Chapter One
Colt practically fell off the bus platform, her luggage crashing along behind her as she hurried to get to the street above. She felt slightly crushed in all this traffic, and having been on the metro for three hours was terrible conditions for a claustrophobe like her.
Pushing through the mass of people on the stairs, Colt burst onto the sidewalk on Broadway. Breathing deeply, she relished in the scents of shops and fresh air. Smiling to herself, she picked up a steady but quick pace in the direction of the apartments. She couldn't wait to meet her new roommate-since this was a co-ed system, she was hoping for a guy. Colt had never really gotten along with girls-so much gossip, and all the rest of her gender ever seemed to want to do was shop and watch Pretty Little Liars. Boys, though-boys didn't boss you around, or talk about you behind your back, or judge your fashion sense. Boys would play video games with you, and boys didn't care about what shirt you had worn that day or the way you had styled your hair. Boys were awesome.
Slowing to a stop outside of the complex, Colt felt a pinch of anxiety. This dorm was all people her age, and some (most) people her age were partying and running about having sex every night. What might she get herself into? She didn't like causing trouble, but….
Pushing her qualms to the back of her mind, Colt sighed and lugged her suitcase up the staircase. Reading the key-card given to her by the manager, she looked for her room number. Room 915-it ought to have a good view. These were pretty good apartments, after all. Picking up the pace, she reached level nine about five minutes later. Shuddering with a hint of excitement, she walked down the hall to room 915. It was at the very end of the hall, and was also the top level. Pulling out her key, she started for the door.
Suddenly, it burst open, and Colt squeaked and stumbled backwards in embarrassed surprise. Looking up shyly, she saw the flustered and equally shocked face of her roommate-thankfully, it was a guy. "Sorry!" she said, feeling her heart race and her blood rush.
"No problem…I'm guessing you're my roommate?" he said.
"Um….yeah. I'm Colt." she said, extending her hand.
He took it in his, giving a squeeze of greeting. "Nice to meet you, Colt. I'm Ty."
Colt was taken aback, but she smiled easily, nodding. He grinned. "Nice to meet you too, Ty."
She studied him for a second. He had dusty brown hair that fell over one eye, and tan skin. Blue eyes, too. "Hold up….are you Deadlox?" she inquired.
He grinned even more broadly. "Yup, that's me." he said, giving her a mock bow and giving her a flirty look. "Deadlox at your service, ma'am."
Colt laughed, blushing. "Cool!" she said, at a loss for anything better to say.
Ty moved aside, beckoning her inside. "Come on in, I don't bite."
Walking in, Colt sat down on the obviously unclaimed side of the room. There was one whole wall that was pure windows, and it showed off the New York skyline beautifully. She smiled slightly, taking it in.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Ty said, mirroring her thoughts as he flopped down lazily on his bed.
Smiling at him, Colt nodded. Turning her attention to her things, she began to unpack. Organizing her closet, she brought out her combat boots and tennis shoes, the only shoes she had brought, and tossed them to one side. She hung her shirts on one side of her closet, and her pants and her few shorts on the other. Looking over at Ty, she admired his looks. He was….well, he was hot. Not like model hot, but like gamer hot. Meaning her type. Meaning…
Shaking off her thoughts, Colt broke his gaze. Had she been staring? Oh god. He was going to think she was a creep. And she wasn't ready for that kind of relationship, she wasn't stable. She was so bloody broken. He would never like her. It's not like she would have a chance. He probably already had a girlfriend. Or-
Ty interrupted her thoughts. "So, I take it you're a gamer too?"
Colt smiled, looking over her shoulder. "Yeah. Minecraft, Halo, that sort of stuff."
"Cool. That's pretty much what I play, too. Minecraft is a given."
"Yup. Hey, do you know who else is on this hall….?" she asked.
Ty nodded. "You know who Adam is, and Jason is here too. Actually, there are a lot of other Minecrafters here-but that's about it so far." he said.
Colt grinned. "Sweet. " she said.
They were silent for a bit as they both continued unpacking and organizing. Well….Ty wasn't really organizing, more putting stuff somewhere neatly. Colt wasn't sure. Whatever, she thought. As long as he doesn't chuck stuff everywhere, I'm cool with it.
When they both finished, Ty looked at her ponderingly. Colt raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "What, Ty?"
He snapped out of it. "Sorry. Was just thinking. D'you want to come meet the gang?" he said, grinning.
