everyone to nod in agreement.
Anthony grabbed a video camera out of his front pocket and turned it around so the lens faced us.
“You really love video cameras dontcha?” I laughed.
He pressed record, “Hey everyone,” he started, “this is my new beautiful girlfriend Tailynn.” I grinned and turned to give him a smooch.
“I plan on this not getting out to anybody,” I jokingly winked at the camera, “people find out who I am, there’s gonna be a ton of angry girls sending me threatening emails.”
“They have beef with you they can take it up with me.” Anthony growled at the camera, “ya hear?!”
We laughed and he turned the camera back to film what we were going to do for the rest of the evening…

Turn That Frown Upside Down- Part 11

I woke up on the couch, rubbing my eyes from the sun shining into my face from the cracks of the blinds on the windows. I looked around; wondering what had happened last night and why I wasn’t in my temporary room. I remember I had fallen asleep right as Rose kissed Jack’s hand and sent him pummeling to the ocean floor; I was gripping Anthony’s black Zelda themed shirt before my eyes gave in to the night. Where was Anthony anyway?
Sitting up, I twisted my neck around to check the kitchen area but to my disappointment, the sunlight revealed that nobody was there. Twisting back around to face the window, and to get a face full of blinding sun, I shook my head and fluttered my eyelashes to get the tired out of my face before standing up. After a couple of minutes of listening to the birds chirping outside, which to my surprise didn’t annoy me quite as much as it usually did, I swung my legs to the edge of the couch and stood up. I was straightening my shirt when I heard a soft conversation coming from mine and Nico’s room. When I listened closely I could tell it was Ian’s voice, but nobody was talking back to him; he must’ve been on the phone.
“They’re leaving this afternoon…” was the first thing I could make out, “…….well I guess you can come over tomorrow morning then…….…yes, they’re my friends, I told you already………..because they’re our guests, I’m not gonna take you with me everywhere I go!........okay…..yes, that’s fine………I’ll see you tomorrow then……okay I love you too, bye.” The tiny gears in my head twisted and turned ‘round and ‘round until I realized what he was doing; his mom was wayyyy too attached to him!
The doorknob turned but I didn’t move; I wanted to talk to him,
“Morning Ian!” I startled him.
“Oh geez Tailynn you scared me!” I noticed him put away his cell phone in his jean pocket.
“Listen, I know things can get real tough when it comes to doing what you’re doing; women like that can get attached wayyyy too easily.” I put my hand on his shoulder, trying to let him know I understood his pain.
“What? Oh the phone call? You heard that?”
“You don’t have to be embarrassed, my mom used to do that all the time when I first moved out; but she eventually learned to call me every other week and only visited when I wanted her to. I understand Ian, don’t worry.”
He looked relieved, “Oh right, yeah my mom can be pretty clingy sometimes.” He itched his neck, “you want breakfast?” he was quick to change the subject but I didn’t mind.
“Of course.” I let him pass by me to get to the kitchen, “where’s Anthony?”
“Still sleeping, he couldn’t get to sleep last night, so I’m letting him sleep more…I was in your room with Nicolette last night, by the way, Anthony and I don’t sleep in the same bed.” He was sure to bring that to my attention.
“Right.” I muttered as I made my way to Anthony’s room.
I quietly opened the door to reveal a messy bed and a lump in the covers, a cute dark haired head was the only thing poking out from the bottom of the bed. I tried my best to tip-toe into the room, freezing in my tracks every time he sniffled or shifted in his sleep. I inched closer to the bed until I was close enough to gently pull the covers down to his shoulders. His shoulders were bare; meaning he had taken off his shirt for bed. I gulped, staring at them, forgetting what I was doing in there in the first place. I finally got to my senses when he turned around, mumbling something about rabbits.
Not exactly sure about how to wake him, I gently kissed his restless lips; I kissed him again and again until his lips turned into a smile and kissed mine back. His eyes remained closed and I could tell he wouldn’t rather be waked any other way than this. When I pulled away, Anthony’s eyes opened and his eyebrows came together to make a “v”.
“Breakfast is ready!” Was all I said to turn the “v” upside down.
“Alllllright!!!” he bounded up out of bed. The sheets fell off revealing a tannish chest, cute naval and attractive boxers.
“Woah, I’m half naked!” he announced to me, even though I had already noticed, “whatever, you’re my girlfriend, you’ll probably see what’s underneath here someday.”
I gasped and playfully hit his shoulder, “You’re sick Anthony!!!” I laughed.
I left the room so he could get dressed, secretly longing to remain in the room with him but since Ian and Nico were still in the house, figured that it’d be better if we kept the sexual tension on the down low. Anthony finally came out of his bedroom looking as hot as ever and joined Ian in making breakfast.
“Hey you got Anthony up!” Ian shot me a surprised look, “how did you do that? I can never wake him up!”
“I don’t think he’d wake up the same way he did if you were the one that woke him up the way I did…” I let the complicated sentence mush up in his mind as Anthony gagged, probably imagining how he’d react if Ian kissed him awake.
“I don’t know Tay, he could like it!”
Anthony and I both cracked up; we laughed so hard that I started coughing and Anthony started crying. Our laughing fit must’ve waked Nicolette up because the next thing we heard was,
“What’s so funny?”
“Ian wants to kiss Anthony.” I burst into more laughter just hearing myself say it. Ian finally understood what he had said and chuckled,
“Okay maybe he wouldn’t like it so much…”
Anthony shook his head, “no, no I wouldn’t. Don’t ever kiss me ever!”

After a peaceful, happy going breakfast, Nicolette introduced to us the schedule she had made up the night before.
“Ian and I will finish up the last of my video project and you and Anthony can take a walk and talk about things, then we can have lunch, then we’re gonna pack and then we gotta get going before traffic gets real bad. Okay?” she looked at us.
“Yeah…yeah I guess that’s a good plan…” Anthony forced his head to nod.
We stood up, ready to put Nicolette’s plan in action. I headed towards the front door to get my shoes and jacket; hearing Anthony’s soft footsteps trailing behind me.
“So we’re actually gonna take a walk?” his sudden question tickled my ear.
“Yes, I think we should talk.” I answered.
Saying goodbye to Ian and Nico we took each others hand and headed out the door. It was a cloudy day; dark gray clouds hung down low in the sky and the air was more moist than usual. I searched the heavens for the sun but couldn’t find it anywhere. I was sure it was going to rain; but didn’t mention bringing an umbrella, slightly hoping we would get caught in the rain.
We started on the same route I had taken the day before. The walk began quiet, the only sound being our footsteps on the hard concrete. We were halfway through the route when Anthony spoke,
“I don’t want you to leave. Not yet.”
I instinctively stopped in my tracks, pulling him back by our connected hands.
“You mean that?”
“Of course.”
I stared up at his dark brown eyes, thinking of what to say.
“You should stay one more night; with me.” He added.
“Um…okay, why not?”
He picked me up in a giant hug and kissed me, “you’re amazing!”
I laughed, “you’re crazy!”
When he put me down we continued to walk down the street in silence; but this time we were both grinning in delight; definitely enjoying each others company.
I recognized a street sign and knew how close we were to getting back home when we first heard the pitter-patter of warm rain hitting the streets and roofs of the neighborhood houses.
“Oh shit!” Anthony exclaimed and tried to run but I held him back.
“Let’s get soaked!” I giggled as I let go of his hand to extend my arms outward. I threw my face to the sky, shutting my eyes, and shouted, “I LOVE RAIN!!!!”
Anthony laughed, “you’re so cute.”
I looked at him; his dark hair lay in front of his eyes in strings, his eyes squinted towards me as his laugh serenaded my wet ears. His clothes clung to him as if trying to keep dry, but the amount of rain pouring from the sky prevented any part of us from being dry.
I ran towards him and jumped into his arms. He swung me around again as we kissed. His lips were cold and wet but I didn’t care. This was exactly what I wanted; a rain kiss.

