Soul - Colby Brock

Seventy-Six - Colby

I woke up. Octavia wasn't there. Panic shot through me until I heard the shower turn off. She walked in with a towel around her as she began to dry her hair with a towel. We made eye contact. "Hey, sleepyhead," she said. 

"Hey, gorgeous," I replied. She smiled shyly. "How long have you been awake?" she sat down in front of my floor-length mirror as she continued to dry her hair.

"Not long. I didn't want to wake you up," she shrugged. Her hair completely covered the bit of back I would be able to see. "Your phone rang, though. It was Callum," I frowned. He doesn't have my number.

"How'd you know it was Callum?" I asked.

"I memorised a few numbers. Your's, Callum's, Emily's, my mom's, and my own," she explained.

"I can call him back later," I shrugged. "How have you been over the last few days?  Any problems?" she scoffed. "What?"

"You've been with me for almost every second of it! You'd know if something was wrong,"

"I don't know. You don't tell people when you're in pain," I said. She looked at me through the mirror.

"How do you know so much about me?" her smile was stretched. I shrugged.

"I pay attention," her hand dropped the towel she was patting her hair with. She brushed through it then pulled some makeup out of a bag. I watched her add on eyebrows and... eyeliner? I wasn't sure. She put on a nude brown (yes, I know the name) lipstick on before she picked up some sort of hair tool. 

"Gonna watch me the entire time?" she asked. I realised she was looking at me through the mirror. 

"Oh, uh, sorry,"

"I didn't mind," she grinned goofily. 

I showered. When I reentered the room, Octavia was putting the tool and makeup back into her little bag. She stood up, looked at me, then rummaged around in the same bag. Somehow she pulled out some clothes. How did so much fit in there? As I was checking my hair in the mirror, I saw her drop the towel behind me. I all but froze.

**********

(Same day but later)

Everyone laughed. Octavia put Gracie down on the floor. We were all eating dinner at Corey's. That included Emily and Gracie. He'd ordered pizzas and paired us together for who'd share. Octavia had picked Gracie up because the little five-year-old had gotten scared of a rat on the floor. Turned out Corey was pranking her. Octavia sat back down beside me. 

"Cute little girl," she mumbled.

"You did a good job," I whispered to her. She pecked my cheek then picked up another slice of pizza. Gracie sat down next to me... for some reason. She looked down at her hands. "You OK?" I asked her. Her head immediately whipped upwards.

"No..." she mumbled.

"What's wrong?"

"The rat really scared me," she said. I smiled down at her.

"It's OK. It wasn't real," she stared at my face for a moment then her smile grew.

"Thank you," she said happily then jumped up. So many emotions flowed through her at any given time. I wondered if she could even control all of them. 

Gracie was staring down the last piece of pizza that sat in the box. I handed it to her. "Thanks, dad," she said then ran away to the garden. Did she just call me dad?