Chapter Two
When they final got back, Colt and Ty were best friends and she had met Sky, Fluffy, Captain Sparklez, Bodil, and Dawn. She and Dawn were pretty close already, having gone to school together at one point. As she and Ty arrived at their room, he smiled at her. "How'd you like it?" he asked her casually.
"It was awesome! Thanks for inviting me." she said.
They had done a recording, actually, on Bodil's Epic Jump Map. Colt had almost won, but Dawn had pushed her off and won it for herself. Colt didn't mind, they had always been very competitive towards each other. Ty had….well, Ty failed. He and Sky kept murdering each other. Bodil, naturally, had been up to no good trolling everyone, and Fluffy and CS had pushed each other into lave several times, losing their lead.
When Ty finally went to sleep around 1 that morning, Colt felt herself beginning to doze off, too. Suddenly, her phone buzzed almost imperceptibly. Not wanting to disturb Ty, she hopped lightly out of bed, creeping into her closet and closing the door. Plugging the crack below it with a towel, she unlocked her phone. Her friend Ember had texted her from Kansas! They hadn't talked in a few days, since Ember was always busy with her art exhibitions and Colt had been traveling. Opening it up, she read the text.
-Colt! I've got some news!
-What's up?
-Well, I have bad and good. Which one do you want first?
-The good stuff. Dur.
-My artwork for the anime show sold! I've gotten the job!
Colt clapped silently. Ember had recently applied to be an artist for a popular anime series, and she had been talking non-stop about it for weeks.
-omg! Congrats!
-Thank ya! J Ok, bad news now. :/
-I'm ready.
-You know how Bolt had lung cancer?
-Yeah….
-I'm so sorry, Colt.
-WHAT? No! He can't be dead! Doc said he was gonna pull through!
-….
-I'm sorry, E. I gtg. Talk tomorrow.
-I'm so sorry Colt. Bye.
Shutting her phone off, Colt felt tears well in her eyes. Even after they had broken up, she and Bolt had been best friends. He had supported her through her friend's suicide, and he had always been there for her. When he had gotten lung cancer, he had been horribly emotionally affected. The doctor said they should have gotten it soon enough, and Bolt had been scheduled for a surgery to remove it earlier that month. She had never thought this would happen….never!
Hugging herself and curling into a ball, Colt shook. Sitting up, she silently opened the closet door and slipped out of her and Ty's room. What to do? She couldn't let herself go dark again. Maybe she should text Dawn.
-Dawn?
-What's up?
-I need to talk to you. It's bad.
-Come on over. Adam's sleeping over at CS's, they did another recording and you know how lazy he is.
-OK. Thank you.
-Np.
Jogging down the hall barefoot in her shorts and cami, Colt felt vulnerable. When she reached Dawn's door, she tapped the door in the sign for SOS, like she always had when they were in middle school and snuck out to laugh and talk. That had been 5 years ago when they were both in eighth grade, but she was sure Dawn would remember.
Dawn came to the door, with a hot chocolate in hand and a box of Kleenex. "C'mere." she said, setting them both down as she pulled her best friend in the door. "What happened?" she said, obviously worried.
"He's dead!" Colt choked out, shaking. "Bolt's dead, Dawn!"
Dawn sucked in, hugging her friend and leading her to the sofa. Grabbing the hot chocolate and Kleenex, she put them on the coffee table by Colt and sat her down. Curling her legs under her, she sat down right next to her. "The surgery didn't work?"
"No, and now he's gone!" Colt wailed quietly.
"Oh, hon. I'm so sorry. I know he meant so much to you. Just promise me you won't go dark if you can, ok?"
"OK. I'll try."
The two talked until the sun came up, when Dawn fell asleep and Colt snuck back to her and Ty's place. Curling up in her own bed, she closed her eyes for the first time that day and was quickly fast asleep.
Chapter Three
When she woke up, she was covered in another blanket, a fleece. Shivering, she curled and burrowed, not wanting to wake up. Life was too much. She needed a damn snooze button.
Looking at the clock on her bedside table, the time read 10:07 am. She had been asleep for barely five hours. Looking out the window, she saw the beautiful New York winter morning and the frost on the window. Colt sighed. Great. Life.
Sitting up, she shook her head and rubbed her eyes tiredly. Looking over at Ty's bed, she realized he must've woken up and covered her with this extra blanket. The sheets she had brought were thin; she must've been frozen.
Swinging her long legs over the side, she looked around her and came to her senses finally. She remembered the events of earlier that morning, and shuddered, feeling a shard of ice work its way into her heart. Sighing, Colt got up and walked into the kitchen, where Ty was sitting and eating bacon.
