In Another Life

52

I don't even know where you live or if anything could come of this, or even if you want it or if I want it too, but I do know that I keep thinking about you." I felt the surprise on my face at the words tumbling out of his mouth. He looked back up at me slowly and met my gaze. "I want to get to know you. The real you, maybe be friends. If you want?" If I want? Was he serious? Of course I want! What kind of fucking question was that? If I want...the fuck kind of crack was he smoking? OH he was just sitting there, staring at me, waiting for me to reply while I talk to myself inside my own head. Say something, you dumb bitch! Make sounds exit your mouth! "Yes," was the word that I managed to force past my dry lips. He smiled slightly, looking amused, and half turned his body towards me. "Okay, so let's talk. Where are you from Terra Brookes?" I cleared my throat and ran my through my hair, playing with the ends of it nervously. "Um North Georgia. A little town in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to do." He smiled again, slowly, the corners of his lips turning up. "So that explains the accent." I felt my cheeks heat up a little. "I do not have an accent." He nodded. "You do. It's not really bad, but you do. It's cute." I rolled my eyes, and stuck my tongue to my top lip, trying to keep from smiling. "What do you do for fun?" he asked, continuing the conversation. This was so surreal to me. I was sitting on a bed in a hotel room with Colby Brock, having 'get to know you' conversation. I shrugged. "I don't know. The usual, I guess. There isn't much to do where I'm from. I used to party a lot with people who I thought were my friends, but turned out they were just using me. I finally found my best friends, Denise, Sarah, and Kenzie, because of you guys. I made a fan page, and a couple of months later, Denise and I started talking, found out we lived in the same town, and she introduced me to the other girls. So thanks for that." He leaned to the side, propping himself up on one arm, while he brought one leg up onto the bed, and curled it. "Really? You guys are friends because of us? That's really cool." He dipped his head down a little, and a stray curl fell across his forehead. I felt my fingers flex with the need to reach up and brush it back, so I tightened my hand into a fist, before nodding. "Yeah. It is actually. I'm not sure what my life would be like right now if I hadn't stumbled across a few dorks on YouTube, one random night." His mouth fell open, and he stuck his tongue inside his cheek. "Dorks, huh?" I giggled, and nodded. "Yep, crackhead dorks at that." "Oh okay, I see how it is," he replied, that beautiful smile spreading across his face. "So, would I know your fan page?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. I chewed my bottom lip and shrugged. "I don't know. Do you know any of us? There are so many." He nodded. "Yeah, I recognize a few names. They pop up on my explore page a lot on Instagram. What's your at?" I shook my head and scooted back on the bed, so that my back was resting against the headboard. He turned, bringing his other leg up onto the bed, and faced me. "You're not getting the at. It's not happening." He tapped my ankle with his finger, and laughed. "Aw, why not? I just wanna see it. Do you do video edits, or picture edits? Or do you just post pictures? OR do you write those wild ass fan fictions? You know, there are some freaky ass girls in this fandom." I busted out laughing and avoided the question. "Yeah, I'm aware." "You're really not gonna tell me?" he asked, poking his bottom lip out. I swear I almost caved just from that, but somehow, I was able to remain strong and shake my head. "Nope. Never." "Okay, fiiiine. Be that way. I'll see it one day. Bet," he said smugly. "Not on your life Brock," I replied, smiling. Then he just continued asking me questions about myself. Everything that you could think of, he asked me. From my favorite color and my favorite book, to my pet peeves and what food I hated. It felt like it lasted forever, but also no time at all. Before I knew it, Jake and Tara were opening the door, wobbling a little with how drunk they were. "Sam and Kat kicked us out," Jake said, stumbling to their bed, and falling onto it, shoes and all. Tara was a little more coherent, and sat down, taking her shoes off. Denise and Kenzie came in behind them. "Wait, why are you guys here?" I asked, surprised. "Sarah kicked me out so that her and Brennen could 'talk,'" Kenzie replied, making air quotations. "And I invited Denise to come hang out for a little while. She can stay with Kenzie in Brennen's bed, if you guys wanna 'talk,'" Tara replied, using the same air quotations, raising her eyebrows at Colby. He gave her a deadpan expression. "Don't. It's not like that. WE actually are just talking. It's been nice," he said softly, glancing at me. Jake let out a big snore, causing all of us to jump, then laugh. "Guess he's done," Tara said wryly. "You guys wanna just watch YouTube, or what? We're leaving tomorrow, so we'll have to get up kind of early." Denise looked at me intently, and I raised my eyebrows questioningly. "Yeah, we'll just hang out and watch YouTube. I'll stay in here. That way Colby and Terra can finish their conversation." "Wait, what?" I asked, shocked. I didn't actually think they were going to force us into a room together...alone. "Yeah, because you guys are still talking, and we're all probably going to go to bed."