Garret

by Allie Everhart

  “I’m getting out of here. I don’t feel like being here tonight.”

  “But you just got here. And it’s Friday night. What else are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll just watch TV and go to bed. I need to get up early and go for a run. I’ve been slacking on cardio, and with swim season coming up, I need to get in shape.”

  Decker rolls his eyes. “Yeah, like you really need to get in shape, Garret. What are you up to now? Eight pack abs? Freaking annoying.”

  I laugh. “That’s what happens when you work out. You might want to hit the gym now and then. Do that and lose the bow tie and you’ll have girls lining up to be with you.”

  “If you’re leaving, I’m gonna hang out with Blake. See if those girls are really interested in him. You’ll be at the party tomorrow, right?”

  “Yeah. With Jade.” I feel my lips creep up as I say it.

  He smiles. “Good. I can’t wait to meet her. See ya, Garret.”

  I go back to the dorm and back to my room, just one floor above Jade’s room. I wonder if she’s sleeping. It’s hard to sleep in a new place. And these dorm rooms suck. They’re small and sparse and they smell old and musty. But she’s poor so maybe she doesn’t think it’s that bad. She probably grew up in a small, shitty, run-down house.

  I don’t know that much about Jade’s background other than what my dad said. Last week during dinner, he said the scholarship winner was a girl from Des Moines, Iowa and that she lived with some guy and his son because her mom committed suicide. Her mom was a drunk and hooked on pills and ended up overdosing when Jade was just 15. He didn’t mention her dad so he must not be in her life. I’m guessing this Ryan guy I met last night is the guy she’s been living with. She said he’s like a brother so he must be the son of whoever that guy is who took her in after her mom died. They must be her foster family.

  It sounds like Jade’s life has pretty much sucked so far. And yet she managed to be valedictorian of her high school, according to my dad. He said she had straight A’s and took the hardest classes. That’s why he picked her for the scholarship. So she’s not only beautiful. And hot. And sexy. She’s also smart. It’s no wonder I like her. Yet she wants nothing to do with me, which makes me like her even more.

  This isn’t good. I just met this girl and I like her way too much. I’m usually not like that. It usually takes a while before I decide I like someone.

  I should stay away from her. I just started college and I want my freedom. I don’t want to be tied down by some girl.

  But Jade’s not just any girl. She’s different. She’s a challenge. And she’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.

  Damn, I’m in trouble.

  The next morning, I sleep later than I wanted to. I was hoping to get up early so I could get my workout in before the sun got too hot. But that didn’t happen and now it’s 10.

  I drive into town for breakfast since the dining halls aren’t open yet, not that I’d want to eat there even if they were. I’ve never liked cafeteria food. There’s something about standing in line, watching them slop food on a plate that makes it unappetizing. I have a feeling I’ll be eating out a lot this semester.

  After breakfast I go for a run around campus. I hate running but my coach says I have to do it to improve my cardio, which I agree with, but I still hate it. I’m a swimmer and I have been for as long as I can remember. I belong in the water, swimming laps, not pounding the pavement, dripping sweat like I’m doing now.

  After a few miles, I head to the track to do some sprints. As I walk down the hill at the edge of campus, I see someone running on the track. I get closer and am pleasantly surprised to see it’s Jade.

  This should be interesting. I wonder if she’ll try to get rid of me again. But she can’t. She doesn’t own the track. She can’t make me leave.

  She’s sitting on the ground, dressed in running shorts and a t-shirt, sweat dripping off her. It’s freaking hot. I like an athletic girl. A girl who isn’t afraid to sweat.

  “Have a good run?” I walk over to her.

  “It was all right. I don’t usually run on a track.”

  “You should’ve come with me. I ran a couple miles around campus.”

  She shakes her head. “That’s not far enough. I usually run 8 or 9 miles.”

  I sit down next to her, so close we’re almost touching. I want to see if she’ll move away. She doesn’t, but she looks at me like I’m crazy for sitting this close.

