His Pretty Storyteller

Gerard
Leaving the house that day proved to be a little trickier than looking for the strange boy. I couldn’t straight up tell Mikey that I’m gonna be out looking for someone without him making a fuss so I sat down with him for breakfast and told him I’m gonna be out doing errands.

“Can I come? You’re not planning on leaving me alone here all day right?” he asked while we’re eating. I looked at him while thinking of an excuse.

“Look Mikes, I’ll be out because of work. You can’t just tag along.” I replied. He stared down at his breakfast and picked around at his bowl of cereal. I wanted to take him out that day but I had a plan. And that plan included a few hours of driving around town and looking for the strange kid. I can’t just tell Mikey I’m looking for someone. He’d be intrigued and Mikey’s curiosity is the last thing I needed that time.

“Fine, but I know you don’t always have to be away. You do your work at home right?” he asked.
“Yes but I really need to go out today. And usually most days. I’m not here being a hermit you know. I go out almost every day.”
“But I’m here Gee, that should be something that will make you stay here right?”

“I do appreciate you being here Mikes but I got my own business too. You should’ve asked before you came in here.”
He looked at me with evident hurt in his face.

“So I should just leave right?” he asked. He stopped eating and shook his head. I felt guilty. All the thoughts in my head were of looking for the kid but they faded away when I saw the hurt in Mikey’s face. How could I be reckless like that? I should’ve been more brotherly to him.

“Mikes, that’s not what I meant. It’s just that I have stuff to do today. I’m sorry.”

Mikey stared at me. In that instance, I was transported back in time when I was still living with my family. Looking at him that time made me realize that I should be there for Mikey especially then because he had reached out to me. There was something going on in his mind. Something that I should find out as his brother.

“Okay, I’ll stay in today. What do you want to do?” I said sincerely.

Mikey stared, then laughed, looked at me, then laughed again. I was frustrated but I know my lips curled up into a smile.

“Dude it’s okay. Just go today. I’m just messing around with you.” He said. I playfully slapped his forehead and laughed too.

“One day I’m gonna get you so bad you’ll hate me.” I threatened him. He just smirked at me and stood up to put his bowl in the sink.

“Oh dearest brother, I’ve hated you since the moment I saw your feminine face.”

“I hated you too since I saw your lame ass face you four-eyed rat.”

“Fuck you fake red-head.”

“Fuck you too dork.”

He snickered and proceeded to go upstairs while laughing. It took me awhile to stand up and get ready for the day because in all honesty, I thought of staying in too. I missed my baby brother so much and even though he’s a pain in the ass, he’s still my brother. But plans were made and I really wanted to remove this curiosity in my mind about the strange boy.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Reader’s Nook is the place where I first went to look for him. It was the most cliché thing ever, but we met in that coffee shop and if that doesn’t screamed CLICHÉ then I don’t know what else.
I went there and immediately greeted by Katie who always seemed to be in a flirty mood whenever I’m around. I have to give credit to this girl. Despite my usual rejection to her flirtations, she’s still hanging around, smiling seductively and always walking with her chest out.

“Katie, I’m just here to look for the strange kid yesterday. Did you see him around?” I asked. She frowned at me, disappointment in her lovely but overly-made face evident.

“Nah, I didn’t. Do you want coffee though?” She asked while posing seductively while holding her little notebook. It was my turn to frown at her. But coffee, of course is a necessity. I needed a cup.

“Okay but please make it quick. I’m on a rush.” I replied. She shimmied away in her tight shirt and I needed to look away because well, I wasn’t that type of guy. I sat in my spot and waited for a few minutes before she called me on the counter. I paid for my coffee and turned to leave.

“Gerard, when will you ever ask me out? “Katie called out. I turned to her and winked.

“When you become prettier than me, then maybe I’ll ask you out!” I said. She frowned. I winked at her and her expression changed. She smiled too.

I left the coffee shop and decide to drive around the place while sipping my precious cup of coffee.
After a minutes, I noticed the apartment complex a few blocks away from the coffee shop. I thought that If the kid just moved in here, there’s a chance that this is where they moved to. I stopped driving and parked my car on the opposite side of the road. I got out of the car and approached a young girl in front of the complex. She looked at me and smiled so wide I thought her face hurt afterwards. I tried to smiled back even though I was creeped out by his Joker-ish smile.

“Excuse me, can I ask you something?” I said. She flicked her hair and nodded.

“Of course you can Mister.” She replied. I looked past her and straight to the complex where people were busy doing whatever the hell they are doing. I admitted that time though, that the complex looked cool. It’s like they have their own community in there.

“I’m looking for a kid about as short as you, with a tattoo on his nape and uhm, wearing an all-black outfit. Oh, and he’s probably wearing eyeliner too.”
The girl stared at me and spoke urgently, as if the thought had just occurred to her.

