We Only Breathe for so Long

When we were about ten minutes away from actually getting home, we decided to have a very quick group meeting at a nearby gas station. The blazing sun was still shining over Arizona as we met up outside the station’s small convenience store.

“Okay guys, tomorrow’s Thursday. Meaning we have band practice,” John said. The rest of The Maine nodded. “And as for you two,” he added, turning to Isa and me. “You are welcome to come as well.”

“Sure, I’ll go,” I said, smiling. I seriously want to hear more of their music, especially after hearing Into Your Arms.

John then turned fully to Isa, who wasn’t looking at him. Her arms were crossed and she was absentmindedly tapping her foot on the ground. “Yeah, sure, I’ll be there,” Isa said blankly. John then flashed a smile and then turned back to the rest of us.

“Wait, where will your band practice be anyway?” I asked.

“Jared’s place,” Garrett responded.

“Where’s Jared’s—“ I started, but got immediately cut off.

“You can hitch a ride with me if you want, to save all the trouble of getting there by yourself,” Kennedy said, smiling at me.

“Uh, yeah, sure, I’ll kindly take the offer. Thanks,” I replied, smiling back him. He nodded and then focused his gaze on the other guys. Well, at least the possibility of us having prolonged and unintended eye contact was abolished. A slight blush was making its way to my cheeks though. Good thing the others didn’t notice, as they were moving on to another topic about. Except for Garrett and Isa, who have silently agreed to keep an eye on me on the ride home. They just smirked as I tried my best to ignore the fact that they were.

“Right, and one last thing. Garrett, Lisette, can you guys have go switch to my car? Since you guys originally rode with me and it might be a hassle for Isa to bring you guys home,” he said. Isa still wasn’t looking at John, but she nodded, signifying it was totally fine if we would ride with John going home. Garrett and I said yes without a problem.

“Alright then, this meeting is now adjourned,” John said. Garrett and I got our stuff from Isa’s car. Everyone then said his or her goodbyes to each other (except for those who were riding together, of course) and we all boarded the cars we were to ride. This time Garrett sat on the passenger seat, leaving Kennedy and me to sit at the back, since we were going to be the first ones to be dropped off.

Everyone was tired so it wasn’t questionable why it was silent the whole time. Before I knew it, we pulled up in front of my house. Kennedy helped me get my bags from the back and we set them down on the smooth, grey pavement of the sidewalk.

"Do you need me to help you get these up your porch or—“

"Nah, I'm good. Thank you," I replied and gave a smile.

"See you tomorrow, then. I'll pick you up at one." He gave a smile then climbed in the car. Garrett rolled down his window so that he and John could also wave their goodbyes. I returned their waves happily and then they sped off to Kennedy's.

I got my bags then brought them up to the porch. I put them down momentarily and rang the doorbell. And then the realization came that I forgot about the phone call between Mom and me yesterday. I practically almost screamed at her yesterday, and I was unsure if she'd be mad at me or something. Before I could think any further, the front door was opened and I was suddenly embraced by Mom.

"Lisette! You made it safe and sound. Come in," she said, getting a bag from my hand and carrying it in for me.

"It's nice to be back, Mom." We went upstairs and she set the bags just outside my room.

"I want to hear about your trip but then again, you seem tired. So take a rest until dinner time," she cheerfully said then went off.

I brought the bags in my room and decided to take a shower. After getting dressed, I took the initiative do a little research on The Maine on my laptop.

I certainly did not want to get to know about their personal lives on the Internet. I would rather I get to know about them in person, since I guess I can call them my friends. So I decided to take a look at their discography.

And seconds later, I found myself on YouTube, listening to their songs. Minutes later, I found myself purchasing all their songs on iTunes. And after that, I found myself listening to their songs on my iPod.

