Love Is Hell

Garrett.

January had flown by in a hurry, leaving me doing the same routine over and over: wake up, endure five hours of school, eat lunch with Pat, Lina, and Courtney, endure more school, sit next to Lina in seventh period, go to band practice, then go home.

Now, it was Saturday, February second, the day after Pat’s birthday and we -meaning myself, Pat, John, Jared, Kennedy, Tim, Courtney (who’d been getting pretty close with Pat, if you ask me), and Lina- were all going to the theater to catch a movie in honor of it.

Tim, Pat, Kennedy, and I were standing outside of the theater waiting for everyone else to arrive when I saw Courtney’s car drive up and park in the lot. Pat immediately perked up and waved to them when they stepped out of the car.

Courtney walked up to Pat and hugged him while saying, “Happy birthday!”

“Hey, Lina,” Tim said, winking.

She rolled her eyes. “Hey, Kirch.” She turned to Pat when Courtney released him from his hug and said, “Happy birthday, Pat.”

“Ready to go in?” Courtney asked, probably wondering why we were still standing outside.

“We’re waiting on John and Jared,” Kennedy answered.

A few minutes later, the two of them pulled up and parked their cars before we entered the building and bought tickets.

“What movie are we seeing?” Lina hissed to me as we stood in the back of the line. Her dark hair was cascading around her shoulders in long waves.

“I’m actually not sure,” I said, feeling a little stupid. “Let’s just ask for the same as everyone else so we don’t sound dumb.”

She smiled, moving to the counter when it was her turn. After she bought her ticket, she stood and waited for me to buy mine.

“Everyone left us,” she said as we walked towards the theater room. “How rude.”

Finally, we found the right screen room after walking in on a movie that was half way through.

“Hey, Lina, I saved you a seat next to me,” Tim said, motioning to a seat on his left. Tim had been flirting with Lina on every occasion he saw her, and, to be honest, it was getting on my nerves a little. As much as I tried not to make it obvious that I liked Lina, I was sure it actually was obvious, and Tim probably knew that.

“Uh, no thank you! You guys left us! We walked in on the wrong movie because we didn’t know where you guys went. So I am sitting next to Garrett,” Lina said, sitting down on an empty chair. She looked up at me and said, “You better not ditch me, too, Nickelsen.”

I grinned. “Why would I do that, Carolina?” I would have referred to her as ‘Hawkins’ in response to how she called me ‘Nickelsen’ but every time I did that, she scrunched her nose in distaste. So I used her full name to tease her instead.

She sighed. “Just sit.”

I sat down as the lights dimmed and the movie started, showing a creepy scene with a little girl. A few minutes later, after it was clear that this movie was, in fact, a horror film, Lina started cursing.

“Well, damn! No one said this was a scary movie!” she whispered, leaning in close to me. I heard John chuckle from his seat next to her, and she promptly flipped him the bird.

“I thought you liked ghosts?” I asked.

“I never said I liked them. I just said I think they exist. But a ghost haunting you? That’s some scary shit.”

I laughed at how vulgar she was being. “Just remember, it’s not real.”

She pouted and turned back to face the screen. “Easier said than done.”

***

After watching the majority of the movie for about an hour and a half, Lina turned to me and whispered, “I am going to pee my pants.”

I tried not to laugh out loud as I said, “Don’t pay attention.”

Even in the dark, I could see her hazel eyes were wide. “Will you distract me, please?”

I blushed at how suggestive that sounded, but by how serious her face looked, she must have been scared to the point that she didn’t even notice her own words.

I never thought I would see the day that fearless Carolina Hawkins was scared of something, but I guess there’s a first for everything, right?

So I said, “Anything new going on?”

She pursed her lips. “My car broke down yesterday. We had to call a tow truck and take it to the mechanic in town. That’s why Courtney drove here.”

I nodded. “What was wrong with it?”

“No idea. I don’t understand engine-talk.”

I smiled, trying to calm her down. “Who does?”

“Good point.”

“So have I distracted you, yet?”

She sighed. “Sorta. I think I’m okay.”

So we watched the rest of the movie in silence.

While we were walking out of the theater, she said loudly, “I’m blaming you all for the nightmares I’m going to have.”

John gaped in fake surprise. “Lina Hawkins, scared? Is the world ending?”

She simply rolled her eyes.

“She’s got a point though guys, that was pretty freakin’ scary,” Jared said.

