La Vie En Rose

Kids In Love - Mayday Parade

“Oh my God, she’s doing the shimmy!” I heard Lola drastically cry. “GIGI NEVER DOES THE SHIMMY. Someone take that drink from her at once!”

“No way!” Halvo roared with laughter as he joined me in Kennedy’s living room area. The couches were pushed back, the coffee table was out of the way and silver and black streamers were hanging from the ceiling while Halvo, Kennedy, Jared and I danced along to ‘Lovestoned’ by Justin Timberlake blared loudly from the speakers.

“I LOVE DRUNK GIGI!” Kennedy yelled with laughter as I pulled at his hand and twirled him into my arms and sang obnoxiously along to the lyrics of the song.

Okay, so I may have had one two many coke & vodkas. But it was New Years Eve and it was the last night all of us will be together before Ross & Lola went back to school, the guys go on tour and I...go back to New York City. Kennedy decided to hold the little New Years Eve party at his house since his parents were going out for the evening. The party wasn’t too big; there were a few people I’ve never met but for the most part, the faces were familiar to me.

I noticed Lola’s horrified expression the minute I started doing the cabbage patch dance to a Ke$ha song. I was going to be embarrassed about this in the morning but for the moment, I was having the time of my life.

“Raising the roof, raising the roof!” Garrett exclaimed excitedly as he stood on the couch, lifting his arms above his head and thrusting them up and down.

“What a sight to behold.” John shook his head and laughed as he observed all of us with a beer in hand.

“Come on you!” I grinned, running over (as best as I could, anyways. It was quite a task trying to run in 5 inch Louboutin heels and being tipsy wasn’t helping.) to John and grabbing his hands. “Come dance with me!!”

“Oh no, no!” John shook his head, pulling away from me. “I don’t dance!”

“Come on, Shawty!” Garrett yelled, who was still jumping on the couch.

“Dear God.” Ross shook his head. “You’re all animals.”

After what felt like forever, I finally managed to convince John to dance with me. I couldn’t stop laughing as John started pulling out some moves. Limbs were flailing everywhere. He winked at me and pulled me into him after he finished making me laugh. He smiled down at me as he wrapped his arms around my waist. I giggled and carefully placed my hands on his cheeks. I didn’t care anymore that we were showing our affection for each other blatantly in front of everyone. Surprisingly enough, no one looked surprised or raised questions - maybe we weren’t as inconspicuous as we hoped.

As the night went on, I decided to stop drinking because after all, I did want to remember the night and not act like a hot mess. I was making my rounds with everyone at the party. I spent time with Garrett and Kennedy in the living room, held a funny conversation with Jared in the kitchen and I even introduced myself to Tim Kirch’s girlfriend and her friends. Alcohol was definitely a major factor in my sudden confidence (or maybe it was my hot ass heels, who knows?) but I was definitely enjoying myself.

It was around half eleven when John and I found each other. I was talking to Lola and Ross when I noticed John, who was standing with Jared and Pat on the other side of the room, smiling at me. When I smiled back at him, he put a hand on Jared’s shoulder, muttered an ‘excuse me’ and made his way towards me. I followed suit and met him halfway.

“Can I talk to you alone?” He asked, carefully reaching for my hand and lacing our fingers.

The butterflies erupted and I nodded quickly, letting a huge smile form on my lips as he led me into the hallway and past the kitchen (I noticed his little ex-gf throwing us a dirty look as we walked past her - I grinned back with triumph). He opened the door to the back porch with his free hand, making the cold, crisp hair hitting us instantly. Fortunately, no one was outside. I kicked the door closed and continued to follow John outside.

“Good Lord, it is freezing out.” I commented, hugging my torso. I was only wearing a classic, black blazer with a white tank top and blue skinny jeans and Arizona definitely had their cold nights. This was one of them. It almost felt like New York City weather. Almost..

“I can fix that.” John smirked, pulling me into his arms. I giggled as he wrapped his arms around my neck securely, lean his cheek on the side of my head. “I must warm up my little Gigi!”

