Sparked Up

It was already really late so Gio decided just to have all the guys to spend the night. They were all going to sleep in their boxers so it wasn’t too difficult to find things for them to wear to sleep. She had a bunch of extra tooth brushes so they were ready for the morning too. The entire night everyone kept on wondering where Gio and Alex went but they didn’t dare to ask because it seemed too personal. They also wondered how she was able to afford this house; they knew that teachers could never afford one this huge and even with a roommate it would be difficult to pay for it. Right now they were all sitting at the kitchen island eating their food and talking about their weekend plans.

“I know this isn’t an appropriate question but how do you afford this place? I’m in a semi – famous band and I can’t even afford something this amazing,” Johnson asked admiring the designs of the house. The group turned to her for the answer. Alex looked skeptically about her answering; but she did it nonetheless. She felt like they were good enough friends that they wouldn’t exploit her and take advantage.

“Well my teaching job pays well enough; but I still get help from my parents. My mom’s a doctor and owns her own private practice and my dad is a lawyer that works at this high-end law firm,” she explained. That was a good enough explanation for them; they knew how it felt when people became friends with them only for the fame and money so they didn’t both asking more questions. The guys weren’t really tired because they were still on their time zone so they decided to play apples to apples to pass the time. They moved to the living room to start the game.

Alex and Gio sat on the loveseat, Marshall and Singer on the L couch and Johnson on the floor. Today really exhausted Gio so she was curled up on the sofa with a blanket covering her. They voted that Apples to Apples would be too loud of a game; so they decided a simple game of poker. This was a chance for Alex to really get to know the guys. When Alex first became friends with Gio he had to pass Kyle’s test first; Kyle had to see if he was a good enough person to be worthy of Gio’s friendship. Kyle was always there for Gio, so when Alex first approached her when she was in 6th and he was in 8th grade Kyle immediately turned bodyguard mode. It didn’t matter that Alex was 2 years older than Kyle; he was afraid of the wrath that would come upon him if he ever hurt Gio in any way.

Kyle became even more protective of her when high school started; that’s when all the guys started hitting on her. There was a month where Kyle got really sick and had to stay in the hospital and leave Gio by herself at school. Granted she had other friends but Kyle worried that there would be no one to protect her from the sleazebags of their school. When they came to visit him, Kyle asked Gio to leave the room so he could talk to Alex alone. That’s when he made Alex promise to keep an eye on her while he was gone; but Alex took an even greater oath and promised to look after her until the day he died. Alex couldn’t believe and understand how strong their bond was until Kyle asked him that favor.

Ever since Kyle’s death; Alex made it a goal to keep Gio happy and so far it hasn’t been very difficult except for the months following his death. He tried to be subtle about the questions he asked, but it became very obvious to the boys what he was doing; but they answered each and every one. Singer felt that since Alex was getting all this information then he should be able to get the one piece of info that all of them desperately wanted.

“It’s time for me to ask a question,” Singer said. Everyone knew what the question was going to be but still waited until he actually asked it. “Who is Kyle and don’t say that he used to be Gio’s best friend ‘cause we already know that.”

“I don’t think it’s my place to tell you,” if looks could kill he’d be dead right now. “Fine, I’ll tell you my past with him but I won’t tell you her relationship with him. When I was in 8th grade I met Gio and wanted to be her friend. Kyle was her protector one could say; so when I went to approach her, Kyle stopped me and interviewed me to be her friend. Surprisingly I passed and from then on we all became best friends. Kyle was seriously such a cool dude; I’m not saying this just to say it, but he was the most sincere guy that anyone will ever meet. Last year he was coming home from college, he was studying to be a doctor, and got into a car crash. Some stupid idiot decided he wanted to be cool and race and used one of those traffic jammers. While he was in the middle of the intersection the car slammed into him so bad that his car wouldn’t stop flipping for god knows how long. He was dead by the time that paramedics even reached the car. That’s all I’m going to say about this.” Alex concluded.

“Okay one last question then we promise never to bring him up ever again. Where did you guys go tonight?” Joey asked.

“To his grave. It’s been a while since we’ve been there and Gio felt obligated because you guys brought her up,” Alex sighed. The guys all took in what he said and just thought things over. They were still curious about their relationship but let it be for now. By now they were all tired so they retired to their rooms for the night. Singer was going to share with Marshall, Johnson with Joey and Alex with Gio. Marshall and Joey didn’t like the fact that Alex and Gio were going to share a bed but thought better of it; he knew they were just friends.

