Shooting a Video

Riley Kaplan was perhaps not the smartest around, though that’s not to say she wasn’t smart. She was a YouTube star with 3 Million subscribers, she had to be doing something right, right? Sure she was partially banking off her success in the family vlogging scene her parents insisted on, raising her and her siblings constantly in the spot light, but Riley genuinely saw no correlation.

She was raised on the principle of take what you want, and make it yours, but make sure no one knows publicly. When she began to attend university, she met a guy named Mitch Buchanan, surprisingly some the same area of New York she was from. When she saw him, she knew what she wanted, even if he was dating some chick named Nadia at the time.

Well she didn’t mater, and after really only a month of work, she had Mitch nearly wrapped around her finger. She was almost ready to convince him to break it off with Nadia and reveal their relationship to the world. Unfortunately some work was still needed on that front. But Riley was patient, and she had other things to do in the meantime.

Riley was sitting in her plush, well-lit living room, surrounded by cameras and lighting equipment. She was in the middle of filming a YouTube video, talking about her latest beauty routine. Her phone buzzed with notifications from her millions of subscribers, but she ignored them, focused on her script.

“Hey what’s up Chan Fam’s, I’m Riley and welcome back to my channel….”

This was all the influencer could say when suddenly and without warning she stopped in place, along with all her notifications and camera equipment.

The 22 year old’s mouth hung open, since she was talking when she stopped, her brown eyes staring blankly into space.

Riley would never know it, but Time was frozen, for everyone. That is, save for two individuals who were now making their way into the very house she was currently in.

"She's so into herself," Katie whispered, rolling her eyes.

“I fell like I should recognize her from somewhere,” Mark said as he observed the frozen woman inside.

Mark’s confusion about recognizing Riley was understandable; after all, her face was plastered across billboards and magazines, even if her intellect wasn’t quite on the same level as her fame.

Katie shot him a knowing glance, her expression a mix of impatience and amusement. “You’ve probably seen her on YouTube,” she whispered back, her voice barely audible over the sound of Riley’s upbeat monologue about contouring. “Now, are we going to stand here all day, or are we actually going to do something about Nadia’s problem?” she prodded, her eyes narrowing as she watched Riley adjust her camera angle.

Mark hesitated, his eyes fixed on Riley as she adjusted her camera, her laughter echoing through the window. "Are you sure about this?" he whispered, his voice tinged with doubt.

Katie nudged him sharply, her impatience evident. "Come on, Mark, we've talked about this. Nadia deserves better than some cheating influencer ruining her life." She glanced at Riley, who was now demonstrating a contouring technique, oblivious to the pair outside. "Besides, she's too busy being a celebrity to notice anything's wrong. It's the perfect opportunity."

Mark nodded, taking a deep breath. "Let's do this," he said, stepping towards the door. Katie followed, her determination unwavering. Inside, Riley remained frozen, a permanent smile on her face as Mark reached out, his hand hovering over her shoulder.

"It's for the best," Katie reminded him, her voice soft yet firm.

“Riley Stop,” Mark said allowed, freezing Riley independent of the rest of time, her beauty routine paused indefinitely.

“You think I could keep her?” Katie asked as she inspected the frozen now former influencer.

“What?” Mark asked, genuinely surprised.

“Keep her, like you said you kept Helen. You totally have it show her to me by the way.”

Mark blinked a few times. Admittedly he wanted to keep Riley to himself, but then again, Katie was his best friend. And it wasn’t like he wouldn’t get to see her.

“You know what… sure, why not.”

“Great,” Katie exclaimed, leaning in and kissing Mark on the cheek. This caused him to blush.

“I…ooo. I uh, your welcome.”

Katie blushed herself at this, an impressive feat considering her tan skin.

The two friends stood there awkwardly, Riley staring forward without a care in the world, not anymore.

“So, uh, why don’t I help you carry her to your house.” Mark rubbed the back of his neck as he did so.

“Such a gentleman,” Katie said sarcastically.

Together the two slid Riley out of her seat, and leaned her body back, with Mark carrying her from under her armpits, while Katie grabbed the young woman’s ankles. Mark couldn’t help himself but grope the woman’s boobs. Katie simply rolled her eyes at this.

Together, they carried the former influencer known as Riley Kaplan out of her house like a piece of furniture, and made their way to Katie’s house, which luckily was only two streets over.

“So how do you want to explain her disappearance?” Mark asked,

“Eh, she’s an influencer. She travels all the time and lives alone. By time anyone realizes she is missing, they won’t expect her in this area at all. Besides if they do, you could always freeze time and move her elsewhere where they already looked.

“Point.”

“Besides, how are you explaining Helen’s disappearance?”

“I uhhh…. didn’t.”

Katie gave Mark a glare. “Hey, the consequences of that are on you.”

“I’ll think of something.”

“Sure thing Einstein.”

The two soon arrived at Katie’s house, made their way inside, and up to Katie’s room. They placed Riley inside of Katie’s closet, placing her behind some hanging clothes.

“So you want to play with her now or….” Mark asked.

“Uh, maybe later. We probably want to remain a little responsible, and they say with great power, comes great responsibility.”

Mark looked at Katie for a bit, “you stole that from Spider-Man.”

“And proud of it too.” Katie declared with a cheeky grin. “Besides you still have to show me Helen.”

“Fine. After school ends, you can come over and all show you Helen.”

“Great. Besides, there are a few girls at school you should actually consider as additions for your collection instead of the method you tried to implement,”

“Yes really. I think you’ll really like my choices.”

“Well all right then,”

With that, Mark and Katie made their way back to the school, with him being a lot more chipper at the idea of more acquisitions from the school’s female population.