You Found Me

"He did what?" Pat's eyes widened as he started driving away from his parking spot. He turned to me occasionally to give me that surprised look when he found out what Garrett had done before Baking class. I didn't make it a big deal, I just simply told him about what had happened but from his reaction, it seems like it wasn't that normal for Garrett.

"It's nothing, Pat. Seriously. I get why he got pissed," I shook my head and smiled softly at him.

"You get it. Doesn't mean it's fair. It's unlikely of him to do or say that," he said, his eyes not leaving the road anymore. It wasn't a long drive and I found out that his house was really close to school. If you weren't that lazy, you could probably walk the whole way.

It seemed like nobody was home and Pat went straight to his basement. When he flicked the lights open, the first thing I saw was the set of drums at the far back of the room and the scattered amps everywhere. Just as I reached the last step, I could hear a bunch of voices coming from the door. Jared, Kennedy, and my brother poured in and they were arguing about something.

"She doesn't like me," John shook his head at the two boys following him.

"She digs you man," Jared said. "If you don't go for her, I totally will."

"Freaking try and I'm going to cut your fingers one by one that you wouldn't be able to play more shows," John glared at him but Jared didn't take him seriously, only giving him a laugh. Kennedy joined in, amused at John's reaction.

I didn't bother asking what they were talking about and instead followed Pat to the black leathered couch across the drum set. The guys were all scattered around the basement, Jared and Kennedy setting their guitars up and setting the amps up. Pat got up a few seconds ago to tune his drums and John was tapping furiously at his phone. I made a mental note to ask him about the girl they were talking about when their practice was done. I was wondering why they haven't started practicing yet when Pat called me up to his spot behind the drum set and asked me if I wanted to learn.

"It helps loosing up when you're feeling a little aggressive," he laughed.

"Next time, Pat," I laughed. "Why aren't you guys starting yet?"

"Because we're still waiting for-"

Before he had finished his sentence, the boy with the permanent scowl on his face just reached the bottom of the stairs and was glaring at each of the person in the room, his gaze lingering a little bit longer on me and Pat. He stomped his way over to us and crossed his arms when he reached the front of the drum set.

Pat didn't mind him at first, tapping on the snare drum and winding it. "Yes?"

"Aren't we going to start yet or what?"

"Says the guy who's thirty minutes late to band practice," Pat rolled his eyes. "Grab your bass and let's just start."

I now knew one more thing. The five of them were in a band. My brother was the lead singer, Pat was the drummer, Jared and Kennedy play guitar, and Garrett played the bass.

Everyone fell into place and they started playing. If I were to be asked, I'd admit that they actually sounded good live. And counting this moment, I've only heard John sing a few times so seeing him now singing covers and their original songs, it made me feel a bit happy.

During the fourth song, I noticed Garrett scrunch up his face multiple times and some of the guys looking over at him with questioning faces. By the end of it, Garrett put his bass down on the stand and fell over to the far right of the couch I was sitting on, his hands running through his hair. His arms rested on his legs and his head hung low and I could hear him sighing.

"What's up, man? I think you just missed fifty percent of the notes you were supposed to hit," Jared asked, putting his guitar next to the bass. "You also seem like you're spacing out while we were playing."

He looked up and rubbed his face with his hands. "Kat. Fucking Kat."

"Oh, we know you're fucking Kat," John laughed. It was like my brother to joke about something even if the person he was talking to wasn't kidding around anymore. Garrett sent him a glare and it was enough to shut him up. "What's up with Kat?" He asked, his voice more serious. The rest of the band had huddled in front of us, waiting for a reply from Garrett.

I think I should break up with her," he finally said. There was silence around the room. "I think I'm going to break up with her tonight."

There was an awkward silence between all of us. I saw the guys send each other looks" before they sighed and faint smiles showed on their lips. "Thank God, man. We had no idea how we were still going to keep up with her," Kennedy chuckled slightly. "It's not that she's very bad."

"No. She's really bad," John rolled his eyes and pulled his phone out from his pocket again, checking if he had a new message.

"She's such a bitch too," Pat said, twirling a strand of his hair. I noticed Garrett's jaw clench but he let it go after a while.

