The Opposite Of Attraction Is Pushing Away, and We're Definitely Not Doing That
Chapter 7
GERARD
I woke up the next morning to the sound of the alarm blaring. I had a hard time getting to sleep, but I assumed I had passed out around one. I unplugged my phone from its charger and looked over at Mikey, still asleep in his bed on the other side of the room. That kid could sleep through anything. I swear, a bomb could go off in our living room and he still wouldn’t wake up.
I pulled on some pants and buttoned up my shirt before going over to him, grabbing the air horn I kept under his bed, and honking it right in his ear. He swung out his arm, narrowly missing my balls, and grumbled something about how I deserved something.
I had stopped the air horn and was about to ask him about it when my mom called us down for breakfast. I forgot about it and made my way down the stairs, Mikey trudging along behind me.
I am not a morning person. My day doesn’t start until I have my coffee, and even then, I’m still pretty grumpy until about ten o’clock. Now, if you think that’s bad, Mikey is worse. He will actually sock you in the nose if you try to talk to him before eight and if you try to wake him up earlier than six, then may God have mercy on your soul.
My brother and I headed straight for the coffee machine, filling up two large mugs before sitting down at the kitchen table and eating breakfast. My father was reading the newspaper and my mom was in the other room, taking a business call.
The thing you should know about my family is that we don’t really acknowledge each other much. I think it’s because we’re all so busy all the time. Mikey theorizes that our parents just don’t want to be around us because we’re both gay. While our parents don’t mind who we’re attracted to, I could tell they were both very disappointed in us when we came out to them. It’s hard knowing that you’re a constant disappointment to your family, but somehow Mikey and I manage.
Mikey and I finish getting ready and we’re out the door and on our way to school. I made sure we wouldn’t be too early today.
When we arrived at school, instead of running off to his freshman friends right away, he hung around with me, asked me about some of the seniors. He took a special interest in a guy I think is called Pete. It made me uncomfortable having to talk about Pete because I’m pretty sure he’s one of Frank’s friends. Mikey could tell, and I knew he was enjoying watching me squirm. The bell rang and before he left, Mikey eerily told me to “have fun in science.” I don’t know what he was playing at, but I was very suspicious of my science class now.
*****
When Frank walked in the classroom door, everything about him screamed “nervous.”
“Hey, Gerard.” He blushed as he sat down. This is weird, I’m uncomfortable, and Frank looks really cute when he’s blushing.
Wait, what? Did I just really call Frank Iero cute?
“So, um, about last night…” He trailed off. I just stared at him. Last night? What happened last night? “When we were texting?” He tried to remind me, seeing my confusion.
“I never texted you last night.” I replied, very concerned for Frank’s mental health.
“Yeah, you did. At two, remember?”
“Um, I fell asleep at one and I’m pretty sure I don’t text people in my sleep.”
“Uh, well, I have our texts right here on my phone…” He said and pulled out his phone. He tapped the screen a bit before handing it to me to read.
‘hey, you up? it’s frank.’
‘yeah. hi, cutie.’
‘uhm.’
‘you looked really nice in science earlier.’
‘uuuhmmmm…’
‘sorry, am i making you uncomfortable?’
‘uh, well. we kind of hate each other.’
‘can’t we move past that?’
‘it’s gonna take a bit more than early morning texts to convince me that you no longer hate me.’
‘i no longer hate you. as a matter of fact, i love everything about you.’
‘gerard, are you okay? you’re weirding me out.’
‘your eyes, your hands, your hair, your face, your giggle, your sense of humor, everything.’
‘uh.’
‘really. don’t you like me too?’
‘uhm. i mean. you can be funny sometimes. and your shirts look nice and stuff. your smile. and- no. no. i don’t like you that way.’
‘do you still hate me?’
‘you irritate me to no end! you’re a hipster. that bothers me.’
‘hm. well i guess i’ll see you tomorrow, then.’
I froze. I didn’t write these. ABORT. ABORT. ABORT. Every cell in my body was yelling at me. Every hair on my skin was standing on edge. Every thought was full of worry.
And then I realized Mikey was behind all of this. This is why he told me to “have fun.” He is soooo dead when I get my hands on him.
