gerard
I heard Jessie call my name, but I ignored it. I didn't want to face what I had done. What had I done?

It didn't matter. The guys didn't ask about it. We didn't see Jessie or her creepy little friends again, except when we woke up and she was cleaning up the plates of eggs that Ms. Iero made. She didn't look at me, why would she? I probably grossed her out.

But such was apparently not the case. She tagged along with Frank whenever he came over, and she seemed to be more comfortable around me. Smile more. Not directly to me, but it was a start. I learned that she was funny as hell when she was in a good mood. We had rehearsals and she caught on quickly to the songs, playing nearly what Matt played. That's why I loved drummers--they were taught to improvise.

One day, the second Saturday of June, Frank asked me to do him a favor. Go to Jessie's graduation.

"Are you crazy?" I asked. "No way am I going to anything like that."

Frank looked at me with pleading eyes. "C'mon Gerard, please come. I'll be bored out of my mind."

I sighed. His puppy dog eyes worked their magic. "Fine," I said reluctantly. "But no dinner or any shit like that?"

"No dinner, no shit," he said. "Swear." When the time came, he took me in his car and drove to the high school. It was not the same as I remembered it seven years ago. The brick walls had always resembled those of a prison's; now, they just seemed like walls. The courtyard had previously been concrete walks of hell, but as people dressed in nice clothes followed their paths, they looked like simple dirty sidewalks.
We made our way to the auditorium--where I remembered putting on a stupid Peter Pan play--and found Ms. Iero. She smiled broadly and beckoned for us to join her in the two empty chairs by her.

I took a program and looked it through when we found our seats. The same principal was here, the same teachers that directed my graduation ceremony were directing this one. Class list, check. Boring, redundant speeches, check. Pretentious valedictorian, check. Wait.

That was Jessie.

Since when was she the head of her class? I guess she never told me otherwise, but I really didn't see that coming. I almost felt jealous, almost.

The ceremony began, and before long, Jessie was called up. She was clad in the usual cap and gown, but with more chords than I have ever seen on one person. She must have worked her ass off for those. Looking extremely shaken, she cleared her throat.

jessie
June 2nd. Graduation day. Finally.

I put on a sleek blue dress and slipped into my black rental gown. The mirror that was propped up against my wall projected a mostly-happy, soon-to-be-graduate. I had to admit, high school was unfathomably stressful, but I would miss the people. Taking AP classes at every possible chance and maintaing a 5.6 GPA had taken its toll. At least it had gotten me accepted into Yale; the letter was stuck in the mirror frame.

I smiled a pink lipstick-clad smile at myself and brushed my dark hair back. Our class was small; the ceremony wouldn't take long. Then my life would carry on, summer melting in and then fading away, autumn sneaking its way in through the summer heat; my next steps going into college, and who knows what would come after that?

My temporary drumming position would end, my real life would settle in. I hated to give up music, but that's what had to be done. Any sort of engineering position would require my full dedication and I couldn't be distracted by anything else. I was actually looking forward to playing a few gigs... or maybe even more.

Aunt Linda walked in, a proud grin on her face. "My baby girl!" she gushed. "Don't you look beautiful! You're all grown up and saving China." A Mulan reference. How original.

"Look at you, Aunt Linda! You look rather stunning, yourself." She was dressed in her usual Sunday best, just a purple dress and white shawl.

"Oh, you," she grinned. "Are you ready to go?"

I nodded. "Where's Frank?" I asked. I hadn't seen him all day.
She clicked her tongue. "With that boy that he's been around--whatshisname. You know who I mean."

"Gerard?" I suggested.

"Yes, him," she said. "I swear, he makes me question Frank's sexuality, he does." I chuckled. I never knew that's how she thought of him--that's probably the only impression she had of Gerard.

Aunt Linda and I eventually piled in her Toyota and I kissed her on the cheek before parting to join the rest of my classmates.

I was given several chords and directed to the auditorium stage, where I was to give my speech. Thankfully, my deodarent was working well enough so the nervous sweat couldn't creep through my clothes. Being pushed to the podium before I was ready didn't help calm my anxiety much. My heart raced as I stepped towards the front of the stage. I was given some sort of introduction that I couldn't exactly hear and the principal lowered the microphone down, which I had to adjust even lower with sticky palms. The audience of roughly eight hundred people waited with sixteen hundred ears to hear the top of the class deliver a heartwarming goodbye speech.

I cleared my dry throat. "My fellow students, teachers, administrators, staff, friends, family, and parents: what a journey this has been. It is my honor to be here, as your valedictorian, and I would like to extend my greatest gratitude to my friends, family, teachers, and everyone that has helped me to get where I am today.

"Four years has seen more than I could have ever imagined when I came through these halls for the first time in August of 1998. We've been through everything from entering a new millennium to a national tragedy, all while staying here, together in Belleville High."

The mention of the Twin Towers made the audience shift, and I could see tears forming in many eyes. Regardless, I carried on.

"A friend of mine once said that he wanted nothing more than to follow his dreams, but he didn't know what they were. He tried so many different paths, but he knows now that he's doing the right thing. It took him years to figure that out.
"He was our age once; every successful business mogul or scientist or rock star was. They all started out small. And more often than not, they were confused. Not everyone knows what they want to do with the rest of their lives.

