Are You In The House Alone? (plus: Love Me) (2 page)

CHAPTER 3

A few days after my birthday, I’m
sitting at the kitchen table, kind of dying as I have a math test tomorrow, but
I’m having
troubles!!!

I thump my head on the table a
couple of times, then grumble at my incoherent math book.

As I’m busy doing this, someone
slides into the chair next to me. I’m incredibly not interested in who; since,
you know, I’m having a brain aneurism and everything.

But as I’m busy grumbling and
erasing yet another mistake, I can feel that the person’s eyes are on me and
not on their food or whatever, so I finally glance up, then do a double-take.
‘Cause it’s Garrett.
Garrett!!

His eyes are half-amused, yet
half-sympathetic. He grins sardonically, “Need help?”

Of
course
I need help. My paper is so worn thin from all my erasing that it
practically has holes in it—everywhere.

I groan, “Yes, I need
help—obviously.” I gesture at my wreck of a page, wanting to rip it to
shreds.

But because he’s being so
unexpectedly nice, seeming to be offering (?) to help me, I’m hesitant to
inform him that he probably
can’t
. I
squeak out, “I take advanced classes.”

He grins slightly. Then juts his
chin, “What is it?”

Since he seems somewhat cocky about
it (though the dude is cocky about everything) I inform his challenging smirk,
“Advanced calculus.”

He raises his eyebrows, then
informs
my
challenging smirk, “I
already took it last year—smoked it.”

I widen my eyes.
Dude!!
The guy isn’t only gorgeous, he’s
smart
?
Who knew?—not me,
that’s for sure. Of course until lately he used to just glare at me. (He sure
doesn’t do that anymore, by the way.) But so, until like a week ago, we didn’t
actually communicate, or have an actual conversation. I didn’t know a thing
about him. Except that he was gorgeous—and sort of a wad. And he hated
me—because I was attached to my mom, who was attached to his dad, who was
a dirt-bag that cheated on his mom.

He was angry—he made that
loud and clear.

He doesn’t look angry now though.
He looks amused at my shocked, and hopeful expression. I mean, the dude can
actually help me!!

I bite my lip, “Would—would
you help me?”

His grin grows. Instead of
answering, he informs me, “Usually you’re sitting here doing your math with
your boyfriend—ogling him like he’s a rock star. Purring and holding his
hand and making him cookies.”

Whoa!

My heart speeds up. He noticed
that? Noticed
me?
—my life and
routine???

It’s just so incredibly shocking
because he used to act like I was the plague and he couldn’t get out of my site
fast enough … but I’d been in
his
sight?

Again,
whoa!

He juts his chin curiously, “So
where’s your boyfriend tonight?”

“He’s gone with the school’s
marching band to the state competition—they won’t be back until Monday.”

He smirks, like Phoenix is a nerd.
He lifts an eyebrow, “Marching band?”

“Hey, our school’s marching band is
really awesome.”

His eyes twinkle playfully. “Then
why aren’t you in it?”

“I used to be,” I inform him,
like—
slam
. Then I admit, “I had
to quit, because it conflicted with my cheer practices.” I add defensively,
“Hey, I’m a good dancer.”

He nods slightly. “I know.”

My heart bursts into confetti.

When I gaze at him all stunned and
starry-eyed, he chokes out a laugh. “Stop looking like you want to kiss me and
show me your math problems. I need to go to bed.”

Just to clarify, since it’s so
unlike him, I stammer out, “You—you’re going to help me?”

He presses his head against the
table, then looks up at me, “Are you going to make me cookies?”

I nod. “Definitely.”

CHAPTER 4

Garrett leans over my calculus
book, helping me figure out problem after problem.

He’s being
soooo
incredibly patient and sweet that I’m starting to feel sort
of warm towards him, and mushy inside.

“You’re looking like you want to kiss
me again,” he murmurs, not even looking up from the equation he’s skimming.

Flames shoot through me. (
Embarrassing!!!
)

I huff all indignant-like, “I don’t
want to kiss you,” I add, just as indignant-like, “—I have a boyfriend.”

