A New Beginning

That Sunday, I decided to finally bring Garrett to meet my parents. He’d met my mom before, but it wasn’t really “meeting” her. And, he’d spent so much time in my room, I figured my mom better get to know him, and maybe he could start coming over without having to sneak in. I went over to Garrett’s house to ask him, and when I told him, he seemed nervous. “I don’t know, Leah.” he said. “I don’t think they’d like me..” and he frowned. “Why wouldn’t they!” I said, smiling. But Garrett wasn’t convinced, “Come on, I’m not exactly the picture perfect teenager your parents expect. I don’t wear polos or khakis and my hair definitely isn’t up to par,” and he rubbed his hair, as if to emphasize this, and it got even messier. “They don’t care about that,” I tried to tell him. “All they care about is whether I like you, and you don’t have to worry about that,” I said, as I put my hand on his shoulder and pulled him in for a kiss. He smiled, and said, “Alright.”

That night, my mom asked whether Garrett would be coming or not tonight. I told her yes, and she seemed excited. “He seems like a very nice boy,” she said. “You have no idea,” I said, remembering a couple days before, when Garrett snuck in. I heard the doorbell ring, and I looked at my mom. We both knew it was Garrett, and it was finally time. I was nervous, and I wasn’t even meeting anyone. I got the door, and I looked at Garrett. I let out a small laugh, he had tried to comb his hair, but you could tell it had to have been ages since he’d touched a comb. He wore a blue button down that seemed a little too big for him, and he had on some black jeans. “I didn’t have any fancy clothes, so I had to borrow one of my dad’s shirts.” He said, and he frowned. I pulled him inside, kissed him on the cheek, and whispered, “you look fine,” before I pulled away. My mom was in the kitchen, and I took him to her first. “Mom, this is Garrett,” I said. She smiled, “Nice to meet you, honey,” and before Garrett could reply she pulled him in for a hug. “Oh Leah,” she said, “He’s much easier on the eyes than Brandon was..” and I laughed, awkwardly, while Garrett blushed. I walked to the living room, where my Dad was, and Garrett followed me. “Dad,” I said, “This is Garrett. He lives across the street and he goes to my school.” My Dad looked up from his paper. He looked at Garrett from over his glasses and for a second it looked like he was ready to say “Get out of my house,” when he stood up, and said “It’s nice to meet you, son!” and he held out his hand. Garrett hesitated, but took it anyway. “It’s nice to meet you too, sir,” he said. Then I cut in, “Dad, me and Garrett are gonna go watch a movie. We’ll be back later tonight.” But my Dad was hardly paying attention, he had already sat back down and was looking for where he left off in the paper. “Yeah that’s great honey,” he said, and I took that as our cue to leave.

“That wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” Garrett said as we walked outside. “I told you not to worry!” I told him. We got in his car, and as he started to drive, he grabbed my hand, holding it in his. “But why did you tell your dad that we were going to a movie?” he asked. “Because,” I said. “He wouldn’t take it so well if I told him I was going to a house full of boys to hang out,” and we both laughed.

When we got to John’s house, everyone was already there. When we walked in, we could see Jared and John at their usual spot by the pool table, and Kennedy and Pat were sitting on the couch watching a re run of Parks and Rec. When John saw us, he came over and hugged me, “Hey, Leah,” he said. “I’m glad you’re here. You can finally help us decide which movie to watch!” and we all walked to the couch. Jared pulled two chairs from the kitchen for him and Kennedy, and John sat on a recliner. Pat scooted over so me and Garrett could sit down. “You guys want a drink?” Jared asked as he started walking to the kitchen. Me and Garrett both said yes, and soon we started watching some old zombie movie Garrett had snuck in.

A couple hours later, the movie was over and everyone was in the backyard, listening to John sing as Kennedy played guitar. Jared was playing earlier, but he had gotten a little too drunk to coordinate himself anymore and Kennedy, barely any more sober, insisted on taking over. Everyone was laughing and yelling and listening to John sing classics. Pat had started a small bonfire, and everyone was gathered around. It was a fun time, I have to admit. Then Garrett said, “Hey, I think I’d better run to the store and get some more beer. You wanna come Leah?” I agreed, and soon we were back in his car. “How are you gonna buy the beer?” I said, “You’re no older than me.” Garrett laughed, and winked at me. Soon we were in the gas station, and it was pretty empty except for us. I walked around, looking at the magazines as Garrett grabbed two six packs. He walked over to the cashier, and I saw him pull out a fake I.D., and to my surprise, the cashier didn’t even glance at it, and gave Garrett his receipt. We walked out, and started driving back. When we got to John’s house, Garrett stopped the car, but he didn’t get out. “What’s wrong?” I said. He didn’t say anything, he just leaned over and started kissing me. I felt electric shocks pulsing through my body as I felt his hand over the small of my back. I climbed over and sat on his lap, my legs resting on the edges of his seat. His hand ran through my hair, and started kissing his neck. I put my hands on his stomach, and began pulling his shirt up. “Wait,” he said. “Let’s take the beer in and then we can leave.” And I knew what else he was thinking. “Okay,” I whispered, and opened the door. We got out and took the beer to the backyard, telling everyone that we’d better get going, it was getting late.

We drove back to my house, and all the lights were off. Just then my phone vibrated. I looked at it, and it was my mom. “Honey, me and your dad are going out to eat tonight. There’s some food in the fridge if you’re hungry when you get back.” the message said. I looked at Garrett, and told him “My parents went out.” He smiled, and said, “Mine too.” Then he parked his car in his driveway and led me inside his house. It was dark, and he didn’t turn any lights on as we walked through his house and went inside his room. He closed his bedroom door behind me and stood facing me. He took a step closer, and I could feel his hot breath against my neck, reminding me of the other night. I bit my lip, and he stepped closer again, our hips touching. He pushed me against the door, and one hand was in my hair while the other pulled up my shirt. His breathing quickened, and so did mine. He tossed my shirt on the floor and both of his hands were on the small of my back, his lips never leaving mine. I pulled his shirt off, and I pulled him to his bed. By this time, our eyes had adjusted to the dark and I could see him pretty clearly. His hair fell over his face as he looked down at me, and I could almost hear my pulse, my heart was beating so fast. I laughed and grabbed the back of his neck, pulling his face to mine. We kissed more passionately than we ever had. Then we took our pants off and soon, we were naked, tangled together, once again.