Come Pick Me Up

"I'm clocking out!" Andrea announced from the entrance.

"Have a good time with Kennedy! Not too much fun though. If you do, then keep it in his room and make sure he washes the sheets!"

"Ha-ha." She stuck her tongue out at me. "Oh and when you and Garrett want to fondle in the back room, try not to knock down all the vinyls!" She called out as she left the store. I couldn't do anything but laugh and get back to work.

By the time it's the last few hours before closing, there aren't very much customers. Everyone is out having dinner or watching a movie. At most, there'd be two or three people in here by the time the clock strikes 8. All that was left for me to do mot of the time was to fix empty boxes in the back room. 

All of a sudden there was a persistent dinging of the bell on the counter. I called out for the person to wait a minute as I pushed the last few boxes to the corner. But of course the dinging didn't stop.

"Just hold on a bloody minute!"

"But I'm hungryyy!"

I went out of the back room, only to find Garrett tapping impatiently on the wooden counter. "Then go eat. No one's stopping you."

"But you aren't free yet."

"You're a big boy, go get food on your own." I rolled my eyes. Garrett's been bugging me about trying a new mexican place that just opened a town over for days now. As a 'consequence' he stopped bringing me sandwiches from Panera. It didn't really matter cause either way, we'd end up driving through a McDonalds on the way. "You know that I'm closing tonight, and I won't be out for the next half hour."

"Then cut it short!" He whined like a five-year old.

"How bout I cut your wank short?" I snapped. I took a deep breath to calm down. I didn't get why he kept asking me to come with him when he could've just taken Sarah instead. "Why do I have to come with you? Can't you go on your own?"

"Cause I like spending time with you." He looked down at his shoes. He looked so cute whenever he had that somber look. His bangs would fall onto his eyes and his bottom lip with stick out.

That look always got to me. I sighed in defeat. "Alright. Give me 10 minutes."

--------

"This is the best enchilada I've ever had." Garrett munched happily on his takeout. It was quite the sight. He had lettuce sticking out of his mouth and chili con carne smeared on his cheek.

We were walking around to burn off the food. I didn't think that Mexican food could be so filling. My stomache was loaded up with ground meat, guacamole and beans. "I've had better."

"You're kidding right?" He looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.

I wiped the chili off his face and laughed. "Isn't there a rule where you're not supposed to take a girl out to Mexican on your first date?" 

"So we're on a date now, huh?" Garrett raised and eyebrow at me. I couldn't help but blush at what I seemed to be insinuating. I punched his arm lightly then shoved my hands back in the pockets of the jumper I borrowed from Garrett. It's surprisingly windy at night here in Arizona. 

"I'm just giving you tips for when you finally strap on the balls to ask that Sarah lass out. Speaking of which, how is that going?"

"Not very well." Garrett looked down. "It seems I'm not the only guy who's taken an interest in her.

He had a somber look on his face. Honestly, he had the most shit luck when it came to love. Or maybe he was just out of practice, I'll never really know I guess. I could only hope that this girl would realize what an amazing bloke Garett is and dump the other bloke's sorry arse.

"You're looking at me all funny again."

"Am I?" I flushed.

"Don't worry. I find it cute." He stroked my cheek, making it heat up even more. 

The boys back home were never this sweet. Hell, boys anywhere aren't this sweet. Of course, with the exception of Garrett. He sure knows how to make a girl feel special. It was probably the Chimichungas settling in my stomache talking, but there was something about his charm that made my knees feel like jam when he took my hand and led me towards a drop off. 

"You're not going to do me off then throw me into the rocks, are you?"

"Not tonight." He replied simply. We reached a big fence which was probably at the least foot taller than I was. I gave him a look which said 'Now what?' He just grinned at me and lifted me by the waist then threw me gently to the other side. I thankfully landed on my feet with bent knees. Garrett didn't have the same luck since landed on his feet but then fell back on his arse. "Sit down then countdown from 14."

I sat down on the edge of the cliff and swung my legs back and forth over the edge. Fourteen... Thirteen... Twelve I felt Garrett sit next to me so close that our legs were touching. Nine... Eight... Seven... Six...

"Five..." He went along with my counting. "Four... Three... Two..."

One. A loud bang made my eyes snap open. Colorurful sparks lit the sky. The last time I've seen those suckers was when I was 12. At least that was the last time I enjoyed them. The noise it would make would start to bring up some dark things. Things I tried to repress deep in my memories.

