Fuel to the Fire

Hangover sucks. A lot. I woke up, threw up, slept again, woke up again and threw up. Again. How could John handle this? It’s awful. Plus, I didn’t remember anything from last night. I remembered a little bit, yes, but not everything. I had some flashes of John and I talking to some girls at the bar and later, he carrying me to my room.

In the morning, I woke up to find myself in John and Max’s room, wearing the same clothes from last night. Max said when he came back to his room, John and I were blacked out. Good to know we were blacked out, because I remembered nothing.

I also didn’t do all the things I had planned, like have a nice breakfast, watch cartoons with Jared and go out for lunch in In-N-Out. I slept too much and only had time to take a quick shower while Pat bought me cupcakes for breakfast. We had to catch a flight to Boston, play a concert there and then, we go to Maine! I mean, it’s Maine. I couldn’t help but feel excited.

As we waited for our flight, I decided to go for a walk and call Lauren; it seemed I hadn’t talked to her in years. I asked about my family and friends, she said they were okay and Cosmo missed Pat. Aw, Cosmo! Lauren asked about Garrett and I told her everything, since our little scene in the bathroom until our major fight.

“That was mean, Leigh” she said, when I told her about Nicole.

“It was mean and stupid and I feel bad about it, but he’s being and asshole and won’t talk to me.”

“Give him some time, Leigh, he needs it.”

I sighed.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“But hey, what’s up between you and John?”

“What?” I asked, confused.

“What did you do last night?”

“Went to a club… why?”

“Uh… Leigh, did you and John make out?”

I froze.

“Oh, fuck! I thought I had dreamt that! But wait, how do you know?”

“This girl on tumblr is telling everyone. Nobody believes her because first, you would never cheat on Garrett; second, she doesn’t have a picture to prove.

I exhaled in relief.

“Good.”

“Does Garrett or any of the guys know? It is a big deal, Leigh.”

“I didn’t know, do you think they do?”

An awkward silence followed, before I talk again.

“I should talk to John.”

“Yeah, you do it. Call me later, okay?”

“Fine.”

I hung up and walked to where the boys were standing.

“John, can I talk to you for a second?” I asked quietly. They all looked at me and John got up.

“Sure, what is it?”

I waited a few more seconds, as we moved away from Garrett or anyone who could hear us before I answered him.

“What did we do last?”

“So, you remember huh.”

“Well, I don’t. Lauren told me.”

“Lauren?” He asked, confused.

“It’s a long story… John, tell me what happened.”

“Alright… we met some friends after we drank and we decided to play truth or dare. One of the girls dared you to kiss me…”

“Ops” I muttered, smiling sheepishly.

“Your exact words were ‘We’re so drunk that we won’t even remember this tomorrow’ and you didn’t” John said, smiling a little. I tried to remember.

“Is that all?”

John scratched the back of his head.

“There’s more?” I asked him.

“Uh… when I was carrying you to your room, you asked me if we could go to my room an-“

“What did we do?” I asked him, wide-eyed. John chuckled.

“Nothing, my dear, I’m not that stupid.”

I sighed, relieved.

“And you passed out” he finished, shrugging.

“Damn” I said “that’s messed up. Look John, I know we… uh… well, w-“

“Leigh, chill. We kissed last night, but we were drunk and I know you love Garrett.”

“It sounds worse when you say out loud” I said, wincing “But I’m glad we’re okay, John.”

“Me too, Baby Girl” he said, as I hugged him.

John let go of me and we turned to the way we came, only to find Garrett staring at us.

“What?” was all he said.

“How long have you been there?” I asked him.

“Enough time.”

Oh fuck. Time to talk to Garebear.

“John, can you…” I trailed off.

“He’s not going anywhere” Garrett said, looking all pissy. John, being calmer than the two of us, looked at me.

“John?” I asked calmly. He nodded and walked away, without any other word. I breathed deeply. “Look, I’m gonna be honest with you, Garrett. John and I… w-we hooked up last night. That’s what he said.”

Garrett scoffed, crossing his arms on his chest.

“Gare, I’m being honest. I could keep this lie from you and you would never know what happened. I care about you, I don’t wanna hurt you.”

“You already did.”

I stared at him, taken aback.

“You and John, how could you Amanda? I always thought you were different from everyone, even Rachael. But now, seeing the things you’ve done, I can say you’re worse than them.”

I couldn’t say a word. I couldn’t think of anything. From all the things Garrett had ever said to me, it was the meanest. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Garrett looked at me one last night, before walk away and leave me there, speechless.