"Chill the fuck out, Gare. If you want my opinion," Jared started, patting him on the shoulders, "I'll let go of Kat. There has been a handful of times when she hung out with other guys while she's with you."

"That's exactly the reason why I'm going to break up with her. I also caught her high after she promised me she won't do that again. And I saw bottles of alcohol stashed in her drawer," he sighed, standing up, walking back to the middle of the room and grabbing his bass by the neck. "It's a fucking mess. Let's do one more song. I'll try not to mess it up."

The rest of them nodded and went to their respective places again: Pat behind the drums, Garrett and Jared on my right, Kennedy on my left, and John on the front. True enough, Garrett managed to pull his shit together and based on my observation, everything turned out perfect. After a few more minutes of hanging out, John walked up to me and sat by my side. "Do you want to go home now?"

"I'm good to go whenever you're good to go," I shrugged.

He nodded and walked to one corner of the room. He put his phone to his ear and started talking. Kennedy, Jared, and Pat were playing some card game and Garrett sat next to me.

What scared me about the copper haired person sitting next to me was I had no idea what I was supposed to say to him or at least act towards him. I had no idea why he was that pissed at me or how much of a big deal was him losing me after English, but if it was enough to make him half-shout at me before Baking, then I guess there is something wrong.

"March," he suddenly spoke and I think I my heart skipped a beat when I heard his voice call my name. I turned to him and I noticed that the scowl I thought was permanent on his face was gone. I raised my eyebrows at him, waiting for what he was about to say. "I'm sorry for being a dick earlier."

"What's your name again?" I joked, biting my lip to hide the smile that was forming on my lips.

"Really? Come on, July. Forgive the guy that's having rough day for having such a bitch of a girlfriend," he said with pleading eyes.

It made me smile completely when I saw that grin plastered on his face. "Do me a favor and end it with your girlfriend if you really think you won't work out anymore and move on. There are plenty of girls out there. There are plenty of fishes in the sea. It's such a bad thing to say but it isn't a lie," I shook my head. "And stop it with the month nicknames."

"You one of the fishes?" He smirked, raising his eyebrows slightly. My mouth fell agape and for a moment, there my heart skipped a beat again and I couldn't find the right words to say. And I was sure that if I said anything, I'll stutter my way to this mess. It's not even because I like him. To be honest, I don't see myself liking him or anything about him, except maybe his smile or the pretty blue eyes he had but I knew that there really was no way I was going to end up liking him that way. I was just nervous because I've never been romantically involved with anyone and if I liked someone, I kept it to myself.

I shook it off and came up with the best reply I could think of. "Do you really think I'd still be up to become one of those fishes after you bitched out to me?"

"What will it take for you to forget about this day?" He asked, chuckling slightly. "Coffee another time? Dinner? Movie?"

"All of that sounds like a date and if you think I'm going on a date with someone who-"

"Not a date. I think I'll need a little moving on before I start that again. Think of it as bribe. I'm bribing you to forget about this day. Please, August," he cut me off before I could even finish my sentence.

"Fine, Garrett. A bribe," I finally agreed and sighed.

"Good. ," he smiled. "I'll just tell you where and when," he shot me a smile before getting up and going to where Pat was. At the same time, John walked over and motioned me to get out of the basement. All the others followed us upstairs and I walked to John's car and slipped on the front seat.

John went in the car and started the engine. I'm just relieved that this day went by without anyone finding out that my last name was O'Callaghan. I looked out of the window and waved to Kennedy and the other guys behind him.

"Bye, March. See you tomorrow," the tall brunette one said.

Pat brushed his hair away from his face and waved at me. "Bye OC!"

My heart skipped at the nickname and I'm just glad that John started driving before they could even see my reaction to the nickname.

Just when I thought my brother didn't have anything to say about my plans, he spoke up and turned to me when we pulled over in front of a red light. "You can't keep pretending you aren't my sister, March."

"Maybe until after I graduate?" I said, a sheepish smile on my face. It soon fell when I saw that John wasn't kidding. "You have no idea how hard it is to be your sister, John," I mumbled, sinking back to my seat.

