Hold on Till May
Chapter 23: Valentine's Day
Irmarie P.O.V.
"So, tonight at 6:30." Frank said at lunch.
"Okay." We all said.
"Hey, Irmarie." Gerard began. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Um. Sure." I said.
Gerard lead me to the empty hallway. I wonder what he wanted to talk about.
"What happened yesterday with you and Giovanni. What did he do?" He asked me.
"I don't know. All I know is that they drugged me to sleep and I woke up in a small as locker for me." I said.
"What did he say?" Gerard asked me.
"Well, he said I was the 'emo'. I called him a dickhead then tried to run away. But, they pulled my hair and then I was drugged." I said. "But don't do anything stupid. Okay?"
"Fine. But, if they hurt you in anyway, I will do something stupid to them." Gerard smiled.
"Don't do that, stupid. You'll get in trouble." I gently punched his arm.
"Come on. Let's head back." Gerard said.
Just as we started walking back to the lunch room, Giovanni and his gang stopped us.
"Well well well, look at what we have here, the emo couple." Giovanni grin.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me." I muttered.
"Hey, shut it, emo." Giovanni said.
"Jeez. Someone woke up on the wrong side of bed." Gerard smiled.
"Shut the fuck up, traitor." Giovanni said.
"Listen here Giovanni. Leave us alone, okay." I said.
"The emo thinks she can reason with us." Giovanni laughed.
"The 'emo' can kick your small penis." I said and made Gerard snicker.
"Oh that's it!" Giovanni said.
Just as he was about to hurt us because of me, someone threw an orange at him.
"Stay away from them." Frank called.
"Oh snap." Gerard and I said.
"Oh, they have the whole emo group here." Giovanni said.
"Hey, can you find another word to call us? That word is getting overused." Jamia said.
Giovanni smirked and then whistled. The rest of his friends grabbed each of my friends by the arms.
"Well, we're fucked." I muttered.
"This is not the time for your sassy comments!" Frank said from the ground.
"Shut up, we are going to die!" I faked-cried.
"Hey! What are you doing!" Someone said.
"Oh shit it's Carlile and his friends!" Giovanni said and they all ran away.
I fell to the ground and just stood there cause it felt great.
"Are you guys okay?" Someone said.
Wait, Carlile?
I opened my eyes and saw it was Austin and his friends.
Austin Carlile and his friends, Alan Ashby, Tino Arteaga, Phil Manansala, and Aaron Pauley, they are some tough guys. But, they are sweet guys. Idiots like Giovanni and his friends are scared of them.
"Yeah." Mikey said. "Thanks bro."
"No problem. We got your backs." Austin said and Alan helped me up.
"Thanks again." Frank said.
"No problem." Tino said.
"Stay out of trouble." Aaron said.
"And watch your mouth, Hale," Austin smiled. I sheepishly laughed.
We waved goodbye to them.
"Lets never do that again." Alicia said.
"Agreed." We all said.
After school, we all went to my house.
"Wow, what a surprise. Irmarie I didn't know you had friends." Mom said when she saw us.
"Mom!" I said covering my face with my hands.
"Where's the guys?" Frank asked trying to quickly change the subject.
"Vinny and Spike are still working. Rocky went somewhere with Wolfgang." Mom said.
"Yeah. Somewhere." I whispered. Frank laughed 'cause he heard what I said.
"So, what time is your guys's date?" Mom asked and we moved to the living room.
"6:30, Ma," I said.
"Okay. Your father and I will leave around seven." Mom said. She grabbed the keys that were on the coffee table. "Going to go get some pizza for yous guys. I'll be back in about forty minutes."
"Dude, your Mom is so awesome!" Alicia said after Mom left.
"Oh, I forgot you haven't met my family." I said while sitting on the couch.
"You should turn around and see that shelf." Mikey said.
Alicia turned around and saw our shelf that was mostly filled with CD's. Sure, it has some frames and vases and shit like that, but, it was mostly just CD's.
"No way. Dude, how many CD's do you have!?" Alicia said.
"I don't know. But, this is the effect of having a brother that works at a music store. Good effect, huh?" I smiled.
"Dude." Alicia said. "We should play some music."
