You'll Never Make a Fool of Me

The first thing John insisted was that I get my things and bring them back to the house. I saw that as a waste seeing as though I’d already checked into my hotel room, but I promised him that after one night, I’d stay with him. After much arguing, he finally agreed to it.

The second thing he insisted was that I go with him to dinner. I declined instantly as soon as I was notified that he was to meet Garrett and Kennedy. That was absolutely too soon to have to deal with Garrett, especially since he had no idea I was even on this side of the country, let alone back in Tempe. I wasn’t even close to ready to talk to him, and no one knew how it would end up. However, John won in the end, because John O’Callaghan does what he wants.

This left me currently deciding what to wear. John had insisted that I stick with something comfortable like always, but jeans and a tee shirt probably weren’t the best impression after being gone for so many years. I pulled a purple tank top over my head to start, considering how hot it was outside. After rifling through everything I brought, I groaned and decided on a knee length black skirt, figuring it was the nicest casual thing I owned and it’d just have to work. After putting on a gold necklace, I decided to hell with my looks and walked out of the guest room before I could drive myself crazier.

I wandered my way down the hall to John’s bedroom to find him throwing things about in a poor attempt to find something to wear.

“Hey, ready to go?” He asked, looking up momentarily to flash me a smile.

“John, I really don’t think I can do this.” I insisted, wrapping my arms around myself as I leaned against his door frame. He let out a scoff loud enough for me to hear, notifying me of his disapproval.

“You’re here. You’re actually here, and you’re doing me the biggest favor in the world. I’ll help you, I swear. It’s not like I’m going to ditch you halfway through like I might have in high school.” He reassured me. After a couple more seconds, he thrust his hand into the air, a shirt in his grasp. “A-ha!”

“That’s just it though. It’s not high school. I’m not going to be forgiven after some food and discussion, and quite frankly, that’s what worries me. The fact that he’s not going to be willing to forgive me, and the fact that his temper might actually get the best of him.” I rested my head against the door frame and tried not to roll my eyes as John made a theatric performance of taking off his current shirt and buttoning up the new one he’d fished out.

“We all know his temper will get the best of him; it’s Garrett. I do know that he won’t lash out at you in public though, hence dinner in a restaurant. You have to give me more credit.” He finished buttoning up his shirt and tossed his arms up, turning around slowly. “Do I look fabulous?”

“You look great, you big freak.” I rolled my eyes and turned away from him, walking back toward the living room. He was in a fairly good mood now, which I was thankful for, but I couldn’t handle him not taking me seriously at the moment. I wanted nothing more than to make things better between the guys and myself, but everyone and their grandmother knew that Garrett would be a tough nut to crack, and John was not making me feel any better about it. I pulled my sneakers on and sat on the arm of the couch, waiting for him to finish figuring out what words of wisdom he’d try to give me. He ran out to the living room not much later, shoes in hand and a sympathetic look on his face.

“Heather, hold the phone here. I’m just trying to lighten the mood, you’re thinking too much. You’ll win Kenny over in a heart beat, Pat has been convinced all these years that you’re coming back, and Jared will be happy that you’re back. He’ll have to come around eventually.” After pulling his shoes on, he threw an arm over my shoulder and held me close to him as we made our way out the front door and to the car, almost as if he didn’t trust me to not run off. He even had the audacity to walk me to the passenger side of his car, which irked me a little, but I should have expected it. As he drove us to our destination, I looked through the window at all the houses and, once we’d reached the main part of town, stores that I hadn’t seen in so long. I almost didn’t remember what Tempe looked like after six years, which startled me some.

After a few minutes of driving, I felt the car slowing down and looked forward to see John pull into Applebee’s. I should have known, after all, we came here all the time back in high school. Nothing really seemed to have changed for them, which I might admit had me a bit jealous.

“You ready?” He asked after he’d parked the car and taken the key out of the ignition. I glanced over to see him looking at me hopefully, causing me to let out a sigh.

“No.”

“Good, let’s go.” He undid his seatbelt and stepped out of the car, leaving me no choice but to follow him. I caught up quickly and he held the door open for me, the coolness of the air conditioning making me shiver as I adjusted from the heat outside. When he stepped inside beside me, the hostess came up to ask John about seating, to which he answered that he was looking for friends. It didn’t take him long to spot Kennedy and Garrett, unfortunately, and we were in front of their table before I knew it.

“Gentlemen, I hope you don’t mind that I brought a guest.” John announced, holding me by my shoulders most likely as a precaution. Kennedy glanced over me for a few moments before a bright grin crossed his face and he jumped out of his chair.

“Heather!” He exclaimed as loud as he could without drawing attention. He was out of his chair in moments, wrapping his arms around me in a tight hug. I hugged him back just as tight, relishing his warmth and keeping from having to look at Garrett. Kennedy Brock had the amazing ability to set a person at ease with little effort, and I was incredibly thankful that he was alright with me being back.

