We Only Breathe for so Long

“Lisette, dear! There’s a man waiting outside the door for you!” I reached for one of our pillows and covered my head with it. Due to too much hanging out with the guys the other day, I was left exhausted and unwilling to socialize with other people.

“Lisette! Come and greet the young man right now!” I groaned and ungracefully landed on my back as I tried to get out of bed. I cursed at myself for being so clumsy while muttering a bunch of profanities until I reached the door. I had no idea who would visit me in the morning. I looked over at my clock and rolled my eyes. Someone who would visit me at six in the morning.

“What?!” I asked as I opened the door. My mom shook her head and gave me a disappointed look. I rolled my eyes and she walked away. I looked down the hall for the ‘man’ who was supposed to be outside my door. I heard someone clear their throat and when I looked down in front of me, I saw my dear friend Garrett Nickelsen. He sat crossed leg on the floor drinking a mug of hot chocolate my mother made for him. I rubbed my eyes just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming but he was still sitting there, looking at me with an amused expression.

“How did you get inside the house?” I asked incredulously. He chuckled and raised the mug.

“Your mom knows me.” I groaned and crossed my arms, trying to stay awake.

“And why are you here at six in the morning?”

“I needed to talk to you,” he mumbled, staring down at his drink.

“Can’t you do it later? We are going bungee jumping…” I trailed off realizing that I might die in a matter of hours. I gulped at the thought of actually bungee jumping and cringed.

“Kennedy specifically told me to talk to you now. Also, I have a few matters to discuss with you.” I raised my eyebrow and nodded grimly, opening the door further to let him inside. He stood up and dusted the dirt of his jeans and strode inside my room, whistling. I closed the door and went back to my bed, curling up.

“Nice room.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled. My head was going back to sleep but I fought it, scared of Garrett making fun of me later. “So, what’s up?” I asked tiredly.

“The ceiling,” he replied with a smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes and reached for a small pillow to throw at him. I missed by an inch though. He chuckled and raised one hand in defeat. “Okay to tell you the truth, Kennedy didn’t ask me to go to your house.” I sat up straight and glared at him. “I thought that maybe if I mentioned his name, you would willingly let me inside your room. I guess it worked.” Again, another smirk was plastered on his face.

“Then why are you here?”

“Do you not enjoy my presence?” He asked with a hurtful expression, a hand held over his heart.

“No…I, uh we’re going off topic here.” I replied quickly realizing what he was planning to do.

“Change of plans, we’re doing bungee jumping tomorrow. Apparently Kennedy has some family business to attend to.”

“Wait,” I said getting confused. “I thought Kennedy didn’t ask you to—“

“He didn’t tell me to go to your house. He just told me to tell you.” He replied with a shrug before drinking the last drop from his cup of hot chocolate. He frowned at it and placed it at the table and leaned on one of the walls, looking out the window.

“Okay then…” I mumbled, a bit distraught knowing that I wouldn’t get the time to hang out with the guys. My phone started to buzz on the table, which caught out attention. Garrett raised his eyebrow while I shrugged, going over to see who would text me at six in the morning. I opened the text and I smiled unconsciously.

Hey Lisette, it’s Kennedy. Sorry about postponing the bungee jumping session. Promise to make it up to you somehow. Coffee tomorrow morning? That is if you won’t mind…I sent Garrett to keep you company for the day. Have fun!

Kennedy

Having coffee the next morning didn’t seem like a bad idea. I quickly replied telling him I would love to and that Garrett was a bit too early for coming to my house at six. Garrett is such a mischievous guy. He was obviously digging for some answers…about Kennedy and me.

“Who is it?” Garrett asked curiously. I shook my head still smiling. If I said it was Kennedy he would eventually tell Isa and both of them would start making fun of me and my so-called feelings.

“No one.” I replied and tossed my phone on my bed. I crossed my legs, still grinning like a fool.

“No one…” Garrett smirked while I just rolled my eyes and stretched my ever-tired arms.

