Chapter 8

    Monday morning came to fast for Colby Brock. He would rather have slept all day under his warm comforter but instead they were ripped away along with the obnoxious yell of, "Get up!" from his mother. Lazily he got up and sauntered to the closet where his real dilemma rested. No amount of preparation could have prepared him for this decision. He was a seasoned actor and have lived behind a mask for so long but he was afraid that of he put back on his leather clad persona he would loose the one friend he managed to make by being himself. His eyes looked in the closet and went from the leather jacket to the bright blue shirt and back. He wanted nothing mare than to climb back into the comfortable facade but his heart wrenched at the thought of Sam being upset and walking away. He settled for the blue shirt and black ripped skinny jeans but took off the hanging chains from the belt loops. He paired them with black converse as he kept his brown mop messy and lazily swept to the left. His fingers kept on his many rings. He felt comfortable enough as he grabbed his leather jacket and shoved it into his back pack among the books and paper just in case. Taking a deep breath he headed down the steps ready to greet Blue Valley as the real Colby Brock and he only hoped they would all accept him as easily as Sam did. 

 Sam woke up with the annoying buzz of his alarm clock echoing through his small room and his blanket pushed off onto the floor from some midnight dream movement. Rubbing his eyes he wished he could fall back asleep and finish the dream he once was having that might have had something to do with ocean eyes but he wasn't too sure. Getting up slowly he put on his already laid out clothes, black skinny jeans, a white shirt with a gray zip up sweater, and his grey sneakers to match. Fixing the sweater's sleeves to cover his hands, Sam grabbed his back pack and head down the steps to the front door, his thoughts wandering back to Colby. Would he be leather clad or filled of goofy smiles and laughter. Sam silently hoped for the latter but wasn't sure what Colby would do. Opening the door he yelled a quick good bye to his mom and he walked out the brisk Kansas air silently greeting him. 

 Colby regretted not grabbing a sweatshirt to go over his blue shirt and he was too reluctant to put on his hidden leather jacket afraid that he would easily fall back into his mask. So once he saw the school building in sight he couldn't help but run in, the warmth happily greeting him and melting the cold right off of him. Immediately eyes were on him, confusion swirled in his class mates eyes as he walked with a slight hop in his step. His hands anxiously fiddled with his rings that were on his fingers and instead of seductive winks girls got a half smile sent their way. Colby Brock had changed and no one knew how to handle it. They couldn't tell if it was a joke or that cool, calm, hot Colby was actually a smiling, bumbling, anxious idiot. Colby ignored the prying eyes and questioning gazes as he looked around for Sam. The boy with blonde hair and blue eyes never once left his mind, it was as if Sam was always in there in the farthest back of his mind ready to pop in every once in a while. Not that Colby minded all that much. His eyes scanned for those eyes he could never get enough of to only get a glimpse of yellow hair behind Matt Rangers. Anxiousness welled through Colby as he jogged towards the two boys. 

 "So Golbach, ready for that Blue Valley Welcome? You have missed out on it for a whole week plus the weekend." Sam resisted the urge to tell Matt that a whole week is seven days so that included the weekend but thankfully kept his lips shut. "What? Not got anything to say Golbach?" Colby stood to the side as he watched the scene play out wanting to help Sam but not sure how. "Hey Rangers, what do you think you're doing to my friend?" The words slipped through Colby's lips quickly, at first he didn't even realize that it came from his mouth that was until Matt turned around with a growl in his throat, "Friends? Your friends with that Brock?" Matt laughed as Colby stood his ground, Sam staring at the boy in amazement. Students crowded around to see what was happening, harsh whispers filling the hall, 

"Who is that blonde kid anyways?"

"What is Rangers up to this time?"

"What happened to Colby, that blonde freak has changed him!" 

 The crowd got loud each statement louder than the last causing Sam to wish he was really a shadow and could melt away from the thousands of glares sent his way. Matt turned to the crowd, delight clearly shown on his face, "Oh wow Sam. Look at em' the crowd is here to watch you for the first time. How does it feel?" Matt sneered, he may have been dumb but he knew how the school chose to ignore Sam in fact it made torturing him all the better. "Why don't you pick on some body your own size?" Colby's voice made Matt turn his attention to him, a laugh bellowed from his chest, "Stay out of this Brock, your just the new kid." At that Matt turned to Sam and hit his knee into his stomach. Sam bent over wheezing as the crowd of students laughed and Matt bent down, "Welcome back to Blue Valley for another year." He whispered as Sam let out a groan. The laughter quickly died down as the bell rang signaling first period. Colby ran to Sam's side as the halls emptied, "You alright?" Colby asked. 

 "Your not wearing leather." Sam pointed out as he leaned against Colby for support as the brunette boy let out a laugh, "Yeah, I decided to ditch the mask ya know? Besides I think I'm pretty cool as just myself eh?" Colby joked. Sam only nodded along, "I guess so. I mean it was pretty cool how you tried to help me, maybe next time you can actually stop him from hitting me." Colby only shrugged, "I tried." Sam let out a giggle that was music to Colby's ears. 

 "Math is starting and I'm pretty sure we will get killed if we show up late." Sam mumbled as the two sat in the quiet halls, "Why don't we stay here then, and wait till second hour?" Colby asked, Sam nodded and okay both boys content with just sitting there with one another. Colby and Sam's hearts once again beating in time but neither one knew it, but subconsciously the two boys some how manage to find each other's hands and intertwine there fingers together, or maybe they both did it on purpose because it just felt right but neither of them admitted out loud. 

 The blonde and brunette  sat with their hands joined together, each breathing out a sigh of relief because in that moment they just knew they could get through anything together.