House of Wolves

I woke up to the to the same annoying beep of the alarm clock. I pulled myself out of bed and to the bathroom. I took a quick shower and put on some clothes similar to what I wore yesterday, only this time I wore a Black t-shirt instead. I was still half asleep when I walked up to the kitchen. Mikey still wasn’t ready yet and my mom was in the kitchen as always.
“Morning.” I mumbled. She looked up from what she was doing. She looked irritated.

“Why did you that?” she asked. I knew what she was talking about, I just didn’t want to get into it too much.

“Did what?” I replied. She gave me her death glare.

“Yesterday. Why did you just stay downstairs all yesterday? You left me with your brother all night by myself! You know, if you’re just going to become a vampire, I can just have you and Mikey swap pl-” I interrupted her.


“I get it.” I grabbed an apple and sat at the table. I could feel her bad mood crushing my rare good mood instantly. She came to the table and sat next to me.

“I got a job.” she was trying to break the tension.

“Good.” was all I could say. I bit into the apple and stared into space.

“How was your day at school yesterday?” I stopped chewing. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to tell her about my new friends... or Frank. So instead I changed the subject.

“Can I take the truck to school today?” I asked as I got up from my seat and threw my jacket on. I saw that outside the window it was raining.

“Oh uh, sure yeah. Was your day bad yesterday? We can try the other high school if you don’t lik-” Again, I interrupted her.

“I’m fine mom, just don’t worry about it.” she just stood there. I grabbed the keys out of the bowl and walked towards the door.

“Gerard, what about your brother?” I stopped. I was not driving him to school.

“He can walk. I’ll take him home.” Before she could answer I was already out the door. I hopped into the old black pickup truck and pulled out of our driveway. I got to school in about ten minutes. Traffic in Ashland is one million times better that Jersey. I parked and went straight to my art class. Already students were sitting in their seats and getting busy on their own pieces. I sat in the same spot in the back and decided to draw Frankenstein. About ten minutes later, the bell rang and class had officially begun. I had my headphones in and was carrying on with my own business when I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Ms. Vicory.

“What are you drawing Gerard?” she asked.

“Uhm, Frankenstein.” she sort of caught me in a daze.She looked at my art and smiled.

“Well, you are very talented. But you have to take your headphones out, it’s not really aloud. I took them out with an attitude and kept drawing, completely ignoring Ms. Vicory. For the rest of art, I went back into my daze. My second class went by just as fast as art. Again, the music room was hard to find, but I eventually got to it. I have to admit, I was extremely excited. When I walked in I looked for Ray, and sure enough he was there. I walked over to him and sat.

“Hey, what’s up Gerard!” he yelled and gave me a “fist pump”. I don’t think I’ve ever done a fist pump with anyone before. In front of Ray was another guy who had a saxaphone in his lap. Apparently his name was Louis. I talked with Ray and Louis for about five minutes. Louis was cool, but we was more into jazz and had kind of an ego.

“Is it me, or is Louis get a taster of Regina last night?” Frank yelled as he high fived Ray and sat right next to me.

“I did not. Regina does not have enough education in Jazz. In fact, she has absolutely no education at all. She has a peanut for a brain.” Ray raised his eyebrows.

“Dude, you need to work on your insults.” he said. Louis shrugged and went back to his deep conversation with Ray. Frank turned to me and I instantly felt chills.

“Sup Gerard.” he and held his hand up for a high five. I high fived him back, but I think he could tell something was wrong with me.

“Hey, do you wanna get out of here. Let’s be honest, this music class is kind of a joke.” I think I turned bright red. But all I could do was agree. Frank got up and I followed.

“Hey Ray, we’re getting out of here, wanna join us?” Ray looked at Frank.

“Really dude. You come back to class for once and then you leave less than five minutes later.” Frank rolled his eyes and I just stood there.

“Are you gonna come or not.” Frank crossed his arms.

“No, I’m gonna stay. I have some work I can do anyway. I can hang after school though.” Frank nodded and we both waved goodbye. We walked out the classroom and out of the side door. We went to the spot where I met Frank for the first time. We both sat and Frank took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. We put one of the cigarettes in his mouth and lit it.

