We Are The Tide

It was the day John and Garrett were moving up. Sam hadn’t seen Garrett in months and was quite excited to see him.

“Hello?” Sam answered her phone.

“HI! We’re almost there. We’re dropping the van off and then you should come pick us up so we can hang out.” Garrett said.

“That sounds like a plan. Are you hungry? Do you want to eat?”

“Please remember who you’re talking to. I’m always hungry.” Garrett said with a laugh.

“Good point. Okay, well just tell me when you get to the house and we’ll be over. Decide what you want to eat, too.” Sam replied as she hung up the phone.

“Do you think we should just go over to the house to surprise them?” Lucy asked with a smile.

“I know the closet I’m hiding in.”



Lucy grabbed her keys, and the two ran out the door and straight to her car. They made the drive to her and John’s new house in fifteen minutes flat, making sure to park farther down the street, just in case the guys would recognize her car. When they were sure they had beaten the boys, they snuck in the house and hid, waiting for them to arrive.

They were hiding for hardly five minutes before they heard the boys voices echoing through the empty house.

Sam quickly turned her phone on silent, just in case Garrett decided to call again, hoping she wouldn’t get caught and ruin the surprise. She heard Garrett’s voice coming from the next room talking to John, and she smiled at the sound.

“So, you wanna unpack first, or call the girls now? I gotta call Sam again to tell her we’re here. Oh yeah, I forgot, she said we gotta figure out what we wanna eat. What’s good around here?”

“I don’t know man, I don’t know this area at all. Let’s leave it up to them, I’m down for anything at this point. I just wanna see my girl. You call Sam, I’ll go grab a box or two.” John’s voice trailed down the hallway away from the room Sam was hiding in. She quickly texted Marco to Garrett while John was talking, waiting a moment or two after their conversation ended so as not to give herself away.

“Marco? What?” Sam heard Garrett’s confused voice waft through the doorway, signaling he was right outside the room. “Marco… wait, polo?” Sam’s phone blinked shortly after, with the word Polo? In a text message from Garrett. She quickly tapped away at the screen, resending the same text message, and hoping he’d figure it out. She could hear his footsteps as his feet shuffled across the hardwood floor in the hallway outside the room.

“Marco? Again? Sam, what are you doing?” Garrett’s voice was even more confused.

“Hmm.. POLO?” His voice rang through the hallway, farther away from where he was before, and Sam giggled quietly to herself before she stifled her laughter as she received an accompanying text message. She silently cracked the closet door open and whisper-yelled “MARCO.” Before slipping the door shut again, and texting it back to him in case he missed it.

She heard Garrett’s laugh followed by another audible “POLO” echo through the hallway.

“Maaarrrccooooo.” She whisper-yelled again, and ignored his phone call that came right after.

“JOHN, THE GIRLS ARE IN THE HOUSE. I DON’T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE, BUT I THINK THEY’RE HIDING.” Sam held her hands over her mouth, swallowing her laughter as she heard Garrett yell through the house.

“What are you talking about Gar, the girls aren’t here. The car’s not outside. I just texted Lucy and she said they were at home.” Sam quickly sent a text to Lucy. [i[Clever move with John. =) I’m going to get caught though, G’s right outside my room.

“I just know, okay? Like this, watch. POLO!” He ran through the first floor, hoping to hear a response, and Sam’s phone started to blink. She smiled at Garrett’s name flashing across the screen, complete with a personalized photo of him he’d taken while they were on tour overseas almost four years ago to cheer her up when she was overly stressed with school. He’d always commented on how he wanted to change it because they were older now, and he was sure she was bored with it by now, but she kept it because it meant something to her.

“Marco.” Sam whispered into the phone without saying hello or anything else.

“Okay Sam, I know you’re here. I heard you say marco already. I just don’t know where you are.”

“Well that’s for me to know, and for you to find out.” She heard his footsteps shuffle into the room she was hiding in, and stop for a moment as he spoke.

“I’ve looked in every room twice now. I’m not giving up though, I WILL find you.”

