FicWad

The night goes by quickly, the early morning as slow as possible. I’m eager to get to school.
I sit at our table. The other students come in. And Gerard doesn’t.
I’m angry at myself. I should know by now; don’t get attached to anyone. They’ll let you down.
I wipe the tears out of my eyes, hating myself.
What was wrong with me?
The rest of the day was hazy. Nothing exciting.
In the car, my cell phone rings. I’m pleasantly surprised, though I already know who it is.
“Hey Thalia!” I say, happy.
“Hey Rain!” She says. “I wanted to see how you were doing!”
“Great.” I lie. “It’s cool.”
“Awesome! I miss you.”
“I miss you too.”
“I’ll come and visit you, ok? I’ve gotta go.”
“Yeah. Sure. Bye.” Of course. Par for the course.
I sigh. Deal with it. I tell myself. I should be used to it by now.

I drive to the dorms. Once I’m safe in my room, I pull a pillow off the couch and scream into it. I begin to sob, hating myself again for being pathetic.
One more cut makes it better.
I go take a shower, calming down a little while I do.
My phone is ringing again when I get out, and I’m stunned. I can’t think of anyone who would be calling me.
“Hello?” I say, expecting some old person who dialed the wrong number.
“Rainier?” A male voice says.
“Who is this?” I ask suspiciously.
“Gerard. Um…from school.” I almost drop the phone.
“Gerard? Hi.” I say nervously.
“Hey.”
“You weren’t at school today; are you ok?”
“I wasn’t this morning, but I’m fine now.”
“Good.” I don’t really know what else to say.
“Um….I wanted to thank you, for helping me yesterday.”
“Welcome. Anytime.”
“I didn’t know if you would want to do something. So I could really thank you.”
I’m stunned again. “Uh…yeah. Yeah, that would be great.”
“Ok. Good.” He sounds surprised too. “So, can I um…come and get you?”
“Mhhm.” I say.
“Cool. Is seven ok?”
“Yeah.”
“Great. I’ll see you then.” And he clicks off.
Oh god. I can’t believe this. I look at the clock and realize it’s six thirty.
I go to the little closet and stare at its’ contents for a moment, before deciding that it’s hopeless, throwing on jeans and a t-shirt.
I run to the bathroom, quickly putting on fresh make-up, trying to decide what I want to do with my hair. I leave it down, even if it’s at little bit messy.
Before I know it, there’s a knock on my door. I run to get it.
“Hi, “ I say, breathless.
“Um…hi.” Gerard. He looks so sweet. Gorgeous, and awkward. He brushes his hair out of his eyes, and I can see the sparkle in them.
We just stand there, looking at each other for a moment.
“Do you wanna, uh….” He jerks his thumb over his shoulder.
“Yeah.” I step out, shutting the door as I walk out.
We make it to the car before I realize I’ve forgotten something. I’m wearing short sleeves. I have no coat. And I have no wristbands.
I flip my arm over, cover my wrist with my other hand. Gerard looks over at me, distracted by my flurry of movement.
“So, where are we going?” I ask him, before he can question my position.
“Um…I don’t really know. “ I can see him blush before the next sentence. “Do you like comics?”
“Yeah. A lot.” I say. He looks relieved.
“Great. I know a good shop.”
“Let’s go there.” I smile.
“Right.” He smiles at me, though his eyes dart towards my hands again.
“Are you ok?” He asks.
“I’m great.” I say. I am. Better than I normally am. A lot better.
“Good.” He says. He sounds sort of like he’s talking to himself.
We sit in silence for a few minutes.
“Thanks, again. For helping me yesterday.” He says.
“Welcome. I didn’t mind.”
“I know.” He glances at me, smiling.
He pulls up to a tiny shop. I can’t even read the name, because it’s pitch black, and the neon lights have all gone out.
We go inside. It’s warm, a relief from the cold outside. I’m careful to keep my hands in my pockets.
I’m surrounded by dozens of shelves, cramping the small space. Each shelf has countless comics, originals by the look of it. There’s manga, volumes of different series. I’m in heaven.
“Oh my god. They have everything!”
Gerard laughs. “I’ve been coming to this store since I was a little kid. I used to drive up here with my little brother.” He smiles.
I gasp when I see one of the comics. Momentarily forgetting, I pull my hands out of my pockets as I run towards it, picking it up.
“Original X-Men?”
“You like X-Men?” Gerard says, surprised.
I nod vigorously. I flip through the ancient pages, careful not to wrinkle it in any way. “ Oh my god. This is amazing!” I turn it over, to see the price. It’s fifty dollars.
“Damn it.” I swear.
“What?” Gerard asks.
“It’s fifty dollars.”
“That’s pretty cheap.” Gerard says.
“And yet it’s sadly out of my current budget.” I sigh. I flip through the rest of it, before placing it gently on the shelf. Gerard looks at it thoughtfully. Then he hesitates for a moment, before grabbing my hand and pulling me towards another section.
He drops my hand casually as he pulls another comic off the shelf.
“Doom Patrol.” I read.
“Do you know it?” He asks me.
I shake my head. “But it’s Morrison. I’m sure it’s good.”
“It’s amazing. My favorite superheroes.”
He handles it gently, like it has endless value. To him, I think it does.
And then he takes my hand again, more sure of himself this time, and pulls me somewhere else. We’re there for almost three hours.
The old man behind the counter let us stay an hour after closing time. He finally kicked us out, with a toothless smile, telling us to come back. I promised to. The original X-Men would keep me coming back.
We walk out the door, waving. I realize that I’m the happiest right now that I have been in god knows how long. I don’t want to leave him.
Gerard looks as happy as I feel. And he looks as unhappy with leaving me as I am.
“Thanks. That was…great.” I wince inwardly at the inadequate word.
“Yeah. It was.” He smiles.
“See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.”
I get out of the car, and for the first time, everything is alright.