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I woke up in the most uncomfortable position I had been in in years. A sharp pain jutted through my shoulder, making me force open my heavy eyelids and realize I was crouched in an awkward position. I had fallen asleep in my car in the walmart parking lot after my shift. How that happened is something I don't know.

My phone buzzed under my pocket and made me jump once more. The annoying sound finally quit when I yanked it out of my back pocket and slid it to answer.

"Hello." I rasped.

"Why haven't you been answering me?"

That was the first time I heard Rhiannon ever sound pissed.

"Hold on,"

I checked my phone and saw that she had been calling me repeatedly for 2 hours.

"Shit, I'm sorry I fell asleep in the car."

"That's ok." Her voice whimpered. She sounded guilty.

"No offense, but why'd you call?"

I pulled out of the parking lot and began my boring route home. I put her on speaker and set mu phone inside of the plastic cup holder.

"I was just wanting to see if you would want to hang out with me and my cousin."

That was a weird thing to ask.

"Uh, sure."

The line cracked and rustled. She must've been moving around or walking somewhere.

"Well I just wanted to say that I am going to go on a date with Garrett. Is that ok with you?"

"Yeah why wouldn't it be."

Did she think the same thing? I felt defeated.

"Oh, uh... I don't know. But anyways, his name is Chandler. He's pretty cool. I'm going on that date tonight, but maybe we could do it tomorrow night?"

I answered shortly before hanging up.

"Sure."

-

After talking to Austin I managed to get an hour of sleep before getting ready for the date. I wasn't that ecstatic, but I was relieved that Austin took it the right way. Not that I knew if he liked me. It was actually more disappointing than I thought it would be to hear that he didn't care.

"Hey I'm going out." I called out to my dad while sweeping through the living room to get keys. He gave a weak smile and turned his head back to the television, the lights flickering off of his eyes. The man looked hypnotized.

I opened the door and saw Garrett perched up at my doorstep with a bouquet of flowers. He brought the tulips up to my arms and I took hold of them, surprised that he was here.

"Thank you." I stuttered.

He smiled shyly and dug his hands into his pockets.

He led me out to his car and opened the shiny doors, signaling for me to go in. I nodded and climbed into the leather seats, sort of embarrassed that he was treating me like such a lady. He got in and turned the knob on the radio up. He let me roll the windows down. Something about the wind blowing sharp gusts into my hair and the music trailing off behind us made me feel so alive.

I hummed the lyrics of New Flesh by Televisions and felt Garrett's eyes look my way. It was really nerve wracking, and I was already sweating down my green muscle shirt.

"Where are we going?" I asked in a lower, manlier seeming tone. I didn't want to seem girly because I was so weirded out by the fact that he was into me.

Sketch (Austin Abrams)Where stories live. Discover now