"Okay. Pick whatever you want to hear." I said and stood up.
"Oh! We should play some Forever The Sickest Kids!" Frank said.
"Looks like another music day for you, Gee," I smiled at Gerard.
I handed the CD to Frank and he put it on the CD player.
"So Gerard. What is your favorite band that Irmarie has showed you?" Mikey asked.
"Uh. I like all of them." Gerard said.
"Really." Mikey said.
"Yeah."
The door opened and Vinny came in running.
"Hey guys. Bye guys." Vinny said as he came and grab some flowers on the counter in the kitchen.
"Going to visit Star?" I asked.
"Bye!" Vinny said and closed the door.
"I'll take that as a yes." I said.
"Is Ray and Christa here yet!?" Frank called from the couch.
"Dude, they're down the street." I said.
"But I wanna go now!" Frank whine as he put his head on Jamia's shoulder.
"I swear you sometimes act like a little kid." I muttered.
I sat down and put on my Vans. Gerard was next to me, playing with his fingers.
"Hey Gee," I whispered to him. "Ready to go?"
"Yeah. I kind of don't really know how to roller skate..." Gerard whispered back.
"It's fine, Gee. I can help you." I whispered.
"Really?"
"Sure. We all start not knowing how to skate anyways." I whispered.
There was a knock on the door. Frank ran to go get it.
"Toro! Christa! You're late!" Frank said.
"Jeez. Thanks." Ray said.
"Alright. Lets go!" Jamia said and ran past us. She grabbed Frank's hand and pulled him outside with her.
I put on my coat and grabbed my spare key of the house. We walked outside and I locked the door.
Jamia, Mikey, and Alicia went in Frank's car. Christa, Gerard, and I went in Ray's.
"Skate City, here we are!" Ray said as he parked.
I quickly got out of the car.
"Race you!" Frank said to me.
"It's on!" I said then ran.
"Hey, no fair!" Frank said.
I ran to the door. There were people walking into the building. As I ran, I almost tripped on my own feet. But in the end, I won the little race.
"I hate you," Frank said trying to catch his breath.
"No, I know you love me." I smiled.
"Well, thank you guys for leaving us behind," Mikey said.
"No problem." I said.
Gerard held the door open for all of us. There was a lot of people in line. The other group's turn wasn't finish yet. It's only 6:27.
I sat down on the floor. Alicia did the same thing.
"Do you think Mikey likes me?" Alicia whispered to me when the guys weren't in earshot.
"He does, Ali. If he doesn't make the move tonight, you do then." I said.
"Okay. But what if he doesn't feel the same way?" Alicia asked.
"He does. Trust me." I said.
"Okay." Alicia said.
The doors open the a whole punch of couples came out, smiling. The noise in the tiny room got really loud. Once the big group of people had left, they open our door. We quickly paid for our own tickets and went inside.
I quickly ran to get my roller skates.
"Size?" The guy said. He looked around my age.
"I'm a nine." I said.
The guy went to go look for my shoe size. "We have nine and a half. Here, try them." The guy said. He set them on the table and I took them. "By the way, do you have a date?" He smirked.
"Come on, Irmarie," Gerard said as he held my hand.
I followed him. I was confused though. Why did Gerard hold my hand when the guy asked me if I had a date? I shook the thought away for now.
We sat down on the benched and put on our skates.
As we were putting on the skates, the lights dimmed and the neon lights were turned on.
"Ready!" I said to everyone. I stood up and roller skated to the entrance of the roller rink.
Everyone stood up. Mikey and Gerard were kind of wobbling. Guess they never really did went roller skating when they were younger.
Alicia held Mikey's hand as they roller skated to the entrance of the roller rink.
The DJ started playing the songs. Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5 was the first song to be played.
Frank and Jamia were the first ones to enter to roller rink. Ray and Christa entered hand in hand. Mikey and Alicia smiled as they rolled in the rink. I entered the rink.
"Need help?" I asked Gerard.
"Sort of." He smiled.
I held his hand. "Don't let go." I said as we both entered the rink.
"Wouldn't dream of it." He said.
"Okay, push yourself, right to left. You kind of have to lean forward. Or that's how I did when I first started skating." I said.
Gerard did what I said. He was still getting support from me, though.
