“You know, I never did get to see those pictures you took at that street fair” Garrett said. The two of them were on the lawn, lazing around before Zoey had to go back to class
“What?” Zoey mumbled almost half asleep
“Hey wake up!” Garrett said nudging her with his leg gently.
“That’s because I never showed them to you” she said lazily
“Yeah well I know that” he said turning to face her
“That was over a two months ago Garrett! I don’t even know where they are!” A lie, well of course she knew where they were. She looked at them all the time but she sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him that.
They heard footsteps running toward them. “Guess who got A on her arts project!?” Ruth sang out sitting down next to Zoey. “Ew you guys why are you sleeping on grass?”
“I was sleeping” Zoey said opening one eye and looking at Ruth. She gave up trying to take a nap and got up. “It’s so hot! I hate summer in Arizona”
Garrett still had his eyes closed. His hair had gotten a shade lighter because of all the time he had been spending in the sun.
“So who are you taking to the dance at-“ Ruth was stopped from finishing her sentence by Zoeys hand flying over her mouth
“What dance?” Garrett asked. He sat up and seemed wide awake.
Zoey made a face at Ruth. “No, well you wouldn’t call it a “dance” it’s just uh” she started nervously “more like a get together thing”
Ruth scoffed and rolled her eyes “Its pretty much the only social event we’re ever gonna have until next year”
“So who are you going with?” Garrett said avoiding eye contact with Zoey
“Jason” Ruth answered for Zoey as-a-matter-of-factly
“Ruth!” Zoey yelled hitting Ruths’ arm. Cue the awkward silence. “Well anyway, I have to get back to class. You two love birds have fun” Ruth said and got up and walked away.
Cue more awkward silence.
“So you and Jason huh?” Garrett said trying not to sound too bothered by this. It was hard because he was.
“Well we’ve been going together for the last two years so, I don’t know..” Zoey trailed off.
You could cut the tension in the air with a knife. Before it got any worse Garrett stood up, dusted the grass from his shorts “I better get going. I’ll see you at the house” and left before Zoey could say anything else
--
If you hate the heat, Arizona was probably the worst place to live in. Except for winter it was pretty much extremely hot all year round. Zoey was dying for a shower. It was Tuesday and she and Garrett usually spent their afternoons together. In fact, they usually spent all day together unless Zoey was at college or Garrett was with the band
“Can I take my shirt off? Or would that be too weird” Zoey joked. Garrett eyed her and raised his eyebrow.
She laughed “Stop picturing it you perv!”
“You know, you hang around here a lot. Do you even go to your apartment?” Garrett said as he sat next to her on the couch
“Are you trying to say that you don’t want me here anymore?” Zoey gasped pretending to be offended
“I wouldn’t mind it if you would wear your own clothes once in a while” he laughed
It was true. Because Garrett lived so close college, if Zoey was too lazy she wouldn’t bother going back to her apartment. Garrett had to admit though, she looked great in his clothes.
“Hey where’d you get this scar?” she said, touching the scar over his eye
“Uh, you gave it to me!?” He said. He tried not to move because her hand was still on his face. She looked so concerned. He suddenly became aware of how close she was. He didn’t even want to breathe.
A sudden knock on the door made the two of them jump. It was mid-afternoon and the house was pretty much empty except for Kennedy upstairs. No one ever came over at that time of the day except for Zoey or Ruth.
“Rachel?!” Garrett jumped off the couch and went over to the door. She came in and looked at Zoey. Something about the way she looked at her made Zoey feel really self-conscious.
Zoey studied Garretts expression and politely excused herself from the room. But not before she passed Rachel and noticed her forearm. The outline of three hearts. The exact same tattoo Garrett had, in the exact same place. Zoeys mouth went dry. Why did they have matching tattoos?
