Caught in the Middle

I spent the next week avoiding John. I'd screen his calls, ignore his texts, lock the front door when I was home alone and told my mother to tell him that I was out with Kennedy whenever he came over after my parents had gotten home from work.

During that time, I thought about my feelings for John and began to devise some plans to win him over. It was almost as if the last seven years hadn't happened and I was still madly in love with him. Garrett would call me just about every day and I'd tell him all my plans for sabotaging John and Rachel's relationship and we'd discuss how to execute our plans.

"Okay, so John has informed the band that we'll have to reschedule practice on Saturday afternoon because he wants to take Rachel on a surprise date and he asked us for suggestions. Where is the worst possible place to take a girl?" Garrett asked me on Thursday afternoon as we laid on my couch in front of the TV, neither of us really paying attention to the cheesy daytime movie playing.

"Well, as a girl I don't particularly like being taken to bars for meals. For drinking, yes, meals, no. Does she have any allergies or intolerances that John doesn't know about?" I asked.

"Well, Rachel's recently gone vegetarian because of some activist video she watched, I overheard her telling Jared's girlfriend Tessa about it. What about the steakhouse?"

"The steakhouse is the last place a vegetarian, especially a new vegetarian, would want to be. It's perfect. But how are we gonna find out what happens? If something bad happens John's not gonna tell anyone about it, it'll hurt his pride," I questioned.

"We could always go and spy on them?" Garrett suggested. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah because sitting in one of our cars that John can recognise will really work well," I said sarcastically. Garrett shook his head.

"No, I mean like we could have dinner there, my treat," Garrett tried convincing me.

"Won't they see us sitting there?" I asked with a frown.

"The steakhouse is big enough that unless we're seated directly next to them then they won't even see us. What do you think?" Garrett asked, his eyes lighting up.

I pursed my lips. "I guess I could go for a good steak, and you did say you'd pay for it..."

Garrett took that as a yes and smirked. "I'll tell John our suggestion." He tapped away on his phone, receiving a message moments later and he looked up at me with a sparkle in his eyes. "Looks like we have a dinner date at the steakhouse on Saturday night. What time should I pick you up?"

* * * * *

Garrett pulled up in my driveway at 6:45pm on Saturday night, driving a white sedan that looked unfamiliar. He knocked on my door, looking nervous as he waited for me to open it, his eyes widening as he took in my appearance.

"Wow, Jessy, you look, uh, you look really nice tonight," Garrett stumbled over his words.

"Thanks. Whose car is that?" I asked, looking around him at the car. Garrett rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's, uh, my brother Trey's. He's home for the weekend and I asked him if I could borrow his car. He thinks it's to impress my 'date' but really it's just so we don't get caught by John and Rachel," he said. I smirked in response.

"Wow, you've gone all out with this plan. Come in, I just need to get my shoes and purse, then we can go."

Garrett stepped inside slowly as I made my way back to my room to get my shoes and purse, bumping into my father on the way.

"You're looking nice tonight, Jessy. Going out somewhere?" he asked. I nodded.

"Garrett and I are going to grab some dinner, I'll be back in a couple of hours," I said, ducking into my room to hook my sandals on my feet and make sure my essentials were in my purse.

As I was walking downstairs I could hear my father's voice.

"Just make sure you have her back midnight," my dad was warning Garrett who looked a little like a deer in headlights.

"We won't be more than a couple of hours, sir, we'll be back by then, I promise," Garrett said nervously. Sir?

"Dad, it's not a date, Garrett's just taking me out to dinner as a friend," I placed emphasis on the word friend for him, ignoring the deflation of Garrett's chest.

Garrett turned to me. "You ready?"

I nodded, kissing my father on his cheek. "Bye daddy, be back soon."

We drove to the steakhouse, discussing our plan of attack. Garrett purposely didn't book a table so we could choose a seat that John and Rachel wouldn't find us in. Garrett still looked nervous, probably at the prospect of John or Rachel finding us.

We were greeted by the hostess, who lead us to a secluded table in the corner. As we walked past various diners and empty tables, I checked all the two-seated ones for O'Callaghan. As I found it, I tugged on Garrett's shirt and pointed to it, notifying him of their table. The time on it said 7:30, so we had plenty of time for other people to cover us up while still being able to keep tabs on his table.

We ordered drinks and a basket of bread as a starter, waiting for John and Rachel's arrival. My phone read 7:35 when Garrett hissed my name, jerking his head towards the entrance as I caught a glimpse of the couple entering the restaurant. I smiled to myself.

The hostess was leading John and Rachel to their table, John's face looking solemn while Rachel stalked behind him, her arms crossed and her mouth set in a straight line. She looked furious and I couldn't help but laugh to myself.

Our waitress arrived and we ordered, turning our attention back to the couple after she left. John was holding a menu in one hand and running the other through his hair, while Rachel still had the same sour expression as she looked over the menu, obviously looking for the salad option.

Our waitress arrived with our food shortly, seeing another waitress tending to John and Rachel as he ordered and she kept shaking her head and asking the waitress questions, scrunching up her face at all of the options. The waitress was beginning to get frustrated with her until Rachel sighed and finally nodded her head, lazily handing the waitress her menu. John reached for her hand but she pulled it away, resting her hands on her lap as he folded his arms on the table.