Garrett grins teasingly, “Well,
sort of.”

Grr!

I’m tempted to stab him with my
pencil. “No, not ‘sort of.’ We’ve been dating for almost two
years
now.”

His eyes flick up to me, then back
down to my equation. He says dryly, “Yet you had no idea what I was talking
about the other night.”

I redden. “Well, I do now.”

His gaze trails back up to me, his
eyes sooo amused. He juts his chin. “Because you looked it up?—or because
your boyfriend finally tried giving you a better present than new shoes?”

“Heyy!” I growl
defensively, “I love the shoes.”

 
“I’m sure your boyfriend does too.” He says it total deadpan,
though there’s a sardonic twinkle in his eyes.

He grins. “But you’re avoiding the
question—did you look it up?”

Groan. Yes I looked it up. Of
course.

I slink down in my seat and grumble,
“Look, can we just work on the math?”

His voice goes husky, “We can do
whatever you want, Brandy.”

Ugh! Suddenly, I’m aware we’re in
the house alone. Completely. Our parents went away for the weekend—though
they seemed rather hostile with each other (which has suddenly become their
“normal” towards each other—which is weird, since they used to be
sickeningly affectionate with each other … until Garrett moved in.) He’s kind
of a total wad to them … but I guess he has good reason. In his mind, anyway. His
mom is really fragile. He’s protective of her.

My entire body is on fire, due to
his sexy eyes glued on me, waiting for my answer, though he
has
to know what it will be. I stare
down at my book, and inform him as chill as possible, “I just want to work on
math.”

“I don’t think you do,” he says.

“Well, then you’re wrong.”

He draws out a loud, dramatic
(teasing) breath, “Okay.”

Then he patiently goes back to
helping me with my math.

CHAPTER 5

I can’t believe how sweet and
patient Garrett is being!! I hate to admit it (and I
won’t
out loud), but he’s even a better math tutor than
Phoenix. And Phoenix is awesome. And, yeah, he’s patient and sweet too. But the
thing is, he’s
always
like that, and
Garrett … isn’t. Ever.

So, it’s kind of astonishing. To
say the least.

“You’re being really nice to me,” I
inform him as he leans over my book trying to figure out where I made an error
in one of my equations.

His eyes flicker up to me. “Well,
you were nice to
me
with the
poems.”

“Yeah … but I’m a nice person.”

He grins and goes to say something,
but then breathes out a laugh, “Ouch.”

When I don’t apologize, only smirk
and duck my gaze back down to my mess of a worksheet, he asks softly, “Why do
you waste all that on your boyfriend?”

I furrow my brow, “Waste what?”

“You,” he says.

Fireworks shoot through my body.

I stammer out, “Once again, I have
no clue what you’re talking about.”

He smiles sardonically. “I know,
Brandy.” His eyebrows go up, “—it’s sad.”

I tilt my head, totally confused.
“Sad that I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

His answer is a slow, sexy nod.

My lips part, but I don’t know what
to say. Actually, I don’t even think I can talk, the way his gaze is glued on
me like that.

His eyes glimmer. “Brandy, I hate
to break it to you, but you’re hot.”

Heat rips through my body.

I swallow.

My brain has left my body. Floated
away. I swallow again, then stammer out inanely, “I—I am?”

His eyes lingering hungry-like on
me, he nods.

He says softly, “It’s sad you don’t
know that, Brandy.”

“Well, Phoenix …”

He raises his eyebrows.
“Phoenix—what?”

I don’t know. I really don’t know
what to say. I mean, this is all leaving me dizzy and wondering—
really??
I mean, a lot of guys flirt
with me. A
lot
. But I ignore them.
Because I have a boyfriend. But actually, Phoenix doesn’t exactly make me feel
‘hot.’

Garrett gives me a knowing look
when I don’t say anything. “The guy doesn’t make you feel hot, right? That’s
because the guy can’t, Brandy.”

I narrow my eyes. “You’re saying he
can’t love me?”

He says softly, “No. I’m sure the
guy loves you. He’s just gay, so not the same thing.”

I tilt my head, “—as what you
feel?”