It was definitely working too. I could feel my cheeks turn a warm, rosy color when he said ‘little Gigi’. It was a new nickname for me and every time he said it, I could feel the butterflies erupt and my cheeks burn with excitement. It was my favorite nickname by far. He made me feel like I was his and only his. I was his little Gigi. It was a riveting feeling.

I pulled away from John slightly and placed a small, innocent kiss on his cheek before letting him go completely and walking around him. “So, a new year. You ready for it?”

I surveyed Kennedy’s backyard as I stepped down the to concrete stairs. The steps led to the pool area, where there were several empty sun chairs with a tall, wide umbrella towering over them. My heels clicked against the pavement as I walked up to the pool area. I looked behind me to see John following me with an amused expression.

“I’m never ready for a new year.” John answered honestly as he slowly followed me. I turned around and gave him a smile. His outfit was a lot more sophisticated than usual. Instead of the usual v-neck and American Apparel hoodie, he was wearing a button down shirt with a black tie and his leather jacket. He was even wearing black dress shoes to match. As a Fashion major and an aspiring fashion design, you could guess that my nerve endings were positively tingling with delight.

I put my hands behind my back and knotted my hands tightly together as I slowly followed the lining of the pool. “I agree. I’m never ready for the present year to be over. It always goes by so quickly.”

I looked back at John for a response. Instead, he stood at the corner of the pool with his hands in his jacket pockets and a despondent look on his face. I frowned at his sudden sober expression. I turned around and asked. “What did you want to talk about?”

“It’s...” He paused and slowly walked over to me. “It’s just...I’m going to miss you when you go back to New York. You’re leaving in a couple of days and I was thinking about how awful it’s going to be when you leave.”

I knew this conversation was going to come sooner or later. I was just dreading it. I didn’t like thinking about it and I surely didn’t want John thinking about it.

John was close enough to touch so I reached out and held both of his hands before responding. “I’m going to miss you too, John. Ugh, I was really dreading this conversation. I hate talking about goodbyes...or actually saying them when the time comes.”

He sighed and shook his head. “I couldn’t sleep last night because I kept thinking about it.”

“Awe, John.” I cooed, swinging our hands back and forth. I bit my lip trying to continue the wide smile that was appearing on my face. The thought of him having sleepless nights over me was making me giddy.

He let out a small chuckle before sobering up again and speaking. “Gigi, last night I realized how much you mean to me. I care about you so much and I’ve decided....well I’ve decided that I don’t want to lose you.”

“John-” I started but he cut me off.

“Sshh!” He silenced me. “Let me finish. I know you and I...we’re both going to be really busy in the coming months- I get that completely. But I can’t bare the thought of not having you as my own. You’re my little Gigi! I want you to be my girlfriend. Officially.”
I couldn’t believe the sound that came out of my mouth after he said that. I’m surprised it didn’t scare John off.

I squealed.

I actually squealed. That was definitely the influence of all the alcohol I drank earlier.

I wrapped my arms around John’s neck and I even kicked my left foot up behind me as I exclaimed excitedly. “Of COURSE I’ll be your girlfriend!”

He laughed at my reaction. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

I smiled and gave him a small peck on the lips before added. “Do you think we have what it takes to be in a long-distance relationship?”

John lifted his hand to my forehead and lightly pushed my bangs to the side before responding. “It’s going to be hard work but I think we can do it. I’ll be in New York City in March for a couple of days so we’ll only be apart for a couple of months. I promise they’ll fly by.”

“I hope so.” I replied. “I’m going to miss you.”

“I’m going to miss my little Gigi more than a fat kid on an Atkins diet misses cake.” He responded.

Before I could respond, the backdoor of the house swung open and revealed a panic-stricken Lola. “There you guys are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you. The countdown starts in two minutes, get your asses in here!”

“I can’t believe this day has finally come.” Lola whined as she sat cross-legged on my bed. Cole was next to her, his little curly head leaning against her shoulder. He nodded slowly in agreement.

