Catacomb Kids

The filming didn’t start too long after Gerard suggested the project. I fired up my camcorder for convenience’s sake that Monday, starting from when I woke up.
I rolled over in bed, reaching to my nightstand and groping for my camera. Once I found it, I opened that sucker up and started filming. I yawned, deciding against a monologue as I went through my morning routine, footage rolling. That sort of stuff could always be done later.
On my walk to school, I focused the camera on the ground, at the dim November sky, and at anything interesting really. Which, in suburbia, there were a lot of things that you wouldn’t look twice at, so you had to work to find the beauty in them.
I filmed my shoes kicking at stray pebbles across the shattered sidewalks, shot a few stray birds gliding across the sky. As I trudged along, I remembered that I wasn’t exactly in a nice part of town. Then again, there weren't exactly ‘nice parts’ in Bellville. There’s just slightly less horrifyingly violent and shady parts. Maybe where I am someone might cut your finger off, but across town on the west side, they’d take the whole hand.
I ran into Mikey and Gerard almost immediately after reaching school. And by running into them, I mean that I waited by their empty parking spot until their car rolled in.
“Hey,” Gerard greeted, rolling down his window. The first thing he did was shove his middle finger into the camera lens.
I wiped the thing off on my sleeve, smearing off the oils from Gerard’s hands. “Keep your scummy fingers away from my camera.”
“Oh yeah? Away from the camera, huh?” Gerard asked. He stuck the tip of his pointer finger into his mouth, sucking on it before reaching over and sticking it in my ear.
I squirmed, shoving him away. “Gross dude!”
Gerard burst out laughing, finally pulling his keys from the ignition. His car had been running since he parked; he always leaves his car running, or even forgets to turn the headlights off. No wonder it’s such a piece of shit.
I filmed Gerard, then crawling through the window and over him to get a shot of Mikey. “Mikey, hi.”
Mikey gazed down into the camera, grinning. “Sup, dude?”
“Get off me!” Gerard protested, writhing beneath me. He grabbed me by the back of my blazer and yanked me backward; my head narrowly missed the ceiling of the car. He shoved me back through the window, then opening the car door and nearly slamming it into my leg.
Gerard closed the door, waiting for Mikey to get out too before starting towards the school building.
It was nice enough out so that kids were hanging around the front of the school. The fountain, as usual, was occupied by some of the more popular kids. We pushed through the throng of students, and I actually got pretty far before being stopped.
“Hey! Iero!”
The shout came from Ben, this senior who used to ride Gerard’s ass for the hell of it. That was our freshman year, before Gerard had the guts to stand up to anybody. Nowadays he’s, for the most part, harassment free. No one bullies him, per say, but there’s still times where he’s the butt of a joke. I still thought that Ben was a big part of the reason Gerard had any trouble with other boys, and as a result, he and I were never on good terms. “What?” I growled.
Ben pushed against my chest, demanding, “What’s the film camera for?”
“It’s for a project,” I retorted hotly. I didn’t have the time or patience to deal with that kid. I tried to walk past, but he grabbed me by the shoulder of my jacket, pulling me back to face him.
“Leave him alone, Ben,” Gerard ordered. “Let go of him.”
Mikey practically ran out of there, telling hastily, “Well, I should get going to class. I-I’ll see you guys later.”
"Fucking coward," Gerard muttered under his breath.
"Is it a documentary?" Ben asked. He took a step forward and broadened his shoulders, towering over me.
"I guess you could say that," I replied through gritted teeth.
Ben released me roughly, threatening, "If I see you taping me you're dead. I don't want to be a part of your little freak film fest, got it?"
I gulped, responding, "It's just part of the project."
"Well keep me out of it," he hissed.
"Ben, not everything's fucking about you," Gerard snapped. "Frankie's project has nothing to do with you; don't make it out to be that way. Grow up and get over it, you jackass."
Ben backed off, but he still felt the need to taunt, "See you later, Frankie."
I ducked my head, starting towards the building. "Thanks, man."
"Don't mention it," Gerard replied.
"No, seriously, you saved my ass," I insisted.
Gerard just stuffed his hands into his pockets, repeating, "I said don't mention it."
"I hate that kid," I admitted.
"Well, he is kind of a jerk, but he's basically harmless."
"Harmless? Are you kidding?" I asked. "That's the same asshole who used to slam your head into your locker."
Gerard furrowed his brows in thought, agreeing, "Oh yeah, I guess he did."
I couldn't help but laugh a little. "How can you forget something like that?"
Gerard shrugged, confessing, "I moved on. Stuff like that doesn't matter as much as it used to."
"I think I'm more sore at him for bullying you than you are," I chuckled.
"That's probably true," Gerard mumbled. "It's whatever, you know? I like to forget about things like that as much as I can."
"Repress it?" I questioned.
"You got it," Gerard answered with a wink.
We parted to go to our separate classes. Unfortunately, that day was my gym class, and while Gerard had study hall, I wasn't willing to skip out on an easy grade. I had to attend. So I knew I wouldn't be seeing Gerard until lunch, and by the start of the day, I had a strong feeling that I'd want to see him sooner.

Notes

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