“Yes no one. If you mind Garrett, I’m going to change and I might as well take a bath so,” Garrett nodded and left with his empty mug.

“I’ll be waiting downstairs!” He called out from the hallway. I didn’t respond because I was too lazy and I was wondering what I should wear for the day. I was still sleepy and since there wasn’t any occasion for the day, I grabbed a pair of pants and a tank top. Kennedy sent Garrett as a…replacement? I wasn’t entirely sure but I’m guessing they had plans for me this day.

The bathroom was inside my room so I didn’t bother bringing my clothes with me. I stripped out of my pajamas and let the cool water rush over me. I took my time washing the dirt and grime out of my hair as well as my body. It took me around half and hour to finish my bath and I knew that Garrett was getting impatient but I couldn’t care less. I wrapped the towel around my pale body and hoped that Garrett wouldn’t go upstairs. Actually, I hoped no one would be on the same floor as me.

I opened the bathroom door only to see Pat sitting in the middle of my bed, reading one of my books. He looked up at me and instantly covered his face, blushing at me. I looked down and realized I only had a towel on. I could feel the heat rise up to my cheeks and I silently cursed at myself for not locking the door.

“S-s-sorry L-lisette. I didn’t know that um,” he chuckled nervously and looked down.

“Yeah, uh can you hand me my clothes?” Pat nodded and he started to fumble around the room, searching for my clothes. I actually chuckled at this and found it cute. “Uh…Pat?!”

“Yes?! Sorry Lisette!” He apologized again, covering his eyes with his hands. I laughed it off though, doing my best to comfort him.

“Yeah, um, my clothes…they’re on top of my bed.” Pat turned around and laughed at himself. He grabbed my clothes and closed his eyes again, trying to get closer to me while being blind. I grabbed the clothes from his hands and mumbled a ‘thank you’ before changing into them. In about a minute, I was fully clothed and the towel was left to dry in the bathroom. Pat was still covering his eyes, ashamed as to what he did. I quietly slipped out of the bathroom and uncovered his eyes. He opened them with an awkward smile on his face.
“Pat, I’m fully clothed now.” Pat chuckled and nodded slowly, still shy about the whole ‘I just saw my friend in a towel’ incident.

“Sorry about that.” He apologized once again. I shook it off and looked around.

“If I may ask, why are you in my room?” Pat chuckled and ran a hand through his hair.

“Garrett asked me to check on you. H-he was getting impatient.” I nodded then smiled. When he showers, I’m going to make Isa wait outside his bathroom and tell him that I was getting impatient. I have to do that someday. Just so we could get even.

Both of us went down the stairs and were greeted by Garrett, who was sitting in the living room, doing something on his phone. The scent of bacon was wafting from the kitchen and into the room.

“Finally! Took you long enough,” Garrett said. I just rolled my eyes and took a seat, motioning for Pat to do so as well.

“Now I know how short your span of waiting is,” I teased. He scoffed at me and Pat and I just laughed it off.

“Basically, we’ll be expecting more company,” Garrett stated.

“I could tell by Pat’s presence that there will be more company.” I chuckled. At this point, Pat had just finished flipping through channels on the TV and was now completely engrossed in some show made for children, smiling like a six-year old.

“So, Lisette,” Garrett started, a sly grin forming on his lips.

“So, Garrett.”

“Kennedy texted you, didn’t he?”

I scoffed at his question. “Yeah.” I did not like where this could possibly go. I could feel my cheeks heating up slowly.

“And you were smiling why…?” He was smirking at me.

“Because.”

“Because?”

“Uh, I really don’t know,” I said, scratching my head. Honesty is still the best policy.

“Uh huh. I’m letting this pass for now, Monroe. Still keeping my eye on you,” he said, chuckling. Before I could respond, the doorbell rang. Knowing that my mom was preoccupied with making breakfast, I stood up and walked to the door.

