She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not (gxg)

Part 4

I woke up to a text from Colby at 9:56 AM. I was off from work today. I didn't have training again until the next night. Days off were nice because I felt absolutely exhausted all the time, not just physically, but mentally, but at the same time I found myself getting too much in my head on days off. It felt like I couldn't win.

Seeing the name "Colby J" show up on my phone felt like a weird fever dream. I hadn't seen that name on my phone in years. And times after that I wished it would show up on my phone- but I had eventually gotten over this.

The text said: Hey. Want to hang today?

I stared at the text for a moment. She had sent it at 9:01 AM.

I responded: Sure. I'm in. When and where?

I got up as I waited for her response. Right when I got up, my cat, Calvin, followed me off the bed. He sleeps next to me every night. I rescued Calvin right after I moved in with Charlotte. He is a 4 year old tabby cat. I had never owned a cat before- I wasn't allowed to have pets at my parents house. He is my world though. He helps like crazy with my emotions and when I feel depressed.

I looked down at Calvin as I walked to the bathroom. "Cal, today is going to be weird." I said to him.
He looked back up at me with his big green eyes and meowed.
He followed me into the bathroom, as he always does. I technically have my own bathroom- the townhouse that I live in with Charlotte and Damien has 2 and a half bathrooms and 3 bedrooms. Charlotte and Damien were already at work- Damien is an engineer who works in the city about a half hour away, and Charlotte works only about ten minutes away.

I brushed my teeth, put in my contact lenses, and then brushed out my hair. It had gotten somewhat frizzy in my sleep, as it always does. I looked down at my phone after brushing my hair and saw I had gotten a response from Colby.

It said: How does 2 PM sound? Want to grab coffee at Starbucks?
I responded back: Sure. Which Starbucks?
She responded back right away: How does the one near my place sound? I still live at my moms house.

Colby lived with her mom and two brothers about 25 minutes away, closer to where my parents lived. I had no problem driving down there. I wondered if either of her brothers moved out yet. Since Colby was now 21, her twin brother, Sam, of course was too. Her older brother, Jason, would be 24. As I thought about her brothers, a thought dawned on me.

Does she know about Callie? That she died?

I would have that conversation if we got there. I went down to the kitchen and made myself some avocado toast for breakfast, and then lounged around until I was going to have to get ready, growing more and more nervous as it got closer to the time that I was going to see Colby.

Eventually I went back up to my room and got dressed. I looked in my full length mirror after I put on some black leggings, a gray v-neck t-shirt, and a black jean jacket. I decided to lightly curl the ends of my dark hair, and put on some foundation, blush, mascara, eyeliner, and nude lipstick. I didn't want to look like I was trying too hard, but I wanted to look good. I wondered if Colby still found me attractive. She always used to say how much she liked my eyes when we were kind of together. My eyes were always something I got teased about when I was younger. They're dark blue, and I've grown to like how big they are- but when I was younger, I would get called "bug eyed."

I pet Calvin before I left. Petting him calmed me down. I had some thoughts in my mind right before I left. Would I finally get some answers as to why we didn't work? Or would this be a casual catch up?

As I drove, I got a text from Colby on my way. It read: Hey, sorry. Is it okay with you that my friend is with me?
I felt my heart slightly sink. Guess there would be no chance to talk about us. But I wasn't going to back out. Hopefully her friend would be nice. Or maybe even not stay the whole time.
I texted back: That's fine. See you soon.
She sent me a text: We are already at Starbucks. Want a chai with almond milk?
She remembered.
I texted back: Sure. Thanks, Colby.