I then collapsed on my bed, my earphones still on. Slowly, drowsiness took over me, as The Maine's music lulled me to sleep.

~~~

“Funny how the park is deserted, isn’t it?” Jordan said, walking through the entrance. Leaves of every shade of brown were falling down to the ground as she tugged at my hand.

“It’s been so long since I’ve been to a park,” I said, my lips forming into a wide grin.

“I know, that’s why I brought you here! Come on,” she said, giggling. We walked in silence as I just reveled from the beautiful sights in the park. Brown, crunch leaves were sprawled all over the pavement, and I couldn’t help but to step on each crunchy-looking ones.

I just followed Jordan to wherever she was going to take me. After going through the curved paths of the park, we eventually came across an empty playground.

My eyes instantly lit up as I stared right at the swings. Then Jordan, who was beside me, burst out laughing.

"Is there a problem?" I crossed my arms and glared at her.

"No, it's that your face looks funny," she said, stiffing another laugh. I rolled my eyes and walked up to the swings. I took a seat then thrust myself off the ground, swinging higher and higher. I knew I was grinning like a fool. Jordan also started swinging beside me. A few minutes later, we stopped and just remained seated.

"You know, you never told me your college plans," I said, knitting my eyebrows together. Jordan was always secretive towards me. Not in the bad way though, she'd just rather talk to me about my life and the like.

She sighed. "You really want to know?" I just nodded at her question.

"Well, I passed Philadelphia University for pre-medicine. So when I graduate, I can watch over you now," she said, smiling.

"It's not like I'm going to get sick again, Jordan," I said with a chuckle.

"Well, I also want to help other people."

"That's all you ever wanted to do.” I smiled as I started to swing.

"How about you? What are planning to do now that you're well?"

I stopped swinging. I never really thought about it. Should I go to college? Problem is that I don't even know if what I learned through tutors and textbooks in the hospital was enough.

"I have no idea," I finally said.

"You'll figure it out, Lissy."

"Yeah."

And there came that moment of silence.

"Hey, Jordan?"

"Yeah?"

"How was leaving Arizona for you?"

She shifted in her seat and kicked some dust off the ground. "Well, it was hard. I had to leave my friends. And my best friend."

"Oh." Suddenly I felt guilty for getting sick. I knew it wasn't my fault though, but still.

Jordan then got up, smiling. "There's another place I want to show you, Lissy!"

I then got up and followed her. We made our way through the park once again and came to a blob-shaped pond. There were some leaves floating and ducks wading on its clear surface. A bridge made of beige bricks connected this side of the pond to the other. Jordan ushered me to a bench overlooking the pond.

"It's pretty," I said, taking a seat.

"I knew you'd love this." She smirked at me then looked at the view. Birds were flying over the bridge and into the trees. The view was seemed so serene that I felt much more at ease.

"Have you ever been in love, Jordan?" I had no idea what made me ask this question.

"W-what?" A blush was creeping to her cheeks. I wonder why…

"Love. Have you ever liked someone?"

"Uh, I have, actually... Why are you asking? You like someone?! Who is he?!"

"Please, I never even met a single guy in like ten years. I was just wondering."

"I'm going to keep an eye on you. You're my little sis after all." She smirked at me and I just rolled my eyes. We then watched nature for what it seemed like hours.

~~~

Continuous knocks on my door woke me up from my nap. I grudgingly opened one eye and glared at the door.

"Time for dinner, Lisette! Just come down when you’re ready.” I took off my earphones and then made my way downstairs. I helped my mom a bit with the table and the cooking, and then we sat down and ate.

“So what did you do on the trip?” My mom asked.

“We just went to the beach and then the mall and then to a carnival,” I shrugged and took a bite of the steak.

“I see, I see. Any plans for tomorrow?”

“Well, a friend of mine will bring me over to our other friend’s house.”

“And this friend of yours is Kennedy?” She had this skeptical look on her face.

“Uh, yeah.” I had no idea where this conversation was going to go.

