FicWad

Ah, Valentine’s Day. To some, this holiday brings thoughts of love and happiness along with thoughts of chocolate candies, oversized stuffed animals, and roses by the dozens. To others, this holiday clouds the mind with thoughts of how alone, unhappy, and depressed they are as they watch their friends and crushes steal kisses from their Valentine and brag about their plans for an evening date. Does the second sound to personal? Well, I apologize for that, however I’m not going to hide my feelings about the vile sweets-filled holiday.

First of all, the day is simply a corporate holiday created to boost candy and sugar sales by the hundreds of dollars. Why do you only get one day out of the year designated to show someone that you love them? If you really care for them, shouldn’t you show them every day? My way of showing the person I love that I love them is by saying, “Hi,” to them in the hallway and then taking off to first period before I do something stupid. I like to drop those subtle hints, y’know?

Speaking of subtle hints, ever since my alarm clock so rudely woke me up this hell-bound morning, my doll-of-a-brother, Mikey, has been dropping them about it being Valentine’s Day. He had been talking about asking a girl named Hayley out for months. Apparently he was going to drop the love bomb to-day. I was happy for him to work up the courage, I really was. Hayley was a nice girl and she had fire-engine red hair. I had always wondered what I would look like with hair that colour.

The whole drive to school Mikey was practically buzzing my ear off about Hayley. I had been trying to pay attention, but my mind kept zoning out to thoughts about my own personal crush. His name was Frank. Frank and I have been best friends for God only knows how long. I still remember the day when we first met. I believe that it was in first grade and little Frankie came up to me and said, “Hi. I’m Frank. I like your nose.” That memory always brought a smile to my face.

“Gerard! Gerrrard! Earth to Geetard; we’ve arrived at school!” Mikey called to me while waving an arm in my face. I snapped back to reality hastily and hopped out of the drivers seat. Mikey followed suit and before long we were making our way to the school doors.

“So GeeGee,” Mikey started. I didn’t like where this was going. “Who’s your Valentine this year?”

I gave him a short, sarcastic laugh to help make my next point. “Mikey, I don’t have a Valentine because no one likes me. I never do.”

“But Gerard! To-day is the mother of all romantic days! You shouldn’t be all mopey or spend this year sitting on the couch watching people slaughtering each other like every other February 14th! You should make this year special and go get someone! C’mon, who are you crushing on.” Mikey gushed like some kind of 13-year-old girl.

I just stared at him for a few seconds in disbelief. There was no way this guy was my brother. No way… and no pun indented either. “You’re really funny, Mikes. Have you ever considered Clown College?”

“Seriously, Gee! You should be holding hands and exchanging roses and get all dressed up to go on a date with…”

I did not pay attention to the rest of his romantic bullshit. The only person I could ever have was completely out of my league and was way too smart, hot, and, let’s face it, perfect, for me to ever deserve.

“SO YOU DO LIKE SOMEONE, MR. WAY!” my asshole of a little brother yelled down the hallway. I hadn’t actually even realized we had entered the building, but by the freaked out looks of the peers around us, I came to the conclusion that, yes, we were in the building.

“Uhm, what? N-nope. Not me,” I stammered. Damn Mikey.

“It’s Frank, isn’t it? Yeah, it’s Frank. You should ask him out Gee! C’mon!”

“Wha-wha-what? How-how did you… how- what… NO!” I had not even finished fathoming how he had guessed so easily before I was being pulled down the halls by Mikey against my will. Despite my constant stream of curses and name-calling, he was utterly determined to, quite literally, drag me to Frank.

“Calling me an ass-fuck will only make me get you there sooner,” Mikey chimed in a sing-song voice. Fuck him and his smart-ass brain. I swear to God, that kid is too intelligent for his own good, and mine. I ended up giving up my loud, exasperated yelling, and switched it for pissed-off, mumbled swearing. I had pretty much accepted my defeat.

~~

“Alright, GeeGee! Frank right inside the library! Off you go!” my brother chirped in his annoying, cheery tone. He gave me a more painful than encouraging push inside the double-doors that lead into the room in which housed far too many books, and apparently Frank.

I turned to take off right out the doors, but to my unpleasant surprise, Mikey was still standing on the other side of the doors. “Fuck,” I whispered as I made my way to the far corner of the library.

I actually did not mind the library. Even though it held zero comic books, the only books I dared to read, it was still a quiet place to escape when school got too hectic. Also, the librarian was barely in. She only showed herself during 4th and 6th periods and left to smoke or drink her body-weight in iced teas in the teacher’s lounge. Another reason that I enjoyed visiting the room was the simple fact that no one ever dared to come through the doors if the librarian was not there. Anyone who was caught in there unattended would automatically receive an after-school detention slip, no questions asked. So, as you might guess, it was a pretty good hideout.

Running my fingers, along the spines of each book on the shelf, I began to become aware of another presence in the room. I knew that it would be Frank, but I could neither hear, nor see him. It was hard to explain, but I could feel that he was there. I continued walking forwards, still with my fingers tracing the books, and came across a gap in the shelving. I took a look inside and nearly pissed my pants.