Turn That Frown Upside Down- Part 10

Now that that was all taken care of, I was praying that we could have the rest of the day be normal and fun, after all; we only had a day left.
We all ate lunch at the table, Ian and Anthony cracked multiple jokes whenever the camera was pointed at their cute faces. Nico, Lauren and I accompanied their jokes with laughter, as if they had their own laugh track.
In the middle of our feast, Ian announced to Anthony what time it was.
“FINDING TWITTER QUESTIONS, FINDING TWITTER QUESTIONS, FINDING TWITTER QUESTIONS, FINDING TWITTER QUESTIONS!” we all chimed in together, waving our fists in a “u” shape.
“SmoshyDeendra asks; if the FBI breaks your door down, do they have to pay for it?” Anthony stared at Ian for a response.
“Uhhh hell yeah they do! Those bastards better have a good reason for breaking it down too! I mean, unless I have some illegal marijuana somewhere around here they shouldn’t be comin’ in here any time soon…” Ian cupped his jacket pockets, “yeah, we’re good.” We all laughed with food in our mouths.
When we finished with our food Anthony asked Ian, “So Ian, what would you rate these sammiches?!”
“15 out of 15 submarine tanks.” He grinned widely.
“How about you Laur?” Anthony pointed the camera at Laurens face.
“Ehhh…12 out of 13 firetrucks!” she giggled.
“Tailynn and Nicolette?” it was our turn.
“14 out of 10 raman noodles!” I came up with the stupidest thing I could think of.
“9 out of 11 samari’s fighting invisible ninja monkeys!!!” Nicolette had topped all of us.
“Hell yeah!!!” Anthony laughed and high fived her.
After the camera had turned off and we cleaned up the table full of trash; Lauren headed home and Nico took Anthony to his room to help with her “school project”. That left Ian and I alone.
“Hey uhhh, Tailynn?” he called me to his attention.
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry I was kinda being an asshole to you before. It wasn’t really my part to judge.” He was leaning up against the counter in the kitchen, arms loosely crossed across his stomach, his blue eyes begging me to forgive him. I couldn’t see why I wouldn’t forgive him; he seemed sincere and honest.
“I forgive you Ian.” I smiled at him from the dining table and he smiled back.
“Well I’m gonna go watch some TV to let this ol’ thing digest.” Ian pointed to his belly.
“Okay, have fun!” I giggled as he trotted out of the kitchen and into the living room.
It was the calm after the storm, I didn’t know exactly what I could do to pass the time. I decided I might as well keep an eye on Anthony and Nicolette, just in case Nico fell into his gorgeous brown eyes and adorable laugh and couldn’t get out. I stood up and walked to Anthony’s room.
“Hey guys!” I said as I opened the door.
“Oh hey Tay! Check out what Anthony just taught me!” Nico motioned me towards her.
“Wh-what?!” I studdered.
“Yeah, look, he showed me how to put text in the video!!! Neat huh?”
My heartbeat set back to it’s normal speed, “oh, oh right yeah that’s really cool.” I felt bad that I couldn’t trust her alone with my boyfriend even after we had that fight.
“Hey Tailynn, she’s gettin’ better with the technology here; I’m sure she’s gonna get an A on this thing.”
I chuckled, “Yeeeeahhhh maybe.”
“So what are you going to do for the rest of the day?” Anthony took my hand and kissed it.
“I dunno, just hang out here. Do you have any other filming to do today?” I knew they had to be busy; after all, they did have multiple videos released every week.
“Not today, probably just a lot of editing; and of course spending more time with you. You leave tomorrow afternoon right?”
“Yeah…” I tried not to sound like I wanted to go home. I really wanted to go home, but I wanted him to come with.
“Well, enough work for today, let’s play some video games or something. Do you like video games?”
I nodded viciously, “hell yeah! I LOVE video games, especially Call of Duty.”
“I think I’m in love.” I heard Anthony mutter to Nico.
I giggled, “let’s do this.”
Anthony and I played Black Ops for about two hours; eventually Ian joined in on his Xbox 360 in the living room. After another hour and a half, we got hungry and bored again.
“I vote we watch a movie.” I said to Ian through the extra headset Anthony gave me.
“I second the vote.” Anthony said.
“Good idea, let’s watch Titanic!” Ian replied.
“Ugh not that one, I hate that movie! It’s too romantic!” I complained. I heard Nico announce she loved it in the background.
“Exactly!” Ian laughed and his headset disconnected.
We had no choice but to quit the game and meet in the living room again. The living room was littered with chip crumbs, soda cans and books from the coffee table.
“What the hell did you do out here?” I asked Ian.
“He gets into the game…a lot.” Nicolette answered for me. I raised my eyebrows at her and she raised hers at me.
“I already got the movie in!” Ian bounded towards us from the kitchen, “and dinners in the microwave!” We heard popping noises.
“Popcorn isn’t dinner Ian!” Anthony and I echoed each other.
“Whatever, I just wanna watch Titanic!” Ian jumped in the air and clapped like a tweenage girl, “I can’t wait!”
“Wow Ian, I never thought I’d see the gay in you.” I joked.
“When it comes to Leonardo DiCaprio, I’m as gay as you can get!”
I laughed and looked at Anthony who was nodding, “This happens every time we see a Leo movie. I’m never seeing Inception again.” I laughed harder.
After the awkward conversation about Ian’s crush on DiCaprio, we grabbed the two bags of popcorn and huddled into the living room, cramming onto the couch.
It was close to the end of the movie when I realized I was practically sitting on top of Anthony, even though I hated this movie, it still scared me every time I saw the giant boat stuck up in the air. Anthony brushed my hand he was holding with his index finger when he saw the first tear in my eye. Without saying a word, he reached up to my eye, and wiped the tear away. Kissing my forehead I heard him whisper, “don’t leave.” I didn’t know if he was talking about leaving the room or leaving Sacramento. Either way, my heart skipped three beats and I hugged him tight, showing him how happy I was to be here right this moment.

