Fuel to the Fire

I really broke my hand, but it wasn’t that bad. The bad thing is: I broke my left hand, not the right one. It means that I had to go to school. But the fun part was: Garrett and John were always around. They feel guilty because I broke my hand, and they were always trying to make it up to me. We would always play videogames – Garrett played, when it was my turn – or just watch some random movie. Like the day when I made them watch Romeo & Juliet at Garrett’s house. I swear to God, I saw a tear fall from Trey’s eyes!
Today we decided to play Left 4 Dead. Me and Garrett vs. Trey and John. We won, of course.
“That was unfair!” John Ohh cried.
“That zombie scared you, baby John?” I asked, repeating the words he had used.
“Yeah! That was fucking scary!”
I rolled my eyes.
“John Ohh, you still scream like a faggot” John looked at me, raising an eyebrow.
“I scream like a faggot? Now, you’ll see the faggot!”
“Be careful Leigh, you know what happened the last time” Garrett said. I was paying attention on him, so John pushed me, making me fall on Garrett’s bed and started tickling me. That’s unfair! He knows how much I hate when people tickle me.
“John… FUCK… I can’t… br- STOP! GARRETT SAVE ME”
I heard Garrett laugh.
“Tempting, but no”

He joined John, poking my sides.
“Trey!” I yelled.
“Nope, you beat me. I’ll just let you suffer.”
I screamed and fought, but none of them released me. Trey stood there, just laughing at me. Mr. Nickelsen announced that Jenna was there, so he left the room.
“Will you two release me now?” I said, trying to catch my breath.
“What do you think, John?” Garrett asked.
“I had fun. I think we’ve had enough” John replied. He released me, but Garrett didn’t. He sat on top of me, holding my wrists in one hand – which was weird, because one hand was plastered.
“Wait, Tim is calling me; brb” John said, leaving the room. Garrett started poking me again.
“GARRETT… Gare, please! Let me go!” I pleaded.
“Tell me why I should do it”
“Because you fucking love me?” I said as sweetly as I could.
He got off of me, ready to stood up. I quickly pushed him and got on top of him.
“Garrett Daniel Nickelsen, you’re sooooooooooo fucked up!” I screamed. He laughed, catching my hands again.
He rolled over, so he was on top of me, his body pressing against mine. I wrapped my legs around his hips. Garrett released me, his hands resting on my hips.
“Gare” I whispered in his ear.
“What?” He looked up. My breath caught in my throat as his nose touched mine, his lips his lips brushing off mine so softly. Exhaling heavily, I took my chance and bit his neck.
“Leigh, what the fuck is wrong with you?” He yelled, making me laugh. I moved my lips up and down on his neck, before giving him a hickey. I couldn’t resist, I just loved the feeling of his body over mine. We had been close before, but not this close. Garrett winced as I licked the soft skin of his neck.
“GUYS! You’ll never guess wh- WHOA!” John stopped by the door.
“Guess what?” I asked as Garrett tried to get up. I giggled when I saw him blush.
John looked at his feet for a moment before answering.
“We’re going on tour! Tim wants to talk to us about it.”
Garrett grinned. I knew how much he liked going on tour.
“Well, let’s go to band practice then” I shrugged.

Kenny and Jared were there with Gabi and Tessa. I hugged them, before Tim call us.
“Guys!” We all looked at him “Today I got this call… We’re going on tour for a month!”
“Where are we gonna play?” Jared asked.
“Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington.”
I could tell that the guys were excited. They were planning going on tour since last year. I looked at them, smiling. I felt someone pulling my hand.
“Can I talk to you?” Garrett asked.
“Of course” I nodded.
“Listen, about what happened before…” He started, as we sat on the stairs.
“We were just kidding, I know” I laughed.
“Yeah, but… I know how you feel about me.”

My gaze moved from his face to my hands.
“Wh-what do you mean?” I stuttered. Garrett scooted closer to me, placing a finger on my chin and lifting my head. I felt my breath hitch when I looked into his blue eyes. He came forward, stopping only a few inches away. He brushed his lips against mine, teasing me and I leaned over. The noise of a door opening made us jump. Shit, two times in one day?

“Garrett, we’re waiting for you” Tim called. I looked away from Garrett and he sighed. We stood up and I walked past him, without looking back.

The boys had decided to play Count ‘Em 1 2 3, Kiss and Sell and Girls do What They Want before taking a break.
“You guys are so lazy. You’ve just started practicing and you’re already tired” Gabi complained. We all laughed.
“Ok, come here and play. You’re not allowed to complain if you get tired” Kenny said.
Jared looked at Garrett for a moment, then smiled.
“Wow, someone’s got a hickey today!”
Kenny laughed, taking a look on Garrett’s neck.
“What have you done, Leigh?”
I could tell that Garrett was embarrassed. I tried to think of something that could take all the attention from him. I smirked.
“I remember something…” They all smiled in expectation “Kennedy and Gabi making out. Last month, at Nick’s house” I said without thinking. I covered my mouth with both of my hands when I realized what I said. Gabi’s face was shocked.
It was an accident. I recall Nick throwing a party at his house; I really don’t remember why, it had something with A Rocket To The Moon. I was kinda drunk – everybody was, actually – and I was looking for Garrett so he could drive me home. I ended up finding Gabi and Kenny making out. I laughed but they didn’t hear me, so I decided to go look for Garrett in another room.
“It was an accident, I swear! I don’t know why I brought that up.”
“Your efforts to take our attention away from Garrett didn’t work, baby girl” Kenny said.
“Okay! I gave Garrett a hickey, no big deal.”
John, Kennedy and Jared started laughing. Pat made a face – probably because of the subject – and the girls looked at me with wide eyes. Garrett’s face was bright red.
“Actually, I’m playing a game right now. ‘Who makes Garrett blush more’” I smirked.
“Shut up, Leigh” Garrett said. I just laughed at him.

