And She Made the Shape of My Heart With Her Hands

I groaned and rolled over. Here I am sleeping when my phone starts ringing out of nowhere. My hand fished around for my Sidekick, finally landing on it and pulling it off my nightstand. What idiot would be calling me now?

“Hello?” I muttered, my eyes still closed.

“Hey, girl, hey!” My eyes shot open. It was my best friend Camille pretending she was preppy. She greeted me like that all the time. Her pitch and tone was always perfect when she said it.

I laughed softly. “Hi, Camille.” I paused for a second then asked, “Why are you calling me at 8 A.M.?”

“Well I still haven’t figured out the whole time difference thing.” Of course she hasn’t. Camille’s always been a ditz, but that’s why I loved her. “Anyway, I’m in Rome right now!”

“So cool! Get me something!”

Camille chuckled. “Will do, Cara. So what are your plans for the summer, young lady?”

My excited smile faltered. I didn’t want to tell her about the divorce, or Garrett leaving for the summer, or especially that I was going to have a horrible and lonely summer. I wouldn’t be a good friend bringing all that down on her while she was having a good time. Knowing Camille, she’d probably find a way to blame herself for everything. She was always one of those people that apologized for things they certainly didn’t need to.

“Um, well… I don’t really know yet. I mean, I got a job so that’ll probably occupy me,” I lied and cringed a little.

“Oh, that’s neat. Money’s good!”

“Yes, money’s very good.” Almost right after I said that, I overheard Camille’s dad call her over. They were going out sightseeing now.

“Hey, Cara, I gotta-”

“Go sightseeing? Yeah, I heard your dad,” we both chuckled. “Anyway, have a good time and I’ll miss you.”

“Miss you, too. Bye, Cara.” Camille hung up, as did I.

I sat up and stretched my arms up in the air, getting up and out of bed. I walked over to my closet and got a pair of black skinny jeans and some Glamour Kills shirt. Oh yeah, a bra and a pair of underwear, too. Can’t forget those.

I headed to the bathroom, getting a shower and brushing my teeth. When I was finally dressed, satisfied with my straightened brown hair, and had some makeup on, I walked downstairs and out of the house. I wanted to walk around town a bit and maybe go a little shopping, too. At least window-shopping though.

***
Six stores, three sodas, and one strawberry smoothie later, I was completely empty handed and started walking back home. It’s not that I didn’t have enough money for anything, it’s just that everything was just lame or boring. Plus, with it being Saturday, every person on the planet seemed to be doing the same thing I was.

“Ah, home sweet home,” I said to myself as I plopped down on our red couch. Only about seven seconds after that, the doorbell ironically rings. I waited to see if Garrett would get it.

One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, four Mississippi… The doorbell rang again.

“Oh, I’ll get it, Garrett! Don’t you worry, big brother!” My voice was dripping with sweet and sour sarcasm. I hoisted myself off our comfy couch and answered the door. It was the whole band, Kennedy, Jared, John, and Pat.

“Hey,” I stepped aside to let them in, and then walked back to my spot on the couch. It was splat in the middle. It’s always been my spot.

“Hey guys,” Garrett called while coming down the steps. He rounded into the living room and stopped when he saw me.

We stared at each other while everyone else just stared at the two of us. I spoke up. “What?”

“Why are you still in here?”

I gaped at him. “Why am I still in here? Garrett, I was already here!”

He shrugged his shoulders then said, “Good enough.” He took a seat in ‘his’ chair. The rest of the guys came in sat around the room.

We only had one recliner, or ‘Garrett’s’ chair, one love seat, and then this couch I was on that fit three people. So yeah, I was sitting in between Pat and Jared. I was lucky though because I considered them probably the nicest ones in the band.

Garrett broke the silence. “You all know my sister?” I looked up at him for a moment then looked at the rest of them sheepishly. I was always a little nervous being the center of attention, especially in front of a bunch of guys.

“Well, I do!” Pat raised his hand and smiled.

“Uh, yeah, Garrett. We’ve all met your sister before, dude,” John said. He looked over at me and smiled. I couldn’t help but smile back.

“Oh, right. Whatever,” Garrett muttered.

“So, Cara. What’s up?” John asked while staring at me.

My eyes shifted left, right, and then back at him. “Um, nothing?” John had a smirky smile cross his face.

“Absolutely nothing? I find that sort of unbelievable,” Jared commented, smiling warmly.

“Oh, believe it. My best friend is going to be away the whole summer, so I’m sort of stuck here… basically rotting away…” I tried not to make it sound so dramatic, but it sort of just slipped. I side glanced at my brother who was rocking back and forth in the chair with his hands behind his head, looking back at me.

“Well that sucks,” John said. I nodded my head and look at my feet in front of me.

“It’s gonna be even worse when Garrett leaves, too. You know, since you two are the perfect version of brother and sister,” Kennedy snickered at his remark, and so did the others.

I looked over at Garrett and raised my eyebrow. He shrugged. I decided to play along. I smirked then got up from the couch and started to walk out of the room. “I’ll be upstairs, people.” I started to leave but then came to a halt and turned around with my arms open, facing Garrett. “Come on, big brother that I love.” Some of the others laughed, Pat was grinning his perfect grin.

Garrett looked at me and said slowly, “What?”

I gestured toward my awaiting open arms. “I’m leaving the room, Garrett. We have to hug each other now. It’s what we do every time one of us leaves the room, remember?” I sweetly smiled at him.

He furrowed his brow and gaped at me. “What? No! Cara, get out of here,” Garrett said incredulously. I chuckled and left the room, going up the stairs.

If only I knew what was going on downstairs.