She silently stood up and hid against the wall in case he chose to open the closet door, she wouldn’t get whacked in such a small space. She heard his footsteps start up again, and sensed he was giving up.

“MARCO.” She jumped out of the closet and collided with him, not realizing he was at the closet door, about to open it.

“SAMI!” He hugged her and spun her around for a moment before putting her down. “I’m actually impressed. It took me a while to figure that one out there, best friend. Good one.” His smile made her smile as she hugged him again, holding him tight because she hadn’t seen him in so long.

“Ugh, I’ve missed you kid. I’m so glad you’re here now. I can’t wait to see you every day, you’ll love it here.” Garrett pulled back from the hug with a smile still on his face as Sam spoke, nodding in agreement.

“I always loved it here when we would tour. I’m excited to finally experience more of the city, and I guess I missed my best friend too.”

John popped his head into the room, carrying a few boxes stacked on each other labeled STUDIO STUFF. “Oh hey Sam, you are here. Where’s Luce?”

Before Sam could respond, John set the box down and yelled “LUCY, I’M HOME.” With a big grin. Lucy quickly came running into the room moments later and practically jumped into his arms.

“I’ve missed you sooooooo much, babe! One week, one week, ONE WEEK!” She kissed him a few times before he could respond, he adjusted his arms to support her weight and laughed at her giddiness.

“You’re cute sometimes.”

“Psh, I’m cute ALL THE TIME. That’s why you keep me around, duhh.”

“That you are, Darlin’, that you are.” He kissed her on the cheek and set her down, wrapping one arm around her shoulders to hold her close as he turned to the other two. “So, now that we’re all here. Food? I’m starving, babe. What’s good around here?”

“The closest Chipotle is only a short max ride away. I’ve been craving that for a while now. Sound good to anyone else?” Sam piped up before Lucy could respond. “That is, um, if anyone else wants it…”

“How about this: it’s still early. What if we unload the van and the trailer, and then we hit up Ikea because we don’t have any furniture for the new house, and there’s no way we’re having that housewarming party with no furniture. After we do that, we can swing by Chipotle, because that sounds nom, alright? Work first, food second.” Lucy took charge of the conversation, structuring the rest of the morning in a way the boys and Sam couldn’t say no to.

“Alright, then let’s get going. I’m starved, and the sooner we get this done, the sooner I can eat.” John ran out the door and toward the van to continue unloading with the rest of the group trailing close behind. They got the van and trailer completely unpacked in a little over a half hour. John hopped in the driver’s seat and the four took off to Ikea across town in search of furniture.

“Babe, didn’t we register for all of this already when you came to visit me two months ago in Phoenix? Why can’t we wait for the wedding to see what we get before we go spending hundreds of dollars on new furniture?” John plopped down on a display couch in one of the pre-made rooms while Lucy compared prices for a few items before tossing something in the cart.

“Yes, but we need a bunch of this stuff NOW. How about this, we’ll get stuff we need now, but only the essentials. Just enough to get through this week and through the wedding. We can always return whatever we have extra after we open presents, y’know. That’s what the return policy is for.”

Garrett plopped down on the couch next to John, crossing his arms in protest. “Need food. No more shopping. That’s girlie stuff.”

“Johnny—“

“Uh oh, she’s calling you Johnny. You know what that means…” Garrett whispered under his breath, elbowing his friend in the side. “Somebody’s gonna get it…”

“At this point, we only have a few towels, no kitchen things, and you don’t even have a bed. I can’t even think that you would put up with sleeping on a leaky air mattress for a whole week, let alone have no couches or beds or anything for our guests to sleep on while they’re here. Your parents gifted us the money when we picked out this house, and I intend to use it because I don’t want to disappoint them.”

“But Babe, who said anything about an air mattress? That’s what your bed is for…” John turned to lean over the back of the couch to face his fiance.

