Hearts So Pure

The boys had a show to play that night, so as usual, me and Nicole sat at the bar while they set up backstage.

People started packing in, and I know that Janice and Alicia had to be here somewhere. Garrett hadn’t said anything to me about Janice, so I wasn’t clear where any of us stood on that matter.

When the boys went up to play, Nicole and I walked over to the crowd. We pushed our way to the front row, and John looked down at us from the stage, smiling wide.

He spoke into the microphone, “I’d like to thank two very special girls tonight,” he said. The crowd cheered, and John looked back down at both of us. He extended his hand down, and Nicole grabbed his hand. He pulled her up onto the stage, and I looked over at Garrett. He was already reaching down, a big smile on his face.

Nicole and I stood next to them, looking out onto the crowd. John grabbed the microphone again, saying “Without these two girls, we’d probably be passed out drunk right now.” The crowd laughed, and John turned to Nicole, grabbing her by her waist and pulling her into him.

He kissed her, and the crowd wooed. I smiled, thinking about how cute they were, and I felt Garrett grab my own waist from behind, and soon I felt his soft lips on mine. The crowd cheered again, and when he pulled away, I looked out at the crowd nervously.

Near the back, I saw Alicia and Janice. Alicia had a cigarette to her lips, and she was leaning against the wall. Janice, her arms folded, was smacking gum in her mouth and staring right at me, an unimpressed look on her face. I turned away when John said, “We’re the Maine from Phoenix, Arizona.”

Me and Nicole stepped to the side of the stage as the boys started to play. She watched them intently, a huge smile on her face. Every once in a while, John would look over and wink at her.

When they were through playing their set, we all walked outside to the sidewalk. Kennedy was busy telling us about how some girl had followed him to the bathroom, trying to get his number. We were all listening and laughing along, when the familiar smell of cigarettes mixed with heavy perfume filled our nostrils.

I turned to see Alicia walking up to Pat, placing her hand on his stomach and telling him how great he was tonight. Janice stood next to her, still smacking the same gum in her mouth, staring at Garrett, who was holding my hand. She raised her eyebrows at us, and Garrett turned to me, whispering in my ear, “Just ignore her.”

Then she grabbed Alicia by the arm, who turned around, her blonde hair flying. “Let’s go,” she said sharply, and Alicia turned and winked at Pat before walking off with Janice.

When they were gone, everyone stayed quiet. “Man..” Pat said. “We really need to stop hanging out outside after shows.”

Everyone let out a nervous chuckle, and I knew that next time, we definitely wouldn’t give them a chance to bother us.

When we got back to John’s house, everyone was beat. Garrett invited me to his room, saying, “Bring your stuff, you can keep it in here.”

I grabbed my suitcase, and hauled it to his room. Garrett was waiting for me, and he had two empty drawers hanging open. “Here,” he said, taking the suitcase handle from my hands. “I’ll help you put some clothes in here.”

I frowned. “Garrett,” I said. “You don’t have to-” But he was already unzipping my suitcase, stuffing clothes into the drawers.

He got through my pile of shirts, then pants. I watched as he slowly got to the bottom of my suitcase, to my underwear collection. I went to grab the suitcase from him, “Here,” I said in a rush. “I can do the rest-“

But he already had a handful of my underwear in his hands. “It’s not a big deal,” he said, laughing. He packed it into the drawer, then stopped. He pulled out a lacy pair of underwear from the stack he just made, holding it up. “Why don’t you ever wear these?” he said, his eyes on the underwear.

I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. I honestly doubted I would ever exit my awkward teenage phase. “Garrett,” I said, snatching them from his hand and shoving them back in the drawer. “Stop.”

Garrett laughed, and stood up, stepping over my suitcase. He walked over to the bed, where I had been sitting. “Yeah you’re right,” he said, his face inching closer to mine. “I’d rather you not wear anything,”

I was full on blushing now, he’d never been this…. confident? He nuzzled his mouth to my neck, kissing me softly. I leaned back, and he leaned over me, my legs between his. Balancing his weight on one hand, his other hand ran through my hair.

Thoughts of Janice and earlier tonight rushed through my head. “Garrett,” I said. “I’m tired.” And I rolled over. Garrett sighed, and laid down next to me. I pulled the covers to my chest, and I felt Garrett’s body slide next to mine. His hand moved to my waist, and we scooted closer. I closed my eyes, and tried to fall asleep.

Seconds later, and I mean like 3 seconds after I closed my eyes, I heard a knock. I guess Garrett heard it, too, because he turned around, looking at his window. We waited for a second, and we heard a harder knock. Garrett stood up, and walked to his window.

I was nervous, someone was knocking at his window in the middle of the night. I sat up, and watched Garrett as he slid the window open.

Janice leaned into the room, taking a drag from her cigarette. She didn’t see me I guess, and she said, “Hey, I missed you.”

Garrett took a step back, but Janice leaned in farther, and grabbed his collar. “Aren’t you gonna invite me in?” she said, her voice hoarse. Garrett stepped back, and she let go of him.

“Janice,” he said. “I told you, we’re done.”

She laughed, and said back. “Oh you were serious about that? I guess you want to go back with that stupid girl, what’s her name?”

“Leah,” I said loudly from the bed. Janice jumped, and looked in my direction. She pursed her lips at me, then she laughed. Leaning back out, she turned to Garrett. She whispered something, but I couldn’t hear. She gave me one last look, then she turned around and walked away. Garrett watched her leave, then slammed the window shut.

Walking over to me, he said, “I’m really sorry, Leah.”

I shook my head. “It’s not your fault,” I said quietly.

Garrett slid next to me again, and rested his chin on my shoulder. I didn’t move, I just looked ahead.

We stayed like that for a while, and all I could focus on was Garrett’s skin against mine. Then he pressed my shoulder down to the bed, leaving me on my back. I turned, burying my face in his chest. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me even closer.

He rested his chin on my head, and I heard him whisper, “I love you.”

I closed my eyes, with his arms still around me, and fell asleep.