Turn That Frown Upside Down- Part 9

“Wow REALLY?!” my hands turned to fists.
“Yeah really! You know how much I’ve liked Anthony since the day I discovered Smosh! You’ve never EVER liked Smosh until all of a damn sudden, you guys start liking each other! I should’ve never brought you with me, I would’ve been a lot happier without you here!!!” she stabbed me in the heart, one word at a time.
“That’s what you think huh?! Well I’ve NEVER accepted your stupid ass weird obsession over these guys! All you ever do is talk about Smosh; Smosh this, Smosh that, oh did you see the new vid of Smosh? NO I DIDN’T ‘CAUSE I DIDN’T LIKE THEIR VIDEOS!!!!!! You need to grow up and live a fucking life instead of wasting it on nothing!!!” I noticed that my hands were shaking and that I was yelling to prevent myself from crying.
We stopped at a stop light which gave Nico enough time to unbuckle her seatbelt and storm out of the car.
“Wow, are you kidding me?!” I yelled at her.
“Shut up!” I heard her cracked voice fade away as she passed the cars to get to the sidewalk.
I was so furious at her that I didn’t even care that she had left the car unmanned. I jumped to the driver’s seat just in time as the light flashed back to green. I gripped the steering wheel; watching my knuckles turn white in angst. I pushed down the pedal a little bit too hard; so hard we jolted forwards. As we were speeding down the road, I felt something wet slip down my cheek, was I crying?
Lauren and Anthony were dead quiet but I didn’t mind. I needed them to be quiet for the time being. The air was thick even though the top was down and the gusts of wind I accidentally swallowed made me cough. When we arrived at Jimmy John’s, Nico was nowhere to be found, I was sure she would’ve been waiting sheepishly at the front, ready to apologize for what she’d said and done. Instead, we saw Ian’s car crookedly parked in a handicap space.
Lauren burst in laughter the minute she saw Ian’s car. Lauren’s laugh infected Anthony who’s sweet laugh infected me. Soon enough we were all sitting inside Nico’s car, laughing at the strangely funny sight before us.
“I kinda hope he gets a ticket!” I managed to get out between breaths. My tears that were once for Nico and my fight were now for Ian’s hilarious parking job.
Finally we all managed to catch our breaths and wipe our tears away. As soon as I stepped out of the drivers seat, I spotted Nicolette with her arms crossed, a frown planted on her face. I took Anthony’s hand and marched into Jimmy John’s, trying to avoid any contact with Nico.
The air in Jimmy John’s was lighter. It was as if the simple scent of freshly baked bread wafting around lifted the tension from my shoulders. I actually started to relax, and my grip on Anthony’s hand loosened. I shut my eyes and breathed in the smell of chopped onions, crisp tomatoes and the mixture of different spices. My moment of relaxation was interrupted by a familiar voice,
“Hey guys!!!” Ian greeted us from a table in a corner, “what’s up?!”
“We’re getting food.” I replied, complimenting my newly formed frown with scrunched eyebrows.
Nicolette walked in as we were ordering our sandwiches. I didn’t bother looking at her, I knew she was just going to whine to Ian about our fight and most likely get him on her side. That was something she did best; whine and convince.
I took a glance at the two of them; they were hugging and I heard Ian whispering something to her. Just as I was about to look away, Ian shot a glare at me. I squinted my eyes in a way that told him he had nothing to do with our fight. That made him turn away with instinct.
Our delicious sandwiches awaited us on the counter when we finished ordering. Just the sight of them made me lick my dry lips. I could’ve sworn I was drooling so I felt like an idiot when I wiped my chin realizing nothing was there.
“You wanna eat here or go home?” Anthony directed the question at me.
I debated the answer in my head. If we stayed here, I could avoid another fight with my so-called best friend. However we probably couldn’t do lunchtime with Smosh. If we went home, chances are Nico and I would argue about what happened, get Ian involved who would probably defend her and make me feel like an idiot. However we could at least attempt to film some lunchtime with Smosh.
“Let’s go back home.” I crossed my fingers, hoping I had made the right decision.
Anthony grabbed the bag full of Lauren, mine and his sandwiches and chips. I headed towards the door but Anthony stayed put.
“Gotta wait for Ian!” he defended his decision to stay.
“Okay but we’re riding in different cars remember?”
Anthony nodded his head, his brown long hair bounced in front of his brown sexy eyes. I threw him a dreamy smile and sat down to wait for him. Lauren plopped down beside me.
“I saw that smile Tay, I know what you wanna do to him!!!” she laughed.
“Oh shut up; all I want to do is kiss him…maybe.” I pushed her. She gasped,
“Tailynn!!!”
“Hey, you gave me the ideas!”
“What ideas?” Anthony stood in front of me.
I burst into laughter for the third time today, “nothing Anthony, don’t worry about it.” He took my hand to lift me from the chair and we all headed out the door.
The group separated into the two cars outside. To Ian’s delight, his windshield held nothing but dirt stains and dead bugs. Nicolette climbed into the front seat of Ian’s car and made sure to keep her eyes on Ian and Ian alone. Neither Ian nor Nico even glimpsed at me; like the entire fight was my fault! I wanted to scream at them, “I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING, JUST FUCKING LOOK AT ME!!!!!” but the tightness in my stomach prevented me from making a complete fool out of myself. I would probably do that at Anthony and Ian’s house.
Anthony, Lauren and I were the first to reach the house which I found odd because Ian and Nico left first. We all trampled inside the house ready to chow down on some sandwiches. Anthony pulled out his camera and pointed it at me.
“You know I don’t have the comic genius mind you have.” I winked at him.
“I thought you said you didn’t like our videos, remember?”
“You’ve never lied in your life before, I can tell.” I kissed him.
“You’re cute.” Was his simple answer but I didn’t mind it.
We all opened our sandwiches; I was just about to take the first bite out of my delicious turkey bacon wrap when the door opened and Ian and Nico walked in holding hands and smiling. It was honestly a good sight to see, I liked when Nicolette was happy, I just hated it when she thought she knew everything.
“I have a bone to pick with you.” Ian snapped at me the minute he noticed me looking at them.
“Woah, let’s figure this out without any yelling, hitting or crying, PLEASE.” Lauren tried to get involved without causing any more trouble. “How about sorting out everyone’s feelings?” she pointed at Nico, “why did you snap at the camera in the car just because we were all having a good time?”
Nico was hesitant to answer, “well I guess…because…well…I guess it’s because I’m jealous of her.” She looked directly into my eyes; I couldn’t help but smile.
“It’s some of my fault too.” I spoke up, “I was the one acting like a complete bitch the entire time we’ve been here and she thought I still hated Anthony when I secretly fell in love.” I covered my mouth. “I mean, hypothetically speaking if love was something I could feel for another man…” I hated letting guys know if I loved them even though I believed Anthony was the one for me. Then I realized I made myself sound like a lesbian, “I mean I like men, I don’t mind women either but men are for me…oh god.”
Nicolette giggled, “I’m sorry hon, just promise me you won’t ever lie to me again, please?”
I gave her a tight hug, “I promise.”

Turn That Frown Upside Down- Part 8

I came out of the shower happy and refreshed; maybe today was going to be a good day after all. I hummed a joyful made-up tune while I dressed and dried my hair. Right as I was in the middle of cleaning the wet floor, Nicolette barged in and interrupted my song,
“You’re humming! That means you’re in love! Who is it, who is it?!” for some reason, I didn’t mind her being annoying. I simply said without thinking,
“Anthony.”
“WHAT?!” she practically screamed.
“An. Thuh. Nee. You want me to spell it out for you?” I snickered at her expression. She looked like she’d just swallowed a hot chili pepper whole.
“But-but I thought…I thought you hated him!”
“Exactly.” I got back to cleaning the water from my shower off the ground; this time actually singing words, “I’m in love with the boy that kissed me, so why can’t you see that we’re meant to be, we’re in love, we’re in love, sorry honey but we’re in love!” I laughed at my terrible pitch but Nico was silent. I looked over at her to see tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Oh common, you’re with Ian, remember? I know how much you like him; just loosen your grip on Anthony for me, will ya? Please?” I walked over to her and touched her shoulder. She wiped away one of her tears and gave me a hug.
“Well…I guess I can trust you to be good to him.”
“Thanks.”
We let go when we heard the doorbell ring. I hung up the towel I used to let it dry off before going out to see who it was.
“Hey Lauren!” I greeted her as soon as she walked into the house.
“Hey Tailynn! Hey Nicolette!”
“Hey.” Nico bluntly replied but Lauren didn’t seem to notice.
“So where are we going today guys?” Lauren stuffed her small hands into her back pockets and began teetering on her feet.
“I dunno, someplace not expensive.” Anthony spoke up. I quietly laughed at his simple but honest answer.
“How about Jimmy John’s?” Lauren suggested.
“Okay, why not? But you’ve gotta text Ian to let him know where we’re going to meet.” I directed the comment at Nicolette, expecting her to volunteer to text him but she was too busy staring at Anthony to hear what I had said.
I scooted closer to him and put my arm around his waist.
“Okay?” I asked again as Anthony hesitated to put his arm around my back, afraid that Nicolette would attack him if he did.
“Um, yeah okay.” She took out her phone and started dialing his number.
“Wait!” Anthony put his hand up to motion her to stop, “No, Ian doesn’t like talking on his phone when he’s hanging out with other people, just text him and he’ll get it when he leaves.”
“Okayyy…” Nico flipped her phone to reveal the keyboard and turned it to type the text message.
“Well I guess we should head out now. Let’s go.” I walked to the door with Anthony by my side. He seemed surprised at what I was implying on both Nico and Lauren; but I didn’t care, I just wanted him to hold me. I loved lightly gripping his soft, sexy shirt; plus even though I was only 5’3” it seemed like I fit perfectly under his arm.
When we got to our car, Nico jumped in the driver’s seat, and Lauren hopped next to her in the front. I heard Nico mutter something under her breath but she’d have to deal with her because I was sitting in the back with Anthony no matter what.
Nicolette started up the car and headed out the neighborhood after we buckled ourselves in.
“Hey, why don’t we do a spontaneous Lunchtime with Smosh today?” Nico asked Anthony with excitement in her voice.
“Well, why not?” He answered. He pulled out a small camcorder hidden in his front pocket.
“Are you kidding me?” I laughed, “You had that in your pocket this entire time?”
“Hey hey now, a film-maker always has to be prepared for any such occasion.” He smiled at me; I couldn’t help but return it.
Anthony pushed the little silver button on the top of the camera. It beeped as the screen lit up to show the real world from its small lens. Anthony pointed the camera at me and I heard another beep noise.
“Action!” he yelled.
“Hey everyone!!! This is Tailynn here with my friends Nicolette, Lauren and Smosh Anthony!!! Join us…for lunch!” I gave a serious face and puckered my lips at the camera.
I heard the beep again. Anthony stopped recording and leaned over to kiss my already puckered lips.
“Sorry, I just had to.” He tried to explain himself.
I could feel my face turn bright red so I turned away from him to try and collect my brains off of the cars carpet floor.
“Okay let’s try that again, sorry I got distracted.” Anthony grinned as he studied the small camera to get it back to recording. He tapped Lauren and she turned around to see the camera in her face, “Tell us where we’re going Laur!”
“We’re going to Jimmy John’s!!!” she shouted and stuck her tongue out at Anthony.
He turned the camera to face himself, “that’s right guys, sammiches!” I laughed as he crossed his eyes and scrunched up his chin.
“You dork.” I pushed his shoulder.
“Nico! Are we there yet?!” Anthony pointed the camera back to the front.
“No!”
“Oooo grouchy!” Anthony said, “This is a Smosh video, you have to either be super happy or really weird! That’s the golden rule Nic!”
Nicolette whipped around and stared right into the camera, “hey guys, Anthony is dating my best friend; isn’t that great?! Sorry, but none of you beautiful young women can date him anymore; that’s the truth!”
We all became silent; the only noise was the last beep that came from the camera, switching from recording to standby.

