We Only Breathe for so Long

“So…what are your plans for today?” I heard my mom ask. I was still half asleep and I was having trouble keeping my eyes open. I had trouble sleeping last night and it resulted to me looking like a ghost in pajamas. I stirred the hot cocoa in the mug and shrugged.

“Going over to Kennedy’s later. We have uh…something to do.” I said awkwardly. This was probably the first time I have ever mentioned a guy’s name before. She looked over at me and took in my “look”. My hair looked like an absolute haystack and my clothes were all wrinkled up. It looked like a hoard of horses trampled over me. “What?” I asked.

She shook her head and resumed reading her magazine. I quirked my eyebrow and decided to leave it. I drank the contents of the mug despite the slight burn it left on my tongue. I ran my hand through my hair and stared at the clock. I still had a few hours to waste my time but what to do…

I stood up and walked around the house, still looking like an idiot, and decided to hang out near my mom’s room. It had a window overlooking the houses and the parks…all in all I could see everything up there. I just stood there staring at the houses that were being shadowed by the sun when I heard some tapping from the window beside me. Note that there are two windows in this room.

I looked over and saw my own Uncle at the next house. He pointed at the window and motioned for me to open it. I was dumbfounded so I was as slow as a turtle in doing this. I beckoned my feet to move and opened the window for my Uncle to come in. He landed with a loud thump and brushed his hands on his jeans.

“What were you doing?” I asked. He was all covered in dirt and his hair was a mess, like mine.

“I went up to check the roof. So much dirt there. Gonna have to hire some men to clean that up for us.” He took a deep breath and gave me a smile. “And what are you doing?”

“Enjoying the view.” I replied then ran a hand through my hair again. He nodded and left me there standing in front of the big window. His footsteps faded away which left me with time to think about things.

