Come As You Are Ch. 02

"Danny, don't..."

"Not a word Brenda, or else he gets it worse." Brenda quickly glanced around the hallway. Danny's sudden assault on Garrett had drawn everyone's attention. The crowd had surrounded her with their focus on the two young men. The gathered students were quiet, unwilling to get involved, while Garrett's feet kicked slightly against the floor. "I said, you clear on this, West?"

Garrett reached up and grabbed Danny's forearm with both hands. Instead of trying to pull it away from his throat, however, Garrett clutched at the limb tightly. His fingers dug into the tensed muscles, using them as leverage to get one of his legs between him and Danny. He managed to plant his foot just above Danny's waist and, leaning back against the locker for balance, pushed with as much strength as he could muster. It was enough to catch Danny unawares. The basketball player stumbled back, his eyes wide with surprise.

The Garrett that stepped forward, rubbing his throat, was unfamiliar to the students gathered around him. He stood up straight, advancing towards Danny with frustrated anger in his eyes. "That's it. I've had it with..."

The dull thwack of Danny's fist against his face interrupted him. Garrett's eyes took on a faraway look as he slammed against the metal lockers once again. The other students looked on with stunned silence, save Brenda whose face displayed absolute horror. Danny stepped forward and used his hand to lift Garrett's chin and hold him by the jaw. "You don't get to stand up to me," Danny snarled. "As far as I'm concerned, you just lost your right to fucking exist in my world. If I ever see you again West I'm going to..."

Before Danny could finish his threat, Garrett jammed both hands against Danny's chest. Gritting his teeth, the slender young man shoved Danny away from him. A mixture of various noises came from the growing crowd of students. Some gasped in shock. A few hissed with excitement. And Brenda, off to one side, hands clutched to her chest, could only watch with growing terror.

Danny's reaction? A wide, almost feral grin. "Oh, thank you for finally giving me an excuse."

A scream of primal rage escaped from Garrett before he exploded forward. From what Brenda saw Garrett was attempting to spear Danny by driving his shoulder up into the bigger student's sternum. Unfortunately for Garrett, Danny met Garrett halfway with a firm kick to the stomach. He immediately stopped in his tracks, grimacing in pain as the wind was knocked out of him.

Danny didn't pause. He grabbed Garrett by the front of his shirt and pushed him against the nearby lockers. One hand held the scrawny young man in place so Danny could wind up and smash his fist into Garrett's nose. It sounded like a jar of spaghetti sauce smashing on a kitchen floor as Danny landed three quick jabs before letting go. Garrett immediately slid down the locker, landing in a sitting position on the floor. A dazed, confused expression sat on his face, which was now covered with streaks of crimson. As Brenda watched, several drops fell from his nose onto his t-shirt. And worst of all, Danny was stepping forward, his hands still tightly clenched...

"WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK EASTMAN?!?"

The forceful voice cut through the air, serving to help part the crowd as a female figure quickly made her way towards the fight from the opposite direction. Brenda immediately recognized the dirty blonde hair and dyed black scalp of Vienna Polley. Clad in faded blue jeans and a loose black t-shirt, she shoved her way through the throng. Upon seeing Garrett sprawled against the locker, she immediately interjected herself between her friend and his attacker. "I don't know what's going on but you back right the fuck off right the fuck now," she demanded.

"Or else what Polley?"

"Or else I'm going to rabbit punch you right in the damn kidneys."

"You don't have the..."

Danny's words were cut off by a primal scream of pain as Vienna did exactly as promised. She pulled her fist back, planted her feet, and drove her entire body forward to land a harsh jab into Danny's exposed side. He staggered back, putting his hand on his ribs and cursing loudly. "Fucking bitch!"

"You wanna go?" Vienna stepped forward, putting herself between Danny and a dazed Garrett. She squared her shoulders, both hands clenched into fists, ready for a fight. "Take a swing, Danny. Go for it and give me a fucking reason."

"Make a hole, make a hole!"

The students immediately fell silent as a loud authoritarian voice boomed through the hallway. Coach Walters burst through the crowd, coming to a stop in front of Danny, Vienna, and Garrett. "What the... oh Jesus Christ," he muttered upon seeing the blood covered face of Garrett. Instead of asking the obvious question, however, Walters turned towards Danny. "What did West do to you now?"

"Bastard shoved me," Danny snarled, "so I shoved back."

"Shoved... look at his face," Vienna all but screamed. "You obviously did more than shove him!"

Walters rubbed his face in annoyance before stabbing a finger at Danny. "You go directly to my office and park your ass until I get there. Move." With a final sneer at Garrett, Danny spun on his heels and headed for the locker room. "Everyone else, show's over. Get out of here."

