She Always Hated The Cold.

Lunch. Too many people, not enough space. All of the tables were full, and the unfortunate kids littered the ground. I scanned my eyes, looking for Frank or Gerard. No sight yet. I sighed. Should've just ate in the library again. I'm behind on my homework anyway. I turned to head that way, and saw Gerard walking toward me. Thank God."Hey," he greeted easily.
"Hi. How has your day been so far?" I asked, making small talk as he walked me to the table.
"Shitty. I’m still failing Pre-Calc. Yours?"
"Below average." I replied, spotting Frank and two other kids, who were luckily at a table. Gerard sat his things down, as did I.
"Mikey, Ray, this is Jess." He introduced."Hey." They said almost in unison, then went back to their card game, less than interested. The one on the right had really mousy light hair and glasses. The other had awesome dark curly hair.
"You made it!" Frank said, patting the seat available next to him. "You can have Bob's old spot." He said dismissively, with a wave of his hand.
"Ok." I agreed, sitting next to him, and getting my lunch out. Gerard sat on the other side of me, Ray on his other side. Mikey got a giant bag of skittles, which Frank happily helped him eat with a satisfied grin.
"Good thing that asshole moved, or I’d seriously kick his ass…” Gerard muttered, shaking his head.
“And I’d help.” Ray chimed in. “Thought I could trust the dude…”
“What happened?” I asked.
“The asshole stole money, like, a lot of money from Ray.” Mikey shook his head.
“Whatever. He’s gone. So I’m started this new comic. Well, the brainstorming process, anyway." Gerard said, mid chip.
"What's it about?" Frank asked. He smelled nice. Like hair products.
"I'll tell you when I'm more certain. I've got too much bouncing around in my brain right now."
"Well if it turns into a movie, I'll do some music for the soundtrack." Frank grinned.
"You write music?" I asked, intrigued.
"Yeah, I'm in a band." He said. "I do vocals and rhythm guitar."
"They do shows every two weeks at little clubs around town." Gerard added.
"Clubs that usually don't card." Mikey jumped into the conversation with a wink.
"You're too young to drink, Mikey." Gerard rolled his eyes.
"You drink." Mikey pointed out with irritation.
"I'm 18, that's different than 15."
"You're lucky I don't tell mom about how wasted you get sometimes." Mikey was definitely irked, his voice held venom.
"YOU'RE lucky I don't tell mom about you sneaking guys in your room almost every night." Gerard snapped. That shut Mikey up. He went back to his card game without another word.
. "But no, most don't ID. You drink?"Frank asked, focusing his eyes on me.
"Of course." I rolled my eyes, "Although, I have a really low tolerance."
"Well you should come, for sure. I'm having a show this Saturday."
"Could be cool." I agreed.
-
The club was packed, and almost everyone had a drink in their hand, myself included. The boys were right about them not carding. This place, The Snake's Lair, was dimly lit, and everything looked shitty and dirty, but it held much ambiance. It definitely needed a new coat of paint though. Frank's band was setting up, and I took a seat alone; the boys weren't here yet.
My attire tonight included a black dress with plain black flats. My hair was curled in loose ringlets, and I wore red lipstick. I was in a party mood for sure."So I'm Frank. This is my band." Frank introduced. "You've seen us here a few times before, but this time, we're back with new music." There was a decent sized cheer from the crowd. I clapped, and sipped at my drink. Time to see if he was worth the applause. The first song started off with a "123, 123!" And a nice, although basic tune. Frank sung low and sort of spookily, and I struggled to hear what he was saying, but I heard the next part perfectly clear because he near-yelled it: "Just find ways to cope with feelings that you don't understand, Because no one really cares how you feel, Just as long as you act how everyone else expects you to act." He finished in a scream. My interest spiked ten-fold. I liked the lyrics; they were brutally honest. He wasn’t bullshitting anyone on how he felt. It really made me wonder what went on in Frank's head. The song finished out strong, and I had finished my drink by that point, feeling looser than normal.
The next song started, a clash of instruments. I got up and joined the mini mosh pit that had formed, and danced my heart out until their set was over.
A few of the people started to disperse, and I emerged somewhat sweaty and out of breath, making my way back to my table, but seeing Gerard at the bar."Gee!" I yelled too loudly, rushing up to him. He sipped at something Amber colored. "When did you get here?" I asked, leaning heavily on the bar. Not because I was slightly intoxicated, but because at that moment I just felt SO HEAVY. Like my body was made of lead.
"Mm... 15 minutes ago?" He smirked.
"Why so late?" I asked. "I needed a dance partner." I grinned.
