Sequel: Hearts So Pure ›
A New Beginning
Seven
After a good 30 minutes of laying in my bed and sobbing, I finally fell asleep, and I woke up around ten thirty. Figuring I had to get up, I took a shower and went for some coffee. When I got back home, I mostly spent the day watching re runs of Friends and eating ice cream. I figured I had the right to, after the morning I’d had. When it was around 7 and I’d had enough, I went outside. I didn’t hope to see Garrett or anything, I just needed some air. And I was a firm believer in taking walks when things seemed bad. So I walked a pretty good distance from my house, taking in the September air and letting it fill my lungs until my whole body was cold. I was surprised when I heard Soul to Squeeze by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, my favorite song, coming from behind me. I barely had time to look around when I heard someone call my name. Then I saw Kennedy pull up next to me in a car. “Hey,” he said, smiling. It was then that I noticed his teeth. White as teeth could get, and with a tiny gap between the front two. It didn’t look weird though, or even bad. Somehow, they gave him character. I smiled, “Hey,” I said. I was just glad someone was happy to see me. “Listen,” he began. “I was just about to get some groceries and make dinner. I saw you walking all alone and figured I’d ask you to come. Just the two of us, no pressure. It would be fun.” I smiled, relieved. It was a great opportunity to get to know him better, especially since I’d be spending time with him and the rest of the boys now, they were the only people I’d met here that were around my age. I agreed, happy to be going somewhere other than my house or the coffee shop. We didn’t speak much, we mostly just listened to RHCP on the way to the grocery store. When we got there, he asked what I wanted to eat. “Whatever you were planning on making is fine,” I said. Kennedy shrugged, but he appeared a couple minutes later with some meat and taco shells. “Taco night?” He said with a smile. I laughed. Who didn’t like tacos? And soon, we were back in the car, and pulling up to his house. When we got inside, I noticed he must have lived alone. There wasn’t much furniture, just a tv, some couches, and a coffee table. Nothing fancy. We walked to the kitchen, and I offered to help. “Um, well you can start cutting the lettuce.” He said, as he put the meat on the stove. I began to chop and I heard the meat sizzling behind me. “So,” he started. “You and Garrett…” Immediately, I replied, “Oh, no. There’s definitely nothing going on there.” I turned around to look at him, and he shrugged. “Oh, well it just seemed like you two like each other and all,” he said. “No,” I said. “Trust me.”
We really didn’t talk much after that, and we ate our tacos pretty much the same way. But afterwards, after we were cleaning up, he said, “Leah, I’m really glad you’re here. You’re a really nice girl, and its cool to have someone new in the group.” I smiled. Maybe life in this new town wouldn’t be so bad, after all.
Then we sat on the couch and started watching tv. We were watching some reality show and it was pretty stupid, and me and Kennedy spent some time laughing at how all the girls looked like they had gotten plastic surgery. When it was around eleven, he drove me home. He even offered to walk me to my door, which was sweet. When we were right at my front door, he said, “Leah, I had a really nice time tonight! Honestly, I’m glad you’re here.” and he smiled again. I couldn’t help but stare at that smile. And it was his lips I was still looking at when I saw them come nearer to me until they were right on mine, and me and Kennedy were kissing. Surprised, I pulled back, and I let out a little gasp. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. We were just friends, right? “You said no pressure, just friends….” I told him. He bit his lower lip and looked down, while his hand grabbed the back of his neck. “I just thought…” he trailed off. “Listen, Kennedy,” I said. “You’re a really nice boy, and I really appreciate all you guys are doing for me, but I don’t think right now would be a good time to be involved with someone.” It was the truth, strangely. He nodded, and walked back to his car. I felt guilty, somehow. But I just opened the door and walked inside my room.