He grins. “No, nu-uh, it’s not the
same thing that I feel. Look, it’s the difference between your grandma, and Zak
Efron. You’re enraptured with them both, right? But do you want to attack your
grandma?”

I go up in flames. How does he know
I’m enraptured with Zak Efron???

I squeeze my eyes shut, then growl,
“Whatever. He’s
not
gay.
You’re mean and delusional to keep saying that. Not all guys are lusting, horny
pigs.”

He quirks an eyebrow. “Yeah they
are.”

CHAPTER 6

As his gentle helping me with my
math goes on and on, getting later and later, I’m starting to actually get an
embarrassing crush on Garrett. Sort of. A little one. I mean, he’s being
soooo
incredibly patient, and talking
all soft and gentle. And his eyes aren’t being teasing and mischievous anymore.
They’re being soft and gentle too.

So, yeah. Crush City. Which is bad
… since I have a boyfriend. (An awesome one, by the way.) Phoenix is pretty
dang perfect. So, yeah. This is bad.

As my heart pounds all
longing-like, Garrett helps me diligently, glancing up at me every so often to
make sure I understand.

But
THEN
he gets a text from a girl. (I can tell it’s a girl by the way
his eyebrows rise and his lips curl up as he reads the message. Obviously
something dirty has been suggested to him.)

His eyes flick from the text, to
me. “You have a handle on this now, right?”

He’s referring to my
equations—not my heart. So, I reluctantly nod, murmuring, “Yeah.”

Then I add, trying to not sound so
solemn, “Thanks for helping me.”

“Sure, what are brothers for?”

He winks at me, since he doesn’t
really act like a brother towards me. Not in
any
way. Well, except he teases me. And he helped me with my math …
but he’d talked about sex stuff the whole time he did it. So, yeah. Not
brotherly.

… well, until the end.

Toward the end, after he had
stopped teasing me and trying to make me blush—he’d been incredibly
awesome and sweet and kind.

He’d made my insides all warm and
fill with a hundred-thousand butterflies.

Only now he’s running off to a
girl. (Sigh.)

So, you know, I’m an idiot for
feeling so mushy towards him.

Plus, I have a boyfriend.

Duh.

CHAPTER 7

Before first period, April squeals
all excited-like when I tell her how nice Garrett had been last night.

“Wow,” she practically drools.
“Gorgeous
and
nice.”

“—and smart,” I add.

She grins, “It sounds like you’re
starting to not hate the dude.” She chuckles mischievously, “Actually, it
sounds like Phoenix finally has some competition.”

She’s only teasing. Of course.
She’s heard me whine enough about Garrett’s man-whoring ways. Also, she knows
me. I’m totally dedicated to Phoenix.

“
Anyway
,” I groan, changing the subject, “I’m not going to be
needing a ride home after school today—you know, since I have to take
that math test.”

“Oh yeah,” she says
sympathetically. “Good look with that.”

“Well, I’m actually not too worried
about it now—Garrett was an awesome tutor. Now I’m more worried about
taking that dang late-bus home.”

“Yeah. Good luck with
that
,” she says.

(Our late-bus is creepy.)

“I’d wait for you and give you a
ride, but I have piano students coming,” she says.

I nod, groaning inside. “I know.
Don’t worry about it.”

“Maybe call your mom?”

“Can’t. She’s out of town with The
Toad.” (That’s what I call Garrett’s dad.) (Garrett used to be “The Wad.”)
(But, um … I don’t call him that anymore.) (Now he’s “The Giver.”) (Ha!) (I
don’t call him that either … except in jest to April—and Garrett.) (In my
brain he’s “The Devil.”) (He makes me want to sin.) (Nah, I’m just kidding.)
(Mostly.)

Actually, he’s “Dream-Guy.” You
know, only suitable for dreams. You can’t actually
date
dream guys. I mean, unless you want your heart broken.
Which I don’t. I’ll stick with Phoenix, thanks. He’s pretty dreamy, but careful
with my heart.

In case you can’t tell, I’m pretty
fond of Phoenix. Even if it doesn’t seem like it after last night’s lusting.

