Just That Little Rush : The Maine

Three

Garrett : 17

I expected another bedroom just like ours only with speakers on or something. I was wrong. The whole place was painted white except for the floors, which were a light wooden color. The bed and its pillows had a colorful Aztec print on it, unlike our plain beige ones. One wall was one huge shelf bursting with books. The ceiling over the bed had photographs attached to strings, like a bunch of lanterns. But then all that snapped out of my mind in a second.

She had light brown hair, pale skin—not even just a regular white—just pale, was in a black t-shirt that looked like she ripped the sleeves off herself, and straight, thick, long lashes. She wasn’t looking at us, me and John. I had actually forgotten that he was there for a second. My breath caught up in my throat. We both looked at each other. I had my mouth slightly open, eyes a little bit wider than normal, while John had an unreadable, blank face on.

“Dan, Cam, if you’re here to talk to me about some dancing boy band again, you can think twice and leave.” She said, an evident tone that wanted whoever those two to leave her alone. Dan? Daniel? Cam? Cameron? Were those her boyfriends? Brothers? When neither of us replied, she looked up at us with a sigh. Then just as fast as that sigh came out, she sucked it in again, staring at John and I. Her eyes were brown like chocolate milk. Her pink lips were slightly parted.

“Oh” was all she said. I opened my mouth to speak but—

“Hi I’m John.” John said outstretching his hand and walking towards her. I followed after him.

“Maxxie. Max. Whatever.” She said grinning, dropping her guitar and standing to shake his hand. Her teeth were perfectly aligned and white like her walls and I wondered if she’d had braces before. Then she turned to me. “And you must be…?”

“Garrett.” I smiled. Her smile got even wider when she shook my hand.

“You’re the guys Aunt Ida told me about. I knew there was a Garrett,” she nodded at me then switched her gaze to John. “But I could’ve sworn I heard you should be Trey.”

“Trey’s my brother.” I blurt out. “He’s sleeping, I think.”

Max looked at me. Then at John. Then back at me again.

“So what brings you guys here?” she asked, sitting down and picking up her guitar again.

“Summer.” John shrugged.

“I mean in my room.”

“We were bored.” I said the same time John said, “Your guitar’s nice.”

“Thanks,” she said to John. “His name’s Jack.” Max patted the acoustic Fender in her lap. Okay, it was gorgeous.

“Jack, huh? Mine’s Ivy. The green chick in Batman.”

“I know who Poison Ivy is.” Max rolled her eyes. She held out her guitar. “Do you wanna…?”

“Oh, no I’m not all that good.” John frowned. “Garrett though…” he pats me on the back.

“You play too?” Max looked shocked and stared right at me. I nodded.

“Yeah, but I’m more of a bass kind of guy.”

“That’s crazy. I love bassists. I think I have one back here.” She stood up, handing her guitar to John, and slid open a big closet door that I thought was part of the wall. I exchanged looks with John and mouthed, “she’s so hot”. John laughed soundlessly so she wouldn’t hear. Max came back and passed me a dark violet and black bass.

“So guitar and bass? What’s next? Piano? Violin? Drums?”

“Yes, no, yes.” Max grinned proudly from her seat on the floor. “Though I’m not really all that good at the bass.”