It's not easy love, but you've got friends you can trust,
Friends will be friends,
When you're in need of love they give you care and attention,
Friends will be friends,
When you're through with life and all hope is lost,
Hold out your hand cos friends will be friends right till the end

All in all today has been the best day I’ve had in a while. Goofing off on the lacrosse field this morning was really fun and even though my brother and Frank got beat up by those jocks we met Bob and learned to play croquet. Even though Gerard beat himself up a little during practice I think he’ll get it down. He just needs more patience. The game isn’t really that hard.

I follow the other three into the house. They head down to Gerard's room. All I want right now is to get the hell out of my uniform. I trudge upstairs and change into a Boba Fett shirt and black pajama pants. As I’m changing Gerard enters the room.

“Hey Mikey do you have a minute.”

I shrug figuring he’s going to say whatever it is he wants to say wither I want him to or not.

“How do you feel about Amber?”

Of course this is what he wants to talk about, “She’s pretty chill.”

Gerard hovers in the doorway, “Like chill like you like her?”

“I think she could be a really awesome friend,” I respond hoping that my brother gets it. I’m not looking to date the girl I just think she’s fun. She’s easy to talk to and kind of helps me come out of my shell a little.

Gerard nods before walking out of the room.

Sighing I plug my MP3 player into it’s charger before heading down to the basement. Gerard always has to make a big deal out of things. Leave it to him to overthink our friendship with Amber.

As I walk into the basement, Ray and Frank are sitting on Gerard's bed; my brother is standing by his desk, hunched over the chair, looking into his bag.

"Shit!" Gerard says, rummaging through the bag, throwing random things over his shoulder.

I lean against the doorframe, watching markers, cords, crumpled up papers and other random shit fly across the room, landing at my feet.

"What are you looking for?" Ray questions.

Gerard shakes his head, and then turns around, running his hand through his hair. He looks a little distressed.

"Those fuckers jumped me and robbed me," he complains. “My wallets gone…vanished."

I shift my gaze to the right, eyes resting on Gerard’s wallet, which is lying on top of his dresser, the same spot I saw it this morning. I don't say anything; I want to see how long it takes for him to find it. I do this merely for my own entertainment.

"You sure it's not in your jacket or anything?" Frank asks, looking through the blankets on the bed, nearly making Ray topple over.

Gerard shakes his head.

"Or on your dresser...." I offer just quietly enough that he doesn't hear me.

"No, man, it was in my bag the last time I saw it," he says, thinking as he speaks. He tilts his head to look up at the ceiling.

“Saw what?” questions the ever familiar voice of Amber, her British accent unmistakable.

“Gerard is looking for his wallet,” I explain quietly. “It’s on his dresser. I’m not gonna tell him though.”

The red head giggles, glancing over at Gee who is still looking up at the ceiling.

"Guys," Gerard says, still looking up.

Frank and Ray turn around.

"Come look at this."

They get up off the bed and go over to where Gerard is standing, the both of them looking up. Nothing happens. No one says anything.

Then Frank speaks, "That's a fucking bat."

The other two nod. Amber gives me a quizzical look. I shrug not really knowing how something like that could have gotten into our room, not unless Gerard left the window open.

"What do we do about it...?" Ray asks eyes still on the ceiling.

I’m still leaning against the wall, Amber on my right, we both duck down. Eventually I see a bit of a wing but nothing more. Standing, I readjust my glasses and follow the fearless Amber across the room.

I can see it now; the small brown-black bat. It just hangs there, upside down, completely oblivious to our presence in the room. As Amber reaches her hand up to touch it Gerard gently slaps it away, shaking his head.

"Amber, no," he says, reaching around her to grab a sketchpad. "Leave it there. I want to draw it."

He then turns around, grabs a pen, and plops down, cross-legged, on the floor. I watch him closely as he begins to draw the tiny little creature. Just then mom walks in.

"Hey, boys, oh, Amber, good you found them!" my mom practically yells.

All five of us put our finger to our lips, shushing her but it’s too late. The fucker wakes up, flying around the room, screeching its head off; all of us panic.

Ray hides under Gerard's desk; Gee flings his sketchpad and pen into the air out of fright, watching the thing fly around the room, his hands covering his hair. Frank jumps onto the bed, thinking that getting into a higher place will keep him away from the bat.

