Status: Subscribe + Comment!<3

Kindred Souls

seven

Alivia's car was in the driveway when I got home. I was thankful to see my spot empty of Kennedy's old Honda. I wasn't too excited about the fact that I would have to talk to Alivia.

When did my relationship with my best friend get to the point where I didn't want to talk to her? After everything we'd been through. We grew up together. We met when we were four through unusual circumstances and were friends ever since.

With a sigh, I shoved open the door, purse and Chipotle cup in hand. I didn't see Alivia, but I heard her TV on in her room. It sounded like some reality show. Maybe I could get to my room without her noticing.

Just as I started for the hall, the garage door opened and in came my best friend with a basket of laundry.

“Hey!” She smiled widely then set the basket in the loveseat and threw her arms around me, “I missed you!” She exclaimed and I laughed awkwardly, “I saw your car this morning when I went to work, but I didn't even hear you get home last night.” Yeah, because you were too busy having sex. “You must've gotten in really late.”

I laughed awkwardly again, “Oh, yeah. I think you were asleep.”

She pouted then almost immediately perked up, “So? How was your trip? Did you have fun? Any cute guys? Come, sit and tell me everything!” She grasped my wrist and pulled me to the couch. Why did everything have to revolve around guys and love? There was more to life than falling in love.

“I hardly remember, Alivia, since I was so drunk. Practically the whole time I had some kind of alcoholic beverage in my hand.”

Her tongue clicked against the roof of her mouth, “Come on, Lee! There has to be something you can tell me!”

I sighed, already tired of her, “I mean, there might have been a couple drunken hookups.” I gave in.

“Of course there were.” She smirked.

My brow furrowed as I immediately got offended, “What's that supposed to mean?”

She shrugged as she stood up and grabbed the basket, obviously seeing I was getting upset, “You always hook up with someone when you get drunk. Sometimes more than one person. It's like you can't say no or something.” She began walked to her room and I just stared after her.

“So you're calling me a slut?”

She turned back to me with a long sigh, “No, I'm just saying you have a hard time saying no.”

My anger flared, “Fuck you.” I said then stormed passed her and into my room, slamming the door shut. Once in my room, I threw my bag on the ground and pulled my phone out of the front pocket of my shorts.

“I think I might set her bed on fire tonight.” I texted Garrett then kicked off my boots without even unzipping them. It was so hot! And I was so angry. I hardly ever got this angry.

Turning on my ceiling fan, I tried to cool myself off. I could hear Alivia moving around in her room across the hall. This only made me angrier. To drown out the noise, I turned my TV on and found a channel that was playing reruns of Gilmore Girls. Seeing one of my favorite shows on calmed me down a little bit. So I sat down. From next to me, my phone went off.

“What'd she do now?”

“Called me a slut.”


I moved to my headboard, where I finally realized Ryan was curled up on my pillow, “You don't think I'm a slut, do you?” I asked sadly. In return, Ryan looked up at me with her big blue eyes. “Didn't think so.”

In my hand, my phone vibrated, “Why?”

“Because I hooked up with some guys in Vegas when I was drunk.”


I had absolutely no same, obviously.

“Understandable; it's Vegas.” At least someone understood.

“I need to get out and I just got back. I'm going to kill her.”

“hahaha. Well, I'm going to Jared's tonight to hang out with him, his girlfriend, and John. Some other people will be there as well. You can come if you want.”


I looked down at Ryan again. She was fast asleep already. Oh, to be a cat. “Will there be beer?”

“Clearly you don't know us by now.”


I snorted then quickly typed back a response, “I'll go.”

“Great, now you can pick me up because my car is in the shop.”

“But won't you get made fun of for showing up in a bright yellow Beetle?”

“Fuck you”
I laughed loudly. My phone vibrated again, “Be at my house at 6:30.” He then sent me another message with his address, which I punched into my Maps app. He didn't live too far away which was good.
+

To waste time between three and six-twenty when I was going to leave to pick Garrett up, I decided on a nap. I was still so tired from the weekend and dealing with wedding planning. Which reminded me that I needed to go into the office the next day. I didn't necessarily enjoy working at the office of the agency I was working for, but I went at least once a week.

