All Again For You

"Okay?" My response came out more as a question rather than a statement telling him to continue.

"Well, not really tell you something," He paused. "More like talk to you about something. I guess you could say that it's abo-"

"About Marie?" I finished for him.

"Y-yeah, I guess." Garrett scratched the back of his neck and looked around, not making eye contact with me. He was silent, something I was used to when he was trying to be serious with me. "Well, it is about her, I guess."

"What about her? If she hurt you I swear to God I-"

"No, Sav. She didn't do anything. Or didn't do anything yet, I'm guessing. She's going on vacation for two weeks soon, and I just have this feeling that something's not going to go right between us after she gets back."

"So you're worried that she's going to find some new boy-toy and then leave you hanging on to her for dear life, correct?" I asked, crossing and uncrossing my legs. Garrett nodded in response, unsure of what to say.

"What do I do then, Sav? You're a girl. And I can't ask Charlotte or anyone else because then they'll think I-" Garrett stopped short with what he was saying.

"They'll think you what?"

"Nothing. It... It's nothing." He flustered. "Anyway, uh, um. Yeah, I think we should get back to the house. I-it's dark out." He suddenly stammered. He wasn't talking like that before, was he? Definitely not, I was sure of it.

"It's been dark since we've gotten here, Gar. You're getting ridiculous." I laughed, getting up off my place on the slide. "But if you insist, Mr. It's-Too-Dark-Out, then let's go." I tugged on his arm, pulling him along with me to go back to his house.

We walked in total silence, and it was quiet enough on the street to be able to hear Garrett's breathing. I shivered, and of course it was the one thing that Garrett noticed while we were walking.

"You're cold," He stopped in the middle of the road, pressing his lips together to form a straight line.

"I'm not, Garrett." I protested, stopping just a few feet in front of him. Even though it was a bit chilly out, something a bit unusual for an Arizona night, I didn't want Garrett to do anything for me. "Come on, let's keep walking before they send out a search party for us or something." I started to slowly walk, hoping he would follow and drop the topic. But knowing Garrett, he was just as stubborn as I was, and rarely took 'no' as an answer from anyone.

"Take my jacket, Sav. I have long sleeves on." He argued back, giving me no choice but to take his blazer and pull it on. It was warm and smelled of his cologne, but not heavily, only slightly.

"Thanks." I managed to whisper. He gave me a sort of half smile as we continued to walk down the street and around the corner to his house. Just as we made it back, my mom was walking out of the front door of the Nickelsen's residence to my car.

"Nice to see you this evening, Garrett." My mom smiled at the two of us, her eyes flicking back between Garrett and I.

"You too, Mrs. Harrison." He smiled politely. "I better get going inside, I'll see you later, Sav." He turned and headed back inside to the house, knowing him to probably play Left 4 Dead with Trey. Which made me wonder where he was tonight, but I thought little of it- He was always with his girlfriend Amanda at a party on nights like these.

"So, Savannah," Mom said as soon as she got in the passengers seat. "You and Garrett now, hmm?"

I could have started to bang my head against the steering wheel, but thought against it. My mom almost always had to bring up the topic of Garrett and I being an "item" every time she had dinner with them. Tonight was one of the very rare occasions that she made me go with her, and I figured it was because Garrett was also being forced to go.

I let out a heavy sigh before speaking. We had stopped at a red light, giving me at least two minutes to respond.

"No, mom. Garrett and I aren't like that. We've only been over this how many times?" I glanced her quickly before turning my eyes back to the road. "Besides, he has a girlfriend."

I instantly took back saying that.

"Really? Do I know her? What's her name?" My mom loved to get to know people, or know more about them, at least. I left out another sigh, hitting the gas pedal to go forward.

"No, you don't know her. She's from out of town, over in Scottsdale. She's one of John's brother's friends and they met at a party. Her name is Marie." I did my best not to grimace or show disgust as I said her name.

"Ah, is she nice? Pretty? Athletic?" She pressed, eager to know more.

"None of us really like her... Charlotte called her a fat ass once," I laughed, remembering that day. "But she's... average, I guess."

"Nothing compared to you, Sav." Mom smiled. I rolled my eyes at her cheesy-ness.

"Oh gee, thanks mom." I kept driving, making all the right turns to get back to our house. I pulled into the driveway, got out and locked the car. I was already way ahead of my mom, unlocking the house and heading up the stairs. I checked the large clock on the wall in the second floor hallway before continuing up the stairs that led to my room.

I kicked off my shoes and unzipped the back of my skirt, changing into a pair of shorts and a cut up old t-shirt. I pulled my hair into a messy ponytail and sat down on my bed, taking my laptop off of my nightstand. I checked my email quickly, then logged off, shutting off the light as well. I had no intentions of going to bed late until I looked over at the clock. It read 1:57AM, had I really been at Garrett's that late?

I pulled the covers up to my chin, only knowing that they would be kicked off in the middle of the night due to the heat, and did my best to fall asleep.

&&

I woke up with my covers thrown off the side of my bed, and a tall lanky figure sitting at my desk.

"Holy shit! John! What the fuck are you doing here?" I shot up in bed, clutching my hand to my heart.

"What, not hello for me?" I looked to my right to see Charlotte sitting on the floor going through my vinyl collection.

"Oh my God, are you guys set on giving me a heart attack today?" I ran a hand through my hair in frustration.

"Chill, Sav. We're here to hang out. I called you earlier and your mom answered and said you weren't in the best mood last night, so we brought you some Chipolte." Charlotte smiled, pointing to the bag of delicious Mexican food sitting on my desk.

