Keeping It Together • Sebastian Bach

Chapter 10: Defending

   After a long night of Savannah debating over whether or not to call Sebastian, it was the day of the photoshoot. She woke up from a deep sleep and irritably pawed at her blaring alarm, shutting it off with the motion. The sight of her phone made her remember how she had chickened out in terms of calling Sebastian the previous night, and that made her feel like a loser. She wasn't in high school anymore. It wasn't appropriate to be all nervous to talk to someone on the phone (especially a colleague). But, what had she done? She had chickened out.

   She stared at her phone in irritation. Her social anxiety used to be really bad when it came to calling people on the phone, but she had reached a completely foreign level of zen these past few years. She didn't know how, so she simply dismissed it as "growing out of it." But, clearly she hadn't, because she was having a whole crisis over calling her cute colleague.

   Shaking her head at herself, Savannah hopped out of bed and began to get ready for the day. She dressed herself in a Mötley Crüe Shout at the Devil T-shirt with a black, long-sleeved shirt underneath it. Ripped jeans complimented her legs, as did the fishnet tights she wore underneath them.

   She looked at herself in the mirror and nodded in approval. When she was younger, she had gone through a whole phase of not knowing what type of clothing style suited her. It felt like whatever she wore, it didn't really suit her, nor did she like what she was wearing. But, she had come to find that dark looks really complimented her appearance somehow. And she loved the clothes she wore, for the first time in her life.

   She sat down at her vanity to tame her bedhead and do her makeup. She began to play some music, since she could not do even the simplest tasks without some sort of music filling the silence.

   She got her eyeliner and her hair done in record time, and, after brushing her teeth, it was now 10:30, a full hour before she had to get to work. She took this opportunity to grab her phone, open it, and stare at Sebastian's contact, unsure of how to make the first move.

   She decided on texting, but how would she go about that? Obviously, opening up with "hi, it's Savannah" would be a given, but what would happen after that? She didn't want the conversation to fall flat like so many of hers had.

   But, she knew that she would have to text him or call him at some point. They worked together. Matters would need to be discussed via technology. So, why not get the ball rolling now?

   So, she typed out a message and hit send in a random burst of courage:

   Hey baz! It's Sav! Real excited for the shoot today man

   As she read it over again, she cringed. How lame did she sound? God, she wished that phones would let people unsend messages, thereby getting rid of it from the receiving person's end as well.

   She shut it off and threw it across her bed, groaning. Socializing would never get easier, she decided.

   Her phone made a small ding, letting her know of an incoming text message. She shifted uncomfortably in her bed before grabbing it, praying that it wasn't Sebastian that had answered her.

   It was, and his response was just as nice as he was:

   Hey Sav!!! So happy you texted man!!! I'm so excited too 😊

   Savannah couldn't help but wonder why he tolerated her lame ways. But, she was very grateful he did, and that he was being sweet about it.

   But, now, she ran into a new predicament. How the hell would she respond to that? It's not like he had given her lots to work with.

   Thankfully, he added something else to his message: