An Ordinary Me (4 page)

I wasn’t going to break a rule the first night I was being trusted. I respected all my parents’ rules but this one I knew was not something I was going to challenge.

As I was waiting with Garrison, Autumn and a guy named Ryan, Cannon came walking by with his arm around a girl who looked like she belonged in college. She was not only beautiful but she looked perfect. Like the perfect all girls want to be. From her blonde hair to her perfect body to her perfect makeup and hair.

“Hey, Reese, you need a ride?” Cannon asked me.

“No thanks, I’m waiting for my parents.”

“You sure?”

“She said she has a ride,” Garrison answered.

Cannon walked toward us and right in front of Garrison. “I wasn’t asking you. If I wanted your response I would have asked you, douche bag.”

Cannon was puffing his chest out, and Garrison was standing his ground not intimidated in the least bit.

“Screw you, Cannon. Keep walking!”

“Reese, are you still coming to the party next week?” Cannon asked clearly trying to piss Garrison off more.

“Ya, if I can.”

“Cool.” Cannon winked as if he was trying to claim ownership of me and walked off towards his car and not a minute too soon. I could tell Garrison’s mood was changing. He looked mad or upset, not sure which but whatever it was Cannon was the cause of it.

Garrison turned to look at me.

“Is he your boyfriend?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend. I’ve never even dated.” Out the side of my eye, I could see Autumn kissing Ryan.

“So Cannon is just a friend?”

“Yes, he is just a friend. We grew up next door to each other.”

“Be careful with him.”

“Why?”

“Let’s just say Cannon knows his way around. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

I didn’t have an immediate response. “Thanks for looking out for me but I don’t think it’s necessary.”

He either didn’t know what to say or wasn’t going to try to convince me. Garrison stood beside me quietly. I know he was just trying to make sure I had a ride home.

My dad pulled up and rolled down his window to show me he was here.

“Well, that’s my dad, I gotta go.”

“Bye, Reese.”

“Bye, Garrison.”

“Hey, Reese…”

I turned around. “Yeah?”

“I really enjoyed tonight. Here’s my number if you ever want to talk.” He handed me a small piece of paper.

“Thanks, Garrison. I’ll definitely take you up on that.”

I open the car door and waited for Autumn to pull away from her crush and meet me at the car. She got in the car wiping her lips and I rolled my eyes.
Gross.
Dad didn’t seem the least bit shocked but if that was me, it wouldn’t have been ignored.

“
Hey, baby girl. Did you have fun?” There was a part of me that still loved when Dad called me that. It always made me smile.

“Yeah, Dad, I did.”

“Who was the guy you were standing with?”

“His name is Garrison.”

“Hmmm…” I expected more questions but he was quiet.

We were silent the rest of the way home but I knew I wanted to find out what Garrison meant about Cannon. Or did I want to know? And I was positive I wanted to text Garrison, more than anything in my life.

Reese: I really enjoyed tonight and sorry for Cannon. I hope you drive careful. TTYL when you get home safe, if you want.

Reese: This is Reese BTW.

Garrison: I know who it is. And I most definitely will text you when I get home.

Later my phone goes off and I spend the rest of the night texting him.

Garrison: What did you think of your first game as a student?

Reese: I loved it, sitting next to you.

After I sent that I thought better of it. Oh well… nothing I can do now.

Garrison: Really? What did you love?

Reese: Where do I start, it was so intense as a student, totally different than just a fan. BTW I don’t know if I thanked you for being the only guy to help me when I made a complete and utter fool of myself tripping.

Garrison: Ya you did. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Damsel in distress. We will always have a story to tell on how we met right? LOL.

Reese: Hahaha. I’m glad you got to see me dance so you know I am not a total klutz.

Garrison: You’re anything but…

Is he flirting?

Reese: But….

Garrison: Do you not know how beautiful you are?

Reese: Stop teasing me, Garrison.

I’m blushing…

Garrison: I’m serious, Reese.

Reese: I’m ordinary, Garrison. I’m not a second take type of girl.

Garrison: What’s wrong with ordinary anyway? I would do anything to be ordinary.

Reese: It’s just not special. Like Autumn she has this “look at me” sign on her.

Garrison: Autumn’s pretty, but she knows it. I don’t know who told you that you weren’t special. You are one of a kind. I know it and we’ve only been friends for what 2 weeks?

Reese: 1 week and 5 days, 12 hours and 15 minutes.

Garrison: Not that you’re counting…

Oh God I sounded like I was in elementary school…

Our conversation was easy, and we were up all night texting back and forth. He continued to say sweet things that made me smile throughout the night. There was a big piece of me that started to fall in love with him that night. It was a feeling I had never felt before, completely different than the feelings I had towards Cannon. This felt real.

