Untangle Me

Zoey looks at the group of boys around her as she laughs nervously. “Hey guys.”

“You don’t know who we are, do you?” Garrett asks, a shy smile gracing his lips.

“Of course she knows who I am. Everybody knows who John Ohh is.” John says cockily.

“Get over yourself!” Jared exclaims smacking his friend playfully across the back of the head.

“Uh, not particularly but it seems like they do.” Zoey tentatively says, looking at the direction her friends disappeared in.

“Well I’m John O’Callaghan, lead singer of The Maine, and this is my band.” John says, pride lacing his voice.

“Can you please just get over yourself already?” Jared shot John a glare, “I’m Jared, I play guitar with Kennedy,” he points at the brunette boy who smiles and waves at Zoey, “Our zombie friends are Pat and Garrett who play drums and bass respectively.” Pat and Garrett each shot her a smile and then a rat boy episode overcame Pat.

“I just want to eat some brains!” Pat screeches, throwing his hands above his head and running away from the group.

“I hope we find him this time.” Kennedy mumbles, shaking his head.

“I hope he comes back this time.” Jared says in agreement with Kennedy.

An awkward silence overtook the group. The only sounds were the moans of the other zombies around them.

A few tense seconds passed before Zoey decides to break the silence. “Does he do this often?”

“Do you get milk from a cow often?” John says sarcastically, shoving his glasses back on his face.

This time, Garret spoke up, “John really, stop being a jerk. She just asked a question no need to bite her head off.” He shot uncharacteristically bold.

Another awkward silence falls over the group, lasting much longer than the last one.

“So uh, I’m guessing you need a ride to the venue?” Jared asks. Zoey nods gratefully and the group heads out to their van.

“John, go find Pat.” Kennedy orders as Jared, Zoey and Garrett weave through the mob.

“Why the hell should I?” John yells, causing a few zombies to shoot him a few odd looks.

“Because your man period is pissing me off!” Jared yells from a few feet in front of John.

Suddenly, a small blonde girl clutching a teddy bear tugs on John’s shirt. A small smile appears on her face as John looks down at her. He returns her smile as he kneels in front of her, his bad mood melting with her smile.

“Brains.” She simply states before biting his hand and scurrying off to find her parents.

“Are you fucking kidding me!” John exclaims, walking after the little girl in the opposite direction of the rest of the group.

Zoey pauses slightly watching John walk away. “Should we…?” She starts before Garrett cuts her off.

“No. Just let him go, he needs to find Pat and get rid of his attitude before the show tonight. He’s been fighting with his girlfriend and lately he’s taking it out on us,” Garrett says, putting his hand on the small of her back, leading her through the unruly crowd.

“He should talk to Aubree! She’s going to school to be a psychiatrist!” Zoey exclaims, smiling up at Garrett. She notices that he’s at least a few inches taller than her.

“Yeah, because that went over so well earlier.” Garrett states throwing a charming smile at Zoey.

“She’s usually not so… feisty. I mean, she has attitude and everything but she’s been fighting with her boyfriend lately and little things get to her. Danielle and I try to keep her calm, but with the way her boyfriend Paul has been treating her she’s been acting very un-Aubree like.” Zoey explains as Garrett smiles sadly down at her.

“So she’s going through the same thing as John.” Garrett chuckles as a thought crosses his mind, “Watch those two end up dating or something.” He laughs once more.

“Yeah right, pretty sure that won’t happen.” Jared yells back at him, stopping so Garrett and Zoey could catch up to him and Kennedy.

“Yeah, I doubt John could be with somebody who questions his manhood, and Aubree seemed to deflate his ego quite fast.” Kennedy says, laughing. “He deserved that though. I mean, John needs to be with some tall long-legged blonde who worships the ground he walks on and loves the sound of his voice as much as he does.” Kennedy states to the group.

“Yeah, and I highly doubt Aubree would do any of that” Zoey says, laughing at the thought of Aubree even liking someone as self-centered as John.

The group finally reaches the van to see Pat sitting on top of it humming softly to himself. “Does he do this often?” Zoey whispers again to Garrett, perplexed by Pat’s odd behaviors.

“You have no idea.” Garrett says, shaking his head chuckling softly. “The kids my best friend and I love him, but he’s kind of a freak.”

“So now we’re all here except for John.” Jared says, unlocking the door to the van.

“I’m here, I’m here. I had to hunt down that little girl to ask her why she bit me.” John exclaims out of breath as he runs up to the rest of the group. His eyes quickly fall to Garrett’s hand still on Zoey’s back.

“What was her reason?” Zoey asks as she blushes a faint red stepping away from Garrett.