He turned to me and sighed slightly. "You don't tell other people your last name and we have to pretend like we only knew each other today. Based on all of that, I think I already know how hard it is to be my sister."

My gaze remained glued outside the window after that and I didn't want to talk to him anymore about me hiding who I am. John turned the stereo on but kept the volume on low and I could hear the faint sound of Degausser playing. It was enough to keep my head busy for several minutes until we reached home.

By the time we got back, dinner was already prepared by our parents. I ate my dinner quietly while the three of them talked about their days. I muttered a simple 'fine' or 'okay' when they asked me how my day went and I felt John's gaze linger on me longer when I only answered with single words. They continued their conversation and I just continued to smile or to giggle slightly at their stories.

I went straight up to my room when we were done cleaning up and locked my door, not wanting to be bothered by anyone. I was only minutes away from slipping away into slumber when I felt my phone vibrate on my bedside table. The white bright letters spelled 'Kean' and I groaned, reaching for the phone and putting it to my ear.

"March? You still up?" He asked quietly on the other line.

"No, Kean. I'm asleep and I picked my phone up in my sleep," I answered, a yawn escaping my lips after. "Why did you call?"

"I just wanted to apologize because I didn't stick with you on your first day," he said.

"Oh yeah. I remember the words 'stick with me and you'll be fine' the other day. What happened to that?" I said, rolling my eyes.

"I'm really sor-"

"Are you really?" I asked monotonously. When he didn't answer after a few seconds, I bowed my head and sighed. "It's whatever, Kean. I had some people show me around anyway. I'm tired. I'll see you tomorrow. Or whenever you decide to show up," I finally said, hanging the phone up and shoving it on the bedside table.

I knew that it wasn't his obligation to show me around but I expected that when he said I could stick with him until I learned the ropes here that I could stick with him. But he didn't last longer than ten minutes by my side on my first day. I doubt he'll be there for the next ones.

***

I lazily took notes on my notebook while the teacher kept speaking in front, talking about homologous series of alkanes. There was rarely anything that he wrote on the board that wasn't already in our textbook but I continued to write notes down because it helped me memorize and learn about the lectures. I've been doing well with Advanced Chemistry and that's all thanks to staying in at night and going through the textbooks that were required from us.

I glanced around whenever the teacher gave us a couple of minutes to think about what he just said. Kennedy looked like he was bored out of his mind and Kean, he was laughing at something the blonde curly haired girl said. Kat.

My mind goes back to when I went to Pat's for their band's practice and I kept thinking if Garrett had already broken up with her. We all hadn't seen him during lunch and he kept quiet when we walked once to Baking so I had no idea. Maybe he didn't because he didn't look any different. Maybe everything went back to the way it was.

I shrugged the thoughts away and tore my gaze away from them when our teacher started talking again. Maybe Kean was also close with Kat.

"I am desperate," Jared groaned, rubbing his face with his palms. "I want to quit Advanced Chemistry."

"It isn't that hard yet, right?" I laughed, opening his text book. "Alkanes are just-"

"I know it isn't hard but I'm so fucking sleepy. I don't want to listen anymore," he moaned, scratching his head. He looked over at me and made a face that looked like he really was on the verge of falling asleep in this class. "How can you fucking keep listening to him?" He asked quietly, rubbing his hands on his face.

I smiled softly and wrote something on my notebook before turning back to him. "When I was a freshman, I was the average student with the average grades. I failed a couple of quizzes and I had average grades," I shrugged, putting my pen beside my notebook when the teacher stopped writing on the board. "Then during sophomore year, I stopped going to parties or hanging out with a whole lot of my friends and all I did was study. I pulled my grades up and I understood a lot of the lectures."

"Why'd you do that?" He asked, a worried expression on his face. "I know that I guess, it would be worth it when you grow up or shit like that, but is it really worth it to skip a year of hanging out with your friends?"

I felt my heart beat faster because in all honesty, I didn't want to talk about how I was friend-less because all the friends you used to have just became close to you because they wanted to be friends with your brother. So I was just thankful when our teacher called me to draw on the board what Cycloheptane looked like. I stood up and drew it on the board and I was thankful that I read about cycloalkane last night.

