Fuel to the Fire

Next morning, something fluffy and heavy shifted next to me on my bed.

“Ew, go away Cosmo! Who let Cosmo in?” I yelled, hoping someone would hear me.

“I did, sorry.”

I looked up, startled. Garrett was sitting by the end of my bed, fiddling with his ipod.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, sitting up, my voice hoarse from sleep. I looked around; my room was dark, my door closed and the curtains half open, pouring the dim light inside.

“Band stuff. Kennedy, John and Jared aren’t here yet and Pat’s in the shower.”

“And you’re lurking around here while I’m sleeping?”

“Pretty much, yeah” Garrett said, giving me that sweet crooked smile. I giggled.

“Cosmo, go” I complained, seeing my dog rolling on the floor next to m bed.

“Here boy” Garrett said, getting up. He opened my door a little, enough to let Cosmo out.

I scooted to the side, making room for Garrett. He laid next to me and I laid my head on his chest.

“What are you listening to?” I whispered; he gave me one of his earbuds “Wilco, obviously.”

Gare smiled softly.

My eyes closed without my permission, Garrett’s hands rubbing my back soothingly. His own breaths soon became deeper, his chest arousing and falling in a steady rhythm. I lazily rested my arm around his waist, bringing him closer to me.

“Gare?”

Pat knocked softly on my door, waiting for an answer. I tutted, half asleep. Garrett sighed.

“Garrett!”

“Go away Pat, I wanna sleep some more.”

“Well you can sleep, but I need Garrett here.”

“No you don’t, I do.”

“Damn Leigh, let him go” Pat complained, almost literally breaking into my room.

“Hey, hey, easy” Garrett said and yawned. He untangled himself from me and stretched his arms, smiling when he saw me pout. Pat rolled his arms and exhaled, crossing his arms on his chest.

“Alright, I’m coming.”

Garrett crouched down and kissed my cheek.

“Your ipod?”

“Keep it” he shrugged “I’ll come back later… if Pat let me.”

Garrett chuckled when Pat snorted and left my room. Smiling once more, Gare followed him.

I truly wanted to know whatever they were going to talk about in this “band meeting”, but I was so tired. It was like… 9 in the morning.

Wait, whoa. Garrett woke up before 2 pm. That’s SUPER uncommon.

I pulled my cover to my legs, feeling a bit hot. I plugged Garrett’s earbuds again and pressed play. Ew, Wilco is so boring. I skipped a couple songs until Neon came on; that was a nice song. My eyelids soon became heavy, threatening to fall at any time. John’s soft voice instantly relaxed my body and my breath became steady, as I closed my eyes. I hugged myself under the covers, ready to sleep.

It was past 2 when I woke up again; I rushed straight to the bathroom, ready to throw up. I was feeling sick, my head spinning dizzily. I went back to my room and after a while, the house became quiet; I think the boys left. A low knock on my door made me jump.

“Leigh, we’re going out for lunch, wanna come?”

I didn’t answer, sinking even more into my bed.

“Leigh?” Garrett asked again, cracking my door open a little. Light poured in, and I squeezed my eyes shut. “Are you coming or not?”

I shook my head, feeling dizzy.

“But you always come with us.”

“I’m not feeling okay, maybe next time.”

Garrett walked in and sat on the edge of my bed.

“You look pale” he said, brushing my hair off of my face. He placed a hand on my forehead; “You’re not hot…”

“You don’t think I’m hot?” I asked him playfully. He rolled his eyes.

“What are you feeling?” Garrett asked softly, running his fingers through my hair.

“I wanna throw up but I don’t want to throw up, okay, and I feel dizzy.”

I covered my face with my hands, desperately trying to make my room to stop spinning.

“Do you want me to stay here with you?”

“No, I’ll just take some medicine and I’ll feel better.”

“Okay” he whispered and pecked my lips gently. I smiled, watching him get up and walk away; when he closed my door, I got up and gathered some clothes. I stepped to the bathroom, to shower.