Turn That Frown Upside Down- Part 7

I came out of the bathroom, prepared for the first problems of the day to occur. When I went into the living room, I saw Ian sitting at the table, Nico’s laptop sitting on top of it. Nicolette was standing behind him pointing at an icon on the desktop. She was showing him her fake school project. I smirked thinking about telling him what he was really doing. Still I didn’t say anything about it, knowing that Nico would definetly hate me forever if I did.
I stood in the hallway, unsure of what to do. I looked to my right and saw Anthony on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table. He was dressed in blue jeans and another tight, striped shirt that made my legs melt into the ground. I lifted my molten covered feet to walk over to him.
“Hey!” he noticed me right away and I smiled,
“Hey.” I tried to sound both bored and happy to see him.
“What’re you going to do today; is it your first time in Sacramento?” he asked.
“Sorta, I used to have a friend that lived here so I visited a lot. But now that she’s moved again, I haven’t been here in a while. I think I’m gonna just take a jog. Keep an eye on Nicolette.” I bit my lip, realizing I could’ve blown her cover.
“Um, okay, see you later then.” He waved goodbye as I turned to walk out the front door.
“Where are you going?” Nico noticed me opening the door.
“Just doing my normal morning routine, I’ll be back soon.” I motioned her to get back to her work with the back of my hand.
I walked out into the crisp fresh morning air and breathed in deep. It smelled like a clean spring morning; I knew this was going to be the only highlight of my day. That is…if Anthony were to—I stopped myself from thinking too far about what could happen later in the afternoon. I wouldn’t let anything happen later in the afternoon, not a chance.
I started jogging around the neighborhood, partly to try get my daily routine out of the way and to clear my mind of unwanted thoughts. I kept an eye on the time, knowing that Nicolette wanted to go to lunch with the Smosh guys. I ran around the block a few times; I was on my third lap when I heard my name being called,
“Tailynn!!! Hey Tailynn over here!!!”
I whipped my heard around to try and figure out who was calling my name. I finally spotted the voice; it was Lauren two houses down from Ian and Anthony’s.
“Oh hey Lauren, how are you?” I parked myself at the front of her house wiping sweat off of my brow. She was sitting on the porch stairs, twirling her long brown hair in her fingers.
“I’m doing pretty okay, how about you?”
“Same here I guess.”
“I heard what you said about Anthony. He’s not that bad of a guy you know.” She stopped twirling her hair and leaned back so her elbows rested on the floor, legs extended to the end of the stairs.
“Yeah…” I let a smile slip from my lips. I liked this girl, she wasn’t a crazy fanatic, she wasn’t a bitch, she was…normal!
“So what’re you doing today?” she jumped away from the topic I didn’t want to talk about.
“I don’t know. I think later we’re going to go have some lunch, if you wanted to come that’d be cool.” I invited her without thinking twice.
“Okay sweet!” She grinned at me and I returned it.
“See you around 12 then!” I waved and turned around to go back inside Smosh’s house.
“Hey, I invited Lauren to come to lunch with us, if that’s okay.” I told everyone.
Nico gave me a rotten look, “Um, Lauren? You mean that girl next door? Why did you invite her to lunch; it’s kinda suppose to be our time together as a group.” She motioned to Ian and Anthony.
“Well I didn’t know she was going to be that big of a problem.” I shot back at her, trying to defend my newest friend.
“Hey, I love Lauren, let her come with and we can all hang out.” Anthony backed me up with my decision to invite her.
“Fine.” Nicolette muttered and turned back to the laptop, “Ian, I think we should finish up here.” She patted him on the back.
He closed out of the window and scooted his chair around so he faced towards the kitchen. I checked the time; it read 11:00.
“Well, it’s eleven right now, what do you wanna do?”
“It’s eleven?! Oh man, I’m gonna be late!” Ian bolted up out of his seat and rushed to get his keys from the kitchen counter.
“What are you late for exactly?” Nicolette let her curiosity creep around him.
“I promised I’d meet one of my buddies at Starbucks, but don’t worry I’ll meet you guys at lunch by about twelve ten. I really gotta go!” he scurried out the door and accidently slammed it shut.
“What was that all about?” I thought out loud.
“Aw nothing, he hates being late when he goes out with a friend.” Anthony replied.
“Goes out?” I could hear the jealousy in Nico’s voice.
“Well yeah, he must’ve forgotten about getting coffee with his friend so—”
“What’s her name?” Nico interrupted him.
“His name is Joey. Don’t get up in his grill about where he goes, he hates it when new girlfriends get that way.”
“You-you think he’s my new boyfriend?” Nicolette’s tone went from vulgar to delicate.
“Yeah, you guys hang out and you’ve made out before so I wouldn’t see why not.” I could tell Anthony was trying to do something for him and I. He was trying to get her to realize that Ian and her were a thing, which they actually seemed to be, so he could get her obsession off of him and onto Ian. I smiled, sorting out his words in my head. He glanced at me and gave a lightning fast wink.
“Really? I guess we are!” she beamed with delight apprehending the fact that she was with Ian.
“Okay…I’m going to take a quick shower before we go out to lunch. I’ll be back.” I announced before dragging my tired body to the bathroom.
Before I shut the door, Anthony rushed up to it, “I think we could stop hating each other and let her know about us soon.”
I smiled, “Maybe.”
He leaned his forearm against the door frame and stared at me. I blushed but didn’t look away, I loved the way his brown eyes tugged at mine and made me feel like I was the only girl he knew.
“I have to take a shower now.” I finally spoke.
He leaned over, gently lifted my chin with his fingertips and kissed me. Fireworks burst over our heads; my stomach performed an Olympic gymnastics routine, and my heart was about to beat out of my chest.
When we separated he leaned back and took my hand, “okay, hurry up with that shower so we won’t be late to lunch.” He left me in a lumpy puddle on the bathroom floor. I shut the door and sighed, “He’s the one.” I said to myself, “definitely.”

