And She Made the Shape of My Heart With Her Hands

“Are you sure it’s McDonalds we’re meeting them at?”

“Yes, Cara,” Garrett answered blankly, paying attention to the road.

“Not like Burger King or something?”

He sighed and then said, “It’s McDonalds, Cara. I think I’d remember where I’m meeting my own band at for our own tour.”

I nodded my head to acknowledge him; I could feel some straightened brown locks wriggle forward past my shoulders. I crossed my legs the way I always did; right over left. I decided that I would wear shorts today, so I made sure to shave my legs well this morning in the shower.

Garrett came to a stop next to a big bulky white van that was hooked up to a storage trailer. We both got out of the car and started taking our heavy bags in over to the trailer.

Garrett went to grab my one bag, which some would call a purse but I called it a bag, but I stopped him. “This comes in the car with me,” I stated.

He looked down at it then said knowingly, “Oh. I didn’t realize it was a purse at first.”

I didn’t comment on him calling it a purse, due to the fact that I was going to try to stay out of his way to be grateful for all this.

“Hey! Are you guys ready yet?” Pat was already in the van, calling out to us from the opened doorway. Kennedy was already sitting in a seat in the mid-back, John was leaning on the outside of the van, and Jared was in the passenger’s seat up front.

“Yeah, calm down, Pat! God!” Garrett yelled back. He beckoned over a guy that had long bronze hair. “This is our manager and also Pat’s brother, Tim,” he gestured to the guy who vaguely waved at me, taking in my appearance. “This is my sister, Cara. I’m sure you’ve heard that she’s tagging along, too.”

“Oh please, Garrett,” John’s sudden voice from behind startled me. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

I turned around and smiled gratefully at him then turned my attention back to Tim. “Um, hi.” I lazily held up the peace sign with my fingers. I thought it was a little more stylish than just a plain wave.

Tim chuckled a little. “Nice to meet you, Cara.”

I smiled politely back. No matter how sarcastic I was with my brother, I made sure that I always had my manners with others. I fixed my tote bag over my left shoulder and headed over to the van, stopping when I was at the doorway.

“Well come on. There’s no assigned seats or anything,” Kennedy joked with a smile.

I shrugged. “Alright then,” I climbed to the very backset of seats, and then sat in the left-hand corner. I sighed.

I heard Kennedy laugh quietly then turn around, facing me. “Are you nervous or something? ‘Cause you sure seem like it.”

I laughed sheepishly. “I’m not as nervous as I am worried.” He furrowed his brow slightly. Before he could ask why, I answered, “I’m worried that I won’t be able to sit still for the ten hundred hours in the car.” I half smiled.

“Don’t worry about that, Cara. I mean, look how energetic Pat gets. Of course we’ll have to stop every so often.” We both laughed a little.

“What about Pat?” Pat asked climbing into the van, back to the seats where I was.

“Oh, we were just discussing your severe case of ADHD,” Kennedy responded nonchalantly. Pat just smiled big like he always did.

***

Well we were on our way to Chicago first. We’d been in the car since about 7 A.M. and it was now almost noon. I wasn’t completely bored, I mean everyone was talking and excited, even some guy that tagged along, named Trevor. He seemed cool, I guess. I hadn’t exactly formally met him yet. I didn’t really even need my iPod for the drive so far because Mayday Parade’s CD was being played in the van.

Suddenly my Sidekick started vibrating like a fish on dry land. I patted my hands all over the seat and my bag, still not seeking the crazy like phone.

Pat held it up to me with a smile, of course. I smiled back and thanked him, and then flipped the phone open to the keyboard. Camille had texted me from Italy. Should I tell her about me going on tour with The Maine now?

I decided to anyway, I mean Camille wasn’t a very nosy person. She wouldn’t force any information or details out of me unless it was about one thing; boys.

That’s right. Camille was pretty much boy crazy. She would actually go out and go ‘boy watching’ as something to do for at least a good hour and a half.

After explaining to her what was going on, I sent it and flipped the Sidekick back to its normal form. No more than five seconds later did she text back.

I heard Pat chuckle. “Looks like someone texts super fast. Boyfriend or something?”

I heard Garrett snort and I shot him an angry look. John turned his head a little bit towards me. “Um, no. It’s my best friend Camille,” I answered back to Pat. “She’s in Europe.”

“Oh, yeah. You said something about that before.” I nodded my head at him

“So you don’t have a boyfriend?” John asked, rather coolly like he wasn’t really paying attention.

Before I could get the words out of my mouth, Garrett rudely answered for me. “No. Cara’s been single since like… fifth grade.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Sixth grade,” I corrected.

“Whatever,” he muttered. “The point is, is that you haven’t had a boyfriend since forever.”

I furrowed my brow madly, probably much resembling a little kid not getting their way. Then suddenly, my expression was completely blank. “Well Garrett, we all can’t be lucky with boys like you are.”

Pat smiled a little and John and Kennedy snickered. Jared was too busy talking to Trevor and Tim. Garrett’s eyes shot up to mine with frustration. I gave him a bitterly sweet smile. His nostrils flared a little bit and then he looked away from me.

Yes, I did say that I would stay out of my brother’s way, but that didn’t mean that I was going to let him completely walk all over and embarrass me.