“HOLY SHIT!”

“AH, FUCK!”

I jumped back against another bookshelf and let out a stream of curses as a book fell from the top and landed on my head. It was not the lightest book, and I ended up falling to the ground. With a book still on top of my cranium, I saw a pair of feet walking towards me and felt someone lift the book off of me, giggling.

I knew that giggle. In fact, I knew it very well. I worked hard to hear that blessed noise escape the lips of that beautiful person. To see their eyes light up and to see them beam from ear-to-ear was the best sight in the whole world.

“Are you okay, Gerard?” Frank asked as he outstretched his arm for me to take.

I blushed heavily and took his hand. My palms were sweaty; I could feel it. What could I say? I got nervous around him easily.

“Yeah, I’m-I’m fine,” I smiled to him.

He helped me up off the ground, but did not bother to let go of my hand. I thought for certain that he must have forgotten, but seconds went by and they were still connected.

“Well, I’m glad you are because I wanted to ask you something,” Frank told me in a sincere tone, still not choosing to untangle our fingers.

I could not find the words to reply to him with simply due to the fact that he was so mesmerizing. Each part of his face looked as though it had been carved from angels themselves. He had the most gorgeous eyes in the whole world. I could get lost in them forever.

Taking me a bit by surprise, Frank outstretched his opposite arm and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. He knew that I tried to shield myself from the world with my hair. In fact, he has told me one billion times to not be afraid and to come out. However, not once has he done something like that before. I found my face flushing faster that I could register that it was happening.

I was in Heaven. Maybe I had died when Mikey was dragging me and this was the afterlife. I could live with that. I would have absolutely no problem with that. This was absolute perfection until…

“DETENTION!”

Fuck.

The best teacher in the world (note sarcasm) walked in at just the perfect time to spoil what was supposed to be my happy place. Mr. Bryar marched right in, shoulders held high as if he was trying to look badass, and handed us each an orange slip. Great: after-school on Valentine’s Day. I know I said that I did not have any plans, but detention was not really on my list of things-to-do this morning.

“Now get to class, you shameless punks!” Mr. Bryar called on his way out.

I sighed in defeat as I made my way out of the library. I don’t usually get after-school. It’s not that I am a perfect student; it’s more that I don’t get caught. However, I guess that was not the case this time.

“At least we’ll have it together,” Frank mumbled. I gave him a small smile and thought that I detected the strangest hint of a glint in his eye. I was just about to ask him about what he wanted to question me of, but he waved a goodbye and strode off before I was able to bring the topic up. I breathed out and shoved my hands in my pockets. To first period it is, then.

~~

Ah, finally! The last period of the day arrived and not a second too soon. I absolutely adore my last class. First of all, art is my favourite subject and I could not wait to see what new project we were about to start. Second of all, Frank was in my class. I haven’t admitted this to anyone, but since he is seated directly in front of me, I usually spend most of the period staring at him. Is that creepy?

“Alright class, since it is Valentine’s Day, and half of you have probably had a perfectly horrid day, I suppose that you could use a little cheering up. So in favour of that statement, I have acquired a box of Conversation Heart for each one of you,” the teacher, Mr. Toro, spoke.

Frank turned around in his seat to gleam at me. He was a sucker for sweets and I knew it. I laughed at the extremely excited countenance he was wearing as Mr. Toro passed me a box. I decided to wait to eat them until detention. Maybe a mixture of both Frank and Conversation Hearts would make after-school less horrific.

“Alright, well you all enjoy those now, okay? We are also going to wait to start our unit until tomorrow, since the holiday has most likely fed you all enough sugar to keep you jittery all night. So, you may spend this period sketching something under the theme of, “My Heart is a Weapon.” Finished products will be expected and due at the end of class. Oh, and Happy Valentine’s Day!” Mr. Toro instructed and went to sit back down at his desk to draw something of his own. I admired him for this. Most teachers would assign something and then sit and chew gum all period completely idle, but not him.

~~

The bell rang and I stood from my seat to hand in my paper. I had ended up with a depiction of a man in a tuxedo pulling a gun from his chest. I had to admit, I was proud of what I had accomplished in less than an hour. As I turned my work over to the teacher, he smiled at me and commented, “Another brilliant work by the most artistic, Mr. Way.”

Grinning from his remark, I collected my things and made my way to Frank so that we could endure what was destined to be an hour of pure terror together. I had planned on viewing what he had drawn, since I had shown him my own sketch. However, when I requested a look, he turned away quickly to turn it in. To my own surprise, he was blushing heavily. I grew a bit confused, but simply shrugged it off.

“Ready for Hell?” I asked, jokingly.

He giggled that beautiful laugh. “You know it!”