  “Eight or 9 miles? You must be a serious runner. I’m a swimmer. I only run to improve my cardio for the pool. I do a couple miles at a normal pace and then I do sprints on the track.”

  She points to it. “Go ahead. It’s all yours.”

  “Why don’t you do them with me?” I say, challenging her. “Let’s race.”

  If she agrees to my challenge, I might just love this girl. The girls I’ve dated in the past would never race me. None of them were athletic and they’d never even consider doing something that might mess up their hair and makeup.

  But Jade’s not wearing makeup and her hair’s already a mess. A sexy mess; long brown waves pulled back into a ponytail, wet around her hairline, a few strands hanging loose around her face.

  “I’m a distance runner, not a sprinter,” she says. “But a distance runner can beat a swimmer any day. This should be easy.” She stands up and starts stretching her legs.

  She actually agreed to race me? But wait. Did she just insult me? Nobody insults me. This might be the first time this has ever happened.

  “You think you can beat me, huh?” I do some stretches even though I’m already warmed up from my run. “So what’s with the insults? You don’t like swimmers?”

  She shrugs. “Swimmers are okay. I just don’t think they have to work that hard. I mean, the water makes you basically weightless. It’s easy to go fast when you don’t have to drag your body weight around. You don’t get that benefit with running.”

  Did she seriously just insult me again? And now she’s picking on swimming? My favorite sport? The thing I love most in the world? What the hell? I don’t even know what to say to that, so I ask her to clarify.

  “Are you shitting me? Did you just say swimmers don’t work hard?”

  “Yeah, why?” I see a slight smile cross her face. She’s trying to get to me. She knows exactly what she’s doing. Pushing my competitive edge to the limit. And it’s totally turning me on.

  “Game on, Iowa girl. Get your ass in position.”

  I set myself up in lane one of the track.

  She saunters over to lane two, yawning like I’m boring her. She stretches her arms behind her back. “Do you need a head start?”

  “Damn, you’re annoying.” I smile, but it’s true. This girl’s annoying, but in a good way. In a way that challenges me and keeps me guessing. “We do one lap around. Ready? Three, two, one. Go!”

  She takes off down the track and damn, she’s fast. I’m doing an all-out sprint and have a much longer stride and I can’t even come close to catching up. By the time I make it around the track one time, she’s already halfway around it for the second time.

  “Stop! We’re done!” I yell it at her and she stops and runs back. I’m bent over with my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath, sweat dripping off my face. “Okay, I admit it. You’re fast.”

  “Fast? That was my normal pace.”

  I’m assuming she’s kidding but she’s not that out of breath so maybe she’s serious.

  I straighten up and wipe the sweat off my forehead. “Remind me never to do that again.” I walk over and get my water bottle. “You should sign up for cross country or track. You’re really fast.”

  She meets me at the edge of the track. “Nah. I ran cross country in high school. Now I just run when I’m stressed.”

  “What are you stressed about? School?”

  “No. I didn’t mean that I only run when I’m stressed. I run for all kinds of reasons. Like today I ran bec
ause it’s nice outside and I’m bored.”

  “You want some?” I offer her my water bottle because the girl’s been running for God knows how long in this scorching hot heat and has no water. She hesitates, like she doesn’t want to put her mouth where mine just was, but then snatches the bottle from me and takes a drink. “If you’re bored, let’s do something. I’ll show you around and we can grab lunch somewhere.”

  “I can’t. I have stuff to do. I need to unpack and make my bed.”

  Make her bed? That’s her excuse for why she can’t go out? How long could it take to make a bed?

  As she takes another drink of water, I check out her body again. Lean, with good muscle definition, but she still has feminine curves. Fucking hot. I try not to stare.

  She hands me my water bottle and I take a drink, more than happy to put my mouth where hers just was. But no water comes out. Not even a drop. “You drank the whole thing! What did you do that for? I’m dying here.”

  “You didn’t say how much I could have. You should really be clearer next time.”

