She Won't Kiss and Tell

The next day was very awkward. I ignored both Garrett and Kennedy. When they were onstage, I stayed at the merch tent instead. When we were in the bus, I hung out with Jared, Pat, Max, and the others. The urge for me to tell Garrett the truth pushed onto the back of my mind. He suffered enough.

I wanted to tell John that I couldn’t bare this pressure anymore, but he was so happy that I was on the road with him, I just couldn’t. The feeling to go home appeared every day, after the massive drama struck me.

Sometimes, when I was alone, I just wish I wasn’t John’s sister, or not this pretty. The biggest secret no one know about me is that I feel weird if a guy look at me in amazement, or whatever. Even John doesn’t know about it.

I remember, the first time John brought his friends over. How they look at me, even though I was still 16. It creeps me out.

“Amanda?”, John poked in his head into the back lounge.

“Yea?”, I lifted my head up from my knees. “What?”

“Do you want to grab some dinner? We’re heading to Denny’s.”

I nodded and stood up, stretching. John smiled and wrapped his arm around my shoulder protectively. He led me to the front lounge, and I could feel Kennedy’s and Garrett’s eyes were on us.

When we were already out from the bus, I hugged John’s side. “What’s wrong?”, he asked me.

“I miss home, Johnny.”

“Me too.”, he sighed as he pushed the glass door to Denny’s. The smell of butter hit my nostrils. I scanned around the diner and saw some other bands too. I could see Sara, sitting with her brother, eyeing John and I.

“John, can you make up with Sara? She’s my friend, and I feel bad to her.”, I said quietly as we slid into a booth, across from BLG’s.

“Can I tell you something? Before the others are here.”

I nodded and leaned forward onto the table. “What? Spill.”

“I never liked Sara that much.”, he huffed and leaned back to his seat. “She wasn’t that…great.”

“In sex?”

“No!”, he scoffed and rolled his eyes. “She just…not great.”

“You think mom will like her?”

“Ugh, I think mom will say ‘John Cornelius O’Callaghan V, why did you bring a prostitute to our home?!’”, John impersonated mom perfectly.

I raised a brow and took a sip on my root beer. “Wait, what do you mean by ‘prostitute’? she looks…nice.”

“Mandy, you need to look deeper into a person. She’s a band slut.”

The liquid in my throat acted up and burst out from my lips. “What?!”
John put his hands on my mouth because the attention we got from the other bands. “Mandy!”, he hissed.

“Sorry!”, I whispered as I wiped my mouth with a napkin. “How did you know!?”

“Believe it or not, her own brother told me.”

“Martin?”

John nodded. “Yeah, he told me. he said Sara already slept with dozens of band dudes, and he doesn’t want me to be one.”

“Why, though?”

He shrugged. “Maybe cause’ he’s a good guy, or maybe he hates me so he doesn’t want me to sleep with his sister.”

I laughed and slapped John’s arm. My eyes fell onto the others who were walking towards our table. Pat quickly slid into the booth and sat next to me. “Have you guys ordered yet?”

“Nope, Patty. We were waiting for you guys!”, I grinned.
**************
“Mandy, can I talk to you?”, Garrett stopped my by pulling my elbow when I was about to walk into the bus.

“Garrett—“

“No, we have to. It’s important.”

I sighed and let him pulled me out to the empty parking lot behind Denny’s. he stopped and turned around, facing me back. “Amanda, can you tell me the truth?”
“What truth?”, I asked as I hugged my hoodie tighter for warmth.

“Do you still love Kennedy?”

“What are you talking about?”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Please just answer me, Amanda.”

I looked down to my feet and shifted my weight awkwardly. The cold night wind gushed through both of us, sending shivers up to my spine. “I don’t know.”

“You…don’t know?”

I nodded slightly. “Yeah. I love you Gary, but ever since Kennedy and I broke up, he always filled my mind and I feel really guilty to him.”

“So, what do you want now?”

“Don’t ask me that, please.”, I sighed. “All I know is I need time. Time to get away from you all.”

“What?”

“I’m going home tomorrow. John doesn’t need to know, Kennedy too. You’re the only one who knows.”

He kept silent. I sighed and turned around, walking back to the bus.
*****************
I slid out from my bunk and tip toed to front lounge quietly. It was 5 in the morning and thank God the bus stopped at a truck stop. I dragged my suitcase carefully so no one wakes up because of the noise.
When I was already outside of the bus, I waited at the sidewalk to hail a cab. When I already got one, I got in and asked the cabbie to drive my to the airport.

The drive was kind of depressing for me. I opened the window to get some morning fresh air. My mind filled with lots of thoughts, memories, and plans for the future. I had to go back to Arizona first before everything.

The cab hailed into a stop. I looked out the window and realized that we were already at the airport. I gave the cabbie the money and went out, not forgetting my suitcase at the trunk.

It was only morning, but the airport was filled with people, business mans, and some families who maybe were going on a holiday. I went to the check in counter and booked my seat for the flight to Phoenix.

The fresh floral air freshened air filled my nostrils as I walked into the waiting lounge. I sat down on one of the comfy suede sofa and pulled out my phone. The picture of Garrett and I as the wallpaper greeted me.

My eyes stung as they were just got sprayed by perfume. It brought tears to my eyes. I quickly wiped them off with the back of my hands, but when I looked front, someone’s hand was offering me a piece of tissue paper.

I looked up and saw a guy, smiling down at me. he was wearing a salmon pink beanie, which hid his dark brown hair. His hazel eyes showed some innocence and probably, he was the joker.

“Thanks.”, I muttered as I took the tissue from his hand. He sat down next to me and waited for me to wipe all my tears away. “Why, though?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I just don’t like seeing people get sad.”

“Well, if you’re my friend, you’ll get stressed out because I’m sad 24/7.”

“Can I do something about that?”, he chuckled and stuck his hand out. “I’m Nate.”

I took his hand and shook it. “Amanda.”