Get busy living or get busy dying

It was a Monday when I met him. I was working in the shop and he came in to buy a copy of great expectations, talking about things like bands and some party he was going to that weekend. His white hair was unexpected; I'd never seen anyone dye it like that before. When he and his brother came to the register, he asked for my number. And I gave it to him. I didn't think that it would lead to anything like this, but somehow, I let it.
"This is the coolest book store I've ever seen." He said and when I told him it was mine, He began to ramble on about how creative I must be to create such an environment. "a beautiful mind for a beautiful girl, it makes sense." He said, and for a moment, I believed that he thought it was true. "I'm Gerard, this is my little brother Mikey, and you are?" He inquired. And I didn't see any reason not to tell him, let him try to become my friend, maybe even be close, closer.
"Jade, Jade Lively." I told him, sticking my hand out for him to shake. He stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a crumbled up piece of paper, smoothed it out and used a pen from the counter to write his cell phone number down. It was written next to a cartoon doodle of a bear with a ray gun, which made he chuckle a bit.
He shrugged and said, "sorry, that's all I had to write it on. Can i have yours?" I grabbed an index card from the pack on the shelf next to me and scribbled it down.
"We have stuff you could have written it on, but it works. It's perfect." I told him and he blushed, smirking. Mikey just stood there, arms crossed, looking like he knew something that I didn't, something that I should have known, or been able to guess or figure out, like my mere presence amused him.
Gerard folded the index card in half and slid it into his back pocket. "I'm definitely going to be using that. soon." He almost whispered, like he was half warming me, half telling himself, thinking it over in his mind, like it could potentially change his whole, almost as though he knew it would. He turned to Mikey and nodded,then they walked out with no haste in their stride, taking their time, savoring what they knew was to come.
It was one Monday later that he called. I'd spent the week thinking about them, wondering about their story and when he called, I couldn't help but be a little too excited. "Uhh..Jade, is that you he asked?"
"It is" I answered, nodding my head, even though I knew he couldn't see me.
"would you like to have dinner with me this Wednesday at Le Cherrabbe?" He asked a bit timidly, near stuttering.
"I don't see why not. I'd love too."
"wow. Okay, awesome, I'll pick you up at seven. You'll have to text me your address, unless you want me to pick you up at the store. Which would you prefer?'
"I'll text you directions." I told him and we hung up. I spend Tuesday at the mall looking for a dress and trying to figure out how I'd fix my hair. When Wednesday came, I had my older brother, Frank, come over to help me get ready. He curled my hair and helped with my make-up. He said that he wished I'd gotten a purple dress instead of the blue one I'd chosen, but that was his favorite color, and my least favorite. The dress I'd decided on was strapless, sapphire blue and knee length. I felt beautiful that night, it was refreshing.
The doorbell rang at exactly six fifty nine and Frank opened the door. He looked at Gerard, assessing him up and down, scrutinizing every aspect of him as I walked in. He turned to me and said, I like his choice in ties, shoes could use work, cologne is adequate. He's seems polite enough, but if he even thinks about hurting you, I will know and just because I'm gay doesn't mean I can't beat his ass to a pulp." I blushed and lightly elbowed him in his ribs. Gerard got up and told him,
"Don't worry, I'll take great care of your little sister. I wouldn't hurt her for the world." We waved Frank goodbye and climbed into his truck.

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