“Oh, you must be referring to the new kid here in the complex. Just saw him twice. Both times wearing an all-black outfit and eyeliner. Kinda hot to be honest, but not as hot as you mister.” She said. I had to ignore her last comment as it was irrelevant to what I asked.

“Yeah. That must be him. So did you see him today? Do you know where I can find him?“ I asked. Her stare got more intense. I had to back away a little, not because I was afraid of her, but because I might hit her in the face if she didn’t stop that Joker-ish smile.

“Oh yeah, I saw him today walked out of here. I don’t know where he went though. He’s with Andrei but they might be back later. Why are you even asking for him anyway?

“I need to return something to him. Okay, thanks so much. Guess I’ll just wait for him then.”


“Wanna hang out before he arrives Mister? I’m good company.” The girl purred. I was beyond disgusted at her words, she might be a teenager for God’s sake.

“Listen here young lady, I know you helped me but if you keep that dirty eye-fucking thing going on, I will personally look for your parents and ask them to lock you in your house’s cupboard and force you to pray the rosary a hundred times.”

She flinched and walked away from me. Dear God, what’s happening to teenagers right now?
I went back to my car and waited. I’d be normally bored but I tried to keep myself distracted just so I can force myself to stay and wait for him. That wasn’t normal for me but then again, that was a new thing to my monotonous life. I waited and when the craving struck, I took out a cigarette from my pocket and proceeded to smoke while leaning in my car.
It was a boring couple of minutes of just strangers looking at me. I was used to the stares that I’m getting because I don’t mind being look at. I’m beautiful as fuck and I know it. Nobody’s gonna mess up my confidence just because of their stares. I relished in the nicotine of the stick, sucking air and blowing out smoke. I turned my attention to the street and there, I saw two guys walking towards the complex. My body tensed at the familiarity of the kid. It was him, walking beside another guy and they seemed to be engaged in a fun conversation. The kid looked straight and saw me. He froze on his tracks and I smiled, taking out a long drag of the killing stick in between my lips.

I waited for him to approach me but he stayed rooted in his spot while the other guy kept talking to him, probably asking what’s holding him up like that. I took the cigarette in my mouth and flicked it to ground, my heel stubbing the little ember. I walked towards him.

“Well hello dude.” I smiled at him. He seemed to be in shock and I can guess he’s literally contemplating to run that time, like he did when we were in the coffee shop.
“Hi.. What a-are you doing here?” he stuttered. His friend looked at me and then back to him.

“Frank, do you know this guy?” the other guy asked a little irritated. It was obvious that he doesn’t like how I’m making his friend act.
But I smiled, finally knowing his name. Frank. Before Frank had the chance to answer, I answered the guy for him.

“Of course, Do you think I’ll just randomly say hello to people I meet on the streets?” I asked the other guy a little bit arrogantly. No one will use that irritated tone with me.
I turned to Frank and changed my tone to a friendlier one.

“Can we talk, Frank?” I asked him, enunciating his name a little bit more than I should. He blushed and nodded. I smiled widely as I put my hands on my pockets, waiting for him to make his friend leave.

“Andrei, can we hang out later?” he told the guy called Andrei. Andrei was obviously upset at what Frank told him but he shrugged it off. He nodded and walked to the direction of the complex.

“I’ll wait okay?” Andrei called out to Frank before walking away. Frank nodded and smiled shyly at him. I rolled my eyes.

“So, let’s go, Frank?” I repeated my tone. He shook his head and spoke.

“What’s to talk about?”

“Lots of things, including why you had to run away from me like I’m sort of a scary monster. I gotta admit, you offended the shit out of me.” I replied. He swallowed and I knew I was scaring him but I was completely frustrated. What exactly is the deal with this kid? Am I really scary?

“Look, I’m sorry about that. I’m not big on meeting new people, and you laughing at me the whole time yesterday was just too much for me!” he replied a little bit forcefully. I stopped and examined him. He was visibly shaking and I can tell that he was fighting off tears. I softened when I saw him scared like that so with a light hand, I patted his shoulder and spoke with a gentler voice.

“I don’t want to scare you. I just want to talk. I swear, I don’t bite people and I promise I won’t laugh at you like that again.” I assured him. He tensed on my touch but he relaxed after a few seconds too.
He nodded and I walked towards my car. He followed me with hesitant little steps and I let him take his time walking. When he reached me, there was hesitation in his eyes. I can tell he doesn’t want to get in my car so I talked to him in the sincerest way I can.

“I’m not going to be the asshole you met yesterday, I swear. I just want to talk. If you feel like I’m being too much then you can get off the car whenever you want too.” He looked at me while assessing our situation. He looked back at the complex and then back to me.

“If…I’m going with you…can I know your name first?” he asked. I smiled warmly at him and extended my arm to shake his.

“My name’s Gerard. Gerard Way.”

Notes

well damn i'm still writing and dragging this story. i hope you like it. leave a comment if you can. take care :)