It was my last day in Arizona. I’ve spent most of the morning with my family, eating the large breakfast Tim prepared for my departure. I tried ignoring the feeling of nausea at the pit of my stomach as the hours past and it started getting closer to the time I was going to leave for the airport. I didn’t have to be at the airport until two pm since my flight wasn’t leaving until half four.

The past couple of days have been hard. John and I tried spending time together as much as we could. We were basically glued at the hip. I didn’t want to let him out of my sight! We tried squeezing in so many last-minute activities in the limited amount of days, I was left positively exhausted. We went to the movies, went on dinner dates (one of those being at Dennys at three in the morning. Pancakes, milk and the soft tune of Maroon 5 - I was in heaven.), cuddled in John’s bed while watching movies on his laptop and we even went miniature golfing (watching John try to get the ball into a hole is possibly the funniest thing I have ever witnessed in my life. He almost took out an old granny with his club by the 8th hole.). Both of us knew that doing all these cute, couple-y things before I left was going to make it that much harder to say goodbye. Luckily, my mom agreed to letting John drive me to the airport. It took a lot of persuading but she understood where I was coming from. “Young love.” She sighed drastically after I talked to her. “Just no making babies until you’re at LEAST past 25 years old.”

“Do you think you’ll cry when you say goodbye to John?” Lola asked as she watched me stuff my folded t-shirts into my suitcase.

I stopped packing for a second and shrugged. “I don’t know. I hope not. I’m an absolute mess when it comes to crying.”

“You should take my waterproof mascara.” Lola stated. “Just in case.”

“You’re a lifesaver.” I responded with a smile. I closed the lid of my suitcase and zipped it up. “I think...I’m done.”

Cole frowned again. “Will you be home soon, big sissy?”

I reached over and ruffled his hair. “As soon as possible! I’ll be coming home for the wedding remember?”

“John’s waiting outside.” Tim stuck his head in my room. “Need any help with your luggage?”

I shook my head. “I got it, thanks Tim!”

Who Am I To Say - Hope

Saying goodbye to my family was the worst. I hated goodbyes, especially with my sister. She was always the emotional one. Lola stood up and hugged me tightly before grabbing one of my bags and helping me bring them downstairs. John, Tim and my mother were already standing by the front door, having a light conversation about the weather today. When they heard us coming down the stairs, John looked up at me and gave me a smile. The nausea instantly kicked in again the minute I looked at him. I tried hiding it by giving him a small smile in return.

While Lola and John put my bags in his car, I said my goodbyes to my mom, Cole and Tim in the hallway. We kept the goodbyes short and sweet, with the ‘I’ll call once I’ve landed’ at the end.

When Lola came back inside, she gave me a huge smirk. I raised my eyebrow at her with confusion. Before I could ask, she spoke. “You’re going to die when you go outside.”

“Die?” I asked, following her out the door. “Why would I di-”

When Lola initially said this, I assumed maybe she was talking about the coldness in the air or maybe something went terribly wrong with John’s car and he just found out his tire was flat but what I saw standing on my driveway was far from terrible.

Kennedy, Garrett, Jared, Pat, Halvo, Tim and Ross were standing by John’s parked car with huge grins on their faces when they saw me.

“What-” I looked at them in shock. “What are you guys doing here!?”

“You didn’t think you’d escape us that easily, did you?” Garrett rolled his eyes.

“Yeah!” Kennedy piped up. “You’re not leaving us without a proper goodbye!”

I grinned at them before running up to all of them and giving them hugs. It wasn’t until right there and then did I realize I was blessed to have made such good friends in the past month and a half. I also realized I was going to miss all of them very much.

“If I don’t get my daily call from you, G,” Garrett warned me. “consider yourself blacklisted. Or worse, shunned.”

“Garrett, that’s a terrible thing to say!” Jared punched him in the arm before he turned to me. “Have a safe flight, Gigi. It’s definitely going to be weird not having you around anymore.”

