Ready When You Are

I locked the door to the shop and turned, looking at Em leaning against her car waiting for me. She was wearing a loose red dress with sandals and her hair was wavy, hanging loosely off her face. I knew she was trying to impress someone.

“Ready?” I said, skipping over in my blue vans.

Em nodded with a smile and slid into her car. I hopped into the passenger seat and looked out the window. I was in a particularly good mood now.

“You seem jumpy.” Em said, eyeing me with a smile. “Excited for the party?”

“Of course!” I said.

Em nodded and eyed me once more. But of course I was excited, I was going to a party with my good friends in Arizona. They were some of the coolest people I knew, and just hanging out with them made me feel good about myself. Plus Garrett would be there, and I had this aching feeling to see him again.

“John told me you hung out with Garrett yesterday.” Em smiled.

I swallowed. “Yeah, it was fun.”

“You guys seem to get along well.”

“We have a lot in common.”

“I’m sure you do.”

“Are you excited for the party?” I changed the subject.

We turned onto Kennedy’s street and Em let out a little groan. “I just have this feeling like something is going to happen. You know that feeling, right? I can just tell something is going to go down.”

I nodded and let out a little groan of my own. I had to admit that my heart had that same aching feeling, and as we entered Kennedy’s driveway, I could feel my heartbeat speed up.

Em led me to the door and walked right in. This not ringing the doorbell or knocking routine was unbecoming to me. What if they weren’t ready for me to come in? Barging in seemed to be common in Tempe for some reason.

“Hey guys!” Kennedy said, jumping up from a couch in the corner.

There were tons of people there. A few lining his couch and his kitchen, all talking and walking around. I didn’t expect a huge party. Most people had a drink in their hand and I gulped a little. I hadn’t been to too many huge parties in my high school days. I smirked at Em as Kennedy put his arm around her and took her away, leaving me awkwardly alone.

I leaned against his couch, pretending to play with my phone, praying for someone I knew to come up and talk to me.

“A beautiful girl like you sitting over here alone?” A voice said behind me. “I can fix that.”

I turned to see a boy wearing a plaid shirt. He had a moustache that covered his face, though it looked good on him. He was good-looking, and his smile seemed contagious.

“I’m Austin.” He put out his hand and I shook it.

“Kenley.”

His eyes bulged. “Oh, you’re Kenley? Trey told me about you.”

I nodded awkwardly. “Oh, did he?”

“He was right. You are gorgeous.” Austin laughed. “Can I get you a drink?”

I shook my head. “I don’t really drink that much.”

“So just one.” Austin moved over to the cooler and threw me a beer. I opened it and took a sip, letting the bitterness absorb my tongue. I despised the taste.

“Thanks.” I smiled, noticing his rough fingers. “Are you a musician?”

“Yes ma’m.” Austin laughed. “Why, do you like musicians? ‘Cause I am quite the musician.”

I laughed. “Are you?”

Austin put his arm around me and smiled. I saw Em walk by and smirk.

“Put it back in your pants, Gibbs,” she laughed, “Kenley is taken.”

Austin looked at the ground and back up at me. “Fuck, I thought so.”

“Thought what?” I laughed.

“That you and Garrett were, ya know.”

My eyes bulged and I put my hands up, getting ready to defend myself. Before I could answer I felt another arm wrap around me.

“Hey Lee.”

I looked over at the reddish-brown hair boy with his arm around me. I smiled and laughed at my new nickname.

“Hey Gare.”

Austin popped his lips and took a step back, giving me a suggestive smile and nodding to himself. “Have fun, kids.”

Garrett shot him a wave and turned to look at me, giving me a cute little smile.

“What’s up?” I asked.

Garrett started walking, his arm still around me. We walked outside onto Kennedy’s front steps, leaving us somewhat alone. Just a few people were talking around us, few of them sober.

“You drink?” Garrett pointed to the beer bottle in my hand.

I shook my head quickly. “Austin gave it to me. I only had one sip. I’m not a huge drinker.”

Garrett laughed. “Me neither. A lot of the guys drink quite a lot, though. Cept for Pat.”

“I can’t see Pat as a drinker anyway. Actually it’s quite disturbing.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

Garrett looked over at me and stared for a second, then let out a laugh. He opened his mouth and looked like he was about to say something, but then his gaze turned to two figures approaching the steps. I felt the arm he had around me tense up.

I looked at where his eyes pointed. There was Sara, walking towards Kennedy’s door with her hand in the hand of the boy she was with at the record store. I looked over at Garrett as his eyes darted to the floor.

“Garrett?” Her squeaky voice called out. His eyes shot up and he let out a fake smile, not revealing his teeth.

“Hi.” He said shortly, not breaking his fake smile.

Sara approached us and stopped her boyfriend looking mindlessly around. “How are you?”

“Good. Yourself?”

“Pretty good.”

There was an awkward silence as I looked up at Sara and our eyes met for a split second. All of a sudden she jumped and pointed to the boy next to her.

“Oh! How rude of me.” She laughed a laugh that even I could tell was fake. “This is Derek, my boyfriend.”

Garrett’s fist clenched up and I gave him a look, putting my hand on his thigh and nodding to myself.

“I’m Kenley. We’ve met a few times before.” I laughed, nodding to myself. “I’m Garrett’s girlfriend. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Derek.”

Garrett shot me a quick glance. I nodded to him sweetly, trying to send him the signal. He looked back up at Sara and nodded, relaxing his arm around me. I leaned into his shoulder and shot her a smile, telling her all she needed to know.

The smile was smacked off her face as she grabbed Derek’s hand and walked up the door.

“Nice to see you.” She said before going inside.

Garrett looked down at me and smiled , leaning down to whisper in my ear. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I think I did.”

“It was nice seeing that fucking stupid smug getting wiped off her face.”

“Indeed it was.”

I laughed and Garrett smiled at me again. This time it was a real smile, showing his teeth and his eyes looked as if he was thinking deeply about something. He reached his hand in his pocket and pulled out his car keys.

“Can we get out of here?” Garrett sighed. “I’m not in the party mood.”

I nodded. “Just let me tell Em.”

I got up and Garrett followed me back inside the house. Once in the living room, we saw Sara and Derek sitting together on the couch. I grabbed Garrett’s hand and held it tightly as he pulled closer to me, and we laughed sweetly at each other, catching Sara’s eye. I saw here give a quick scowl before kissing Derek, trying to look sexy but instead looking terribly sloppy.

My eyes darted across the hallways, looking for Em’s red hair. Garrett pointed to the stairs and we walked up, looking in different rooms for Em.

Garrett stood in front of one particular door and shot me a glance, pointing to it. I guessed it was Kennedy’s room. Slowly he pulled the knob and opened it.

The sight inside was a little unexpected.

Em was on top of Kennedy half-dressed as he was shirtless and feeling her up. Garrett let out a little snort and turned, trying to contain a laugh.

I tried to pipe up and say something, but they didn’t seem to give my presence any recognition what so ever. I turned to face Garrett and shut the door quietly.

“Let’s go.” I whispered, covering my mouth so I didn’t laugh too hard. He nodded and grabbed my hand, leading me back downstairs.

We walked out the front door and went to Garrett’s bright yellow car. Garrett opened the door for me and bowed as I slid in, laughing and sliding on my seat belt.

He started the ignition and turned up the radio.

“Where to?” I asked.

“You’ll see.” He smiled.

I laughed and leaned my head on the back of my seat, looking over at him as he tapped his hands on the wheel to the beat of the music. I didn’t care where we were going as long as I was with him.