Into the Light

41

"Better?" I asked, quietly. "Yes," she murmured. "Good," I said, before smacking her ass over the hoodie. "OH!" she shrieked. I laughed and followed Sam and Jake out of the room. Corey and Brennen followed behind us, and pulled the room door closed. "Wish I had a girl to throw over my shoulder, like a caveman," Brennen pouted. I turned around, swinging Anna with me, and walked backwards so that I could see him. "COLBY!" Anna yelled. "Shhh," I said, swatting her again. "People are probably trying to sleep. No yelling!" "Turn the fuck around!" she hissed, keeping her voice low. "Make me," I replied. "Don't worry bro, I'll let you carry me like a caveman." "Really?" he asked, grinning. I laughed. "Definitely." "Wait, what?" Anna said. "Brolby is real, babe. You're gonna need to learn to deal with it," Brennen said. "Solby is real too, Anna," Kat yelled. "Hey!" she exclaimed, when Sam smacked her ass again. "What is with you guys and spanking us?" Anna asked, grumpily. "And what is a Solby and a Brolby. You guys are weird, sometimes." "Get used to it," Corey replied, from behind me. "By the way, Colby, I wanna carry you like a caveman too. Can I, can I, pleeease?" "He's fluttering his eyelashes, Colby," Anna sighed. "I don't understand what is happening." Everyone started laughing then, including me. She really sounded pitiful and confused. I guess anyone who didn't know our friend group would be pretty confused. "Solby is mine and Sam's ship name," I explained. "And Brolby is mine and Brennen's." "Huh? What's a ship name? You're just making it worse," she replied. "Okay, a ship is when people ship you together. Like, in a relationship. Relation-ship. Get it? It's both of our names combined into one. Sam and Colby equals Solby. Brennen and Colby equals Brolby." "Okaaay, I understand that, but I don't understand why," she replied. "Are you guys gay? Or bi, I guess. Sam has a girlfriend and you and I- well." I laughed again, making her bounce on my shoulder a little. "No, we're not. I'm not really sure how it happened. You know that we do Youtube, and we have fans from that. They started it, I guess. We joke around but it's just for fun." "Are you sure?" she whined. "Because it really sounded like you guys might be a little bisexual from the way you were just talking." "Let her down easy, bro," Brennen said, taking my hand closest to Anna in his. He swung my arm back and forth, holding my hand, as we walked down the hallway. "See?! I'm so confused!" Anna replied, raising up some. She slid down my shoulder a little, so I took my hand from Brennen and hoisted her back up. "Oof," she breathed out. We walked through the lobby and out the door, before I set her down on her feet. Sam did the same with Kat, but Jake continued to keep Tara over his shoulder. "Jakey, let me down!" she exclaimed, slapping his back. "Nope, don't wanna," he replied, swinging her in a circle. "Oh ma God, stop!" she yelled. He laughed, and set her down. It was a beautiful night. The  half moon hung high in the inky blackness of the sky. There were a few stars visible, just a sparkle here and there, dipping in and out of the cotton candy clouds, like they were playing Hide and Seek. I caught Anna's eye and smiled. She smiled back, but she actually did look confused and apprehensive. I sighed. "Anna, we're not gay. Or bi. It's just joking around. Just us acting dumb and funny. That's it. I am straight as a board." A giant, beautiful grin filled her face, and she laughed. "I know, but I had you going for a minute, didn't I?" she exclaimed. My mouth fell open. "Actually? Okay, I see you," I replied. She giggled and the sweet sound brought a smile to my face. I was so happy that she seemed to be getting more comfortable with me and my friend group. I took her hand, as I we kept walking towards the cars. "I really was wondering for a minute though," she said, cocking her eyebrow at me. "I'm not used to guys acting like that. I'm used to guys being scared of people thinking they're gay." "Time's have changed," I replied. "Have you been living under a rock?" Brennen asked, walking by us. "Seriously." Anna blushed, and bit her lip. "No. I just haven't really been...um, I don't really watch tv, and we didn't have much in the way of the internet. No technology really." "Wow, really? How did you even manage life? Weren't you bored out of your mind?" Tara asked. Anna shook her head. "Not at all. I played with toys when I was little. Like My Little Pony, and Barbies. I had an Etch a Sketch, and lots of board games. Battleship was one of my favorites, though I don't know if it's considered an actual board game. My friends and I played cards. Games like Spades, Hearts, and Slap. We even played Poker with pennies. We walked around the neighborhood, and went to the park to hang out and listen to  music. We had sleepovers, where we did makeovers and watched old horror movies. I guess I did have a little technology, but not much. I actually loved it." It was like I was playing an old movie in my head, hearing her tell us about her childhood. It actually sounded nice. A more simple time, without the constant need of approval from people online. "Huh....I couldn't imagine," Tara replied. "I don't know. I think it sounds kinda cool," Kat said, letting go of Sam's hand and skipped towards the car. "Not worrying about every single thing you do ending up online for the world to see. That sounds amazing actually, but didn't you want to have memories of it? Like pictures and videos? You said that you didn't have a phone, so what did you do?" Anna laughed. "We had cameras and camcorders. And yes, I know that's technology, but you know what I mean. My best friend and I would actually make our own dances up to songs that we loved, and record them with the camcorder."