"Hello Cole," the blonde lady smiled brightly as she put on her latex gloves. "How have we been doing?"

"We've been good" Colby giggled, sitting on the medical chair in front of her. "Am I getting a new dose of metformin today?"

"Yup, how have they been treating you? Any side effects?"

Colby shrugged, stealing a quick glance at his mom, "They've been okay." He answered, not wanting his mother to worry. "They just make me a bit sleepy."

The doctor nodded and grabbed her stethoscope, "It's normal. But if you get any other side effects like difficulty breathing or muscle pain, you let your mom know, okay?"

Colby nodded but stayed quiet. He had one or two episodes where it was hard to breathe for a couple of seconds, but it went back to normal afterwards. His mom already had enough on her plate, and they couldn't afford to take him off the drug. If it got worse he would tell them, but for now he figured it was okay to lie just a little.

The rest of the check up went like every other one; everything seemed stable and Colby was allowed home after what felt like a life time.

The drive back was as silent as the first. Colby leaned his head against the window and closed his tired eyes, his mind wondering back to that handsome boy.

He wondered what Brennen was doing right now. He was most likely with his big crowd of friends.

Sometimes Colby wished he had that many friends. It wasn't that he was afraid of making friends. On the contrary actually, Colby was quite extroverted.

The reason he didn't have many friends was because everyone at school was very different, and very judging toward Colby.

He used to have closer friends back in Kansas, including his best friend Sam. But after his parents divorced, his mother believed they had better chances in Los Angeles.
Colby always wanted to get out of Kansas, but he sure missed his friends.

The brunette recalled the first time he talked to Brennen; it was the third day of senior year. Lunchtime; like usual, Colby grabbed a book out of his bag and began reading. He walked with his eyes glued to the page, his reading was interrupted when his foot hit something. Colby looked over his book to see an empty picnic table, just like the rest around the campus. He shrugged to himself and sat on it, suddenly feeling too lazy to walk to the park.

And that's when it happened.

A few minutes later, someone was standing in front of him, staring at him confusedly. Although Colby had been there for junior year as well, he'd never seen the older boy, and he knew he wasn't new because of the confidence and amount of friends he had.

Colby had smiled sweetly and closed his book. Brennen's eyes were still holding annoyance, but they softened slightly when Colby agreed to leave with no problem, the pretty smile still on his face.

It seemed that every day, when Colby was too caught up in his book, he would sit at a table that he assumed to be different from the first. But somehow he always ended up at the same one, always being nagged by Brennen or his friends.

He found it cute that they had a tradition like that. If only he could relate...

"Colby?" His mom called for the third time, finally snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"I asked if you were hungry."

"Um.." He paid attention to his tummy; it was empty alright. "Yeah actually."

His mom stole a glance in his direction, "Are you okay? Do you not feel well?"

"I'm fine, just a bit distracted."

"How come?"

Colby felt a slight blush appear on his cheeks, "I just talked to someone very interesting today."

His mother was pulling up at the infamous diner and slammed on the breaks when she heard what Colby had said. She looked over at him, "Someone interesting?"

"Mom!" Colby squeaked when she stopped dramatically. They both looked at each other and Colby began rolling his eyes when he noticed the cheeky look she was giving him. "Yes someone interesting! Stop thinking what you're thinking, it's not what you think."

"Oh yeah, uh huh." She nodded sarcastically, pulling up on a parking spot.

"Mom, I don't even know him, I just invited him to have lunch with me."

"Aw, well that's sweet of you. And if you guys kick it off, I want to see him come by our house. I miss hearing you laugh in your room with someone."

"That sounds kinda weird but I understand what you mean" he giggled quietly. They both got out of the car and walked into the diner, grabbing a booth near the entrance. They sat opposite of each other; Colby's back facing the entrance and his mother in front of him.

His index finger touched the laminated menu on the table, following the descriptions of each dish as he read; classic burger, cheese burger, vegan burger...

A loud laugh interrupted Colby's focus. His blue eyes slowly trailed up and immediately widened when he saw none other than the boy haunting his thoughts.

"What?" His mom asked, catching Colby's stare. She followed his eyes and saw a brunette with blonde highlights and green eyes, sitting with another brunette. She gasped and looked back at her son. "He's cute!"

Colby's eyes snapped back to his mother. "Mom!"

"Is that the interesting person?" She asked with a smirk.

The boy's cheeks blushed over as his body slid down the seat, hiding behind the table.  He muttered his response, "Yes."
Before his mom could gasp and cheer like a mad woman, Colby sat back up. "I do not like him, mother!" He giggled "I don't even know him!"

"Well then go!"

"Go where??"

"Go know him!"

Colby blinked and looked at Brennen. He was busy right now. As friendly as his friend looked, Colby thought it was rude to just walk up there and interrupt their conversation. "I will..." He promised, trailing off as he realized he was still staring at Brennen, and now Brennen was staring at him.

Colby offered a small smile, which Brennen rolled his eyes to, but he also smiled slightly, before returning to his conversation.

"... Eventually I will."