The next morning, I didn’t have any time to think about Kennedy or Garrett or anyone for that matter, because I was getting ready for my first day of school. October had just begun, and it had gotten colder overnight. I threw on a long sleeve shirt and some jeans I had bought recently. After I was done getting ready, my mom drove me to my new high school. I didn’t think I would see anyone I knew, because I was pretty sure John, Jared, Kennedy, Pat, and Garrett had all graduated. But to my surprise, there was Pat in my first period Government class. He saw me when he walked in, and came to sit by me. “Don’t worry,” he began. “I know starting a new school is scary. But you have me and Garrett!” I assumed he meant that him and Garrett were still in high school, and everyone else had graduated. We spent the rest of class taking notes and joking around, and I honestly felt that this was the best friendship I’d made since I’d been here. When class ended, Pat told me to meet him at his car in the parking lot for lunch. I told him I would, then I went to second period. Pat or Garrett weren’t in that class, but I made a friend with this girl who sat across from me, Tabby. When lunch came along, I made my way to the student parking lot and just sort of looked around, hoping I could spot Pat. I saw Garrett instead, walking with a girl through the parking lot. I immediately felt at once guilty and jealous. Guilty because of Kennedy, even if I didn’t like him, and jealous because well, she was so pretty, and they were laughing and it seemed like she liked him. I watched them walk over to Pat, and she left. Pat said something to Garrett, and he started looking around. He probably told them I’d be meeting them there. Garrett’s eyes searched the parking lot until we were staring straight at eachother, and we kind of stayed like that for a good ten seconds. Then I looked down, and started walking towards the car.
“Leah!” Pat said. “Get in.”
I smiled at him, and we all got into his car. Pat and Garrett in the front seat, and me in the back. We drove to a fast food place where Pat ordered three burgers, and then we were off somewhere else.
“We have an hour and a half lunch,” Pat said, handing me my burger and biting his, “And usually we take this time to practice. John, Kenny, and Jared have been doing it for a while, but since we’re the babies,” and Garrett laughed right here, “we’re going at our lunch.”
I kind of nodded, and we all ate our burgers in the car. Then we pulled into John’s driveway and walked in. From the driveway you could already hear guitars playing, and John laughing. We walked in and everyone seemed to have already gotten settled. John was still in his pajamas, and Kennedy had a coke can right next to him. Pat took a seat behind a set of drums, and Garrett went off somewhere, and came back with a bass guitar. I found a seat in a recliner on the other side of the room. I figured I’d give them some space. Then they started playing. And honestly, for a couple of teenagers from Arizona, they were good. They were coordinated and once they started playing, they didn’t joke around. John was phenomenal. I just watched them play, fascinated, until Pat took a look at the time and announced, “whoops, lunch over. See ya, guys.” He packed up his stuff and so did Garrett. I saw Kennedy shoot me a glance. I looked down, and told them bye, too. Soon, we were back in the car, and after that, back at school.
The rest of my classes were pretty easy, and I made a couple friends. The school was kind of small and so I didn’t have to worry about getting lost. When the bell rang and school was over, I started walking home. My mom could take me to school in the mornings, but she had work in the evenings. It wasn’t so bad, though, it wasn’t a long walk and I needed the exercise. Halfway down the street, I saw a familiar car driving towards me. I tried to think where I remembered it from, until it pulled over right by me and Kennedy was saying “Hey, I was just in the neighborhood…need a ride?” Honestly, I was relieved. It was getting cold, anyway. I nodded, and got in.
The drive wasn’t long, but boy was it awkward. I hoped he wouldn’t pull anything. But when we got to my house, he simply said, “Here we are.” I thanked him, and got out. But when I was walking away, I kind of wondered why he hadn’t tried anything. Of course I would have told him we’re just friends, but I felt myself wondering what would have happened if he had tried to kiss me, there in his car. I wondered about it even as I fell asleep that night.
We really didn’t talk much after that, and we ate our tacos pretty much the same way. But afterwards, after we were cleaning up, he said, “Leah, I’m really glad you’re here. You’re a really nice girl, and its cool to have someone new in the group.” I smiled. Maybe life in this new town wouldn’t be so bad, after all.
Then we sat on the couch and started watching tv. We were watching some reality show and it was pretty stupid, and me and Kennedy spent some time laughing at how all the girls looked like they had gotten plastic surgery. When it was around eleven, he drove me home. He even offered to walk me to my door, which was sweet. When we were right at my front door, he said, “Leah, I had a really nice time tonight! Honestly, I’m glad you’re here.” and he smiled again. I couldn’t help but stare at that smile. And it was his lips I was still looking at when I saw them come nearer to me until they were right on mine, and me and Kennedy were kissing. Surprised, I pulled back, and I let out a little gasp. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. We were just friends, right? “You said no pressure, just friends….” I told him. He bit his lower lip and looked down, while his hand grabbed the back of his neck. “I just thought…” he trailed off. “Listen, Kennedy,” I said. “You’re a really nice boy, and I really appreciate all you guys are doing for me, but I don’t think right now would be a good time to be involved with someone.” It was the truth, strangely. He nodded, and walked back to his car. I felt guilty, somehow. But I just opened the door and walked inside my room.
