𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐒.
amy held me back, overhearing the conversation from downstairs.
hartley opened the front door, aria walking in next to her.
jake was pacing, talking to someone on the phone with a stupid smile.
"that is a good one. okay, sounds good. yeah, talk soon. okay. bye!"
he hung up the phone, and placed it in his pocket.
"what are we listening too?" i asked.
anmy shushed me.
"hey, jake! were you just talking to who i think you were talking too?" hartley asked.
aria had been excited to speak to him, but it withered away when she saw how happy he was talking about someone else.
"yup, starling!" jake said.
aria felt the jealousy course through her veins.
"starling?" hartley asked. "i thought it was the middle aged guy from tech support who you oddly became friends with."
aria had a blank expression, crossing their arms.
"dennis? no, i talked to him earlier. good need, i convinced him to ditch the hair piece and embrace the bald." jake took a seat on the couch.
"i wish you were bald." aria said.
amy and cherry stared at each-other.
cherry pretended to not know that jake had gone out to confront starling.
that way, she wouldn't make amy or jake mad.
hartley fan girled for a moment, and jake lowered his voice.
"we've been talking everyday since we went to our commercial shoot, and tonight, she wants to meet up in person." jake grinned.
"sounds like you guys are fucking discord mods dating each other." aria said, only slightly jealous.
hartley giggled.
"oh my gosh, tonight? really?" hartley asked. "that's amazing. what am i gonna wear?"
"well, how about pajamas, because you're staying home. this is the first chance starling and i get to hang out alone and i wanna make it special." jake gushed.
"you're not dating her, why would it need to be special?" aria tilted her head.
why did aria care that much about jake and starling?
they needed to go and clear their thoughts.
and, the surprising amount of jealousy.
"bye." aria frowned, picking up her purse.
the sound of jake and hartley talking about the stupid date faded away.
they wanted to go home and cry, and then punch a starling poster.
"but, anyway, i need you to cover for me with my parents, and more importantly, amy." jake pleaded.
"god fucking damn. where's his jaria loyalty?" cherry whispered.
amy shrugged, eyes trained on hartley.
gay as hell. that is the gayest woman i've ever seen.
"oh, no! i already feel guilt about keeping a secret from her. she's my best friend, and she wouldn't keep secrets from me." hartley stood up.
"yeah she would." jake interrupted.
"yeah, you're probably right. but i don't like doing it to her."
"neither do i! i'm not gonna keep this from her forever, just until i can find a way to make her see the starling that i see. you know, the one she won't wanna toss off a tall building."
"fine! but the stress of keeping this secret is getting to me. i'm starting to lose my hair! i mean, the shower drain looks like it's wearing a wig."
"come on, you can stay for dinner."
amy and i walked down the stairs once they left.
"i don't know what's going on, but i'm gonna find out." amy insisted.
we joined them in the kitchen shortly after.
"where's colby?" i asked as soon as i entered the kitchen.
"down here." he said.
he was trapped in syrup, on eva's plate.
"hey, amy! hi cherry!" hartley greeted.
"hi." i grinned.
"hey." amy said, slightly monotone.
"everything okay?" hartley asked.
"yeah, why wouldn't it be? do you know something i don't know? because if you did, you could tell me. doesn't matter what it is, i mean, we're best friends, right?"
"of course."
hartley shoved a pancake in her mouth to stop herself from talking.
who the fuck eats pancakes at night?
"good! well, careful. you hair is shedding all over your pancakes. so, what's everyone doing tonight?"
"well, i'm off to the mall to hang out at the food court and check out the surfboard store. yup, taking up surfing, totally normal teenage boy in texas stuff. bye!" jake stared at the ground nervously.
he left his plate on the counter, and ran into the living room.
"what about you, hartley?" amy asked.
"i love going to the mall." i said to myself, looking at my decorated nails.
i sat cross legged on the table, tapping my acrylics against the wood.
"these pancakes are so good, i might just eat them all night!" hartley said, and shoved one into her mouth.
