Fuel to the Fire

“John, take me to a club or something” I said, after a while. John looked up at me and chuckled.

“You’re kidding me, right?”

I just stared at him, no traces of humor on my face. He rubbed his eyes for a second, before getting up; John was tired, and so was I. It was almost 3 am and he didn’t leave my side for a second.

“Please John” I whispered, getting up “I need to clean my head for a while, forget some things.”

“If I take you there, will you tell me what happened?”

I shook my head. John sat on the bench again, cocking an eyebrow. Sighing, I nodded. He got up and began to walk away, looking for somewhere we could get drunk.

A rush of cold air hit us and I shivered, bracing myself.

“Here” John said, removing his jacket and handing it to me. I slipped my arms into the sleeves, feeling the smell of cigarettes and alcohol on the soft fabric.

“I think you owe me some serious explanations” he muttered, after a while.

“They had something, didn’t they?” I asked “Garrett and Nicole.”

John sighed, as if looking for words.

“I am only telling you this because I don’t like this thing of them lying to you, I think you have the right to know” he looked at me before continue “She’s a groupie, you know… After Gare and Rachael broke up, we came to New York and one night we got drunk. Garrett met Nicole and they made out. They didn’t talk after that.”

Great story, huh.

I shook my head, exhaling.

“Will you tell me what happened?”

“No, I want to get drunk first.”

“If it makes you feel better” John smiled “Garrett passed out that day.”

I lost my count after the fourth tequila shot. I think I even mixed vodka and beer. John and I met some girls at the bar, they had been at the concert tonight, and we talked a lot until they decided to leave; luckily, they were as drunk as us.

“Will you tell me what happened now?” John asked, for like, the fifth time and sipped his beer.

I frowned, pouting, as I remember the night.

“I fucking hate Garrett. I loathe him. He can go fuck himself, and he can fuck that bitch too. I don’t give a fuck so hard right now.”

John laughed as I buried my face in my hands.

“Why are you laughing, dickhead?”

“Look, I don’t think Garrett did something wron-“

“John” I cut him off, looking straight into his eyes “Did you hear what I say? Garrett and Nicole were kissing. Kissing. Ugh, hate them so much.”

I buried my face in my hands again, feeling a bit dizzy. I felt my eyes begin to water. Seriously, I was gonna cry now?

“John, I wanna go home” I said, pouting. I looked at him through my fingers; he was confused.

“Home as…?”

“Home was home, in Tempe, Arizona. I wanna hug Tim and tell him to yell at Garrett cause he’s a bad boy for breaking my heart.”

“Oh no, don’t quote Tom Petty songs.”

“I’m not quoting anything. I wanna go home and hug Tim.”

“Look, why don’t we go back to the hotel and call him?”

I sighed, closing my eyes.

“Sounds good.”

John helped me to get up from the bar stool – I tried to jump, but failed miserably and almost broke my face on the floor – and we walked to the exit.

“The hotel is too far from here, I think we should get a cab.”

“Yeah, whateva” I said, searching for my back pocket. I pulled out I don’t know how many dollars and handed them to John. We got a cab and I rested my head on John’s shoulder, as he told the driver the directions to our hotel.

“Hey, don’t fall asleep” John said shaking his shoulder, causing me to fall ahead. He grabbed me by the arms before I hit my face in the front seat.

“Is she okay?” The driver asked.

“Nah, I just hate my boyfriend so much” I muttered. The driver laughed softly.

“Boys stuff” John shrugged.

“It’s late, you kids shouldn’t be out. Take care of her” the driver said, when he stopped in front of our hotel.

John helped me out of the car and paid for our ride.

“Thanks for being so nice to me. You’re better than Garrett” I said to the driver. He smiled, shaking his head.

“Leigh, come on, don’t fall asleep” John kept saying as we walked through the hotel. When we got to my room, many doors opened.

“Man, are you alright?” Jared asked; John nodded.

“Do you know what time is it? What the fuck is wrong with you?” Garrett asked, pissed. He rushed to help me, but I cringed away from him, hugging myself closer to John.

“Leigh? Is she okay?” Pat asked, worried. I do love my brother, he is the best.

“Just give her a break” John whispered. Garrett looked all pissy and shit at me.

“Get in loser, we’re going shopping” I said.

“What? Why are you quoting Mean Girls?” Max asked.

“What? Oh shit” I said, touching my hand to my forehead “get out loser; Pat’s sleeping with me tonight.”

I grabbed Pat’s wrist and dragged him to my room; Garrett opened his mouth to protest.

“I don’t give a fuck” I said, and closed the door behind me. Oh shit. I opened the door a little. “Goodbye, John.”

I locked the door and kicked off my converses, laying on the bed.

“Are you okay?” Pat asked.

“Yes Patty, I’m fine. Can I just lay here and sleep forever?”

Pat giggled.

“Aren’t you going to change, at least?”

I didn’t answer. I guess I passed out or something.