“Hey, Lisette!” John greeted, as I opened the door. He was joined by Jared, who waved and looked at me with his cheery eyes. I greeted them back and told them to come in. John was carrying a big shopping bag, using one hand to support it from underneath. It obviously looked heavy and did not contain purchased clothes, so I shrugged it off. His and Jared’s feet padded against the wooden floor as they made their way to the Garrett and Pat on the couches.

“Hey guys,” Jared said to Garrett and Pat. Garrett stood up and bro-fisted him and John. Unfortunately, Pat was still pretty much engrossed in that show to even say a hello but the guys treated it as something normal. I heard another set of feet coming closer and slightly jumped at my mother’s thrilled voice.

“John! Jared! What a pleasant surprise,” she said with enthusiasm, smiling.

“Hi Mrs. Monroe! It’s been a while,” John said, chuckling.

“A long while,” Jared commented, joining in.

“Why don’t you all come in the dining room? Breakfast’s ready,” she said, ushering us towards there. Garrett then grabbed the remote from Pat and shut off the TV, which earned him a death glare from Pat. We all followed Mom and took our seats at the table. It was a good thing that she prepared a lot of food because the guys just practically forked a stack of pancakes and probably a fist full of bacon each. Their big appetite surprised me while my mom was just smiling like this was really such a normal thing.

We really didn’t converse much because the guys were too busy eating. Mom asked about what we did in the road trip and about band-related things. She told them that they could stay for as long as they want so I guess I’ll be stuck with them for the whole day here unless they have other plans.

We all helped cleaned up when we were finished and we then made it back to the living room.

“So guys, any plans for the day?” I asked, as we took seats.

“Nothing in particular, actually,” Jared said, shrugging.

“Yeah, we’ll just hang out,” Garrett said, flipping through channels. “I brought some movies and some video games.”

“Video games? But I don’t even have—“

“Which is why I brought my Xbox.” John winked at me and then I understood what that shopping bag was for.

“Can we go play? Please?” Pat gave me a look with sparkling eyes and I just had to laugh at his expression.

“Sure. But you guys will have to set everything up,” I replied.

They all agreed and then they all started working on setting up the Xbox. Just sat there, watching, probably wide-eyed as they connected cables to the TV and plugged things to other things. I don’t even know. But they finished in no time and started playing Halo. They asked if I wanted to play but I wasn’t the gamer type of person.

Just as they started screaming at their gameplay, the doorbell rang once again, its sound being drowned by the guys. I stood up and opened the door and smiled at the person who came.

“Hey, Lisette!” Isa said, smiling. Her arms were wrapped around a stack of books and a small backpack was hanging on her shoulders.

“Isa! Come in.” I followed after her through the doorway. Isa greeted the guys except John who didn’t seem to mind at all. Well, at least she doesn’t have such of a mood now whenever he’s around.

“What are the books for?” I asked, as we took our seats.

“Oh, these? I need to catch up my studies.”

“You go to college?”

“Yeah! Interior design at ASU. Well, I’ve been skipping class for these past few days and someone here made me cut class today as well,” Isa said with this certain edge in her voice.

“Hey, you had the choice,” Garrett said, pausing the game, which made everyone else who were playing complain.

“Well, you practically begged me to come.”

“You still had the choice.”

“But why would I say no?”

“Well, I just invited you over. You’re still the one who decided at the end.”

“Whatever, Garrett. You’re lucky that I even accepted—“

“Can we just continue playing already?” John interrupted, with annoyance in his voice.

“Since when have you been so rude?” Isa asked, her anger rising up.

“Maybe when you decided that it was okay to ignore me when I didn’t do anything wrong?” John retorted.

“Oh, trust me. You did everything wrong,” Isa said, rolling her eyes.

“You know what? I’d rather that you—“

“Guys! Stop it!” Jared shouted. The two obeyed and Garrett unpaused the game. There was so much tension in the room that the guys weren’t even shouting during their gameplay and that everyone except Isa and John were shifting uncomfortably in their seats every now and then. Only the sound of buttons being clicked was audible.

“Hey Isa? Want to go my room? There’s a desk there that you can use,” I said, after a long while.