“She said I needed to smile more.” John answers bluntly, opening the door to the van and sitting in the driver’s seat.

“Not so fast buddy. Remember what happened last time we let you drive when you were mad? I think Trey would kill us if you did anything to his van.” Kennedy says as John sulks and moves to the passenger seat.

The group quickly decides Pat needs to be shunned and declares he sit in the back by himself so he can calm down. Jared slides into the middle row first, and Garrett, being a gentlemen, allows Zoey to slide in after Jared, sandwiching her in between the two unfamiliar guys. It was obvious to the boys that she was uncomfortable.

Zoey is quiet as she listens to the playful banter between the boys. Halfway through the ride Jared turns to her. “You should just call your friends and tell them we’ll meet them at the venue.” Jared offers, shrugging his shoulders.

She quickly dials Danielle’s number and places her phone on speaker.

“Hey," Danielle answers, "sorry we ditched you, but I don’t think you know how absolutely embarrassed we are right now. I mean can you imagine meeting your favorite band and having one of your friends make a complete ass of herself?” She gushes as soon as she answers the phone.

The guys not wanting their cover to be blown stifled their laughter so they could continue listening to the conversation.

“It’s alright, Danielle. Garrett and the boys offered me a ride and they want me to tell you we’re meeting you there.” Zoey says, chuckling at the expressions on the boys faces.

“Ha-ha, I don’t believe you. As if the boys of The Maine would offer a ride to somebody they didn’t know.” Danielle laughs disbelievingly. “What?! Give me your phone!” Aubree could be heard yelling in the background. Fighting could be heard on Zoey’s side of the phone.

“Here we go again. I mean wasn’t the first time good enough for her?” John whines, leaning his head against the window, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers.
“Was that John?” Danielle asks, her voice wavering.

“Yeah, she told you she was with us.” Jared answers, letting his full chortle be heard.

“Crap.” Danielle mutters before Aubree takes her phone. “Aubree! No!”

“I just want to let you know that even if you are John O’Callaghan, you’re the biggest dickhead I’ve ever met. I mean, who bitches about that much shit?” Aubree yells into the phone while Danielle and Emma could be heard wrestling for control of the phone.

“Alright, I thought I was pretty nice to you earlier, but do you know how much of a bitch you are? I mean honestly, you’re like half my size and you’re psming twice as bad.” John exclaims, turning in his seat to look back at the phone in Zoey’s hand.

“So you admit that you’re pmsing today?” Jared asks smirking at John.

“You know, I always heard how nice of a band all of you were, but I swear your good looks cloud every girls judgment. I mean the rest of the guys are nice and all but you sir, an asshole.” Aubree rants before another scuffle is heard on that end of the phone.

“Hey this Emma, we’ll call you when we’re at the venue. Aubree wanted me to tell you she’s sorry, John.” Emma says and attempts to hang up but Aubree’s voice is heard screaming, “No I’m not! Fuck that!”

John goes to respond but Emma hangs up before he can yell back at Aubree.

An awkward silence once more fell over the group and remains until they arrive at the venue.

“Aubree’s very uh… strong opinionated isn’t she?” Garrett asks as the group piles out of the van.

“More like a bitch.” John mumbles under his breath as Jared gives him a shove towards the bus, leaving Garrett and Zoey to walk alone.

“You’re just being nice, aren’t you? She really isn’t all that bad; she just lets people know what a lot of people usually keep inside.” Zoey says as she lets Garrett lead her through the venue.

“I guess that’s not a bad trait, but she’s just vocal with it. John’s like that too, but it usually happens when he’s drinking.” Garrett laughs as he notices both of their friends’ similarities. “I still say those two will end up together.”

“I don’t see how that would happen. I mean, we aren’t going to see each other much after you guys leave Seattle. Aubree and Danielle are both in med school, and I’m starting freshman year in the fall.” She admits sadly, not fully realizing how much she enjoys Garrett’s company.

“Well… never mind.” They’re comfortably quiet for a moment as they wander the venue.

Garrett’s laugh awhile later breaks the silence as he comes to the realization that they are both still in clad in zombie wear. “You uh, gotta little something on your neck there.” He points at her neck.

She gingerly reaches up and places her hand on the gash that slashes through her neck. She blushes, “Oh, I forgot I still had all of this on.”

Garrett smiles at her before a vibration from his phone interrupts their moment.“Your friends are at the bus. We should probably head back before someone kills somebody.” Garrett offers a smile to Zoey as they turn around.

“You mean Aubree and John right?” She asks and the two laugh while walking back to the bus.