Heartless

4

"So, tell me something about yourself." Colby said making me immediately tense up. "Woah...I didn't mean to scare you." He said throwing his hands up defensively. "No it's fine. Just the last time someone asked me that he tried to get in my pants without consent." I said and shrugged. I realized Colby had good intentions, he was trying to distract me. "I work with Kat at the Java Cafe." I said looking up at him. "Do you like your job?" I smiled, "I really do. I love learning new latte art techniques, the way the milk can make a beautiful pattern with just a different flick of your wrist. It's mesmerizing. It's incredible what you can create with your hands...sorry I'm rambling." I said brushing a loose hair off of my face and behind my ear. I could talk about my job all day, I loved getting to be creative. "You're okay. Tell me more" he said with a soft smile. "Um..well I moved here to be a singer. I'm self taught so it's been difficult but Kat has been helping a little bit." He never stopped looking at me as I was talking. It was comforting. "Do you play any instruments?" He said prompting me more. "I taught myself the ukulele, Kat is teaching me how to play the piano." I shrugged and bundled the ends of the sweatshirt I was wearing in my fists. "And what about you? Tell me something about you" I said looking over at him.

He chuckled, "Well as you know Sam and I do YouTube..." he started, but stopped when my face changed to a quizzical expression. I tilted my head. "You didn't know? I thought Kat would have told you..or maybe even Sam." I shrugged, "it never came up." He smiled, "well we do YouTube videos, we used to explore abandoned places but we may or may not have gotten arrested...I shouldn't be telling you that..." he said and laughed a little. "Now we hunt ghosts and stuff." He said causing my head to perk up. "Wait really??" He looked up with a cautious look on his face, "yeah, but it's not a big deal...I'm not possessed or anything like that" he said throwing his hands up in defense. "No no no I have always been obsessed with ghost hunting! I've never done it but when I was younger I would watch ghost adventures ALL the time." He smiled, "no way! Well maybe the next time we go you can come. We would love to have you around, plus having a girl in the thumbnail is hella good clickbait" he said and laughed. "I'm down for it." I said holding my hand out for a handshake. He shook it and laughed. When he laughed you could see almost all of his teeth and his eyes smiled with his mouth.

The doorknob began to turn causing me to jump a little. It was Sam, "There you are!" He said and pointed at me. "Kat's been looking for you." He said causing me to get up. "Well thanks for your help Colby. I'll see you around." I started to walk away then realized I was still wearing his clothes, "oh wait do you want these back?" I said gesturing to my outfit. "Nah I have plenty of comfy clothes, I want you to be comfortable" he said with a smile. I turned away and walked downstairs to see Kat standing there. "Hey! Where have you been? Why are you wearing that?" She said tilting her head. "It's a long story...I'll tell you later. Are you ready to go?" I said and she nodded, "yeah it's pretty late." And with that she kissed Sam and we left.

"He what?! I'm so sorry I left you alone! I can't believe that happened!" Kat said as we drove home. I explained everything, "It's okay Kat I'm fine! I'm just glad Colby was there." She looked over at me quickly then moved her eyes back to the road, "yeah he's a good guy." She said with a smile, "he and Sam have been best friends for years, they are like two peas in a pod." She said as she pulled into her apartment complex, "Colby said they do YouTube? I had no idea" I chuckled as I said that. "Yeah they have like millions of followers. But I forget about it sometimes." She said with a goofy grin. "Colby invited me to be in their next ghost hunting video" I said with a smile, "I have always wanted to go ghost hunting...you should come with" I said as we got into the apartment. "Maybe I will that sounds like fun! ....and like a double date" she said and laughed. "Please Colby and I barely even know eachother! He was just in the right place at the right time" I shrugged it off. "I smell Cupid's arrow" Kat sang. "Shut up" I said punching her lightly in the arm.

Kat slept in her room and I slept on the couch in the living room. I always had a hard time sleeping, between the memories of my past invading my thoughts and the bad dreams I would have, I usually just couldn't settle down. I began missing my dad. He was my best friend for a long long time, before I moved to LA we would do everything together.

"Cora be careful by the water" Dad said as he fished along the ocean. I danced around the shore, looking for shells. I was 13 at the time. Mom had already left us. "I will dad I promise!" I said. Dad started to cheer as his line began to bend, "Go Dad!" I yelled and ran up to him. He pulled in a huge fish and held it up so I could take a picture. He picked me up and swung me around in celebration. Even after everything that happened with him and mom he always kept a good attitude about life. It's what I admired most about him.