“Gerard?” Frank asked, his silk-like voice was filled with concern.
“This wasn’t me.” I said with close to no emotion in my voice.
“Well, if it wasn’t you, then who was it?” Frank said, getting angry.
“My brother.” I stated. I needed my sketchbook right now. I reached in my desk, blindly searching for it. Then I remembered. I didn’t have it. Frank did.
“Sketchbook. Now.” I demanded. I wanted to sound angry, but the emotion just wasn’t there. I was numb. Shut down. Whether it was from complete embarrassment because of the texts, pure rage because of Mikey, the sense of loss and anxiety I’ve been having since I lost my sketchbook, or a combination of all three, I wasn’t able to handle it, and I needed my sketchbook to help.
“I’ve told you, I don’t have your damn sketchbook.” Frank answered. I knew he was lying. I knew it and I hated him for it. This was just like middle school all over again.
*****
The rest of the day went by in an emotionless blur. I don’t remember much of it, but I’m pretty sure I skipped out on lunch and headed for the library. After school, I headed to my job at the record store after dropping Mikey and Ray off.
Rick, the store owner and the only other person that works there, is a family friend. He offered me this job to help me save up for art school next year, and because Rick is such a great guy, he gave me the last three days off to help me “get back into the swing of school.” Of course I had to go work on the day I felt like I didn’t have the energy or emotional stability to do anything.
I painted a fake smile on my face before entering the store.
“Hey, there, Gerard. Nice to see ya back here.” Rick greeted me.
“Yeah. What do you need me to do?” I asked, trying not to sound as broken as I felt.
“I got some new stuff in yesterday and I need you to take inventory. I’ll man the front.” Yes, the back. The back is good. I don’t have to talk to people in the back.
I started walking to the back of the store when I heard the bells above the door chime, signifying that someone had come into the store. Normally, I wouldn’t have looked to see who it was, but for whatever reason I turned around this time, only to see the last thing I wanted to see. Frank and his friends.
I woke up the next morning to the sound of the alarm blaring. I had a hard time getting to sleep, but I assumed I had passed out around one. I unplugged my phone from its charger and looked over at Mikey, still asleep in his bed on the other side of the room. That kid could sleep through anything. I swear, a bomb could go off in our living room and he still wouldn’t wake up.
I pulled on some pants and buttoned up my shirt before going over to him, grabbing the air horn I kept under his bed, and honking it right in his ear. He swung out his arm, narrowly missing my balls, and grumbled something about how I deserved something.
I had stopped the air horn and was about to ask him about it when my mom called us down for breakfast. I forgot about it and made my way down the stairs, Mikey trudging along behind me.
I am not a morning person. My day doesn’t start until I have my coffee, and even then, I’m still pretty grumpy until about ten o’clock. Now, if you think that’s bad, Mikey is worse. He will actually sock you in the nose if you try to talk to him before eight and if you try to wake him up earlier than six, then may God have mercy on your soul.
My brother and I headed straight for the coffee machine, filling up two large mugs before sitting down at the kitchen table and eating breakfast. My father was reading the newspaper and my mom was in the other room, taking a business call.
The thing you should know about my family is that we don’t really acknowledge each other much. I think it’s because we’re all so busy all the time. Mikey theorizes that our parents just don’t want to be around us because we’re both gay. While our parents don’t mind who we’re attracted to, I could tell they were both very disappointed in us when we came out to them. It’s hard knowing that you’re a constant disappointment to your family, but somehow Mikey and I manage.
Mikey and I finish getting ready and we’re out the door and on our way to school. I made sure we wouldn’t be too early today.
When we arrived at school, instead of running off to his freshman friends right away, he hung around with me, asked me about some of the seniors. He took a special interest in a guy I think is called Pete. It made me uncomfortable having to talk about Pete because I’m pretty sure he’s one of Frank’s friends. Mikey could tell, and I knew he was enjoying watching me squirm. The bell rang and before he left, Mikey eerily told me to “have fun in science.” I don’t know what he was playing at, but I was very suspicious of my science class now.
*****
When Frank walked in the classroom door, everything about him screamed “nervous.”
“Hey, Gerard.” He blushed as he sat down. This is weird, I’m uncomfortable, and Frank looks really cute when he’s blushing.
