Put Your Heart Where Your Mouth Is

"Who has bonfires in the middle of April?" Garrett asked, eyeing his friends critically. We were all piled up in the van, heading off to Matt's friend's house. Apparently he lived in the area, and apparently, it was a 'great idea' to throw a party, according to Pat. He said that it wasn't the right kick off to a tour unless we had a barbeque in some stranger's yard. I rolled my eyes, and glanced over at John, whose hand I was holding.

"Could be fun." I said, biting my lip with a smile.

"Yes, indeed." He said, with that familiar, confident half-smile he always wore. We were pulling into a winding gravel driveway, and the uneveness of it sent the lightweights-- Pat, Wren, and I-- tumbling all over the car from lack of adecquate seat belts.

Kennedy was sitting in the front seat, next to Matt, because he was still avoiding his girlfriend at all costs. He said she needed time, despite the fact that she'd been chasing him down for six days, trying to talk about it. He was too much of an idiot to see that she wanted to apologize.

John's arm wrapped around my waist, and I moved just a little bit closer to him. Before long, our lips met--and then came the gagging sounds. Kennedy and Garrett thought they were just so funny.

"Seriously?" John laughed, looking directly at Garrett. "Coming from the boy who hasn't had a girlfriend since Crazy Donna."

Garrett paled, shaking his head nervously. "Don't go there, dude. My dick might run away and hide."

I furrowed my eyebrows, and glanced at my boyfriend. "Who's Crazy Donna?"

"She and Gare-Bear went out during highschool, and she stalked him for weeks. She snuck into his bedroom, and stole his boxers--" Jared was cut off.

"She did what?" Garrett yelped. "Oh my God! I feel so violated!"

I, on the other hand, was highly amused. In fact, I was cracking up with the rest of the band while Garrett looked on the verge of tears. I was pretty sure I heard him hyperventilating.

"She stole my cat, too." He said, "She took Toast, and I put up flyers--and he was at her house the entire time! She kept him in her closet where she had this freaky...shrine, thing? It had a lock of my hair, and this vial of god know's what--I made it through all of this without a therapist!"

"I'm so proud of you." John said, putting his hand on Garrett's shoulder.

Garrett looked down, "Thanks, man. It means a lot."

Jared was bouncing up and down in his seat. "Par-ty time!"

The van pulled to the garage, and I grabbed John's hand. "OHMYGOD!" I shouted, "POOL!"

I was headed directly for the gigantic, in-ground pool, with my clothes on. Kennedy beat me to the punch--he flung himself in, taking little Patrick with him. The splash smacked us hard in the face, and John held onto my hand to keep me steady. "Don't blow away, alright?"

I started running, and John had to sprint to keep up with me. I dove into the water, and thanked God for having me wear a black shirt instead of the white one I was debating about.

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I was wearing two sweatshirts, and I was still shaking with cold. The fire, which roared even above John's head, wasn't warming anyone up. It was only an hour after we'd come, and it was already dark and hopeless outside.

John didn't bring a jacket with him, so when he saw my teeth chattering, he asked Garrett if he had an extra in the van. Of course, making things extremely awkward, he took off the one he was wearing, and draped it over my shoulders.

I gritted my teeth, and my entire body tensed up. I moved closer to John, and rested my head on his shoulder. We were sitting on the grass, waiting for my skinny jeans and shoes to dry. My hair was a mess--but Pat and John seemed to be having worse luck.

Their boxers were too weighed down for their skinny bodies, and if they moved, it was almost guaranteed that they'd pants themselves.