I dozed off sometime between thinking about Lisa's wedding and planning out what time I should go in. I didn't wake up until I felt and heard my phone ring on the mattress next to me. With bleary eyes, I looked at the name, seeing “Garrett” at the top of my screen.

My brow creased in confusion as I answered it, “Hello?”

“Uh, hi.” He replied awkwardly.

“Hi...”

“Uhm,” He awkwardly started, “where are you?”

“At home...” Why was he calling?

“It's 6:45.”

My eyes widened as I pulled the phone away from my face to check the time 6:47. “Ah, shit.” I exclaimed as I jumped up from my bed, “I'm sorry. I fell asleep. I'm leaving right now.”

He laughed at my panicked state, “It's fine. We're just hanging out, so it's no big deal.”

I slipped my boots on without unzipping them while cradling the phone between my ear and shoulder. Next, I looked at myself in the mirror, seeing my hair half way out of my bun. Taking three strides over to my wall, I slapped my light on, making the ceiling fan light overhead come on.

“Okay, well, I'll be there in like ten minutes.” I sad absently as I went to work on the rat's nest that had become my hair. We hung up after that and I twisted my hair up while leaving my bangs out. They were greasy, but I didn't care. I probably would later, though, so I grabbed a few bobby pins and threw them into the inside pocket of my purse.

My eyeliner and mascara were both smudged beyond belief so I just opted to pull out a makeup wipe and take my makeup off completely. I had no one to impress anyways.

“Come on, Ryan.” I said to the kitten, who was rolling around on the floor, playing with the dust ruffle on the bed. Her head perked up when I bent down and grabbed my purse off of the floor next to her, “Come on, Beautiful.” I said in a high-pitched voice people usually reserved for animals and babies.

The kitten got up and followed me out of my room. Quickly, I moved into the kitchen and checked on her food. Seeing her water bowl empty, I picked up a dirty glass next to the sink and filled it up with tap water. That's when I noticed Alivia on the couch with a text book in her lap. I poured the water in the bowl and set the glass back down at the counter.

“Where are you going?” Alivia asked when I entered her line of vision.

“Out.” I responded, shortly.

“Oh, okay. I thought we could have dinner...”

I gave her a shrug, “Sorry, I have plans to get drunk and be a slut.”

Her jaw dropped at my jab, but I didn't care. What she said and had been doing lately were hurting me, so she deserved some pain herself.

I was in my car, off to Garrett's before I knew it. At the stop sign at the end of the block, I put in “I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child” by Manchester Orchestra and turned it to track two, “Now That You're Home.” It was a good stress reliever and by the time I pulled up to Garrett's two-story house, I felt better.

His house was large which made me wonder what his parents did for a living. But then I remembered it was Arizona and houses were dirt cheap here.

Turning down the volume on my stereo, I tapped “call” on his name. It didn't take long for him to answer, “I'm here.”

“Already?”

“Yes.” I laughed, “Get your ass out here.” He laughed and told me he would be out in a second.

Garrett hadn't changed since I saw him earlier, but I hadn't either. What would be the point? “Hey.” He greeted when he got in my car.

“What's up?” I asked, pulling away from the curb.

“Nothing, I just expected to be waiting a bit longer since you just woke up.”

I laughed again as I came up to the stop sign at the entrance of his neighborhood. I just sat there, though, not making a move to drive. “I didn't have time to get ready. Not that I would have had much to do, though. I fixed my hair and took my makeup off because I looked like a hooker.”

He laughed as he looked at me, “I didn't even notice you weren't wearing any.”

I smiled then gestured to the road, “So, which way am I going?” I asked.

“Oh! Right. Right, then right again. They live on the other side of Chandler.”

Hearing this, I looked down at the fuel gage on my dashboard, “Looks like we're stopping to get gas first.” He nodded and tapped his hands against his thighs to the beat. He seemed to do that a lot.

