I Want You Bad Boy

9. Sense

I hold on to Garrett as he zooms down roads, making his way to the park. My arms are wrapped around his waist and my head rests on his back. I had decided a few minutes ago that I should get over that holding onto him was awkward and just do it. Because honestly, if I didn't cling to him I would fall right off the bike. At least I felt like I would with all the swerves he was making.

Garrett pulls into the park and drives down a few roads, trying to reach our destination. When he comes to a stop I release my grip on him and, once the bike was off, climb off. I take off my helmet and hold it as I watch Garrett swing his leg over the bike, then put the kick stand in place. He turns to me.

"Enjoy yourself?" he still has his helmet on but I assume he's smirking underneath it.

"Yah, it was fun." I hand him my helmet and he hooks it to the bike. He removes his own and does the same. He turns back to me, meets my eyes for just a second, then takes off down a path. I look at my phone, which read the time of 6:00 pm, then follow him. 

We approach the field we had laid out on during our first date. I sit down on the grass, indian style, and set my cross body purse on the ground next to me.  Garrett sits dows as well, his legs are stretched out in front of him and he leans back on his hands. He stares at the clouds in the sky in silence. Of course, the silence only lasts so long.

"So," I say looking at Garrett.

Garrett turns to look at me, "Yeah?"

I give a small smile, "Why did you bring me here?"

He shrugs, "I thought you wanted to come here. To hang out."

"I do, but, why did you want to hang out?"

He takes his gaze off of me and looks up at the sky, "Just cause."

"Oh, please." I say rolling my eyes, "What's up? What do you want to do?"

"Just sit here, with you." I raise my eyebrows at that last part. With me? Why? If he dares to make a move, I swear, I'll-wait. No. No more slapping, none of that. If he tries anything, I can always....what? What can I do? Gosh, Ruth. Stop fretting about what could happen and just have fun. Talk, laugh, whatever!

I lay back on the grass and stare up at the sky. "It's beautiful."

"The sky? Yeah." out of the corner of my eye I see Garrett also lay back. Silence takes over for a few minutes.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." says Garrett.

"What happened? With those cuts and your eye." I wait in silence for a minute.

"I was in a fight."I wait a few seconds.

"What happened?" 

Garrett suddenly sits up straight and looks back at me. "Ruth, do you really want to know?"

I sit up and look him in the eyes. He looks so depressed and angry. "Yes."

Garrett looks down and starts picking at some grass. I wait for a minute before he looks back up. "My dad drinks. He gets ruff at night. I woke up to him punching my face. That's how I got, well, that." he points to his eye which has an odd color to it, from the swelling. I slowly nod my head, showing I understand. He looks back down at the grass.

"How long has this been going on?" I ask nervously. How could someone do this to their family? 

Garrett bites his lower lip and raises his eyebrows. "Since my mom died."

"I'm sorry." I say as I look down at the ground. I wasn't expecting that. I didn't realize his mom had passed away. That's so sad. 

Garrett laughs, "Yeah, a lot of people say that." I lick my lips. What else should I say?

"How old were you when she....?"

"Fourteen."

I nod my head, "What about the slash across your cheek?" Garrett looks up and I spot the topic of our conversation. The slash had a dark color to it.

"My dad had a knife out while he was drunk. He set it down and I tried to take it, to hide it from him, before he did anything stupid. He caught me, and to show me not to take his stuff he slashed me." Garrett rips some grass from the ground. His hands were shaking, and he had anger in his eyes. I reach forward and put a hand on his, trying to comfort him. He doesn't pull away. 

"Do the cops ever get involved?"

"Not so much anymore, but they used to be at my house every night. The neighbors would call. My dad  did get taken to jail for a year. My sister and I lived with my aunt and uncle until he was out. They woul-"

"Wait, you have a sister?" Garrett nods. "Is she being abused?"

Garrett shakes his head, "No, she lives with my aunt and uncle a couple towns over. I live with my dad, trying to help him get better. It was hard on us last year, I got behind in school, I did face pain when with my dad. But, it seemed to be slowly getting better. He wasn't drinking as much at night and I remember one night he didn't even drink." Garrett smiled slightly at the memory but his smile quickly disappeared. "I don't know what happened, but he went back down hill. For the first couple months of school I lived at my aunt and uncle's with my sister. But I couldn't stay away for so long. I wanted to try and help my dad again. I've been doing that since."

I take my hand off of his, "Wow." what else do I say? That is a lot of information I wasn't expecting to get.

"Yeah, wow indeed." 

I watch Garrett stare at the ground. He has so much sadness in his face. What do I say? What should I-

"You know," Garrett speaks, pulling me out of my thoughts, "I haven't told a friend any of that before." he laughs and runs a hand through his hair. "Sorry, I don't mean to depress you."

I shake my head, "No, no, if you want to talk about that, talk about it. Get it out. I'm sorry if I don't respond properly. I'm really not sure of what to say..."

Garrett looks into my eyes, "You're really something, Ruth."

I give a sad smile, "Good or bad?" I watch as Garrett's eyes move down to my lips.

"Good." Garrett leans forward, his face in front of mine. His lips are but an inch from my lips. My stomach goes crazy with butterflies. I stare into his eyes. He stares back. Before I can think of anything to say I feel his lips pressed lightly up against mine. I close my eyes and my stomach goes even wilder with butterflies. And before I know what i'm doing, I kiss him back. It's light and simple. But it's my first kiss and I'd have to say, the best thing in the world. 

Garrett pulls away, I open my eyes. I watch as Garrett smirks, then starts scanning my face. One sentence suddenly breaks out into my mind.

Garrett Smith just kissed me.