Sam and Colby: The Asylum

65

Jake bent down and threw me over his shoulder, then thundered down the stairs, Corey running after us laughing. We made our way outside, but I could only see the ground.

"Colby!" Jake yelled.

"What's up ma—dude, what the fuck?" Colby said.

"You need a new one," Jake said.

"Oh, is this one broken?" Colby asked.

"Screw you!" I yelled.

"Yeah, I think it's broken," Sam said.

"You should try turning it off and then back on again," Corey said. Jake swung me sideways when he turned to face Corey.

"You want Colby to turn her on?" asked Jake.

"One hundred percent. Right here, right now," Corey said.

"Oh my god," Sam said. They all erupted into laughter, me unimpressed with the entire conversation.

"Okay, okay, put her down," Colby said.

"Nah, brother. I told you. This one is broken," Jake said.

"What's wrong with it?" asked Colby. "Looks great to me."

"You can only see my ass!" I yelled from behind Jake.

"I know. My statement stands," Colby said.

"Jake is just butthurt that Nessa called paddleballs stupid," Corey said.

"Yeah, she was bragging about how she can box and write and sing and play football, which are totally lame things, then gave me shit for being good at paddleball," Jake said.

"That could not be less true!" I called, kicking my legs.

"And now she's going to break my beautiful face!" Jake yelled.

"Can't break what you don't have!" I yelled back.

"OOH, burn!" yelled Corey.

"See! Broken," Jake said.

"No, I think the paddleball is stupid, too. I mean, I love it and could literally spend hours watching you play it, but that doesn't make it any less stupid," Sam said.

"Can you put me down now?" I asked. "Because if you don't, I will find a way down."

"Was that a threat?" Jake asked.

"Yes. That's exactly what that was, and I will legitimately follow through with said threat," I said.

"Damn, now she's trying to challenge you," Corey said.

"No I'm not! This is not a challenge! A challenge implies that I want him to fight back!" I said. "All of my blood is rushing to my head. I just want to not be upside down!"

"I kind of want to see who will win this challenge here," said Sam.

"Colby!" I whined.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Can I have some help here?" I asked.

"Mm... you said you'd find a way down," Colby said.

"Dude's too busy staring at your ass," Corey said.

"Men are useless!" I yelled. I quickly bent my knees toward my head and threw all of my weight backward. Jake wobbled back onto his heels and loosened his grip to hold his arms out for balance. I rolled myself sideways off his shoulder and landed on my feet just in time to see Jake fall backward on his butt.

"Dude, what the hell?" Corey laughed.

"Definitely not broken," Sam said. I looked down at Jake.

"See? I told you it was a real threat," I said, crossing my arms.

"Ow," Jake wheezed, wincing. He held his arm out for someone to help him up.

"No, I think you sort of did that one to yourself," Sam said.

"No, she did that," said Jake.

"I warned you!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, brother. She warned you," Colby said. I laughed before reaching my hand out and pulling Jake up.

"Jesus," Jake said, turning around. There was a small scrape on the back of his thigh, right below where his shorts reached. "I'm bleeding!" Jake screeched.

"No, you're being a baby. But we have plenty of band aids, so I will go get you one," I said. I turned on my heel and walked inside, hearing all of the guys laugh at Jake. I went to the room and bent down to rustle through the med bag when I heard a creak behind me. I whipped around and stared out of the doorway into the hall. I froze for a second, but turned back around and resumed when I didn't see anything.

I found the box of band aids and opened it up when I heard a noise again. It sounded like someone was breathing right behind me. Goosebumps coated my body and I slowly turned around. I still couldn't see anything, but the breathing sounded like it was getting louder. I stood up and backed away from the door.

"H-Hello?" I called out. "Colby?"

There was no answer. The breathing got louder and faster.

"Colby!" I screamed.