Love Is Hell

Garrett.

The rest of the week had gone by dreadfully slowly. Knowing Lina would be at our show, I was anxious for Friday to come, yet at the same time worried.

But Friday had come whether I liked it or not, and right now, we were finishing up our set on stage.

After our few fans cheered for us, we sat down backstage, breathing heavily and giving each other high-fives.

“Great job, JohnO, you didn’t choke up this time!” Jared said, laughing.

“Hey, screw you,” John said, grinning. Pat said something crazy like he always did, causing us to laugh. This was what I loved: being with my best friends without a care in the world, doing what we all loved.

“That was a pretty sick show, guys,” Halvo said as he burst into the backstage room with three figures trailing him. I saw Courtney, which didn’t surprise me, considering the fact that Pat had a major crush on her. When I noticed Joey, Lina’s brother, I tensed. How was I supposed to talk to her when her brother was playing bodyguard?

But I was worried for nothing. Joey walked up to Jared, and John got up to talk to Lina. Pat trailed behind him, and Courtney gave him a hug, causing Lina to grimace.

“You okay, man?” Kenny asked as he tossed me a water bottle.

“What? Oh. Yeah, I’m great,” I said, unscrewing it and taking a big drink. “Just a little tired.”

“Too tired to come to a party at my house?” Halvo asked, sauntering over to Kenny and I.

I grinned. “‘Course not, Halvo.”

“Are your parents gone?” John called from a few feet away. I tried not to notice Lina standing next to him, looking at us.

“Yeah, they’re gone for the whole weekend,” Halvo answered.

“Sweet! Are you coming, Lina?” I heard John ask, looking at the girl.

She hesitated, but Courtney yelled, “Lina, we have to! Please?”

She shrugged. “Joey drove, so ask him.”

“It’s cool with me,” he said.

Courtney smiled as she turned back to Pat. I heard him ask her to come with him to get something from the trailer that we stored our instruments in. I rolled my eyes, knowing exactly what Pat was doing as he and Courtney left through the back door that led to the parking lot. I saw Tim joke at the group of people before following his brother and walking out the back door.

Lina was standing to the sidelines a little, next to Joey and John, but she looked uninteresting in whatever they were talking about.

“You’ve got some nice dance moves, Lina,” I said, thinking of how I watched her dance with Courtney while we played.

She grinned. “You saw that, huh? Courtney made me. I didn’t make too big of a fool of myself, right?”

I smiled back. “Nah, not too big of a fool. Just a little fool.” She scoffed, and I added, “Just kidding.” and grinned.

“Can we go to this party now, or what?” John asked, diverting my attention away from Lina.

The guys nodded and headed out, and I saw Lina scour the room.

“Courtney and Pat aren’t back,” she said quietly.

I nodded. “I can help you find Courtney, if you like,” I offered. I figured she was probably going to turn me down by the way she was hesitating. “Pat probably took her out to Tim’s trailer.”

“Alright,” Lina said, waiting for me to show her the way. She looked uncomfortable as she slipped into her jacket that was hung around her arm.

I slipped my hands in my pockets as we went out the back door, which opened up into an almost-empty parking lot. I saw Tim walking towards us, with a smirk placed on his lips.

“You might not wanna go over there, Lina.”

“And why not, Kirch?” she called, but he had already gone back inside. “Is he always so mysterious?”

I smiled. “Of course. It’s Tim. He’s gotta keep up his reputation.”

“What’s his reputation, then?” she asked as we crossed the parking lot, heading for the far end where the trailer that transported our instruments was parked.

“Well, Tim is a bit of a troublemaker. Don’t get me wrong; he’s a great guy, but he isn’t... um...” I choked, not knowing what to say.

“But he isn’t the guy with the best intentions?” she finished for me. I nodded. “Isn’t that everyone, nowadays?”

I was about to reply to her, but I stopped when she froze in the parking lot, staring ahead. It was dark and hard to see, but I could clearly make out two figures leaning up against the side of the trailer, their arms around each other.

Lina sighed. “Well, damn.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Should we ruin their fun?”

She nodded. “Duh.” She began walking towards them again, but I reached out and grabbed her arm, holding her back. I didn’t realize what I’d done until she was looking at me with a curious expression.

“Wait. Let’s sneak up on them, and scare them,” I said, causing her to grin, showing off all her teeth. My breath caught at the sight, but I recovered and grinned back at her.

I pulled on her hand, leading her to the backside of the trailer, the side that was facing us. I tried not to be too aware of the fact that her hand was still holding mine, and her leather-clad arm pressed tightly against my mine as we hid from Pat and Courtney, who were clearly too absorbed in their make-out session to notice the quiet world around them.

“Should we jump out and scream?” she whispered, her face close to mine.

I nodded, and leaned closer to her and whispered, “On three.” Then, I mouthed, “One. Two-”

She cut me off by whispering again. “Wait! Do we jump out when you say three, or do we jump out after you say three?”

I tried not to laugh. “Right when I say three, okay?” She nodded, so I started the count again, feeling as if I were having an out-of-body experience. “One. Two...” On the third count we jumped out from behind the trailer, right next to where the two were standing, and screamed at the top of our lungs. Pat and Courtney jumped, and Courtney even squealed a little in surprise. Lina was laughing, clutching her sides, and I had to join in.