“Alrighty then,” she said and smiled. After finishing off dinner, I went upstairs. I read some chapters of a new novel (since Isa took the one I was reading before) and then went to bed.

~~~

Once I heard our doorbell ring, I grabbed my purse and shoved my phone and wallet in it. I then had one last look at myself in the full-body mirror on my wall, using my hands to smoothen out the imperfections in my hair or to tug down at my shirt.

I made my way down the wooden steps and it surprised me how I saw my mother and Kennedy, laughing about something in the living room.

“Uh… Mom?” I hesitantly said, standing in the doorframe to the living room since neither Kennedy or my mom noticed me there.

“Oh, Lisette! There you are,” she said. Kennedy waved a hello to me, grinning since he just obviously had a good laugh.

“You know Kennedy?” I asked, furrowing my eyebrows together as I made my way towards them.

“How could I not know him, he was Jordan’s best friend! Jordan always talked about you, you know,” she said, slightly turning to Kennedy. Kennedy just laughed in return, slightly blushing in the process. “Plus, I always saw him around before. When you mentioned his name, I wasn’t sure whether the Kennedy you were referring to was this guy,” she said, ending her statement with a chuckle. Jordan told Mom about her friends and not me?

“Well, so we better get going, Mrs. Monroe, it was nice seeing you again,” Kennedy said with a genuine smile.

Mom opened the door for both of us. “Alright, take care! See you around. And make sure Lisette comes home by eleven!” I just rolled my eyes while Kennedy stifled a giggle. I called out a “bye” to Mom as we walked to Kennedy’s car.

According to Kennedy, Jared’s place was only about fifteen minutes from here. The car speakers were softly playing Third Eye Blind as Kennedy occasionally sang or hummed to the song.

“So Kennedy, what were you and my mom laughing about?” I asked during the transition between the current and the next song.

“Oh, just about some remark I made. Nothing, really,” Kennedy said. A new song started playing and we stayed silent a while.

“Hey, uh, you seemed pretty surprised to see your mom talking to me,” Kennedy said, looking straight into the road.

“Well, how could I not when Jordan never told me a word about you all my life,” I blurted out.

“Whoa, let me get this straight: Jordan never told you about me, yet she told your mom, and she never told me about you either. Weird.”

“Yeahp.”

“So where have you been all this time before Philadelphia, Lisette?” He glanced at me. Well, I certainly did not want to tell anyone about my medical condition. Well, past medical condition. Besides, past is past, right? I’ve already let go of that life and I really do not want to go back to it.

“Uh, I’d rather not tell you,” I awkwardly said.

“Alright, that’s cool,” he said, giving me a quick glance and a smile. I felt my cheeks go hot so I quickly returned the smile as I looked away. Ever since Garrett and Isa told me that I sucked at hiding my feelings, I couldn’t help but to feel more self-conscious now. Even though I didn’t know what they were talking about.

We then pulled into a driveway and stopped at this big and spacious house. I noticed how its garage door took up most of the front part of the house.

“This is Jared’s house?” I asked in awe, as we got out of the car.

“Nope,” Kennedy said, smirking. I scoffed as he kindly closed the door for me.

In that instant, the front door of the house opened and the guys rushed out of the house. Isa trailed behind them.

“It’s Kennedy, you guys!” Pat screamed as he ran towards him, arms open, ready for a hug. “Must I be today’s victim?” Kennedy asked himself as his eyes were closed, with a sigh. “KENNEDY!” Pat exclaimed as he tackled him, causing them to fall on the grass of Jared’s front yard. I just laughed at the sight and everyone did too.

“Okay, since Kennedy and Lisette are here, we can start now,” Jared said as he ushered us inside. Indeed, the house was spacious and it felt heart-warming. He led us through another small door.

We stepped in to his big garage and my eyes immediately travelled around the room. Two electric guitars and a bass were resting on guitar stands. There was a microphone and some amplifiers at the side. A complete drum set was also standing behind these. Two cars filled the rest of the area. There was a couch overlooking over all of these.

The guys made their way into the room and picked up their own instruments. Well, Pat just needed to sit down behind his drums and John just needed to stand behind the microphone but still. I greeted Isa and we both sat down at the couch.

After some short discussion between the guys, they decided that they’d make a run-through of all the songs on their album. Basically, Isa and I were just listening in peace, making small talk every now and then, commenting on their performance. They started with Everything I Ask For, and then followed by We All Roll Along. I noticed how Garrett was the one who moved around the most. One second he’s here, and then the next, he’s over there, banging his head a lot. In the middle of Girls Do What They Want though, some things didn’t go as expected.

I was bobbing my head to the song as the guys were playing it. As the second chorus played, Garrett who was doing his thing suddenly tripped, his bass coming in contact with the floor, making a hideous sound as the pavement slapped the strings. Immediately, everyone stopped playing, especially Pat, who saw it all. I was caught in a trance, and I could tell Isa was in one too.

“GARRETT, NOOO!” Pat stood up, rushing to Garrett. A so-called adrenaline rush got him to get Garrett’s base off of him, handing it over to Kennedy.

“Quick, I need a first aid kit!” Pat said, gesturing Isa or me to get it. We looked around the room as we continued to hear Pat’s wails.

“No, Garrett, don’t die on me! You’ll make it,” he said, talking to the unconscious boy, whose head was now resting on his lap.

“Uh, Pat?” Jared spoke up.

“You know, he didn’t even hit his head on the ground. I think his bass is even more damaged than him,” John said, scratching his nape.

Immediately Garrett’s eyes shot open. “My bass! Where is it?!” He got up, looking around. Isa and I were just laughing at this point.

“I’m sorry man,” Kennedy said, handing the bass to Garrett. Garrett examined his guitar, immediately seeing some parts were detaching themselves from the body. And at this time, we were all silent as Garrett stared down at his bass in despair.

Minutes passed as Garrett had his staring contest with his bass. John decided to call off practice and we went out into the living room. We all sat down, Isa sitting beside Garrett who was still dazed. That must have been his first ever bass.

“Well, since band practice is now over, now we have to discuss some important things,” John said.

“Tour stuff?” I asked.

“Actually, yeah, we might head into a short tour soon,” Jared said, smiling.

“But actually, you know what, we can’t discuss anything yet anyway. We know too little,” John said, eyebrows knitted together. Pat and Kennedy nodded in agreement.

“Anything else before we officially end band practice?”

“Uh, actually, yeah,” Kennedy said, slightly raising his hand. We all turned to Kennedy as he shifted in his seat.

“You guys want to go bungee jumping tomorrow?” And I found myself nodding eagerly, yet I was scared. That was the fourth thing on my list and I couldn’t wait what his plans were now.