When I got back to my seat, I can feel Jared's stare on me but I didn't want to continue what I was saying so I ignored him and listened to the lecture again. From the corner of my eye, I saw him sigh and let it go, facing the board and finally listening to the topic. After that class, I walked out of the classroom and went straight to World History. I could hear Jared's calls but I acted like I didn't hear him, not even turning to look at him in the halls.

After World History was free period so I decided to go to the library and started reading one of the books that we were assigned to read. I was in the middle of reading Chapter 2 of the book when somebody pulled a chair in front of me. Seeing that person made me smile a little.

"So, what's up with you and Garrett?" Daisy asked, a smirk toying on her lips. The last time I was actually with Daisy (I've been late to Trigonometry for the past few days and end up not getting to sit beside her) was her walking me to the Foods Lab.

My smile immediately fell and I raised my eyebrows at her, not knowing what she's talking about.

"He practically grabbed you and shoved you into the room," she laughed. "He won't budge when I asked him what was up."

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped slightly. "You asked him what was up? No. No, there's definitely nothing up. He just got pissed because he thought we were walking to my next class but I left with you."

"Clingy Garrett?" She raised her eyebrows. "What was so important that he had to walk you to your next class?"

"Like I said, it's nothing, Daisy. I think Pat instructed him to help me around school," I shook my head, not wanting to elaborate on the topic any further. At the same time, John appeared in front of me and beside Daisy. I raised an eyebrow at him, wondering why he was sitting there.

"Are you doing anything this afternoon?" He turned to Daisy with a serious face.

"Not really. Why?" She said, a curious look on her face.

"I need my best friend, pretty please?" John pouted his lips at her and I rolled my eyes at him. That was his way of making people agree. He thinks it's so cute but I wanted to smack that look off of his face.

Daisy stared at him, waiting for him to say more but when he stopped talking, she figured that he stopped talking. "Oh wait, who? Me? I wasn't informed that I was your best friend." She said, pointing her finger to herself. "What do you need me for, John? Hook you up with someone again?"

"Yes, I'm declaring you my best friend. That's already done," he smirked, wiggling his eyebrows at her. "I need you to teach me Maths."

She blinked a couple of times and she looked like she thought about it for a second. "Fine, John," she agreed to him, her eyes rolling. "Oh and have you met-"

"March?" John cut her off before she could finish her sentence. "Yeah. Kennedy, Jared, and Pat introduced me to her on her first day. She's actually been to one of our practices," he turned to me with a grin on his face.

Just like that, the book I was reading had been forgotten. I've mindlessly put it back in my bag and continued listening to them and occasionally talking to one of them, mostly Daisy. I could catch John shooting me looks sometimes and his teasing smiles and I just dealt with it by rolling my eyes at him. Daisy pulled us over to the cafeteria and made us sit with the other guys. Lunch was the same like the past few days. They were just eating and talking and I joined in the conversation every once in a while. Kean made an appearance again for a couple of minutes, eventually sitting on another table with another group of friends. I realized that Kat had joined them and Kean sat beside her.

That was who was missing at our table today. Garrett.

After a while, everyone started standing up to get to their class. I still had thirty minutes until my next class with Daisy so I stopped by my locker to get a couple of books that I had to take home. As I closed my bag, I noticed the piece of crumpled paper sitting on one of my books.

Can you meet me on room 410 before Trigonometry?

It was written in a messy handwriting and I could only assume it was Kennedy, Jared, Pat, John, Garrett or Kean because aside from those guys, I haven't really talked to anyone else. Daisy was beside me so she was very much out of the question. I told her that I'll just meet her in the room because I had to pick something up from the office.

I climbed 4 flights of stairs and started walking until I reached the end of the hallway where 410 was. I entered the room but nobody was in there. I had this feeling in my gut that I should run back down to where there were a lot of people because the floor was isolated.

It looked like an ordinary lecture room except at the far back of the classroom, there was a huge glass mirror and a door. I looked at the board to see if there was anything written but there was nothing. I was truly alone in the room. I turned to go out of the door but what stopped me was the sound of tapping on the mirror. I turned back, scanning the room. It was still the same but I swear I could hear the taps loud and clear. I went to the door and I turned it slightly to find out that it wasn't locked. I stepped inside and I saw the silhouette of someone at the far end of the small space beside the window. He was several inches taller than me and I couldn't make out who he was until I walked closer to him.