I held Gerard's hand until the song was over and Madness by Muse was playing.
"I'm going to let you go, okay? If you feel like you're going to loose your balance, there's the railing." I said.
Gerard nodded. I slowly let go of his hand. He started wobbling, so he held onto the railing.
"Okay. Better than I did. I fell the moment Ma had let me go," I smiled. Gerard laughed.
"How old were you when you learned how to skate?" He asked.
"Six I think." I said.
"And have you loved skating every since?" Gerard asked.
"Yeah. It's one of those things that comfort me." I said.
"Nice." Gerard said as he push himself off the railing and started skating on his own.
"How about you? Do you have something that comforts you?" I asked.
Gerard thought for a moment. "No. I'm kind of lost actually." He said.
"I was too at one point. Don't worry." I said and held his hand.
Alicia and Mikey passed us. Alicia turned her head around and mouthed 'he likes me'. I gave her a thumbs up.
"What was that about?" Gerard asked.
"Oh, Alicia now knows that Mikey likes her," I said.
The song changed again to Who Owns My Heart by Miley Cyrus.
"Does it frustrates you that you don't usually hear your kind of music?" Gerard asked.
"Sometimes. But I learned how to cope with it." I shrugged. "You can also request songs."
"Really? That's nice." Gerard said.
"Sure is. Okay, I'm going to let you go again. This time, don't grab on to the railing, no matter what." I said.
"Okay." Gerard said.
I slowly let go of his hand again. He started to wobble again but quickly gain his balanced.
"Great job! Now you skate off. It's okay if you're still wobbling." I smiled.
"Hey guys, how's it going?" Christa asked as they skated by our side.
"I'm learning to skate!" Gerard smiled.
"Did you fall?" Ray asked.
"Nope." Gerard smiled.
"Weird. Irmarie how are you teaching him?" Ray asked.
"Same way Ma taught us." I said.
"You sure about that?" Ray asked.
"Pretty sure. Now go on," I said.
They waved bye to us and skated away. "Want a rest?" I asked Gerard.
"Sure."
"Great, 'cause I want a slushy!" I said.
We skated to the food bar. There was a woman there sitting down. "And what can I get for you love birds?" She smiled.
"Oh- we're not dating." We both said.
"Oh. Just friends?" The woman asked.
"Yep." We both said.
"Well, what can I get for the friends?" She asked.
"You want something?" I asked Gerard.
"Just some nachos. I'll pay for them though." Gerard said.
"A slushy too. And a large Coca-Cola." I said.
The woman gave our orders and we paid. We skated to a table next to the rink.
"So, how you like skating?" I asked Gerard when we sat down.
"I really like it, but, it's not my comfort thing." He smiled.
"Of course it's not. Don't stress out about it, okay?" I said.
"I don't know, what if I can't find my comfort thing?" Gerard said.
"I think the thing that comforts you is out of the zone that you've been growing up around Giovanni and Gabriel." I said.
"You really think so?" Gerard said and slid the tray of nachos towards me.
"Yeah. It'll come out at you one day." I said taking one of his nachos.
"By the way, why'd you get the soda and the slushy?" He asked.
"You bought nachos without a drink. That's why." I said.
When we finished eating, Gerard and I skated to the DJ to request a song.
"You request your song first," he said.
"Really, you don't want to request the one we both had agreed on?" I asked.
"Nope. I want to hear that one song you'll be requesting." Gerard said.
I looked at his eyes for a moment. He really did want me to request it.
"So, what's the song?" The DJ asked.
"Hold on Till May by Pierce The Veil." I said.
"Okay, it's after this one." He said.
"Come on," Gerard held my hand and we skated to the rink. The song had just finished and the Hold on Till May started playing.
"It's kind of a slow song." I said.
"It's fine. It's Valentine's Day after all." Gerard said. "So, tell me, why'd you requested this one specifically?"
"You were going to ask that anyways, wern't you." I smiled.
"Yeah..." Gerard said.
"Okay, I'll tell you. Well, I requested that song because it reminds me of my situation." I said.
"Your Heart Block?" Gerard asked.
"Yeah."
"Well then, hold on till May, Irmarie. hold on till May." Gerard said and kissed my cheek.
"So, tonight at 6:30." Frank said at lunch.
"Okay." We all said.
"Hey, Irmarie." Gerard began. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Um. Sure." I said.
Gerard lead me to the empty hallway. I wonder what he wanted to talk about.
"What happened yesterday with you and Giovanni. What did he do?" He asked me.
"I don't know. All I know is that they drugged me to sleep and I woke up in a small as locker for me." I said.
"What did he say?" Gerard asked me.
"Well, he said I was the 'emo'. I called him a dickhead then tried to run away. But, they pulled my hair and then I was drugged." I said. "But don't do anything stupid. Okay?"
"Fine. But, if they hurt you in anyway, I will do something stupid to them." Gerard smiled.
"Don't do that, stupid. You'll get in trouble." I gently punched his arm.
"Come on. Let's head back." Gerard said.
Just as we started walking back to the lunch room, Giovanni and his gang stopped us.
"Well well well, look at what we have here, the emo couple." Giovanni grin.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me." I muttered.
"Hey, shut it, emo." Giovanni said.
"Jeez. Someone woke up on the wrong side of bed." Gerard smiled.
"Shut the fuck up, traitor." Giovanni said.
"Listen here Giovanni. Leave us alone, okay." I said.
"The emo thinks she can reason with us." Giovanni laughed.
"The 'emo' can kick your small penis." I said and made Gerard snicker.
"Oh that's it!" Giovanni said.
Just as he was about to hurt us because of me, someone threw an orange at him.
"Stay away from them." Frank called.
"Oh snap." Gerard and I said.
"Oh, they have the whole emo group here." Giovanni said.
"Hey, can you find another word to call us? That word is getting overused." Jamia said.
Giovanni smirked and then whistled. The rest of his friends grabbed each of my friends by the arms.
"Well, we're fucked." I muttered.
"This is not the time for your sassy comments!" Frank said from the ground.
"Shut up, we are going to die!" I faked-cried.
"Hey! What are you doing!" Someone said.
"Oh shit it's Carlile and his friends!" Giovanni said and they all ran away.
I fell to the ground and just stood there cause it felt great.
"Are you guys okay?" Someone said.
Wait, Carlile?
I opened my eyes and saw it was Austin and his friends.
Austin Carlile and his friends, Alan Ashby, Tino Arteaga, Phil Manansala, and Aaron Pauley, they are some tough guys. But, they are sweet guys. Idiots like Giovanni and his friends are scared of them.
"Yeah." Mikey said. "Thanks bro."
"No problem. We got your backs." Austin said and Alan helped me up.
"Thanks again." Frank said.
"No problem." Tino said.
"Stay out of trouble." Aaron said.
"And watch your mouth, Hale," Austin smiled. I sheepishly laughed.
We waved goodbye to them.
"Lets never do that again." Alicia said.
"Agreed." We all said.
After school, we all went to my house.
"Wow, what a surprise. Irmarie I didn't know you had friends." Mom said when she saw us.
"Mom!" I said covering my face with my hands.
"Where's the guys?" Frank asked trying to quickly change the subject.
"Vinny and Spike are still working. Rocky went somewhere with Wolfgang." Mom said.
"Yeah. Somewhere." I whispered. Frank laughed 'cause he heard what I said.
"So, what time is your guys's date?" Mom asked and we moved to the living room.
"6:30, Ma," I said.
"Okay. Your father and I will leave around seven." Mom said. She grabbed the keys that were on the coffee table. "Going to go get some pizza for yous guys. I'll be back in about forty minutes."
"Dude, your Mom is so awesome!" Alicia said after Mom left.
"Oh, I forgot you haven't met my family." I said while sitting on the couch.
"You should turn around and see that shelf." Mikey said.
Alicia turned around and saw our shelf that was mostly filled with CD's. Sure, it has some frames and vases and shit like that, but, it was mostly just CD's.
"No way. Dude, how many CD's do you have!?" Alicia said.
"I don't know. But, this is the effect of having a brother that works at a music store. Good effect, huh?" I smiled.
"Dude." Alicia said. "We should play some music."
"Okay. Pick whatever you want to hear." I said and stood up.