The look Garrett had once I’d stepped away from Kennedy though… that was definitely him not being alright with me coming back. His lips were pressed together tight, jaw clenched, and eyes seemed to attempt to burn me right through. From the corner of my eye, I could see Kennedy giving him the look, insisting that he be nice.

“Nice to see you again.” Garrett nearly whispered, not lifting his obviously angry stare. It was nicer than I’d expected, but certainly not ideal. Luckily John let me take the seat next to Kennedy, but that also entailed having to see Garrett’s irritated daggers he was throwing me.

“What have you been up to since we last saw you?” Kennedy asked, trying to lighten the mood. Garrett let out a groan just loud enough for us all to hear, causing John to smack his shoulder.

“Uh… work, y’know.” I pulled my arms tight around my body, desperately wishing I could leave, though I know John would never let me. The waitress came up to take my and John’s orders quickly, cutting the silence slightly, and Kennedy had more questions to fire at me once she’d walked away.

“Well, what do you do for work?” He continued. I was frozen at that moment, completely confused as to what to say. I couldn’t tell them I was a private investigator, because that would be totally sketchy now that I’d come back to Arizona out of the blue. I couldn’t tell them I worked for the government, because technically, I worked against them. Journalist? No, that seemed like a ridiculously far stretch.

“I do researching for my company.” I finally decided on telling him, figuring it was close enough to the truth as I could get. Kennedy and John both let out amused laughs and I smiled slightly, but Garrett just rolled his eyes.

“That’s not very descriptive. What company do you work for?” John pressed. I mumbled a few profanities and threw John a glare, which he obviously didn’t understand, but thankfully I came up with something.

“Opinion journalism.”

“Well, you sure fit in great then, right?” Garrett sneered. My glare was thrown at him next, though it wouldn’t have really done anything to him. Kennedy tossed him one as well though, which might’ve helped some.

“Can you at least pretend you care that she’s here?” He snapped, making Garrett’s eyes widen, though he quickly recovered with the clenching of his jaw.

“You can’t pretend what you have no interest in accomplishing.” He replied, shrugging his shoulders in a nonchalant manner. It honestly irked me how big of a douche bag he was being, but I refrained from stooping to his level and acting childish, if only for show for John and Kennedy.

It wasn’t long until our food showed up, thankfully, but after it came we fell into an awkward silence. It was tense and no one dared break it, even Kennedy, who seemed to be the master at breaking tense moments. Even as I kept my eyes on my plate, I could feel Garrett’s angry glare burning into me.

At some point, I couldn’t take the tension at the table anymore, so I did the only thing I could thing of; I excused myself and went outside. The air outside was pleasantly light, and I took a deep breath in a sad attempt to calm my anxiety.

“So you’re really here to stay, then?” I turned to see Garrett coming out the door, hands stuffed in his pockets and that same grim look on his face. Though it was still blistering hot outside, I felt a shiver go up my spine, nervous about being alone with him after six years of absence.

“Well, for the time being.” I answered, subconsciously wringing my hands. The air was suddenly thick again, and I wanted nothing more than to be back in New York, curled into my blankets in my bed and pretending none of this had to happen. Garrett let out an awkward cough and rubbed the back of his neck, probably trying to choose his words carefully like he was known to do.

“Why.” He finally said. It wasn’t a question or inquiry, exactly, but a statement.

“Because.” I replied, not exactly wanting to explain myself. It’d be hard to tell him right off the bat that I was here to investigate his life.

“You know I hate it when you only say ‘because’.” He groaned.

“Then maybe I’m saying it to irritate you. Who knows.” Though I hadn’t tried to make it sound like I was intentionally pissing him off, that’s just how it came out. Garrett didn’t seem to appreciate my tone though, and his fist clenched at his side.

“Damn it, Heather! Why do you have to be like this?” He nearly shouted. I jumped at the volume of his voice, completely taken aback at how he was already yelling at me.

“Gee, Garrett, I don’t really know. Maybe if you weren’t always such an ass, we wouldn’t have this problem.” The volume of my voice escalated as well, but I was trying to keep it at least somewhat civil since we were in public. Unfortunately, Garrett had no shame.

“There you go again! It’s always my fault. Garrett said this, Garrett fucked that up. Why can’t you ever take credit for anything?” He was near yelling point, drawing a few glances our way, but now I didn’t care. He was turning everything around to make me look like the bad guy, and I wasn’t going to deal with this from him.

“I did, remember? I took credit, and it’s what made me leave!” I shouted back.

“Yeah, because you’ve had to go through so much, right? You don’t… you can’t imagine what I’ve seen, Heather.”

“Then do you care to explain? Because right now, you’re just sounding like a little bitch.” While it might have been bad to say, and while it might have set me back even farther in my attempt to get his side of the story, the words slipped from my mouth so seamlessly that it was almost as if I’d been waiting to say it all along. To be honest, I didn’t regret it one bit.

“You know what? I don’t have to explain anything to you. Tell Kennedy that I’ll call him later.” Just like that, he turned around and stomped off toward his car. I might have been provoking him and all, but Garrett Nickelsen does not walk away from a fight.

He was hiding something, and that was not helping me at all.