Wait, what? Did I just really call Frank Iero cute?
“So, um, about last night…” He trailed off. I just stared at him. Last night? What happened last night? “When we were texting?” He tried to remind me, seeing my confusion.
“I never texted you last night.” I replied, very concerned for Frank’s mental health.
“Yeah, you did. At two, remember?”
“Um, I fell asleep at one and I’m pretty sure I don’t text people in my sleep.”
“Uh, well, I have our texts right here on my phone…” He said and pulled out his phone. He tapped the screen a bit before handing it to me to read.
‘hey, you up? it’s frank.’
‘yeah. hi, cutie.’
‘uhm.’
‘you looked really nice in science earlier.’
‘uuuhmmmm…’
‘sorry, am i making you uncomfortable?’
‘uh, well. we kind of hate each other.’
‘can’t we move past that?’
‘it’s gonna take a bit more than early morning texts to convince me that you no longer hate me.’
‘i no longer hate you. as a matter of fact, i love everything about you.’
‘gerard, are you okay? you’re weirding me out.’
‘your eyes, your hands, your hair, your face, your giggle, your sense of humor, everything.’
‘uh.’
‘really. don’t you like me too?’
‘uhm. i mean. you can be funny sometimes. and your shirts look nice and stuff. your smile. and- no. no. i don’t like you that way.’
‘do you still hate me?’
‘you irritate me to no end! you’re a hipster. that bothers me.’
‘hm. well i guess i’ll see you tomorrow, then.’
I froze. I didn’t write these. ABORT. ABORT. ABORT. Every cell in my body was yelling at me. Every hair on my skin was standing on edge. Every thought was full of worry.
And then I realized Mikey was behind all of this. This is why he told me to “have fun.” He is soooo dead when I get my hands on him.
“Gerard?” Frank asked, his silk-like voice was filled with concern.
“This wasn’t me.” I said with close to no emotion in my voice.
“Well, if it wasn’t you, then who was it?” Frank said, getting angry.
“My brother.” I stated. I needed my sketchbook right now. I reached in my desk, blindly searching for it. Then I remembered. I didn’t have it. Frank did.
“Sketchbook. Now.” I demanded. I wanted to sound angry, but the emotion just wasn’t there. I was numb. Shut down. Whether it was from complete embarrassment because of the texts, pure rage because of Mikey, the sense of loss and anxiety I’ve been having since I lost my sketchbook, or a combination of all three, I wasn’t able to handle it, and I needed my sketchbook to help.
“I’ve told you, I don’t have your damn sketchbook.” Frank answered. I knew he was lying. I knew it and I hated him for it. This was just like middle school all over again.
*****
The rest of the day went by in an emotionless blur. I don’t remember much of it, but I’m pretty sure I skipped out on lunch and headed for the library. After school, I headed to my job at the record store after dropping Mikey and Ray off.
Rick, the store owner and the only other person that works there, is a family friend. He offered me this job to help me save up for art school next year, and because Rick is such a great guy, he gave me the last three days off to help me “get back into the swing of school.” Of course I had to go work on the day I felt like I didn’t have the energy or emotional stability to do anything.
I painted a fake smile on my face before entering the store.
“Hey, there, Gerard. Nice to see ya back here.” Rick greeted me.
“Yeah. What do you need me to do?” I asked, trying not to sound as broken as I felt.
“I got some new stuff in yesterday and I need you to take inventory. I’ll man the front.” Yes, the back. The back is good. I don’t have to talk to people in the back.
I started walking to the back of the store when I heard the bells above the door chime, signifying that someone had come into the store. Normally, I wouldn’t have looked to see who it was, but for whatever reason I turned around this time, only to see the last thing I wanted to see. Frank and his friends.
Notes
I've finally finished this chapter! If any of you need, I am 100% willing to write a chapter summary. Thank you guys for all the comments and Tumblr follows! (Some of you even found my personal Tumblr and it scares me.) Thank you for making this one of the more popular stories on here. It's crazy that our first fic ever has become so big in so little time! We love you guys so much!
Stay Alive, Sunshine
-Bluebell
I miss this story :( Are you okay?
9/20/16