FicWad

Sorry it took so long to update. It’s the holidays, and all work and no lie-ins makes Party Pooper a moody-ass Killjoy. Trust me.

So here’s Chapter 3. To be honest I’m surprised how well this is going gathering how the last story went down. But anyways, enjoy. Or else.

The school bell finally rang at the end of the day and I trudged along with the throng of my peers to get out of this hell. It didn’t take long until I was waiting for him at the school gates. The rain had stopped, which was good, as I was pretty sure I didn’t want a hurricane interrupting my date.

My date. My date? Was this a date? No, it couldn’t have been. It was just me and a friend hanging out after school. But this friend was a guy. A guy who I seemed to have an odd sexual attraction to. Was he even my friend? Man, high school was complicated. As these ridiculous thoughts flew around in my head I grew more and more aware of the pair of eyes watching me from the shadows under a pine tree by the gates. I pivoted around to meet them, already guessing who was there even though I couldn’t see.

“So how long have you been watching me waiting here?” I asked. I heard him push away from the wall he was leaning on and he stepped out of the shadows. My stomach lurched when his features formed a small smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes - eyes curtained by the raven-feather black floppy fringe that I adored so much.

“Since you first arrived,” Gerard answered, stopping in front of me. I stuffed my hands in the pockets of my sweater and flicked my hair over my shoulder. For once in your life act natural. Don’t be a dork.

“God, you’re such a little stalker,” I grinned. He smiled again, broadly this time. “How the hell did you even get here before me?” I continued. “You didn’t flunk class or anything, right?”
He sniffed and shrugged. “No,” he replied. “I used my supernatural powers and walked through the walls.”

I raised my eyebrow at how he said it so casually. There wasn’t even a hint of sarcasm in there. I smiled briefly, shrugging it off like it was nothing.

“Go figure,” I said.

He scratched the back of his head and flicked his fringe away, reminding me of how freaking pale his skin was. Almost...blue.

“Shall we go then?” he suddenly sighed. I nodded, shouldering my bag and we set off down the road away from the school building.

“Where are we going?” I asked. My bag thumped against my side as we walked, the sharp edges of the folders in there jabbing at my side. I winced. That one would bruise.

“I know a place.”

“Oh? Where is it?”

He led me down an unfamiliar road and then a dark alley that reeked of dog shit and junk in silence. That’s what you got here in Jersey. Alleys that either smelt of excretion from a rabid stray mutt or the broken bottles and cigarette butts of last night’s street party. We then went down another road, and another, until we stopped at a small wooden picket fence with a hole at the bottom. Gerard gestured for me to crawl through and, resentfully, I hunkered to my knees and did so. I heard him follow suit, and I suddenly became self conscious of how my ass looked from the back. I couldn’t help it.

As I stood up I realised we were standing at the foot of a small hill. The soft green grass was still wet from the rain and I looked up to see a large cherry blossom standing lonesome at the top. The wave of nausea and dé ja vû flooded over me soon after as I grasped it was the same tree from my dream. I took a step back and, noticing my hesitance, he knowingly took my hand and led me up the hill. So we were holding hands now?

“Cool huh?” he said as we reached the tree. I gaped up at its branches and the pretty little pink and white blossoms drifting around us.

“Yeah,” I gasped. “Cool.”

He let go of my hand and plonked himself down on the grass. I gingerly sat down next to him and fiddled with my hair.

“I love this place,” he sighed, leaning back against the tree trunk. “It’s good for thinking.”

“What do you think about?”

He shrugged and pulled at little clumps of grass. “I don’t know. Just...things.” He looked back up at me, eyes glistening. “Sometimes sitting down and thinking can help a lot.”

I nodded. “I guess.”

We sat there in an odd silence. It wasn’t awkward, or uncomfortable. It was just a nice, relaxing silence, as we both took in the whole place.

“Tell me about yourself,” I said conversationally, turning my whole body round to face him.

“Tell you what?”

“You know. Like...” I cast around for a helpful lead. This guy wasn’t a great conversationalist. “Do you have a pet?” Wait, what the fuck?

He frowned. “Um...I had a fish once.”

“Really?” I said, trying to sound interested and totally not weirded out by my randomness. “What was it called?”