“Nope. My bed is off limits to you until we say ‘I Do.” So you’re gonna have to deal with that leaky old thing, or get off your scrawny ass and help me find some acceptable furniture. I’m sure your mother would love to come shopping with me later after they fly in, but they won’t be here until just before the wedding, and the party is in four days. Besides, where are the guys going to sleep? I know you’ve lived the tour life, so anywhere is acceptable to you, but I don’t think so. C’mon, pleaseeeeee?” Using that sweet, logical voice along with that stubborn yet determined face that John could never say no to, he was putty in Lucy’s hands and he stood up from the couch a moment later.

“There, uhh, was a comforter set thing whatever in another showroom around the corner that I kinda liked. Let’s start there.” He laced his hands with hers and they were off, leaving Sam and Garrett behind.

“Are we done yet, ‘cause really, I’m starved. All this driving and moving and whatnot is making me sleepy and oh so hungry.” Garrett whined as he curled up against Sam who had joined them on the couch during Lucy’s speech.

“What are you, five today? C’mon, they’re probably gonna leave without us if we don’t catch up, and then we’ll have to take the train back to the house.”

Sam and Garrett headed off in the direction their friends had gone, and after a few minutes of wandering around showroom after showroom, they were reunited. Shopping after that was fairly simple, John seemed much more on board with things after Lucy gave him a talking to, and they finished shopping for the essentials within an hour. The van and trailer were loaded with furniture and much needed home items, and they drove off back toward the house across town.

As they approached downtown on the freeway, Lucy suggested they make a pit stop, parking the van at her and Sam’s apartment in Chinatown and walking to get food from there. Chipotle was only a short max ride away and all four agreed it was time for food. As John pulled off the freeway and down Burnside toward Chinatown, Lucy gave him directions on where to park. They parked the van and trailer in a parking lot, feeling it was slightly safer there than somewhere on the street, and walked to the other side of the fence toward the MAX train platform. They had five minutes to wait, and within seconds, John and Garrett were playing in the street where they didn’t belong.

“Babe, get out of the street. You’re gonna get run over by the MAX.” Lucy groaned in her I-can’t-take-you-anywhere voice.

“Hey, isn’t that the Roseland? We played there once, it was one of our first tours.” Garrett had wandered down the street toward the building across from them, observing the tour bus in their back parking lot.

“We never played there again, only that one time. I don’t really remember the room ‘cause it was so long ago, only that this train wasn’t running yet and I still got yelled at for standing in the street.” John chuckled to himself as he looked around at his surroundings in a nostalgic way.

“Y’know, it’d be a more direct route if we took the red or blue line rather than the green. We should walk that way and catch one of those trains.” Sam was looking at the arrival time board and map, debating which route would be less confusing for the guys. “Let’s go this way, the other platform is about six blocks or so from here.” She started heading down the street, leaving the rest of the group behind. Lucy quickly followed, knowing right where she was going, pulling John with her, and leaving Garrett to tag behind.

“Ugh, SO MUCH WALKING…” Garrett started to complain after walking only a block and a half through Chinatown, and Lucy zipped him right up with a sharp “Get used to it.” They had just missed the train by the time they arrived at the platform, and it would be another ten minutes before another train was due to arrive. Both Sam and Lucy knew they could walk there faster than that, so they continued on for a few minutes, dragging the boys behind them along the waterfront to enjoy a nice view of the city before they jetted down a cobblestone side street.

John and Lucy walked hand in hand, while Sam and Garrett bumbled along a few steps ahead, constantly bumping into each other and shoving each other out of the way in return, as best friends do. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom today, cascading slowly to the ground in time with the light breeze. They passed by the downtown library, stopping at the max tracks for the train to go by. Garrett was cornered by pan handlers, and he stood mumbling incoherently in a panic before Sam came to rescue him, shooing away the homeless olds.

“Jeez Gary, I take my eyes off you for one second…” She laughed as he recovered from his panic.

“Um, will that happen a lot?” His voice was shy, slightly embarrassed that he wasn’t prepared for it and therefore didn’t know how to respond.

“All day, every day. It’s best to just say no and move on quickly. They make so much money by doing that, you’d be surprised.” Lucy piped in to educate Garrett on downtown Portland.

It was then that Chipotle showed up in the distance and Garrett and John cheered when they realized how close they finally were.