Turn That Frown Upside Down- Part 6

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside the window. I hated how birds were always happy in the morning; it pissed me off. I rubbed my eyes to notice that Nico wasn’t lying next to me. For the third time I was left alone in this room to wonder about what was happening out in the living room. I sat up and looked around; the door was open, leaving a waft of sizzling bacon pouring through it. All was quiet but a faint humming; Nicolette. She was humming a Smosh song which didn’t surprise me but what did was the fact that she was out there making breakfast for everyone. She hated making food for other people, especially me. I got out of bed and tip-toed down the hallway, making sure she didn’t hear me and peered around the corner to the kitchen. There she was, happily frying bacon in a skillet; a pile of pancakes stacked on the counter beside her. My mouth dropped open and a gasp escaped from my lips; this was incredible!
“Tay?” Nico heard my amazement and leaned her head to notice me staring at the pancakes, “I hope Anthony and Ian like them!” she said with a bounce in her voice.
I walked into the dining room and sat down in the nearest seat, “Right.” I lifted my eyebrows and gave a sarcastic laugh, “you think they’re gonna like stuff you’ve never made before?”
Before she had the time to defend herself she stared at my chest.
“Um, excuse me?” I crossed my arms.
“That shirt; is that Anthony’s?”
“Uhhhh…no.” I tried lying best to my abilities.
“Yes it is, I remember seeing that in one of their videos! Why are you wearing it?” She turned off the burner and turned to face me.
“Well…” I shrugged; arms still crossed, “because you forgot to pack my pajama’s. I didn’t know what to do so I snuck into Anthony’s room and took a big shirt. What of it?” I snapped a lie to her face.
“Oh. In that case…lemme touch it!” she raced around the kitchen counter and sprinted to me. Her hand flew to my shoulder and she giggled. Before I had the time to shake her off, I heard her smell the shirt.
“Nico, what the hell are you doing?”
“Aw man, you rubbed the smell off.” She continued inhaling the rest of the shirt until we both heard someone clear their throat.
“Um…what’s going on here?” Anthony stood in the hallway, staring at us, his cute hair a mess.
“Look what I made you Anthony!” Nicolette cleverly dodged the question. She rushed over to model off the pancakes and bacon.
“Woah! No way! You made us breakfast?” Anthony exclaimed.
“Yeah, sit down I’ll get you some!” she smiled realizing how happy she made him just with food. I could tell he was the only reason she made it.
As Nico was serving Anthony breakfast, a groan shook from Ian’s room.
“Hangover. It shouldn’t be that bad though.” Anthony said with a mouth full of newly syruped pancake.
Out walked Ian in a plaid robe. Rubbing his head he greeted us, “Hey guys! Smells great; get me some—wait woah!” Ian noticed Nico giving me some breakfast, “You made bacon and pancakes? I didn’t even know we had bacon and pancakes! Alright!” Ian sat next to Anthony at the counter and waited for breakfast with a plate in his hand.
“She’s not a waitress you know.” I said from my seat at the table.
“Yeah I know but she made it so it’s only polite.” Ian practically panted as she scooped up the bacon and set it on his plate.
“It’s okay Tailynn, I don’t mind.” She smiled at Ian and Anthony.
“Whatever.” I mumbled, chewing on the fat from a piece of bacon.
We ate for about a half an hour; Ian and Anthony devoured the breakfast, plate and all. After the surprisingly tasty breakfast, we all got ready for the day. Somewhere deep down below, I could tell this day was going to be long and tiring.

Turn That Frown Upside Down- Part 5

Anthony led me down the hallway to my temporary room again. His hand was soft, warm, calming; I felt…safe. He opened the door and led me in. I sat on the warm bed, exactly where Nic was sitting when she was with Ian. I heard the door softly shut and a moment later Anthony bounced onto the bed next to me.
“So…” he trailed off.
“So…” I repeated, hinting I wanted him to talk first.
“Sooooo…” he grinned at me. I shot him a look that pierced him, “So we’re in here for seven minutes, what do you wanna do?” he avoided another sharp look from my icy blue eyes.
My mind flashed back to what I’d said to him about Nic. I decided to refresh his memory,
“Nicolette likes you, not me.”
“Yeah well that kinda seemed indifferent when Ian’s tongue was in her mouth, dontcha think?” I held in a giggle and instead frowned, realizing he’d torn down half of our wall.
“Well…” I searched for the right hurtful words to say, “well…she’s my best friend I can’t disrespect her feelings like that, plus you’re from Smosh; I don’t even like you guys because for one, well, you act like little children and for two-” I felt something touch my lips, forcing me to stop talking. Before I realized that Anthony had kissed me, I was kissing back. Thought after thought tumbled around in my head; how guilty I was for kissing him, how stupid I was for letting him but mostly how happy I was that he liked me. His lips were soft, like his hands. He kissed me with little pressure but I didn’t mind. It was a gentle kiss, one that said he didn’t want my body, he wanted my heart.
He leaned back and we opened our eyes. I opened my mouth to talk but nothing came out. Our moment was magical but I didn’t want to tell him I thought so. We sat in the dim light of the side-table lamp in silence, comprehending what had just happened. Suddenly the door opened,
“Your seven minutes are up!” Ian winked at Anthony, however I wasn’t sure if he responded back. Ian left with the door open. Anthony got up, reaching for my hand again. I wanted to take it but this time I didn’t.
“Don’t tell Nico what happened. I don’t want her to know that I sorta-kinda-maybe like you. As far as she knows, I still hate you, got it?” I attempted to make myself sound harsh but instead the words came out nice and clean.
“Right.” He winked and walked out the door.
My heartbeat slowly climbed down to its normal speed. This time I couldn’t deny it; I was falling for Anthony.

I sat in the dim light of the lamp alone. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t even think; everything was a complete mess and it was only our first night here! I heard the small group in the living room talking about something but they were too quiet for me to understand. I didn’t get up, I couldn’t feel my legs and even though my heartbeat had slowed down I felt like it would race if I did anything too soon. After a couple of silent minutes, I heard somebody walk down the hallway and I tensed up. Nicolette popped her head into the doorway, I forced a smile.
“Hey chicka, are you okay?”
I nodded, “Yeah I’m fine, why?”
“Anthony told me what you said. It’s okay, I’m not mad at you, I understand how you are.” My stomach jumped and did ten flips.
“Wha-what did he say to you exactly?” I sat on my hands and crossed my fingers underneath my thighs.
“Well, he told me you said he was the biggest jerk you’ve ever met and that you’re counting the hours until you get to go back home. He also mentioned something about you hitting him in the man parts.”
I laughed, “Ohhhhh right, well you know how much I hate those Smosh freaks…” I scratched the non-existent itch on the back of my head.
“I’m gonna go say goodnight to them so I’ll be right back.” He held up her first finger to indicate that I had to wait.
When she left I finally got the ability to move; Anthony had lied to her for me, and made up a damn good one too! I leaned over to get my suitcase and search for my pajamas. I started out moving things around but as my search continued I had pulled all my clothes out; my pajamas nowhere to be found. Right as I was about to curse Nico for forgetting my pj’s someone knocked on the wooden rim of the door.
I lifted my head up, moving my bangs out of my eyes to find Anthony. His hands were in his front jean pockets, his tight shirt hugged his stomach but the first thing I noticed was his lips, those soft, soft lips. They were pursed as he shrugged and said, “Was my lie good enough?”
I laughed again, “Yeah it was perfect.”
There was a moment of awkward silence before I got the courage to ask, “Do you have something I could wear to bed? Nico forgot to pack my pajamas.”
“Lemme check.” Anthony turned around and walked into his room. My hands became sweaty when he returned with a large t-shirt in his hand.
“Will this do?” he handed it to me.
“Yeah it will, thanks.” I grinned.
“Well…goodnight.” He practically whispered and I replied,
“Night.”
Just as Anthony walked out, Nicolette walked in. I stood up from the bed and shuffled to the bathroom across from our room. As I was dressing, my pierced ears heard loud talking in the room next to the bathroom. It sounded like Ian. I pressed my ear against the wall so I could hear more clearly.
“Hey man, I know she didn’t say that to you I was there when I saw you two sitting on the bed looking into each others’ eyes, you know that you like her and she knows that she likes you man you can’t deny it any more than I can deny I’m drunk as shit right now.” Ian slurred some his words together in a long sentence. I held in a giggle.
“I’m telling you Ian, she said what she said and I don’t like her. We didn’t share any type of moment in that bedroom so just stop it. Go to bed.”
The door shut and the talking stopped. I didn’t think twice about what he’d said about me. Ian was right, I liked him and he liked me there was no denying any part of it. When I finished changing I snuck back into our room and saw Nicolette already curled up in bed. I climbed into bed and tried to join her peaceful sleep but my mind wasn’t ready to fall asleep yet. It was still racing through thoughts of what happened in this room. I started thinking about what I should’ve said or what I should’ve done. I started thinking about what could’ve happened if Nicolette was the one that told us our seven minutes were up or what could’ve happened if I didn’t let him kiss me. I started thinking about what was going to happen tomorrow and what Nicolette would do when she found out. No—she won’t ever find out, not as long as I’m alive and well. And as for Anthony, he better keep that lying mouth in gear, because we still have two more days to go.

