In Another Life

159

"What's up Ms. Big Time Photographer?" Denise asked, as Justin and I got closer to her and the girls. I grinned and shrugged. "Just decided that I would take a day and slum it with you guys before I actually start my job," I replied, nudging her with my shoulder. "Slumming it, huh?" Sarah said, winking at me. I laughed. "Come on, you guys!" Kenzie said, impatiently. "Let' s go in so we can claim a back booth before there aren't any. You know how this place is." "Okay, okay, calm you tits," Sarah replied back. "So, what's up Justin? Are you proud of your girl?" Denise asked, as we walked towards the line that was formed at the entrance. "Of course I am," Justin replied, looking down at me, grinning. "I knew she would make it. Never had any doubt. Terra is a force to be reckoned with." I felt my face heat up and looked at the ground. Still wasn't the best at taking compliments. I disconnected from the conversation, unless I heard my voice, and instead spent my time waiting in line watching people. LA was such a diverse community. People of all races, genders, sexual orientation, it didn't matter here. My blue hair that I felt so out of place with back in Georgia, blended right in here. Actually, it was tame compared to some other hair choices that I had seen. I saw a dark haired guy from the back, walking with a blonde girl. They were walking towards the back of the line, which was out of my view by now. This was a popular club. Maybe they were going around to the side. That's where people who had passes went. "So I invited Brennen," I heard Sarah say before my head jerked back towards her in shock. She stood there nervously, chewing her lip, and glancing from the ground to me. "What?" I asked, sure that I had heard her wrong. "T, I'm seeing him now, and if we're going to be able to be together, he has to hang out with my friends. It's been a long time. Come on, can't you just try?" I stared at her for a minute, then looked away as the line moved up. It was moving quicker than I anticipated. "Why is this a problem?" Justin asked. He didn't really know a lot about Brennen or his connection to Colby. I probably should've told him, but I didn't want to open that can of worms. Besides, Brennen was never around. Until now, I guess. Sarah looked from me to Justin, as the line moved up again. "Um, I...he's um..." Sarah stammered, obviously uncomfortable. Just stood there bewildered, glancing from me to her. "Because he's one of Colby's best friends," I rushed out, biting my lip, as Justin's eyes widened. His stare came back to me, his eyebrows raised. "Oh," he replied, looking a little shell shocked. "Okay." He cleared his throat and looked away from me. "Okay?" I repeated, confusion etching itself onto my face. He looked back at me and gave me an unconvincing shrug. "You're with me now. I'm not worried. That was a long time ago," he replied. I smiled at him reassuringly, and wrapped my arms around his lower waist. "That's right. It was a long time ago." I leaned up to kiss him. "I love you," I whispered against his lips before taking his hand in mind. "So where is he meeting us," I asked Sarah, acting like it wasn't a big deal. It was a big deal. Brennen was one of Colby's best friends, a reminder of what we had, a reminder of Playlist and the events that happened there. But I was with Justin now and I couldn't mess that up over some...whatever it was that we had. That was over. "Inside, by the bar. He texted already and said he was here. He's waiting and excited to see everyone," she answered, a nervous smile on her face. She really liked him. At least one of us had gotten our YouTube crush. I shook that thought from my head. I was better off where I was, with who I was with. I hadn't seen or heard from Colby since before I moved here. It wasn't that surprising since LA was a big place. Maybe we didn't have the same hang out spots. Plus, he didn't have a regular job so it didn't really matter when he went out. I knew he still did YouTube because Denise felt that she had to keep me updated with the latest Sam and Colby news and videos. At first, she never said anything about them, but I knew that she was still a fan. She still watched their videos, and kept up with them on social media. She didn't have a fan page anymore, having grown out of the that, but she was still a big fan. Eventually, she started dropping little comments here and there about the them. When I didn't react, she started dropping more and more information, until she ended up telling me everything that was going with them, every week. It was kind of a ritual now that happened every Sunday night. It hurt to hear about them still, so I pretended that it was someone else, just somebody else that Denise was a fan of. The line moved slowly, until we were at the front. They checked our ID's and let us in. "Enjoy the show," the bouncer replied, moving aside for us to walk past. "Show?" I asked quietly, nudging Denise's arm. She shrugged, a smile on her face. "No idea," she replied. I felt like she was withholding information from me. "Neece, what's going on?" I whispered back sternly. "Please don't tell me this has anything to do with Colby. I told you, that's over, and I'm not-" She held her finger to lips and rolled her eyes. "Shhh. No, it's nothing to do with him. This is for you. This is why I chose this spot. We're also running a little late, so it shouldn't be long. Let's get a good spot."