Come As You Are Ch. 01

"I'm a recent convert to the Church of Baseball, as my grandfather puts it." Garrett set his backpack on a nearby chair. He got me the jersey for Christmas. He also got me tickets for Opening Day and snuck me a six-pack of Ruby Red. Made me promise not to let my folks know. It's been sitting out in my car since he gave it to me. Is there anything I can do to help out?" he asked as Brenda flipped the bread over.

"Mind reheating that tomato soup? The saucepan on the stove should be warmed up by now. Take it off the burner when it starts to boil."

After a couple of minutes, Brenda put the finishing touches on two trays of food, each one with a grilled cheese sandwich, a steaming cup of tomato soup, some crackers, and a glass of ice water. "The media room's in the basement," she told him. "Be careful walking down the steps. We're not supposed to eat down there."

Garrett kept behind Brenda as she headed down a set of wooden steps to a finished hallway with a set of double doors at the end. "Wow," Garrett exclaimed as he walked into the room. "This is a nice setup."

The media room was done in four layers with a set of steps running down either side. The top level had a bar counter sitting in one corner with a hexagonal poker table nearby. The next level down had three leather recliners, two sitting next to steps and the third perfectly in the middle. Below that level, two more leather recliners were spaced to sit in the pair of spaces between the three chairs. The bottom level was bigger, free of furniture as it ran up to a large movie screen that hung down from the ceiling. "You probably have to physically drag Colette out of here every time she comes over."

"She's watched more movies down here with my Dad than I have. Projection TV, stereo SurroundSound, rumble seating... Mom made him soundproof the room because sometimes the entire house would shake." Brenda walked down to the level with two chairs, still holding her tray. She put her tray down on the near seat before reaching down and grabbing a handle on the floor. As she stood back up, a square section of the floor lifted with her. "Built in trays," she explained to Garrett. "The only food we're supposed to have down here is water and popcorn. I won't tell your folks about the beer in your car if you don't tattle about the tomato soup."

"Deal. Where are your folks, anyway?"

"San Francisco on a business trip. They've been gone all week. Go ahead and get comfortable. I'll set the movie up."

She put the DVD in the player and hit "PLAY." The recessed lighting immediately began to dim as the projector descended from a ceiling tile near the back of the room. The DVD player began to whine slightly while the two high school seniors settled back in their chairs, with Garrett grabbing a bite of grilled cheese as the movie started.

X X X X X

"What is the significance of the setting of the movie?"

Brenda rubbed at her face. "This is the final discussion question, right?"

"Yeah," Garrett answered while gently running his hand through his messy brown hair. He had let it grow about three inches in length but never put any product in it that Brenda was aware of. She wouldn't be surprised if he got out of the shower in the morning and simply towel dried it, forgoing product or even a comb. "Let's knock this last question out, and then we're done."

Brenda closed her eyes. She took a few moments to think before answering. "It's about Southern fundamentalism. The whole movie was about science vs. creationism, and by setting it in the South, where... it plays on the stereotype about small towns being narrow-minded and uneducated, vs. Drummond being from Chicago where people were more progressive and more diverse because they were constantly exposed to new ideas. How does that sound?"

"Like it should be in a final draft, not a rough one." Garrett jotted down what Brenda had said before putting the cap back on his pen.

"Thank God. Wow, Ms. Jaine is thorough." Brenda tapped the pile of papers with her pen and sighed. "We should try to rewrite some of this before we work on our feedback. Ms. Jaine said rough draft only, but a little bit of polish couldn't hurt."

"I don't know if we have time... wait... what time is it?"

"There's a clock on the wall," Brenda said. She was looking down at the stack of papers and motioned over her shoulder with the pen. "Right above the bar."

"No there isn't."

Brenda glanced up at Garrett, who was looking at the wall behind her. She turned in her seat to see where he was looking. The wall just above the bar was completely bare. She got out of her seat and walked behind the bar to see the clock sitting on the counter, face down with the battery compartment popped open, currently missing the pair of AA batteries that powered it. "Oh, someone took it off the wall and forgot to put new batteries in."

Garrett reached for his cell phone. His eyes went wide as he looked at it. "It's pushing six o'clock. I gotta jet if I'm going to beat the storm. It might have started already!"

"Oh, God... I'm so sorry Garrett, I didn't see the clock wasn't there when I came in!"