The crowd instantly scattered. In a few seconds the only people left in the hallway were Garrett, who was still sprawled on the ground, Vienna, Coach Walters, and Brenda. She stood to one side, out of everyone's field of vision, and watched while Coach Walters crouched down in front of Garrett. The battered student managed to raise his head and look the teacher in the eye, only to see him shake his head with disgust. "West, you are the most pathetic creature I've ever seen in the halls of this high school. If I thought you had the brains, I'd think you were deliberately trying to antagonize Danny so North Carolina would have second thoughts about recruiting him..."

"Antagonize?" Vienna gestured wildly at her friend's crimson mask. "Coach, that isn't antagonizing, that's assault!"

Coach Walters sighed before looking up at Vienna. "Why do you keep sticking up for him, Polley? You have some artistic talent. You have a chance to make something of your life. Don't chain yourself to this millstone." He looked back down at Garrett, who was gingerly checking the state of his nose with fingers. "I'm not going to have you jeopardizing Danny's future. You're out of my gym class for the rest of the year. Both you AND your friend over there," he said, gesturing towards Vienna. "Go to study hall, go to the library, go play in traffic, I don't want to see EITHER of you. Stay out of my gym, and more importantly stay away from my basketball players, and you'll both get A's. And it'll probably be the only A you get, West. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Coach Walters," Garrett mumbled.

With that, Coach Walters got to his feet and walked away without a second glance, leaving Vienna to help Garrett get to his feet. "Are you OK?" she asked.

"No," he said softly. "But I'll manage."

"One day," she proclaimed. "We're back at school for one day and Danny's trying to kill you. That's some kind of record." Gesturing in the direction of the departed Coach, Vienna asked with utter confusion, "What the fuck was all that? I show up to see Danny tattooing you and the next thing I know we're out of gym class for the rest of the year!"

Garrett glanced over at Brenda. His eyes were two spots of emerald in a sea of ruby red blood. "Apparently," he said quietly, "Danny and Brenda broke up over the weekend. I was talking to her about that History project we did, and I guess Amy Yates told Danny I was hitting on her or something."

"You? Hitting on Brenda Lattimore? Yeah, that makes sense." Vienna turned to face Brenda. Despite Danny's departure, Vienna's body was still a coiled spring ready to pounce. "Do me a favor," she snapped, "and don't get my best friend involved in your personal drama. Danny's already enough of an asshole, we don't need his jealousy."

"It's not her fault." Garrett managed to stand up straight. He ran a hand through his brown hair and did his best to give Brenda a reassuring smile, not realizing that he had dragged a line of blood along his scalp. "It's not. It's what I get for thinking positive thoughts, right?"

"Yeah, but Vienna's right. I don't want any drama. And I don't think you do either, Garrett. I'm sorry. I don't want to get caught between you and Danny. Not now."

The deep frown on Garrett's face twisted her heart. He nodded slowly. "Of course. And I'm sorry to put you in that spot. So... yeah. See you around."

"Come on." Vienna put one arm around Garrett and began to lead him down the hallway. "Hitting on Brenda? It sounds like Danny has a higher opinion of your self-confidence than you do. Seriously though, you OK?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "Any bullying you can walk away from, right?"

"June, Garrett," Vienna told him. "June and then you're out of here. Let's go get that blood off your face."

A frown crossed Brenda's face as the pair of friends walked away from her. After a moment, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone.

"Danny was going to kill Garrett. He still might. We can't talk to him anymore. It was fun, but the last thing anyone needs is more drama, especially now."

With a sigh of regret, Brenda flipped her phone open. She scrolled to her contacts list. Near the bottom, less than a week old, was Garrett's number. Her finger hovered over the keypad for a moment before, her heart heavy with regret, she thumbed the "DELETE" option.

X X X X X

"That was the last time I really talked to Garrett," Brenda concluded. "Even in History and Biology, we kept our interactions to the bare minimum. There was the after prom, and he texted me a couple of times in college, but other than that..." She trailed off. A sad smile crossed her face as she picked up her glass of water. "Despite how it ended, that was still the best one-night stand I ever had."

"Huh. Garrett West. Who would have known?" Michelle shook her head. "So what are you going to say to him tomorrow night?"

"Hello... and that's about it. I know I'll run into him, but I don't even know if he thinks about that night at all. For all I know he associates sleeping with me to getting his ass kicked."

"He does. I mean, he does think about you."

The three girls turned to look at Colette. "He asked about you this week a couple of times." Colette was the final one at the table to polish off her portion of the wine. She licked her lips slightly before continuing. "He was genuinely curious about how you were doing. Actually, he asked about all of us. Even you Michelle."