"i think you just ate colby." i gagged.
"well, i'm gonna go get a burger. this whole breakfast for dinner thing is uh, it's really weird." amy said, and also walked into the kitchen.
"have fun with that!" i called out after her.
the hidden door to the lair behind the fridge opened, vic appearing behind it.
"i did it!" he cheered.
"i've been up for three days straight, but i finally found a way to stop colby from being trapped in a random shape shifting cycle. we're gonna get our son back!" he pumped his fists in the air. "ooh, pancakes."
vic grabbed eva's plate, and was about to take a bite.
"dad, stop, it's me." colby reminded.
"oh, you're alive!" i realized.
"oh. well, hurry up and swim out of that syrup. daddy's hungry." vic said, and set the pancakes back down.
"just eat colby. he's a fly. nothing will happen. just a little more protein." i jokingly encouraged.
when colby successfully climbed out of the syrup and vic devoured the pancakes, we went down to the lair.
"all right, ladies." vic began.
we stood behind the counter, staring at the contraption in the middle of the room.
"say hello to my amazing invention that gonna turn colby fly here back to normal! the first ever, molecular re-atomizer!" he pulled the tarp off of the machine. "i haven't slept since wednesday, clap for me."
we all clapped, but colby interrupted.
"you know what i need to clap?" colby asked. "humans hands."
"like a high five?" i guessed.
vic placed fly colby in the machine.
"wait, are you sure it's safe for us to stand this close?" hartley asked.
as a safety precaution, we had to put on goggles.
my thoughts about colby had been unusually dramatic.
colby was the only person to ever be mean to me, he recognized that i wasn't perfect.
he was like a breath of fresh air.
with him, i didn't have to pretend to always be the nicest person ever.
suddenly, the machine began to glow.
colby sat there.
the real, normal colby.
"hi, cherry." he smiled.
i smiled back at him.
he hugged his mother, thankful to be back in his body. he turned to face me, as if he were about to give me a hug.
and then, he fell on top of me.
his human legs hadn't been used for a long time.
i stared at his face. i'd been so distracted in thinking about him, that i'd missed watching the transformation.
but now, i was looking directly at him.
his face was close to mine.
he glanced at my eyes, slowly looking down at my lips and then back up again at my eyes.
he gulped, shaky nervous breaths exiting him.
i stared at his face, not thinking about anything else.
his skin was smooth, like a porcelain doll. his eyes were full of fear, but adoration in the same moment. his lips were slightly agape, they were pink and looked soft.
i wanted to kiss him.
i didn't know why. maybe it was because he'd been so mean to me. maybe it was because i thought he was the prettiest thing in the world. maybe it was because i'd just been broken up with and was desperate to move on.
but i didn't want to move on with him.
i wanted to ignore the feelings of heartbreak that woke me up. i thought that maybe, if i kissed colby, i'd be distracted, enough to move on.
i knew kissing him would be easy.
but i refused to do that to him.
maybe a month ago, when i hated him, i would've. but i didn't hate him anymore. i didn't want to hurt him. this stupid little kissing thing, it was pure adrenaline.
i didn't want to kiss him.
i didn't.
colby blinked, which reminded me that he was literally on top of me.
i'd been so distracted, i hadn't even thought of everybody else in the room.
without hesitating, i shoved him off of me, and onto the ground.
"did you really have to tackle me?" i sat up.
"sorry, son." vic said. "the machines still restricting your dna, so you're gonna have to stay in there a little longer."
i helped colby up, and sat him back down in the machine.
"which will give us time to go pick you up a cake to celebrate." eva smiled.
"we couldn't decide between welcome back to your body or congrats on being normal again, so we're just gonna swipe one from the neighbors retirement party." vic cheered.
"you can't do that!" hartley said, horrified.
"he's old! probably won't even know it's gone." eva said, and her snd her husband left the lair.
"i'll wait with you, colby." hartley said.
"we can play tic tac toe!" i pulled out my phone.