“Do you want one?” he shifted his hand towards me. I’ve smoked two or three times in my life, but I took one anyway to break the tension I was feeling on myself. He handed me the lighter and I lit it and we both buffed away. We chatted about music and New Jersey, things we missed, and things we didn’t.

“Who’d you move here with?” he asked me.

“My mom and my brother.” he smiled.

“You have a brother. Younger or older?”

“Younger, and he’s a pain in the ass.” we both laughed for a bit. His laugh was so small yet cute and warming. I felt so welcome.

“Your parents divorced?” my smile faded. He could tell I was a little upset.

“Yeah, but it’s okay, it’s for the better,” He nodded, “How about you, when did you move here?”

“I moved here when I was seven with my parents. But about a month afterward my mom died,
so it’s just me and my dad.” I felt awkward. He said it so obviously, almost as if he didn’t care.

“I’m sorry.” I apologized. He shifted and then stood up.

“It’s alright, there wasn’t much I could do about it anyway.” He stood there with his hands in his pockets. We looked so empty yet so full at the same time. I couldn’t pinpoint what he was.

“Do you wanna go to town? I know a place that’s pretty cool.” I shrugged.

“Sure. I have a pickup truck we can use.” His eye’s widened.

“You have a truck?” I nodded casually.

“It’s actually my moms, but I use it a lot.” I got up and grabbed my stuff. We started to walk to the parking lot, talking about music, when we ran into Mikey. He looked just as confused as I did. He was with his new friends.

“What are you doing Gerard?” he asked. Frank looked confused.

“I would ask you the same Mikey.” I could tell this wasn’t gonna end very well.

“Whose this Mikey?” one of his “people” asked him.

“Uh this is my brother. Gerard this is Jim and Edgar.” I just looked at them in disgust. already hated them. They gave me the same look and started to walk away from Mikey. He looked back and started to run towards them looking at me in disappointment.

“So I’m guessing that’s your brother,” Frank said, “He sure is a real good brother.”

“I’ll say!” we laughed and we hopped into the truck. Frank told me where to go and I followed his exact instructions as we listened to some of my CD’s. We ended up at the back of building. We went down a staircase. I felt kind of nervous. When we walked inside the place, haze of smoke brushed my face and I could smell booze. I could see a few pool tables, a bar, and a couple couches and tables. In the back, there was a band that was playing some punk covers. Frank waved at me to follow him. We sat on one of the bar stools.

“What’s up Frank?” the bartender exclaimed.

“Ethan, my man! SInce when did Jake’s band start playing here?” I assumed that Jake’s band was the one playing now. They were pretty good, they were like if Morrissey and Black Flag had a baby. It was interesting. I guess I was spacing out because both Frank and Ethan were staring at me.

“Ethan, this is Gerard, Gerard, this is Ethan, my good friend.” Ethan shook my hand. I don’t know what was up with this town and shaking hands.
“Nice to meet you. I’m guessing I’ll see you here a lot if your friends with Frank.” I blushed. What was that supposed to mean.

“Yeah, I guess so.” I said. Ethan went to the back and served to other people. Frank turned to me and we started talking again.

“So, what do you think?” he gestured to the whole room and looked straight at me.

“I think it’s pretty cool. I would come here again.”

“Well good because this is my favorite place in the world. I think I’m here more than I should actually.” we both laughed and had a good time. I felt so welcome around him.

“Hey Gerard, do you wanna go to a concert with me in Portland on friday? Ray was gonna go with me but he doesn’t like the band so I have an extra ticket.”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll ask my mom if I could use her truck.” I nodded as Ethan brought us a round of drinks which was definitely illegal.

“If you tell anyone that I served you these, I’m gonna skin you both, got it?” He was obviously saying it as a joke, so we all laughed and agreed we wouldn’t. Frank I kept talking and laughing and more talking and more laughing. Everything seemed so unreal and new to me. No matter how much we laughed, I could tell something was in him deep down inside. I just couldn’t figure out what. We took a break from our talking and laughing and just drank. I turned my stool and looked into his eyes, which were staring off at the wall in front of him. They were such a pretty hazel color. They were warming and soothing.

