Students cow Gerard and Bert on Monday. Asking them about the bust and the detectives. News spread pretty quickly that they were involved but I don’t think most people know why. Bert shies away from the crowds but Gerard stands like some sort of queen and listens to all the questions and answering them all with such vague statements like, “there were cops involved from the cities” without saying “the largest police unit in the state was dispatched to the town”.
Gabe is still on edge with me but then Pete speaks to him and seems to relax, still not speaking though. Gerard would have told Mikey who would have told Pete who would have told anyone left that he believed would need to know.
I still don’t know how I should feel about Gerard and Bert’s “business”. It is illegal but so is drinking and smoking underage which I do anyway… To say I disagree based on ideals or something would be fucking hypocritical.
I guess what I don’t like about it is that he had a big secret with his ex and didn’t tell me until there was police involvement. I know it’s bad but I don’t think I’d even mind as much if it had been with anyone else, just because they were a thing. I try to shove jealous, paranoid, stereotypical teenage girl thoughts out of my head as I walk in silence with Gabe toward English.
“Last week before the Easter Exams!” the teacher chimes, scribbling a sample question on the board about a poem we’d learnt, The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe. It’s a cool, dark poem.
How does the imagery of the poem effect the mood and tone? Use references to support your answer. Very average question I have answered but on different poems. “You’ve got the whole class but If you’re not finished by the bell you may be writing to much as in the exams next week you won’t have so long for every question. You may begin!”
I cast a worried eye across at Gabe who is staring out the window for a long minute before beginning to write down the question in red pen.

I have an idea. My mom is chattering away gleefully about Easter exams and another date and if I’d like a fancy adult egg this year. The thought comes to me out of nowhere and I cut over my mom without even realising it, “can I have an Exam study day.”
“What?” my mom asks, a tone of confusion not even kinda masked in interest.
“Can I have people over to study all day Saturday? And you can be right there!” This seems flawless to me.
“Can’t you study on your own?” she replies poking her potatoes.
“I can but the guys can’t” she raises an eyebrow waiting for me to explain. “Eh my friends don’t study, and I’m worried about them. They don’t find it important and stuff but if I invite them over to study then they’ll have to study.”
“I see…” she eats a piece of broccoli, “Let me think about it. My date is on Friday.”

“Please guys! It’s the only way I can fucking hang out with you outside of school.”
“I don’t study Frank.” Gabe sighs.
“We’re not even in your year,” Pete says for himself and Mikey.
“I know, but you can still study! Guys we could get a shit ton of food and stuff pleeeeeaaaaase.”
I didn’t think I’d have to beg. I thought it would be, “yea sure lets hang out in your place and get some work done cool cool cool”. I’ve already invited Patrick. I think he’ll keep us from getting off track and my mom likes him for helping me with maths. He said he’d love to but I haven’t told him the others were invited.
“Whatever I will come,” Gerard says smiling at me. He is still subtly trying to have me forgive him. “I’ll even order a pizza.”
“I’ll come too,” Bert says, from beside Gabe.
Gabe sighs really loudly. “Have you learned nothing about the evils of peer pressure from Health Class,” he grins, “forcing me into something I don’t want to do. Something that’s against my principals.”
“It’s for your own good,” I laugh.
“That’s what they always say and next thing you know you’re an alcoholic living in an abandoned subway in New York.” Every one laughs at his over the top reaction but by the end of lunch everyone has agreed. I’m actually going to have people in my house that aren’t Ellie. Maybe I should invite Ellie too… And Ray and Bob… Brendon and Ryan? I don’t know, this list is getting a tad long.
Chemistry was scary. Apparently I have this folder I need done for 40% of my Easter grade and 35% of my finals. I love how I’m only learning this now. It’s just writing up experiments and I have a lot done but not all. At least a third left on top of normal study. Great.
I sit at home that night and all I do is Chemistry. Literally three hours of writing out experiments drawing shitty diagrams. I’d love Gerard’s ability to draw things and make them look… right. The more I draw the test tubes the more they look like dicks and I just can’t stop laughing. My mom downstairs must think I’m insane bur come on, I’m saying to pour acid into the dick. Okay maybe it’s not that funny.
I go down stairs for a glass of water and my mom is fake laughing down the phone. She’s received a call from that Steve guy at exactly seven thirty five every day since their first date. She’s hanging up as I return to the hall from the kitchen.
“It’s getting weird, mom” I say walking toward the stairs.
“What is?” she frowns.
“I’m not sure if he’s just clingy or OCD or both.”
“Excuse me?”
“Every day he calls you, at the exact same time” I start up the stairs. I don’t want to make her uneasy, as I obviously fucking have, but the last thing my mom needs is some clingy man called Steve crying in our drive.
I go back upstairs to draw more dick-like test tubes in unfortunate shaped beakers.

