Page 3 of See Through

It was a stark contrast. My world had completely flipped upside down, and somehow, the only thing I could think about during all that was how much Adrian would have loved being allowed in this section of the house without us being grounded for snooping somewhere we shouldn't be.

I barely spoke two words the day after Adrian died when I somehow dragged myself out of my bed and opened the door, Dean on the other side, flowers and my favorite snack in his hands. I didn’t even get to eat the sour gummy worms before I fell into his arms, too upset to even tell him what happened.

He found out two days later after I came out of the shower and had the strength to say it out loud. For those two days, I barely got out of bed. He stayed at my place and took care of me. We’ve been inseparable ever since, and he has always been the most supportive person.

I shed another tear just thinking about how he picked me back up and brought me back to life when I couldn’t do it myself.

I wipe my tears, no longer wanting to cry over this as I pick up my macchiato and take a sip, knowing I have a lot of work to do before our investigation. Dean and I finalized plans for it a week or two ago, but I’ve been keeping a close eye on the radar for tonight, because it looks like a storm is headed toward Pennsylvania.

Dean isn’t fond of storms. He’s always hated them, so when he agreed to be my cameraman for my channel, one of his stipulations was to never do investigations during storms. I told him we never would, because not only could that mess with the audio, but we could pick up something that’s not actually paranormal.

And all our equipment could get ruined. It’s just the two of us, and all the stuff we use to film has been an investment on our part, but it’s paid off and then some. Not only am I so close to hitting one million subscribers, but my other social media pages are growing along with my main channel.

Chasing this dream has been a climb, one both forwards and backwards, but it’s really nice to see it pay off. The whole reason I wanted to get into this field was because I loved watching ghost hunting shows when I was a kid. I’m also a big believer in life after death and anything paranormal. I like thinking about the fact that my brother might not be gone completely, that maybe he’s on the other side, waiting for me wherever he ended up.

Adrian is the reason I wanted to chase this dream. His death was a wakeup call that life is short, and I didn’t want to be miserable for the rest of my life, so I dropped out of the four-year program I was in and started my channel. All it took was a few months, a shit ton of research, and I had posted my first video—which got over a million views in the first week.

That was the very first time I had felt like I was meant to be following the path I had taken, and I haven’t let up since.

I take one more sip of coffee before I adjust my earbuds and get to work, hoping my editing software doesn’t crash and delete all my edits like it did yesterday. I start redoing all the edits I made on our last investigation, and it takes me about two hours to get to where I left off before my phone starts to buzz.

I save my progress before I swipe to my messages, my best friend's contact picture popping up. The picture reminds me of the night we hopped from bar to bar and somehow ended up at a thrift store. We picked outfits for each other and took about a thousand pictures—it was one of the best nights ever. We can both remember it fairly well, even if the details are fuzzy.

Dean: You think the radar is accurate?

Dean: The clouds look pretty bad…

Aubrey: I can email the place and reschedule. It looks like it’s starting to drizzle outside.

Dean: Sorry, Aubs. I know how excited you were about this one.

Aubrey: It’s alright. It’ll still be standing when the skies are clear. Do you work next weekend?

Dean: I work every weekend, but I can do any other day. It was only two nights, right?

Aubrey: Yup. Let me email the place and get back to you!

Dean: Sounds good. Sorry again.

Aubrey: If you keep apologizing, I’m going to come over and throw a pillow at you.

Dean: Then maybe I just might do that…

Ugh, always a jokester, isn’t he?

As long as I’ve known Dean, he’s always been a shameless flirt, and not just with me. It’s everybody, including his best friend, Cooper. When we first met in college, I thought maybe he liked me, but we’ve always just been friends—nothing more and nothing less. The two of us just clicked. I’ve seen him date people, though sparingly. He’s seen me date, and it’s never been awkward.

Well, except for that one thing my ex-boyfriend mentioned, but I try not to think about that.

He has the same long hair he’s always had; when I ask him why he doesn’t cut it, he always changes the subject. He’s very particular about his hair, and even though he’s almost a foot taller than me, I can still smack him if he says something stupid. It’s normal. We’re best friends, and we have been since college. When he agreed to be my cameraman for my channel, I was elated to have someone I trust coming with me on investigations. It was perfect, and we work really well together.

Do I like him as a friend? Yes. Do I like him as a business partner? Also yes. Do certain things make me think of him and want to text him? Yes, but it’s all good. We’re good together, and that’s all that matters.

I shoot an email to the people who own the hospital we were going to investigate and ask if we can reschedule before I open another text thread. I can’t be by myself tonight.

Aubrey: Any chance you’re free tonight?

Maven: I am. I thought you and Dean had plans tonight with that hospital or something?