"Sorry. Mikes and I got into it again." He shrugged, sipping more of his drink. "You look nice, by the way."
"Sorry to hear about Mikey... Want to talk about it?" I asked, laying my hand on his arm in support.
"Thanks, but my easel is the only talking I need."
"If you're sure..." I said, dropping it. "But I'm really impressed by what I saw tonight. The whole set was absolutely electric. Frank's really talented."
"Yep. It's all about Frank." Gerard rolled his eyes, seeming to be tipsy.
"Well, I'm sure you're talented too, but I wouldn't know because I haven't seen your art."
"Fuck art." Gerard spat.
"Seriously? What the hell did I do?! I'm trying to have a fucking conversation with you!" I raised my voice, getting angry. "When and if you're ready to talk to me without being a dick let me know!" I turned away from him "Fucking buzzkill." See, I was very strange. I either had the most patience in the world, or none at all.
"Hey! What'd you think? I saw you dancing." Frank grinned, catching me off guard. "Whoa, you ok? You look a little heated..."
"I'm fine, Gerard just pissed me off." I closed my eyes for a second, and took a deep breath to lose some of my anger.
"What'd he do?" Frank raised his brows.
"Not important. Not a big deal, I’m just overreacting." I dismissed. "But yes, you're great onstage. Very interesting lyrics! The crowd was totally in your command."
"I get most of my inspiration when I'm at my worst."
"That's too bad, I'd love to hear something you wrote out of a surge of good feelings. We should jam sometime! Your voice and guitar, my bass."
"That'd be awesome. Want to go out for pizza?"
"Like right now?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'm starved." He started.
"Sure." I nodded. "I'll buy."
"Don't do that, I invited you." Frank protested.
"You can get me next time, when you take me out for real." I smiled.
"For real? Well, it looks to me like you're dressed for a date, we really shouldn't let it go to waste." He shrugged.
"Ok." I giggled, and blushed which thank God he couldn’t see since it was so dimly lit. "But I'm still paying. To hell with gender rules!"
-
We were in the middle of stuffing our faces with greasy goodness, and asking each other questions at some place called Joe’s Pizzaria Diner. We'd started off easy, favorite color, favorite type of music, ect. But now was time for the harder stuff, apparently. I couldn’t quite put my finger on when exactly that happened. "God?" He asked, resting his head in his palm, green eyes focusing on me.
"I don't believe in God, but I am spiritual if that makes sense. I believe everything happens for a reason, but I don't believe in an afterlife or some kind of all-powerful magical being. I believe what you put out into the world, you’ll receive back. Like karma. What about you?" I twirled my hair.
"I believe in nothing. This whole existence is just a huge coincidence of the universe, that’s slowly, but surely heading for the sun, and we’re fucked.” He shrugged.
“That’s pretty morbid.” I noted. “But possible, I suppose.” Just then my phone buzzed loudly, making me jump slightly. “Oh, shit. Sorry, it’s my mom.” I excused myself and walked a short distance away. “Hello?”
“Oh, look! You’re alive.” My mom said with an easygoing tone. “When are you coming home?”
“Right now. Sorry, I forgot about curfew. I stopped for a bite to eat after the show.” I explained, shifting my weight between legs.
“Ooh, bring me something, I didn’t cook.” The line went dead from her end. My mom was way too scatterbrained. I walked back to the table.
“Hey. That was my mom.”
“Do you have to go?” He asked.
“Well, no, but it’s getting late.” I smiled apologetically.
“I understand. I’ll walk you home.” He smiled. I paid for the pizza, and we made our way to my house. He lit up as we talked.
“So how many boyfriends have you had before?” WOW. Forward!
“Two. What about you? How many girlfriends?”
“One.”
“Ooh, who? Do I know her?” I asked playfully.
“Maybe? Maybe not because you’re still kinda new. Her name’s Hadley.”
“Pretty blonde?”
“That’s her.”
“She’s in my Pre-Calc class. Gee, that’s a good looking couple. What happened?”
“We just didn’t really click.” He shrugged.
“Ah. Sorry to hear that.”
“Don’t be, it was for the best.” We’d arrived at my house. “So we could jam tomorrow if you want.”
“I might be able to pencil you in.” I smiled.
“Sweet. Meet up at 4?”
“Sounds good.” I agreed. We stood there for a minute, having nothing really to say. A moment or two passed.
“So I’ll see you tomorrow…”
“See you…” He was really close to me, so close, I could smell those hair products again. They smelled expensive.
“Fuck it, I’m just going to go for it.” He muttered.
“Please do.” I murmured. And then we were kissing, and his hands were on my waist, and mine were on his neck, and I seemed to have this damned butterfly infestation in my stomach. We stayed like that for centuries until all of a sudden, I heard my mom.