The hot water felt good against my skin, my body instantly relaxing. I washed my hair carefully, my head still spinning. For sure I was getting a headache; I hadn’t eaten anything yet, maybe that’s why I was feeling so sick.

I blow dried my hair and headed downstairs, where Abbey and Tim were with my mom. I kissed their cheeks before sitting on the counter. My mom gave me a look – she hated when I did that – before go back to whatever she was doing. She was making lunch, good to know. Before I could make some funny – or not – comment, an awful smell hit me. I covered my nose with my hand, grimacing.

“What the fuck is that smell?”

“Amanda” my mom scolded me.

“What smell?” Tim asked, sniffing the air like a little puppy.

“It smells food, like the food your mom is making” Abbey said.

“Exactly” I said, clasping my other hand over my mouth. I hopped, shaking my head a little trying to get rid of the dizziness.

“Are you okay?” Tim asked as I walked past him.

“I don’t know.”

“How come you don’t know?”

I locked myself in the bathroom, ready to throw up. It didn’t happen though, and I groaned in frustration.

“Leigh?” my mom asked from outside.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.”

“Open up, then.”

“No, mom” I said and washed my face with cold water. I felt a little better, but it still seemed like I was going to faint at any time. I stepped out of the bathroom to be faced by my mom; she instantly placed her hand on my forehead like Garrett did.

“Did you throw up? Are you sick? You’re not hot.”

I bit my tongue to hold back a sarcastic comment.

“Again, I don’t know. I just wanna take some pills.”

“Eat something first, otherwise you’re going to feel worse.”

“Does water count? I really don’t wanna eat anything.”

“No” my mom smiled “Abbey brought cupcakes, you can have one if you want.”

I was feeling bad. Really, really bad. To make everything worse, I threw up – what actually made me feel better – but then I fainted, halfway to the living room. I woke up to find Abbey, Lauren and Tim hovering worriedly over me; I squirmed under them.

“Fuck off” I whined, my voice cracking.

“Here” I heard Pat said. He handed Tim a glass of water and Abbey and Lauren helped me to sit up. Just then I realized I was laying on the couch in the living room. Tim handed me the glass – he tried to give it to me, but I smacked his hand away, almost pouring half of the water.

“What the fuck?” I asked, seeing them eye me strangely.

“You passed out, literally” Abbey said. Pat and Lauren sat next to me and Abbey stood up, her hands on her hips. Tim continued to kneel down right in front of me.

“Good, I’m not dizzy anymore” I smiled. He snorted.

“Will you tell me what the fuck is wrong with you?”

“I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me. Maybe it’s because I haven’t eaten anything yet. Speaking of which, where’s mom? I’m hungry.”

“She went out” Pat said, moving his hair away from his face. Abbey got up and stepped out of the room, coming back after a moment with a box full of cupcakes.

“Eat them; they’re going to make you feel better.”

“But I don’t want cupcakes; I want a big, huge, double cheeseburger with extra fries and chicken nuggets and a coke.”

I watched as their eyes went wide with my answer.

“Goddamn, it was a joke! Here Abbey, I’ll have them.”

I tried one of them, savoring the melted chocolate in my mouth.

Tim and Abbey went to the kitchen, and were eventually followed by Pat. Lauren and I were left alone, and soon, I realized she wanted to say something. She was tapping her foot to the floor, one hand tangled into her hair as she brushed her bangs off of her face.

“Leigh, what have you been feeling?”

“Dizziness, followed by this bad headache. Uh… and I was kinda sick, and then I passed out. Well, that’s what you said.”

She pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows, thinking. I watched Lauren carefully; she was thinking of something important to tell me. More minutes passed by, but I couldn’t care less. If Lauren wanted to talk, she would talk. I turned on the tv and watched an entire episode of The Office until she decided to speak again.

“Leigh, have you thought about it?”

“’Bout what¿”

“How you’ve been feeling today. Dizziness, hunger and you fainted. Don’t you recognize these signs?”

“Uh… No? Should I?”

“Yes, you should.”

Lauren stared at me meaningfully, but I couldn’t be less confused.

“Have you ever thought about you being pregnant?”