A Shot to Remember

Taking Back Sunday woke me up on this Monday morning, a slight complaint but not entirely bad per se. I opened my eyes and groggily peered around the room, taking in the large amounts of posters scattered along the walls. I reached my hand over to grasp my phone, sliding the bar that shut off the alarm. I yawned and checked my texts -- none, as usual. Sitting up in my place, I shivered silently as my soles ghosted over the cold floor.

Standing up and gaining balance against a dresser, I ran my fingers through the black mop of tangles I liked to call my hair. I feel a greasy spot and pull out my hand on instinct, inspecting the tips of my fingers to be shiny. Grossed out, I exit the bedroom and stride down the hallway and into the bathroom, quickly showering and wrapping a towel around my waist.

On the way back to my room, Mikey runs into me. "Sorry, bro, I didn't see you there." He says, looking at the floor and hurrying past me. I questioned his behavior but shrugged it off, entering my bedroom once again. I pulled on a pair of black skinny jeans, a Green Day tee shirt and a pair of grey socks. I towel dried off my hair as much as I could before parting and styling it, brushing out all the tangles that remained.

I rimmed my eyes with black eyeliner and added a thick "Taking Back Sunday" wristband to my left arm. I unplugged my phone from the charger, slipping it into my back pocket and heading downstairs. I slipped on my pair of new black Chucks and headed into the living room.

Mikey sat on the couch, texting who knows who. I sat down and politely said, "good morning." As I waited for a response, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out to see a text from my friend Ray. Good morning, sassy. I smile, and reply with Good morning to you too, princess frofro. "Morning." Mikey finally replies, standing up and heading to the front door, "see you later." With that, he slams the door and I hear the loose concrete steps shake underneath his feet.

I shake my head. Why did Mikey have to hide everything from me, nowadays? He's supposed to be fine with anything I have to say about his problems. My thoughts clouded together, but I decided I should just get over it. It was like this every morning; It was really nothing new.

Ray had striked up a conversation, talking about this new diner that opened downtown and how we should go eat there tonight. I was only paying attention to half of what he said, but that was to be expected from me. I wasn't exactly the kind of person that had to note down everything that was happening.

Finally, I decided it was time to head to school. I grabbed my keys off the keyrack by the door, pulled on a hoodie over my head and stepped out the front door. I locked it behind me and made my way to my truck, slipping silently into the seat.

On the way there, I passed Mikey. I thought about asking him if he wanted a ride, but he was walking with a big group of people and I had the idea that they were all walking together for a reason.

As I pulled into the parking lot, I switched off the ignition. As I pulled my arm back, I felt my hoodie grip to something on my wrist and pull. Fuck. I prayed to "God" that I wasn't going to start bleeding, but much to my luck, my demands weren't met.

I searched around the glovebox and found a napkin, wrapping it loosely around my wrist and pushing down, hoping the bleeding would stop. As the bell rang, I threw the napkin on the floor of my car and grabbed my bag, locking the doors and rushing inside. This was already going to be a bad day.

[Time lapse: 6.5 hours.]

As last period was finishing up, Ray tapped on my shoulder. "Are you still down to go to that diner with me?" I thought for a second as he was talking and nodded.

"Sure, why not? It's always fun when we go places together." He smiled at my comment, and high-fived me.

"I met some kid on the way here, his name's Frank. He's Mikey's age, and he said his dad owns the place. He said I should meet him there sometime. He seems like a cool guy." Ray said, as the bell rang. We both stacked our stuff.

"Sounds like a plan. I don't want to make you suffer, so I guess I'll give you a ride." I retort, and Ray just smiles again. We exit the classroom and head to the parking lot, slipping into the car. I rolled down the window and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it and taking in a drag. I see Mikey walk by the car.

"Hey Mikes, you need a ride?" I ask nicely, as Ray straps himself into the passenger seat.

"U-uh, no... I-I'm meeting up some friends." He says, and quickly walks out of sight around the corner. I look at Ray and Ray looks at me. He knew something was up, and so did I.

"I would suggest we go catch your little brother, but I don't want to piss off Frank." Ray says, as I turn the keys and take another hit of the cigarette. I had the same idea, in a way, except it didn't concern this guy Frank. It was more of a "if he wants to ruin his life, let it be" kind of deal.

Ray gave me the directions, and I realized it wasn't that far from my house. It was about a 20 minute walk, which meant it was only about 10 minutes from Ray's house. I pulled into the small parking lot and exited, tossing the cigarette on the ground and smashing it with my shoe.

We walked inside and I sat down in a corner booth as Ray went to use the bathroom. A short boy with black hair, shaved and bleached on the sides, handed me a menu and a glass of water. I raised an eyebrow at the water, and the boy chimed in, "complimentary waters, of course. Welcome to Iero's, my name is Frank and I'll be your server." I suddenly realized that this was the Frank that Ray was talking about.

"Hi, I'm Gerard. I'm here with my friend Ray, I guess you two met this morning? He said we should come here after school and I, well I took him up on his offer." Frank grinned widely, his whole face lighting up.

"Oh, your Ray's friend? He talked a little bit about you this morning when he passed by." He says, as Ray takes a seat across from me. What did Ray say about me? Frank didn't add onto his comment, he just started talking to Ray.

I took a sip of water and had a billion thoughts running through my head, all ranging from who this Frank guy was, how he was, and what drugs Mikey was trying today.

Notes

Title credits:
"Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year" by Fall Out Boy

So, I had an old story that I wasn't very proud of nor were other people proud of. I'm trying to start a new story (obviously frerard) and I'm hoping you guys like it :) I'm also trying to write longer chapters, but it's hard to update because school starts tomorrow morning and this is the family computer. Anyways, enjoy/

-Kat