The Virtue of Patience

Garrett himself was almost the spitting image of his father: a little on the short side, thin and sporting a thick crop of dark brown hair that was difficult to control and always seemed to sport a perpetual cowlick on the back. The only part of his mother that he seemed to have inherited was his eyes, which were green. For a time, that had bothered Bill just a little bit, though he would never admit that to his only son.

"You meet a girl, or what?"

Garrett looked up from his plate. "What?"

His father smiled. "You've been distracted ever since you sat down. Either you met a girl or you're being picked on. You aren't being picked on, are you?" He asked, a more concerned look forming on his face.

"No, no, I try to keep a low profile. But, uh...well yeah, it's a girl, but we're not, like...involved."

"I see. Working up to it?"

"No," Garrett replied, "it's more...complicated, I guess? She's my classmate and she's just...she's not really a talker. But I did talk to her a little today, and she seems different. A lot of people call her 'ice queen' because she comes off as unapproachable sometimes, but I'm not so sure."

"Sounds like those people don't know her very well, if at all." Bill mused thoughtfully, taking a bite of meatloaf. "It also sounds like you're in a good position to get to know her yourself, maybe find out what she's really like." He said after swallowing his meatloaf.

"I mean, maybe. She seems nice." Garrett said, shrugging slightly.

"Maybe, nothin'. You're a nice kid, Garrett, I know that because that's how I raised you to be. That's why she responded to you. Now, I get the feeling you've got a thing for this girl-"

"Dad, come on," Garrett said, exasperated.

"No way, I can hear it in how you're talking about her. Try talking to her some more, you never know how things could shake out."

"Yeah, they could shake out really shitty," Garrett muttered.

"Sure, maybe. But hey, maybe they won't."

"I guess so. Thanks for the pep talk." Bill Trenton's only son finished sarcastically.

"Any time, bud. Show her what you're made of! Remember, she's just a person, like you. She isn't going to bite you!"

Later, as Garrett worked on the rest of his history homework, he found himself reflecting on his father's words, and just how unlikely they were to be true. Brie Haskett was unobtanium for him on every level, platonic or romantic (especially romantic). His dad hadn't been there, he didn't know just how intimidating this girl was. And later that night, after a few more hours of playing Half-Life, he drifted off to sleep with the same doubts ringing throughout his mind like a school bell that would never, ever be silent.

* * *

"Hi."

Garrett had been spacing out while standing in front of the school before first period, waiting for Travis to show up. He'd been ruminating on how best to keep talking to the tall, brown-haired beauty in his biology class that afternoon when he was startled into realizing that she was standing only a few feet away.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you!" She said, her bright blue eyes widening.

"No it's uh, it's okay. I just spaced out. Hi," he said, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry, I should probably pay more attention."

She smiled and said "you're fine. Hey, I'll see you in class today."

"Yeah," he replied, smiling back, "seeya, Brie."

"Bye, Garrett." Still smiling, she strode past him and through the entrance of the quad, towering over him all the while.

He could hardly believe it. His mind was now racing: 'I should probably pay more attention?!' Jesus, Garrett, do you want her to think you're a fucking moron?! Some Casanova you're turning out to be, she was probably trying not to fucking laugh out loud at how clueless you are. You're a fuckup, man, and she will never like or respect you. Give it up.

These self-flagellating thoughts were interrupted by a different voice, however. "No shit, you were actually talking to Brianne! I wasn't sure you'd actually do it!"

Garrett sighed. "Hey Travis."

Travis DeLisle leaned on the wall next to him, his shit-eating grin wider than ever.

"Saw you two from a distance, figured I'd hang back and let you work your magic."

"That's one word for it."

"So I'm assuming you talked to her in bio lab yesterday. What's her story?" Travis asked.

"Still couldn't really tell you, but she's...not what some people think she is. At least, that's the impression that I get."

"Huh," Travis said ponderously, "people are full of surprises I guess. I thought she'd break your nose just for looking at her."

"Nah man, she's...that's not who she is, dude," Garrett said quietly, "she's just a person like you and I. Sure, she might come off as intimidating, but she seems really nice."

"Good, I was afraid I'd have to call an ambulance." Travis' grin broke into a full-on laugh as Garrett shoved him away, Garrett himself laughing as Travis very nearly lost his balance and fell to the walkway.