The next morning, I didn’t have any time to think about Kennedy or Garrett or anyone for that matter, because I was getting ready for my first day of school. October had just begun, and it had gotten colder overnight. I threw on a long sleeve shirt and some jeans I had bought recently. After I was done getting ready, my mom drove me to my new high school. I didn’t think I would see anyone I knew, because I was pretty sure John, Jared, Kennedy, Pat, and Garrett had all graduated. But to my surprise, there was Pat in my first period Government class. He saw me when he walked in, and came to sit by me. “Don’t worry,” he began. “I know starting a new school is scary. But you have me and Garrett!” I assumed he meant that him and Garrett were still in high school, and everyone else had graduated. We spent the rest of class taking notes and joking around, and I honestly felt that this was the best friendship I’d made since I’d been here. When class ended, Pat told me to meet him at his car in the parking lot for lunch. I told him I would, then I went to second period. Pat or Garrett weren’t in that class, but I made a friend with this girl who sat across from me, Tabby. When lunch came along, I made my way to the student parking lot and just sort of looked around, hoping I could spot Pat. I saw Garrett instead, walking with a girl through the parking lot. I immediately felt at once guilty and jealous. Guilty because of Kennedy, even if I didn’t like him, and jealous because well, she was so pretty, and they were laughing and it seemed like she liked him. I watched them walk over to Pat, and she left. Pat said something to Garrett, and he started looking around. He probably told them I’d be meeting them there. Garrett’s eyes searched the parking lot until we were staring straight at eachother, and we kind of stayed like that for a good ten seconds. Then I looked down, and started walking towards the car.
“Leah!” Pat said. “Get in.”
I smiled at him, and we all got into his car. Pat and Garrett in the front seat, and me in the back. We drove to a fast food place where Pat ordered three burgers, and then we were off somewhere else.
“We have an hour and a half lunch,” Pat said, handing me my burger and biting his, “And usually we take this time to practice. John, Kenny, and Jared have been doing it for a while, but since we’re the babies,” and Garrett laughed right here, “we’re going at our lunch.”
I kind of nodded, and we all ate our burgers in the car. Then we pulled into John’s driveway and walked in. From the driveway you could already hear guitars playing, and John laughing. We walked in and everyone seemed to have already gotten settled. John was still in his pajamas, and Kennedy had a coke can right next to him. Pat took a seat behind a set of drums, and Garrett went off somewhere, and came back with a bass guitar. I found a seat in a recliner on the other side of the room. I figured I’d give them some space. Then they started playing. And honestly, for a couple of teenagers from Arizona, they were good. They were coordinated and once they started playing, they didn’t joke around. John was phenomenal. I just watched them play, fascinated, until Pat took a look at the time and announced, “whoops, lunch over. See ya, guys.” He packed up his stuff and so did Garrett. I saw Kennedy shoot me a glance. I looked down, and told them bye, too. Soon, we were back in the car, and after that, back at school.
The rest of my classes were pretty easy, and I made a couple friends. The school was kind of small and so I didn’t have to worry about getting lost. When the bell rang and school was over, I started walking home. My mom could take me to school in the mornings, but she had work in the evenings. It wasn’t so bad, though, it wasn’t a long walk and I needed the exercise. Halfway down the street, I saw a familiar car driving towards me. I tried to think where I remembered it from, until it pulled over right by me and Kennedy was saying “Hey, I was just in the neighborhood…need a ride?” Honestly, I was relieved. It was getting cold, anyway. I nodded, and got in.
The drive wasn’t long, but boy was it awkward. I hoped he wouldn’t pull anything. But when we got to my house, he simply said, “Here we are.” I thanked him, and got out. But when I was walking away, I kind of wondered why he hadn’t tried anything. Of course I would have told him we’re just friends, but I felt myself wondering what would have happened if he had tried to kiss me, there in his car. I wondered about it even as I fell asleep that night.