Easier To Lie

"So, why'd you move in with Kennedy?" asked Garrett.

Mallory couldn't exactly pinpoint where they were going; since she was quite new to Arizona, she wasn't extremely familiar with the area like she would have been if were at home. The scenery flew by as she looked out the car window. Mallory turned to face Garrett and asked him if he could please repeat the question, because she missed it the first time.

"Why'd you move in with Kennedy?"

Mallory shifted in her seat, uncomfortable. There wasn't really an answer for this. Well, not one that she would openly (and truthfully) talk about. Not even Kennedy knew why she had suddenly begged for him to take her in.

So Mallory decided to tease Garrett. She figured this would be easier than having to come up with some bullshit excuse like she had had to do with Kennedy and with her parents as well.

"It's a secret," she replied with a smirk.

He chuckled. "I won't tell anyone! I swear on all my Star Wars action figures that if you tell me, no one will ever hear from me why Mallory Brock--"

"Nope, Mallory Trotter," she corrected him.

"I mean, why Mallory Trotter moved in with her brother."

"That slip up with my name just made me want to tell you less! You're on thin ice, Nickelsen."

"Come on, Mallory! Can I know? Please?" he pleaded with a pout on his face, "With whipped cream and cherries on top?"

She scrunched up her nose. "I don't even like those kinds of cherries."

"Okay, then, whipped cream with real cherries, sprinkles, nuts, hot fudge, and Watermelon Sour Patch Kids on top!"

"You drive a hard bargain, kid. But it's still a secret," she replied with a smile.

Garrett groaned. "You poopface."

"Right back atcha, crapdude."

"I'll just ask Kennedy for the answer!" he threatened.

"Go ahead, take the easy way out, loser."

He narrowed his eyes at her then pulled into a parking space in front of some kind of park. Mallory hadn't even realized that they had arrived at wherever they were at.

Before she could even get out of the car, Garrett was up and out, opening the door for her, causing her to blush profusely.

"Thank you, Garrett."

"No problem! Wait here for a second, okay?"

She stood by the car, waiting for Garrett to come back. He had walked around to the yellow car's trunk and opened it, pulling out a large blanket and a basket.

When he came back, he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the walk way leading to the center of the park.

"So I wanted to do this but then I had some doubts and I didn't want to seem like a dork or anything you know because this is usually the kind of thing that guys in movies do and you know guys in movies are like hopeless romantics and crap like that and I'm not usually like that I just um wanted to do something nice, and--"

She stopped walking and he followed suit. "Gare, don't worry. If you're doing what I think you're doing, which is a picnic, then I think it's rather adorable. Calm down, okay?" Mallory told him with a giggle.

He beamed and resumed leading her to an empty picnic table. Once they got there, she sat down and helped him lay everything out. They spread out the blanket over the table and when she opened the basket, she was delighted to find turkey sandwiches, cans of Coke, lots of candy, a big bag of Hot Cheetos, and a few bottles of water.

But then she frowned.

"I-Is that the cold cut kind of turkey, Gare?"

He nodded.

"Um...I totally forgot to tell you...um....I'm um..." Mallory stumbled for words that would mix together to make an excuse as to why she couldn't eat cold cut turkey.

"Are you vegetarian?" he asked cautiously.

She wasn't.

"Yeah, I'm vegetarian. Um, yeah."

Garrett shot her an odd look, but didn't voice whatever he was thinking. "I can get something else, I didn't know. Um, I can get like--" Panic was evident in his voice.

"No, it's okay. Really, it's fine!" And it was. She just hated lying.

After simultaneously reassuring Garrett that she was fine with eating just bread and taking everything out of the basket, Garrett finally calmed down and they sat down to eat.

As she munched on her bread, Garrett asked, "How are you liking Arizona so far?"

"I'm still getting used to it. Learning my surroundings and stuff is kind of hard, but it's fun. It's like an adventure. And I love meeting all these new people. They make it feel like I'm still at home, like I never moved to a new place because they're all so welcoming. I'm not kidding when I say that it took five seconds to get used to you guys."

"I'm glad you like it then! I'm also glad that you moved here. I never knew Kennedy had a sister..."

"John...I mean, Kennedy doesn't really like to talk about his family. He's had issues and it's just not something he likes to think or talk about."

"Yeah, when he changed his name, he kind of explained it but never in full. We just know that there was a family issue. You Brocks...or Trotters...are so damn secretive. How do I live with you people?"

Mallory shrugged and giggled. Garrett offered her Hot Cheetos and she refused, inwardly groaning. Usually she would jump at the chance to eat Hot Cheetos, especially the lime ones that Garrett had.

After having a difficult time taking the water over the Coke, Mallory suddenly said, "Thank you for this. No one's ever really done this for me before. I really appreciate it. Thank you, Garrett."

All the blood in his face went to his ears, making them bright red. He was blushing in that guy way, which made her giggle. She leaned over the table and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm serious. Thank you."

"Y-You're welcome, Mallory."

"It was a wonderful first date."

His eyes widened and his smile only got bigger, as if he was thinking to himself, "Yes! So this is a first date!"

The two cleaned up, throwing all their trash away and folding up the blanket, setting it in the basket. On their way back to the car, Garrett grabbed ahold of Mallory's hand once more and didn't let go of it until he absolutely had to.