XPLR | Colby Brock

~26~

I made eye contact with Colby, and smiled softly to see if he'd respond. He did, returning my smile as he broke out of his trance. He shook his head as he walked towards me and I stood up, and everyone started to go back to what they were doing.

"You're amazing, you know that right?" he said as he smiled at me. I laughed a bit and looked at the ground, shaking my head. He looked at my eyes even though I didn't look at his, he was patient in waiting for eye contact.

"Twelve-year-olds can play like that," I say as Elena went to go get the camera. He sighed and grabbed my shoulder so I would look up at him. "Take a compliment for once, Rose!" He laughed a bit at that and so did I. I looked over at Elena, but Colby didn't take his hand off me.

Elena came back over and I nudged him off, just so I wouldn't have to deal with Elena later. She smiled at Colby. "Hey, are we having dinner then heading out?" She asked. He laughed a bit and put his hands in his pockets. "Yep. I'm looking forward to it."

She stepped forward a little, pushing me out of the conversation. I brushed it off and went to the piano, closing the keys and running my hand across the top of the grand piano.

"Don't run away so quickly," Colby laughed as he came over to me. "We have somewhere to explore tonight if you're down..." he said softly, close to my ear as Elena started talking to Jake.

"Tonight? With who?" I asked softly as I looked over at him.

"Just us. Keep it a secret, don't tell Elena," he said as he glanced back at her then looked at me. "Wouldn't dream of it," I said as I stepped away. He looked at me then crossed his arms.

"I hope you're not as skittish around me tonight," he said quietly, under his breath, but I heard him. I just didn't react to his words. "Rose, lets go and finish the tour!" Elena called to me. I nodded and caught up to her.

She showed the camera around the rest of the house and finished a few minutes later. "What did Colby tell you?" She asked once she turned the camera off. I shrugged as I started taking my makeup out.

"He whispered something to you. What was it?" She asked a sshe started to take out her own.

I laughed a bit at that. "Nothing. He was just telling me how well I did when I played," I said. I knew she didn't believe me, but she let it slide.

"Let's hurry and unpack so we can go downstairs," she said as she started to take her clothes out of her suit case and put them in her side of the closet.

"You got it," I said as I continued to sort our makeup. She smiled at me as she turned on music, then turned to me with a devilish smirk. "Come on, Rose. Dance with me," she said as she grabbed my hand.

"No!" I whine as she started to spin me around. "Come on. Don't be such a stickler! It'll be fun," she smiled as she spun around using my arms.

Some Zedd song started to play as she laughed, taking both of my hands and we danced for the duration of the song, and when it was over she laughed and I did too.

"Get used to it! A whole weekend," she smiled. I laughed again. "Yep-"

"A whole weekend," Colby said as he crossed his arms, standing at the open doorway we forgot to close.

My cheeks immediately turned pink, but Elena enjoyed the fact that he had seen us. She smirked, putting her hands on her hips. "Like what you saw?"

It put a bad taste in my mouth but I ignored it. He laughed it off. "Yeah, looks like you were having fun," he looked at me, and I saw it through the mirror as I started to put the makeup away again.

He must not have wanted to see about me, so he kept on talking to Elena. "Well, the people from Jacque are here and they're serving dinner. We're getting started down stairs."

Elena smiled at him then me. "Great. Come on, Rose," Elena said as she started down the hallway, leaving Colby and I alone.

I started to walk past him but he grabbed my arm to stop me.

"What's with you, Rose?" He said quietly in my ear. I looked over at him, he still had my arm. "What are you talking about?"

"What's with you? You won't talk to me like you always do. Is it Elena?" he asked as he looked down at me.

Maybe it was.

"Talk to me, Rose," he said softly as he ran his hand down my arm and took my hand. My heart was beating fast now, as the feel of his cold rings touched my palm. His face close to mine.

"No, it isn't Elena. There's nothing wrong."

"Then why won't you talk to me?"

"There are so many people around!"

"I could care less. Rose I was excited to have you on this trip so I could... have you, around. I want to see you more, you know? We're friends and you're not anything like any of my friends..."

I just looked up at him, unsure of what to say. "If the girl I knew when we went to Cavenaugh is the same girl I see when we're alone, then I'll wait as long as it takes for it to be just us," he said, in that soft tone.

I took my hand away and nodded, just as my phone began to ring.

"Okay, Colby... well... I'll see you tonight," I gave him a weak smile before checking the caller. Kai.

I sighed, then texted him, "Sorry. Can't talk now. We'll hang when I get home on Monday, okay?"

"Can't wait. Miss you in class."

Colby looked at me. He had seen. "Who's Kai?" He asked with that casual smirk he always has. I shook my head. "Just my orchestra friend."

"Well come on. Let's go." He said and started to go down the hall.