I just stand there, arms around Amber who has her head buried in my side. I know it’s not going to do anything. It just wants to get outside. This being said I’m not going to tell anyone. It’s funny to see their panicked faces.

"Frank, it’s not a spider!" Gerard yells, stumbling as he stands back up. "You’re doing it wrong!”

My mom runs out of the room screaming not too long after this. She’s never been good with animals, especially ones that fly around.

Gerard goes into his closet, and grabs out one of our three light sabers from the depths. I laugh at the fact that it is Luke Skywalker's. The bat is flying around just like the force-training ball from the movie. Gerard is waving the light saber around just like Luke did. The resemblance is uncanny. Gee waves the plastic toy around at the bat, trying to egg it on so it will move more…he looks really dumb.

Removing my arms from around Amber I calmly walk over to the window, and open it as far as it can go.

"Gerard, try to get it over here," I state, and he nods.

Frank is still standing on the bed, looking shocked, yet entertained at the same time. I lean back against the wall, waiting for Gerard to get the bat over here. It isn't working with the light saber. He is basically chasing it all around the room, waving it like a madman, knocking everything over. I laugh, glancing over at Amber who is now sitting on the floor, her back against the wall. Any fear she had earlier has melted away into what looks like curiosity.

"Gerard, you’re not a Jedi!” I yell through cupped hands, still leaning against the wall, watching him.

Amber giggles, “You’re doing it fucking wrong!"

"Fuck you both!" Gee yells as he runs around.

I laugh again. This is entertainment at its finest.

Gerard swipes the top of his dresser, causing his Batmobile and wallet, among other things, to fly off and land on the floor in front of the door. Finally, he swings the light saber and actually makes contact with the bat. The stunned animal falls to the ground with a soft thud, out cold. Gerard shakes his head to get his hair out of his face, smiling, waving the light saber around and posing, making weird sounds as he does so.

Amber looks on, eyes wide; she’s clearly not amused by the seeming dead bat lying in the middle of Gerard’s floor. Moving over to her, I kneel down, placing my hand on her back. She turns to me.

“Is it dead?” she questions. I glare at Gerard who just shrugs back.

“Naw,” I respond. “It’s fine.”

Amber nods, resting her head on my shoulder. I swear she looks like she’s about to cry.

"Now who's picking it up?" Gee asks, pointing the light saber at the small lump on the floor.

No one says anything.

"Noses goes in 3...2...1...now!” Gerard yells, as four fingers fly to the noses of Frank, Ray, Gerard and I.

Amber just sits there. Eventually she stands up and walks quietly to the bat. Picking it up gently so that it is lying across her two hands, she places the creature outside of Gerard’s window. Amber only shuts it after making sure none of the bat is still inside.

I’ve got to give her points for touching the bat; I wouldn’t have done it. Amber smiles before walking over to Gerard, rubbing her hands all over his face.

He scrunches up his nose in disgust, “Eww, Amber what the fuck!?”

She glares at him, “Don’t go beating defenseless bats arsehole.”

I can’t help but laugh. Gerard glares at me.


"Well," Ray says, clapping me on the back. "That's enough entertainment for one night. I'm off."

He turns to Frank, who is still standing on the bed. "You comin' home, dude?"

Frank nods, hopping off the bed; "Yeah, man, I'm beat." he walks over to Gerard. "Thanks, dude, for letting me crash here the past few nights."

Gerard hugs him. They are both smiling widely. This hug lasts longer than normal though. What is that about?

"No problem, bro," Gerard says, letting go of Frank, "Anytime."

Frank smiles and turns towards me, waving.

"See ya, Mikey," he says, and I wave back. He continues, "Remember, if there's anything…anything, you need, call me, alright?"

Frank then turns to Amber. They smile at each other before embracing for what feels like an eternity, “Bye love.”

Amber blushes before kissing Frank lightly on the cheek, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

"Alright Ray, let's go," Frank says said, and they walk out the door.

"Wait!" Gerard yells to them. "How are you getting home?"

"Oh, we only live a few blocks away," Ray answers.

The door closes and Gee walks back into the room, looking at me, “He lives just blocks way, yet we just met Frank.”

“He normally keeps to himself,” Amber explains. “He used to get beat up a lot.”

Gerard nods, his eyes traveling around the room, “Oh, my wallet!”

He bends down, picking it up. Amber and I laugh as he places it right back onto his dresser where it originally was.

Notes

Song: Friends will be Friends by Queen