“What the hell, man!” Pat yelled, but he had a smile on his face, too. Courtney was only blushing.

“Lina! Seriously?” Courtney yelled, reaching for Lina -who was still laughing- but she ran.

“Garrett! Hurry, before she gets you, too!” Lina yelled as she ran through the parking lot, Courtney starting to chase her. Without thinking, I ran after her. We rounded the corner of the bar, still laughing as we left Courtney and Pat in the parking lot.

“I’m kind of scared of leaving those two alone,” she said, out of breath.

“Pat’s too embarrassed now to put any moves on her, now,” I answered, grinning at the dark-haired girl. In the darkness, her hair was a curtain, hiding part of her face. I wanted to reach over and tuck it behind her ear so I could see her eyes, but I didn’t want to creep her out.

I caught Lina’s eyes, and she smiled. “This was really fun. This was actually more fun than I’ve had in a long time.”

“Me too. I’ve been needing to get Pat back for a prank he pulled on me last week, too.” I tried not to be too awkward when I spoke to her. I just didn’t know what to say to her. I wish I knew what would make her laugh.

“What was the prank?” she asked, leaning against the wall of the building.

“He gave my phone number to his thirteen-year-old cousin who has a huge crush on me,” I said. “I’ve been getting texts from her all week.”

She laughed a little. “That’s amateur stuff. I told Joey I’d set him up with one of my friends one time, so he shows up at the restaurant looking for her, when really, I called my physics teacher and pretended to be a parent asking to meet up about my kid.”

“So Joey’s date was your physics teacher?” I asked, laughing.

She nodded and laughed. “I got grounded for two months for that one, but it was so worth it. Joey got so ticked.”

I laughed with her again, and I realized that Lina’s careless attitude wasn’t really an attitude. It was just her. She was reckless. I tried denying the fact that it only made her more attractive. I just wanted to know her. That’s not too weird, right?

“Lina? What the hell are you doing out here?” a deep voice called from the parking lot.

“We should probably go, before Joey has a panic attack,” she said, walking in the direction her brother’s voice came from. I followed her, wondering what had just happened.

***

I’d been sitting on Halvo’s couch for an hour, while people danced and laughed and drank out of red plastic cups. Watching a girl spill an entire cup of beer on the floor, I sipped on my wimpy cup of water.

Deciding it was time to move, I got up and headed towards the kitchen, sighing as I saw John take a drink of whiskey.

As I was walking around, trying to find a place to sit, I saw Lina fiddling with her phone as she sat at the bottom of the stairs.

I was walking towards her when I saw a friend of the band’s, Max, saunter over to her. She flipped him the bird and got up, moving to a new spot. I walked over to her before anyone else could.

“Having fun?” I asked.

“Oh, tons. What is with your friends? Do they act like obnoxious horndogs on purpose?” There was a scowl on her face as she looked out at the people in Halvo’s house.

“That was Max. Sorry, he’s sort of a douche sometimes. I promise, once these guys get used to you, they’re great people. I’ve grown up with them.”

She sighed and didn’t say anything to me. Finally, she said, “You’re not drinking?”

I shook my head. “My mom would kill me if I came home like that. I guess I just like to follow the rules, sometimes.”

She smirked. “Sometimes?”

“Hey, not all of us can be rebels like you.”

She gave me a tiny smile. “I’m not drinking, either. This party is a drag, anyways.”

“Want to get out? I did promise you that CD if you came to our show, remember? I’ve got it in my car.”

She nodded and followed me out the front door, to where my car was parked in the driveway.

“Yellow. Nice,” she said, gesturing to my car as she pulled open the passenger door and got inside. I was a little surprised at first -I didn’t expect her to get in my car- but I shouldn’t have been. Lina was unpredictable.

I got in the driver’s side and turned on a light so I could see her in the darkness. “The CD’s in the glove compartment,” I said.

She opened it and shuffled through it for a minute before finding our EP. She set it in her lap before grabbing another CD, Gold by Ryan Adams.

“Can we play this?” she asked, holding it up.

“You like Ryan Adams?” I asked as I took it from her and pushed it into the CD player.

She nodded. “He’s my favorite.”

“Really? He’s mine, too,” I said, as the first song started up. I had to admit, I was surprised.

She leaned her head against the seat and closed her eyes. I had never seen her so peaceful. And tired. She looked really tired.

“Love won’t play any games with you anymore if you don’t want her to,” Lina sang along quietly with the song, and I smiled. I closed my eyes, mimicking her.

Suddenly, she sat up and the light from her phone illuminated the car. “I’ve got to go,” she whispered. “Thanks for the CD. Thanks for letting me sit out here, too. Bye, Garrett,” she said, my name falling softly from her lips.

“Bye, Lina,” I said, hung up on the way she said my name. This was the girl I’d had a crush on since I learned her name, and in one night, she’d been to one of my shows, held my hand, and sat in my car with me. She seemed so different than she normally did. When she was running with me through the parking lot, she seemed so free. It felt too good to be true.