They returned to play after making a few jokes over Garrett. I was singing to the lyrics of Daisy when someone called me. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the caller id; unknown number.
“Hello?” I asked, quickly running upstairs.
“Hey Leigh. It’s Austin, from your English class.”
I scoured my mind, trying to remember him. Where did he get my number?
“Oh, hey. What’s up?”
“Some kid is throwing this party tonight and he asked me to invite you.”
Wait, someone is inviting me to a party?
“What time it’s gonna start? But I don’t even have a ride!” I said, looking at the clock on the wall.
“At 8. I can pick you up, if you want” the boy said. I had half of an hour to get ready.
“Ok then. Do you know where I live?” I asked.
“Where Pat Kirch from The Maine lives? Of course.”
“Okay, see you soon then.” I hung up.
I got ready in exact 25 minutes. I was wearing a baby pink dress underneath a leather jacket – I really hate pink, but that dress is just awesome – and high-heeled ankle boots.
“That was great” I heard John say through his microphone.
The boys agreed and laughed. I quickly ran downstairs, being extra carefully - i didn’t want to break my ankle or anything.
“Whoa, who’s that hottie?” Tessa asked playfully. The others looked at me with their mouth open.
“Come on, just because I wear jeans and tee shirts everyday it doesn’t mean that I can’t wear dresses.” I said. I turned to Pat “Some random kid invited me to this party. I’m back at midnight, ok?”
Then I realized Garrett. He looked at me slowly from head to toe, his gaze locking on my legs. I looked down. Come on, my dress wasn’t that short. Gabi faked a cough, and Garrett’s head snapped up. He scratched the back of his neck and looked down.
“Midnight” Pat warned me.
“Yeah, yeah, ok” I replied him.

I took a look on the mirror, fixing any mistakes. I adjusted my dress and reapplied black eyeshadow. I ran a hand through my hair as I heard somebody ring the doorbell. I opened the door to reveal a blue-eyed boy wearing dark jeans, black converse and a gray v-neck long sleeved shirt.
“Wow, you look pretty tonight”
“Thanks. Tonight I’m not that emo kid” I laughed and Austin smiled. I locked the door behind me and we walked back to his car.
We didn’t talk much, he just asked me a few things; he was nice. About ten minutes later, we stopped in front of a house full of teenagers. Music blew out of the windows and the couples were dancing to the beat. Austin handed me a beer as we walked in the house. Not really my type, but since he’s giving it to me. And I bet everybody here is underage.
Some girls looked at me and whispered something, probably something like “Oh look, that looser is here. She’s not dressed like a punk or anything today”. I rolled my eyes, trying to find someone I knew. I blonde girl waved at me and smiled. I waved back, confusion on my face. This was repeated several times during the night.

In the end, I met really nice people tonight and had a great time. Not everybody was a dick, as I thought they would be.

About eleven, most of people were drunk. Typical. I looked around, trying to find someone sober. I felt a hand wrap around my waist and I turned to see who it was.
“Are you okay?” Austin asked.
“If by okay you mean sober, yeah, I’m okay” I laughed.
“Do you wanna go home?” He asked me. I thought about it. I could handle a few more minutes here.
“We can stay, if you want” I said.
“Ok” he smiled “You know, you do look cute tonight” He tilted his head, his lips touching mine. His hand moved from my waist to my hair, keeping my head in place.
It felt good kissing someone after a long time, but it didn’t feel right. I thought of Garrett, how close he’d been today; kissing Garrett what the right thing. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled away from Austin. Just in time. A new message from Garrett.
I’m waiting outside, it said. I sighed.
“Leigh?” Austin looked at me.
“I… I have to go” I said.
“Bu-”
“It’s important. I’m sorry” He nodded and hugged me. I grabbed another beer and went outside. An yellow car stopped by the curb and I got in.
“What are you doing here?”
“Tessa’s brother was here. He called her saying that everybody was drunk. We were worried about you.”
“Why didn’t Pat or Tim come?” I asked, crossing my legs. Garrett looked at them for a second, shaking his head.
“I wanted to come. Pat, Lauren and Tim are waiting for you” I sighed and took a sip of my beer. Garrett gave me a disapproving look.
“Do you want some?”
Garrett pulled the bottle from my hands and took a sip.
“When did you start drinking?” He asked.
“When you started drinking” I laughed. I looked at him, replaying our day in my head “Gare… about earlier today-“
“Don’t worry” he cut me off. He parked in front of my house and turned to face me “You know I love you?”
I nodded.
“Then why do you make things difficult?”
I thought about it, before answering.
“Things would change. I’m afraid of losing my best friend” I said quietly.
“Things would change, yes. But I’d still be your best friend.”
“But what if we broke up?” I asked, looking down.
“You know I’d never hur-“ I cut him off with a kiss. It wasn’t a real kiss, just a little peck on the lips. I didn’t want to talk about that; I needed time to think. “Goodnight, Garebear” I murmured against his lips.
I got out of his car and walked towards my house, without giving him a chance to answer. I didn’t realized the goofy smile on my face until I opened the door and saw my reflection in the mirror.
“Leigh?” Tim called from the living room.
“Hey” I said, coming in the room.
“Are you drunk like Tessa’s brother?” Pat asked.
“No Ratboy, just tired. Well, I’m going to bed. Do you need anything?” I asked, yawning.
“No” they murmured.
“Are you sleeping here tonight?” I turned to Tim.
“It’s late and I’m tired” he shrugged “So yes.”
“Fucking lazy” I smiled and Pat laughed.
I went to my room, quickly changing into booty shorts and a tank top. I didn’t need much time; as soon as I laid down, I fell asleep.