I wondered why my sister kept me a secret….and why I felt so light and comfortable when I was around Kennedy. It felt like he was there to make things better…he was like Jordan to me. Someone who could help me get on with life. I smiled at the thought and shook my head. I better go take a bath now. I walked down the corridor and looked at the clock hanging on the wall. I frowned when I saw the small hand on twelve. I didn’t think I took that long by the window. I sighed and went to my room to get my stuff ready for that bath.

~~~

I was already fully dressed and somewhat prepared to go over at Kennedy’s. I had my phone tucked inside my shorts and some money in my back pocket. I know I wore a dress yesterday but that doesn’t mean I am that girly. I blow dried my hair and tied it up into a ponytail. It was hot outside and I don’t want to get there sweaty as hell.

I went downstairs and took a quick look at the mirror beside the door. I guess I looked okay…wait a second. Since when did I start caring about how I looked? I bit my lip and hoped that I wasn’t starting to feel anything weird. I gave myself a shake and opened the door. The skies were crystal clear and the heat was so intense, I felt like I was already in hell.

“Mom I’m going now!” I heard her reply and walked out of the door. Kennedy’s house was just a few blocks away and it was nice that it was just a walking distance. I don’t want to waste some gas over that.

After five or seven minutes of intense walking, I was finally behind Kennedy’s door. I knocked on it a few times, waiting for him to open. I tapped my foot against the pavement and waited for what seemed like hours. I rolled my eyes and knocked again, louder this time. The door opened with a jolt while my fist collided with someone’s nose.

“Ow!”

“Oh god, I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you open the door!” I said quickly. I shook my hand and felt stupid. The guy held his nose and turned his head towards me. He had messy brown hair and bright blue eyes that could make any girl fall for him. “Um…is the nose not broken?” I asked nervously. Then he laughed.

I huffed and gently pushed him aside, problem is he didn’t bulge. “It’s not broken. Good thing you didn’t knock too hard. That would be a problem.” It was my turn to laugh and he just grinned at me.

“Garrett! Who’s at the door?” I perked up a bit at the sound of his voice. I would have died of embarrassment if this guy was the only one in the house. I let out a breath and looked at this Garrett.
Kennedy approached us and he seemed surprised to see me standing at the door. I gave a slight wave and he just blinked at me. Uhm…

“Lisette? I thought you were coming at one.”

“Yeah, it’s already one.” I said while passing Garrett to get inside the house. Kennedy gave a slow nod and went back to the couch, which was occupied by some other guy. Now I feel a bit insecure.

Garrett motioned for me to have a seat but I declined. I don’t think there was even any space left for me. The guys huddled together on the couch while eating some chips on the table. The other guy whose name I didn’t know was playing a guitar and singing a few notes and boy, his voice was really good.

Actually, the word good is an understatement.

“Lisette, meet the guys. This is John,” The guitar boy looked up at me and gave me a sly grin. Note to self; don’t get too close to him. I gave him a small smile and he suddenly licked his lips. Kennedy sighed and I guessed this was why he didn’t want me to come. “And this guy, his name’s Garrett. Guys, meet Lisette, Jordan’s twin sister.”

The two guys held their breath for a moment and had some eye contact with each other. Kennedy didn’t seem to notice all of this though.

“Thanks for smashing my face.” Garrett said to break the silence then I giggled.

“Anytime.”

“So,” Kennedy started, looking at me in the eyes. “What’s the first thing on your list?” I started to rummage through my pockets and got the bucket list. I was suddenly aware that there were two guys in this room who doesn’t know anything about this.

“Are you sure I’m not disturbing anything? I mean your friends are here and--“

“It’s cool. We were just trying to make a few songs anyway. What’s on that list?” John asked. I bit my lip and shrugged.

“It’s a shopping list.” I blurted out. It was meant to be sarcastic but the guys took it seriously.

“You brought a shopping list? Wow.” Garrett mumbled. He shook his hair out of his eyes and peered at the list I was holding. “It doesn’t look like one to me though.”

“That’s because it’s not.” Kennedy said and stood up. He looked over the list nodding his head a few times then, he gave a huge smile. “I’m surprised that your list is quite do-able. Except for that gun session. I don’t know where we’re going to do that.” From my peripheral vision, I could see their eyes bulging out of their sockets. They weren’t expecting this I guess.

I shook my head. “My uncle was part of the army once. I’m sure he knows a couple of places where we can handle some guns.” Kennedy nodded, still smiling. To be honest, I haven’t taken a “serious” peek on my bucket list and now, I did just that and felt the heat coming up to my cheeks. I cannot believe I wrote all of this when I was fourteen.

I was too pre-occupied with Kennedy that I didn’t notice the two guys hovering behind me. I glanced at them and took a step back, away from them. “You know, there’s a thing called personal space.” I said my breath hitched up in my throat.

“I think it’s nice for people to get a little closer you know.” John replied and I just had the urge to roll my eyes and smack his head but that would be very out of character.

“The first thing on your list is to have a road trip right?” I nodded. Kennedy took time thinking about this then he suddenly grabbed both Garrett’s and John’s arms. They talked near a corner in hushed tones while I was left alone feeling awkward. After a few minutes of feeling completely useless, they came back with big smiles on their faces.

“You don’t have any motion sickness right?” Garrett asked and that silly grin still on his face.

“How do you think I got here?”

“Right…” Garrett said more to himself than to me. Kennedy took hold of both my shoulders and stared right into my eyes. I could get lost in his eyes but I decided to take hold on reality instead.

“We are going on a road trip. To John’s other house.” I blinked at him, confused at his remark.

“Other house? Doesn’t he live here? I mean…”

“I actually have a vacation house not far from here. There are a lot of things we could do there and I could just tell the other guys to meet up there. It’ll be fun.” I figured that the last line had some hidden meaning behind it but decided to ignore it for today.

“Okay I guess…” I mumbled.

“Great! We’re going there in two days so better prepare yourself Monroe. You’re up for some adventure.” Garrett said and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I stiffened for a bit and caught Kennedy looking at us squarely.

Oh god, what have I gotten myself into?