"Oh! We should play some Forever The Sickest Kids!" Frank said.
"Looks like another music day for you, Gee," I smiled at Gerard.
I handed the CD to Frank and he put it on the CD player.
"So Gerard. What is your favorite band that Irmarie has showed you?" Mikey asked.
"Uh. I like all of them." Gerard said.
"Really." Mikey said.
"Yeah."
The door opened and Vinny came in running.
"Hey guys. Bye guys." Vinny said as he came and grab some flowers on the counter in the kitchen.
"Going to visit Star?" I asked.
"Bye!" Vinny said and closed the door.
"I'll take that as a yes." I said.
"Is Ray and Christa here yet!?" Frank called from the couch.
"Dude, they're down the street." I said.
"But I wanna go now!" Frank whine as he put his head on Jamia's shoulder.
"I swear you sometimes act like a little kid." I muttered.
I sat down and put on my Vans. Gerard was next to me, playing with his fingers.
"Hey Gee," I whispered to him. "Ready to go?"
"Yeah. I kind of don't really know how to roller skate..." Gerard whispered back.
"It's fine, Gee. I can help you." I whispered.
"Really?"
"Sure. We all start not knowing how to skate anyways." I whispered.
There was a knock on the door. Frank ran to go get it.
"Toro! Christa! You're late!" Frank said.
"Jeez. Thanks." Ray said.
"Alright. Lets go!" Jamia said and ran past us. She grabbed Frank's hand and pulled him outside with her.
I put on my coat and grabbed my spare key of the house. We walked outside and I locked the door.
Jamia, Mikey, and Alicia went in Frank's car. Christa, Gerard, and I went in Ray's.
"Skate City, here we are!" Ray said as he parked.
I quickly got out of the car.
"Race you!" Frank said to me.
"It's on!" I said then ran.
"Hey, no fair!" Frank said.
I ran to the door. There were people walking into the building. As I ran, I almost tripped on my own feet. But in the end, I won the little race.
"I hate you," Frank said trying to catch his breath.
"No, I know you love me." I smiled.
"Well, thank you guys for leaving us behind," Mikey said.
"No problem." I said.
Gerard held the door open for all of us. There was a lot of people in line. The other group's turn wasn't finish yet. It's only 6:27.
I sat down on the floor. Alicia did the same thing.
"Do you think Mikey likes me?" Alicia whispered to me when the guys weren't in earshot.
"He does, Ali. If he doesn't make the move tonight, you do then." I said.
"Okay. But what if he doesn't feel the same way?" Alicia asked.
"He does. Trust me." I said.
"Okay." Alicia said.
The doors open the a whole punch of couples came out, smiling. The noise in the tiny room got really loud. Once the big group of people had left, they open our door. We quickly paid for our own tickets and went inside.
I quickly ran to get my roller skates.
"Size?" The guy said. He looked around my age.
"I'm a nine." I said.
The guy went to go look for my shoe size. "We have nine and a half. Here, try them." The guy said. He set them on the table and I took them. "By the way, do you have a date?" He smirked.
"Come on, Irmarie," Gerard said as he held my hand.
I followed him. I was confused though. Why did Gerard hold my hand when the guy asked me if I had a date? I shook the thought away for now.
We sat down on the benched and put on our skates.
As we were putting on the skates, the lights dimmed and the neon lights were turned on.
"Ready!" I said to everyone. I stood up and roller skated to the entrance of the roller rink.
Everyone stood up. Mikey and Gerard were kind of wobbling. Guess they never really did went roller skating when they were younger.
Alicia held Mikey's hand as they roller skated to the entrance of the roller rink.
The DJ started playing the songs. Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5 was the first song to be played.
Frank and Jamia were the first ones to enter to roller rink. Ray and Christa entered hand in hand. Mikey and Alicia smiled as they rolled in the rink. I entered the rink.
"Need help?" I asked Gerard.
"Sort of." He smiled.
I held his hand. "Don't let go." I said as we both entered the rink.
"Wouldn't dream of it." He said.
"Okay, push yourself, right to left. You kind of have to lean forward. Or that's how I did when I first started skating." I said.
Gerard did what I said. He was still getting support from me, though.
I held Gerard's hand until the song was over and Madness by Muse was playing.
