His Saving Grace

Chapter Fifteen

"AHH!" I screamed, rolling off the beanbag like the Klutz Queen that I was. The bowl of popcron had fallen out of my hands and there was popcorn all over my face and my hair. The bowl itself landed on top of my head.

I looked like a lampshade.

Garrett knelt down to help me up, laughing like it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. I brushed the crushed popcorn bits off my hair and my clothes and swept them up into the bowl, feeling like a total dork. 

"Why are you laughing?" I demanded, putting my hands on my hips. "That shit was scary!"

"You're such a girl," Garrett teased, standing up and putting the bowl of popcorn on the nightstand. He dropped back down onto his beanbag and put his hands behind his head.

"Maybe because I am a girl, smartass," I snapped, settling back into my beanbag beside Garrett.

"I've watched this countless times," Garrett said, smiling to himself. "You get used to the gore."

I cringed. "I hate blood, you know."

Garrett turned to me. "Aww come on. You managed to bandage this up. It had more blood than the movie," he said, referring to his bandaged up wrist.

"You just had to remind me," I groaned, covering my face with a pillow. Garrett chuckled.

"Pshh," Garrett said, grabbing the pillow from me. "Don't cover your face."

"But I want to," I said, grabbing it back from him.

"I don't," Garrett said, taking it from me once more. Before I could get it back, he sat on it, a smile of triumph on his face.

"Way mature, Garrett," I said, rolling my eyes. While Garrett was getting comfortable with the pillow he was sitting on, my eyes fell on the other bowl of popcorn that was behind Garrett. 

The first kernel of popcorn hit him square in the mouth and he jumped. I leapt off my place with the bowl of popcorn secured around my arms, laughing like a mental hospital patient on the loose.

"Oh yeah, and you're the mature one?" Garrett said, running after me.

Yup, we were very mature.

~~

It was around ten o'clock when we finally finished Zombieland. Kennedy's room was a total wreck and I was thankful that he didn't plan on staying in the house for the night since he'd be staying at Jared's. 

There was popcorn all over the floor, on the beanbags, on our clothes and in our hair. Scrunched up soda cans littered the room, Kennedy's nighstand had spilled fruit punch on it, and the stack of DVDs became a huge pile of plastic cases beside the TV set.

He yawned. "Are you still going home? I'll drive you."

"I don't know," I said, rubbing my sleepy eyes. "I can't even get up..." I yawned loudly, and I felt Garrett laugh against me.

"You know," I began, stretching my legs. I felt sleep start to take over me slowly. "You should smile more often."

Garrett sighed beside me. "I've been told."

"Then why don't you?" I said, trying to stay awake for as long as the conversation was going. "You use lesser muscles when you smile..."

"You're such a nerd, you know?"

I grumbled. "That's not the point. And don't even try to change the subject."

For a moment there was silence.

"Why did you cry?" he asked, his voice quieter than usual. I turned my head a little. "You're not pretty when you cry."

"It's nothing," I said, trying to push away the sadness that started returning. "Just a boy...have you ever had the feeling of wanting something that you knew you could never have?" Garrett didn't respond.

"Well," I said, yawning once more. "It sucks, you know. It feels stupid. You feel stupid. I mean, why waste your time on that person when you know perfectly well that he'd never feel the same way?" I laughed sadly. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this. You don't even tell me anything."

I felt him take my hand, stroking it with his thumb. His gestures were so comforting and gentle I wasn't so sure if it was actually Garrett who was beside me. "Whoever that guy is," he whispered into my hair. "Forget about him. You deserve better. He's stupid for breaking your heart." His voice was so soft and comforting.

"You've...got to be kidding me," I said, my eyes starting to close. I felt my body lose contact with solid ground, and moments later I felt the soft, cool cushioning of a bed beneath me. My shoes were taken off and my legs were spread out, and then a blanket was draped above the lower half of my body.

"Garrett?" I struggled to say, opening my eyes just a teensy bit.

"Yes?" he whispered.

"Promise me you'll smile more often?" I said. A faint smile appeared on his face.

"I promise," he said.

~~

The events of that day never left my mind. Instead of bugging me like anything Garrett-related did before, it actually made me happy. Even Alahna noticed and somehow she managed to squeeze the story out of me, and she never stopped teasing me after that.

"You seem happy," Keith said one morning as were were walking to school. I turned around to look at him.

"Something wrong?" I snapped. I knew I was getting a little over-the-edge with the way I talked to Keith, but hey, if you were in my shoes, wouldn't you act the same?

"Actually, yes," Keith snapped back. I was startled. Keith had never snapped at me, and he wasn't the type to snap at girls. "What is wrong with you? Why the hell can't you just forgive me yet?"

"Not everything is forgive and forget," I snarled, glaring at him. "If you were in my shoes you'd understand. What am I, your plan B? Your second choice?"

I ran a hand through my hair. "This is getting tiring. I hate having conversations like this. Maybe you should just go back home."

"You don't understand, do you?" Keith said, his voice sounding so pained. "You were all I could think about after...after the pageant. It pained me to leave you, but I loved Samantha, too. I didn't want to lose her. So I buried myself in my studies, got myself accelerated so I wouldn't have to see you much longer. I thought Samantha would be happy that I passed Harvard, but instead she left me. And then I found Ashley...she was everything I ever wanted."

I felt a stab of pain that I wasn't supposed to feel as he said those words.

"But she left, too...for that dickhead Garrett. You were the only one I had left."

My blood was boiling. "You only had me for as long as freshman year," I snapped. "Just because I said I'd never leave doesn't mean I'd always abide to it. People get tired of waiting. You let me go.

"And don't you insult Garrett," I growled, pointing a finger at his face. "Because he's not as an asshole as he seems like. You're just a jealous, selfish douchebag, and as far as I know, Garrett has been a better listener than you have. And John? Even though he broke my heart like you once did, I'd still choose him over you any day.

"Don't ever," I hissed. "Show yourself to me ever again."

"Fuck you, Katie!" Keith shouted behind my back as I started to storm away. I turned around, wanting to scream back at him.

Sure enough, Keith was still there--but he was held by the collar by Garrett.