You're My Backbone

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Garrett asked, nudging me in the arm with his elbow gently. He had this grin plastered onto his face and this glint in his eyes. I take it that he likes zombies a lot.

I shrugged. "No. Not too bad."

Oh, what a lie. Honestly, I had to keep screams in my mouth, my eyes were closed through a large portion of the movie, and I will most likely be having nightmares for the next two weeks. That, or I just won't fall asleep at all.

Garrett and I walked down the steps and waited for the rest of the group to join us outside of the theater. When they did, I sent John an evil glare, which he smiled at. He stood next to me and grinned while I hissed, "You didn't tell me this was a horror film."

He chuckled and patted me on the back. "It wasn't that scary June. Plus, I think you talked most of the time." He said while eyeing Garrett.

"We only talked in the beginning." I mumbled.

John clearly didn't hear me for he didn't he look at me. Instead he laughed at some joke Halvo just said. "We're going to get some pizza. You're coming." John demanded.

I couldn't really argue. He was my ride home.

About ten minutes later, we piled into a pizza parlor and sat at a large table. I sat in between Darry and John. Next to Darry at the end of the table was Jared, while next to John at the other end was Pat. Across from Darry, John, and I was Kennedy, Garrett, and Halvo. Garrett happened to be directly across from me. Every now and then his feet would bump into mine under the table. In response he flashed me a smiled and said "Sorry".

To my surprise, and John's for a matter of fact, I took part in the conversation. I joked around with Kennedy, Pat and Halvo often. I also got to know Jared a bit more.

"I'm glad you came." Darry whispered over to me while the rest of the guys took part in their own conversation.

I smiled. "So am I."

"Usually I'm the only girl. It gets kind of....weird. Plus, I think the guys like you a lot. Especially Garrett. When did you guys meet anyway?" She asked.

Humiliation took over. Garrett and I hardly knew each other. "Um, well, we actually met yesterday and it was really, only for a brief moment." I confessed.

Darry's eyes dilated for a second. "Really?"

I nodded my head. "Yeah," I thought for a moment. "Why do you sound so surprised?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Garrett usually has a hard time warming up to new people."

"Oh," was my response.

My eyes wandered to Garrett. He was telling John a story and telling Pat to ''shut up''' every time he interrupted. I chuckled lightly and bit my lip.

"Bye June!" Halvo called across the parking lot as John and I made our way to his car.

"What about me!?" John shouted.

Halvo shrugged. "Eh."

John stuck out his middle finger and chuckled. I rolled my eyes and waved to Halvo, and the rest of the guys and Darry before entering the car.

John got in the car and chuckled softly to himself. He turned to me. "So, you like my friends?"

"Who said they were just your friends?" I raised my eyebrows.

John grinned and then pulled out of the parking lot. We were home fifteen minutes later. It was already eleven and I was beginning to feel tired. I changed into my pajamas- green and blue shorts with an over-sized black v-neck. After washing my make-up off and brushing my teeth I curled up into my bed and read my book for a good half hour.

The next morning I was awoken to Ross's voice yelling. I groaned and rolled over in my bed. I buried my head into my pillow and sighed heavily.

John and him were having some sort of an argument. I waited several moments and sure enough, my mother made her way into the room next door and told Ross to leave John's room.

After that, I fell asleep for another hour.

When I was finally ready to get up, I stretched my arms out and yawned. I walked over to my mirror and took in how I looked. My v-neck hung below my shorts and appeared as if I wasn't wearing anything underneath. This happened often and my family was now used to it. I smiled in the mirror to observe my retainer.

When I was fourteen, I got my braces off. I had the braces on for a good four years and in the end, my teeth turned out perfectly straight. The only down side to this is that I must wear the retained every night or my teeth will go back to their old ways.

I emerged from my room scratching the back of my head and yawning. I rubbed my eyes and when I took my hands away I glanced down at the ground to find a pair of feet in beat up black Vans. My eyes grew wide and my head shot up.

Garrett was standing there, in the middle of the hallway, with his eyes almost as wide as mine. "Uh," He stuttered.

I bit my lip remembering the fact I was looked like I was only wearing a t-shirt. His eyes dropped to my legs and grew even wider. His head shot back up and looked at me. I released my lip remembering my retainer. I shut my mouth tightly.

"I'm sorry. John was just getting changed and he told me to stand out here in the hallway." He pointed to John's bedroom door sealed shut.

"That's okay." My voice came out muffled. Another thing about my retainer, I talk like an idiot with it in.

After hearing my voice Garrett cracked a smile. "What's in your mouth?"

I swallowed hard. "Uh," I paused. "A retainer."

Not sure why, but I smiled showing the retainer off. After doing so, I shut my mouth tightly and my face heated up. What would possess me to do that?

Garrett chuckled softly. "Sorry for intruding. Don't mind me."

I nodded my head and before I could embarrass myself any further I scurried off to the bathroom. I shut the door quickly and stared at myself in the mirror. I took the retainer out at the speed of light and tucked in my over sized shirt into my shorts.

"My god...." I mumbled.

Suddenly, there was a banging at the door. I groaned already knowing who it was. "Hold on, John."

"You take forever!" He whined.

"I just got in here!"

I could hear John talking to Garrett on the other side of the door. Their voices were muffled and I couldn't quite make out what they were saying.

"Fine." John sighed. "June, we'll be at Garrett's house. You're welcomed to join us."

Panic ran threw me. Should I go? No.

But why not?

"It would help if I knew where he lived." I said threw the door.

The boys erupted with laughter. I pulled the door opened and shot them a glare. "What's so funny."

John chuckled some more and look at Garrett shaking his head.

"He lives right across the street."