"What I've learned is that that is okay. It's alright to be lost or not know what the next step is. You all have a place in this world, and you'll find it. It just takes some time. Everywhere you go, everything you do, and anywhere you end up--it all has a reason. You all have a purpose, because we are the future. We will make our world when the time comes, however that may be.

"So best of luck to my classmates in all of your endeavors. We can all follow our dreams. We, together, can make it. Because Belleville is just our start, and from here, we will find our place."

The hall burst into applause. I gave a quiet "thank you" into the microphone and took my designated seat on the stage. Amongst all of the clapping people, I tried to find my aunt. She was there, and I could see tears streaming down her cheeks. Next to her was Frank, who was grinning so hard that I'm sure that his teeth were going to fall out. And who just happened to be next to him was Gerard.

I wasn't sure why exactly he was here, but I ignored it. Then I started thinking about how I loosely quoted him in my speech. Did he notice? He probably thought I was an idiot--only idiots can't think of what to write and end up taking the words of someone they hardly knew.

But the question was, did I hardly know him? I'd been spending more time with him than I realized, even if it was with a group. Not that I minded. After the night that he kissed me (that still being hard to come to terms with), I was more comfortable around him, but I was still painfully aware that I might slip into a ball of anxiety if he tried to talk to me alone.
I drew my attention back to the principal, who was giving out diplomas. I tried to recall the salutatorian's speech; it was something about individuality, I believe. I had heard it so many times from him when we rehearsed it that it probably seemed second-nature, and my brain just ignored it. Yeah, that's what happened.

"Jessica Ann Iero."

I stepped forward and received the scroll of parchment, had my tassels turned and shook the principal's hand. Just don't think of how many hands that's touched before just now, I reminded myself.

The ceremony moved slowly, each graduate called up in an awfully slow process. It finally ended, the only highlights being "Michelle Lynn Monroe," "Laura Mia Sanchez," and "Kayla Elizabeth Greene." I met Frank and Aunt Linda in the courtyard, who both welcomed me into literal open arms.
"That was just wonderful, sweetheart!" Aunt Linda exclaimed, extending her arms for another hug. "I am so proud of you!" I smiled and shrugged.

"It wasn't much," I stated simply.

"Are you kidding?" Frank asked. "It was great. I know how hard you worked for everything." I shrugged again. Gerard, who I noticed was standing a few feet away from our hug-fest, was fascinated by something on the ground.

I thanked them both, and when they said that it was time to go, I was given permission to catch up with my friends while they waited in their separate cars. I noticed Gerard didn't move when Frank walked to the parking lot.

"Hey," he said, almost sweetly, "that really was something. I had no idea." His interest with the ground suddenly ceased when he looked at me, his light eyes holding what I defined as admiration.

"Well, yeah, you don't know a lot of things," I replied. Realizing that I probably sounded extremely rude, I added, "but thank you."

"I can honestly say that I was shocked when you used what I said in your speech. Although, you made it sound intelligent." He smiled his pretty smile. "I'm glad I got to hear that."

"Why did you come anyways?" I asked. It wasn't exactly normal for your cousin's friend who also happened to think you're a stupid kid that plays drums in place of their regular drummer in addition to being the person you based your speech off of to turn up at your graduation.

"Frank dragged me out here. Said he'd be bored." Gerard paused, wringing his hands. "So are you guys, like, going to dinner or something?"

"Yeah, but it's a family thing," I replied. "Sorry."

He didn't look disappointed; in fact, he didn't look like he expected anything at all. "Oh, I know. You have fun." I nodded.

Pete then strode over to where I was and pulled me into an embrace. I breathed in his familiar smell. He congratulated me, then quickly noticed Gerard. I introduced the two and saw that their jaws both clenched when shaking the other's hand.

I turned to Gerard. "W-well, thanks, for coming and stuff," I stuttered. He and I tried to hug or something or the sort, but we ended up just shaking hands. He waved with two fingers held up and made his way to the parking lot. Pete saw his family and gave me another hug, followed by a kiss on top of the head.

I then found my friends, who were clustered not far away, all laughing and talking. I walked up and they laughed even more. I felt a pang of humiliation, but swallowing it, I asked what was so funny.

"Nothing," Kayla said. I didn't believe her and gave her a stern look. "Just you and that guy. That was cute." The three of them agreed.

"Who?" I asked. "Gerard? Or Pete?"

"Ha," said Michelle. "Both. But we all know that the real chemistry is between you and the Gerard dude." Again, my friends shook their heads, going along with what she was saying.

"Would you shut up?" I said, but I felt a grin coming on. They all giggled, and I eventually did too. "You're all lunatics."

"I guess it's also crazy to think that you did really well, Jessie," Michelle said, and hugged me.

"Yeah. I've never heard a better speech," Kayla gushed and ruffled my hair.

Laura smiled. "Agreed. We're really proud of you."

"Thank you guys so much," I said. "Hey, I have to go, but I'll see you soon?" They all said that they would and said their goodbyes. As I came nearer to where my aunt was parked, I reminded myself just how grateful I was to have good people in my life.

Notes

Hello all!

I'm not good at inspirational things, so sorry :c

To make up for that short chapter, here is a longer one. And now that Jessie's out of school, she'll have more free time... hmm...

If you could comment any thoughts or possibly even vote, that'd be super :)

Fucking love you,
xoxo gerweird