The Choice (a Painful Past)

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"What?" I asked.

"Well, you know how we go check out those abandoned buildings and stuff? I found some guys on here that do the same thing. Wanna watch em? They're funny." He replied, as he put in some name in the search bar.

"Sure." I said. "That should be interesting."

"It is!" He replied.

I was stacking a cracker with cheese and salami, when I heard the voice.

"WHAT'S up, guys, it's Sam and Colby!"

My eyes darted to the screen and I gasped. The cracker fell from my hands, the toppings sliding off, as I stared at the boys.

"Sam and Colby." I whispered, unable to look away.

"Yeah, have you watched them? They're awesome!" He replied.

I shook my head.

"No, I haven't watched them. Not really...but I know them. I went to school with them." I said, taking in every detail of the boy that I had once known.

"What?! Are you SERIOUS?! OH MY GOD, MOM, THAT IS SO COOL!" He yelled, making me wince against the harsh sound.

"Yeah. Colby was one of my best friends." I told him. "How old is this video?" I asked.

He looked older, but younger than the pictures that I had seen on his Instagram.

"I think about 2017, 2018." He replied. "Can you still talk to them? Because, I want to talk to Sam. He's my favorite and a girl at school told me that I look like him." He gushed, staring at me with wide eyes.

I could see him out of the corner of my eye, so I tore my eyes from the screen and met his gaze.

"I haven't spoken to them in a very long time, baby. I have no idea how to get in touch with them." I said.

It wasn't entirely a lie. I knew that I could message Colby, but he probably got thousands of messages a day. Mine wouldn't be noticed and I didn't want to get Ben's hopes up.

My little technology wiz wasn't going to let me get by that answer though.

"You can just send them a DM on Instagram or Twitter. If they know you, then I'm sure they'll answer you!" He insisted.

His blue eyes were lit up with such hope, that I couldn't say no.

"I'll try." I promised. "I'm sure they get thousands of messages a day though, so don't get your hopes up, okay?"

"Yes ma'am!" He exclaimed and threw his thin arms around me.

I smiled and lay my cheek on top of his head. He was almost as tall as I was now, and there were dark hairs sprouting over his lip and on his chin. He would be a man before I knew it.

I wished that I had, had him from birth, so that I could get more time with him, but I knew that I was blessed to have the time that I did have with him.

"Okay, this is my favorite one though! Watch this!" He said, pulling away from me.

He grabbed a drink and turned the volume up on the TV, then settled back into the couch. I watched his happy little man child face for a second, then turned my attention to the screen.

Sam and Colby. The dorky little kids that got picked on for making short little videos for the social media app called Vine.

Colby, the kid that had a crush on me, then became the best friend that I had ever had. The one who had stood by me, no matter what, until I had let our friendship die. He probably wouldn't see my message anyway.

Maybe I would just message Sam and see if he remembered me. Ben wanted to talk to him more anyway. Yeah, that would keep me from feeling rejected when Colby didn't answer me.

If Sam didn't answer me, then it wasn't so much of a blow.

I watched the two guys climb all the way up to a bell tower, balancing dangerously on thin wooden beams that stretched across to the other side.

"What the hell is wrong with them?" I muttered.

"You can't say hell. That's a cuss word." Ben retorted, grinning at me.

I pushed the back of his head forward, jokingly.

"Shut up." I replied. "It slipped out, because they're being stupid. Don't you ever do anything like that. Do you understand me?"

He rolled his eyes so hard, I could almost swear that I heard them rattle inside his head. "Yes ma'am. I won't. Can you stop being their mom and just watch?"

"Yes, sorry." I laughed.

So, I did. I became engrossed in the video, gasping in all the right places, rolling my eyes when they did something stupid, and holding my breath when they almost got caught.

"Wanna watch another one?" Ben asked, as the guys blew kisses to the audience.

"Yeah, sure." I replied, nonchalantly.

We watched another, then another, and another. I wasn't even sure how many we watched, but the more I watched, the more I saw the boy that I used to know.

"They're such idiots." I laughed, as I watched a bouncy house deflate inside the pool, with Colby still in it.

"I almost died!" He gasped out.

Ben didn't reply, so I looked over and saw him passed out, with his head back against the couch, and his mouth open. I smiled fondly at him, then gently pulled his body down, so that he was mostly lying down. Then I decided that I would go ahead and message Sam, before I forgot.

It probably wouldn't amount to anything, but it was worth a shot, for Ben.

"Hey Sam, this is Callie. I don't know if you remember me, or not, but I was Colby's friend. You guys came to my house before you left for LA. I've been watching your videos all evening, with my son. Well, he's my nephew but I adopted him, so he's my son. I guess that's irrelevant. I don't want you to think that I'm trying to use you or anything, but I promised him that I would do this. I doubt you'll see this, but if you do, feel free to ignore it. His name is Ben and he adores you. When he found out that I knew you guys from a long time ago, he begged me to see if you would talk to him. So, this is me fulfilling my promise. I hope you and Colby are doing well. I'm proud of you both. Um, I guess that's all. Maybe I'll talk to you soon. Bye." I read the message 10 times before I just hit send.

It didn't seem right to just ask him this favor because he might remember me, but I had promised.