"Morning, Colt." he said, sounding just as out of it as she was. "Please tell me you like bacon, I'm hopeless with other breakfast stuff. Everything really, I can't cook worth a damn."
Colt smiled, trying not to let him see her sadness. "Are you fricken kidding me? How can I not like bacon?" she said, serving herself a few pieces. The wonderful taste exploded in her mouth, and she rolled her eyes in pleasure. "Yum."
Ty grinned back. "Excellent, you're now a million percent awesomer because you like bacon."
Colt chuckled. "Fun. Oh, and I can cook."
Ty widened his eyes in exaggeration. "Thank you sweet Jesus, a roommate who can cook!"
They chatted drowsily for another hour or so about nothing really important, then Colt decided to go and get dressed. She needed a shower, like it would wash all the bad away. Excusing herself, she went to grab some clothes and her shower stuff. Rummaging about in her closet, she finally settled on a well-fitting plain black shirt and skinny jeans. She had her own bathroom, with a huge shower and a decently sized tub with a Jacuzzi. "Thank you New York." she said thankfully, closing and locking her doors and setting her stuff down. "Showah time!"
After her shower, Colt felt refreshed, but she was still a bit sad. Putting on her clothes and some light mascara, she opened the doors and quickly braided her hair. Her main job was as an online design consultant, so she didn't have to work other than analyze designs on her laptop and edit them. No leaving the house to work in some stuffy office, thank goodness. For being only 18, she had a pretty good life.
Ty walked in just then, and whistled quietly. "Well, the girl appears again. Nice outfit, Colt." he said, not really hiding the fact that he was checking her out.
Colt smiled at him. "Thanks Ty. You don't look half bad either." she teased, giving him a playful poke in the side.
He chuckled, eyes shining. "Good thing it's Saturday, huh? More time to play Minecraft."
Colt nodded. "Oh yes. Minecraft is good." she said.
He gave her a pointed look. "You ok, Colt?"
Colt felt surprise, but put on her best confused look, hoping he hadn't noticed. "Huh? Oh, yeah, just thinking. Sorry."
Ty grinned. "Then I'm sure you're up to a bit of XRun?" he said.
"Only if you wanna get beat, Ty!" she said, gamely.
He poked her. "You're on!"
Several games of XRun and maybe two hours later, Ty and Colt were both frustrated but laughing insanely. Colt had won almost all of the runs, since Ty was too busy laughing so hard he choked at some of her rather intense facial expressions when he hit her off. This was the best Colt had felt in the last 24 hours, and she was thankful for Ty's company. He decided to run over to Bodil's and help him with his map, and he invited Colt. Although she desperately wanted to say yes, Colt politely declined, saying she and Dawn were going to go see a movie or something, have some girl time. Ty looked a little dismayed, and she almost reconsidered, but he agreed. "See ya, Colt. "
"Bye, Ty. Troll Bodil for me."
"Of course, m'lady! I shall do as thee obliges me to do." He said, shooting her a playful look and randomly grabbing her hand as he bowed.
Colt almost died laughing, and he gave her a bear hug. "'Course I'm gonna troll 'Dil, Colt. Bye."
Heart racing, Colt returned his hug and they parted ways for the afternoon. Had he just…hugged her?! She must be going insane, she thought, but she was still grinning madly when she reached Dawn's door. Knocking the SOS, she waited. And waited. And waited some more. But Dawn still didn't answer. Knocking again, she decided to give her friend ten more minutes. She might still be sleeping.
Unfortunately, the waiting gave Colt a chance to dwell on the occurrences of the night before. She couldn't believe Bolt was really dead. He was so strong, and Doc himself had said he should pull through.
Should.
Should. But he hadn't. And Dawn didn't know what to do, she was just as socially awkward as Colt when it came to comforting people. Not that she wasn't trying, Colt knew she was, but Bolt had been so special to her and now he wasn't there to get her through. She didn't want to tell Ty or the others, since they hadn't even known Bolt and they were all guys. They would have zero idea what to do. Most guys were like that.
The opening of the door surprised Colt, pulling her from her thoughts. Dawn looked exhausted, and Adam was nowhere to be seen. Slipping inside, Colt hugged her friend. "Hey. Sorry I kept you up. But I don't have much of anyone else to talk to."
Dawn smiled kindly. "It's okay, Colt. Want to talk over some Walls?" she asked, knowing Colt needed something to take herself out on.
Colt smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Dawn. Sure."