I stopped at the first Shell gas station I saw since it seemed to be the one that lasted the longest in my car, “All right.” I sighed to myself once we were stopped in front of the pump. I rolled the windows down so Garrett wouldn't suffocate then turned the key once to the left so the radio stayed on. Reaching over into the backseat, behind Garrett, I grabbed my purse, probably getting a little too close to him, “Sorry.” I apologized and he shrugged.

Pulling my debit card out of my wallet, I opened the door, causing the beeper signaling that my keys were still in the ignition to go off, “Yeah, shut the fuck up.” I mumbled to my car then slammed the door. I heard Garrett laugh as I turned to the screen built into the pump.

Pumping gas was one of my least favorite things to do. I always found it to be difficult and never got the hang of it in the six years I'd been driving.

After having some difficulties with the machine and muttering some expletives such as “scumbag piece of shit machine” and “fucking skank whore”, it finally went through and I was ready to put the nozzle in. I caught Garrett's amused eyes watching me as I turned to uncap the gas cap. Giving him a look, I went on with the task at hand.

Once the nozzle was in, I pressed “87” and flicked the latch down so it would pump on it's own. With one last wary glance, I turned back and leaned in through my open window and put my card back in my wallet, “Can you toss this back there?” I asked, handing Garrett my purse.

He nodded while taking it from me and literally tossed it behind him. I stared at him with my mouth slightly ajar, “What?” He asked innocently, “You said to toss it back there.”

With a disbelieving chuckle, I turned back to the pump and watched as the numbers got higher and higher. Finally, they stopped and my car was done filling up. I put the nozzle back and watched the screen.

“One moment please...” I tapped my foot, waiting, “Would you like your receipt?”

My finger was pressing “no” but nothing was happening, “Seriously?” I asked in disbelief.

“What?” Garrett asked, leaning across the center console and peaking out the window.

“I'm trying to press “no”, but the piece of shit won't work.”

“Try pressing “yes”?”

I pressed yes, but nothing happened. In anger, I pressed the button repeatedly with a strangled scream.

“Thank you, your receipt will be inside.”

I stared at the screen, stunned, “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Garrett was laughing from inside the car while I felt like ripping my hair out. With an annoyed huff, I got back in the car and started it, “Aren't you going to get your receipt?”

I gave him an “are-you-crazy?” look as I put my seatbelt on, “Fuck that. It'll show up on my account online.”

He shook his head with a laugh and sat back until he had to direct me where to go, “Turn left. You'll be on this street for a while.” I nodded and pulled down my visor to block the setting sun. That's when his phone went off. “They're wondering where we are.” He said as he focused on his phone.

“Tell them we had to stop to pick up some whipped cream for tonight.”

He looked at me in confusion, “What?!”

“Just do it and see what happens. Ten to one they'll think something kinky. And when they do, tell them they're a bunch of sickos and the whipped cream is for the strawberry shortcakes I'm making later.” He continued to stare at me, at a loss for words, “But if they're anything like me, they'd think that's code for something.”

“I am not saying that. You are insane.” He laughed.

“The best ones are.” I smirked and he shook his head, typing back to the message.

“Okay, no offense, but do you have something else we can listen to?”

I glanced at my stereo, “Uhm, yeah. Right now I have six CDs in there. First is the mix we listened to earlier, second is this, third is “High Violet” by The National, fourth is “Blood Pressures” by The Kills, “fifth is “Heartbreaker” by Ryan Adams-”

“You like Ryan Adams?” He asked and I nodded vigorously.

Love him. I named my cat after him.”

He smiled, “Oh, really? What's his name?”

Her name is Ryan.”

He laughed, shaking his head, “Wow, what an obvious name.”

I laughed along with him and switched the disc to number five, “This is my favorite album by him.”

“Mine is “Love is Hell”.”

My nose scrunched up, stopping at a red light, “That's my last.”

His jaw dropped at me confession, “What?! How could you not like it?!”

