Blow A Kiss Under Methane Skies

"Gerard! You're staying late and filing these comics in order. You'll be here with the night-shift workers and helping them lock up." My boss informs me from across the empty comic book shop.

l don't have a problem with staying here late. And you're probably wondering why there are night-shift workers at a comic book shop? Well, that's because it has a coffee shop and surprisingly, a lot of people come here near night to get coffee and a book or two. l love comic books so l'd be glad to stay here late. lnfact, l don't get payed for working here, l get paid with comic books. The people in charge were more than happy to pay me with books instead of money.

Anyways, l never met the night-workers. This should be interesting. Everyone who has the same hours as me are really cool and are full of surprises, and, even though l'm not very social, l'd like to see if the night-workers are the same. l start organizing the comics, as told. l pick up an X-Men comic and feel a warm feeling on the inside. This was the first comic l ever read, and l was really little when l read it. When l was little, everything was sort of perfect. That's because when you're a kid, you see good in everything and l always wanted to be the good in everything. Nowadays, life is as it should be as a college student in a New York art school. Stressing and constantly broke. l don't have the normal "college experience" with parties and beer. My roommate is a guy named Jimmy. He's very fun and loud and expressive with spiky hair and he loves the color pink. And if your wondering what l'm like, l suppose you can relate me to Charlie in Perks Of Being A Wallflower and l love music and comic books. My best friend is my brother Mikey, he's in senior year of high school and works at Barnes and Noble. l used to work with him there but l worked in the music field and he worked with books.

l'm pulled out of my thoughts when the entrance door swings open, almost hitting the wall beside it, and someone frantically runs in. He wears black skinny jeans with a hole in the knee area of the fabric, a red and black striped long sleeve, and black and white converse. He has a black fringe with shaved sides, the sides dyed red. l think l can see a nose piercing and lip piercing and small gauges in his ears. Oh, and skeleton gloves that stop in the middle of his fingers. He looks attractive and like a well dressed punk-rock kid.

"Sorry l'm late!" He says to a worker behind the counter. She chuckles and says, "Just get behind that counter, kid." He smiles in her direction for a couple seconds as he positions himself behind the register.

Well, obviously he's a night-shift worker. l examine him a little more for a few seconds. He's very short and l like his shirt. l go back to organizing the comic books on the next shelf and flip through a Hellboy comic. Hellboy en Mexico. l've read this, it's good, Mike Mignola's work is always good. l put the comic away and get back to work.

My breath suddenly hitches as l feel like someone is staring at me. Do you ever get that feeling? And your palms get sweaty and you can barely think. l guess l get all nervous because l don't like people directing their attention towards me; and the fact that l have anxiety and didn't take my pills this morning isn't helpig. l take a few deep breaths and reluctantly turn around. My eyes wander, seeking someone mixing there coffee but they're not looking at me. l see a teenager in a batman shirt going through a book but they're not looking at me either. l see the lady that chuckled at the kid that rushed in and told him to get behind the register but she's walking towards the back of the shop and her back in turned towards me. Finally, l look near the register and see the punk-rock guy, the guy that rushed in here earlier, and he's biting his thumb and he seems zoned out on my hands or chest or something. But he's looking at me. l wonder if he realizes what he's doing or if he's just lost in his thoughts? l awkwardly look at him and notice the hazel color of his eyes. They have golden specks in them; almost like mine. l shake my head and exhale before turning back around and putting the last comic book in its place. l make a clicking sound with my tongue and stand up, sore from the way l was sitting. l lazily walk a few feet to my right and check to see if the comics are messed up or out of order. And they are. So l crouch down and start working on the few that are out of place. l hear a rustling sound a few feet behind me and then light footsteps. lt's probably someone going to the register to buy a book. l shrug but less than ten seconds later, l see a lot of red and black and what looks like skeleton hands. lt's the kid!

l slowly look at him and feel my stomach knot. Remember when l said that l'm not very social? l lied. l'm not social at all. l bite my lips and continue to look up at him with wide eyes. He smiles then chuckles before sitting down next to me and grabbing a comic book and putting it where it's supposed to be. l silently thank him for helping me organize.

"Hey, l'm Frank." He introduces. His hands with black nail polish pick up another comic and puts that away in the right place.

"l-l'm G-gerard. Hi." l breathily reply. Fucking stutter. He nods and glances at me before opening his mouth then quickly closing it.

"l like your shirt, by the way." He informs. l look at my shirt, forgetting what l'm wearing. lt's casual Friday so l don't have to wear my usual work shirt and black pants. l'm wearing one of my several lron Maiden shirts. l smile and giggle, but quickly refrain from giggling, and turn to smile at him.

"Thanks. What's your favorite song by them?" l ask, feeling a bit more comfortable around Frank now that l know we have something in common. He pulls a thinking face and then he looks at me.

"Probably Blood Brothers or The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg." He answers. l hum and nod in response while smiling. l feel myself blush for no reason and quickly tilt my head so my black hair is covering my face.

"What other bands do you like?" l find myself asking. l'm almost surprise myself because l only get this involved in conversations with my brother, Jimmy, my parents, or my grandma. But my grandma died a while back but l still talked to her all the time. l glance at Frank and see him smiling and biting his thumb again as he's about to reply.

"l love Smashing Pumpkins, Black Flag, Bruce Springsteen, The Dehumanizers, Misfits, Danzig, Janis Figure, Soundgarden, Radiohead, Stone Temple Pilots... and a lot more." He chuckles. "What about you, Gerard?" He asks.

l look at him like he's a god. He likes all of the good bands, all of the bands that l love. l bite my lip some more before l shake my head and dreamily exhale.

"l love all of the same bands." l reply to his question. He smirks and nods.

*****

For the next 45 minutes, we talk about comics and more bands, especially lron Maiden, and we get to know each other really well. He's fresh out of high school and just got an apartment of his own. He has two dogs and quite a few tattoos under his shirt. He let me see them and they're really interesting. l noticed the scorpion tattoo on his neck and l think that's my favorite. l also like the NJ tattoo on the inside of his lip. That must have been painful to get tattooed though. Frank is also an only child, his dad and grandpa play the drums but Frank plays the guitar.

When l was done organizing comics, we talked for about ten more minutes before he suggested that l go home and get some sleep because it was getting late and l apparently looked really tired. l guess he suggested getting rest because l yawned five times in thirty seconds. Before l left however, we exchanged numbers and l felt butterflies in my stomach when l saved his number to my phone. l waved bye to him before l exited through the glass doors and he waved back and called, "Bye, Gee!" The nickname made me blush as l walked across the parking lot underneath the moonlight.

l think l might stay for the night-shift more often.

l get back to my dorm and find Jimmy playing video games on our futon across from the television. Halo. l put sweatpants and a Rocky Horror Picture Show shirt on and crawl into bed.

"Night Jimmy." l yawn. He glances over to me and beams before doing some weird jerking movement with the game controller and killing a couple of those little triangle alien guys.

"Good night, Gerard. See you in the morning." He replies just before l drift off to sleep.

Notes

Hi guys! l haven't written anything in months, l used to have stories but l deleted them, so sorry if my writing skills aren't too good. But if you read this, thank you! And please comment or tell me how l'm doing :)