Life Isn't All That Bad

Garrett couldn't help the smile that spread across his face when Beau said she'd come to band practice. The fact that she cared, and want to hear his music practically made his heart skip a beat. But his smile started to fade- she was just being a good friend. Friend, because that's all they are. But that was fine, right? It wasn't like Garrett had feelings for her... Although he was started to doubt that thought.

The next day, he changed into a pair of ripped up jeans, and his Killer Clowns From Outer Space shirt, before going to pick Beau up for practice. His mother's old friends from college were visiting, so practice was moved from his house to John's house. Garrett wasn't exactly thrilled about that. John's flirting with Beau wasn't exactly subtle. He always had a stupid pet name for her, and would ignore how embarrassed he made her. Garrett tried not to care. John flirted with girls all the time, and him and Beau were just friends.

He knocked on her front door, messing up his hair as he waited for her. The door swung open, and his eyes went wide. She looked gorgeous- more so than usual. "H-hi, Beau... You look really nice," he said, instantly regretting it. Nice? That was all he could say? Nice hardly suited her. He should have said beautiful, gorgeous, perfect.... Something better than nice.

But she smiled nonetheless, her cheeks growing pink. "Thanks, so do you," she said with her cute stutter. Garrett tried to push all the thoughts of how cute she was out of his head. Just friends! He reminded himself.

"So are you excited to hear The Maine?" He asked, opening the door of his yellow car for her.

She smiled and nodded as she got in the car. "Very excited."

Garrett closed the door for her, before going around to the driver's side. The start of the car ride was mostly quiet, minus the music playing through the speakers. Finally, she broke the silence. "So, um, where are we going? I thought rehearsals were at your house?"

He glanced away from the road and noticed the confused look on her face. "We usually have rehearsal at my house, but my parents have friends visiting, so we have to have it at John's house," he explained to her. Her confusion faded, but she began to shift around in her seat, obviously unhappy at the thought of going to John's house. It was rare to see a girl dislike John so much, they were usually all over him.

When the pulled into John's driveway, Garrett's phone started buzzing in his pocket. It was from Pat. My mom needs the car. Can you come get me for practice?

"Shit. I gotta pick up Pat. Can you go in and tell the guys that we're gonna be a little late?" He said, shoving his phone back in his pocket. He looked over for Beau response, noticing the way she bit her lip nervously.

"Y-you mean go in... by myself?" She asked, a terrified look on her face. This surprised Garrett. He knew that she felt uncomfortable around the guys- she seemed uncomfortable around anyone, really. But after spending most of the week together, he figured she'd have no problem with that.

"It's just the guys. They don’t bite or anything. You know that," Garrett said, trying to calm her nerves.

She just shrugged, biting down even harder on her lower lip. "Okay... I guess you're right," she decided, getting out of the car. Before she walked away, she turned back, leaning against the door. "I'll see you in a little bit?"

Garrett nodded. "Of course," he smiled when he saw the smile spread across her face. Garrett drove off, making his way to Pat's house. Once he got the long haired boy in his car, he regretted it. Pat was overflowing with energy, and would not stop talking. He ignored most of what Pat was saying, knowing that it was all rambles. Until he said something that really caught his attention.

"So I think Johno's going to ask Beau on a date. I think he likes that fact that she's playing hard to get or something. And he just isn't taking no for an answer," Pat said, before starting to ramble about some other topic.

"Wait, John is going to do what?" Garrett asked, clearly aggravated.

Pat stared at him in surprise. "Are you.... Jealous? You're jealous of John, aren't you?" Pat exclaimed, grinning like a child.

"I'm not jealous!" Garrett shouted, even though it was a lie. Garrett was extremely jealous, even though he knew he shouldn't be. They were just friends, after all. "But he just... She doesn't even like him, why would he ask her out?"

Pat rolled his eyes, obviously not believing Garrett. "I don't know, because he's John and that's what he does. Apparently he even kissed her at that party," he said as they pulled into John's driveway.

"He what?" Garrett yelled, his jealousy growing even more.

"Yeah, there was some guy that kept hitting on Beau, and so John lied that they were dating so he'd go away, but the guy didn't believe him. So John kissed her to prove it. You've been hanging out with her all week and she didn't tell you that?"

"No, she didn't tell me that," he said through gritted teeth. He knew he had no right to be jealous. Beau was just a friend, that was all. But that wasn't all. She was the perfect girl. She was everything Garrett wanted, and he liked her. He like-liked her. John just wanted her because he couldn't have her.

The two headed inside, discovering that the house was oddly quite. Pat went down to the basement first, letting out a girlish scream. "What is going on down here?" He shouted in his Rat Boy voice.

Garrett hurried down the stairs, only to see John standing away from Beau, who was sitting on the piano bench, her cheeks bright red. He gave her an odd look, as if to ask 'What happened?' but she just blushed even more before looking down at her feet.

Jared and Kennedy arrived shortly after that, with bags of food. Practice finally started up, and Garrett tried to stay focused. But when he looked up and saw the flirty looks that John was giving Beau, his jealousy returned instantly.

He really liked Beau, and he was not about to lose her to John.