The Story of a Man, A Woman, and the Corpses of 1000 Evil Students

I think the only reason I was up early was because I was so exhausted from all of the stress from the day before and incredibly anxious about seeing Gerard again for breakfast. I played over and over in my head how I thought it was going to pan out. He wasn’t going to like talking to me anymore now that we hadn’t had an awkward interaction before to break the ice. He was going to look at me and think, Wow, I can’t believe I drew her yesterday, she’s hideous. Or maybe he wasn’t even going to show up.

My fears were proven wrong when I walked onto campus at exactly ten in the morning. After I had passed rows and rows of buildings, the second story balcony patio outside of the market came into view, and I spotted a familiar shock of pitch blackness against the normally colorful scenery. He rose to his feet as I ascended the steps.

“Right on time,” I said, “or have you been waiting?”

He shrugged and shook his head slightly, “not really. It was a beautiful day and I was up early.” I looked up at the sky. It was completely overcast, causing me to give him a questioning look. “Clouds are beautiful. I like it best when it’s cloudy.”

After we had gotten our breakfast and been informed the market would close later that day until the following Monday when class resumes, we sat back out on the windy balcony. The clouds were getting darker now. We shot the shit about your usual conversation subjects; how both of us hoped it was going to rain, how neither of us were looking forward to having to go back to having classes, and how much nicer the school was without everybody around.

“I do enjoy teaching though. You get to meet a lot of cool people, which is neat. It gives me a purpose, I think,” Gerard said after taking a sip of his coffee, looking down at his nearly empty cup with too much sadness.

“Your teaching style is interesting. There’s tons of professors out there who try to be cool and hip with the kids. Maybe it helps that you’re only twelve,” I said over my own coffee. He wrinkled his nose despite his smile.

“Your learning style is interesting.”“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Whatever you want it to mean,” he said, leaning back in his chair and looking up at the sky again. “I really hope it rains.”

“You’ve said that. I want it to rain, too, but it needs to wait until I’m back indoors.” I gestured to the light cardigan I was wearing, Gerard’s eyes raking my torso. My cheeks burned.

“What have you got going on the rest of the day? Not going to visit family, I presume?” He asked. I shook my head.

“I talked to my mom yesterday and I’m just going to be staying here for the rest of the week. And the weeks after that. Obviously.”“Obviously.”There was a small pause before I got the guts to continue the conversation. “What are you going to be doing?”

“I have commissions I’m supposed to be working on, and some of my pieces are going to be featured in an exhibit downtown Friday so I need to make sure everything is squared away with that,” he said casually, as if it were no big deal. I’d never had any of my art featured anywhere before. “Leave it to me to wait until three days before the opening.”

“That’s awesome! Where are they going to be on display?” I tried to contain my admiration, but had the feeling I was failing miserably. He gave me an interesting little smile before explaining.

“It’s nothing big. Just a local exhibit at Black Bean Brewery, a coffee shop-”

“Oh yeah! I know that place. Damn, that’s a nice coffee shop, that’s really awesome for you,” I said. I wish my art would get put on display somewhere.

“It’ll be fun. Do you want to go to the opening with me?” He asked, sounding a bit wary. Had I heard him right?

“Go with you?” I asked, slightly incredulous.

He let out a small giggle. “Uh, yeah. If it’s weird that’s fine, I just figured I would extend the invitation since you seemed to like the coffee shop.”

“No, I would really love to go. I’d definitely be down,” I said quickly, before he had the chance to change his mind once he realized how much of a loser I really was.

“Great. Can I pick you up at five? Like I said, it’s not until Friday.” Gerard played with the bits of pancakes left on his plate. I hoped I wasn’t making him feel too awkward.

“Yeah, I’ll be around then,” I smiled over my last sip of coffee. Just then, Gerard’s phone began to ring. He was about to dismiss it when he took a second glance at the screen before sighing, standing up from the table.

“I’m sorry, I have to take this real quick, I’ll be right back,” he said as he picked up the call, trotting down the steps to pace through the long courtyard in front of the market. The leaves on the trees that dotted the gravel path were turning a bright tangerine color, and some were already drifting to the ground, dancing on the wind on their way down. A few had gotten caught in the fountain that laid at the very end of the path.

I decided that, since there wasn’t really anybody around, I could smoke on the patio. I lit up a cigarette, my lighter flicking to life in a shower of sparks. As a drew in a deep breath, the smoke burning the back of my lungs, I saw Gerard look up from one of the many benches that lined the path, a smirk on his lips as he shook his head ‘no’ at me. I did a comical, exaggerated shrug, flicking my cigarette ash into the air. His shoulders shook with a silent laugh. I wondered if that was a girl he was talking to. Then I wondered why I cared.

About five minutes later he returned to his seat across from me at the metal table. “Sorry about that,” he began apologetically, “it was an old friend of mine. He’s in the process of moving apartments right now and has just ultimately tied up the rest of the break by roping me up to help him.”

I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding. So it had been a guy. Then a new horror struck me; was he gay?