OCTOBER 2002

Over time, something remarkable had begun to happen-at least, in Garrett's mind, it was remarkable-and that was that he and Brie begun to develop a minor rapport. They weren't hanging out at the mall on weekends or sharing their innermost secrets and fears with each other, but they would greet one another in class and in the hallways. She would always give him that small smile, the one that always seemed to be on his mind now, and say "hi" in a voice that was surprisingly soft for someone of her physical presence. Overwhelming she may have looked, but overwhelming in her interactions she was certainly not.

Garrett had concluded that she wasn't really an ice queen at all: she simply wasn't an overly-social being by nature. Even though they had become friendly, however, there seemed to be an air of uncertainty and apprehension in some of her communications with him, as if she expected him to suddenly begin mocking her. Had he been ten years older and wiser, he might have chalked up her behavior to being a response borne from past experience with mistreatment. But he wasn't twenty-six, he was sixteen.

Travis had been right about one thing, it seemed, and it was that both he and Brie preferred a small circle of close friends and confidantes as opposed to a wide swath of acquaintances. For her part it was primarily a pair of girls named Chelsea and Jana, who Garrett had met briefly in his interactions with Brie outside of class. They were both pleasant enough to him and he thought that they seemed like nice people, and they seemed to be as tight as he and Travis were. He had, on multiple occasions, wondered if he'd ever reach that level of trust with Brie herself, but he decided that he shouldn't push it. He wanted to just let the pieces fall as they may.

If you had asked Garrett Trenton later what he considered to be one of the watershed moments in his and Brie's relationship, he very well might have told you that the day of October 22nd, 2002 was certainly high on the list. Their biology class had been steadily ramping up, and the workload increasing with it. On the afternoon in question, while the class was busy working on an in-class assignment, Garrett got the distinct feeling that his lab partner was having difficulty: her posture was slightly hunched, her brow furrowed, and her left hand was flexing and fidgeting in a clear sign of agitation. Garrett began to weigh the pros and cons of intervening: he wanted to offer help, but he also didn't want to come off as insulting to her intelligence and end up on the wrong end of her icy glare.

Ultimately, he decided on what he saw as the safest possible middle ground: "hey Brie, are you okay?"

She snapped her head up and looked at him.

"What? I'm fine, what's up?"

Garrett recoiled slightly and said "I...I was just checking on you."

Her eyes locked on his, she asked "what for?"

Shit. He couldn't skirt around it anymore. "Well, you looked like you were having trouble."

Garrett braced himself for an icy response, but instead she simply looked back at her worksheet and said quietly "I'm fine."

"Okay. I'm sorry." Garrett said.

He turned back to his own work. He didn't want to just drop it, it felt wrong to let her languish, but he couldn't force her to accept his help if she didn't want it. Reluctantly, he dove back into his textbook, poring through it for clues and passages that would help him finish everything that he needed to within the last half-hour of class.

"I'm sorry, Garrett," came a small voice from his right.

"Why? What for?" He asked, looking at Brie while she still stared unfocused into her worksheet.

"I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just really frustrated, and I'm worried about my grade."

"It's okay, Brie."

"Look, it isn't okay, because I really need help," she began, looking at him in earnest, her eyes pleading, "my grade is slipping into the C range, and I can't afford to let my GPA drop if I want to stay on the team."

"That would be bad, yeah."

"Garrett, I hate to ask because I know you have your own work to do, but would you please, please help me out? I'm not getting any of this and it seems like you are, so...I dunno, maybe you could help me get there too?"

Garrett, without thinking, simply responded "yeah, Brie, totally."

Her eyes lit up and she smiled. "Oh my God, thank you!" She reached out and put her hand on his forearm. "You're awesome, Garrett."

He quickly looked at her hand, then back at her. Butterflies filling his stomach, he managed to choke out "yeah, totally."

She seemed to sense his minor panic and withdrew her hand, her smile faltering a little before asking "so the homework is supposed to be a lot of the same stuff we're doing now, right? Would you be okay with getting together after school today, if you're not busy?"

"Uh, yeah. Do you have practice today?"

"Oh, just for an hour. I'll be done a little after three. Um...where do you want to meet up?" She asked.

"Oh. Uh...my house, maybe? If you're okay with that? I just gotta call my dad and make sure he knows you'll be there...uh, if that's cool." Jesus Garrett, you just get smoother by the minute, he scolded himself.

