turn the lights off and iâll glow
When Andrew opens the door to see a camera thrust into his face, heâs like, âUm. Excuse me?â
Thereâs a slender black haired man standing on his doorstep grinning broadly at him with a flash of perfect, blinding white teeth, and all of a sudden Andrew knows why heâs here. Roman West is on his doorstep. Roman West, from Roasting Ghosts With Roman, commonly hashtagged during live-tweeting as #RGWR, is standing in front of him, and heâs like, âYeah, you called? Iâm, you know. The ghost hunter?â
Of course. Andrew sighs, mumbles, âWhat the fuck, Will,â and then says, âYeah. Of course. Dâyou, like. Wanna come in?â
It starts like this: Will and Andrew are just two broke college students who want to rent an apartment. And when they find this one? In a building with actually has security so Andrew doesnât have to worry about his MacBook Pro being stolen? (âNo oneâs going after your protein powder, Will.â) Itâs a Godsend. A fucking miracle. They can barely believe it. Itâs ten drive minutes from campus, thereâs a grocery store two minutes away and Insomnia Cookies delivers there. And the rent? Is below their budget.
So, of course the place is haunted.
Itâs nothing huge â just small, annoying things. Willâs protein powder goes missing. The salt and the sugar get swapped out so Andrew dumps of salt in his coffee. There are moaning noises not coming from either of them when they â
âSorry â could we maybe not put that in?â Andrew asks, cutting across the voice over Romanâs filming at the front door of the apartment. Itâs not like Will is out, and Romanâs got no way of knowing that, like, maybe Andrew used to suck Willâs dick sometimes, and perhaps after finals week freshmen year Andrew couldnât really walk properly for a day, but, like. That was before Andrew started dating Dom, and, either way Roman shouldnât know any of that. The cameraman shoots Andrew an annoyed glare, but Roman doesnât look bothered, so Andrew continues. âWe donât, uh ââ
âShame,â Roman looks put out for a moment. âWillâs cute. So are you. Wait, are you both straight?â
âUhâ Iâm not? But ââ
The door opens, and itâs Will, the same guy who got them into this reality show mess, and Andrewâs like, âWill! Youâre back. This is, uh. Roman. Which youâd know. Since you called him.â
âYou said you played football?â Roman says by way of greeting Will, and smirk on his face as he bats his eyelashes. âThatâs so interesting.â
The grin on Willâs face is huge as he gives Roman a once over, and Andrew decides he needs to leave right then, because â Roman? Is very cute, and Will? Is very hot, and Andrew? Was up all night because that goddamn ghost kept pushing his stuff over, and heâs just tired and a little cranky and he wants overpriced coffee because theyâre saving on the rent anyway, living in this haunted apartment.Â
Thatâs why they called the ghost hunters in the first place. They donât want to have to find another apartment.
Look. Itâs not easy to find an apartment in a good area for cheap, and theyâre not about to give that up because of an annoying ghost.
âIâm going to Starbucks.â Andrew says, grabbing his wallet off the coffee table, and Roman goes, âGreat, could you get me a frappuccino, please?â
Romanâs manager, a pretty blonde woman in high heels and winged eyeliner that could slit someoneâs throat says, âHold up, Iâm coming with. You can drive.â Then she spins around, pistol whip sharp, and pins the camera man with a look, is like, âI need usable footage this time. Capisce? Iâm not a fucking miracle worker, and Iâm not leaving footage selection up to the editors after Januaryâs disaster. One thing I canât stand? Is inefficiency. Donât make me fucking fire you,â then turns to Andrew with a smile, like she hasnât just devastated someone right in front of him, and Roman says, âGemma, oh my God,â in that kind of voice that suggests itâs happened before, far too many times, and Gemma snaps, âGod, Roman, what?â
Will looks like heâs just fallen a little bit in love with Gemma, so Andrew grabs his car keys and walks out of the door.
Saving on the rent is one thing, but a grande caramel macchiato is still, like, $4.45, which is way too much to be paying for coffee, but Andrew thinks he deserves it. Gemma gets a normal black coffee, looks him right in the eyes as she drinks it without any sugar or cream, and Andrewâs a hundred percent sure that sheâs a superior being.
