Playboy (Colby Brock X Reader)

9.

I spend a few minutes scrolling through my camera roll until I finally settle on a photo for my profile picture.

I click on one of the only pictures of myself that I like. It's one of the professional pictures I had taken for my senior portraits. The quality is perfect, and I don't look horrible. I adjust it and crop it in the little bubble until I'm satisfied, then finish creating my profile.

A list of my contacts pops up on the screen next, displaying the accounts of everyone in my phone. Morgan's account is the first on the list. I click the follow button. I scroll down, skimming through the names until I find Katrina's profile. My eyes widen as I tap on her profile and see how many followers she has. Over 100,000.

What the fuck?

A weight appears on the couch next to me, "Finally make an Instagram?" Morgan asks, her own phone in her hand ready to follow me back.

I show her my screen, and her mouth parts in surprise, "Woah, what the hell. Your friend is famous?" She gapes, typing her name into her search bar.

I scroll through her page, finding a post of her and Sam, "Apparently.." I trail off, confused as to how she never shared that with me. He's tagged in it, and Instagram directs me to his page.

He has half a million followers.

Many of his posts are either selfies or him and Colby at what seem to be abandoned locations. I hesitate to look at Colby's profile. I don't know anything about him, and this could lead me to discoveries I'm not sure I'm ready to find.

A notification pops on my screen. Kat followed me back, as well as Morgan. Within seconds, Sam and the rest of the roommates have found my account effortlessly, all following me.

All but Colby.

I exit Instagram and text Kat, in hopes of getting some answers.

Hey, uhh, did you forget to tell me all of you are like, famous?

She reads it immediately before she begins typing a response.

I'll tell you everything at work tomorrow. I didn't want to freak you out. I never really wanted it, but Sam and Colby had big platforms and ever since Sam announced we were dating I got roped in by association.

I decide to leave it at that and leave her on read, beginning to feel very overwhelmed.

"Dude," Morgan gasps. She found Jake's profile.

"Him too?" I stare at his page.

I lock my phone and lean back further into the couch. The mansion and the huge party make sense now, but nothing else seems to be clicking in my head. Is this why Colby is so mysterious? Did he not want me finding out he's famous?

***

Throughout my whole shift I can feel my phone vibrating nonstop from my pocket. Every time I had a second to look, it was just another notification from Instagram flooding in.

I guess people found me through everyone in the house following me, and thousands of their fans have been adding my profile I guess out of curiosity.

9:00 rolls around, and Kat and I finally have the time to talk.

We sit at the counter, and I anxiously twirl a straw around my glass of water.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I break the silence, picking up that she too was nervous to have this conversation.

She swallows and looks down at her hands, "As soon as people find out, they want something from me. Clout, money, whatever. It's hard to make genuine friends out here, especially when I'm connected to Sam and Colby and everyone else. I guess I was just trying to wait until I was confident that you weren't one of those people."

I look at her sympathetically, pursing my lips, "Katrina, I wouldn't use you like that." To be honest, I'm a little offended. But, at the same time I can understand where she's coming from, "But, if you have that life, what're you doing here at the diner?" I ask.

"Because I want to make a name for myself. I don't want to just be known as Sam's girlfriend. I'd love to get into music, but again, I'm just known by association. So, I'm trying to save some money so I can put myself out there, without relying on anyone else."

My eyebrows raise. I admire her. She has these opportunities at her fingertips, but she wants to work for them before she just grabs.

"And I'm really sorry all their fans are finding you," She adds, guilt spread across her features, "I wanted to explain everything to you before, but they all loved hanging out with you at the party and they jumped the gun on following you and well, now we're here."

I playfully nudge her shoulder, "Don't apologize for their trigger fingers," I chuckle, and she flashes me a sad smile, "I mean, I liked hanging out with all of you too, so I guess I had to find out sooner or later, right?"

She exhales a sigh of relief and wraps her arm around me, "I'm so glad you're not mad!"

"Mad isn't the word I'd use. Just gonna have triple the panic attacks for a while, but not mad." I tease half-heartedly.

I wonder what's going to happen now. People already know about me. Can I even fly under the radar now? Deleting my Instagram will only raise more questions.

Deleting my Instagram will keep me from finding the answers to my own.