"It's OK," he said urgently while shoving papers and pens into his backpack.

"I'll call you later tonight," Brenda suggested, "and we can keep working on this over the phone?"

Garrett answered with a frantic nod. "Sorry to just bug out like this..."

"Go!" Brenda made a firm "shoo" gesture with one hand. "Get down the mountain before the roads get bad. I'll call you later and we'll finish this up."

Garrett turned and quickly headed out of the room. Brenda could hear his fading footsteps as he raced towards the steps. She had just begun to clean up when she heard Garrett urgently call out. "Brenda! You're going to want to come up here!"

She paused for a brief moment to process the tone of his voice before picking up both empty trays and heading upstairs. Garrett was standing near the kitchen table. He turned as he heard her footsteps and hand motioned to the long window that ran along the outer wall of the kitchen.

When she saw what Garrett was looking at, Brenda's mouth dropped open. "Oh, shit."

X X X X X

Brenda set the trays on the counter before both she and Garrett ran to the front door. The cold blast of air that greeted them as they opened the door was nothing compared to the sight that lay outside. "Aw, fuck me," Garrett muttered as they stepped out onto the porch.

At least four inches of wet, fluffy snow covered the front porch, the sidewalk, and the sloped front yard. It may have been gathering on the trees beyond, but the young man and woman couldn't tell due to the snow falling thick and fast from a darkening sky of pale gray. Brenda could see the flakes accumulating on the stone planter that sat on the edge of the porch, adding to the thin layer that currently coated the rim.

"I can't believe this," Brenda proclaimed. "Are you sure they said it wasn't going to start until sundown?"

"Positive! Tell me you have a snowblower in the garage. I have to dig my car out."

"Dig your... Garrett, you're not going anywhere." Brenda shook her head. "It's sticking like glue and there is zero visibility. I've never seen a storm start this bad before."

"I know, but if I move fast enough..."

"By the time you dig your car out the driveway will be covered again." The frigid air bit at Brenda's cheeks. She could barely see her breath in the pure white of the falling snow. "Besides, we don't have a snowblower. Mr. Hansen plows our driveway for us when it's this bad."

"If you have a snow shovel I can at least dig a path..."

"Look. At. The. Snow." Brenda emphasized every word as she pointed to the deepening rim of snow on the planter. "It's thick and wet. Your car is going to slide down the driveway and into the woods, and then we're going to need a tow truck to drag you out once the storm passes." She crossed her arms and shivered slightly as the cold was beginning to set in. "And don't even think about walking." Brenda looked pointedly at his face, then his clothing, and back at his face. "You're not wearing layers, you're in a baseball jersey, you've got ankle-high boots, and I know you live in town. You're not going to get down to the main road before freezing your toes off." With a final glance at the falling snow, she sighed, "Face it. You're snowbound."

"I think you mean WE'RE snowbound." Garrett shook his head and took a step back into the house. Brenda followed him, closing the door behind her. Garrett's cheeks had turned a slight shade of pink from exposure to the cold. "Brenda, I'm really sorry," he said as he rubbed his face. "I honestly heard them say this wasn't supposed to start until sundown."

"Don't beat yourself up. There's nothing we can do about it right now. What's done is done." She took a moment to gather her thoughts. "Let's turn on the TV and see what the news is saying. Maybe since it started snowing early it'll finish early."

"If I'm going to be here a while, do you have an open spot in your garage? I'd like to pull my car in to get it out of the storm."

"Of course. If you parked next to Danny, you can just pull straight in." Brenda motioned to a door set in the kitchen's far wall. "There's some snow shovels in the garage to dig your car out, as long as you promise you're not going to try to leave."

Garrett responded by putting his cell phone and wallet on the kitchen counter. "Consider this collateral," he told her. "Back in a bit."

As Brenda watched Garrett head to grab his coat, she felt herself frowning deeply. "Garrett West snowed in with us," she thought. "This is so not-good on so many not-good levels."

X X X X X

The door to the garage opened. "Hey Brenda," called Garrett, "I'm bringing my car in."

"Be there in a sec," she answered from the kitchen. After wiping her hands dry on a dishtowel Brenda walked over to a door set in the kitchen's far wall. Beyond was a small mudroom leading to the three-car garage. A pair of headlights shined through the snow, which had begun to fall thicker and faster in the past half hour. The asphalt in front of Garrett's car, a late 90's Honda hatchback, had already started to gather a fresh layer of white, which was being whipped up by the howling wind.

