Let Love In

“Do we have everything? Last chance before we hit the road.” Colin threw a bag in the trunk, shutting it firmly when no one objected. ‘Alright, let’s get outta here.”

The four of them piled into Colin’s small car and pulled out of the driveway, headed towards the freeway. Colin insisted on driving the whole way, leaving Riley and Noah in the backseat with Sarah in front. Noah dug her ipod out of her bag when she noticed Riley engrossed in her phone, texting away to John as usual. Putting in her earbuds, she watched as Colin laced his fingers in between Sarah’s over the center consul. A fresh wave of jealousy caused Noah to crank up the volume on her ipod as she turned her attention out the window before quickly closing her eyes, knowing this would be a very long drive.

As she readjusted herself against the window, Noah’s eyes fluttered open to notice they were no longer on the freeway, but driving through a neighborhood. The sky was a dark pink, further indicating they must almost be there. After a few minutes of weaving through several side streets, passing identical house after seemingly identical house, they slowed to a stop in front of the only house on the block with cars parked in the driveway.

“Yo, Eric, we’re out front.” Colin’s voice pulled Noah out of her daze as she sat up to unbuckle her seatbelt. She looked over towards the house to see John appear out of nowhere, reaching the car in three strides with Eric trailing not far behind.

“Hey Baby.” John engulfed Riley in a hug and a kiss as Eric reached the car. “Okay, so you girls can take the guest bedroom upstairs to put your stuff in and get ready and all that stuff. We can figure everything else out later.” Eric pulled some bags from the trunk as he spoke. “You guys ready for some dinner?”

“Starved.” Colin led the way into the house and up the stairs towards the spare bedroom.

“Some of the guys are meeting us there, if you don’t mind.” John announced to the group, sliding his phone back into his jeans pocket.

“No, not at all. We’ll get to meet some of your friends.” Riley smiled as she climbed into John’s car, opting to ride with him, mumbling a “so you guys can have more room” while shooting Noah a look. Colin ended up in the backseat next to Noah, with Eric driving and Sarah claiming possible car sickness, securing her the front seat of Eric’s car.

The drive was relatively quiet, with Sarah and Eric making small talk in the front. A silence settled between Colin and Noah that she couldn’t quite pinpoint. As they pulled into the restaurant parking lot, Noah secretly wished there would be the right number of seats for her to sit next to Colin. They entered through the front doors, the boys heading straight for a table in the back, their friends already seated.

As Noah turned the corner and the table came into view, one of the boys waiting at the table caught her eye. Everyone else appeared a little older, probably the same age as Colin and Sarah, but this boy seemed a little out of place. He had a nose ring and a few visible tattoos, but he flashed a genuine smile while he spoke, engrossed in conversation with the boy across from him, and Noah instantly took a liking to him.

“Guys, this is Noah, Riley, and Sarah. Ladies, these are the guys: Kennedy, Garrett, Justin, Loren, and of course you know Nick.” John pointed to each boy respectively as he continued. “Tim and Pat are at some family thing, and Jared’s out with Tess, but you’ll meet them tomorrow before the show.”

Everyone filed in, Riley and John took up the two open spots next to the two blonde boys, leaving Noah to fend for herself at the far side of the table next to one of the brunettes, and across from the boy who caught her eye. Noah was far away from anyone she knew at the table, but decided maybe sitting down here wouldn’t be so bad.

She took a few quiet deep breaths as she sat down, quickly grabbing a menu to mull over as she tried to shield the involuntary blush running to her cheeks.

“So…” A voice floated across the table, causing Noah to lower the menu ever so slightly, her eyes peering across the top towards the boy. A pair of soft blue eyes were staring straight back at her, a hesitant expression plastered across his face.

“I’m Kennedy. You’re Noah, right?” Another voice interjected, causing Noah to jump a little in surprise. “Uhh, yeah, that’s me?” She smiled sheepishly, her tone ending in a question as she slowly turned towards the boy sitting very close on her left.

“You don’t know?” He laughed, an eyebrow raised in surprise. “Halvo and Nick were raving about how cool you guys were when they came back from Cali.”

