She's so Bright

I slammed shut the door of my beat-up, outdated green Jeep Wrangler angrily. Goddamned traffic, goddamned crazy drivers, goddamned driving. Honestly, I almost crashed twice on the short drive from my house to Garrett's, which was about only ten or so blocks away. Now, neither of these two incidents were my fault, I’ll have you know. The first one, some idiot decided a stop sign was merely a suggestion and not a law and went right through it. The second one, some dim-witted girl was chatting away on her cell phone while digging through her purse and nearly hit me straight on. Seriously, there are some people that should never be allowed to possess a license, no matter how many times they take the test.

I was half-way up the Nickelsen’s driveway when I realized I had forgotten my Block Buster bag in the car. Letting out a loud curse word, as if I wasn't already pissed enough, I jogged back to my Jeep, snatched the movies out of the front seat, and walked back up to the house again.

I walked right into Garrett's house. There was no need to knock seeing as this was nearly my second home since I met Garrett back in high school.

I made my way through the large, nicely decorated house to Garrett's bedroom. When I reached Garrett's room I did knock, because only God knows what he was doing behind that closed door.

He responded with a simple “come in” and I did so.

I walked into the room digging through the bag of movies, “I got Shaun of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Quarantine, and 28 Days Later. All the zombie classic for you, my zombie-obsessed buddy. And I’m assuming you will be providing the junk food, since I provided the shitty movies.” I looked up and nearly froze in my tracks.

There was a girl, beautiful as hell, sitting Indian style on Garrett's bed, looking truly shocked as she peeped out at me from behind the most stunning pair of moss green eyes I’d ever seen.

I’d never seen this girl before in my life. I know I would have never forgotten a face that gorgeous.

As I studied her a little more, I noticed she, in some ways, resembled Garrett. Only a little bit, though. Perhaps they were related in some way.

“Who’re you?” I questioned, setting my bag down on Garrett's untidy bed. Manners obviously weren’t my priority.

The brunette, panic written all over her pretty porcelain face, turned the deepest shade of red, wrapped her arms around her skinny frame, and looked as though she’d wish the comforter she was sitting on would swallow her whole.

“Oh, shit,” Garrett expressed, standing up from his computer chair. “John, this is my cousin, Ellarie—the newest residence of the Nickelsen household.”

“Your cousin? ” I questioned, confused. He’d never mentioned any cousin to me. Nor did he ever mention said cousin was to be moving in with his family. “I didn't know you had a cousin....”

“Sure I do.” He covered. “I have lots of cousins. Pretty much everyone does.”

“I mean, I know you have cousins. You’ve told me as much,” I corrected myself. “I meant that you never told me about this specific cousin moving into your house.”

“Dude, I’m pretty sure I did,” he chuckled halfheartedly, trying to dismiss my statement. He walked over to Ellarie who was still trying to ignore my presence and whispered something in her ear. She nodded her head and whispered something back. “El wants to know if she can watch Shaun of the Dead with us, if that’s okay with you?”

Couldn't she just ask me herself? Of course, I wasn’t going to be a dick and say that out loud. “Um, y-yeah. That’s fine with me.”

Garrett gave Ellarie’s shoulder a tender squeeze and smiled at her. “It’s one of her favorite movies. Right, El?”

Ellarie, still looking down, nodded her head and picked at the sleeves of her sweater.

“Cool,” I said, wondering what was up with Ellarie’s silence. I was considerate enough to understand how people could be shy, but she took shyness to a whole new level. “Mine too. Although, I'm not the biggest fan of zombie movies. I’d just say it’s the least shitty out of all the options. I just agreed to watch these with Gare because I'm a great friend.”

“A ‘great friend’. Sure. Let’s go with that,” Garrett sneered as he took Shaun of the Dead out of the bag and popped it into the DVD player.

“I am totally a great friend,” I shot back. “You’re the one who’s not. Obviously. Since you're so rude.”

“At least I'm not a pussy like you and have to cover my eyes every time something starts to get bloody,” he retorted. I sat down on the floor at the end of his bed. I normally would have sat on his bed, but with Ellarie there, I decided it wasn't a good idea. She still hadn't said one word and she hadn't even so much as stolen a glance at me. It was unusual to say the least. Women had trouble not looking at me. I was quite the handsome fellow.

“There is nothing wrong with not liking blood,” I defended. “Or not wanting to see someone get their brains sucked out, or whatever. That shit’s just gross.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

The movie began and the end credits were rolling before I realized it. I hadn’t paid all that much attention to the movie because my mind was too consumed with thoughts of Ellarie.

Why was she so quiet? Why couldn't she talk for herself? Why hadn't I met her before? Why hadn't Garrett even mentioned her before? Or mention that she was moving in with his family? Garrett was an open book and I thought I knew everything there was to know about him.

There was just something about her, something that captured me, something that made me want more of her. A lot more.