Dead souls - corey scherer

17

ʎzɐɹɔ

———

- brandi -

i woke up the next morning to my phone ringing. picking up the phone, i awaited for someone to say something. only, they didn't. "hello?"

"hey brandi." sam said with a low tone. "are you okay?" it was odd for him to ask since i haven't spoken to him in a while but i thought it sweet that he cared.

"uh i guess so," i laughed with pity for myself. "how're you?" he sighed softly over the phone and shifted around.

"well colby told me about what happened last night so i just wanted to check in on you. everyone's a little shaken up with what happened and i just wanted to make sure that you and corey were okay." sam was generally concerned and it made me realize that i have been neglecting him. i really like sam... he's was the first person that i really bonded with.

"thanks sam. that's uh really cool of you. corey and i are still out here but when i get back.. do you wanna hang out or something? missin my sam time." i chuckled and switched the phone over to my other ear.

"yeah sounds cool. see ya then, brandi." he hung up first and i smiled as i set down my phone. corey was taking a shower right now so i decided it would be a good idea to start getting ready too. i pulled on a pair of black sweatpants and a champion hoodie. my hair was a mess and frizzy but i decided to leave it down and not mess with it. i'll take a shower when i get back home and make it pretty again.

growing up i hated using other peoples bathrooms. even hotel bathrooms. i would try my hardest to not go into them unless i really had to. there's really no particular reason why... it's just a weird thing of mine.

"are you ready to go?" corey inquired as he came out of the bathroom fully dressed. his hair was put into a man bun.

"can i french braid your hair?" he gave me a strange look and questioned me for a minute. "please?"

"i guess." he chuckled. corey sat on the edge of the bed and i crawled behind him. "how're you feeling?" i split his hair in the middle and tied one area off from the other.

"i'm okay. yesterday just feels like a blur to be honest." he hummed in response. "i have plans with sam after we get home. i just wanted to let you know."

"oh nice." he commented. "aaron and i will probably just... film a strange video or something. i might have to film a backup video in case people get angry at us for elton's video." my eyes squinted and i stopped what i was doing.

"two things.. why would we need to make a video for that? and second, i should be there too." corey shrugged his shoulders and stared down at the floor.

"well i guess you should be there too. people just get a little sensitive when it comes to elton's video and i completely understand that... i just want to ensure people that we're okay and not to be angry i guess."

-

corey and i rented out a car with the spare money we had. it was difficult to just blow all this money on this... especially when i'm going to be paying elliott's hospital bills soon. "tell me something about yourself." corey suggested and turned to me for a split second.

"like what?"

"i don't know. anything." he shrugged and came to a stop.

"umm well... my favorite color is red." i grinned and turned my eyes over to him. he rolled his eyes and smiled back to me. "deeper?" he nods and accelerates. "because i never had a dad i would confide in my male teachers."

"i thought you said you were homeschooled?" i nodded my head and pursed my lips.

"not exactly. i went to a special school. we only had 100 or something students. it's a weird school. i don't even consider it to be one." i clicked my tongue to the roof of my mouth as i looked out the window. "it was only for math, english and sports."

"that's odd."

"sure. at the time i didn't know any different so," i shrugged. "i was taught basic shit when i was in foster care or whatever but... still i never had a full day of school." corey listened with the intent to understand as he drove.

"you have a very... strange life." he chuckled and peered over to me.

"i guess so. so do you. we all have strange lives really. none alike." i argued.

"true. i can agree with that." we sat in comfortable silence as we drove for the rest of the way. occasionally we would enjoy a song together and corey would do some weird dance move but.. other than that it was pretty chill. i guess that's what i enjoyed most about corey. he could be completely serious one moment, and the next he's making jokes.

"welcome home brotha!" corey announces with a british accent. i turned to him and shook my head with a smirk. we went inside and didn't hear a single noise. "aaron must be out with his girlfriend." i shrugged and sighed.

"i'm gonna take a shower." i comment and rush to my room. i grabbed the clothes i wanted and then went to the bathroom to shower.

thinking back.... i feel a little embarrassed about what i had done. outing myself like that... i think what's making me so nervous is the fact that i was so angry. why was i so upset?

i finished my shower and put my leave in conditioner and some gel in my hair. walking out of the bathroom i saw aaron making his way to his room. "hey aaron." i greet with a smile. he looks to me and just gives me a side smirk. he didn't say another word. why did his presence feel so... suffocating right now?

"hey corey can you drive me to sam's?" i asked as i entered the living room. corey nodded and grabbed his keys.

"my ass hurts from all this driving," he laughed and quickly looked over to me. i chuckled in return and kept my eyes on him.

"sorry for making you drive me..."

"i could've said no." we drove to sam's apartment and listened to some pretty intense music. "i uh have to give sam something actually. do you mind if i walk you in?" i furrowed my brows and shook my head.

"of course not. yeah," we parked and walked up the stairs to sam's apartment. "what are you giving him?" he held up a card that looked plain and a little out of place. "from you?" he nodded his head and knocked on the door.

"it's his birthday soon so it's like a little fake dinner reservation so it looks like he's being forgotten about." i never got those cruel birthday pranks. like i get in the end it's all funny but at the time it just makes someone feel so shitty.

a girl answered the door and i greeted her with a smile. corey was looking down at the card when he intertwined our hands. when he looked up i felt his hand go limp.