Teenagers

We set up our instruments as Frank stood in the corner. He was so shy. I started to feel bad about asking him to come to rehearsal, since he had just started a new school.
“What song’s first, Gee?” Mikey said, tuning his bass. I pondered a second before answering.
“How about ‘I Never Told You What I do for a Living?’” They nodded their heads in agreement. This was one of my favorite songs to play.
“Can I sit up here?” Frank said, pointing to the hood of the car in the driveway. Ray nodded as Frank hoisted himself on top. The door was open to the garage, where we always rehearse, and the car sitting directly in front.
I counted down from four, and as soon as I reached one, Mikey, Ray, and Bob started playing their lines. After about seven seconds, I started singing my lines.
Stay out of the light
Or the photograph that I gave you
You can say a prayer if you need to
Or just get in line and I'll grieve you
Can I meet you, alone
Another night and I'll see you
Another night and I'll be you
Some other way to continue
To hide my face
I couldn’t help but keep looking at Frank. He looked so happy. He had the cutest smile, and it made me feel kinda fuzzy on the inside. I know that sounds stupid, but there is really no other way to describe it.
When we finished the song, Frank hopped of the car. “That was amazing!” He said, bouncing around. I smiled.
“Thanks, Frank,” I said. I looked back at Mikey, who surprisingly shot me a disapproving look. I raised my eyebrows at him, but he merely rolled his eyes. I looked back to Frank who still seemed really happy.
“May I make some criticism?” He said. Ray motioned him to go for it. “Well, you are a bit weak on the guitar parts. But it was still really good.” We all looked at each other, Bob, Mikey, and Ray all giving me a mental, ‘go for it.’
“Well,” I started, “we’ve actually been looking for a rhythm guitarist for awhile now.” I would love for Frank to become a part of the band.
“I can play guitar,” Frank said with a hopeful smile.
“Do you,” Mikey said, “maybe want to be our other guitar player?” Frank’s face lit up.
“Hell yeah!” He nearly shouted. I couldn’t help but smile. I was so happy Frank was going to be in the band. I think he would be a good addition.
“Great,” Ray said happily, “we meet up by the office every morning to discuss practices and stuff.”
“Alright,” Frank said. I couldn’t help but keep staring at him. He was so gorgeous. I just wanted to kiss him right now, but I figured that would be a terrible idea.
We had our classic band rehearsal dinner of pizza, this time a store-bought, frozen one. I didn’t mind though. I had hardly eaten anything all day. We played for about an hour more, until Ray’s mom told us it was time to go home.
The car ride was awkward, Ray and his mom in the front, Mikey, Frank, and I in the back. My leg rubbed against Frank’s the entire way home. I desperately tried to hide the fact that I was turned on by Frank and his closeness. He smelled so nice. I get pulling at the pant-legs of my jeans, trying not to get too aroused.
We finally got to our house. Mikey and I hopped out of the van. “See you guys tomorrow,” I said to Ray and Frank. Ray nodded approvingly.
“Bye, Gerard,” Frank said with a smile. I smiled back and closed the door. Mikey and I rushed up to the door as Ray’s mom pulled away. Once we were inside, Mikey slammed his bag down.
“Are you serious?” He half shouted. I looked at him, confused.
“Mikey, what the hell are you talking about?” He glared at me.
“You know what.”
“No, I really don’t. Just tell me.”
He let out a huff of air, “you’ve know the guy for five hours at most, and you’re already flirting?” Typical Mikey. He always tries to go mom mode on me, mostly because we have to look out for each other, since our mom is hardly here.
“What does it matter to you?” I said, annoyed.
“It matters,” Mikey started, slightly raising his voice, “because i don’t want to see you get hurt.” He looked as if he were about to cry. I pulled him into a hug.
“It’s okay, Mikey,” I said quietly to him, “you don’t have to worry about me.” He looked up at me, a few tears rolling down his face.
“Just promise you’ll get to know him better before you ask him on a date?” He said. I laughed a little, then hugged him tighter.
“I promise.”

Notes