"You were right," Garrett remarked after pulling the car into the garage. "There was no way I was getting down your driveway." He pulled the purple knit cap off his head. His ears and cheeks were a rosy shade of red, and a mix of sweat and snow dripped from the edges of his loose brown hair. "It's coming down hard, the wind is blowing, and visibility is garbage. You can't even see Topaz Road from here."

"Come warm up. I've got hot chocolate on." Garrett followed Brenda through the tiny room into the kitchen. He hung his coat on a nearby hook and sat down to pull his boots off while Brenda grabbed a pair of white ceramic mugs. "The storm got caught up with a front coming down from Canada that supercharged it," she told him while pointing to the television in the corner of the kitchen. The volume was muted, but the weatherman's motions to a large green cloud covering most of Colorado and Utah told the entire story. "They're calling for nearly three feet of snow and saying this isn't going to end until midnight tomorrow. Everything's shut down from Denver to Salt Lake City."

"So it looks like I'm going to be here not just for tonight, but for tomorrow night too? I'll be right back." He stood up and stepped back into the garage.

By the time he came back inside, Brenda was pouring the hot chocolate into a pair of mugs. "Would you like some marshmallows?" she asked him.

"No thank you."

Brenda looked up as Garrett carefully set a large duffel bag on the kitchen table. "What's that?"

"Emergency bag. Extra set of clothes, underwear, socks, toiletries. My Dad makes me stock the car with a fresh bag every winter in case I get stuck or snowed in somewhere."

"My Mom does the same thing for me, though I've used it more for sleepovers than emergencies." She came around the counter, mugs in hand. Wisps of steam rose from the cups as Brenda offered one to Garrett. "Here you go."

"Thank you." Garrett finished untying his boots before taking a sip of hot chocolate. "Oh, that's good... ooooh. Spicy, too. What did you put in here, cinnamon?"

"A dash of cayenne pepper. Gives it a kick and helps warm you up inside."

He took another sip. Brenda smiled as Garrett closed his eyes and sighed at the flavor of the cocoa. "Seriously, this might be the best hot chocolate I've ever had."

"Careful Garrett. Flattery will get you everywhere." Brenda leaned against the counter as she drank her hot chocolate while Garrett remained at the kitchen table. Both of them eyed the storm through the kitchen window. Snow whipped through the air as the wind scraped against the glass. The pale gray sky had turned nearly black as the last rays of sunset fought through the thick clouds to little avail. "I don't think anyone's going anywhere," she said after finishing her cup. "My parents were supposed to land in Denver tomorrow, but I bet they got diverted."

Garrett pointed to her cell phone where it was plugged into the wall charger. "I think your voicemail light is flashing."

"I completely forgot about my phone. Out of pocket, out of mind." Garrett sat at the table as Brenda flipped her phone open and dialed her voicemail. "Yep," she groaned, "they tried calling. And we don't have a house phone in the basement so I missed those calls." She listened to her mother's message, nodding to herself as she did so. "They're still in San Francisco," she told Garrett. "They want me to call them as soon as I get this message."

"Yeah, I should probably call my folks. They're probably worried sick. I'll step into the garage to call them, OK?"

"Sounds good.

X X X X X

"Do you want to talk to Brenda?"

Brenda looked up at the sound of Garret's voice as he wandered back into the kitchen, his cell phone pressed against his ear. "She's right here... one second." Garrett glanced at Brenda as he asked, "My Mom wants to know if your folks are OK with me staying over."

"They are. Sorta. They understand this isn't your fault. My Dad just asks that we don't eat in the media room and don't touch the booze that's down there."

With a nod, Garrett turned his attention back to the phone call. "Brenda says Mr. and Mrs. Lattimore shouldn't mind. Yeah. How about I have Brenda give them our phone number if there's a problem? OK. No, Mom, I'll be OK. I'll call you tomorrow. Yeah. Love you too."

As Garrett disconnected the call, he stood in the doorway looking at Brenda leaning against the counter. The two young adults quietly stared at each other for a moment, an awkward silence hanging between them. "So what now?" Garrett eventually asked.