I couldn't take it anymore. Everything was rushing back to me now. I had to block out the sound. I scratched on my ears and sobbed into my knees. Flashes were filling my head.

"Julia it's okay. I'm here, Julia. I'm here." Garrett had his arms around me. He pulled me closer and stroked my hair.

"I-I-I'm so-sorry." I sniffed and cried even harder into his shirt. It was the same one he wore when he picked me up from the airport. "Aw man I bludgeoned up your favourite shirt. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I have other shirts." He pulled me closer, if that was even possible.

"I'm normally not this weepy, I promise. It's just- I just- I-" The words came out as a gargle. I was surprised though when he started to sing.

"I don't remember were we wild and young? All that's faded into memory. I feel like somebody I don't know. Are we really who we used to be? Am I really who I was?

"The lights will draw you in and the dark will bring you down and the night will break your heart, only if you're lucky now." He whispered the last line, his breath tickling my ear.

My sobs subsided and I could finally breathe properly again. I slipped my hands off my ears, and Garrett followed suit. I wiped my nose with the sleeves of his jumper and took one last big sniff.

"Thanks for getting snot all over my sweater." He laughed and stroked my hair gently.

"You're a shit singer." I smiled up at him.

"You're a meanie!"

"I'm being serious, that was properly horrible. You should stick to the bass."

"I'll take that down." He laughed again. We walked back to his car, which wasn't hard to miss considering it was the only yellow car in the parking lot of three cars. Once we got to the car, I buckled my seatbelt and just stared at the sky. The fireworks have ceased and all that was left was the bright stars and the night sky. I stared at the sky in awe. "Liking the view?"

"It's brilliant. Where did you find that spot?" I asked without tearing my eyes off the sky.

"John found it a few years ago. He and his girlfriend at the time got into a huge argument so he drove around town until he reached the cliff. We've been going here ever since, even after they put up the fence. Jared even lost his virginity on that spot. Well not really on it but his car was parked there and he and Georgia were- well you get the idea.

"So after Jared told us that, we all agreed that we could only take people who mean a great deal to us here. This was heavily enforced, especially when it came to girls. You couldn't just bring any girl there." The view was disappearing as the lights from the buildings got brighter.

"Did you ever bring-"

He cut me off, as if he read my mind. "I tried to. But she refused to go any further after taking a look at the fence. I guess I should've taken that as a sign. That way I wouldn't have gotten my heart shattered into a million pieces."

"Live and learn, mate." I patted his shoulder then gave it a small squeeze.

"If only learning wasn't so painful."

"That's why they make you go to school. To build up that learning stamina."

"School is for suckers."

"Hey I went to a prep school and even finished college!"

"My point exactly." He grinned.

"Who's the meanie now?" I stuck my tongue out at him then looked out the window to enjoy that last few moments I had left to look at the stars before all the other lights over power them. The rest of the car ride was filled with silence as Garrett and I left each other with our own thoughts. 

I must've drifted off because the next thing I knew, Garrett had his arms under my shoulders and legs. "What are you doing?"

My sudden words made his jump a bit. "Oh sorry. You were asleep and I just- sorry."

"No it's alright. That was very sweet of you." I smiled sleepily at him. "Just help me up."

"Oh yes! Sure no problem." He let his arm out for me to grab. I seemed to have pulled on it too much and we both fell back on the seat. "Sorry."

"You already said that." I laughed despite how heavy my lids were. "S'alright. Now come on and get off me before your neighbors think your trying to leg over your friend's best friend in your car. At least buy me dinner first."

"I already did remember?" He grinned at me. When did this boy ever get so... suave? We both got up and made our way quietly through the living room, where Andrea and Kennedy were both fast asleep. 

I didn't get the dynamic of their relationship really. They weren't an item but every time I'd come back from work, this was always the scene. She'd have her head on his shoulder, his was on her head with his arm draped around her shoulder.

After slipping off my pants and changing into some cloth shorts, I welcomed my bed with open arms. But it was a short lived reunion since there was a knock on the door.

Garrett peered through the door with his glasses sliding down his nose bridge. "Could I have my sweater back? The couch gets really chilly at night."

I slipped the jumper off, leaving me in my blue uniform. Garrett looked like his brain just broke. I looked down at what the hell he was looking out and realized that my shirt rid up to the midsection of my blue bra cup. "Like the view?" I mocked his town from earlier and tossed the jumper to his face.

"Goodnight, Julia." He laughed before he shut the door. 

I shifted to my side and sighed.

Arizona's been good to me but I knew that I couldn't run forever.