You Can't Tell Me to Heal

Dr.Resnick helped me strap my wrist brace back on and I bolted out of his office. Well...not really. I sat in the waiting room texting Halvo for about twenty minutes or so about the party we were supposed to be going to later tonight. I was only texting him so I had something to do in the waiting room besides wait for Avery to show up.

"Has Avery Lassiter come in yet?" I finally resorted to asking the receptionist after half an hour. At this rate, I'm gonna be stuck in creeper creek forever!

"Ms.Lassiter called earlier and said she won't be coming in today," the receptionist told me.

I nodded and thanked her before sighing and heading to my car. I'd only just started it when Garrett called. " 'Sup, G-Man?" I answered my phone.

"Oh, finally, one of you picked up!" He sighed in relief. "I'm so sorry, but I can't make it to band practice today," he said apologetically. "My girlfriend's got a big game tomorrow, and I promised her I'd be there for this one, so we're driving up to -"

"Bro, I stopped listening when I heard the word 'girlfriend'," I cut Garrett off with a laugh that I hoped wasn't too bitter. "It's cool. I'll tell the guys. When are you coming back?"

"Well, it all depends on whether they win or lose their games, 'cause it's like this whole weekend tournament thing...Like, the earliest we'd be home is tomorrow night, and the latest we'd be home is Monday night. We could come back any day inbetween," he explained.

I groaned when I broke too hard at a stoplight and my water bottle fell out of the console onto the floor. At least the cap was on, so no water was spilled onto my car itself.

"What?" Garrett asked defensively, taking offense at my outburst even though my frustration wasn't directed at him. "You know we don't have band practice on weekends, and it's state! This is a big deal since it's her first time!"

"That's what she said," I snickered, and Garrett scoffed. "You really should've seen that one coming, G-Man... but, in all seriousness, though...When do we get to meet this girl? You guys have been together for...what, three months now?" I said, and Garrett laughed softly, that stupid sounding "I'm-so-in-like" laugh that I used to laugh all the time.

I didn't have a problem with my friends' girlfriends most of the time. Those girls just have to make my homeboys happy to get my approval. I had a problem when anyone tried to get a girlfriend for me, though. I lived by "Bros before hos."

"Get at me later, bro, I'm on the road. Tell your girl good luck for me, would you? Whatever sport she's playing..."

I heard a faint female giggle from Garrett's end. "Shannon says 'thank you'," Garrett said in a high pitched mock girly voice. "Bye, John. Drive safely." He hung up.

I drove to Pat's house, where everyone was already waiting. I explained Garrett's situation to everybody, and they were just as bummed as I was. Band practice just wasn't the same without all of us present. "Why don't you call up Halvo and see if he can come jam with us?" Pat suggested, and everyone agreed, so I called him.

Halvo picked up on the fifth ring. "Hey there, John! What's shakin'?"

"Hey, man, are you busy? Come jam with us! We lost Garrett to his girly friend for the weekend and are in desperate need of a bassist," I sighed dejectedly.

Halvo laughed nervously. "Oh, well you've lost me to my girly friend, too..." He trailed off. "John? You there, bro?" he asked after a few minutes.

"Since when do you have a girlfriend?" I asked, and it came out a little harsher than I meant it to. I didn't even let Halvo get a word in. I was more than slightly irritated that he didn't tell me anything about this new so-called girlfriend. "Let me guess, she's just one of those skank bags you picked up from the party last weekend, right?" I joked.

It was a bad joke, because Halvo blew up at me.

"Oh my fucking god, John, she's not a skank bag!" Halvo yelled at me...and, I mean yelled. Everyone stared at me and my phone. I even had to hold the it at arm's length now. Even at that distance, I could still hear Halvo. He was yelling really loud and angrily. I was shocked, to say the least.

"She's my fucking girlfriend, and she's fucking amazing, so you can show some fucking respect or shut the fuck up!" Halvo had snapped because of what I said and was going bat shit crazy. Good lord. "You know, just because Jenna was a skank bag doesn't mean -"

And he crossed the line with that one. "That was a low blow, bringing her up," I said quietly before ending the call. I tossed my phone onto Pat's couch and leaned against the wall, tiredly dragging a hand down my face as I sighed and tried not to think about Jenna too hard. Thanks so much for reopening that wound, Halvo...

"John?" Kennedy said my name hesitantly after a few minutes of me just standing there. I still couldn't quite process the fact that Halvo was even remotely mad at me. He was supposed to be one of my best friends...what the hell was happening to him now?

I moved away abruptly before Kennedy could touch my shoulder. "Let's practice."