He caught me staring at him and I instantly turned away. I saw in the corner of my eye that he smiled and took the last sip of his drink.

“What time is it?” I asked. It felt like it was an hour or so, and I bet we were already missing our class.

“Hey Ethan,” Frank yelled, “Do you know what time it is?” Ethan looked down at his watch.

“It’s 2:30.” Both Frank and I looked straight at each other. Where did the time go!

“Shit, we should get back!” Frank yelled. We waved to Ethan and stormed out of the bar. We piled into the truck and I started the engine.

“I should just take you home. There’s no point in going back to school.” I said. I saw that Frank had froze when I said that. I wasn’t sure what to do. I looked over to him.

“You okay?” I asked. He looked over as if he weren’t here moments ago.

“Yeah, no you're right, I live kind’ve far.” he replied.

“No worries,” I said, “Just lead the way.” Frank pointed down various streets and we drove down them all, looking at all the old houses. About twenty minutes later Frank told me to pull over.

“Thanks for the ride, Gee. I appreciate it.” I just looked at him. Did he just call me Gee? I’ve never had a nickname before.

“A nickname, I like it.” Holy shit. At this point I had no control over my mouth. It was it’s own independent person. I just sat still. Frank just smiled and thanked me again. We waved and I watched him walk in, and then I drove home. I realized my house wasn’t very far from Franks. I pulled up in the driveway and pulled out the keys and walked to the door. I rattled the keys in the door and walked inside. My mom wasn’t home yet from her new job because she wasn’t in the kitchen. I started down the hall and to my room when I passed my room and remembered something. I forgot to pick my brother up. For a moment I started to panic, but I shrugged it off and kept walking. I didn’t want him to spoil my good mood. I turned on my music and put on some sweatpants. I grabbed out my sketchbook and started drawing. This time I didn’t draw a creature from the night. Instead, I drew Frank. Halfway through I heard both my mom and Mikey come home. I locked my door and kept drawing. I couldn’t stop thinking about Frank. He was invading my head. His laugh was loving, his eyes were mysterious. I didn’t know what to do.
When I finished my picture of Frank, I signed it and hung it up on my wall next to my misfits poster. It seemed fitting. He was a misfit and I wanted him to be mine.
I went upstairs to grab a snack. Both my mom and Mikey were in the kitchen.

“Where were you after school Gerard. You left your brother waiting.” My mom looked pissed.

“I didn’t feel very good. So I came home.” I was completely lying. Obviously she get a call that I had missed the entire day of school.

“Oh, well next time you can at least call. Don’t do this again or I’m not letting you borrow the truck.” My mom put her hands in her hands. I grabbed out a bag of chips.

“Who was that guy you were with during second Gerard?” I froze. My mom perked up and glared right at me. Here we go.

“Why didn’t you tell me you have a friend?” she seemed insulted.

“Yeah, and they weren’t even at-” I gave my brother the look of murder and he thankfully stopped mid-sentence.

“Frank? Yeah, he’s a friend, I just didn’t tell you because I met him during second today.” Again, I am flat out lying.

“Oh, well invite him over some time. I’m glad-”

“Fine, maybe sometime. He invited me to go to a concert in Portland. Can I borrow the truck for that. It’s on friday.”

“If you pick me up from school for once!” Mikey yelled. My mom started to laugh.

“Yes, if that, and if you be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt.” I just raised my hands up, said thank you, and went back to my room, locking the door behind me again. I sat in my room and listened to music and ate chips. Once I got tired, I went to bed. Before I fell asleep, I looked at the picture of Frank I drew. His eyes looked down at me and I felt a rush of happiness, but at the same time, I felt a rush of sadness. I didn’t know what to think.

I needed to do something about it.

Notes

YAY!
Sorry its so long again. I think I have a problem with that. I still think it's going well. I would love feedback if you think something is missing or something you don't like (like how dang long I make them :P).
AND sorry things are just kind of boring. I promise next chapter is when things are gonna get interesting and spicy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for taking the time to read my story! I didn't think it would end up the way it is.