Ready When You Are

“Garrett.” I whispered softly.

His eyes were still on the ground, his feet were shuffling softly back and forth.

Lightly, I moved my hand to his and took the car keys from his fingers. He sighed as they slipped out and I grasped them tightly. I took the sleeve of his shirt and pulled him back towards the car softly as he followed. My hand slipped from his shirt to his hand, and I held it firmly. His hand was soft and warm, and I could practically feel his heart racing. My heart ached for him.

I ran over to his car and unlocked it, sitting him the passenger seat as I slid into to the driver’s seat.

“I’ll drive you home, ok?” I said, looking over at him. His hand was covering half his face.

I reached my hand out and grabbed his once more, and he squeezed back tightly. My other hand held the wheel as I steered out of the parking lot. Awkwardly, I remembered something.

“Gare,” I said quietly, “where is your house?”

Garrett let out a little laugh that turned into somewhat of a whimper, and gave me a street name that was only a block away from my apartment. I nodded and squeezed his hand again, tossing him a reassuring smile.

The ride was quiet. Garrett’s head was plastered the window, his eyes looking out into the street. Occassionaly, I would feel a squeeze on my hand from his, the kind that broke my heart, the kind that made me feel the pain he was feeling.

I pulled onto his street as he looked over at me.

“I’m really, really sorry about this Kenley.”

I eyed him. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Gare. She’s the one that did something wrong, ok?”

Garrett nodded as he slid out of the car. I let go off his hand and let out a breath of hair. I don’t think I had ever felt so bad for someone in my life. And he just seemed so hurt.

I wanted to yell something out the window. I wanted to tell him what a bitch she was, and how she just screwed up an amazing guy. I wanted to. But I didn’t.

***

I unlocked the door to my apartment. My heart was still aching, and I still wanted to go be with Garrett. But I knew I couldn’t. He needed to be alone.

“Honey, I’m home.” I called into the house.

I heard a rustle from the living room. I walked in and saw Brendan sprawled out on the couch. He shot me a little wave and I smiled.

“We are going to the label tomorrow!” He said happily. I shot him another forced smile.

“That’s awesome.” I said, kissing him on the cheek and trying to hold his hand. But it felt weird.

Weird as in holding is hand had such little… feeling. He wasn’t particularly soft or warm or left me with anything I hadn’t come into it with.

“I hung out with some of guys in this one band tonight-”

Brendan stopped and looked up at me. “You hung out with guys?”

I bit my lip and nodded. “They are Em’s friends. Em from the record store. They’re all nice.”

“I don’t like Em.” Brendan stated.

“Bren,” I looked at him, “you’ve never met her.”

Brendan gazed back up at me. “Well you’re never home anymore. And she’s the one that gave you that stupid job. And now you’re hanging with her guy friends from another band?”

“She’s my friend,” I whimpered out, “her friends are nice. They said they’d help you with your music, if you’d like.”

Now this caught his attention. His look of distaste changed to excitement. “Really? Can they get the band signed?”

“I don’t know,” I shrugged nervously, “they just said they’d help you out.”

“Wow.” Brendan said, smiling. “I’m gonna go tell the guys!”

I shook my head and went into our bedroom. It was barely ten but I just wanted to go to bed. I didn’t want to sit in the living room and talk to Brendan anymore. I had just avoided a potential fight, and I didn’t want that. I loved Brendan. And that meant we couldn’t fight about stuff like that. Right?

***

Walking into the record store Friday night left me a little sad. Garrett wouldn’t come in today most likely. As soon as the bell jingled signaling my arrival, Emerson darted towards me.

“WHERE WERE YOU LAST NIGHT?” She shouted as I rubbed my face. “YOU AND GARRETT JUST DISAPPEARED. AND YOU DIDN’T TEXT OR CALL. KENLEY I THOUGHT YOU DIED!”

