XPLR | Colby Brock

~3~

"So... is anyone here?" Elton asked the board. The planchet immediately went to 'yes' with force. All of us laughed nervously. "What the f---!" Sam said nervously. "Dude, that was strong," Colby glanced between all three of us. I caught his eye. "You're not doing this, are you?"

"No! Why would I do this?" I asked excitedly nervous. "I believe you! I believe you!" he laughed. "Elton! Ask another question," Hayden said from behind me. "Or don't! We can go back to the car!" Corey said pointing to the entrance. "Elena, Hayden, do you want to get out of here?" he asked.

"Yeah," Hayden said, going towards the door and shooting me a glare. Colby watched the glanced back at me. I just shrugged. "We can't leave Rose here!" Elena called after Hayden. I pulled my hands away from the planchet and stood up. "It's okay. We can go. This is... really creepy anyway," I said, glancing at the guys from TFIL, then back to Elena.

I tighten my backpack straps. "Let's go. There's no stopping Hayden now, and he's our ride home," I said. Elton stood up and so did Colby and Sam. "We can give you a ride if you need it." Elena looked between them and Hayden. She sighed. "No. I need to go with him."

I stood still while she walked out. Sam, Colby, and Elton all looked to me. "They're dating," I shrug. "She's really into him. If he wasn't here, she would've played too," I walked towards the door too. Colby followed me.

"You said she had a YouTube channel," he said, walking next to me. "Yeah, she does."

"Are you in her videos a lot?"

"Most of them. Why?"

"Just asking. What's the name?"

"ElenaExplores. That's it," I walked a little faster to make sure Hayden and Elena stay within eye sight. The last thing I want is to be trapped out in this creepy satanist silo with four guys I barely know. "I'll check it out," he stopped as I sped to a jog to catch up. "Owe you one," I turned, walking backwards, to wave to the guys who were watching us leave. "Nice to meet you guys," I said, turning back to Elena and Hayden who were now waiting for me.

We kept walking until the silo was out of sight. "I can't believe we just met TFIL!" she said excitedly to me.

I smiled back. "Yeah, I know. It's all you can talk about," Hayden said, obviously pouty, putting his hands in his pockets. She wrapped her arm through his. "Well you just cost me a video! So you know what that means..." she smirked mischieveiously. "I know. I'll take care of dinner."

I chuckled. "And look at Rose. They seem to have taken to you," she smiled and subtly winked. "Shut up! I was just doing what you said. To be extra friendly."

"Yeah, yeah. So you did a great job," she smiled. Hayden scoffed. "Almost too good of a job," he said. "What do you mean-"

Elena showed me her phone. It was opened to a contact, with the name "Elton" at the top. "You're kidding me," I said. "We just made some friends," she said. "We will be climbing to the top soon enough. And I mean, hell! It's TFIL! It's Elton Castee!"

"You didn't even take one picture," I said, giving her a slow clap. "I didn't even think about that!" she said, throwing her palm to her forehead. "You're kidding me. You met some of your biggest inspirations and you forgot to document that you ever met them?"

"I think a new contact is enough proof."

"Can we not talk about them?" Hayden asked. "Uh-oh. Someone's jealous," Elena poked at his sides. "I'm not jealous! I'm just mad. That the video ended up a bust," he said, "I drank a five hour energy for nothing."

Elena and I shared a glance. We both knew he was lying. He was worried about losing Elena to Elton, but if he had any inclination of how crazy she is about him, he'd have nothing to worry about.

Sometimes I'm so jealous of what they have. Something I've never really had. I'm eighteen, nineteen in a few months. Isn't it time I get around to my fairy tale stories? Oh that's right.

I'll probably never have one.