Groan!

CHAPTER 8

After school, my head is still
swimming from equations as I slowly exit my math class. The first thing I
notice is Garrett down the hallway talking with his friends.

Of
course
that’s the first thing I notice. Groan. I’m a bad girlfriend,
apparently. What’s
happening
to me???
Before Garrett moved in with us I never, ever thought about other guys. Ever.
But lately I’ve thought about Garrett a
lot
.
Wayyy too much.

I slink down the hall in the
opposite direction, so not looking forward to my bus ride home.

Only, shockingly, Garrett leaves
his friends, and chases after me.

“I thought you might need a ride
home,” he says, like that’s what he’d been doing here in the
hallway—waiting for me.

Happiness skitters through my
insides.

“I
do
need a ride,” I breathe out. “ … thanks.”

He nods.

As we walk out the door, he opens
an
umbrella
for me, and holds it over
my head. (An
umbrella!!
)

“What?” he asks with a grin, when I
stare up at him like the heavens have opened and I see angels. (But hey, I
basically do.) His grin grows, “It’s
raining
.”

He says it like that explains
it—his sudden bizarre beyond niceness.

I stare up at him, my heart beating
way too fast

When we get to his car, he opens
the door for me.

I gape at him. “You’re being really
nice,” I inform him, “—
abnormally
nice.”

He grins sheepishly. “Is it weird?
Do you want me to stop?”

“No! I mean, yeah, it’s weird. But
no, I don’t want you to stop. It’s
nice
… I just don’t understand.”

He grins again, getting into the
car, “You mean the umbrella?—was that going too far? It’s just that you
always talk about your boyfriend being ‘gentlemanly.’ And an umbrella seemed
like a gentlemanly thing. I mean, it’s raining.”

“Oh-kay … but why were you trying
to be like Phoenix?—and by the way, he doesn’t have an umbrella.”

“Oh…. No?” He grins. “I thought he
would.”

I tilt my head. “What’s going on?”

A faint grin still hovering on his
lips, he starts the car without answering. After a while of driving in silence
he peeks at me. “Thanks for the cookies in my locker.”

“Well, I owed you—remember?”

He gives me a tiny look. “Yeah. I
guess. But it was still a nice surprise—it made me smile.”

My stomach swoops.

I might actually die from this. Die
of happiness.

He
liked
my cookies? I made him
smile
???

Did I
faint
back when he opened that umbrella for me? Am I lying
in the middle of the school parking lot having a delusional episode?
I
made him smile??? Me? The girl
that used to make him roll his eyes and glare like he wanted to burn down my
house?

“I truly don’t understand,” I tell
him.

“Relax, Brandy. I’m just being
nice.”

“I know, but it’s weird.”

A grin quirks on his lips, but he
doesn’t say anything.

When we get to our house he pulls
into the driveway and pushes the button to open the garage door. But he doesn’t
actually drive in. He just seems to be waiting for me to get out.

His brow rises as I sit staring at
him, not moving. He slowly tilts his head. “You want me to open the car door
for you again?” he asks.

I breathe out a puff of air in
confusion. “
No
, but … you’re not
coming in?”

He shakes his head. “I have to get
back to hockey practice.”

I cock my head. “At the
school?—that we just
left
?”

“Yeah,” he rubs the back of his
neck, grinning slightly at my confusion. “Look, you told me your boyfriend is
out of town. I’m just filling in for the guy a little—until he gets
back.”

I blink at him. “What?! Why?”

He shrugs. “I want to.”

“Garrett, I have a—”

“—boyfriend,” he cuts me off.
“Yeah, I know that. You don’t think I know that? Believe me, Brandy, I do. I
swear, you don’t have to keep reminding me.”

“It’s just you’re acting …” I don’t
even know what to say.

He waits for me to get the words
out. When I don’t, he says softly, “Look, I liked getting the cookies from
you—and your little note.”

Warm tingles wash through me.

My throat goes tight with emotion.
“Garrett …”

He leans the back of his head against
the seat and winces slightly. “You have a boyfriend—I know.”