"How was your date with Gary?" John swooned, putting extra emphasis on the word "date." Charlotte threw the nearest object, my heels from last night, at his head. He ducked, the heel barely grazing the side of his head.

"You shut your mouth if you know what's good for you, O'Callaghan," Charlotte stated, preparing to throw the other shoe.

"Relax, relax, Charlotte. I was only kidding." John put his hands up in defense, backing into the corner of my desk. The whole ordeal seemed so surreal that I couldn't help but burst out laughing. Charlotte and John looked skeptically at me, then to each other.

Once I had stopped, Charlotte shook her head, laughing to herself while John sat with a bewildered look on his face.

"Was my almost near-death experience really that funny to you?" John pouted, crossing his lanky arms over his chest.

"Yes, John Cornelius. Yes it was." I said, regaining my composure at last.

"It's John Cornelius the Fifth to you, Savannah. Thank you very much," He corrected. Charlotte and I both simultaneously rolled our eyes. I took the bag of food from Chipotle and opened it, taking out its contents. A fajita burrito and a bottle of water, what I usually ordered whenever we went.

"So, today is a day to chill out. What do you want to do?" Charlotte asked, picking up the piece of chicken that fell from the burrito and popping it in her mouth.

"I dunno, chill out here for a bit? I have nothing else to do tonight," I said glancing at the clock. It was almost two thirty in the afternoon.

"Well I have band practice..." John trailed off.

"So now you leave, eh singer-boy?" Charlotte stuck out her tongue at John, while he just shrugged his shoulders.

"And there's a party at Kennedy's house tonight. You guys are coming, no exceptions." He said, making direct eye contact with me. I couldn't break it, no matter how hard I tried to.

"Fine," I said, putting down the burrito and crossing my arms loosely against my chest. "What time?"

"Any time you need to be there, love." John winked. Charlotte got up and shoved John partially down the stairs.

"You have practice, now out." She demanded. She sought him out the door and jumped back on to my bed. "So, what happened last night?" Charlotte asked, still picking at the meal that sat between us.

"My mom made me go out to dinner with the Nickelsens, Garrett was there, it wasn't awkward, and then we chilled at a playground." I said, mindlessly tracing patterns on to my bed spread.

"Come on, Sav. I know he talked to you about something. Pat wouldn't tell us either."

"You talked to Pat?" I arched an eyebrow. "He was up at this hour?"

"The kid knows more than you think, come to think of it." She laughed, throwing back her head. "He talked to Garrett about something important last night, and the only thing we know was that it had to do with you."

"He talked to me about... Marie." I cringed saying her name. Charlotte noticed and patted my shoulder.

"She'll be out soon. She's going on vacation to Cancun, I'm sure she's going to meet someone there, Sav. Someone like her isn't worth Garrett's time."

"Yeah, except she hurts him to no extent, and he just lets her walk all over him. It kills me to see that, you know?"

"Sounds to me like you really care about him." Charlotte crossing her legs to sit Indian-style.

"Yeah, as a friend," I said a bit hesitantly. Charlotte shot me a skeptical look, but dropped the subject.

"Alright, what are you going to wear tonight?" She asked after a few silent minutes, getting off my bed and heading over to the closet and opening up the doors.

"I guess a nice shirt and a pair of jeans?" I questioned.

"Wrong," She stated. "You're going to wear something that turns heads tonight." She started to go through my clothes, pulling out tops and skirts along with tossing a few pairs of shoes my way.

"Do I have a reason? Or choice for that matter?" I groaned, flopping back onto the bed.

"Yes, and no." Charlotte replied instantly. "Yes, because we're going to make every guy- and Garrett- at this party want you. And no, because I'm not giving you any other options unless if you want to sit home playing strip-poker with my brother and his friends." I laughed at the image of sitting at a table with Charlotte's 16 year old brother and his friends in their boxers.

"You are disgusting, Char." I managed to say.

"Hey, I try." She winked with a laugh. A sudden gasp was released from her lips as she pulled out a blue and gray frock. "This, why have I never seen this on you before?" She asked, holding it up to her.

I shrugged, not having a real excuse. It was one of the dresses that my father's current wife, Elise, had sent me. I tossed nearly half the clothes he sent me in my closet and dressed in whatever I had.

"My dad's wife sent it- I must have forgotten about it." I took the dress into my hands. The material was light, a bit silky.

"Well, tonight's your night to show it off then." She tossed a pair of heels and a leather jacket at me. I sighed, gathering the clothing articles into my arms then headed into my bathroom.

I dressed quickly, checking my phone for the time. It was almost eight now. How long had I been sitting there while Charlotte tore apart my closet.

I reappeared, my make up and hair done. I kept my hair down with my bangs tied off to the side in a small braid. My heels made me at least five inches taller, so instead of being my usual height of five-three, I was now five-eight.

Charlotte cat called, making me laugh. I tugged at the end, failing to make it longer.

"Stop doing that, you look fine," Charlotte protested, going through my closet and selecting something for her to wear. She decided on keeping her jeans on, seeing that we were at least two sizes in difference in bottoms. She picked out a cut-up Run DMC tank top I had made earlier on, a leopard print cardigan and changed out of her current Third Eye Blind shirt that she most likely borrowed from Kennedy.

"Let's go, the party's probably already thriving," She smiled.

"Who's car are we taking?" I asked, following her down the stairs as fast as my five-inch heels would let me.

"Who's do you think we are?"