  I can’t figure this girl out. She seems to have no interest in impressing me, which is something I’m not used to. Last night I had two girls who didn’t even know my name offering me a threesome. And now I have Jade drinking all my water and not even caring that she’s standing here dripping sweat with no makeup on and messy hair. And she insulted me. Twice.

  “Fine. Give it here.” She holds her hand out. “I’ll go fill it up for you.”

  “Forget it. I’m heading back now anyway. I can’t do any more sprints after that.” I walk away, then turn back. “Aren’t you coming?”

  Two can play at this game. She thinks she can get rid of me with her insults? And beating me on the track? And drinking all my water? Not a chance. When I want something, I go after it. And I’ve decided I want Jade.

  I like this girl. She’s tough. Competitive. Doesn’t give a shit what people think. And there’s something about her that gets to me in a way no other girl has. I don’t know what it is, but it’s nagging at my insides, tugging at my chest, getting in my head.

  “You go ahead,” she says. “I’ll stay here and stretch.”

  “We’re having lunch.” I say it like she has no choice in the matter. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  I walk up the hill toward the dorm and when I look back, Jade’s following me. I turn back and smile. Score one for Garret.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  She catches up to me on the hill. “I never said I was having lunch with you.”

  I quicken my pace so she has to race a little to keep up. “You need to eat, right? And you’re bored? So we’re having lunch. What do you like? Mexican? Italian? Burgers?”

  She grabs my arm. “Hold on. Why do you keep trying to get me to do stuff? Coming to my room last night. Finding me at the track. Making me go to lunch. Are you stalking me or something?”

  “Do you feel like you’re being stalked?”

  “No, I guess not.”

  “Then I’m not stalking you.” I start walking again. “I was just trying to be nice. But you’re making it very difficult. I thought people from the Midwest were supposed to be friendly. I’m not getting that vibe from you at all.” I’m joking but it’s kind of true. I haven’t actually met anyone from Iowa before but I always had this image of the people there being overly nice, not tossing out insults like Jade keeps doing.

  “The friendly thing is a myth. We just say that to attract tourists.” She almost has to run to keep up with my long strides. “Why are you making such an effort to be nice? You don’t even know me.”

  “Because I know it sucks to be in a new place where you don’t know anyone. My dad sent me to boarding school in London back in seventh grade and I hated it. I didn’t like any of the people there and I hated being so far from home. I started sneaking out at night hoping they’d kick me out of school. It didn’t work so I set my room on fire and within a week I was back home.”

  Talking about it just reminds me how much I hated that boarding school. I can’t believe my dad shipped me off like that. It was all Katherine’s idea, of course.

  “So where’s home?”

  “About a half hour from here.” We’re now at the dorm and I open the door for her. “That’s why I figured I’d show you around town. I know everything about this area.” I stop when we get to her room. “Don’t take too long. I’m starving.”

  “Want to meet back here in 15?”

  Fifteen what? Fifteen minutes? That can’t be right. I must’ve heard her wrong. But I swear she said 15.

  “You mean like 15 minutes? You can get ready that fast?”

  “Uh, yeah. Why? Didn’t you just tell me to hurry up?”

  “I’ve just never met a girl who can get ready in 15 minutes. I was thinking you’d need at least an hour.”

  “An hour? Who takes an hour to get ready for lunch?”

  “I guess not you. Okay, 15 minutes. I don’t even know if I can get ready that fast.” I go upstairs to my room, grab a towel, and hit the shower.

  There’s no way she’ll be ready in 15 minutes. It’s not possible. I know girls who take 20 minutes just to dry their hair.

  I like a long shower, especially after working out, but I make it quick today. I throw on shorts and a white polo shirt and run my hands through my hair. It’s short enough it’ll air dry. I check my wallet for money, then grab my keys and sunglasses. My phone rings and I answer it without looking.

  “Kensington, you showing up tonight?” Blake’s words are slurred. It’s not even 1 and he’s already drunk.