"Yeah! I can just drive there after practice!"

"I mean, I can wait up for you and guide you there if you want. Probably easier than giving you my address and letting you try to find me; my place is kinda hidden."

"Oh! Um...are you sure? You'd have to wait for, like, a while..."

He smiled. "It's okay, I got my CD player. I'll meet you over by the front gate."

Again came that small smile. "Yeah, totally. I just gotta call my mom and let her know that I'm gonna be going."

"Sounds like a plan."

With that, Garrett began to walk her through the in-class assignment. It was tough going; Ms. Curtin's teaching style didn't seem to gel with Brie, but he managed to both finish his own and help her work through hers. By the time the bell rang, her spirits were higher and she was all smiles. The two even walked out together, Garrett walking her to her next class, not caring that it was halfway across the school from his own. He didn't care, he was having too good of a time talking to Brie. Neither of them cared how mismatched a pair they seemed, nor did they care about the odd looks that a few onlookers in the hallways gave them. None of it mattered to him-or her, it seemed.

Even as he was dashing to get to his own seventh period class, walking in the door almost thirty seconds late (to the disapproving glare of his algebra teacher), he still couldn't believe what had happened. He was actually going to hang out with Brie outside of class!

Dial it back, Garrett, he had to tell himself as he settled into his desk. It's not a date, she is just coming over to study, and nothing more. She is not interested in you, and you are a loser.

Despite these disparaging thoughts, however, he was still thrilled and nervous, and nothing could take that from him now.

* * *

The heat had been waning recently, but Garrett still thought it was too warm to sit in direct sunlight, so he kicked back on on one of the benches outside the front gate. The oak tree's leaves had been yellowing but most of them still remained fixed to its' branches, providing him with plenty of cover. As his classmates bustled past him, he sat down, put his backpack between his feet and waited.

Over the next twenty minutes, they would scatter and leave via car, bus, or simply walk away to wherever they were going next. They chattered, laughed, yelled and squealed as Garrett pulled out his CD player and got lost in his tunes, his old Alice In Chains CD providing him with a reprieve from the noise until he felt a nudge on his right shoulder, looking up to see that familiar grin he both loved and hated.

Travis immediately plopped down beside him, Garrett pulling off his headphones and stopping his CD before saying "what's up, man?"

"Not much, my dad's pickin' me up today, I got an eye appointment. What're you still doing here, man?"

"Oh, uh...I'm waiting for, well...for Brianne."

Travis' eyes lit up and the grin was wider than ever.

"Dude, nice! You gonna take her out or what?!"

"No, it's not like that, man," Garrett said, "she's having trouble in bio and we're gonna study together."

"Same diff. Bet you'd like to 'study' Brie pretty close, though, right?" He began to nudge Garrett hard in his side, and Garrett fought him off. "Fuck off, Travis," he said, laughing, "fuckin' animal."

"Man I know you got a thing for Brie though, in all seriousness," Travis said, "it's fuckin' obvious. I know it, her friends know it, and she does too."

That got Garrett's attention. "Wait, really?"

"A-ha!" Travis said, stabbing an index finger at him. "I fuckin' knew it! I was kidding, I have no clue if they do or not, I was just trying to get it out of you."

Fucking Travis, Garrett thought. The guy was a smartass and a class clown through and through, but that didn't make him stupid or unobservant.

"Fine," Garrett sighed, "I'm...yeah, fine, I'm into her."

Travis nodded. "What're you gonna do about it?"

"Nothing. She's not into me."

"The fuck do you know that? You ain't even asked her out yet!" Travis said incredulously.

"I just do, Travis."

"Shit, there's my dad," Travis said, looking over at the curb, standing up to leave, "and you know what, man? You don't know shit. You really don't!" He cried, walking away. Garrett really wished that he could agree.

Twenty minutes after Travis' departure, the front of the school was nearly empty. A few stragglers milled around here and there, waiting for lagging rides, but otherwise it was devoid of the life that had recently filled it, and that was how Garrett preferred it. He still had a brief while to wait for Brie to finish up in the gym, though, so he decided to lose the headphones and just enjoy the sounds of fall. In the distance he could hear birds chirping just above the mild breeze that, combined with the old oak over his head, helped to mitigate the effects of the sun. He leaned back, closed his eyes and just soaked in the ambience of mid-fall Danville.