Turn That Frown Upside Down- Part 4

I must’ve fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, loud music was pouring through underneath the shut door accompanied by loud voices.
“What the-“ I muttered as I lifted my head to see where I was. Oh right; Smosh’s house. My mood instantly changed sour until I remembered the conversation, more like a lack of a conversation, with Anthony. I remembered telling him I didn’t like him. Was I lying? I didn’t know and I honestly didn’t wanna find out. I just wanted to go home!
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and looked around. Nicolette’s suitcase had somehow found its way next to mine. At the foot of the bed lay the clothes Nicolette was dressed in for the trip here which meant she must’ve changed into her best party dress. I checked the time on my phone; it read 6:30. I’d only been asleep for about twenty five minutes. What I was really happy about was that nobody bothered to wake me up. Nico probably told them that I’d turn into the wicked witch if anybody woke me up for anything; even if my house was burning down, I’d want to wake myself up.
I got up off the bed and shuffled to the closed door. I opened it just enough so that I could see what was going on in the living room. I saw Ian talking to a girl with long, silky black hair in a tight black dress; that was Nicolette and she looked hot! For some reason I felt the little green monster latch onto my back, it wasn’t because she was talking to him, it was because she looked so much better than I did.
I shut the door and walked back to the bed. I grabbed my suitcase and began rummaging around in it, trying to find something decent. Thankfully Nico had packed my ripped skinny jeans and black, sparkling halter top. I quickly changed in the dark and tried my best to tassel my highlighted brown hair and fix my dark makeup. When I opened the door again, Anthony was standing there, hand in a fist, just about ready to knock. He almost punched me in the face when I exclaimed,
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Oh, uh…I was going to ask you if you wanted to join the party but…” he eyed me head to toe, “but wow you look amazing.”
I tried not to blush and responded as harshly as I could, “well you could’ve done better.”
“I know, I’m hideous.” He taunted me and held his hand out, “common.” I didn’t take it but I did walk out of the room with him.
The living room that was once empty and quiet was now crowded with a handful of people. The music grew louder as we walked closer to the multiple speakers and I could finally hear what Ian and Nicolette were talking about.
“Yeah but when I first asked her to come she stormed into her room like-“ I cleared my throat as loud as I could.
“Oh! Tailynn, you’re up!” Nico whipped her head in surprise to face Anthony and I. Her hazel slanted eyes first noticed Anthony who was dressed in a gray shirt with a blue plaid button down shirt over it like a jacket. She grinned and transferred her red plastic cup drink to her left hand so she could touch Anthony with her right. My eyes darted to her hand and I winced as she touched his shoulder. I kicked myself in the chin for it; I shouldn’t have cared at all.
“Yeah I’m up, now you can stop talking about how horrid I am.” I snapped at them and Ian awkwardly took a drink out of his red plastic cup.
“You want one?” Anthony saw me staring at it so I instinctively nodded. I kicked myself again, and knew I was going to have a mental bruise by the morning.
While Anthony was getting me a drink I looked around to see how many people were stuffed into this tiny place. I counted about twelve, not counting Ian, Anthony, Nicolette and I. That might not seem like much, but in this place, it was crammed.
Anthony returned with two drinks in his hands; he gave one to me but I didn’t say thank you, afraid that he’d think I was actually being nice to him. Nicolette started off another conversation with Ian, one that didn’t involve me, so I walked over to the dining table and sat down.
“Hello.” A girl’s voice struck me upside my head.
“What?!” I turned to see a pretty girl about seventeen; she smiled at me but I didn’t return it.
“I’m Lauren.” She held out her hand and I took it,
“I’m Tailynn.”
“I haven’t seen you around the neighborhood, did you just move in?”
“No, I’m from Los Angeles, my best friend Nicolette,” I motioned over to the hottie in black, “asked Anthony and Ian if she could interview them for a school thing. I guess they threw this party just for us, but I don’t see the big deal in any of it.” I shrugged and she giggled.
“Ohhh, I’m Anthony’s little sister.” I rose my eyebrows,
“I didn’t know he had a little sister.”
“Well…he doesn’t really, I’m his best friend, I live two doors down, he’s known me since I was about three.” She smiled again and took a drink from her cup.
“Riiiiight.” I looked back over to Nico and Ian who were now laughing. Ian asked her something. She nodded her head, and then they both set down their cups and went into the living room. Between the crowds I saw Ian twirling her; they were both laughing again.
“So, you like Anthony?”
I spit out the fizzy drink I had just taken a sip of and coughed, “What do you mean I like Anthony? Where the hell did you get that ridiculous idea from?!”
“Oh, um, your friend was talking about the way you act when you’re with him, I was just supposing you two were, uh, you know-”
“No! We are not dating and will never date!” I practically yelled at Lauren and left her to refill my drink.
The party was pretty lame. A couple of people were dancing in the living room with Ian and Nicolette but Anthony was nowhere to be seen. Why did I even care? I didn’t like him! Another hour and a half passed and people started to file out of the house. Finally only Anthony, Ian, Nicolette, Lauren, another girl, another guy and I were left.
Nicolette, Ian and I were sitting on the couch when Anthony came up to us holding something.
“A bottle?” I asked him.
“Wanna spin it?” he counter-acted my question with his. His brown eyes tickled mine; I had to look away to avoid being seduced.
“Spin the bottle? Really, are we like eleven? Who’s gonna get their first kiss by playing this game tonight?” I snickered, snatching Lauren and the other two people’s attention.
“Okay fine, how about something better? Seven minutes in heaven!” Anthony exclaimed and everyone wooed.
“Common, let’s all sit on the ground and spin this damn thing! We need some action tonight!” I could tell Ian had a little too much to drink. He pushed the coffee table out of the way and motioned us to sit with him. Everyone gathered around in a circle, leaving me on the couch with my arms crossed.
“She’ll join in if you don’t make her.” Nicolette spoke for me but I didn’t mind.
Lauren was the first to spin. It spun and spun until it landed on the guy I didn’t know.
“OHHHHHH!!!!!!” Anthony and Ian pushed the boy to get up and they went into the side closet in the hallway. When the door shut I asked,
“Who is that boy?”
“Lauren’s crush, Kaleb.” Anthony answered for me. I smiled for the first time tonight.
“What’s you’re name?” Nicolette asked the blonde haired girl sitting across from her.
“Cyanne.” She practically whispered.
“That’s Lauren’s little sister, she’s only fifteen,” Anthony mumbled to me, “she really shouldn’t be here but I’d feel bad if she was left out.”
Seven minutes rushed by and Cyanne had to get up and let them out. Kaleb came out with his crooked haircut messed up and Lauren’s lip gloss on his face. Lauren looked just as dazed when she came out with most of her lip gloss gone and long sleeved shirt crooked.
We all burst into laughter as they both turned bright red.
“You two wanna go home?” Anthony winked at Kaleb.
“If that’s okay…” Lauren smiled and Anthony dismissed them. They left hand-in-hand.
“Okay, Ian you’re next.” He nudged him to spin. It spun and spun until it landed on Nicolette!
“That’s a shocker.” I muttered as they got up and went into our temporary room. That left Anthony, Cyanne, and I in the living room alone. My chin rested in my hand, my hand on the arm of the sofa. I was tired, bored, and still unimpressed about how the entire “party” turned out. Seven minutes played out but nobody came out of our room.
“Um, somebody want to go get them?” Cyanne asked.
“I’ll do it.” I lifted myself off of the couch and barged into the room. Not to my surprise, Nicolette and Ian were sitting next to each other, making out.
“Time is up!” I shouted and they jumped in mid smack. I turned to go back to the living room and sat back down on the couch. They soon followed and returned to their spots.
“They were macking on each other.” I laughed just saying it out loud. Nicolette blushed.
“You’re turn, Anthony.” She said as she rubbed her lips.
Anthony spun the bottle. It spun and spun until it landed on Cyanne. Anthony hesitated, she seemed like she didn’t even care.
“Can I go home?” she asked and he nodded. I let out a gut wrenching laugh and started coughing.
“That means you’re Anthony’s bottle partner. You’re the only one left.” I coughed harder at Ian’s comment and looked at Anthony.
“Wait, you’re serious?” He held out his hand to help me up from the couch. I looked at it. I wanted to take it; so I kicked myself in the chin when I did.

