thoughts // jake webber

chapter two : introducing

as soon as i am on the freeway, i call colby through my bluetooth on the radio. he picks up after a few rings, sounding tired.

colby : "hey bro!"
me : "hey! i'm on the freeway now"
colby : "yay, i'm so happy we get to hang out again"
me : "yeah same dude. i'll see you soon!"
colby : "see you soon"

i hear three short beeps indicating that he hung up. i turn five seconds of summer back on and drive, imagining what it will be like when i get there.

•

after about two hours of screaming lyrics to several different songs while driving and achieving some funny looks from other drivers, i find myself parking on the street in front of a huge mansion-looking house. wow. i text colby.

" i'm here. please tell me how tf you open this gate ??😂 "

within ten seconds, i hear the door opening and colby smiles at me, walking quickly to open the gate in front of me. i step inside and he gives me a big hug, telling me how much he missed me. he guides me inside the house. "time for you to meet the roommates! ... GUYS COME DOWNSTAIRS!!!!" he screams. my ears ring slightly and i cringe.

i first see a petite girl with brown hair and a big smile that i recognize as the only girl from the pictures that colby sent me. she is walking down the stairs. "hey, i'm devyn! it's sooo nice to meet you." she gives me a hug and i smile at how sweet she is. i introduce myself and tell her that i'm super excited to meet her as well. next, i see two boys emerge from one of the rooms in the back of the house. i recognize one as sam who i had met only once before. "hey kylee! it's great to see you again" he tells me while giving me a quick hug. the other boy, who is quite cute, shoots me an awkward smile and holds out his hand for me to shake it. "i'm aaron" he reveals as i shake his hand lightly. i continue greeting them until a minute later when two more boys come down the stairs, one after the other. i first see a stylish boy with brown hair and a man bun. "i'm corey, it's nice to meet you!" he states. i reply "it's nice to meet you too corey, i'm kylee." all of the roommates are talking amongst themselves.

now, i see who i assume is the last roommate, the boy with blue hair that i was so interested in. he finishes walking down the steps quite slowly, seeming sort of nervous. he walks up to me, quite a bit taller than i am, and greets me. "kylee, is it.. ? colby told us all about you. i'm jake!" he smiles, revealing his dimples and scratches the back of his neck. i look up at him, slightly avoiding his eyes. why am i so nervous ? it wasn't like this with everyone else. i guess i'm just not good at speaking when pretty boys are in front of me. he seems unique and i like that. i realize that i haven't replied. "oh! h-hello. i'm kylee." i smile awkwardly. he giggles slightly. colby grabs my attention once again by speaking to me.

"okay. i'm going to give you a basic rundown on all of the roommates one by one and some things you should know. devyn is quiet most of the time, but a goddess at makeup. corey and devyn are lovebirds. disgusting, i know. corey is loud and probably one of the funniest people in the house. you somewhat know sam but, he's the most sensible out of all of us. he is also dating katrina stuart who is at the house a lot. aaron, you will probably rarely see. you will only hear him screaming at his computer while playing fortnite. and jake..."

our eyes meet for the first time while colby speaks about him. i find it strange that he doesn't look at colby, he looks at me instead. i am experiencing the weirdest thing. it's almost like time goes in slow motion whenever i dare to even look at him.

"...jake is jake. he's a pretty cool dude and.. uh. it seems like you two will get to know each other well." colby seems to have noticed us awkwardly staring at each other. jake smiles. "i hope so" he says. shit. my face is probably so red. colby begins speaking again.