Tell Me That You Love Me ;;Garrett Nickelsen;;
We spotted Kenny and John in front of a water fountain, waiting for us. We sauntered over to them and sat next to them. “Holy sh—, guys. What took you so long?” John asked. “It’s my fault,” Sierra told him. “I thought I should go back to the hotel to practice with the guys. But they said that I should relax and have fun.” “Well, I hope you don’t think of going back again. You shouldn’t worry,” Kennedy told her. “We’re fun and we’ll get you back in time to practice with your guys.” Sierra smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I know.”
“Hey, where’s Pat?” I asked. “Oh, he’s in the bathroom doing some sh— with his hair,” John replied. I nodded and walked toward the bathrooms. “I’ll be back,” I yelled to them.
I went through the hall to go to the bathroom and spotted a unisex bathroom. I knocked on it, hoping Pat was in there, since he said he’d always go in a unisex bathroom if there was one. “Occupied,” his voice yelled. “It’s just Danielle,” I told him. He opened the door. “Oh, hey,” he said, opening the door wider for me to go in. “Hey,” I replied, walking in and leaning against a wall. “What’s up?” he asked. “Can I ask you something?” I said, looking in his eyes. “Yeah, sure. What is it?” he asked. “Well, Sierra said that—” He cut me off. “Garrett adored you?” he assumed. “Yeah. Well…I want to know – and I’m asking you because you’re like, his best friend– if he does,” I told him. “He does,” Pat responded, straightforwardly. “But he just doesn’t want you to know because he’s afraid of getting rejected.”
“Garrett? Since when is he afraid of getting rejected?”
“I’m not sure. But he is scared.”
“What? This is a joke, right? I mean, he can’t. He wouldn’t.”
“He would.” Pat looked to the mirror at his reflection. He fixed his hair and walked to the door. “Well…what should I do?” I asked, following close behind him. “Don’t tell Garrett that you know, he’ll feel super awkward and ignore you,” Pat told me, opening the door for me. “Thank you,” I said. “Oh, man. But what if I…feel the…same way?” I looked up into Pat’s brown eyes with mine. “He wouldn’t believe it,” Pat answered, grinning. “How cute, though. You love him, don’t you?” “I might. But for now, I just like him…a lot.” I smiled.
“Well, if you really do want to tell him,” Pat whispered, since we were a couple feet away from Garrett. “You should do it when he’s in a really good mood.” “Should I tell him when he’s alone? Would he like that?” I whispered back. “Yeah,” Pat replied, nodding.
“What took you so long, Pat?” Garrett asked him. “Well, we were talking,” Pat answered. “About what?” John said. “Oh, um…about stuff,” I replied, giving him a big smile. “Like…?” John stared at me, waiting for me to answer. “About my hair,” Pat answered, quickly. “Oh. You love your hair, don’t you, Pat?” John asked, tittering a little bit. “Yes, I do,” Pat replied, smiling.
“Alright, we’re here in the mall,” Garrett said. “Who are you talking to?” I asked. But then I realized he was recording on his computer. He lifted the computer up and rotated it. “It’s
f——-g HUGE,” I practically yelled, causing people to stare at me. “It is,” Garrett said, grinning at me. I smiled back and turned to Pat.
“Take him to a private spot and tell him now,” he insisted, quietly. “I…guess,” I said, slowly turning to Garrett. “Hey, Garrett…Can I talk to you alone?” Garrett nodded. “Yeah, okay.” He started toward a vacant bench. I followed and sat down.
“What’s up?” Garrett asked, staring into eyes, which made me melt like I did on the first day I met him. I took a deep breath. “I don’t know how to say this…but…I know that you have a thing for me—” He cut me off. “How do you know?” he said. “Am I that obvious?” “Um…Sierra said you did, and Pat said you did,” I replied. “And Pat told me that I should tell you alone when you’re happy—“ He cut me off, yet again. “I…can’t do this,” Garrett told me, standing up. “I have to get back to the guys.” He ambled over to John, Pat, Sierra, and Kennedy. I sat there and put my head in me hands.
Someone gently touched my shoulder and I recognized the feeling. I looked up and saw who I expected. “Hey, Danielle,” Pat said, sitting down next to me. “What happened?” “I didn’t even get a chance to tell him,” I forced the words to come out, no matter how cliché it sounded. “What did you tell him before he left you?” Pat asked. He left me… “I told him that I knew he had something for me…and that you and Sierra said so,” I told him. “You should’ve started with, ‘Garrett, I really like you,’” Pat responded. “Now he’s going to be zoning me, you, and Sierra out.”
“That is not good. At all.” I looked down at my purple Vans. “Is it going to be like…Hell to me?”
“It depends how much you care about him. It might seem like he’s a little kid who hates you.”
“Ignoring? Acting immature? Trying to make me jealous?”
“Yeah. It’s awful. I hate it so much. It’s like some immature little preteen took over his body. And he doesn’t give a sh— about what we do. Sometimes, he could even seem physically depressed…”
“No. I don’t want it to end like this. He’s probably not gonna give a f—- about me, but I’m going to tell him. Like…right now.”
I stood up and marched over to Garrett, Pat hot on my heels. “Garrett!!” I yelled. He turned to me, a sad look filling his eyes. “I…” My voice trailed off as almost everyone’s eyes were on me. “I-I…,” I whispered, looking down. But, I heard his footsteps pounding, and then fading… ~
“…Danielle. Wake up,” a familiar voice called. My eyes flickered open and there stood Pat. “Hey, sunshine,” he said, pulling me off of me seat, and then kissing my face. “We’re in the UK,” he told me, putting his arm around my waist, walking me out the airplane door. “Where’s my carry-on and stuff?” I asked, wiping the siesta [sleep] from my eyes and yawning. “Garrett took it,” Pat replied. “Where are John and Jared and everyone else?” I said, looking around for the rest of the horde. “They’re already heading towards Baggage Claim.” “Oh, alright,” I said, leaning against Pat’s body as we walked to the Baggage Claim.