“Oh, uh, cool. Yeah, those guys were awesome.” Noah let out an awkward laugh as she glanced back at the menu. The boy across the table remained silent, fumbling with his water glass as Kennedy continued, pointing at the menu. “So, you know what you want yet?” Noah shook her head, having used her menu more to hide behind rather than focus on the selection.

“The number seven is the best thing on the menu, at least in my opinion.” He smiled at her, completely ignoring his own menu. Glancing back at the menu in her hands, Noah searched for the number seven, agreeing with him as she read the description. “I’ll take your word for it that sounds good. I’ll think that’s what I’ll order.” She let out a small smile as she set down her menu, glancing across the table towards the still silent boy. A chill ran down her spine and she felt the heat creeping up the back of her neck as she realized the boy’s focus was directly on her.

“So, Garrett, anytime you feel like speaking will make the conversation a little less awkward; I don’t think Noah here’s going to bite…” Kennedy snickered before turning away, hearing his name brought up in conversation farther down the table. Noah smiled awkwardly as Garrett chewed on his lower lip, letting out a quiet sigh before speaking. “So… you’re friends with, um, John’s girlfriend, right?”

“Uh, yeah, that’s me. Are you in…” The butterflies in her stomach cut off the end of that sentence as he stared across the table at her, a relatively blank expression plastered on his face, but a hint of curiosity lingered in his eyes.

“Yeah, I play bass in the band with John. Kenny here plays guitar and sings with us too.”
“That's neat… So… What else do you like to do?” Noah forced a small smile as she racked her brain for things to say, pushing away the nerves rolling around her insides. She wanted to keep the conversation going, hoping to get to know him, or at the very least, not have a bad time. Noah was moderately shy around people she didn’t know, the nervousness increased tenfold around attractive boys.

Garrett scratched his neck nervously as he thought about it for a moment. “Well… definitely music for sure, I mean, touring’s been awesome and takes up a lot of my time right now. Uhh, definitely anything zombie related, and I play a lot of video games, and I dunno, that sort of stuff.” He shrugged as his sentence faltered, directing his attention back to his water glass. His slight nervousness put Noah at an ease, allowing a smile to grace her lips and calm her down a little.

As the waiter left with their orders, Kenny had rejoined the conversation, engaging both Noah and Garrett in an easier situation. Noah noticed as Garrett’s expression gradually softened and his smile reached his eyes, bringing the flow of conversation to a much more comfortable level, flowing more freely as the night went on.

“So you guys are coming to the show tomorrow, yeah?” Garrett smiled a hopeful smile as they headed towards the door.

“Mmhmm. That’s basically why Riley dragged me down here: to go to your show.” A smile spread across Noah’s face as she replied, the knot of nervous energy nowhere to be found.
“Awesome, well, uh, see you tomorrow then.” He turned and walked off towards Kennedy’s car, leaving Kennedy behind as the group said their goodbyes. Noah sighed quietly to herself, the smile still playing on her lips as she waited a moment before turning on her heel towards Eric’s car the opposite direction.

“Um, actually, Noah?” Noah stopped mid-step to be met by Garrett suddenly appearing behind her. “y-yeah Garrett?” Cue the butterflies as she turned to face him. He held his phone hesitantly in his hands before extending it towards her. “Um, here. Put your number in, and I can text you sometime or something. That’s, um, that’s if you want to, I mean.” He forced a nervous laugh with a small smile playing on his lips.

“Yeah, I-I’d like that.” Noah felt the beating of her heart increase as she reached for his phone, awkwardly pressing a wrong button or two before typing out her number.

“Ooooooo Noah… Someone’s getting your phone number?” The blush returned to Noah’s cheeks as she quickly handed the phone back to Garrett, turning her gaze towards Riley’s voice. A shocked smile was plastered across Riley’s face, hand in hand with John who was smirking at Garrett, both heading towards them several feet away. Noah’s phone buzzed in her pocket, and Garrett mumbled a “that’s me.” as the two of them stood awkwardly waiting for Riley and John.

“I should, uh, probably get going since I rode with Kennedy… I’ll see you guys tomorrow at the show.” Garrett stared down at the floor as he stumbled over his words, giving Noah a quick and awkward side hug before darting off as Riley eyed the two of them. Noah stayed silent, shrugging lightly as she climbed in the car, the butterflies having a raging party throughout her insides.