Time apparently flew by, because the next thing he knew, he felt someone sit down next to him. He opened his eyes and saw those unmistakable Brie Haskett blues staring down at him, her small, sly smile nearly making his heart skip a beat.

"Sorry," she said, suppressing a chuckle, "didn't mean to scare you."

"You don't scare me." He said, sitting up. "How was practice?"

"Really? Oh!" She said, quickly changing the subject. "Practice went fine. I would have been here earlier but I wanted to shower and change. Didn't want to stink up your house or anything."

"It's okay, you're fine. Wanna get going?"

"Yeah but do you mind if we go to the payphones so I can call my mom? I don't have a cell phone." She asked.

"Yeah, totally."

They went around the right side of the school to the teacher's parking lot, where there was a bank of payphones mounted to the exterior of the building. Brie picked one up, popped in a few quarters and punched in a number. After a few seconds, she spoke.

"Hey mom! Good, just left volleyball, it went fine. Hey, do you mind if I go study for a while with my biology lab partner? Yeah, him. He's gonna help me out with the stuff I'm struggling with. Oh, his house. Okay, hold on." She covered the mouthpiece and asked her companion "hey Garrett, what's your address?" Slightly confused, he gave it to her. She relayed the information to her mother in kind. "Okay, yeah, I'll check in with you after a while. I dunno honestly, I think it'll take a while, but I promise you, he's okay. Awesome, thanks! Okay, love you! Bye!" She popped the phone back into the receiver and turned back to him, smiling.

"Okay, we're good to go!"

"Awesome," he said, returning her smile, "but why did she want my address...?"

"So she knows where to send the cops if you turn out to be a psycho murderer and kill me." She replied to a startled Garrett. At this, Brie laughed and said "She's my mom, she just wants to know that I'm safe. Don't take it personally, okay?"

"No, it makes sense," he said as they started to walk around the school and toward the student parking lot, "she sounds like a good mom."

"She's honestly the best," Brie replied, "she's always been super supportive of me and my older sister. I don't know what I'd do without her. What about your mom, what's she like?"

"Oh, uh...she's, um...not...really around anymore."

"Oh no, Garrett, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay, Brie, really," he said, wanting to assuage the distress in her expression, "look, it's a long story, maybe I'll tell you sometime, just...not right at this moment."

She nodded, the look in her eyes still regretful, so he decided to brighten the mood. "My dad's great though, you'll love him. He and I...we've always been a pair, you know? Like we've got one another and that's all either of us have needed for a long time."

"That sounds really wonderful, Garrett. I like your dad already."

He laughed. "I'll bet he would appreciate the vote of confidence."

They arrived at the student parking lot, and Brie lead him to her car, a mid-90's white Honda that, while worn and torn, was nonetheless clean. She opened the driver's side door and got in, unlocking the passenger door and grabbing a stack of papers and binders that were on the seat.

"Sorry!" She said as she quickly stashed them in the back.

"It's okay," he said, laughing softly as he got in and buckled his seat belt, "it's your car, you're allowed to throw things on the passenger's seat."

She laughed nervously, and put the key into the ignition, turning it on. As soon as she did, the car was filled with the sound of soaring guitars, a killer solo tearing its' way through the speakers. She immediately yanked the volume knob back, looking terrified as she did so.

"Oh God, I didn't know it was that loud this morning! I'm sorry!" She said quickly, blushing with embarrassment. Garrett, however, was taken aback.

"Whoa, what was that? That sounded cool!"

"Um...Dokken," she said, "my mom really likes a lot of eighties and nineties metal and punk, and it kinda rubbed off on me."

"Fuck it, keep it going! I wanna hear the rest of that." Garrett gave her a reassuring smile. She shrugged, and put her hand back on the volume knob. "Well okay then," she said, "here we go!"

And with that, the sound of raucous rock followed them all the way to Garrett's secluded suburban abode.

* * *

"I love your house!" Brie said as she got out of the car after parking at the curb. "It's so pretty!"

"Thanks!" Garrett said after grabbing both of their backpacks from the back seat, "I love this house, I always have. My dad and I try to take care of it."

"It's so cozy," she remarked as they walked up the stairs leading to the front porch, "I bet I could spend hours just sitting out here watching the sun set."