Michelle picked up the conversation. "It's a high school reunion. Damn near every guy here, single or otherwise, is going to be sniffing around their high school exes, and I'm sure a few of the girls will be too. You guys weren't exes, but I'd bet money on Garrett making a hard pass at Brenda."

"No... no, I really don't think so... maybe? I don't know." Colette laughed as she patted herself on the chest. "I am not a credible source."

Sadie turned to face Colette. "Does he have a girlfriend or something?"

"No, it's just... we've talked a lot, you know? About personal issues and relationship stuff. The boy's got baggage hardcore and he's not even close to being over it."

The table was quiet for a few seconds. Sadie was looking at Colette, a sly smile on her face as she waited for her friends to catch up. It was Michelle who put the pieces together first. "HOLY SHIT," she yelled, her fist banging into the table loud enough to once again cause most of the restaurant to turn in the direction of their table. Fortunately, Michelle caught herself, and her next words were said in a quiet but confident tone. "You slept with Garrett, didn't you?"

Brenda stared wide-eyed at Colette, who nodded after a few silent seconds. "Oh my God," Brenda practically squealed, "you're kidding me!"

"I can't believe it." Michelle shook her head even as she rested it in her hands. "How the hell did that happen?"

Colette shrugged. "We just clicked. He helped me out around the store, we got to know each other, and one thing led to another... a couple of times..."

"You took my advice." Sadie's face was twisted in a teasing smile as she rested her cheek against her wine glass. "You took my advice and banged him."

"Your advice?" Brenda was looking back and forth between Colette and Sadie in total and utter confusion. "You told Colette to bang Garrett?"

"I said that Colette should sleep with Garrett to blow off some stress and get some dick for the first time since her divorce. I didn't know you actually went through with it!"

"Wait," Brenda said, jumping in. "You and Garrett... you guys aren't like a formal thing, are you?"

"Oh, no!" Colette firmly shook her head. "Not at all! Just... stress sex. And some pillow talk."

"Was he worth the ride?" Sadie asked.

After a second, Colette nodded. "Yes," she said with a smile. "Definitely a resounding yes."

"Figured he'd still be a good fuck." Sadie looked at her friends as a saucy grin crossed her face. "Prom night. Garrett and I hooked up on prom night. And the boy wasn't half bad in the sack."

"WHAT?!?"

"Calm down Michelle," Colette said. "You're going to get us kicked out!"

"I'm processing, I can be as loud as I want!" But she did lower her voice even as excitement was woven into her words. "You slept with Garrett too? You told us nothing happened on prom night! You two fell asleep together and that was it!"

"I guess that means it's my turn to talk about him." A smile crossed Sadie's face. "Garrett West. Garrett fucking West. I guess that makes you the odd girl out here Michelle..."

"Blackcreek. I fucked him when we ran into each other at Blackcreek during Spring Break."

A moment's silence descended upon the table before a voice said, "Alright, I've got your salads right here." All four women, with differing looks of shock on their faces, glanced up as Rosemary set a stand down before putting a tray on top of it. "Vinaigrette for everyone except Sadie. Blue cheese, right?"

"Yeah... and two more bottles of wine. Put them on... actually, fuck it. Put the whole dinner on my tab." Sadie looked at her other friends and sighed. "I think we're going to be here for a while."

X X X X X

Author's Notes

And there you go - Volume I of "Come As You Are." It still puts me aback that I wrote a story long enough to have volumes.

What I changed and why:

- Michelle and Andrew are no longer engaged. They felt better as boyfriend/girlfriend.

- Sadie's single instead of married with children. The idea of someone as wild as her being married at 28 with two kids didn't work in the bigger picture.

- For being a looming presence in Garrett's life, Danny didn't have much in the way of a personality beyond "bullying asshole." I wanted to expand on that and flesh him out a bit.

- Brenda was kind of the same way. As a character, she was the flattest of the four. I wanted to build her up and make her as rounded as an 18-year old could be.

- I made Garrett more beaten down instead of a sad sack. The way he came off in the first edition, he felt more pathetic than anything. The high school social scene pushes people into their place on the social ladder, and it's reinforced time and again over four years. I wanted Garrett to be someone who accepted their place and was just trying to survive until his time was up. We've all been there.

The original story was supposed to be about Garrett being snowed in with Brenda. It was inspired by "Taken By The Wind" by mxwtt, a story that is unfortunately no longer on this site. As I wrote the framing device of the reunion dinner, however, Sadie began to appeal to me as a character. I found myself wondering what would have happened if she and Garrett had somehow hooked up in high school, and the next thing I knew I was outlining a full-blown novel.

And, well, here we are.