“Fyn. I won it at a fair.”

“Cool.” No, lame. Silence. Awkward...

“Okay, so now it’s your turn,” I decided.

“Excuse me?”

“You have to ask me a question.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s fun, goddam it!”

He raised his eyebrow, slightly taken aback. “Okay...” he said. “Do you have any brothers or sisters or something?”

“I have three step brothers in Santa Barbara. My dad fucked off over there with some chick at his dental practise called Mavis or something when I was nine and we haven’t seen him since,” I explained. I suppressed a chuckle at his expression. I was scaring him.

“But it’s okay,” I continued. “He sends me a toothbrush from Lego Land every Thanks Giving so I know he still remembers who I am.” I was trying really hard to keep my voice from cracking. “What about you? Do you have any siblings?”

He looked down, suddenly becoming heavily interested at the black and green converse he was wearing.

“I...had a brother,” he replied quietly. “Called Mikey.” I cocked my head to the side.

“Had?”

He looked back up at me. There was a funny look in his eyes. Not funny 'haha'. Funny weird.

“Yeah. Had. He um...he died. Last year. In a fire.”

Shit. Shit shit shit. I sat there in shock as he fiddled with the grass, eyes welling up. I tentatively put my hand on his arm. I wasn’t quite sure what to say.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, choosing the obvious. He shrugged again.

“Everyone’s sorry. Still doesn’t bring him back,” he replied bitterly. I saw him blink back the tears and he locked his eyes with mine. I swallowed as I held his gaze until he sniffed and smiled sadly.

“Thanks anyway, Lee.”

I smiled back. “Anytime.”

*

The next day it ceased to rain again, which enlightened my mood even more. My time with Gerard the day before had already put me in high spirits, and the fact that I didn’t have to walk around outside with my hood up twenty four-seven just made my day even better. I strolled into school whistling like a total fag and skipped over to Frank’s locker.

“Morning,” I sang. He smiled, surprised at my sudden happiness.

“Why are we so happy today?” he chuckled, taking out his English textbook.

“I don’t know. Being happy’s fun.”

He grinned and slammed his locker shut, leaning against it.

“You missed a hell of a time,” he stated sarcastically. “Missed the doughnuts and Clive Owen beating the shit out of zombies.”

I pouted. “I like doughnuts.”

He shook his head, bringing out a small pink paper bag and giving it to me. I grinned and opened it to reveal the large, jammy pastry ball of sugary goodness sitting at the bottom.

“Surely you didn’t think I wouldn’t have saved you one?” Frank said unnecessarily. I looked up at him. He really was a great guy.

“Thanks,” I said. His grin broadened and I locked arms with him as we set off down to homeroom.

“So was Clive Owen good at beating the shit out of zombies?”

He laughed. “Not really. You have to go for the eyes, you see. But he just kept shooting at them with a goddam Mini-gun in the hope that they’ll die. You can’t kill the living dead.”

I nodded knowingly. “You so should have been there, Iero.”

He beamed. "I know."

We reached homeroom and sat down at two seats in the fourth row. Frank sat on my desk as I slumped into the chair.

“Did you have fun with Gerard?”

Whoa. That was sudden. I glanced up at his curious expression and shrugged casually.

“Yeah, I guess. He’s pretty cool.”

He nodded coolly and fiddled with the zip of my pencil case.

“Sorry I was such an ass hole yesterday,” he murmured.

I frowned and looked back up at him. His eyes didn’t reach mine; they were hidden behind the red and black bangs of his fringe.

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” I reassured him.

“So we’re cool?”

“Sure, dude.”

His eyes met mine and he grinned. “Awesome. ‘Cus I got tickets for Bring Me The Horizon and it’d suck without you-”

He was cut off by my sharp intake of breath and I sat bolt upright in my seat.

“You’re kidding!”

“Nope-”

“Shit!”

I threw my arms around him and screamed into his shoulder.

“Dude, this is awesome!” I grinned manically. He shrugged, smiling.

“Hey, what are friends for?”

He was so right.

N’awww. Well, reading back I realise how boring and uneventful this chapter was, but it’s what you guys think that matters, right?

Rate and review! Now! :]