Winter break came and went faster than I wanted it to. Christmas with my family was honestly really fun.
I got a bunch of new records, clothes, and a new phone. Mine had been messing up recently.
I spent New Years with some of my old theater friends. I really enjoyed seeing them and catching up with them.
It wasn't the same as my friends here though. Don't get me wrong. I love my high school friends, I just have a better connection with everyone here.
I came here a day early to get everything set up. Ainsley is flying here now while Seth, Sam, Kat, and Stas come back tomorrow.
As I was putting my new records in the bin, my door opened revealing Colby. He told me he was here too so I wasn't surprised.
I smiled at him as he walked in. "Hey, how was your break?" I ask as he came and sat on my bed.
"It was pretty normal. I worked at the record store a lot. I only really saw my family for Christmas." He shrugged.
I knew he didn't really get along with his family much so that answer didn't surprise me any.
I figured he would work a lot since Seth went back to Boston. "How was yours?" He asked as I shrugged.
I put the last record in the bin and sat it on the floor. I now had to put my clothes away.
I started grabbing hangers and clothes. "It went pretty well. I caught up with some old friends from high school." I say.
"You don't seem too happy about that." He laughed about it while I hung a shirt up.
I shrug while I think about it. "It's not that I'm unhappy about not seeing them. I've just matured I guess." I tell him.
He furrowed his eyes towards me like he wanted me to explain. I sighed while I tried to think of the words.
"I could tell they were stuck in their high school days. All they wanted to talk about was theater. They also judged me a little bit." I laughed.
"What do you mean, judged?" He asked curiously. "They asked me how everything was going." I start.
"I told them how I'm loving it and how I met most of the group at a frat party. They judged me for going to a frat party and drinking."
He started shaking his head a little bit after I said that. "Well, you obviously don't need them anymore." He says which makes me laugh.
"Yeah, the vibe with them was totally off." I hang a shirt up in my closet. He was quiet for a moment.
"Honestly fuck them." I laughed a little bit towards him. I couldn't agree with him more.
He sat there for a moment, thinking about something. "Were you super judgmental like them?" He asked.
I purse my lips while thinking back to high school. "I tried not to be like them and judge other people for no reason." I tell him.
"Yeah, I admit, I'm really bad about that." I gave Colby a look while I tried to not laugh.
"Oh trust me, I know." We both laugh as I hang up another hoodie. I look at him for a moment while I think of something.
"Why did you judge me when we first met?" I ask him curiously. He shifts on the bed while looking at me.
It's nice we're able to talk about this. "I could just tell you were perfect, and I didn't like it." I inhaled a deep breath.
"I'm not perfect. You keep saying that, but I'm not." I try to tell him.
I might have a good relationship with my parents and sister and we might have a decent house, but that doesn't mean I'm perfect.
I started thinking about something that happened in high school. I started to get uncomfortable while thinking about it.
"My Sophomore year, this guy thought it would be funny to date me and try to sleep with the whole school." I started explaining.
"Right before the opening night of Mamma Mia, the girl playing my mom came to me and told me he tried flirting with her."
I remember being so pissed off with him. I ended up texting him we were over and I didn't wanna date a douchebag anymore.
I went on stage and had a really good performance. He was really pissed that I dumped him over text, and I didn't care.
"Ever since, I told myself I wouldn't date unless I fully trusted anyone." I admit to him.
I still think people are attractive, but I don't fully trust anyone in that way.
He frowned towards me. "I totally understand. The last girl that I fully trusted and let in, fucked me up too." He admits.
I frowned as I hung up my last shirt. I went over and sat next to him. Our shoulders were slightly touching as we sat there.
"Looks like we're more alike than you thought." I tell him. He scrunches his nose towards me which makes me laugh.
I saw him look down and pick up my record bin. He started skimming through my records, seeing all that I have.
"Who's Brakence?" He asked pulling out his most recent Vinyl. "You haven't heard of him?" I ask a little bit shocked.
He shook his head no. I told him to put it in the record player so we could listen to it.
The music started, both of us sitting back to listen. I could tell Colby was liking and enjoying the music.
"Damn, Seth wasn't wrong. You have a pretty good music taste." I couldn't help but smile towards him.
I just shrugged as we continued to listen to the music. We spent the majority of the afternoon together.
We ate at Tolly Ho together for lunch, which has quickly became our spot.
We were going to go to his spot in the woods again but the sun was starting to set.
"Have you seen the John Wayne Gacy documentary on Netflix?" I ask Colby as he walked me back to the dorm.
He looked at me half shocked, half crazy. "You like that kind of stuff?" He asked as I nodded my head.
"If I didn't like music so much, I would go into forensics." I tell him. True crime stuff always interested me.
I always was researching about unsolved murders, serial killers, and kidnappings.
"No, I haven't watched it." He shook his head towards me. "Oh my god, if you're down, we can watch the first episode." I was hopeful.
It looked like he debated it for a moment, and agreed with me. We went back to the dorm so we could watch it.
When we walked in, we both sat on the bed. I grabbed my computer and turned on Netflix.
I started the first episode so we could watch it. Even though the episodes are hour-long, there were only three of them.
When the episode started, we got comfortable. Our shoulders were slightly touching.
I've noticed that we've been doing that a lot more recently. We watched the whole first episode in silence.
He would occasionally ask questions. He was so into it, he wanted to watch the other two episodes.
That's what we did for the rest of the night. We watched the whole John Wayne Gacy series.
When we finished the show, we both started stretching. "That was a lot better than I thought that was going to be." He told me as I nodded.
"I just don't understand people like that." I tell him. He just shrugs, agreeing with me.
"Me either." He shrugged. He stood up from the bed and started stretching and yawning.
It was pretty late. "Thanks for watching that with me and hanging out." I thank him while I close my laptop.
"Of course, Aspen. I'm glad I could hang out for a while." We both share goodbyes as he leaves me.
I wait until he texts me he made it to the frat okay before going to bed. I fell asleep pretty fast that night.
It was easy knowing I had a long and busy day. The next morning, I quickly took a shower and made my bed before Kat showed up.
Kat had a four hour flight from Toronto to Kansas City. Sam was going to pick her up from the airport which is a little while away.
Everyone was flying in at different times so I spent most of my time on the quad with Sam and Colby.
It was honestly really funny because they were telling me stories from their high school days.
It was mainly how they would go explore abandoned buildings. After a while though, Sam had to go pick up Kat.
I was honestly so excited to see her. Even though it's only been a couple weeks it feels like forever.
When Sam told me they were almost back on campus, I went to the dorm. I was only in there for a couple minutes before she walked in.
When she saw me, we both started squealing and went to hug each other. I honestly love how close the two of us got these past few months.
She's honestly become one of my best friends. "Girl, I got so much to tell you." She tells me as she lets go.
"Same, but you first." I tell her as I help her unpack her stuff. I was honestly happy she's back.
We spent the majority of the afternoon gossiping.