One Pack of Smokes from Broke.

Garrett laid his head against the window of Tim's car.

He was on his way to their friend Halvo's party. Pat sat next to him, going on about how he'd "score" tonight with Charlie. The only think keeping Garrett's cool was the fact that he knew it was very unlikely.

Garrett wondered what he'd say to her. He prayed he wouldn't embarrass himself but he knew he probably would. He wondered if they'd just stare into each other's eyes again.

Either way, he was thankful that Rebecca wasn't here. He knew she'd be on his arm at all times, ruining his chances at talking to Charlie.

He felt bad for thinking like that. Rebecca was his girlfriend. He should want her here, not not want her here because he wanted some other girl.

But he'd been dating Rebecca for over a year. Even before Charlie, things just weren't the same between them anymore. Sure, he loved her, but he wasn't in love with her. A year ago, he'd thought he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Now, he didn't particularly like that idea. It wasn't Rebecca's fault, he just didn't feel that way anymore. Plus, she'd become somewhat of a bitch.

Garrett's stomach flopped as the car stopped in front of Halvo's house, it was packed with partiers.

As they walked into the house, Garrett tried to loose Pat in the crowd. He knew he'd had a better chance of finding Charlie than him, he had been memorizing her for 2 weeks.

He maneuvered throughout the crowd, looking . When he looked to his left, Pat was no longer beside him. He smiled to himself and ended up by Halvo's backdoor. He looked out, and there she was. Well, that was easy, he thought.

Charlie stood in the middle of the backyard, gazing up at the moon. She wore denim shorts that exposed her perfect legs(and ass) that Garrett had to think about dead puppies to keep himself from drooling.

The sleeve to a blue and grey stripped cardigan he'd seen her wear before was sliding off her thin shoulder, exposing more skin and the strap of her spaghetti strap tank-top... and her bra,he thought.

Garrett placed a hand on the sliding glass black door. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. He saw that she was alone in the backyard, which is a plus, he thought positively,

He pushed the door open quietly, stepped out, pushed it closed. Once he got closer, he realized she was smoking. Smoke puffed from her mouth and a cigarette was in between her index and middle finger on her right hand.

He walked until he was behind her, to the left.

His heart pounded in his ears as he cleared his throat.

Charlie jumped a little, turning her head in his direction. She looked at him, her brown eyes into his blue ones once again.

"H-hi," Garrett managed.

"Oh, you do talk. I was beginning to think you were a mute." she smirked at him playfully.

Garrett felt his face burning up, and was thankful for the darkness around them, he let out a shakey laugh.

"Want a smoke?" she asked, offering a pack to him.

Garrett stared at the pack of cigarettes, wondering if Charlie would think he was lame if he didn't smoke. But, he'd never smoked before, so he knew when he coughed like an idiot, he'd look even more lame. He shook his head no.

"Suit yourself. Hey, what's your name again?"

Oh, God, Garrett thought. She doesn't even know my name, yet I'm staring at her 2 out of 7 classes a day.

"Garrett,"

"Oh, right! Garrett. Sorry, you gotta tell me things a few times to get it to stick. Eric says I've "trained myself not to care. Anyways, you're in John's band, right?"

Garrett couldn't think of anything to say. He was idiotically entranced by the way she said his name. The tone of it. The way her pink lips formed the vowels. The sound of her voice saying his name stuck in his head like music.

"Y-yeah, I am. I play bass." he smiled.

She looked at his smile for a moment.

"Would it be weird if I took a picture of you?" she asked, gesturing to a camera around her neck.

"Uh, no. I mean, 'no' it wouldn't be weird." he was trying not to trip over his words but was obviously failing.

"I like your smile," she said softly as she grabbed his arm gently and pulled him in front of her, facing her. He knew the moon was shinning down on him, providing light. His skin was on fire where she'd touched him, but he still grinned at her compliment.

Charlie laughed a little. "Keep talking, though."

So he kept talking. She told him not to look at her while he talked, which was hard to do. He told her about the band. He told her about the recent tour they'd been on for the summer. He told her about getting his first tattoo, to which she looked up from behind her camera and grinned at him, "I'll have to see that sometime."