Everyone Pretends They're Happy

Garrett had bought his bass strings and I’d gotten most of my supplies that I needed that were on my list. I just needed a few more paints and a couple more sketch books which I could get at a later date. It wasn’t like I was about to fill five anytime soon.
We were headed for food since both our stomachs sounded like they were about to eat themselves.
‘‘Burger good for you?’’ Garrett asked as we stood outside a burger van.
‘‘Fine by me.’’ I replied and pulled some money from my purse.
‘‘Put that back, this will be my treat.’’ Garrett beamed at his own generosity. He paid for our food and grabbed two cokes and we found a quiet bench near the mall.
‘‘Its so nice here. I couldn’t do this in New York.’’ I said then took a bite of my burger.
‘‘You used to live in New York?’’ Garrett asked excitedly.
I nodded and swallowed my chewed food. ‘‘Trust me, its not all its cracked up to be.’’ I told him. ‘‘Well, unless you’re a fan of horribly busy streets, none stop traffic and stupid gangs on every corner you‘d love it.’’ I took a sip of my coke, Garrett mimicking.
‘‘There must be some good points to it.’’ Garrett said, leaning forward on his elbows.
‘‘Not really. Well, not for me anyway. My family is possibly the only thing good about New York for me, the rest I don’t care about.’’ I was hoping Garrett wasn’t going to push into my past.
‘‘What about you’re friends before you left? Don’t you miss them?’’ Garrett’s tone was light and curious.
I shook my head. ‘‘I don’t miss any of them. They aren’t worth missing.’’ I was very blunt with my answers. I didn’t want to go into detail.
‘‘Are you ok? Is this a sensitive subject? If it is, tell me to shut up at any time.’’ I took another sip of my coke and looked Garrett in the eye.
‘‘Its fine. I’m just not a city girl.’’ I smiled. ‘‘But here, in Arizona, I couldn’t feel more at home.’’ I grinned. Garrett didn’t seem fooled by what I was saying. He could no doubt see past my fake smiles and happy tone, but I wasn’t going to give up on it yet. I was going to keep pretending until he asked me about it. ‘‘Have you always lived here?’’ I asked Garrett, taking the limelight off me.
‘‘Yeah, but I’m usually all over the place now. Travelling and what not.’’ He took a sip of his drink.
‘‘With your band?’’ It was only another guess. It could’ve been with his parents.
‘‘Correct again.’’ They must have been very serious if they were travelling already. I was definitely going to have to try and find their music somewhere to see how good they were.
We finished our food and headed back home, picking up light conversation about college on the way.
‘‘Evie, where have you been?!’’ Harriet shouted at me when I walked in.
‘‘Excuse me?’’ I asked a little startled.
‘‘You heard me, where have you been?’’ Her tone didn’t drop so I wasn’t sure if she was being serious or if it was some sort of joke.
‘‘Harriet, leave her alone. She doesn’t have to wait for you to get yourself out of bed.’’ John yelled at her.
‘‘Fuck off, John. I’m not talking to you.’’ She snapped at him.
‘‘She’s drunk, Evie, ignore her.’’ John told me, pulling Harriet by the waist. She tried her best to get out of his grip but he wasn’t letting her go. ‘‘Pat, can you come in here and control you’re best friend?!’’ John yelled into the other room. I was surprised, he was her brother, he should’ve been able to control her better than anyone. Pat came in and took hold of Harriet’s hand and pulled her upstairs. She was yelling about something that I really couldn’t make out. It was only three o’clock. I didn’t understand how she could get so drunk.
I didn’t know what to do to be honest. She had no right to shout at me like that, she hardly knew me. John rubbed his hand over his face and sat on the sofa, Jared, Kennedy and Garrett sat around him.
‘‘I cant deal with her here anymore, I really cant.’’ He spoke up causing the rest of them to narrow their eyes at him and tell him they couldn’t send her home.