Romance Reloaded

(Franks POV)

I nervously took another sip of my beer and placed my hand on top of Kat’s, stroking her knuckles with my thumb. “You seem nervous? Is everything okay, Frank?” Kat’s words took me by surprise, I didn’t realise my nerves were that obvious. “Yeah, I’m just tired and anxious about this whole thing really.” Kat gave me a comforting smile before craning her neck past my body to check for the arrival of Gerard, Mikey and Ray. “Ray’s here!” she said enthusiastically as she got up to greet him. I stared down at my glass as they walked back over. “Sup, Frank” Ray’s light hearted voice shone down on me; I continued to stare at the glass. “Hey, man.” I’m not exactly sure why I was ashamed to talk to Ray. He was completely unaware of what happened between me and Gerard; Mikey on the other hand, had his suspicions about us but Ray was perfectly fine with me. I guess the true guilt of it all was making me ashamed to converse with any of the guys. I was drawn out of my day dream moments later by a hand placing a lavender cotton scarf down on the bar next to me; a beautifully pale, porcelain skin hand extended from a black leather jacket. I didn’t have to look up to know it was Gerard. “I’ll take a glass of red wine please… wait; better make that a black coffee.” Gerard’s voice sent shivers down my spine. My heart was throbbing with guilt and the pressure of being around him again. “Hey Gee; can I get you a drink?” Kat once again obstructed my thoughts in an attempt to make the atmosphere I was creating a little less tense. “Hey Kat. No, that’s okay. I just ordered a coffee.” I raised my head just as Mikey set foot in the door. His actions puzzled me, I presumed he’d notice us almost immediately seen as we stuck out like a sore thumb in this modern, sophisticated bar full of businessmen. But no, he just stood there in the door staring over to the opposite side of the room. He was mesmerised by something, what I’m not sure. “YO, MIKEY! OVER HERE!” I snapped him out of his day dream as quickly as he’d entered it. I slightly under estimated the volume of my voice and Gerard flinched in the bar stool next to me. Neither of us said a word until Mikey walked over and greeted us.

“Well. I guess a toast is in order.” Ray began, holding up his glass. “Welcome to New York. Now begins our life of music, love, triumph and hopefully not failure.” We toasted his speech and my mood began to lighten, maybe things would work out eventually. Gerard didn’t ignore me for the entire evening; we had a brief conversation about the layout and style of our apartments and compared prices but I felt as if all of his emotion was drained from the conversation. Gerard really didn’t want to talk to me but was trying to make the best of a bad situation. The night dragged, my heart was pounding and frankly I’d do anything to get out. Escape wasn’t really an option to I buried myself in conversation with Ray and Kat. “Frank, now you’re out of your parents’ house why don’t you get that tattoo you’ve been talking about for so long?” Ray asked curiously. Kat looked at me with a puzzled expression waiting for me to explain. “Well. I guess I could.” I said as I began to warm to the idea. “I have always wanted that barbed wire tattoo on my wrist.” Now a wrist tattoo may not seem like much but when I was living at home my parents told me I was only allowed one tattoo, so I went to town on the idea and got a scorpion on the highest position possible on my neck, so that way I couldn’t get a ‘real job’ as my parents called it. “Why don’t you go get it done tomorrow whilst I’m at college?” Kat offered optimistically. I contemplated the idea for a while and agreed. “Yeah, I think I will.”

(Kat’s POV)

The following morning I awoke in Franks arms as usual but with the aura of a new, different and exciting atmosphere surrounding me. I slipped out of Frank’s grip and kissed his head before heading to the bathroom to get ready for my first day at college. I was overcome by nerves and excitement, a new city, new people and another new school but this time without my parents. I slipped on my batman tee shirt and a pair of charcoal skinny jeans before quickly tying my hair back into a loose pony tail, collecting my bags and walking out of the apartment, being careful not to wake Frank. I stepped out onto the street into the cool fall air and joined the parade of students walking to the college. It seemed so different to school, everyone was accepted, included and the sense of sophistication and intelligence filled the corridors. Students weren’t dealing drugs from their lockers, nor lighting cigarettes by the bike sheds. It was so different, so new. “Hi. I’m Kat. It’s nice to meet you.” I decided to introduce myself to the girl with the locker next to mine. “Oh, hey. I’m Lola. Nice to meet you too.” The girl said nervously, twiddling a strand of her orange hair. “Guessing you’re new here?” she asked curiously as she collected the books from her locker. “Yeah. I just moved here from New Jersey.” At that moment the bell rang and the students departed in all directions in search of their first class. “You seem like a nice girl.” Lola admitted. “Do you wanna hang out at lunch? I’ll be in the common room. Come and find me.” I smiled and nodded enthusiastically as Lola disappeared into the crowd of students. Taking out my timetable I scanned the page for my first class. Graphic design with Professor Lavigne in room 204. I set off down the corridor in search of my first class with high expectations.

(Franks POV)

The sun cracked through the Venetian blinds and awoke me from my slumber. I stretched my arm across the bed to the spot where I last saw Kat and rubbed my hand over the sheets. Her first day in college and I was going to occupy my time by getting a tattoo. I’d have to find another pass time until we start recording, I can’t exactly get a tattoo every day. I dragged myself out of bed, threw on my hoodie and left. I took to wandering the streets in search of a decent tattoo parlor. After a few hours of walking and calling in Starbucks for a soy pumpkin spice latte I came a across a shop called ‘Moonlit Studios’ and decided this was the place. A bell rung as I entered the parlor and a woman from behind the counter caught my attention. “Sup, man. Here for a tattoo?” Her smiley face and dark features caught my eye, she was gorgeous. “Umm, yeah. I want a barbed wire bracelet tattooed on my right wrist. How much would that cost?” she flipped open a book and traced her finger down the page and bit her lip in though. “Hmm. Usually about $60 for a tattoo that small but the hot guys get discount so $40.” She winked and scrunched her hair in her hand as she leaned over the counter towards me. I smirked and shot her one of my half smiles. “That sounds great, sweetie. When can we get started?” She pulled a pair of latex gloves from a draw in the counter and put them on in a rather seductive fashion. “Right now if you want, just follow me down stairs and I’ll set to work on you. I’m Jamia by the way.” She giggled and beckoned me to follow her down the stairs at the back of the shop. “Okay. Uhh, I’m Frank.” I spat my words out nervously as I followed the sexy Jamia down into the basement of the New York tattoo parlor.

Notes