Turn That Frown Upside Down- Part 3

Nobody was there; it was as if the door had magically opened all by itself. Nicolette and I stared into the empty house in wonder. I looked over at her; her mouth was wide open, eyes glued to the interior of the house, not blinking just frozen. I rolled by eyes and charged in.
“BOO!!!!” Ian and Anthony jumped out behind the door and I jumped. Nicolette screamed in surprise but soon rushed into their arms in a giant hug.
“I can’t believe it’s you! You guys are my hero’s, I love your videos, I love your house, I love your hair Anthony!” She said in one breath. She released them from her grip and stood back to admire them some more.
Anthony and Ian laughed, “I’m Ian.” He stuck out his hand for me to shake but I just looked at it.
“Yeah I know.” I said bluntly.
“Okay then…” he put his hand down and I smirked at him.
“Lemme try; I’m Anthony.” This time Anthony stuck out his hand, and I hesitated to take it. Instead of leading into temptation I simply answered,
“Whatever.”
“She doesn’t like you guys, she came here just for me.” Nico whispered to Ian and he nodded.
“I think we might change that.” He whispered back.
“I can hear you two. Now are you gonna invite us to sit down, or are we just gonna stand here all day, talking about how much I want to go back home?” I crossed my arms and tapped by foot, waiting for an answer.
“Um, common inside, I’ll show you guys around.” Ian answered me and motioned us further into the house.
Nico tried to take my hand again but I shook her off, I felt as if she’d brought me into some trap, I can’t believe I actually agreed to come here with her. Anthony and Ian led us around the house, showing us the small kitchen, the living room, the bathroom and where we’d sleep. They took us back into the living room before asking us if we had any questions.
“Yeah, how long are we staying here for again?” I asked in arrogance.
“Three days.” Nicolette answered in the same tone.
“I can tell that you two really get along.” Anthony joked and I shot him a glare. He just smiled at me and turned to Nico, “so do you have bags or do you two just come as is?”
Nico giggled, “We have bags in my car, we can go get them.”
“No, no allow us.” Ian started out the door and after a couple of seconds returned, “Anthony I’m gonna need your help.” I let out a breath of laughter and raised my eyebrow towards him indicating how pathetic I thought they were. Nico had a different expression, her eyes glazed over and her hand was placed over her heart as if she was having a heart attack. I was starting to get fed up over her, I thought coming with would make her happy, instead she was totally ignoring how I felt and threw all of her attention onto them. Why did I even have to go if she was going to make a fool out of herself anyway?
Anthony joined Ian outside leaving Nic and I alone. She immediately ran down the hallway and I instinctively followed.
“What are you doing?!” I hissed at her.
“We only have about twenty seconds to get a good look at their personal rooms; I’m just doing some more research!” She opened their door, revealing a room I had recognized in older videos. The walls shined with blank cd’s and a huge desk with a matching sized chair sat in a corner. A queen sized bed lay at the far end of the room, but the worst part about the almost ideal bad-ass room was the fact that the floor was littered with clothes and trash.
I leaned down to pick up something I saw buried beneath the dirty clothes. It was the Jesus action figure Smosh had used in various videos before. Nicolette squealed and took it from me. But before she had the time to say anything about how much she loved them again, we heard Anthony and Ian shuffling through the door, with our bags in their hands.
“Shit! Get out!” I had to tear the action figure out of Nicolette’s hand before dragging her out and quietly shutting the door behind us.
“Guys?” We heard Ian call out.
“What?” I snapped at him, walking back down the hallway to the living room, Nicolette trailing behind me.
“So seriously, what are your names?” Anthony asked us again.
“I’m Tailynn.” I mumbled, but made sure they heard me so I didn’t have to repeat myself.
“Tailynn,” Anthony echoed, “I like it.” He almost made me smile but I held it in for dear life.
“I’m Nicolette.”
“Ah, Nicolette, that’s French right?” Ian turned to her.
“Yeah how did you know?”
“It sounds French.” He simply answered. Nico laughed and playfully hit him on the shoulder. Poor girl was trying too hard.
“So, since we agreed you two could come over, we decided that we’d throw you guys a welcome party and invited a couple of friends over later this afternoon. Does that sound good?” Anthony changed the subject. They both looked at us and I rolled my eyes for the millionth time. Like these dorks knew how to throw a party. Nicolette again reacted 100% different from me and nodded her head spitefully.
“Our friends will be coming over in about twenty minutes so get yourselves settled and ready for one of the best nights of your lives!” Anthony “whooped” and Nicolette laughed heartily again. I snatched up my suitcase and marched to the room Ian had shown us was ours for the time being. Tossing my bag onto the bed, I followed it up by hurling myself onto it and lay there staring at the ceiling. My mind searched for the good in this entire hubbub. At least Nicolette was living one of her dreams, but that just wasn’t a good enough reason for me to stay for three whole days. What was I going to do tomorrow when they were helping her with her pretend film class? Suddenly my mind flashed to Anthony. He was smiling at me, repeating my name over and over. I shook my head, trying to get the awkwardly good image out of it when someone knocked on my door. Low and behold there was just the person I was thinking about standing in my temporary door frame.
“Hey Tailynn.” He said but I didn’t turn my head to face him.
“Hey.”
“You don’t seem very happy to be here.”
“No, I’m not.” I turned over to my side, facing away from Anthony. I expected him to leave, so when I turned back around I was startled to see him standing next to my bed.
“Nicolette likes you, not me.” I simply said without considering Nico’s feelings.
“Okay.”
That was enough to make him go away. To my surprise, I didn’t feel like I had accomplished anything, I felt as if I had just begun building a wall. A separate wall from the one between Smosh’s videos and my precious time watching them; it was a wall between specifically Anthony and I.

Turn That Frown Upside Down- Part 2

By the time I knew it, Nicolette had packed up her things and started packing up mine. I smiled as I watched her rush back and forth from the bathroom to my room, from my closet to the suitcase, from the suitcase back to the bathroom and so forth.
“So Nico, what’re you gonna tell Antoine and Eeyore when they ask about your school project?” I chuckled imagining their scrunched faces of confusion when they saw Nicolette was faking.
She stopped in mid-pack and gave me her famous don’t-mess-with-Smosh glare, “Geezus Tay, it’s Anthony and Ian!!!” I laughed harder and she threw a sock at me. I loved teasing her about her weird obsession of those Smosh guys. “I have it all thought out okay? I made a video of me explaining some things for a film class and I’m gonna ask them to help me edit it and maybe ask them to be in one of my youtube videos; ya know, promotion.”
“Not unless I tell them you’re faking.” I burst into laugher, tears instantly started running down my face. I could feel my mascara run down my cheeks so I wiped them, getting the black all over my hands, which made me laugh harder and cry more.
“Are you high?” she asked me.
After a couple of moments I finally caught my breath and got a tissue to clean my face.
“No I’m not. You know I don’t do drugs.” I said while I cleaned my hands.
“Right.” She zipped up my suitcase and pushed it off the bed, “and if you tell them anything, you will die.”
“Don’t say that, you’ll make me laugh again!” I felt a small bubble of laughter rush through my stomach but I couldn’t hold it down. I started laughing again which pissed Nico off causing her to storm out of my room and into the living room.
“Ok, ok I’m sorry, I won’t say anything.” I grabbed my suitcase before following her into the kitchen.
“This is really important to me, you know how much these guys mean to me, please don’t mess it up, I’m serious.” Nicolette took out some orange juice and chugged it before giving me another famous face. The puppy dog eyes.
“I told you I won’t, I promise.”
“Okay then let’s go!!!” Nicolette rushed over to the computer to print out the address. Her foot tapped repeatedly as she waited for it to finish. When it did, she snatched the page and folded it before stuffing it into her purse. She then picked up her suitcase and motioned me to pick mine up in the same enthusiastic way.
“Don’t push it.” I growled and violently picked mine up. Nico shut off the lights and walked out the door giving me one last moment with our small, but lively, apartment.
“I’ll see you later I guess.” I said out loud before shutting the door.

