Love Is Hell

I woke up to the beeping of the alarm clock.

I heard a groan and then movement. The alarm clock stopped abruptly. I kept my eyes closed and sighed sleepily, turning on my side, not ready to wake up yet.

There was a click and the darkness behind my eyelids became lighter. I closed my eyes tighter and snuggled into the soft blankets. I sighed contently and was ready to fall back asleep when I became very confused.

I opened my eyes. I looked around the room, confused at first as to where I was. I spotted my bags in the corner and then everything came flooding back to me. I was at Garrett’s. I relaxed and closed my eyes again, but then remembered something else.

I fell asleep on the floor. The floor was not soft and comfortable.

I opened my eyes again. I was on the bed. I sat up in confusion and looked around. Garrett wasn’t in the room, but his bathroom door was closed. I didn’t remember ever climbing into the bed in the middle of the night. I looked down on the floor; the sleeping bag was rolled up.

I looked over at the nightstand. The clock read 5:00 AM. I then remembered that Garrett was going to be leaving for tour at six. I yawned and tried to rub the sleep from my eyes.

The bathroom door opened and Garrett came bustling out. He was already dressed, wearing black skinny jeans and a plaid button up shirt. His hair was messier than ever, but at the same time it looked good and suited him. He was texting on his phone as he threw his pajamas on the floor. He then looked up and noticed me sitting up.

“Oh, hey, I was just about to wake you up.” He said as he walked over towards his bedroom door. He turned on the light switch next to the door, the room becoming brighter.

I winced, my eyes not adjusted to the bright light yet. I looked down and blinked a few times.

“So, how did I end up on the bed?” I asked, looking up at him.

He smirked, “Let’ just say, you were a lot heavier than I thought you'd be.” He chuckled.

My stomach twisted and I instantly felt sick. I looked down at my arms, and frowned, were they always that fat looking? I swallowed and crossed my arms, trying to hide them.

He must have noticed my face because he stopped laughing, “Hey, I was kidding.”

I nodded and stood up, trying to convince myself that he was kidding. When my mother said stuff like that she was never kidding.

Garrett walked over to the middle of the room where his bags were. “I’m going to bring my stuff downstairs. You can use my bathroom to change.” He said as he grabbed one of his bags and a guitar case.

I said ok and he walked out of the room. I walked over to my bags and started rummaging through them for clothes. After picking some clothes out, I grabbed my toiletries bag and walked into the bathroom. I quickly got changed, pulling on my black skinny jeans, white tank top and then a grey sweatshirt with a zebra on. I quickly did my makeup and brushed my hair and teeth. My hair was still a wavy mess after brushing it a few times, so I gave up.

When I was finally finished, I walked back out into the empty bedroom. I put my clothes in my bag and then moved them by the door. I wasn’t sure if I should go down or not yet, so I just placed them by the bedroom door. I searched through my Boho bag, feeling around for my phone. I found it and pulled it out.

I turned it on. I didn’t have any new text messages or missed calls. My parents must have not noticed I was gone yet. Typical.

I sighed and dropped the phone back in my bag. As I stood up, Garrett walked back in the room.

He smirked, “Nice sweatshirt.”

I frowned, “What? I like it… and zebras.”

He shook his head, “No, I wasn’t making fun of it, I like it.”

I rolled my eyes, not believing him.

“Are you ready?” he asked as he picked up two of my bags.

I nodded and picked up my other bags. He looked around his room once more before turning the light off. Everything became pitch black because the hallway light wasn’t on.

“Come on.” He said.

“I can’t see anything!” I whispered back.

I heard him sigh. I then felt a hand grab my wrist and lead me down the hall. We slowly walked down the stairs, it becoming brighter because of the sunrise that was peeking through the windows. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, he let go of my wrist and I followed him to where ever he was going. We walked by the front door, putting my bags down near his. We then walked to his kitchen.

He turned the light on and walked over to the refrigerator. I walked over to the island in the middle of the kitchen and sat down on one of the stools. I looked over at the oven clock. It was already 5:30.

“Aren’t your parents going to say goodbye?” I asked.

“Already said goodbye to them yesterday,” he replied. He turned around and held up a water bottle, offering it to me. I nodded and he tossed it to me before grabbing one for himself and closing the refrigerator door. “I also quickly said goodbye to them and my brother when I woke up.”

I nodded and opened my water, taking a sip.

“So,” he said as he sat down next across from me, “Did you figure out where you’re going to go?” he asked.

I bit my lip. I had no idea where I was going to go. I definitely wasn’t going back home, but I didn’t know where else to go. Maybe I could spend a few days at Amy’s, but her parents would definitely tell mine that I was there. I didn’t have any other friends or family to go to either.

