From the Country to the City

The Bright Blue Eyes

Ellie came out of the bathroom changed in a different outfit.
I hopped in the shower and came out not long after.
"Hey, I have plans with a few of my friends for dinner. We're going to go to Olive Garden. Want to join?" I looked up at her "sure, as long as it's okay with your friends." "It is, I asked." "Let me change first." She nodded, sitting on her bed. I grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom.
Ellie's:

Mine:

I walked back into the room, putting my other outfit in the laundry basket. "Ready?" Ellie asked me. I nodded, grabbing my brown hat and put it on. We walked out, and I got strange looks from everyone. I laughed a little "don't get many country people here in LA?" I asked Ellie. She looked at me as we got in the elevator "We do. It's just that when they come they ditch all of those types of clothes and try to blend in." I laughed "well that won't be happening with me." We walked outside and I followed her to a car that was along the curb. Uber. I heard of the company, but never used it. "You're really going to like my friends. They're funny and sweet. They do joke around a lot just a heads up." I laughed "that's alright I won't take offense."
I could see the Uber driver eyeing me once in a while "never seen a cowgirl?" I asked him. He cleared his throat "no." I laughed "Hey it's okay I'm not bothered I'm just messing with you." He relaxed "I'm Hunter." I said. He smiled "Jason. So what're you doing here in LA?" "I'm an aspiring photographer." He nodded "nice. I'm in the journal business as a photographer." "That's awesome. I'm planning on being a modeling photographer."

~30 minutes later~
We arrived at the restaurant and got out. We thanked the driver and walked inside. Her friends were already waiting at the table. We walked over and she introduced me. There were three empty chairs so I figured someone was missing. "Hey I'm Hunter." I said to everyone. "This is Corey, Sam, Kat, Devyn, Jake, Elton and Aaron." I smiled, "nice to meet y'all." We sat down next to each other. "We're just waiting on someone, he went to the bathroom. Then we'd love to hear all about you!" The girl named Kat next to me told me. I nodded, "sounds good." "Can I just say I love your accent." Devyn said. "It's awesome." The boy named Jake said. I smiled "thanks."

A boy walked up, my hat covering my face and my view. He sat down across from me. I looked up, my hat revealing my face. The bright blue eyes stared at me. "Hunter this is–" Ellie went to say. I gulped "Colby." "Hunter?" Everyone at the table went quiet. They wanted to see what was going to happen. "How do you know each other?" Elton asked. I watched Colby "We've known each other since middle school.." They all watched us. The waiter came up and took our orders, then walked away. "Okay so first tell us about you two." Kat said.
Colby spoke up "there's not much to say." I scoffed, watching him. He continued "we went to the same school together." "I know Sam too. Hey Sam, missed you." I smiled, wanting to say something and finally was able to. He smiled back "I missed you too. It's good to see you." "How come I never met her?" Jake asked. Sam shrugged.
"Colby was my best friend. Besides Sam being his of course." "Did you guys have a thing?!" Aaron asked. Colby and I both shook our heads "oh, no no no no. No we didn't." I said. "Well.." Colby said. I gave him a death glare. "It's good to see you Colbs.." He stopped, watching me. I wasn't the only one who called him that but it was different coming from me. "It's good to see you too Hunter."

"So subject change." I laughed a little. "I was born and raised in Stanley, Kansas. I grew up riding horses, obviously." I looked up seeing my hat "oops." I took it off, setting it in my lap. "Sorry I forgot to remove it when I walked in."
"Do you do like those weird horse riding shows?" Corey asked. I laughed, nodding my head "A rodeo. I barrel race." They all looked confused. Ellie spoke up "She's won many trophies. Her horse Imperial is her barrel racing horse. She brought her two horses here to LA and is keeping them boarded only 10 minutes from the college." They all went "ohhhhh"
"What's barrel racing?" Aaron asked. "Barrel racing is a rodeo event in which a horse and rider attempt to complete a cloverleaf pattern around preset barrels in the fastest time." They all went "ohhhh" again. I laughed "I'll have to show y'all sometime." They all nodded. "Ellie here went horseback riding today. She rode my calmer horse Sadie."
They all started asking Ellie questions like "what happened?"
"Was it fun?"
"Was it scary?"
"Was is fast? Or slow?"
"Is it high?"
She answered them all, laughing at all of their questions. Sam was listening in on the conversation. Colby was trying to but I could tell he was occupied with watching me. I looked at him and he smiled a little. I smiled back, joining everyone again.

"How did y'all meet?" I asked Ellie. "I met Kat and Devyn at a party! It was a mutual friend of ours." "You? At a party? You don't seem like the party type." Kat laughed "oh she's the party type." "What about you Hunter? You don't seem like the party type." Aaron said. I looked at him "never been to a country bar before huh? Believe me when I say we know how to party."
"It's true. Country people know how to get down." Corey said. I looked at him confused. "Oh sorry, I'm from Nashville." "Ohh, well nice! At least I've got one person who I can trust to go with me to a country bar."

"So Hunter, what are you in LA for?" Devyn asked. "My future career is photography."
"We can have photoshoots! Colby can do a mean photoshoot." Ellie said, smirking. I looked at him, his cheeks turning pink "can not." She took her phone out, showing me pictures that he's had taken. My mouth dropped open.
"When did you get a body like that and get so damn hot?" I said out loud. I covered my mouth "did I just say that?" I asked Ellie. She laughed, nodding. I looked at Colby and he smirked playing along "when did you get the boobs?" My mouth dropped open, my face turning red.
Everyone watched us, laughing "damn!" Jake said.
Thankfully we were basically in a private room away from people.
The waiter brought our food.
"So what do y'all do?" I asked.
"Elton, Colby, Sam, Jake and Corey go exploring and post it on YouTube. Corey is also a dancer. Kat is a singer and Devyn is a YouTuber as well. Aaron also sings and is a YouTuber." Ellie said
"Exploring huh? I love to explore." I said.
"Maybe you can go with us. We go to abandoned places as well as haunted ones." Sam said. I nodded "sounds like fun."

~2 hours later~
We all finished eating and talking. We were saying goodbye outside of the restaurant. I hugged everyone, especially Sam and Colby the most. I missed them so much. "I can't wait to hang out." I told them both. They smiled "us too." Sam said. I stood on my tiptoes, hugging Colby. "I missed you." I said softly, trying not to cry breathing in his scent that I missed just as much. Being in his arms was comforting. Like it was home. "Missed you too." He said, pulling away. I traded numbers with everyone, our Uber pulling up "can't wait to hang out!" I waved and got in the Uber. Everyone waved back as the Uber drove off.

"So Colby Brock huh?" Ellie asked. My cheeks turned pink and I nodded. I couldn't stop smiling. "Since middle school." She gasped "what?!" I nodded. "Girl you're going to have to tell me everything!"