Brenda idly scratched at the grout on the kitchen counter. "I told Danny I'd call him. I should let him know you're stuck up here with me." She wrinkled her nose at her choice of words. "I'm sorry. You're not 'stuck,' you're 'snowbound.'"

"No, stuck fits." Garrett shrugged. "If you're going to call Danny, I should be on the call too."

"I don't know if that's a good idea. He's going to be mad enough that you're snowbound with me. Hearing your voice might set him off."

"It will, but he's going to want to talk to me at some point," Garrett countered. "And I'd rather have you on speaker with me. It can't hurt, can it?"

"It'll suck either way," she admitted. "Might as well bite the bullet and get it over with." She looked at their empty mugs of cocoa and couldn't help but laugh. "I should have added a bracer to the hot chocolate."

"We promised your Dad we wouldn't touch the booze." Garrett put a hand over his heart. "And I," he said in an exaggerated tone, "want to be a perfect gentleman and

houseguest."

"Take it down a notch." Brenda set her cell phone on the counter and hit the speed dial for Danny's number before turning on the speaker. She leaned against the counter, joined a moment later on the opposite side by Garrett. He chewed on his lower lip, running a hand through his mop of brown hair. The phone rang several times before a click was heard.

"Hey babe," said Danny on the other end of the phone. "What's up?"

"The snowfall total." Brenda glanced over Garrett's shoulder. "I'm standing at the kitchen counter. I can't see out the window and the wind's tearing at the house."

"Same here in town," Danny replied. "It's coming straight up the valley. I ended up bringing our trash cans and porch furniture inside so they didn't blow away. No one's going anywhere for the next two days if this storm holds up. We're probably not going back to school until Thursday, Friday even." A low chuckle came from the phone. "Guess you'll have plenty of time to finish that extra credit project. How did it go with Scarecrow?"

Brenda met Garrett's nervous eyes. "It went fine," she answered. "He was a perfect gentleman."

"What time did he end up taking off?"

"About that..."

Garrett held up a hand as Brenda struggled to find the right words. He leaned over the phone and said in a meek voice, "Hey Danny."

"What. The. Fuck. West. Would you care to explain why you're fucking standing in the middle of my girlfriend's kitchen?"

Garrett kept the same quiet tone as he responded, "Because of the storm."

"The storm? What do you mean, the storm?"

It was Brenda's turn to hold up her hand. "It caught us off guard. We were in the basement working and when Garrett went to leave the snow was already coming down."

"Why didn't he leave when it started snowing?"

"I would have Danny, but there are no windows..."

"Shut the fuck up West." Garrett clenched his jaw and exhaled angrily as Danny repeated, "Why didn't he leave when it started snowing?"

"Because we didn't realize it started snowing," Brenda responded. "Garrett tried to leave on time but it was too late."

"Why didn't he just shovel his car out?"

"By the time he cleared a path it was covered over. There was no way he was going to make it down the driveway without skidding into the trees."

"And he didn't walk home because?"

"Because I live in town off Granite Way," Garrett said, barely able to keep calm.

"Shut the fuck up West. Well?"

"It's a two-hour walk down the mountain when it's the middle of summer. I wasn't going to let Garrett leave here in jeans and boots. He'd freeze to death."

"No great loss."

Brenda sighed. "Look, we're trying to make the best of a bad situation here. Garrett didn't mean to get snowed in with me, but that's the way it is." She looked up at Garrett, his jaw still clenched tightly. "So between the three of us, let's figure out what we're going to do."

"Simple. West, you don't talk to Brenda unless she talks to you first, and even then it's 'yes' and 'no.'" The steel edge was evident in Danny's voice as he fought to control his obvious anger. "You stay on the other side of the house from her. You don't get guest room privileges. You sleep in the living room. And if you try anything funny, I will personally punch out every single one of your fucking teeth. Got it?"

"Got it," Garrett conceded.

"The couch folds out, and I'll make sure you have bedsheets and a quilt." Brenda dropped her eyes to her phone. "Danny, does that work for you?"

"Do I have a choice? And no one breathes a word about this to anyone else. Word gets out West got snowed in with you and we'll be a fucking laughingstock for the rest of the year. Not one word to the girls, and definitely not one fucking word to Polley or Giovanni. Got it?"

"And not one word to Tyler."

Brenda could imagine the rage on Danny's face at Garrett's comment. "Fine," he eventually spat. "This stays between the three of us. Brenda, I want to talk to you in private."