Bad Taste (Part I) // Colby Brock

101 - Rebecca

Lunch with Katrina had been close to excruciating. Whatever breakfast she'd had, it gave her her voice back full force and allowed her to talk even more. I was grateful that I didn't have to sit there trying to think of things to say, but annoyed because I didn't want to listen to her endless stories. It was like listening to Corey or Elton, who experienced so much it was hard to believe it.

Arriving at the studio made everything a lot easier for me because Katrina soon found her friends here—Helen and Maggie—and got distracted by them while I slid down to my office. It was all locked up, as it was supposed to be, but the storage room right beside it where the new line was was open, Jax standing inside fiddling with one of the designs. I counted them absently and realised that there were ten.

"They're done?" I blurted aloud, scaring the shit out of Jax. He spun to me quickly and, without a word, moved out of the way. I stared at the ten designs in front of me, all of them brought to life from my page. How the hell had they gotten all of this done? Was it possible?

Hesitantly, Jax spoke. "We all got here early this morning and finished them." He told me, a sense of pride in his tiny voice. "They really worked out well."

I didn't want to admit it aloud, but I completely agreed with him. They did look good; amazing, even, with each little detail made to perfection. A part of me couldn't believe that they had done it whilst another part was combatting to thank them. They had worked so hard for me, it seemed wrong to say nothing.

But I was speechless, and I thought that spoke for itself.

Jax slid away after a moment to leave me be still staring at each of the designs in disbelief. They had really done it. Really, really. Wow.

Still a little entranced, I quickly locked up the designs in the storage room and turned to my office. Knowing that they were done made me paranoid that they'd be unsafe, somehow, like some prowlers were going to come and steal them. And I couldn't have that. Not after all the hard work.

I dropped into my office chair unsure of what to do. There were a couple of options, like continue the blue designs, the red designs, or work on the other little lines that came from the outcasts of the originals. I decided to work on the blue line knowing full well that Katrina was upstairs and would come down at some point. I just wouldn't acknowledge her, simple as.

My pencil moved easily over the paper. Infusing with the blue was white, signifying Sam. After hearing the whole story of Sam and Kat last night, I had so many ideas that it was hard to focus on just one of the pairing. Sam and Katrina had a very simple relationship, yet simultaneously it was complicated. They had lots of feelings and history, whilst also not knowing each other that well—when they fell in love, that is. Knowing all of their big moments like first kiss etc, I could pinpoint exactly how they felt; the electricity in the kiss; the stirring of feelings in the stomach; the promise that it would happen again. And that was how I designed one of my best pieces ever: a gorgeous blue dress fit for only Katrina.

I didn't know why I looked at it and saw so much perfection, but it was just right. I wondered what Katrina would think; how she would react to knowing I'd made something for her that was this good. I didn't even know why I had done it, just that I had sat down and this came to mind so I made it.

Somehow, the dress didn't quite fit with the other clothes. It looked more like it was its own design; its own line entirely. I couldn't bring myself to leave it in the notebook with the rest of Katrina's line. So I took it out and instantly went on my laptop. I had to make this a digital copy, just so I could see how good it could look in real life.

Just barely in the pool, I had heard the girls talking about how amazing it would be to only dress in clothes made for them and I felt like I was the only one who could do it even though I didn't know any of them that well. If I could make this for Katrina, I could make something equally amazing for Tara. And if I sucked it up and got to know the other girls, I could make something for them too.

Next thing I knew, I was using a new folder for this new project. Four dividers were included to make five sections: Tara, Katrina, Xepher, Cassie, and Devyn. I dropped Katrina's line into her spot and started on work for Tara. This would take forever and I'd have to dig deep to make the clothes myself, but something told me that it was worth it. Designing clothes for all of my friends—if that's what they were—would integrate me further into the group.

I didn't know how long Colby and I would last. Not because I wanted to leave him, but because I saw the world like Katrina: I wanted to be human; normal. If he was going to live forever, I didn't know whether I'd be able to join him. It seemed much too early to make crazy life decisions like that—early in both my life and in my relationship with him. But if I could just fit in with his group, figure out if I wanted to be apart of them forever; to be with Colby forever, maybe that decision would be made for me.

So I was going to work on this project like my whole damn life depended on it.

In some ways, it did.