xploring||colby brock

chapter one

stella golbach

"stella, wake up. you're going to be late for school," my mom said softly, shaking me lightly.

i groan and roll over and looked at her. i then pulled the covers over my head and tried to close my eyes again.

"come on, ella. it's the last week before you graduate honey," she said, trying to get me out of bed.

i groan one more time, pulling the covers off of me and sitting up. i looked over at her and gave her a small smile.

"good morning momma," i said quietly.

she smiles at me in response and kisses my forehead before getting off my bed and walking out of my room. i stretch and yank the covers off me and get off my bed and walking into my closet.

"hm. what to wear?" i said as i looked in my closet.

"i say you should wear an xplr hoodie with leggings and your white slip on vans," i heard a voice coming from my bed.

i turned around to see my best friend nate sitting at the end of my bed. i just rolled my eyes at him and turned back to my closet.

"nate. you know that i love sam and colby's merch but i can't wear it out cause they haven't released it yet," i told him.

sam is my brother and colby is sam's best friend and the boy i've had a crush on for the longest time. they are really famous on youtube for doing exploring videos. anyways.

"ella, you gotta hurry up and choose an outfit cause we are gonna be late for our last monday of high school," nate said rushing me.

"oh my. okok," i said and grabbed my black skirt with a gucci belt and my favorite pink off the shoulder sweater.

i quickly went into my bathroom, putting on my clothes, brushing my teeth, and curling my hair. i rushed out of the bathroom to see that nate already had my air force ones in his hand. i grabbed them from him and put them on. i grabbed my phone, keys, and backpack and headed downstairs with nate trailing behind. we walked into the kitchen, my mom handing me, my coffee in a cup to go and nate, his protein shake. we hugged her and walked out the door, going to nate's car.

(*)

nate pulled up in his usual parking spot. he parked his car and turned it off. we got off the car and walked into the school and straight to home room. we sat in the back, like we did all year and just used our phones before the bell rang.

"hey ella? have you found a date for prom yet?" nate asked out of the blue.

i shook my head and looked over at him. i put my arms criss crossed on his desk and laid my head on my arms.

"i don't know why it's so hard for me to find a date. i just can't believe it's taken me this long to find the one to go with," i told him.

*ring ring* the bell rang and i turned around and faced the home room teacher. he closed the door and set his stuff down on the desk and he stood in front of the desk, leaning back on the desk.

"so as you all know prom is this friday and i have the forms for you to fill out. please turn this form in by thursday morning," he told everyone.

he grabbed the pile and distributed the forms to the class. i looked over at nate and i just rolled my eyes. i got to find myself a date before thursday.

(*)

"ella, you don't need a date for this. it's kind of dumb to start looking now," nate said as we walked over to the lunch table we usually sit at.

"come on nate. you know it's been my dream to go to prom with a date. i just got to find someone to go with," i said as i plopped a grape into my mouth.

nate just rolled his eyes and looked around the lunch room to see who i could go to prom with. i just stared at him and giggled softly. i then lay my head on his shoulder and look around with him.

"ooo. how bout him. he seems like someone who doesn't have a date," nate said.

i just shook my head and we continued looking. that's when an idea popped into my head.

"nate do you have a date to prom?" i asked him.

he shook his head and looked down at me. i smiled and took me head of his shoulder.

"so mister nathan gray, will you be my date to prom?" i asked him and just laughed.

"i would be honored to be your date, miss stella golbach," he replied.

we laughed and went to our last period of the day, stats. ugh gross.

(*)

*ring ring* the bell rang and i quickly got out of my chair and walked out of the classroom. to my surprise, nate wasn't waiting by the door. i furrowed my eyebrows and pulled out my phone to call him. the call went straight to voicemail. i sighed. that's weird, nate always answers the phone. i quickly shook the thought out of my head and headed to the parking lot. i walked quickly because it felt weird not to have nate right next to me. so, i rushed to the parking lot but i didn't see nate's car either. that's so strange. soon enough i felt my phone vibrate. i looked down at it to see a text from nate.

nate💕: hey ella. i know you might be confused on why i left school but i'll explain when i get to your house.

i just turned off my phone and sighed. i grabbed onto my backpack and headed towards my house. thankfully it's only a five minute walk.

(*)

i turned the corner of my neighborhood and started walking up my driveway, when flashing lights started to blind me. i closed my eyes and hid my face in the sleeve of my sweater.

"ella. look at me," i heard nate say.

i took my face out of the sleeve of my sweater and saw that he had a poster asking me to prom with flowers. i gasped and hugged him. i pulled away from the hugged and took my phone out to take a picture of him. i giggled and posted it on instagram. i shut off my phone and looked over at him.

"here i was upset cause i thought you loved my mom more than you loved me," i said and giggled.

he just shook his head and laughed. he put he arm around my shoulder and we walked inside my house for dinner.