Friday’s ballet lesson is cruel. I have my exam in June but preparation has begun now. Literally each week till then we’ll be drilling two moves to perfection, for the grading. Today it is all about stance and the girls moving en pointe. I spend a lot of time picking them up and holding them too and by the end of the class my legs and arms are throbbing.
Debby drives me home because my mom left for the date about three minutes before I left the dance school. “Ellie is at her friend Maddie’s house for a sleep over” Debby says trying to ignite small talk. I have no fucking idea how to reply so I nod and it goes silent again. Coming home was such a relief. I go up to my room and prepare study notes for tomorrow. I want them to look messy like I don’t care yet exist so Patrick can be proud.
I take way to much preparation. I lay out snacks and gather spare pens and paper and flash cards. When I realise how orderly it is I hide the spare pens and eat some of all the snacks.
I’ve decided not to go to ballet mainly because my muscles are tired. As much warming up and warming down as I did I’m still fucking sore.
I’m too small for this shit.
Ellie is first to arrive, groggy and hungover from a party at Madison’s. “I wasn’t even going to come, no offence, but my mom wanted to talk to yours about the date anyway. Do you have any aspirin?”
“Yea sure one sec,” I walk into the kitchen and the two women stop giggling immediately. I don’t want to fucking know. I get Ellie an aspirin out of our kitchen cupboard while pretending to get plastic cups. Thank god for our unorganized cupboards and walk back into the sitting room. The womanly gossip commences the second I close the door.
Gerard, Pete and Mikey arrive together. Then Gabe. Ray, Bob, Brendon and Ryan all arrive in Bob’s pickup. Then Bert and then Patrick arrive.
“Want to start doing group stuff? A subject we all have?” I suggest as we all sit around my tiny sitting room. I can’t believe I have so many friends. Genuinely, it’s daunting.
“English? We’re all doing Othello right?” Gabe says from a cushion on the floor. Everyone I can see nods, I’m on the armchair with Gerard.
I’m never really sure how to study but Patrick almost immediately takes charge, breaking down the chapters and taking notes while everyone volunteers points. Well mainly me but Ellie has a very cool interpretation of the importance of the side characters that everyone writes down.
When we’re finished English after like fifty minutes we split into different groups across the room working on math. Patrick ends up spending all the allocated time with Pete, helping him with some sophomore math.I go through the geometry with Gerard, Gabe and Bert. Triangle work will never leave me.
After the core subjects we break it up even more with Gabe and Ellie working alone at one point because the rest of us don’t do Italian.
We order pizza when we believe we’ve done enough. If I was to put two people together in new found friendship it would not have been Pete and Patrick but it is. They joke around and laugh at things I wouldn’t have found funny.
Pete and Ellie exchange numbers and no one seems to care that me and Gerard make out while waiting for the pizza. We’re only half way through the boxes when Ellie has to go.
Gerard and Mikey are the last to leave. My mom watches me say bye to them from the kitchen.
“I miss you already,” Gerard grins stepping out the door.
“You’ll be missing me more soon then,” I grin sheepishly, “We’re in different exam halls, man.”
Gerard makes a distressed expression walking backward in the drive, “and then Easter?”

I nod and he stops dead in his tracks. Oh shit I think as he runs back toward me in my doorway and squeezes me into a forceful hug. I don’t quite know how but we start kissing. Mikey makes a gagging noise from the gate and my mom snaps, “Hey enough.” We break apart and Gerard starts walking backwards down my drive again, “You can see each other over Easter,” my mom sighs and reaches out to close the door between us. To me she says, “I don’t want to see my son sharing saliva with anyone on my doorstep okay. Don’t make me rethink the rethinking of the punishment.” And with that she goes to answer the phone just as the clock depicts half past seven.

Notes

Feels weird to be finished. I've been on this storyline for so long it doesn't feel finished xD thanks y'all for reading like wow thank you. I'm sorry if it wasn't as good as the first one or the ending wasn't as you hoped.
This chapter is short in comparison but I felt that the last chapter was the end and this was like the conclusion, like writing out a chemistry experiment; you write the result and then a short but after. Thanks again for reading and I'll be writing more very soon :3 xxx