Everyone's a Winner with a Heart That Small

Ezra and Gigi pulled into the driveway of a large house and got out of the car to go inside. Ezra opened the front door without knocking and they walked all the way through the house to the back. There were three guys all in pool chairs in the center of the yard and they all stood up when Gigi and Ezra came down the steps off the porch.

"Guys, this is Gigi. G, this is Tim, Garrett, and you know Pat"

They all exchanged greetings and sat back down in the pool chairs, with Pat offering his seat to Gigi and sitting down in the grass with Ezra. Gigi heard her phone buzz from her bag which she'd set on the ground next to her chair. She dug around in her bag until she finally found it. Of course it was John.

I'm sorry.

She rolled her eyes and set the phone in her lap without replying.

"John?"

Gigi looked over to see Ezra in conversation with the others before looking back at Pat and nodding. "Of course"

"What does he even want? Or is he harassing you for no reason?"

"Seemingly no reason"

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I should've never even said anything about you"

"It's okay, Pat"

"I should've told him you were some old dude who looks like a troll"

Gigi couldn't help but laugh, which made Pat laugh too. Pat was just glad that John had never set eyes on Gigi. Then he really wouldn't leave her alone.

She looked down at her phone, just noticing how late it was. "Ezra, it's fucking two."

"And?" he asked, pushing his aviators up off his face.

"And this girl's gotta eat"

He rolled his eyes. "You never stop eating. You're worse than me." Gigi shrugged her shoulders, unable to refute his point and he sighed."Alright, get up. Come on."

Gigi stood from her chair and picked up her bag, throwing it on her shoulder. "You guys want to come?"

All three scrambled to their feet.

"Sure, why not?" Tim shrugged casually.

Ezra shook his head and Gigi pulled him toward the car. Tim, Pat, and Garrett all squished into the back seat of Ezra's car and Gigi got into the passenger seat.

Since it was already after two, the restaurant Ezra chose was practically empty. Gigi dragged Ezra to a back booth while the others followed. She slid into the booth first with Ezra on her right and Pat, Tim, and Garrett fighting to sit on her left. Tim won and he slid into the booth beside Gigi with a smile on his face.

Gigi tapped her fingers on the table top while they waited for the waiter to come to take their order. His name tag read Simon and he was as cute as can be. He shyly made his way up to the table and took their drink order then hurried off to get them. When Garrett started talking to Tim about an upcoming tour, Gigi leaned in toward Ezra.

"Did you tell anybody we're cousins?" she whispered.

"No. Why?"

"Don't"

"Why not?"

"Just please don't. I'll tell you later"

He gave her an odd look but shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention to the other conversation.

"Hey Gigi?"

"Yes, Pat?"

"After we eat, you wanna go get some candy?"

"I'm always up for candy"

"Yes!"

It didn't take long for four hungry guys and an extremely hungry girl to eat their food once it was brought. They all got into Ezra's car and road back to Garrett's house. Then Garrett, Tim, and Ezra went back to the back yard while Gigi got into the passenger seat of Tim's car with Pat behind the wheel. Pat didn't look like the safest driver, but once they pulled out of the driveway and started toward the mall, he proved he was.

He turned the radio down so that it could still be heard but they could talk over it.

"So Gigi- what's that stand for? Or is that just your name?"

"It's a nickname. My first name is Georgianna"

"Oh cool. Where ya from?"

"South Carolina"

"Whoa, what are you doing in Arizona?"

Gigi shrugged. "Just visiting"

"Wait, how do you know Ezra?"

"Our moms are....close friends." And sisters-in-law.

"Oh, that's cool. So why don't you tell me about yourself?"

"What do you want to know?"

"Whatever. Random stuff. What's your favorite color? What's your family like? Who's your best friend? What's your boyfriend's name? Why haven't you heard of us before?"

Gig laughed. "Okay. My favorite color is turquoise. My family is small. It's just me, Mom, and Dad. My best friend is Cora Heatherly and she's absolutely nuts. I have no boyfriend. I haven't heard of you before because I don't really listen to music. And even if I did, the music scene isn't that great in South Carolina"

"But I think we've been to South Carolina before"

Gigi shrugged. "Maybe to Charleston or something but nowhere near me"

"Hmm"

The two were silent for the next four minutes until Pat turned into the mall entrance. As soon as he pulled into a parking space, Gigi jumped out of the car and the two of them practically ran like children to the candy store.

The man behind the counter gave them a strange look when they rushed into the store and straight tot he shelves and shelves of candy. Pat had wandered over to the large display rack of lollipops and Gigi went to the chocolate to begin browsing over and deciding what she wanted.

That's when she noticed a tall figure right on the other side of the aisle. She looked closer at the face and noticed that it was indeed who she thought it was. John. Gigi groaned and turned to sneak back down the aisle to go find Pat but when she turned the corner she ran face first into someone. She looked up at the face and bit her lip. This could not be happening. John dropped his arms from where he'd grabbed her shoulders to steady her.

"Whoa, sorry about that"

"Sorry. I didn't see you"

He smiled. "That's quite alright"

"Okay then. Um...bye"

Gigi turned and quickly went to pay for her jumbo bag of m&ms and rushed out of the store. Once she was at a safe distance and hidden, she pulled her phone from her bag and sent a quick text to Pat, letting him know where she was.

Less than two minutes later, Pat rounded the corner and Gigi pulled him quickly behind the large plant by the escalator. "Why are you hiding?"

"I saw John"

Pat laughed. "It's not like he knows what you look like"

"No, I literally ran into him back there"

"Oh. What did he say?"

She shrugged. "Not much but still. I didn't want to give him a chance to start asking questions"

"Good point. Alright, well I got my candy. You get yours?" Gigi held up her m&ms and nodded. "Good. Ready to go?"

"Hell yes"

She didn't want to risk running into John again. The simple fact of it was that John annoyed her and she didn't want him to know who she was.

And she hoped it would stay that way.