"What are you doing here?" I said quietly as I stepped closer to him. "And what is this room?"

"It's one of the observation rooms. Every room on the fourth floor has a mirror at the back with a small tight room at the back. I can see the room, but people in the room can't see me," he shrugged, taking a step closer to me too.

His hair was spiked up in the front and when I got a closer look at him, he looked tired. His icy blue eyes looked down at me and he smiled slightly.

"You got my paper?"

"Oh yeah. Nice penmanship," I laughed and smiled at him. "Why weren't you at lunch, Garrett?"

"I didn't feel like being with anyone," he shrugged and leaned pulled me to the farthest corner of the room, leaning on the wall beside the window.

"Why invite me here?" I questioned, my eyebrows raising a little.

"I go here often when I want to think or something," he shoved his hands in his pockets. "And you're the only one I could talk to about Kat right now."

"Aren't your bandmates kind of your best friends?" I asked, crossing my arms and leaning slightly on the one way mirror.

"Because you know what they'll say if I tell them I broke up with her? They'll say shit like 'good, Gare. I didn't think she looked that pretty either' or 'I think she slept with him and that and like ten more other people in this school while you were together.'," he said, mimicking a couple of voices of the guys. "You can't say that, March. You just met us and you just saw her. I just want someone who'll listen and not tell me that I've been stupid keeping up with Kat."

I let silence ring between us for a while before I spoke again. "You broke up with her?" I asked. I was answered with a quiet nod. "When and why?" I added, scrunching my eyebrows.

"The night of the band practice," he said. "And because Jared caught her with someone at Halvo's party. There's actually a huge fucking list of reasons why and if I enumerated them all, I think it would take me like, four days." I could hear the frustration in his voice and by the way his hands are just everywhere.

"I have time," I smiled softly at him, making him sigh.

"First, there's the cheating thing. And it's so... Weird because she's done this more than several times and I still put up with her. Second, there's that addiction with the drugs and alcohol thing," he said, putting up two fingers. "You know what she told me when I was on the verge on breaking up with her? That I shouldn't because I might be better for her. I might be the one that makes her the better person. And for a second there, I thought that it might be true. I liked her a lot and maybe I'm the one that can make her stop doing all those bad decisions. But I'm not that guy... I don't influence her the way her own friends do it."

"Those are her decisions, Gare," I mumbled slightly.

"I know but I thought I might be the one that could help her stop it," he ran his hand through his hair and shook his head slightly.

There was a silence between us again and I decided to let it stay that way for a while.

"It didn't take you four days," I pointed out, making him show me a small smile. "Garrett, I know you don't want me to say shit like what your band mates are saying, but I'm glad you broke up with her," I admitted, sending him a sad smile. I stood up straight and stared at him. "I'm not exactly that ecstatic that you got your heart broken up, but I'm happy that you didn't stay with her."

"Better than calling her a slut. I shouldn't be mad that they're saying all those things, but I don't like them calling her everything," he raised his head a little and stared right into my eyes. We stayed silent for a while, just staring outside the window or the one way mirror. "I'm sorry that I seem so creepy, inviting you up here," he looked around the tight space. If I were to put my hands up horizontally, my arms would be the same length from wall to wall. It was dark too behind this room with the light coming from the small window to end of the room not doing a great job illuminating it.

"It's cool. It's not like you're going to doink me," I laughed, walking to the door. "You can talk to me, even though I wouldn't know what to say seventy five percent of the time. And even though you were kind of a bitch to me during my first day."

"That's it," he said, opening the door and holding it open for me. "I'm so going to take you out for food some other time so you'll get over it," he chuckled. There were only ten minutes left before class started so we went down to our room. Everyone was already in there seats and I'm thankful that the one beside Daisy was unoccupied.

"Really nothing up with you and Garrett?" She raised her eyebrows and smiled at me teasingly.

"Not one thing up," I said, shaking my head. "Let it go, Daisy. Stop playing matchmaker."

"One day," she mumbled, turning to the board when the teacher entered the room.