I Hate To Say This But I'm Stuck On Loving You, John O'Callaghan
PART 1
I lived relatively close to my school so Garrett ended up pulling into his parking spot around 7:15. Since the car ride was pretty silent after they mentioned John I wasn’t expecting Garrett to grab my arm before I had the chance to get out of the car. “You know, us mentioning the party wasn’t necessarily a question. It was more of a statement. No matter what you think about it, Pat and I will end up kidnapping you anyway.” My eyebrows furrowed together out of frustration and I just sat there staring at him for a few seconds before I finally sighed in defeat and mumbled “Fine. I’ll go.” Pat and Garrett both smiled and high fived. “BUT, there are a few conditions. Do not expect me to drink and definitely do not expect me to hang out with John.” I said sternly before I walked out of the car with Pat and Garrett not too far behind me. I made it to the main building and sighed before I opened the door of the school. High school was never easy. It is supposed to be some kind of huge social experience, but that never really happened for me. I was socially awkward. I had Pat and Garrett and that was enough to get me through the day. We walked into the building together, and then went our separate ways.
*
After a long day, the bell finally rang at 2:10. I walked out of my last class and straight to the parking lot to see Garrett’s car unattended, great. I dropped my backpack down next to the car and sat on the hood of the car. After sitting there for a few minutes, I saw a car that I hadn’t expected to see drive around the parking lot. It drove around for a while, obviously lost, and then slowed up as it got closer to me. What the hell was he doing here? He made it to the front of Garrett’s car, stopped, and rolled down his window.
“Uh…do you know where Pat or Garrett is?” John asked.
Holy shit this boy was attractive. It hit me every time I saw him.
I cleared my throat. “I wish I knew. I’ve been waiting here for a while…”
John stared blankly straight ahead of him, looking deep in thought. “Oh, well I really need to talk to them. It’s about uh, band stuff. It’s kind of important.”
All I could do was nod my head. I’ve always been really awkward when I talked to people, but with John I was just worse. I don’t know what it was, but whenever he was there I just couldn’t find the right words to say so I just said nothing. We sat there like that not saying anything for a little while until John finally broke the silence.
“So… did you, uh, hear about the tour?”
I brought my knees up to my chest and stared at the hood of the car before I responded by saying “yep,” slowly dragging the word out and popping the P at the end.
After what seemed like forever Pat and Garrett finally showed up. I looked at my phone and noticed it was now 2:25.
“Where the hell have you two been?” I asked.
“Sorry, Caitlin. We had stay after a bit to get some stuff for graduation,” said Pat.
Garrett looked to his left to see John sitting in his car with the window rolled down and he nudged Pat in the ribs lightly.
“Well, it’s a good thing we stayed after. Sorry if we were interrupting anything.” Garrett smirked; pleased with the fact that John and I were talking to each other, alone.
I rolled my eyes. Unfortunately, they weren’t interrupting anything.
John finally jumped into this conversation and said “I was just here because I needed to talk to you guys. We’re having practice today at 3 at Kenny’s house. We need to run through our set and we’re probably adding some more tour dates, so we need figure all of that out.”
Pat and Garrett were now serious and nodded their heads understandingly. “Alright, well I guess we’ll see you at 3 then. Is it okay if we bring Caitlin?” asked Garrett.
Both John and I were taken completely off guard by that statement. I had been to band practices before, but only on rare occasions because I usually had physical therapy the same time they practiced.
John squirmed a bit in his seat. “Well… uh I don’t think that’s a very good idea. We have, uh, a lot of shit to get done today so…”
“So…what? The three of us will be there at three.” Garrett said with a huge smile plastered on his face then climbed into the driver’s seat and shut the door before John could say anything.
John shrugged, rolled up his window, and drove off. Just like that.
I sighed and slid off the hood of the car, grabbed my backpack, and joined my two best friends.
“We didn’t talk about me going to band practice. What if I had physical therapy today?”
