Listen to Your Heart

A week later, I was in my room getting ready for a party Garrett and Rachel were throwing. They had finally purchased the home they had been wanting and wanted to throw a pool party. I was really excited to see their new home, but I was also dreading it. I knew John would be there and Heather would be with him. I really hated seeing them together. John and I also hadn't spoken since the day we had hung out with each other. It kind of bothered me, but I knew he was probably busy with other things. No doubt busy with Heather.

After I was finally ready, I walked out of my room and into my mom's were she was sitting on her bed going through some papers.

"Mom, I'm heading out now," I said. "Are you sure you don't need your car?"

"I'm sure," she said. "Go out and have some fun."

"Alright, thanks," I said and walked out of her room and down the stairs.

I grabbed my purse and the keys from the coffee table. I made my way outside and was greeted with the sun. It was a nice, beautiful day. I got inside my mom's car and made my way to the party.
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When I made it to Garrett and Rachel's new home, I looked around at it. It was a beautiful home. Perfect for Garrett and Rachel. I rang the door bell and waited for someone to answer. Rachel came to the door with a grin on her face.

"Hey, Brooke," she said as I stepped inside.

"Hey," I said as I looked around. "This is a really nice home."

"Thanks," she said as she looked around with me. "Let me put your stuff away for you."

I handed her my bag and she put it away for me. I looked around the house as we made our way outside. It really was nice.

When we made it to the spacious patio, I could see some of the guys and their girlfriends in the pool while the others were lounging around by it.

"Want anything to drink?" Rachel asked me.

"Water please."

She walked over to the cooler and grabbed me a water while I looked around. I could see John and Heather sitting by the pool talking. He finally spotted me and smiled as he waved at me. I smiled and waved back. Even though Heather was wearing sunglasses, I could still see the glare she was giving me.

"Here you go," Rachel said as she gave me my water.

"Thank you," I said as I took it from her.

"Rachel, come get back in the pool," Garrett said stepping beside Rachel.

"In a minute," she said to him. "Brooke just got here."

"It's fine, Rachel," I said to her as I sat the water down on the table and began taking my sandals off. "I'm about to get in too."

Garrett picked Rachel up and jumped into the pool with her. I smiled and shook my head as I took my dress off. I was wearing my bikini underneath. I could feel someone's eyes lingering on me so I looked around until I noticed John staring at me, which caused me to blush. Heather's glare only intensified when she noticed this. I put it to the back of my mind as I made my way to the pool and tested the water out with my toes before slowly getting inside. The water was cool, but relaxing.

"I think we should play chicken," Garrett said after a few moments.

I heard some shouts from the other guys and girls all stating their agreement.

"Alright, who wants to go against me and Rachel?" Garrett asked.

"We will," John said pointing to himself and Heather.

"I am not playing chicken, John," Heather said to him.

"Why not?" he asked her. "It's fun."

"No, it's not."

"Come on, Heather," he said to her. "Everyone else is playing."

"Why don't you partner up with Brooke if Heather doesn't want to play, John?" Rachel asked him. "You two were a great team back in the day."

I looked over at her quickly and could see her smirking. The girl was good.

"Want to, Brooke?" he asked me.

I looked from him to Heather who had yet another glare on her face. I could tell it was making her angry, which only made me happy.

"Why not?" I asked, shrugging. "We can take them down."

"In your dreams," Garrett said.

John stood up from his spot and took his shirt off. I caught myself admiring the tattoos he had that weren't there when we were younger. I heard Heather clear her throat and knew she had caught me. I shook my head quickly and looked away from him. He jumped into the pool beside of me splashing me with water as he did. I glared at him playfully while he smiled innocently. We swam over to where Garrett and Rachel were standing waiting for us.

"Ready?" John asked me.

I nodded and waited for him to get under the water so I could get on his shoulders. When I was on securely, he held onto my legs with his arms and rose up from the water. There goes those sparks again. Pat swam over to us to referee the game.

"Ready to go down?" I asked Garrett and Rachel.

"Shut up and show us what you got," Rachel said.

"Alright, folks," Pat began to say, sounding like a sports announcer, "the rules are...well, there are no rules. Both teams ready?"

We all nodded.

"Go!" he yelled.

Rachel and I began trying to shove the other one down. We were both pretty strong so either one of us could win. It really depended on whether the guys could keep their balance or not.

"Fall over already!" Rachel yelled, playfully.

"You fall over!" I yelled back.

We continued trying to push each other down. Rachel got a good shove in that almost knocked us down, but John kept his balance and tightened his grip on me. Several moments passed and the game was still going on. I didn't know which one of us would win, but I seemed to catch Rachel off guard and get a good shove in that caused Garrett to lose his balance. They both fell into the water. John and I had won.

"John and Brooke win!" Pat shouted.

"Only because he's a giraffe!" Rachel shouted.

John dropped us into the water and gave me a high five.

"Great job, Brooke," he said as he smiled.

"You too," I said as I smiled back.

"We're still a pretty great team, huh?" he asked.

I nodded at him. I could see Heather practically seething from the side of the pool, which only caused me to smile more.

"Who wants to play the victors?!" John shouted.

We continued playing the game. We beat Pat and Sarah, which caused Pat to throw a bit of an amusing tantrum. We played Kennedy and Kristen after them, but they beat us, which knocked us out of the game.

"I'm ready to go, John," Heather said to him after the game.

"Babe, we haven't even been here long," John said to her.

"So," she said. "I'm ready to go home and hang out alone."

I felt my blood begin to boil at that. I knew she was trying to get me.

"Alright then," he said and turned to me. "Thanks for being my partner."

"No problem," I said. "It was fun."

He nodded and swam to the side of the pool to get out where Heather was waiting for him with a towel.

"Where you going, John?" Garrett asked him.

"We're heading home," he said as he dried himself off.

"So early?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Thanks for inviting us over. It's a nice place. I'll see you guys later."

We all said our goodbyes to them. I sank more into the water once they were gone. My feelings were only developing more for him.