Frank’s POV

The show was a huge success, in our opinions at least. That’s why we found ourselves hanging around afterwards to celebrate, if that was the right term for it. The small crowd had participated and everything had gone smoothly despite the rocky start, what with Gerard skipping band practices and all. He was straight back in everyone’s good graces now and all of that was long forgotten. It didn’t matter anymore, because we were doing something right. This was the best response we had received from people since we had started the band, which meant that Gerard had been the thing missing. He wasn’t going anywhere. I wasn’t complaining. After all, that had been the reason I had asked him to join the band. He was a great singer and his songs were brilliant. Of course at the time, spending a lot of time with him didn’t hurt either.

“I have a very good feeling about this,” Ray stated, looking proud as hell. “That was a great show.”

The twins were off getting a jug of beer, since they were the only ones who could actually pass as twenty-one-year-olds.

“If every night is like this, we are going to have the best time ever and get paid to do it too,” Bob added.

I smiled wanly at him and checked my phone for any messages. I wasn’t really into this whole night. It was odd since I had been looking forward to it for the longest time. The show itself had been a blast, but celebrating it felt like something I had to do instead of something I wanted to do. Honestly, there was somewhere else I rather would have been at that moment.

“There we go,” Scary announced, placing the pitcher of beer down in the middle of the table while Caitlyn handed out mugs to each of us. Everyone filled their mugs in turn and then Gerard toasted to us and then made a wish for many more shows like this one and better.

I checked my phone again, but there was nothing. I was edgy. I wanted to go see Lisa. Something was wrong. She always wished me good luck before a show and tonight she had simply disappeared. Something must have happened. As long as everything with her was okay.

“Hey, Frank. Where’s your head at?” Scary wanted to know from the other side of the table.

“Nowhere. Just thinking about the show,” I lied and then tried a little harder to act interested in what was going on around me.

*

It was completely dark. Then again it was nearly midnight. Everyone was still “celebrating”. I couldn’t fake interest anymore and snuck away, because they were all too drunk to notice anyway.

I was outside Lisa’s house. There was no way I could go to bed without checking in on her. I had tried calling her earlier, but she didn’t answer. The house was dark, but I expected it to be. Instead of waking the entire household by ringing the bell, I texted her that I was at the front door. If I had to wait all night, I would. Fortunately, it was only about a minute before I heard a key turn in the lock and then the front door swung open to reveal Lisa in her pajamas.

“Please tell me you have a reason for being here in the middle of the night.”

“You.”

Her long brown hair was pulled up into a messy bun and I could tell that she had already been in bed although not yet asleep.

“It’s late, Frank. We can talk in the morning.”

“No, we can’t,” I said hurriedly, realizing that she was about to close the door. “The fact that you’re about to slam the door in my face proves it.”

“I wasn’t going to slam the door…”

“Semantics.” I waved it off. “The point is, you’re mad at me.”

“You can’t know that. I haven’t said anything,” she stated, stepping out of the house and now standing under the porch light with me.

“I’m right though, aren’t I?”

She nodded in confirmation, breaking our eye contact.

“You disappeared without a word. You never not give me a kiss and tell me good luck before a show and then tonight before our biggest gig yet, you ran out on me,” I explained how I knew.

“You guessed, because I was suddenly a bad girlfriend?” She seemed somewhat incredulous.

“Please, tell me what’s the matter.” I stepped closer to her and took her hands in mine.

She looked hesitant, but decided to come out with it. “Are you in love with Gerard?”

My face went pale and I swallowed, wondering how the hell she possibly could have guessed that. “I’m not.”

“Are you sure, because lately you’ve been acting differently. At first I thought that maybe you’ve realized that our differences were too much for you to handle and I worried that we would break up.”

“That’s ridiculous!” I exclaimed and then lowered my voice. “We’re not even close to breaking up and what differences?” I demanded. “You’re like my perfect other half.”

“Frank, we’ve been struggling with this whole I’m-popular-you’re-not situation. You don’t like spending time with my friends.”

I made a face. “That’s not true. The girls are fine.”

“Fine? They’re fine. And what about the guys?”

“Sorry I can’t forget that they used to beat the crap out of me,” I said sarcastically, turning to face the street.

“Fine then.” I heard her say. “Obviously I was wrong about that. I figured that much out by myself. I tried to think of what else it could possibly be then I realized that the only thing that’s changed was Gerard. The changes in you just happened to coincide with his arrival.”

She was too damn smart for her own good, but I couldn’t blame her for figuring it out. There shouldn’t have been anything to figure out in the first place.

“Tell me the truth, Frank. Am I losing you to Gerard?” She sounded sad as she asked this and the blood in my veins boiled all over again, recalling the incident between me and Gerard earlier that night. I don’t recall ever being that angry in my entire life.

“No,” I said with certainty, turning back to look at her.

“Are you sure, because I think you’re in love with him. You’re always complaining about him or at the very least you’re constantly talking about him. Tonight you left me to talk to him which would have been okay, but he always has your attention and when you stormed off, Gerard was the one who ran after you. That was when I realized what it was that I have been missing.”

I cupped her face in my hands and looked deep into her eyes. “You are not losing me to Gerard. I promise.” I vowed. “Gerard became my best friend in a very short amount of time. It was new for me, because it was the first time something like that happened to me. Yes, Scary and I are best friends, but we’re family and we grew up together. All the other guys are great, but it’s not the same with them. Gerard and I bonded over similar interest and we could talk. Unfortunately, because it all happened so quickly, I never noticed that he has his own flaws and now that I’m becoming acquainted with them it’s kind of hard for me.”

“Oh.” That was all she managed to say after that.

“Also,” I had to tell her. “We were shoved into a closet for seven minutes in heaven once or twice during parties, but I haven’t played that game in the longest time and honestly, I am so over it.” The last time I had played it had been the last time Gerard and I had been making out in a closet. “The only person I am kissing is you and I’m sorry if I’ve been a jerk.”

I pulled her into a hug feeling a million times lighter having told her all of that. Maybe that was all I had needed to do in order to be able to move on from this whole thing.

“You haven’t been a jerk,” Lisa mumbled against my shirt. “Just distant. That’s all.”

I felt a pang of guilt, because she deserved better. I recalled meeting Lisa and how great it had been. I had been a very troubled teen and she managed to knock some sense into me. Actually, I willingly changed in an attempt to be good enough for her, but I still wasn’t there yet. I remembered getting the shit beaten out of me when the popular guys got wind of my interest in her. It became a daily ritual at that time. Little had they realized that they had pushed us closer together. It ended when Lisa had two of them expelled for bullying. I still didn’t know how she managed to do that, because those guys usually got off easy with nothing but detention or suspension at most. Nonetheless, I would never be able to express my gratitude for her standing up for me like that.

“I promise I will do better and you don’t ever have to worry about me letting you go, because that’s never going to happen.”

Notes

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