“C’mon now Caitlin everyone knows that you and John are secretly in love with each other and sometimes I feel like you underestimate us. We know your physical therapy schedule just as well as you, if not better,” Pat said matter of factly.
I opened my mouth to respond, but then closed it. Why waste my breath. I would argue multiple times a day that there was nothing between John and me. It was a huge lie…well half a lie. I liked him, but he didn’t like me. So, I quickly changed the subject and we had our usual conversation that made no sense to anyone, but us for the rest of the car ride back.
*
After a long day, the bell finally rang at 2:10. I walked out of my last class and straight to the parking lot to see Garrett’s car unattended, great. I dropped my backpack down next to the car and sat on the hood of the car. After sitting there for a few minutes, I saw a car that I hadn’t expected to see drive around the parking lot. It drove around for a while, obviously lost, and then slowed up as it got closer to me. What the hell was he doing here? He made it to the front of Garrett’s car, stopped, and rolled down his window.
“Uh…do you know where Pat or Garrett is?” John asked.
Holy shit this boy was attractive. It hit me every time I saw him.
I cleared my throat. “I wish I knew. I’ve been waiting here for a while…”
John stared blankly straight ahead of him, looking deep in thought. “Oh, well I really need to talk to them. It’s about uh, band stuff. It’s kind of important.”
All I could do was nod my head. I’ve always been really awkward when I talked to people, but with John I was just worse. I don’t know what it was, but whenever he was there I just couldn’t find the right words to say so I just said nothing. We sat there like that not saying anything for a little while until John finally broke the silence.
“So… did you, uh, hear about the tour?”
I brought my knees up to my chest and stared at the hood of the car before I responded by saying “yep,” slowly dragging the word out and popping the P at the end.
After what seemed like forever Pat and Garrett finally showed up. I looked at my phone and noticed it was now 2:25.
“Where the hell have you two been?” I asked.
“Sorry, Caitlin. We had stay after a bit to get some stuff for graduation,” said Pat.
Garrett looked to his left to see John sitting in his car with the window rolled down and he nudged Pat in the ribs lightly.
“Well, it’s a good thing we stayed after. Sorry if we were interrupting anything.” Garrett smirked; pleased with the fact that John and I were talking to each other, alone.
I rolled my eyes. Unfortunately, they weren’t interrupting anything.
John finally jumped into this conversation and said “I was just here because I needed to talk to you guys. We’re having practice today at 3 at Kenny’s house. We need to run through our set and we’re probably adding some more tour dates, so we need figure all of that out.”
Pat and Garrett were now serious and nodded their heads understandingly. “Alright, well I guess we’ll see you at 3 then. Is it okay if we bring Caitlin?” asked Garrett.
Both John and I were taken completely off guard by that statement. I had been to band practices before, but only on rare occasions because I usually had physical therapy the same time they practiced.
John squirmed a bit in his seat. “Well… uh I don’t think that’s a very good idea. We have, uh, a lot of shit to get done today so…”
“So…what? The three of us will be there at three.” Garrett said with a huge smile plastered on his face then climbed into the driver’s seat and shut the door before John could say anything.
John shrugged, rolled up his window, and drove off. Just like that.
I sighed and slid off the hood of the car, grabbed my backpack, and joined my two best friends.
“We didn’t talk about me going to band practice. What if I had physical therapy today?”
“C’mon now Caitlin everyone knows that you and John are secretly in love with each other and sometimes I feel like you underestimate us. We know your physical therapy schedule just as well as you, if not better,” Pat said matter of factly.
I opened my mouth to respond, but then closed it. Why waste my breath. I would argue multiple times a day that there was nothing between John and me. It was a huge lie…well half a lie. I liked him, but he didn’t like me. So, I quickly changed the subject and we had our usual conversation that made no sense to anyone, but us for the rest of the car ride back.
♠ ♠ ♠
Be sure to read the intro first!