"I'm going to let you go, okay? If you feel like you're going to loose your balance, there's the railing." I said.
Gerard nodded. I slowly let go of his hand. He started wobbling, so he held onto the railing.
"Okay. Better than I did. I fell the moment Ma had let me go," I smiled. Gerard laughed.
"How old were you when you learned how to skate?" He asked.
"Six I think." I said.
"And have you loved skating every since?" Gerard asked.
"Yeah. It's one of those things that comfort me." I said.
"Nice." Gerard said as he push himself off the railing and started skating on his own.
"How about you? Do you have something that comforts you?" I asked.
Gerard thought for a moment. "No. I'm kind of lost actually." He said.
"I was too at one point. Don't worry." I said and held his hand.
Alicia and Mikey passed us. Alicia turned her head around and mouthed 'he likes me'. I gave her a thumbs up.
"What was that about?" Gerard asked.
"Oh, Alicia now knows that Mikey likes her," I said.
The song changed again to Who Owns My Heart by Miley Cyrus.
"Does it frustrates you that you don't usually hear your kind of music?" Gerard asked.
"Sometimes. But I learned how to cope with it." I shrugged. "You can also request songs."
"Really? That's nice." Gerard said.
"Sure is. Okay, I'm going to let you go again. This time, don't grab on to the railing, no matter what." I said.
"Okay." Gerard said.
I slowly let go of his hand again. He started to wobble again but quickly gain his balanced.
"Great job! Now you skate off. It's okay if you're still wobbling." I smiled.
"Hey guys, how's it going?" Christa asked as they skated by our side.
"I'm learning to skate!" Gerard smiled.
"Did you fall?" Ray asked.
"Nope." Gerard smiled.
"Weird. Irmarie how are you teaching him?" Ray asked.
"Same way Ma taught us." I said.
"You sure about that?" Ray asked.
"Pretty sure. Now go on," I said.
They waved bye to us and skated away. "Want a rest?" I asked Gerard.
"Sure."
"Great, 'cause I want a slushy!" I said.
We skated to the food bar. There was a woman there sitting down. "And what can I get for you love birds?" She smiled.
"Oh- we're not dating." We both said.
"Oh. Just friends?" The woman asked.
"Yep." We both said.
"Well, what can I get for the friends?" She asked.
"You want something?" I asked Gerard.
"Just some nachos. I'll pay for them though." Gerard said.
"A slushy too. And a large Coca-Cola." I said.
The woman gave our orders and we paid. We skated to a table next to the rink.
"So, how you like skating?" I asked Gerard when we sat down.
"I really like it, but, it's not my comfort thing." He smiled.
"Of course it's not. Don't stress out about it, okay?" I said.
"I don't know, what if I can't find my comfort thing?" Gerard said.
"I think the thing that comforts you is out of the zone that you've been growing up around Giovanni and Gabriel." I said.
"You really think so?" Gerard said and slid the tray of nachos towards me.
"Yeah. It'll come out at you one day." I said taking one of his nachos.
"By the way, why'd you get the soda and the slushy?" He asked.
"You bought nachos without a drink. That's why." I said.
When we finished eating, Gerard and I skated to the DJ to request a song.
"You request your song first," he said.
"Really, you don't want to request the one we both had agreed on?" I asked.
"Nope. I want to hear that one song you'll be requesting." Gerard said.
I looked at his eyes for a moment. He really did want me to request it.
"So, what's the song?" The DJ asked.
"Hold on Till May by Pierce The Veil." I said.
"Okay, it's after this one." He said.
"Come on," Gerard held my hand and we skated to the rink. The song had just finished and the Hold on Till May started playing.
"It's kind of a slow song." I said.
"It's fine. It's Valentine's Day after all." Gerard said. "So, tell me, why'd you requested this one specifically?"
"You were going to ask that anyways, wern't you." I smiled.
"Yeah..." Gerard said.
"Okay, I'll tell you. Well, I requested that song because it reminds me of my situation." I said.
"Your Heart Block?" Gerard asked.
"Yeah."
"Well then, hold on till May, Irmarie. hold on till May." Gerard said and kissed my cheek.
Are you alive???
2/9/14