Free Getting Over Garrett Delaney by Abby McDonald

Kayla asks, flipping her sheet of blond hair over her shoulder. “The chef guy, with the messy hair? And that tall one who’s always in black.”
    “That’s Denton.” I nod. He’s joined at the hip with Aiko, or rather, joined hip to thigh, since he towers about eighteen inches over her. “I don’t really know him — our shifts never overlap. He’s dating Aiko — they’re really cute together. But Josh, the chef guy, he’s nice. Kind of a goof.”
    “Oh?” Kayla gives me a look.
    “What?” Just then, I feel my phone buzz. Garrett! I sneak a glance at the screen. Nope, phantom buzz.
    Beside me, Kayla keeps talking. “You know, he’s cute, and you’re working all those long shifts together… .” I look back in time to catch her giving me a meaningful wink.
    I suddenly realize what she means. “Josh? No way. He’s like, old.”
    Kayla smirks. “And?”
    “And he’s always goofing around,” I tell her, and tuck my phone away. “Yesterday, he wore bunny ears the whole day. Not my type.”
    She lets out a disappointed sigh. “I forgot, you don’t date.”
    “Um, can you blame me?” I say, self-conscious. Is that my reputation — the nondater? “You know what Sherman boys are like.”
    “Come on, there are some good ones!” she protests. Suddenly, her eyes brighten. “Ooh, maybe I could set you up with one of Blake’s friends —”
    “Don’t!” I yelp. She looks startled. “I mean, that’s sweet,” I add quickly, “but I’m OK for now. Being single.”
    “Suit yourself.” She shrugs. “But those guys are a ton of fun. Trust me.” She winks again, and I’m reminded of what different high-school lives we lead. Me with Garrett, her with her table of peppy friends and weekends partying up at the lake.
    “So what’s Blake up to this summer?” I ask, steering the subject away from me and my long dateless nights of solitude.
    Kayla makes a face. “Mainly college prep. He’s heading to NYU in the fall.”
    “Oh.” I pause. “Are you guys going to try and stay together, or … ?” I trail off, not wanting to bring up any potential angst. But instead, Kayla just slurps her mammoth raspberry Slushie, unconcerned.
    “Oh, it’s going to be fine. We’ll do long distance, and vacations and holidays, and then in two years I’ll be at Columbia.” She says it casually, as if it’s a plan for the weekend, and not the next few years of her life.
    “Wow, that’s … great,” I venture. “That you’ve got it all figured out, I mean.”
    She shrugs. “We’re meant to be together. So we’ll make it work.”
    “Oh.”
    I can’t help but wonder about her resolve. I mean, sure, I’m certain that things will work out with Garrett, too, but we’re
destined
to be together. Kayla and Blake are cute, but can a high-school crush really last? “Good luck with that,” I offer. “It’s not easy to keep things together when you’re both off doing different things.”
    “Oh, that’s right,” she says. “Garrett’s gone for the summer.” She pauses. “I’ve always wondered, did you two ever … ? You know.”
    “Nope,” I say. At least, not yet.
    “Really?” She crinkles her forehead in a frown. “Not even a ‘friends with benefits’ thing?”
    “No!” I reply, horrified. “We would never risk our friendship for something like that.”
    “Oh, sorry,” Kayla looks as if she’s mentally reassessing something. And that’s when my back pocket buzzes. For real this time.
    It’s a text.
Tried calling, got your voice mail. Can you talk?
    Garrett. How did I miss his call?
    “ … don’t you think?”
    My head snaps back up. “Um, what was that last part?”
    Kayla sighs. “Do you need to call someone? You’ve been checking that thing, like, every two minutes.”
    I can tell from her face that “Yes, I have to go, now!” wouldn’t be the right answer. “It’s fine,” I lie, snapping the phone shut and stowing it in my back pocket. “It can wait.”
    “OK. Hey,