I Like The Way It Sounds

Midnight wasn’t too far away and my peers began heading off to various hotel rooms and vacant apartments to spend the rest of their prom night. Our little group, however, was much more innocent and we also planned on looking back and smiling at our memories of the event instead of cringing at the reminders of sloppy, drunken sex. Instead, we excited the hotel and started walking, fancy clothes and all. After a few blocks, we stumbled (literally, as my high-heeled feet we aching so much that they were practically numb) across a 24-hour-diner.
It looked like it belonged on a movie lot; it was fitted out with a retro theme and complete with middle-aged women in roller skates as waitresses. It was cute and smelled heavenly because they brewed overflowing cups of the best coffee I’d ever tasted.
We each ordered giant mugs of the stuff with an array of homemade and delicious breakfast foods. I ended up with a giant platter of French toast with whipped cream and perfectly ripe strawberries. Garrett eyed me curiously, obviously doubting my appetite. I’m proud to say that I finished the whole thing, and still had room enough to steal some of his milkshake when he wasn’t looking.
It was nice hanging out the way we were. I was surrounded by three of my oldest and closest friends. Everything felt right. I was almost happy to be single again; if I was still with Tom, none of this would’ve been happening. I would’ve been in his friends Ralph’s sketchy apartment with a bunch of jocks I barely knew as he got drunk and I sat in a corner with my iPod. Thank God he dumped me! Forget being “almost happy”, I was relieved. To make things easier, I wasn’t even thinking about my confusing feelings for Garrett for the time being, either. That is until Char casually brought up his relationship status.
Whenever Charlotte would come and visit me in Arizona on my many summer stays there, she was always kind of a third wheel to Garrett. It was nothing against her or the relationship that we shared, and she understood that. She respected that Garrett was my OTHER best friend and she knew that we needed to spend time together too. I had September to May in New York with her, so she completely “got it” that my summer months in Arizona belonged to Garrett. However, in more recent years when we were all more independent and she was able to come for more extended periods of time, she couldn’t sit around by herself when the three of us were together. That’s when she and Pat started to get close, and, when Garrett started dating Jessica in the middle of the summer going into ninth grade, she and Char became good friends. Unfortunately, theirs seemed to be a seasonal relationship as both girls were busy outside of the weird world that was “Caite and Garrett”. So, Char was forced to get all of her information on Jessie’s doings through Garrett or Pat when they had a chance to talk or see each other throughout the year.
“So, Garrett, how’s Jessie doing?” He looked surprised by her question and was suddenly dangerously thirsty as he took a few monstrous gulps of water. His face had a faint tinge of pink. “She’s, uh… Well. I um…,” he paused, and stared across the table at Pat with panicked eyes. The other boy just shot him a confused look and gestured for him to continue. Seeing that Pat wasn’t going to save him, he turned to me. I offered him my water glass as a meek means of assistance. How did he expect me to help if I didn’t know what was wrong?
“I wouldn’t know.” He managed to finish, having regained some composure. Char’s face contorted with confusion and I had a sudden realization. Aunt Jenny’s weird behavior on the phone concerning Gare, John’s words, ‘He understands more than you think’, they made sense to me now. Jessie had cheated on him. He was running a hand nervously through his hair, sensing the suddenly awkward mood that was overtaking our table. I reached out to grab his free hand and gave it a comforting squeeze, “I’m sorry. She doesn’t know what she’s missing.”

He looked back at me and smiled, obviously relieved that he didn’t have to explain it. “He doesn’t either”, he replied, referring to the dumb boy I’d left stupefied at the dance. “I’m starting to figure that out.” I smiled and Garrett wrapped his arm around my shoulders. It was a small act that he’d done with me so many times, but this time… I think it meant a lot more than ever before. And I think I was okay with that.