XPLR | Colby Brock

~69~ (nice)

This week is insane. I promise I'll be better next week. And thank you for 400k!

She did. She told him.

See, this was what you were afraid of. You were scared he would leave you for her because she's so much better than you in every. Single. Way. Prepare yourself now, you'll have to go back to being alone. Forever.

The malicious voice will never go away.

But don't you see the look on his face? He seems like he's sad, maybe he does like you. He wouldn't have taken you away from the party if he didn't want you... he wouldn't have invited you to the party either. The voice of reason contradicted.

I want to go with reason.

She told him she has feelings for him. Other things. Colby had handed me the phone so I could hear the voicemail.

"Hey, baby," she said. She must've been drunk. I can tell because her words are slurred, "I just want to talk. About you and Rose. Why are you with her anyway? I know she's pretty, but she's totally lying to you."

I looked up at Colby and he shrugged a bit before reaching across and taking my hand. "I doubt she's told you about her Dad, or the lines on her legs or anything like that."

How could she. My biggest secrets. I was going to tell him someday, but I didn't tell Elena until a year or so after befriending her...

His leg bounced up and down and he bit his nails, staring at his phone. He's so nervous. Why? Is he scared that I'll be mad at him? I won't be. I'm angry at Elena. She knows he and I are dating, and she knows that I'm different because of him.

She knows that I smile more. That I love every time I get to see him. And that I missed him while he was gone. It doesn't matter how long I knew him or dated him, and he'd agree. I love being with Colby. Being special to someone in a way that no one else is. I didn't get that with my father, and I don't want to share Colby with anyone.

But... I won't be made to look stupid if his attention was directed to someone else. If I'm not his only romantic- or sexual- interest, I'm not going to stick around.

But from the anxious look on Colby's face, I think he wants to stay with me.

"And a man like you, Colby... Rose just couldn't satisfy. She's too pure for you, baby. She doesn't drink or smoke... you get it. What I'm saying is, a guy like you should never go for a girl like her."

Chills. They crawled down my spine like the claws of some horror movie monster.

Elena and I were packing for Coachella. I can't remember what we were talking about, but she had said those exact same words... almost as if she knew he would show me the voicemail.

Calculated. For what?

I crossed my arms when she said that, then she continued.

"If you need to find me, baby, you know where," she says and ends the message. I put Colby's phone back on the table.

"Have you been talking to her since then?" I asked, but my tone came out more sour than I wanted it to. "Of course not, Rose. I didn't answer her call because... I guess I knew it would be something like that."

I felt tears threaten at my eyes. Betrayal. Well, maybe not all the way, but it feels like it. Elena, my first friend... but she'll never be my enemy.

I still love her. No matter what, I'll always have her back.

I hesitated, trying to think of something to say, but Colby could guess what I was thinking. "I don't want her. Not like that, not in anyway I do with you." He said as he reached over and grabbed my hand.

I sighed and looked away from his eyes, out the window towards the sea. "Rose, come on... are you mad at me?"

"No," I said immediately, "I'm mad at the situation. Why'd she have to come after you? Why can't something I have be mine and only mine?" I sigh as I push my hair behind my ear, emotions running through me like football players. And they all hurt, really bad.

I loved her. I care about Colby. Both so much. I always told myself I would side with Elena if I had to, but this is different. She went behind my back. And I know what she wants.

Why didn't she just keep Hayden? He loved her.

I'm glad he got out, actually. Seeing Elena now... what she could've done to him...

She changed when Colby Brock entered our lives in a serious way. As my boyfriend. As her pawn in a game to skyrocket her fame.

Colby rubbed my hand and sighed as he looked out the window. "I don't know, Rose... but you know I don't want her right?" He asked again. I pushed my hair back. "Yeah, I know."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god," he said.

It was awkward the rest of the night. We weren't sure what to talk about, and I guess he knew that I was still thinking about her, that I was still angry.

And for once, he didn't know what to say to make it better.