That night Gio dreamt of one of her favorite moments ever with Kyle. It was a weekend trip with a bunch of the seniors at their school. There was a huge bonfire going on at the beach but Kyle wanted to take a walk with Gio instead; before they left he grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around the both of them. It was one of those movie nights where the stars shined bright and the moon was high in the sky. They walked a little distance until they reached a dead bonfire. The fire was already out from the water but you could still see the embers of the wood burning. The silence filled the air as they looked out into the ocean.

“I love you, you know that right?” Gio asked turning to him.

“Of course I do, I love you too. I feel like I don’t say it enough,” he pecked her hair.

“I like that we don’t say it so often; I mean the word ‘love’ gets tossed around so much these days that it no longer holds the same intensity that it once did. Plus your everyday actions show that you mean it,” Gio said.

“Same here; I especially like how you always leave out bell peppers when you make pizza because you know I hate them, but you love them,” that little comment began a domino effect. For the next hour they told each other all the small things that the other did for them that they loved. The night ended with the two of them snuggling in the backseat of the car on their way home.

Gio woke up to her alarm; which meant it was time to pick her brother up from the airport. At the airport they screamed like little kids upon seeing each other. They gossiped like old ladies in the car. Instead of dropping him off at their parents’ house, he wanted to go to her house first to see all of her new friends. Not to mention that their parents were probably still asleep. When they finally got back to her house it was only 8:00 and everyone was still asleep.

“You hungry? I can make some breakfast,” Gio said. He nodded and set the table for the large mass of people sure to wake up at the smell of Gio’s breakfast. He was done fairly quick so he made some waffles and cut up some fruit. Sure enough as they were finishing, everyone was walked into the kitchen. Not much later Keenan and Annie walked in through the front door.

“I knew it was a good idea to come home,” Keenan said grabbing a plate and planting a kiss on Gio’s cheek.

“Thank you Gio; I honestly don’t know how you do this. Every time I cook for him he has to find some fault to it. He’s the pickiest eater I know, but he absolutely loves anything you cook,” Annie said grabbing her own plate and sitting down next to her boyfriend. She laughed and passed out the food to the rest of the guests. Eventually everyone was served and they all either stood or sat as they ate. All that was heard was the silverware against the plates until Sam spoke up.

“I’m Sam, Gio’s brother. I thought I could introduce myself since Gio so rudely forgot about me. It’s kind of weird to be eating breakfast with a bunch of people that I don’t know.” Gio rolled her eyes and introduced everyone. Once Gio was finished with breakfast she went upstairs to take a shower then returned downstairs to find everyone in the living room talking.

She pulled Sam away from her friends after much protest and made Alex entertain them while they spent some time with their family. Today was meant for just her family; it’s been so long since it was just the four of them. While they did that the members of the remaining group were left utterly bored; because let’s face it, Alex couldn’t entertain a large mass of people for anything. Luckily Keenan stepped up and suggested that they went paintballing. The group eagerly jumped at the offer; Annie didn’t exactly want to be a part of it so she decided to go have a girl day with Alex’s girlfriend Megan.

They finally got to the place and suited up; it was packed considering that it was a Saturday afternoon but it made things better. With more people; the easier it was to try to distract your enemy. The teams went like this: Singer, Marshall, and Alex on team 1; Johnson, Joey and Keenan on the other. Trash talk was thrown around almost as much as the paintballs were. Let’s just say by the end of the day Singer, Marshall and Alex were limping from the multiple bruises on their bodies and Johnson, Joey and Keenan were singing their own rendition of We Are The Champions.

When they all got cleaned up they went back to the house where they ordered pizza and played call of duty for the remainder of the night. Johnson and Singer were ready to head back to Alex’s place and crash but Alex wanted to wait until Gio got home safely. She finally returned at 9:00 p.m. and said a goodnight to everyone before going into her room. Marshall and Joey were a little disappointed that she wasn’t going to stay out there and hang out with them; the whole point of them coming out for the weekend was to see her. It was quite obvious to Keenan that their feelings towards Gio were a little stronger than those compared to Singer or Johnson.

“I’m going to ask you guys a question. Do you like my Gio as more than just a friend?” he asked. Both of them gave a small shake of the head to say no but it was apparent they were lying, but Keenan didn’t say anything further. He let out a heavy sigh before Gio came downstairs with her hair wet wearing a tank top and very short pj bottoms. She plopped down next to Keenan on the couch and lifted her legs onto his lap. He took that as her asking her for a foot massage; he groaned acting like it was such a hardship but did it nonetheless. Although they’ve only known each other for a few weeks and lived together for one they were weirdly in-sync.

“Let’s do something boys; you’re only here for 2 more days and I wasted one already,” she said smiling brightly at the boys.