“You guys are really cute and everything, but I’m really hungry…” She said awkwardly.
“I’ll be right back.” I told him, and he nodded. I ran, and handed my mom her pizza, then ran back to Frank and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow at four.”
“Tomorrow at four.” He grinned.
-
I woke up around 8:30 feeling well rested, and happy. I checked my phone, and saw I had one message from Gerard. SORRY ABOUT LAST NIGHT, COME OVER FOR BREAKFAST? MOM MADE BACON PANCAKES. Bacon pancakes?
I’LL BE THERE SOON.
I got myself presentable, and made my way to his house, and knocked. Gerard answered a moment later, and an amazing aroma wafted my way. “Hey Jess.”
“Hey Gee. So if I remember correctly, you mentioned bacon pancakes…?” I smiled.
“Ah, I did.” He grinned back at me. “And I’m sorry about last night. It just fucking sucks fighting with Mikey… He’s the only one who really gets me at all.”
“It’s okay, I understand. It just pissed me off you were being that way when I did absolutely nothing wrong.” I explained.
“I know. Come on in.” He moved to allow me in, and showed me into the kitchen where an absolute army of food awaited us.
“Hello dear! So glad you’re joining us for breakfast! Please, have a seat.” Gerard’s mom pulled out a chair at the table for me, and went to make me a plate. I sat, and Gerard pushed my chair in for me.
“Good boy, Gerard.” His mother praised.
“Thank you, Gee. Very gentlemanly of you.” I smiled.
“I aim to please.” He rolled his eyes, grabbing a plate and sitting beside me. His mom brought me my plate not long after.
“Thank you so much, Mrs. Way.” Everything looked absolutely great.
“Donna, please.” She smiled warmly. “Now excuse me, I have a mountain of laundry to attend to.”
Gerard and I ate in silence until both of us were finished. “Want to talk over a game of Magic The Gathering?” He asked awkwardly.
“Teach me how to play, and sure.”
-
“And he told me I care more about drinking than him… and that struck a fucking chord. But to be fair, he’s been putting his random ass sleeping partners before me…”
“Where is he now?” I asked, taking my move in the game.
“Exactly. Out. Or holed up in his room. I don’t know.”
“Well try and spend more time with him. What is something you both enjoy?” I asked.
“Horror movies.”
“Then suggest that. But… it does sound like you may have a teensy weensy drinking problem…” I said, bracing for a possible lash out.
“I’m in control of it, I swear.”
“I’m sure you are, I just think cutting it down a little would be beneficial.” We finished our game a minute later.
“Yeah, maybe.” He reluctantly agreed. We cleaned up, and I stood, looking around the room. He had a sketch lying on his night stand.
“Wow.” I remarked. It was a picture of a vampire with a terrifying face, and blood on its chin. “This is really dark.”
“I’m not sure how to draw any other way… I don’t even plan these things, I just put my pencil to paper, and these images emerge… Is that weird?”
“Not at all. You gotta let the art be the art. It’s still really good.” I smiled. “Didn’t you say something about failing Pre-Calc?”
He nodded. “Like, bad.”
“Alright. Grab your homework. I’ll help.” He grabbed his stuff, and we spent the next 45 minutes sprawled out on the floor working through his assignments. The door opened, and Mikey walked in.
“Hey, Gee, I… Oh. Hey.” Mikey looked at me with distaste, and I was instantly confused.
“Oh, don’t mind me, I was just leaving…” I said, heading to the door. “Bye, Gee, I had fun.” I walked away, and heard Mikey ask Gee when he was moving out, because “I’m sick of sharing this god damned house with you.” I shook my head. What an asshole. Was it even worth it for Gerard to try and fix their relationship? Mikey seemed disinterested in the same agenda.
I made my way to Frank’s and knocked on the door after stopping home to grab my bass. “Hey.” He grinned brightly, letting me in.
“Hi.” I smiled. We shared a small kiss, and he lead me to his room. “So I’ll just play some notes, and you join in. Let’s see what shit we can create.”
“Alright.” He agreed. We spent 3 hours passing notes… and sharing the occasional kiss… and talking about things we found dumb, until it was time for me to head home.
“I’ll see you at school.”
“Ok. Bye.” He pecked me goodbye. I went home, and laid in my bed, thinking about the day. I still couldn’t believe that Frank had been with Hadley. Weird. But annoying cute. I’d have to get her side of the story tomorrow.

Notes

So I've finally hammered out what i'm going to do with this story, and geez it's gonnna be long. Still spots open for my contest, by the way! Let me know what you think if you feel like.