Best Friends Forever

I end up asking my mom to spend the night via text, and she doesn’t seem too happy about not knowing Gerard or his parents, but she gives in after I lie to her about Gerard helping me with math.
We hang out in his room and watch Netflix, and it’s seven p.m. when I open my Algebra book and he asks, “Frank? What are you doing?”
I gesture towards the textbook with my pencil, responding sarcastically, “What does it look like I’m doing?”
“Looks like you’re studying to be professor at Pussy University,” Gerard replies, reaching over and shutting the book. It’s 7 o’clock on a Thursday night, for Christ’s sakes, live a little.”
“Oh? And how would I do that?” I challenge.
“I’m not saying rob a bank, but don’t break out the Algebra before nine o’clock,” Gerard retorts. “Come on, let’s do something fun.”
“Like what?” I ask skeptically. “I don’t know if you noticed, but this town fucking sucks. There’s nothing to do on the weekends, what makes you think there’d be something to do on a Thursday?”
Gerard shrugs, replying, “I dunno. Excuse me for believing in self-produced fun.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I question.
“It means not relying on malls and shit to have a good time,” Gerard answers. “It means not having to go to the cool kids’ party tonight, which I wasn’t invited to. It means to make the best of what you’re given. Fucking carpe diem dude, I want to do something, and I want to do it now.”
My eyebrows are raised, Gerard’s words being the single most intelligent thing to come out of his mouth all day. “Okay, I guess. What do you have in mind?”
“Why don’t we go outside and see where the night takes us?” Gerard suggests. “Leave your wallet, leave your keys, hell, and don’t even bring your phone. Just don’t think for once, just act.”
With that, Gerard tosses his phone onto his bed and leaves. I rush to follow, pulling on my shoes and grabbing a hoodie.
Gerard leads us outside, where he wanders over to the garage, disappearing inside its mess.
“What are you doing?” I sigh.
Gerard resurfaces with a bat, ordering, “Follow me.”
He cuts through backyards, staying low to the ground and whispering at me to do the same. I follow hesitantly, almost running into him when he halts.
“What, what is it?” I hiss.
“We’re here,” Gerard answers.
“Whose house is this?” I squint, trying to make out where we are.
“Whose do you think?” Gerard scowls. With that, he tosses the bat at a window, then sprinting back to where we came from. I run to keep up, panting as I trail Gerard all the way back to his house, where he slips in through the back door. I follow him down to his basement, where he lies back in bed, seemingly satisfied.
“What the fuck was that?” I demand.
“That was Jared’s house,” Gerard answers simply. “You know, that shit head that thought it’d be funny to ram my underwear up my ass?”
“Why… why’d you do that? I can’t believe you!” I stand doubled over, still struggling to catch my breath.
“He deserves it,” Gerard insists.
I shake my head, disagreeing, “No, no he doesn’t. Gerard, I don’t think you get it, you fucking broke a window.”
“Oh no!” Gerard scoffs. He stands, pushing past me as he mutters, “I did the same thing in first grade. Accidentally, of course.”
I follow him upstairs, continuing, “You shouldn’t have done that; what if someone saw you?” Seeing that he’s heading for the bathroom, I turn my back on him, standing with my arms crossed.
I hear his zipper followed by the sound of him peeing. As he goes, he responds, “So be it.”
“Gerard, all he did was give you a wedgie,” I groan. “You took it too far.”
“That’s not all he did,” Gerard mumbles. The toilet flushes, and he retreats back to the basement, forcing me to again follow him.
“What else did he do, then?” I question.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Gerard grumbles, lying in bed. He turns on the TV, running a hand through his hair. He then curls over the side of his bed, pulling out a bottle of Schnapps, which he uncaps and takes a swig of. Licking his lips, he hands me the drink, which I give back to him. “You don’t drink?”
“No,” I answer honestly.
Gerard shrugs, taking another few gulps before tucking it away with a shudder.
“Seriously, what’d he do to you?” I ask.
“I really don’t want to talk about it, okay?” Gerard snaps. “Just forget about it.”
I stand there, toeing the edge of his rug. “You were the kid that got beat up in the bathroom, weren’t you?”
Gerard sits quietly, ignoring me. So I proceed, “I heard about it, kids saying that some new kid was getting his ass kicked in the second floor boys’ room. I heard some commotion from there myself, so I was quick to believe them. It was after third period, and I had to go to class so I never did see who it was.”
Gerard dips his head, and I realize, “Oh god, that’s why you were late to Spanish, wasn’t it? Is that why your hair was all fucked up and your clothes all wrinkly and-”
“Shut up,” Gerard growls. “I swear to God if you tell anyone-”
“I wouldn’t do that,” I assure. “Just…” I laugh a little, advising, “Don’t let him find out about the baseball bat thing.”
Gerard giggles, telling, “His whole family was at the game. That’s why I did it tonight.”
I grin, and sit next to him. We continue to watch movies until we fall asleep in our day clothes. I hadn’t showered, my phone was uncharged, and my homework wasn’t done. The nice part was, I didn’t even give any of these things a second thought.

Notes

Thanks so much for reading! Please comment, rate, and subscribe!