I shook my head. “Em, I’m sorry, I was with Garrett-”

“YOU WERE WITH GARRETT?” I prepared myself for another beating. “OH MY GOD KEN!
Did you guys hook up? DID YOU?”

“No-”

Em slammed the counter. “Why’d you get my hopes up like that, Kenley? Here I was getting all fucking excited over nothing.”

“Em,” I took a breathe and began to ramble, “Garrett and I were driving and listening to Ryan Adams and singing and it was fun and then we bought Star Wars: Jedi Academy which is a super fun game and then we were walking over to the ice cream place and we looked in a restaurant window and saw Sara kiss another guy.”

Em’s hands flew to her face. “Like a peck or like a…”

I nodded at the last one. Em shrieked.

“That BITCH.” The customers looked over at us as she dragged me over to the back room. She was pacing back and forth as the pain from yesterday began to set in again.

“Did you let her have it?” Em asked me.

I shook my head. “Garrett looked so hurt. So I drove him home and walked back to the apartment.”

“How could she do that to him?” Em yelled, “Garrett was so good to her. Hell, we all hated that bitch. But he really loved her. I warned him about this. I did.”

I nodded and leaned against the counter. Garrett’s face from last night filling my head, the feel of his warm fingers against mine, the look he gave me as he stepped out of the car. I wanted to run back to his place right now and hug him again. But I knew I couldn’t.

Em stormed out of the backroom and grabbed her keys and coat. A few customers were waiting and I helped them all as she paced. The store was next to empty as she looked at me and began to walk out the door.

“I’ve gotta go tell Kenny,” She said quickly, “stay here. I’ll be back.”

I sighed as she walked out the door. Maybe I shouldn’t have told Em. Was it my place to? I mean she was going to find out at some point. But he might not have wanted them to all know just yet. The thought made me feel even worse about the situation. The store was empty now, leaving me with my thoughts.

The door jingled and I looked up, hoping to see a cute boy in a cowboy boots. I saw just the opposite.

Standing before me was a girl with reddish dyed hair, a short stature, and a floral shirt. It was Sara. Next to her was the boy from the restaurant last night. What the hell was she doing here? What if Garrett was here? Was she even considering that?

The two browsed the store as I death glared them. This girl had caused the pain that was splattered all over Gare’s face last night. And now she was walking around in a place where he came on a daily basis. What kind of nerve did this bitch have?

Then she kissed him and my stomach knotted itself. What if Garrett was here to see this?

“Excuse me.” I coughed. “Are you going to buy anything?”

Sara squinted at me and grabbed a CD from the shelf. She said something to the boy next to her and he left for the car after kissing her on the cheek. The door jingled as he left. Sara walked up to the counter, still glaring at me.

I took the CD and glared at it. It was a Ryan Adams acoustic.

“Ryan Adams is one of my favorite artists.” I said plainly.

She smiled fakely. “I’m buying it for someone.”

“Oh,” I gave an equally fake smile back, “your boyfriend?” I pointed to the door.

Sara shook her head. “My other boyfriend.” She laughed, like I was supposed to laugh along with her. Like cheating on one of the sweetest guys I had ever met was funny. Like cheating on someone in general was a silly joke.

Then it hit me. Garrett hadn’t broken up with her yet.

I gave another smile and nodded. “Oh, I see.”

She handed me the money and I held it in my hand for a second and looked up at her.

“You know what?” I said, “you’re wasting your time buying this CD.”

“What?” She asked me as I handed her the money back.

“Garrett already bought it. He actually bought it a week ago, while you were here with him. He showed it to you. He was pretty excited about it. Maybe if you were paying more attention to your first boyfriend and not whoever this poor guy is, you would have noticed.”

I had never once in my life spoken to someone like that. But this girl’s nerve drove me over the edge. I couldn’t help by laugh a little as she huffed out of the store. She had hurt Garrett beyond belief, and she didn’t even care.

That was something I wouldn’t stand for.