“Lorraine?”

I looked up at him, “Oh um, I was thinking of playing it by ear I guess…” I replied.

He looked at me skeptically, “So basically you have no idea?”

“Yeah basically.” I replied.

He sighed, “Why can’t you just go back home?” he asked.

I shook my head, “No. I can’t. I honestly can’t stand being near my mother anymore,” I explained.

Garrett nodded and gave me a sympathetic look.

It was quiet for a few minutes. We just sat there in silence. I then heard him exhale loudly. I looked up at him and he was looking at me. He opened his mouth, ready to say something when the doorbell rang. He looked over at the clock, it was 5:50.

He sighed and got up, “That would be the guys.”

I got up also and followed him to the front door. I awkwardly stood to the side as he opened the door.

“You dumbasses, I told you not to ring the doorbell. My parents and Trey are sleeping.” He said as he stood aside, letting five guys walk inside.

“Yeah well we tried knocking, but you wouldn’t answer the fucking door,” one of them replied.

Garrett rolled his eyes. His eyes then landed on me, which of course made the rest of the guys notice me. If I didn’t feel awkward before, then I was definitely feeling awkward now.

“Whoa Gary, who’s this fine young lady?” the tallest one asked. He smirked down at me.

“Lorraine?”

I turned away from the tallest guy and looked to his right.

He looked the same, cute and friendly, with a smile on his face. “What are you doing here?”

Garrett looked between us, confused. “Wait, you two know each other?” He asked.

Kennedy nodded, “Yeah, she spilled my drink at the party.” He said smiling at me.

I chuckled, “Again, sorry about that.”

He just shrugged and smiled. The rest of the guys looked back and forth between us. Then the red head snapped his fingers, “Wait, you’re Lorraine Andrews!” He exclaimed.

There were choruses of “oh yeah’s” and “I knew she looked familiar!”

“Wait, why is Lorraine Andrews at your house… at six in the morning?” the tall and lanky guy asked, smirking. He looked over at Garrett and wiggled his eyebrows.

The red head elbowed him in the ribs causing him to yelp out in pain.

Garrett sighed and rolled his eyes, turning towards me, “Lorraine, these are the guys, John, Kennedy, Pat, Jared and Tim.” He turned back to his friends, “Guys, this is Lorraine.”

I awkwardly waved and they all smiled and waved back.

“Wait,” John said turning towards Garrett, “I’m still confused as to how you know the governor’s daughter.”

“Have you been listening at all? She was at the party last week John.” Kennedy said shaking his head at his friend. John rolled his eyes.

“So, are you ready? If we want to make it to Seattle in time tomorrow we have to get on the road.” Tim said interrupting the two boys who were about to start bickering.

Garrett nodded and picked up some of his bags. The guys helped him carry his bags out. I then grabbed my bags and carried them outside as well.

When we got outside, a large tour bus parked in front of Garrett’s driveway. Three more guys walked off the bus and put some of Garrett’s bags under the bus. Then all the guys walked on the bus.

“Hold on, I’ll be right back.” Garrett called over his shoulder before walking onto the bus.

I nodded and stood outside the bus. I tried to come up with different ideas as to where I would go next. I guess I could always just take my car and drive somewhere. It probably wasn’t the best idea, but for now it was the only one I could come up with.

I waited for about five minutes before Garrett and the rest of the guys came back out.

“So,” he exhaled as he reached me, “Figure out what you’re going to do?”

I shrugged, “No, not really, but I’ll figure something out.”

He nodded and scratched the back of his neck. He sighed as he looked up at me about to say something.

“Do you want to come on tour with us?” Pat asked suddenly.

I blinked, “Wh… What?” I asked, totally caught off guard. I was definitely not expecting that.

“Yeah! Garrett said you needed to get away for a bit, so why not?” Pat exclaimed.

I continued to stare at them. They all nodded. I looked over at Garrett who looked a bit hesitant, but nodded as well.

“I… Do you even have enough room?” I managed ask.

Tim shrugged, “We have three extra bunks, so we definitely have enough room.”

“So,” John smirked, “What do ya say?”

I contemplated the idea for a minute. Where else would I go? This would be a lot better then what I would probably have to do, which would be live in my car. I could even get out of the same state as my mother. That definitely was a plus…

I sighed, “As long as its fine with you guys… then yeah, sure I guess.”

The guys cheered and took my bags, carrying them onto the bus.

Kennedy walked over to me and put his arm around me, “Well Miss Andrews,” he said, smiling down at me, “It is my pleasure to officially welcome you to tour.”