“Don’t sweat it. If you need any other help, I drive a truck. Granted it’s a Ranger so it’s more car than truck, but it gets the job done,” I said, immediately regretting my choice. Why would he want me to help? I was coming off desperate, but there was a small truth in that; I was desperate to be around him, to feed off this spark within Gerard that just brought out my own creativity and positivity. He was captivating and bringing such extra anxiety into my days.

“That would actually be amazing, if you’re being serious. Frank has a lot of shit; it’s a wonder how he managed to get it all packed up,” Gerard raised his eyebrows in question to me. I nodded.

And that was how I filled up all of my days for Thanksgiving break. Gerard texted me Frank’s address after sheepishly asking me if I was free for the day. Of course I was, I had told him. I didn’t have a life. Any excuse to be around you and breathe in your intoxicating vibe, I had added internally.

I barely knew Gerard, so I was incredibly nervous to meet one of his friends. But Frank was the most personable person I had ever met. He wrapped me in a hug, loudly stating how “fucking stoked” he was that I had offered to help. Frank was a bubble of pure energy, almost too bright to look at when he got excited about something. He was covered in tattoos, and I thought that was incredible. Maybe shaggy black hair just ran in the friend group, I thought to myself.

After working for a few hours, we sat down around a fire pit on his back patio. All of us had a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

“So where are you moving to?” I asked Frank.

“Not too far from here at all, actually. Into the Suncrest Apartment building about a mile from campus. It’s just easier to have an apartment than a house right now. I don’t need all this fucking space,” Frank grinned, gesturing vaguely to the area around him.

“Oh! That’s the apartment building I live in. They’re nice apartments, you’ll like it. Are you going to school?” I said. Frank and Gerard both erupted into peals of laughter, and I glanced back and forth between them. Frank laughed with his head thrown back, his hair shaking. Gerard scrunched up his nose and eyes, curling over at the waist.

“God no. I’m actually going to be teaching there, thanks to my buddy Gerard for the sick hookup,” he said, elbowing Gerard’s arm, knocking his cigarette out of his hand. “I’m going to teach music composition and theory. I know, I look like I’m twelve.”

“It’s because he’s so short,” Gerard said quickly, ducking to avoid the empty beer can Frank had hurtled in his direction. “I ain’t picking that up.”

“Well, that’s cool.” I said after I had finished laughing at the spectacle. Frank muttered something about getting another beer and shuffled back inside, leaving Gerard and me by the fire outside.

“This isn’t too awkward for you, is it?” He asked quietly, suddenly serious. I smiled and shook me head.

“No, it’s nice to do something instead of being holed up inside my apartment. It’s basically all I’ve been doing since the breakup,” I said before realizing I was complaining about my life to my professor. Whoops. Gerard looked concerned, setting his beer down before leaning forward in his chair.

“Shit, I’m sorry to hear that. Are you doing okay?” He asked. I was about to reply but Frank had reentered the patio, three beers in his arms.

“Here’s an extra thank you for helping me move some of my shit today,” Frank said as he pushed a can in my direction. I was barely halfway done with my first one, but I took it anyway.

“Damn, you guys need to wait for me to catch up with my drinks,” I joked. Gerard comically rolled his eyes.

“Oh, I’m sorry Charlotte, I didn’t realize you were a fucking lightweight,” Frank said with faux bitterness. I liked him, I decided. He made me feel like we had been friends for years when this was really the first time I had ever met him in my life. He had a way of putting me at ease, which was an amazing feat in itself.

“I’m actually a huge heavyweight. Give me three bottles of wine and I’ll start to feel it, maybe,” I said nonchalantly, despite the grin on my face. Frank formed an O with his mouth, shaking his head in sarcastic disbelief.

“Oh really? Well it just so happens that I have three bottles of wine in my nearly packed up kitchen!” Frank jumped to his feet but Gerard grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him back down into his seat.

“No, we don’t need to turn this into a dick measuring contest, Frank,” he said, locking eyes with me before quickly shaking his head with a warning glance.

“Come on, it’s not like it’s a school night, Mr. Way,” I said, sticking my tongue out at him. It was hard to tell in the low light of the setting sun and the flickering of the fire pit, but I swear I watched his cheeks slowly burn.

Frank took his cue and went into the kitchen again. Gerard sat there, glowering at me. “Have you eaten enough today?”

I cocked my head to the side. “Kind of. Why?”

“I just don’t want you to get sick. You just seem like you don’t remember to eat lunch,” he admitted. I choked out a small laugh.

“You wouldn’t be wrong.”

Frank came back outside with three wine glasses and three bottles of wine, tucked under his arm. “Alright, bitches, let’s get this going. What sort of drinking games do college kids play these days? Truth or dare? Nah, there’s too few of us,” he chuckled to himself as he poured me a full glass. When he offered one to Gerard, Gerard simply pushed it back.

“I’m done for tonight, thanks Frankie,” he stood up, stretching his legs and lighting another cigarette. Frank turned back to me.

“Guess it’s just you and me, kid. Let’s do this!” We clinked glasses together.

“Animals,” Gerard muttered with the faintest trace of a smile on his lips.

Notes

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