“I never said I didn't like it, I just like the others more.”

“You are definitely insane.”

I shot him a look, “We've been over this, Garrett.”

He shook his head and waited for the intro to be over, “Turn left up here.” He said once I got through the now green light. I nodded and changed lanes, cutting the BMW off behind me. He looked out the back window at the car as they honked. All the while, I was acting like nothing had happened as I merged into the turn lane, stopping because of the red light.

“What?” I asked, seeing him staring at me in shock, “They have brakes.”

He mechanically turned forward, “Oh my God, I'm going to die.”

“Don't be so dramatic.” I said as the light turned green.

“Have you ever been in an accident?”

I shrugged, “Once. No one else was involved, though.”

“Turn right here.” I obeyed his command, “What did you do?”

“I went up a curb and ran down some signs.”

He laughed loudly, “Seriously?” I nodded, “Their house is the one with the old, white Chevy in front of it. How old were you?”

“It was, like, three months after I got my license. I haven't been in one since.” I pulled up behind the truck and put my car in park then pulled up the emergency brake.

“Did you get your license last year?” He joked.

“Shut up.” I laughed as I shoved him, “I got it when I was sixteen. I'm a good driver. I just tend to forget about laws and shit when I drive for too long.”

He chuckled and I smirked while extracting my keys, “That's reassuring.”

“Plus, I really hate driving in parking lots. I can't count how many times I've almost hit a pedestrian.”

He stared at me, “ I can't believe you admit that so freely.”

Opening my door, I shrugged, “No shame.”

“Clearly.” He said then opened his door.

It was 7:30 when we walked through the door. As soon as we entered the living room where everyone was hanging out, watching the Diamondbacks game and drinking beer, they all started a slow clap.

“Nice of you to finally join us!” Jared called from the couch where he was seated next to a petite blonde girl wearing shorts and a flannel button up over a tank top.

“Sorry, we decided to have a quickie before we left.” I smirked at Garrett's red face and walked the rest of the way inside. Everyone, in response, “oowed” and laughed.

“She's just kidding. We were late because Leland got in a fight with the gas pump.” I rolled my eyes as I collapsed in a chair next to a man with a fabulous mustache.

“You guys would be, like, perfect for each other.” Ashley said from Tim's lap.

“We talked about this the other night, Ash.” Garrett said as he came back into the living room from the kitchen, beers gripped between the fingers of his left hand. He handed me one of the bottles which I accepted graciously, “We're both not looking for relationships.” He said once he sat down in an overly stuffed loveseat.

“I am looking for sex, though.” I said bluntly then took a sip from the bottle of Budweiser in my hand. I hated Bud, but it was all they had, I assumed.

“Well in that case,” I turned to the guy to my left, bottle still to my lips, “I'm Austin.” He said with a smile as he stuck his hand out.

I brought the bottle down and shook his hand, “Leland. What's your sign? I have the best sex with Leos.”

He frowned, “Dammit.” I laughed at his reaction.

“John's a Leo.” Tim said then shoved his friend's shoulder.

This caught my attention, “Oh?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

He smirked, “I am.”

“Call me some time then.”

He chuckled, “I'll be sure to keep that in mind.” I sent him a smirk and a wink before taking another sip.

“Do you really believe in all of that stuff?” Jared's girlfriend asked from the opposite end of the couch.

“I do.” I nodded.

“So, what's your sign?”

“Gemini.”

“And who are you most compatible with?”

“Aquarius, Libra, and Gemini. Aquarius mostly, though.”

Everyone's eyes focused on Garrett, which I didn't understand. “See!” Ashley yelled triumphantly.

I looked at Garrett in confusion, who rolled his eyes, “I'm an Aquarius.”

The smile spread across my lips in amusement, “In ten years, when I'm ready to settle down, I'll call you.”

He snorted, “Okay. Maybe I'll be ready by then.”
♠ ♠ ♠
I don't really know why I'm posting this since I don't exactly have much more written. Oh well. hah.