After I threw my stuff in Nico’s purple convertible, I climbed into the front seat and waited for her to finish stuffing her things in the trunk.
“Hurry up Nic, before I change my damn mind!” I became impatient which gave me the urge to be mean.
“Ok I’m ready, let’s go!” she practically hurled herself into the car. She slammed her hands onto the steering wheel in excitement. “I can’t believe we’re doing this!” She started the car and put it in reverse. “Maybe they’ll drive us around in their car, wouldn’t that be amazing?” she backed up and put in into forward and we headed out of the neighborhood.
“So amazing.” I replied, keeping my eyes on the road for her, just in case.
“OH what if they got us something to drink, and gave us one of their cups! I think I’d flip out!”
“Me too.”
“OH MY GOSH what if Anthony asked me to be his girlfriend?! I’D TOTALLY DIE!”
“Oh gee, I wonder what percent chance you have with him.” My mono-tone voice made Nicolette slow down.
“Too much?” she looked over to see me pretending to sleep. She laughed, “Tailynn!!!”
“I’m just letting you get it all out so continue please.” I said with a hint of sarcasm.
“How about I play some of your favorite music?” She took out her iPod, plugged it in and pushed play. The music started off soft before gradually becoming louder and someone began singing,
“MILKY MILKSHAKE! Milky milkshake, milky milkshake dancing with my milkshake baby oh yeah I’m dancing with my milkshake ohhh I love my milky milkyshake baby!”
“NOOOOO anything but this, please!” This time, Nicolette was the one who couldn’t stop laughing.
By the time we got to the highway, my head was pounding in my skull. There was no way I was gonna get through three whole days of this shit. What had I gotten myself into?
Things really started to get insane once we got off to the exit to Sacramento. Instead of being hyper and annoying, Nicolette became emotional and annoying. The first sniffle I heard I thought she had something in her nose. But then it happened again and again and when I looked at her, I saw tears rolling down her cheek.
“Are you seriously crying?” I tried taunting her but for some reason, it didn’t satisfy me. “Honey, are you actually crying about this?” I approached her with a different tone and looked into her eyes.
“Yeah…” her voice wavered.
“Okay common, pull over and let me drive.” She obeyed and I was the one stuck with the directions. Ten minutes later, I felt as if I had been driving around in circles.
“Great, how do I find this place?” I whispered to myself as I glanced at the slip of paper in my hand for the millionth time. “Hey Nicol-” I looked over at her to see her leaned up on the door, fast asleep. I groaned. I was about to give up and just turn around when I suddenly saw something I never would’ve thought could help me. There was the Panda Express Smosh once visited to get lunch for Lunchtime W/ Smosh. I knew where I was!
“DAMN IT!” I exclaimed, waking Nico up.
“What?” she rubbed her eyes and looked at me.
“I know where we are…” I muttered through clenched teeth.
“Ohhh myyy godddd, that’s the Panda Express Smosh ate at!!!” She noticed at once and looked at the directions in my hand. “I know where we are too! Turn here.”
A couple of turns and stops were taken before we finally got to the neighborhood written on the paper.
“This is it, this is it!” Nico hopped in her seat and pointed viciously to their small house. I saw Anthony’s car parked in the parking lot and my stomach jumped.
“Stop it, stop it!” I said both to Nicolette and my nervous stomach.
“You think we should bring our stuff up to the door?” Nic asked me.
“No, let’s just knock on their door and go from there.” We both got out of the car but stood next to it and didn’t move an inch.
“Ok Nic, you go first, you’re the one that loves them so much.” I offered her up to the doorstep.
“Um no…you go first, you’re the one that hates them.”
“That doesn’t even make any sense!” I yelled at her.
“Why do you even care? Just go!”
“Fine.” I shouldn’t be nervous about meeting these weirdos. Nicolette gripped my hand and I squeezed it in anticipation without even noticing.
“On the count of three, one…two…three.” Nico charged up to the door, almost ripping my arm out of its socket. We got up to their front door.
“On the count of three, one-“
I rang the doorbell in annoyance, interrupting Nicolette’s countdown. We could hear footsteps and voices coming towards the door.
“No wayyy that’s Ian’s voice!” Nic whispered to me and I rolled my eyes. I let go of her hand; it was getting too sweaty.
The doorknob shook and finally opened….

Turn That Frown Upside Down Part 1

“Tailynn, you have to watch this new youtube video!” my best friend Nicolette called me over to her computer desk.
I groaned, “is this another one of those Smosh things? Those guys are fricken idiots, why do you spend your time watching their dumb videos?”
“For the last time, they are not stupid they are genius. Now watch the damn video!” Nico turned the computer screen towards me and pushed play. The screen showed two goofy looking college aged boys singing a rip-off of the Pokémon theme. I was forced to watch the entire video without saying a word about how ridiculous they looked.
“Awesome right?” She asked me when it finished.
“You really want me to answer that?”
“Every week I try showing you their videos, praying that you’ll find the funny in them. What is wrong with you?”
“They’re just not my style of humor! What is wrong with you?” I turned to go back into my room to finish an essay about the history of science fiction. I take English college classes and can get into my work which is why I was extra sour about Nico showing me another video of those Smosh freaks.
Just as I was about to close my door, I heard Nico scream, “OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GODDDD!!!!!”
“What is it?!” I rushed back into the living room to see Nico staring at the computer screen in shock.
“R-read…” she muttered, so I began to read,
“Hey Nicolette, this is Ian and Anthony from Smosh! We got your letter in our mail yesterday and decided to take up on your offer! We thought that since you sorta lived close to us that you could stop by for a couple of days to finish your school project. We’d be more than happy to help!” The email ended with their address and a smiley face.
“Project? What project?”
Nicolette grinned, “no project, just an experiment..” she suddenly let out another scream, “I CAN’T BELIEVE WE’RE MEETING SMOSH!”
“Wait, we? What do you mean by ‘we’?”
“I mean you’re coming with me so that I don’t have to do this alone and so you can help me be calm and collected when we meet them.” She couldn’t take her eyes off the email.
“No, no, no, there is no way I’m meeting them, no chance in hell.” I stormed off to my room and slammed the door.
I jumped onto my bed, swiped my auburn bangs behind my ears and sat in the silence of my anger. I don’t know what pissed me off more, the fact that Nico was just going to ditch me to meet some internet people or the fact that she wanted me to come with. I honestly didn’t see the wow factor in them. Every video I watched just got dumber and dumber but no matter how much I said I hated Smosh, Nicolette wouldn’t give it up. And now she wanted me to meet them face to face.
“No chance in hell.” I said again to myself and opened my laptop to continue my essay.
******

“Tailynn? Tailynn, please open the door, I want to talk to you.” I heard Nico tap on my door but I refused to get up and let her in.
“Please go away.” I said calmly.
“I just want to talk to you.”
“Give me more time Nico or I won’t give you any.” I raised my voice a little louder to try and make my point clear. A couple seconds passed by before I heard her footsteps walk back into the living room. I didn’t really need more time to think about it, I just didn’t want to see her.
After a couple of quite minutes, the only sound being the keys on my laptop typing away, I heard Nico talking to someone.
“She doesn’t want to come with me……I know but I can’t force her to do something she doesn’t want to do……Yeah, I guess I’m going there alone…….ok……ok……no I’ll be fine, don’t worry…..ok…..yeah…..yeah I’ll see you later then…bye.”
I got up from my bed, feeling the guilt building up on my shoulders before opening my door.
“Nico?” I called out to her and saw her long black hair sway as she turned around.
“Oh hey Tay, you ready to talk now?”
“I’ll go with you.” Even though I felt bad for not going, I cringed while saying I would.
“What?”
“I said…I’ll go with you.” My hands curled into fists for saying it again.
“Really?” She grinned.
“Yes really. But I’m going for you, not for them.” I tried to tell her my bargain but she came sprinting to me before she had the time to respond.
“THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!” she jumped into my arms and practically picked me up in a giant hug.
“No problem.” I muttered. I just knew this was going to be a crazy ride.