When I fell asleep, he was the last person I thought of. I had the biggest smile on my face, and my heart was full. I dreamed of him all night and just as he was coming in to kiss my lips, while holding my face and whispering to me, “You’re not ordinary, Reese. You are anything but,” I wake up to my little sister Natalie, shaking me to get up.

1 week later

Reese

My parents never allowed me to ride with teenagers but this year, they are finally letting me. Well, with Autumn anyway. Autumn has officially gotten her license. Can you say freedom? They probably wouldn’t have let her drive me anywhere unless they knew how awfully slow and careful she drove. It took us almost thirty minutes to go a ten minute distance. To be honest, she probably wouldn’t have even gotten a driver’s license if she could have walked everywhere. She was feared when she got behind that wheel and not exaggerating a turtle could beat us. She got a used two door Honda and she called it the “smurf”. It had that old stinky sock smell and had blue seats. It had no A/C or heater but the windows worked great. What more do you need? I was only allowed to ride with her to the mall and to school. We lived pretty close to the school though so I had planned on walking most days anyway.

Today we are going to go wander the mall and I was excited. It was our first trip without our parents dropping us off. Neither of us ever had a lot of money, so we usually cruised the mall, buying a pretzel for us to share and a Dr. Pepper for each of us. We go and try on clothes but are rarely able to buy them. Sometimes we try on things we would never wear and laugh at each other.

This mall trip was just her and I. Most the time we were meeting someone she was interested in or some of our other girlfriends.

We sat at the food court today and Autumn dropped a bombshell on me. If fact, I almost choked on my food and spit my soda out. She had to hit me on the back to dislodge the pretzel that got stuck in my throat.

“I’m thinking of going all the way with Ryan.”

I asked trying to catch my breath, “Why? Already? You’ve only known him a couple of weeks.”

“He has been asking me and I just feel it is right. I think you feel when it is right.”

“But… Autumn… What makes you think it is right? Don’t you think it should be special? I’ve had in my mind it would be… perfect. Meant to be.”

“I don’t know. It just feels right. Reese, you almost live in a fantasy world. That’s not how it is in real life. I don’t get why you think everything should be special. It’s not realistic. When he touches me, it gives me a feeling I’ve never had before. It’s a feeling of needing satisfaction of not getting enough of him. It’s hard to explain. Ryan is a totally different than any guy I have ever dated. He always says the right things.”

I smirked. “Probably because he has said all the right things to lots of girls…”

“Whatever, Reese. Anyway, what do you know? You’ve never even had a serious boyfriend… You haven’t even kissed a guy.”

“Autumn, thanks for the reminder.” I snorted at her. “I’m well aware of what I haven’t done. I just don’t want you to do something you will regret.”

“Once you have a least rounded the bases with a guy we can talk about this. I probably shouldn’t have brought it up to you anyway.”

“I don’t know why you did. You knew what I was going to say.”

“What’s up with Cannon anyway? You still going to go to that party? I hope so ‘cause I’m planning on going with you.

I couldn’t tell her I was actually planning on canceling. I wanted to go to my first high school party but I don’t know…Cannon was losing his luster.

“Oh wait… I know what the problem is. Garrison?”

“Yes, I’m interested in Garrison, but I’ve always had something for Cannon. Not sure what it is but it’s something. Garrison warned me about Cannon. He said to be careful. It’s just kinda sticking in my head.” I paused for a minute. “Not to mention Cannon was a total ass to me the first day. Yeah, he was nice to me asking me to the party but it was almost like something else was up.”

“God forbid, Reese. Stop reading into everything. It’s probably nothing. You’re beautiful and I have always told you that. There is nothing wrong with liking or dating more than one guy to see who you like better.”

“Nah, I can’t do that. It doesn’t feel right.”

“What does feeling right have to do with it? You only live once.”

“Garrison had really made an impact on me. I think of him all the time! And I mean all the time! He has an aura about him that I can’t put my finger on.”

We are interrupted suddenly by someone coming up behind me covering my eyes. I could hear Autumn giggle.

“Guess who?”

I ran my fingers over his hands but I already knew who it was. I could feel his presence when we were in the same room. I could smell his scent.

“Garrison.” He uncovered my eyes.

“Hey, Reese, whatcha doing?”

“Just hanging out for a while. Autumn got her driver’s license and we thought the best place we could go would be the mall to celebrate.”

He smiled and then looked at his phone.

“Sounds like girls day to me. I gotta get going. See ya later.”

We both said, “Bye, Garrison.” Except my smile didn’t go away as quickly as Autumn’s did.