“Sure,” she mumbled. As we got up, I glanced at Garrett, who gave me a worried look. I just sighed in reply. I could tell everyone, not just the two of us, were worried about Isa and John. I mean, they’ve been best friends since they were children and now… things aren’t like they used to be.

We made our way to my room and Isa set her things down on her desk while I took a seat on my bed. I grabbed the novel I was currently reading and Isa started to study.

I don’t know how much time passed when someone knocked on my door. I glanced at the page number I was on and then got up to get it.

“Hey, uh, can I come in?” Garrett said, biting his lip. He was carrying a laptop that seemed to have been in use a few minutes ago because it was turned on.

“I don’t see why not.” I made him take a seat on a beanbag as I went back to read my book again.

“Garrett, if you’re here to tell me to go fix up things with John already, then I’d like to tell you that I don’t want to,” Isa said, keeping her gaze on her trigonometry book.

“Look, we’re just all worried about you two and—“

“I appreciate what you guys are doing but I have a plan. And I’m sticking to it.” A plan? I looked at Garrett, hoping that he would know what Isa was talking about. He however, returned my gaze with a desperate, questioning look. I guess we had to leave Isa on this. For now.

~~~

“Finally. I’m done,” Isa said, groaning as she stretched her arms. I bookmarked the page I was reading then sat up.

“Great! Can we go downstairs then?” Garrett asked, as he unplugged his right earphone. He was using his laptop the whole time and I swear I could hear the music he was listening to if I concentrated.

“Sure,” I said. I got up and straightened the covers. I glanced at Isa who was still seated. Probably she was having second thoughts about going downstairs. Garrett was drumming his fingers on his laptop as we waited for her answer.

“Yeah, sure,” Isa finally said with a sigh, fixing up her things. Garrett gave me a thumbs up and I just smiled back at him. I guess Garrett just wanted to make sure everything was going good among all of us and I just have to hand it to him for that.

Once Isa gathered her stuff, we made our way through the house, into the living room. Just as we stepped into the room, the movie that Pat, Jared and John ended. I guess that’s how long Isa took to study. They were groaning about their stiff necks and about the movie. At least John doesn’t seem pissed off anymore.

“So, what should we do next?” Pat asked, as we took seats. Suddenly, a familiar ringtone started to play and we all fumbled with our own cellphones, checking if it was ours.

“Hello?” John said into the transmitter. We all stayed silent as he took his phone call.

“Yeah, hi Tim.”

“He’s my big brother. Our band’s manager,” Pat whispered to me. I nodded back to him. Garrett and Jared were very much attentive to the one-sided conversation we were hearing.

“A Rocket to the Moon? Seriously?” John laughed, as if he couldn’t believe what he heard. “All Time Low too? That’s great!”

“Yeah sure. I’ll tell the guys. Bye.”

“We’re going to support A Rocket to the Moon, aren’t we?” Garrett said, a smile forming on his lips.

“And All Time Low’s gonna be there too, right?” Pat said, just like Garrett. Okay, I’ll be assuming that these are other bands I haven’t heard of yet.

“Yeah!” John said, throwing his hands up. “Well, that’s if we’re okay with it, of course. Tim’s asking if we could talk about this later this afternoon? He knows all the details already and all we have to do is say yes or no.”

“Pat’s house?” Jared asked.

“Yup.”

“But how about Kennedy?” Garrett asked. My heart thumped at the sound of his name.

“Of course we won’t decide without his consent. We’ll find a way. But we seriously need to have our meeting this afternoon since the tour would start three weeks from now. We’re like a last-minute thing,” John said.

“Alright, well, I guess we’re not going to stay here the whole day, Lisette,” Jared said.

“Oh, but you and Isa can come to my house if you want! My invitation,” Pat said happily.

“Sure, I can go. But I need to ask my mom first,” I said.

“I’m sorry, but I have some schoolwork to do. Maybe next time,” Isa said, giving a weak smile. I bet she just wanted to avoid John, but I’m no one to judge.

“Alright then, let’s go to Pat’s house,” John said, smiling.