XPLR | Colby Brock

~10~

"Rose! Rose! Wake up! Wake up!" Elena shook me excitedly. "Jesus, Elena! What is it? What's wrong?" I asked, sitting up quickly. "We have to start getting ready! We have our exploration video to shoot!" she said as I rubbed my eyes.

"Okay. Is Hayden here yet?" I asked, sitting on the edge of my bed and preparing myself to stand up. "Nope... Hayden's not coming."

I looked at her, shocked and dumbfounded. "What do you mean, 'Hayden's not coming'? He's going to kill you if he finds out you went out somewhere with like three or four guys!"

"Hayden and I have been going through a rough spell," she said quickly. I paused. "What?"

"He's been so controlling lately... I just wanted to take a break," she shrugged. Hayden's been a part of our lives for so long now, it's hard to imagine him gone. "So I'm going to go with the TFIL guys to get my mind off of it."

I sighed. "Alright. Do you know where we're going this time?"

"Nope!" she sang happily and stood up to go to the kitchenette. I groan. "Well can you ask? I don't want to get blindsided."

"They said it's a surprise. I trust in them," she said as she opened the fridge. "This is how people die," I say as I sit on the counter. "But this is also how I could get her big break!"

"How many subscribers have you gotten since the last video?"

"I don't know, like a thousand?"

"A thousand?" That means she had around ninety-five thousand subscribers now. That's a lot, especially since she's been doing YouTube for two years, since she was seventeen.

"I know! A thousand! Thats like two weeks work overnight! I'm so excited!" she hugged me. I smile. "I'm excited for you too!"

"Well hurry and get dressed! They said to dress warm," she said, getting ready to go to her room. "I will, I will."

I found myself excited as I open my closet and pick out my clothes. I hummed Winter Wind to myself as I got dressed, slipping on my ripped jeans and hoodie. I opened my exploring backpack, yes, I have one since I'm always going off with Elena, and began to pack it with basic things we usually need. Water bottles, extra hairbands (because hairbands save your life sometimes), extra SD cards, anything that may be of value to us.

I did light makeup, just so I didn't look dead, but not enough that if I sweat it off you can still tell it's Rose. I should practice today. Opus 24 of Winter Wind waits for no one, but I'd rather go look around some asbestos-ridden building with a few hot guys.

"Rose, you ready?" Elena asked as she knocked on my door. I pulled my hair up in a pony tail and pulled out a few pieces to frame my face and make the pony tail more messy.

"Yep, I'm ready," I glanced at myself in the mirror before walking out of my bedroom. "You look great," Elena said. "They said to dress warm. I know it's January, but it doesn't get that cold in California."

"Well you look great," Elena said, pushing me playfully. I looked at her now. She was trying hard. I could tell. She was wearing a tight shirt and one of those jackets that say "send it". The shirt definitely defined her breasts, and she left her hair half up and half down. She wore ripped jeans but with no leggings under them, unlike me. They were so skinny they looked like that might rip.

"You look good too," I said, looking her up and down. "Aw, thanks!" she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the door. "Let's go! Let's go!" she said, pulling me along. I laughed. "I'm coming, I'm coming."

"Where are we going?" I asked. "Their house," she said, grinning wide as we got into her car. "Are you alright?" I asked. She gave me a weird look. "Uh, yeah?"

I looked forward and laughed. "Alright." She handed me the aux cord. "That's the passenger's job." I plugged it in to my phone and started playing us music. She and I always loved the same songs, making our rides together anywhere were always fun.

We pulled up to their large house, and it didn't take Elton long to come out and greet us, with Colby following behind them. "Hey, I'm glad you both came," Elton said. "Well of course we'd come. Any invitation to go exploring is enough to make us come."

I put my hands in my pockets and looked around. Elena elbowed me. "Oh, yes. We love exploring," I said sarcastically to annoy Elena. She glared at me but Colby laughed.

"Can we know where we're going yet?" I asked as we walked inside with Elton and Colby and Elena. "We're going to an abandoned asylum," Colby said.

I smiled but you could see the blood run from Elena's face. "You don't like scary places like that?" Colby asked Elena. "Well we only ever explore abandoned creepy places. Like sugar mills and factories, not asylums."

"And I take it you do," Colby said to me, stopping to talk to me but letting Elton and Elena go to a different room.

"I do. I've always liked the creepy and unknown," I said, smirking a little. "Oh?" he chuckled, "then you'll fit right in."

"Did Corey ever take his makeup off?" I asked. "He waited until his girlfriend came home to ask her. How to. We took away his phone so he couldn't even google it. I still owe you for that prank," he said, smiling.

"No you don't. I had as much fun as you had."

He shrugged. "Nope, I owe you something. One day I'll repay you," he grinned. I rolled my eyes sarcastically. "Fine."

"So we're headed to Downey," Elton said as he came back into the room Colby and I were in. "Downey, that's like thirty miles away," Elena said. "24 minutes," Colby said.

"Then let's hurry up and go. It'll be colder during the night," I said. "I agree with Rose," Colby said, "let's go."

When he said my name, chills ran down my spine.