âSo,â she starts, taking out her phone and tapping on the screen, âIâm gonna need you to do the confession cam later. Itâs important, and youâve got the whole puppy thing going on. Youâre cute, and we need a cool down episode after last weeks. Fucking tragic.â
Andrew doesnât know what last weekâs was about, because when he watches Roasting Ghosts With Roman itâs mainly when heâs stressed about finals and he binge watches it, like, half a season at a time, but he doesnât know how to say that to Gemma, so he goes, âOh?â
âYeah. Dead sister and everything. Heartbreaking, you know? Ratings shot through the roof. So, back to you. Play up the whole puppy thing. You and your roommate both. I want, like. The All American boy thing, and Will looks like he has that going on. Who actually wears lettermans?â
Andrewâs wearing one now, actually, so he says, âUhââ
âSorry, I guess that was rude. Itâs just been stressful lately. We keep getting complaint letters, but Iâm, like, ninety-nine percent sure theyâre all from the same guyââ
Andrewâs phone buzzes, and itâs a text from Will.
[Will]: thx bro ur the real mvp tbh
â¨[Will]: srsly tho like heâs supposed to be the best? and i know u have finals coming up next month drew
It makes him smile, and heâs happy enough that he buys Will a piece of New York cheesecake along with Romanâs frappuccino when he and Gemma are about to leave, because Willâs always looking out for Andrew, whether Andrew realises it at the time or not.
After they film the confession cam segments, Andrew hears more about the hate mail. Itâs apparently because whoeverâs sending it (they call themselves Glitch) says that the show isnât realistic enough. Andrew privately agrees, but isnât sure why someone has enough free time to send the network complaints about it.
âTheyâre letters, you know, actual letters,â Roman says, sitting in between Will and Andrew, sipping the frappuccino that Andrew bought for him. Heâd licked off all the whipped cream first, though, so thereâs none left. âSo I just print out the winky face emojis and send them back.â
âAnd you get replies?â Will asks, sounding amused.
âYeah? Weâre penpals now, actually? I mean, they have some suggestions that are pretty decent, actually? I keep telling them my number but they never text me, and itâs been, like. At least two months now. I kind of want to meet up with them, you know? Put a face to the name ââ
âGlitch is not a real name?â
Andrew nods along like heâs listening even though heâs texting Dom so they can have a dinner date.
[Dom]: I could come over and cook for you?
â¨[Dom]: Wait no your house is haunted right, thatâs why the ghost busters are there.
â¨[Andrew]: Theyâre really not the ghost busters, dude.â¨[Andrew]: Secretly I donât really think this is legit, like, at all.
â¨[Andrew]: How about I go over??? Iâll bring dessert.â¨
[Andrew]: That means Iâm going to suck your dick but like Iâll also bring some Ben & Jerryâs.
â¨[Dom]: Sounds good could you get Cherry Garcia?
â¨[Andrew]: Yep, see you later :D
When he looks back up, Romanâs talking about the ghost in their apartment and how he (the ghost) used to be a prankster while he was alive, and he sounds like he means it, not like heâs just making it up, and Andrew really hopes Roman is legit, because Will was right about Andrew having finals next month, and he really needs to do well on them. Partial scholarships donât keep themselves, you know.
âHe was a bit of a prankster when he was alive,â Roman says, careful to hide the Starbucks symbol with his hand as he sips the drink again. âNo brands on camera unless theyâre sponsors,â Gemma had said earlier. âAnd he was probably hot, too, if Iâm not wrong. Hit me up, Patrick âthatâs his name, by the way â if youâre listening.â
A book falls over, and Andrew and Will both tense, looking over at Roman with wide eyes, because thereâs no way anyone pushed that book over. None of the crew members are near enough for that, and Gemmaâs too busy texting, completely unfazed by the whole thing.
The eerie atmosphere disappears when Will asks, âYou havenât actually fucked a ghost, right, bro?â
Roman just smirks, Gemma doesnât look up from her iPhone, goes, âOh, please,â and then â