“I agree. To be honest, I don’t even want to be alone in my house!” Pat said, grinning. “So I vote that we all go over to my house and hang out.”

The guys all agreed, along with Courtney, which meant Lina was coming, too. To be honest, I was excited to spend more time with her.

***

“Pat, you didn’t say you were bringing friends home!” Mrs. Kirch said from the kitchen. She sighed. “Oh well. It’s fine. Please don’t mind how messy the house is though, boys...oh, and girls! I don’t think we’ve met before?” she asked, smiling at Courtney and Lina. Mrs. Kirch was like a second mom to me; she was also one of the nicest ladies I’ve ever met.

“I’m Courtney,” the brunette said politely. “And this is Lina. We’re friends of the boys.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, girls! Try to keep the boys in line, while I run to the store, alright?” Mrs. Kirch said, smiling at all of us before leaving through the front door.

“So, what are we actually going to do, now?” John asked as everyone flopped down on either the couch, the armchair, or the floor.

Pat shrugged. “Video games?”

I heard Lina let out a barely audible sigh.

“What if we play a card game, or something? We’ve spent like, the last two days playing video games, man,” I said.

The guys murmured simultaneously.

“Let’s play strip poker!” Tim yelled, grinning. I saw Courtney immediately blush, while Lina simply rolled her eyes.

“Nice try, Tim. Did ya forget that Lina is my baby cousin and Courtney’s her best friend, not a couple of random chicks, or what?” Jared said, scoffing.

Tim sighed. “You ruin all my fun, Jared. Maybe I wanted to see John take off his shirt!”

“Hey, all you gotta do is ask,” John said in his gay-boy voice, causing everyone to laugh.

***

It was Thursday, after school; close to a week after Pat’s birthday party, where we had done absolutely nothing. Tim had shitted around some more and Jared actually told him to shut up, which -in my opinion- we were all grateful for. After sitting around for half an hour doing nothing, we played... video games. Predictable, right?

I was walking to my car twenty minutes after school had ended, when I heard a silky, familiar voice.

“Leave. Me. Alone!” the voice yelled, and I instinctively sped up my pace to reach her. When I rounded the corner of the building, I saw Lina sitting on the curb, her backpack pulled onto her lap. A group of three boys were standing around her, smirks on their faces. I recognized Jake Owens, the guy from seventh period who’d harassed her last week.

Without thinking about what I was doing, I yelled, “Oh, Lina, there you are! Come on, let’s leave.”

She stood immediately when she saw me and started towards me. I took her bag from her hands and slung it around my shoulders, and then wrapped my free arm around her waist. She turned around once to flip off the guys, and then we quickly reached my car in the lot.

I took my arm off her waist, hoping she realized I wasn’t putting the moves on her, only trying to get those guys to back off.

“You’re a lifesaver,” she said quietly. “Thanks.”

I nodded. “What were they doing to you?”

She shrugged and put her backpack back around her own shoulders. “Same thing they always do. Jake wants to ‘take me out’,” she said, putting air quotes on his words. “He scares me, Garrett.”

I don’t think I would ever forget that moment. Even if Lina and I were only friends at best, I knew for a fact that she was showing a side of her that she only let certain people see. She was shaken and scared, truly scared.

I wanted to put my arms around her because she looked so upset. “They’re creeps. Should you tell the school principle?”

She sighed. “It’s fine. I’m a big girl; I can fend for myself.”

“If you say so...” I said quietly. If I knew anything at all about Lina, one thing was that she didn’t like it when people told her she was wrong. Though, Lina really could take care of herself, I suppose. “What are you doing here after school, then?”

She met my eyes. “I don’t have a ride home. My mom had to go to work, Courtney’s sick, Joey’s at baseball practice, and my car’s still at the mechanic.” She let out a bitter laugh. “Great luck, huh?”

I let out a noise of agreement. “I can take you home. It’s no big deal.”

Lina shook her head. “Today’s Thursday. Today is the day I go grocery shopping, every week. I have to go grocery shopping, Garrett.”

“So what’s your plan, then?”

“I guess I’ll just wait until Joey gets out of practice in a couple of hours.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Two hours, Lina? What if Jake Owens comes back?” I shook my head. “I’ll just take you grocery shopping.”

She blinked at me. “Really? Are you sure?”

I nodded and unlocked my car. “Come on.” I got in the driver’s seat as Lina did the same on the passenger side, throwing our bags in the back seat of my old yellow car.