  “Yeah, I’ll be there.” I wonder if he did it with the blond twins, but I’m not going to ask. Blake would tell me if he did. He tells everyone about his sex life. I’m sure he makes half of it up.

  “You missed my party last night.”

  “I couldn’t make it.”

  “Dek said you were at the other party but you left.”

  “Yeah, I was bored and that house stunk like a locker room.”

  “Did Dek tell you about the twins?”

  And here we go. But I don’t have time for his sex stories.

  “I haven’t talked to Dek since last night.”

  “These two hot blondes offered me a threesome and I was like, shit, yeah. But then Darren, that guy that works at the gym by your house? He was there and he said Misty, or Kristy, or whatever the hell her name was, has herpes. Said she’s been spreading it to half the town. I don’t care how hot they are. I don’t need that shit.”

  “I have to go. I’ll see you tonight.” I end the call and shove my phone in my pocket, noticing I’ve passed the 15-minute mark.

  When I get downstairs, Jade is waiting outside her door.

  “Damn, you weren’t kidding,” I say. “You really can get ready that fast.”

  “So what took you so long? Had to style your hair or something?”

  Another insult. It doesn’t bother me but I pretend it does to see how she’ll react.

  “I’m going to ignore that.” I turn and walk fast down the hall.

  “Hey, I didn’t mean to piss you off. Sorry.”

  “So you can be nice. You just choose not to be.” I’m smiling at her.

  “Exactly.” She smiles back and damn, what a beautiful smile. I need to find ways to get her to do that more. “So you might want to bail on lunch. I used up all my niceness just now and you may not be able to handle whatever I say next.”

  “I can handle it.” We’re in the parking lot and I walk up to my BMW and open the door for her. “So what do you want to eat?”

  “I thought we were eating on campus.”

  “The dining halls aren’t open yet. Didn’t you read your housing packet? They don’t open until Tuesday.”

  She stares at the car, not moving. What’s her problem? Does she not like my car? It’s brand new. What’s not to like? It’s a hell of a lot better than the car she drove here in.

  “Are you getting in or are we going to
stand here all day?”

  She looks at me. “Oh, um, can’t we just walk somewhere? I can’t get into cars with strangers.”

  I laugh because it sounds like something Lilly would say. “You sound like my little sister. She’s six.”

  Jade blushes. “Yeah, I didn’t mean to say it like that. What I meant is that I don’t know you that well, so I don’t trust you to drive me somewhere.”

  “Really? Am I that scary?”

  Her eyes do a scan of me. I kind of feel like she’s checking me out. And not for safety purposes.

  “Do you want references or something? Because I know Jasmine, your RA. She’ll tell you that I’m perfectly safe to be around.” I remain there holding the door open. “Come on. I thought Midwest people were trusting.”

  “Trusting is just a nicer word for stupid or naive. And I’m neither one of those things.” She still doesn’t move.

  Does she really think I’m dangerous? Or is she just really cautious?

  “Hey, Garret.” Jasmine waves at me as she walks to her car.

  “Jaz, wait. Come here for a minute.” I wait for her to come over. “Tell the new girl I’m normal and not some crazy psychopath.”

  Jasmine looks at me, confused. “What?”

  “She’s afraid to get in my car because she doesn’t know me well enough. She wants references and you’re it.”

  “Um, okay.” She turns to Jade. “I’ve known Garret since middle school. Sometimes he can be an ass, but the majority of the time he’s a good guy.” And then she just walks off.

  “What the hell? I’m not an ass,” I yell at her.

  “The ass part’s for breaking up with my sister,” she yells back.

  Jasmine went to my prep school and lives in my hometown. Her sister is a year younger than me and asked me out last May. We went on one date. The girl is obsessed with her looks and spent our entire date telling me how she’s going to be a model someday. Not my type of girl.

  “I went out with her sister one time,” I say to Jade. “I didn’t ask her out again and Jasmine’s been pissed at me ever since. Anyway, you got your reference so can we go now?”