Satisfied with my disruption to their 'happy' relationship, I finished my meal and Garrett and I snuck out of the restaurant after he paid while John was engrossed in his steak, Rachel picking distastefully at her salad while glaring at the piece of meat on John's plate.

It was only 8:30 when we left the steakhouse, so instead of taking me back to my place, Garrett drove out to the little cliff edge where we all used to hang as teenagers and we sat on the bonnet of Trey's car, talking about how the night went.

"The look on her face was priceless, she looked like she was about to murder him," I said gleefully as Garrett chuckled. I looked over at him, catching his stare before he looked away with a blush rising on his cheeks.

"Apart from our sabotage tonight, I had a really good time. It's nice to just sit down and have dinner with someone who won't constantly bring up the band," Garrett said softly.

"I'm glad. I'm sure everyone's always asking how it's going."

"I don't think Pat knows anything other than the band, he's always talking about music, and touring, and releases and stuff and while I love the band and it's my job, it's always good to get away from it every now and again," he said, looking out over the cliff edge.

We sat in silence, watching the stars in the sky when a sudden streak through made me tap Garrett's arm repeatedly.

"Garrett! It's a shooting star! Quick, make a wish!" I shut my eyes, making my wish. My only wish was for John to love me like he did in high school, that Rachel would be out of the picture and that we could be together.

Once I made my wish I turned to him to see him looking at me with a sad smile on his face, once again averting his eyes as I met them.

He got off the bonnet of the car, moving towards the driver's side door. "Come on, let me take you home so your dad doesn't decide to send out a bounty hunter."

"Oh please, my father is harmless. He was just saying that to judge your reaction and see what type of person you are. I think you impressed him," I joked. He smiled as we got into the car and he started driving me back to my house.

"So, what did you wish for?" he asked me in the car.

"I can't tell you or else it won't come true," I said smugly, "What about you?"

He smirked back, mimicking my words. "I can't tell you or else it won't come true."

I lightly punched his arm and we drove back to my house in silence, the sound of Ryan Adams playing through the car making it feel comfortable. He pulled up in my driveway and shut off the engine.

"Garrett, you don't have to get out, I'm capable of walking to my door, unlike when I had to drive you home last time," I rolled my eyes and he blushed.

"I'm sorry about that by the way, I don't know what possessed me to drink that much. I hope I didn't say anything too embarrassing," he said. I smirked at the memory.

"Well, you thought I was going to take you home to my house and apparently you've been telling your mother a lot about me," I said playfully as he groaned and hid his hands in his face.

"I'm never drinking again." I chuckled at his statement, knowing it wasn't true, and we arrived at the door.

"Thanks again for tonight, I'll call you tomorrow with our next plan of attack?" I said hopefully.

"Plan of attack?"

"With John?" I hinted, watching the recognition light up his eyes and his voice took a whole other tone.

"Oh, uh, yeah, right. I'll see you later then," Garrett said awkwardly, shoving his hands into his pockets and walking back to his car.

I opened the front door, greeted by my father's presence in the living room.

"Did you have a good time on your date Jessy?" he asked, sparking my mother's attention from in the kitchen.

"You were on a date?" she practically screeched. I rolled my eyes.

"Mom, calm down. It wasn't a date, Garrett just bought me dinner is all. Nothing special about it. I haven't seen anyone in over a week and we just talked. Nothing else."

"Where did he take you?" My mother pressed, not letting me get away without giving her the full rundown.

"We went to the steakhouse, nothing romantic." I crossed my arms, preparing for her onslaught of questions.

"Did you pay for your meal?"

"No, Garrett paid for us."

"Jessy, the steakhouse is an expensive place, he wouldn't offer to pay for you if he didn't like you," she pressed.

"Mom, he's my friend, of course he likes me."

"No, I mean really like you. As more than a friend."

"Mom, please. If any of the other guys had taken me out for dinner they would have done the same thing, they're like my brothers."

I stomped up to my room, beginning to grow irritated at my mother's pestering. I changed into my pyjamas and sat in my room for the rest of the night, wondering how the rest of John's date panned out.

* * * * *

I went around to Kennedy's house the next day, seeing all the guys except John there ready for practice. He sauntered in five minutes later, his face expressionless.

"Hey man, how did last night go?" Jared asked, looking up from tuning his guitar for a second.

"It was okay," was all he said. I frowned, quickly hiding it before anyone could notice it. I'd have to work a lot harder next time to make a dent in their relationship. They must have gone home afterwards and I felt sick thinking about how we could have made it up to her. I didn't let this get to me as I saw John staring at me, waiting for me to make conversation with him. I didn't talk to him the entire time I was at Kennedy's and as soon as they began practice I excused myself to go home.

Garrett messaged me once they finished practice, asking if I was okay. I messaged him back, getting straight to the point.

'We need to do a better job next time. I need some dirt on Rachel and fast.'

Garrett replied quickly.

'Tessa knows all her shameful secrets. She's your go-to girl.'

He sent me Tessa's number and I thanked him, quickly messaging her and asking if she wanted to catch up for coffee. She agreed and I sat back in my seat, feeling as if I was about to get somewhere with this John and Rachel fiasco.