The day we met // Colby Brock

Chapter 16

I sat in the living room with Colby still next to me. It was around 6 PM now. "Hey, do you guys want something to eat?" Elton approached us. "Sure, I could eat," Colby said. "Thanks, but I'm not hungry," I said and tried my best to put a smile on my face. The boys all agreed to order in, 'cause they didn't want to leave me alone. I thought that was sweet of them.

As the guys were eating I excused myself to the restroom. I looked in the mirror like I used to do. I looked like a ghost. When I came back I got a text message on my phone. It was one of my old friends, Lilly. "Hey, I'm in California for 2 weeks. Wanna meet-up sometime?" she asked. I went over to Colby. "Hey, what are you doing tomorrow?" I asked him. "I'm gonna film a video with Sam, why?" he said. "Is it okay if a friend came over?" I asked him with a soft voice. "Sure, I won't be home, but Elton and Corey are," he said. I smiled at the boy. He is so sweet to me.

"He won't be for long. Don't get too attached. He will break your heart," the voice in my head said to me.

He does like me. He even is worried about me and won't leave me alone in the house while a friend is over.

The boys finished eating and Colby and I were gonna go to bed. Colby had to wake up early for the video with Sam. He set an alarm for 6 AM. "It's getting late and I have to wake up early," the boy complained. "I know... I'm gonna miss you," I responded. A smile slipped on his face. We cuddled for a while and fell asleep.

I woke up to Colby's alarm. He was still fast asleep. I shrugged him a bit to wake him up. "Good morning," I said with a soft voice, still half asleep. "No... not yet," the boy complained. "Yes, Colby, you have to wake up or you'll miss your flight," I hugged him from behind. "ugh... fine," he got up and stretched his arms out. "I'm gonna miss you," he said with a sad voice. "I'm gonna miss you too," I responded.

I got up with him and as we got downstairs, Sam was already packing their gear for the exploring video. "Good morning," he greeted us. " Good morning to you too," I responded. Colby went into the kitchen to grab something to eat. "Did you sleep well?" Sam asked with a bit of worry in his voice. "Yeah, woke up a few times, but overall I slept okay," I responded.

"We need to go now, or we'll miss our flight," Sam said to Colby. "I know," Colby complained as he walked over to hug me. "I'll be home tomorrow morning. Call me if something's wrong," he said. I nodded. "Have a safe flight," I waved the guys goodbye.

I went back to Colby's room and sat at his desk. I grabbed my journal and started writing. It was only 8 AM and I'm supposed to meet Lilly at 10. I started to write poetry like I used to do back home. I was always really passionate about poetry. I could let my guard down and tell my story. I always found peace in writing the words.

I wrote for about an hour and read the words out loud to see if the words added up with each other.

"Silence all the laughter, everyone has gone. Leave me here, let life roll along. Shut out the light, I don't wish you to see. This empty existence, now encapturing me. Close all the windows, make this my cell. The dark is my prison, this is my Hell. Block out those sounds, and let life roll along. I can still hear the music, but it's not my song,"

Suddenly Corey is standing in the doorway. "Wow, that is really good. Did you write that?" he said. I felt myself blushing as I turned around. "Y-yeah... I wrote it just now," I said a bit shy. "Well, it sounds amazing. You should keep that up," Corey responded as he left.

"He doesn't mean it. It doesn't sound good. You should never do poetry again, you're so bad at it. Just kill yourself already," the voice in the back of my head said.

I brushed it off and went downstairs to the living room. "At what time is your friend coming over?" Elton asked me, as I sat down on the couch. "I'm supposed to pick them up at 10 AM," I responded. "Want me to give you a ride?" he asked. "No that's alright. Thanks tho," I said.

It was almost time to go pick Lilly up from the park. I went upstairs to go get ready. I put on a pair of black ripped jeans and a white oversized hoodie that I grabbed from Colby's closet. I went to the parking lot and started my car.

I arrived a bit early, but Lilly did too. "Hey," I said to her as I got out of my car. "Hey," she said as she came over to me. I hugged her and we sat back in the car. "Is it alright that we are going to my place?" I asked Lilly. "Yeah, that sounds good," she responded. We talked all the way back to the Trap House.

"Oh, before I forget. I'm temporarily living with the TFIL guys," I blurted out. "Are you joking?" she asked me. "Nope. I'm dead serious," I responded. "How the fuck did you manage that?" she asked surprised. "Well... I'm kind of dating Colby Brock," I explained. Lily gasped. "Are you kidding me?" she practically screamed. "No. Do you remember Denice?" I asked her. She nodded. "Well, she became friends with Tara and Devyn. So she became friends with Sam and Colby and the rest of the TFIL group," I continued. She looked at me amazed. "So we are going to the Trap House?" she asked again. "Yep," I said a bit uncomfortable.

When we arrived I parked the car and we got inside. "Wow. We are really here," she said with a soft voice. I smiled at her. "Would you like something to drink?" I offered her a bottle of water. "Yeah, thank you," she responded as she grabbed the bottle from my hand. We sat in the living room to catch up.

"It's been a long time," I said to the amazed girl. "Yeah, it's been years," Lilly responded. "So what brings you here?" I asked. "I'm on a two-week vacation with my mom," she said. "How are things?" I asked her. "Well, I'm holding my head up. Ever since my dad left my mom, everything just went a little upside down," she rambled on. "I'm sorry to hear that," I said. "How are things with you?" Lilly asked. "I'm fine. Things were getting better. I started poetry again," I answered the girl. "That's good," she responded with a smile, but also with worry in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked her. "Hailey... when I hugged you... I could feel that you lost weight," she stuttered with a sad face. "When was the last time you ate?" she asked. I looked at her with guilt all over my face. "About two weeks ago..." I said underneath my breath, but she heard me. "Hailey..." she looked at me with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry..." I said as tears began to fall down my face. "No, it's alright. But you know it's not good," Lilly said.

We talked for hours to catch up with each other. We haven't talked in over 3 years. And the time flew by. It was already 5 PM and Lilly had to go back to her mom. "It was nice to see you again," Lilly said. " Yeah, it was nice talking to you again. We should keep in touch," I responded. She nodded and I waved her goodbye.

When I got back home, Elton was sitting in the living room. He looked worried. "Hey, what's wrong?" I asked him. He looked at me with worry all over his face. "Hailey... I'm sorry, but I couldn't help hearing your conversation with your friend," he said. I faced down because I knew where this was going. "Did you really eat nothing for the last two weeks?" he asked me. I started to tear up. I couldn't hide it anymore. I looked at Elton with tears in my eyes and nodded. "Oh, Hailey... Why?" he asked as he moved closer to me. "I don't like the way I look. I love to see the numbers on the scale go down," I came clean. "I will never look like those models in magazines," I then said.

Elton hugged me. "Hailey, you look perfect just the way you are. You don't need to lose weight. You already look beautiful," Elton said as he pulled away from our hug. I shook my head. "No. I will never look beautiful," I said as the tears streamed down my cheeks. "Hailey, you need to tell Colby," he said. "I know. I know, but I'm trying to get better. I really do," I said. "Can we just please wait to tell Colby?" I asked. Elton nodded. "But only on one condition," he said. "You need to put on weight from now on," he continued. "I will," I agreed.