“For real, bro.” Halvo added. “Who’s going to help me pick out snazzy outfits on urbanoutfitters.com now that you’re leaving!?”

I laughed at Halvo. “I think I’ve taught you well, Halvo. I have faith in you to make the right choices in what shirts to buy.”

“I miss you already.” Kennedy pouted, hugging me again. “I’ll miss sharing a bed with you in Cali especially that one night when your hand started roaming around-John, sit down, you know I’m kidding!”

I laughed loudly at John’s shocked expression before punching Kennedy in the shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll facebook you, alright?”

Once the goodbyes were over, I grudgingly gave them all one last wave before getting into John’s car. All the guys and my family stood in the driveway, watching John and I reverse out of the driveway; I gave them a sad smile as they all waved back. I couldn’t help but feel emotional. Just seeing all the guys together, my mom being happy with Tim and Ross having his arm around my sister who was already crying made me want to stay longer. I tried to keep my pokerface as long as I could while we drove out of the neighborhood. However, the minute we past Starbucks, I could feel my eyes watering. I was already homesick.

“You okay, babe?” John asked.

I sniffed in response.

He gave me a sympathetic look before saying. “Come here.”

I took my seatbelt off and scooted over to him, letting him put his arm around me tightly as he drove carefully with his other hand. I felt him kiss the top of my head as I rested my head against his chest. We sat in a comfortable silence as we drove to the airport. I just tried to enjoy the little time we had together while I had the chance.

Baggage check in went by a lot faster than expected. John parked the car so he could stay with me until I left for my gate. Unfortunately, there was no line so it took only ten minutes to get my boarding pass and the bags checked in.

The time to say goodbye to John was drawing near. My cheeks were practically numb at this point. I don’t think I was ready to say goodbye to him. I held onto his hand tightly as we slowly made our way to the security area.

“I don’t think I can go past this point.” John said softly, studying the large metal equipment and people dressed in security uniforms.

“Oh.” I replied lamely. “I guess you’re right.”

John let out a soft chuckle and rolled his eyes at me. “Come on, Gigi, it’s not the end of the world! I can’t stand to see you so upset. I’ll be seeing you in 3 months!”

I looked down at my pink ballet flats and shrugged. “Three months sound painfully long to me.”

“My little Gigi.” John lifted my chin with his finger before tickling it. This made me chuckle and shrug away from him. “There it is, there’s that smile I love so much.”

“Clever.” I grinned up at him. “Promise we’ll talk every day?”

“Only if you promise me we’ll skype every other day?” He responded.

“Deal.” I replied before resting my elbows on his shoulders. I playfully twirled his short, brown hair, between my fingers. I learned recently, that he loved when I did this. “I’m going to miss you, John O’Callaghan.”

“Not as much as I’ll miss you, Gigi King.” He smiled back. “Now, give me that kiss that I’ve been waiting for all day.”

I let another giggle slip before I stood on the very tips of my toes and kissed him. He carefully placed a hand on my back to keep me steady. It was an innocent, yet zealous kiss. When we broke apart, he planted another kiss on my forehead.

“This isn’t a goodbye, by the way.” He stated. “It’s more like a ‘See you later’”

“Like a ‘Talk to you a later’?”

“Kinda like a ‘be right back’”

I laughed and nodded in agreement. “Alright well, be right back, John.”

“Looking forward to it.” He winked before leaning down and giving me one more kiss and finally, letting me go.

It was the worst feeling, walking away from John and knowing it was the last time I would see him for a while. I swallowed my sorrows and walked over to the security area where, surprisingly, there were zero lines. I kept looking back at John, who waited patiently until I got to the other side. Once I went through the metal-detector and put my tote through the x-ray, I was through. I turned around and gave John one last shy wave before grudgingly walking to my gate.

As I walked past the DutyFree area, I felt my BlackBerry buzz in my pocket. I pulled out my phone and read the recent text.

From: John

I miss you terribly already.

The tears filled my eyes instantly.