~~

Upon entering the detention classroom, we noticed that no one else was inside the room except for Mr. Hoppus, and us. I did a fistpump of joy in my head. Thank God we had gotten the pleasure of having Mr. Hoppus watch us in after-school! Everyone knows that he stays in the room for about five minutes and then leaves to watch porn in his office down the hall for the rest of the time. Don’t get me wrong, he was a kickass teacher and probably would let us do whatever the Hell we wanted, but it would be nice to have some alone time with Frank. Wait, now that I mention it, alone time with Frank sounds perfectly dreadful. I’ll be a nervous wreck for sure!

I spent the next five minutes panicking inside the safety of my mind. I had not even noticed that the time had passed so quickly until Mr. Hoppus stood up and announced, “I’ll be back… wait, you guys know the deal. See ya in 45 minutes or so. Do whatever, I don’t care,” and walked out.

A few seconds had passed and no one dared to break the silence. It was getting a bit awkward and I could feel the silence growing thick. But, Frank being the lovable jokester he was asked, “How much does a polar bear weigh?”

I chuckled and exclaimed, “How the fuck should I know?!”

He grinned wide and yelled particularly loudly, “Enough to break the ice!” We erupted into a fit of laughter and found that the awkwardness had evaporated completely.

“So whatcha wanna do for the next forty-five minutes?” he questioned.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, shrugging my shoulders.

“Do you still have your box of Conversation Hearts?”

“Yeah, why?” I asked, suspiciously, removing the box from my pocket. Frank had some pretty odd ideas sometimes and it was always good to know what was on his mind before agreeing to anything.

“Dump ‘em out on the desk. Let’s play the Conversation Heart Game!”

“What the fuck is that?”

“You’ve never played it before?” He sounded quite incredulous.

“No…”I trailed off. What was he on about now?

“You know, they’re called CONVERSATION Heart for a reason.”

I put my hands up, surrendering. “Okay, okay. Let me see what I’ve got.”

I opened the box and emptied it of its contents. There were fifteen or so hearts of different colours, each with different sayings on them. I guessed that this game consisted of making conversation with these candies, as anyone could assume.

“Well, you first, then,” Frank urged.

I evaluated the messages on the candies and tried to choose one that would be appropriate to start a conversation. ‘Marry me,’ I read to myself, ‘That’s a bit straightforward.’ I ended up choosing, ‘Hey You.’

Frank smiled and looked at his own set of hearts before setting one down next to mine. His was yellow and read, ‘Sup Babe.’ I could feel my cheeks lighting up.

Oh, no. It was my turn. How was I supposed to follow that? All my candy hearts read messages that would definitely hint to my extreme crush on Frank. I was absolutely fucked. Mine read things like ‘Love You’ or ‘Got Luv?’ I couldn’t see this game lasting much longer without me dashing as fast as I could to the bathroom for cover.

I took a deep breath and viewed my choices again. Yes! I found a green heart with the letters, ‘LOL’ printed on them. I set that one down with the others and waited for Frank’s response.

He seemed much more prompt to reply than I did. Only a few seconds after I set down my ‘LOL,’ he placed a snow-white response on the desk. I came to the conclusion that he was trying to keep my blush plastered on my cheeks. I let a strand of hair shield my face as I read his reply of, ‘Too Hot.’

My arm was shaking a bit out of nervousness, but I managed to set down a pink, ‘No Way.’ Frank sent a smirk my way before adding a ‘Yes Way’ to the pile.

I was getting more and more screwed by the minute. I only had three acceptable responses left before I was doomed to placing something that I was positive would embarrass me for the rest of my life.

Desperately trying to keep my cool, I chose an orange, ‘BFF.’ I watched as Frank smiled and nodded at my response, but then grew a new look that was more daring. He bit his lip in the hottest way possible as he set down a purple ‘So Fine.’

Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Those words kept replaying over and over in my mind. I braced myself for redder cheeks as I placed a green heart that read, ‘Get Real.’

Frank pouted a bit, I suppose disapproving of my low self-esteem. However, he soon recovered in time to play ‘Sweet Pea’ in pink colouring.

Fuck, I was really glowing now. I kept my eyes directed to the floor as I set my last somewhat-alright response on the desk. It was a yellow, ‘Yes Dear?’

I watched as his eyes began to show something that I had never seen before. Maybe I just had missed it from having my hair-shield in place all the time. Maybe he wanted me to see the glint in his eyes. Maybe that is why he always tells me too look up instead of down. I shook my head clearing my thoughts. ‘Don’t get too carried away now, Gerard,’ I told myself.

It took him a few seconds to plan out his next move, but when he did, Frank played a green, ‘Dare Ya.’ I cocked my head to the side, wondering what he meant by that. I searched my hand for a response, but my eyes grew wide when I saw my only options.

‘Alright, Gerard. If you’re going to do this, you are going to do it right, sir. You are going to gather up whatever confidence you have hidden away somewhere deep, deep down and do this. Just breathe and set down the candy heart. It’s that simple. Let’s do this.’ I coached myself.

I might sound pretty convincing in my own head, but actions are much harder than thoughts. I held the sugar heart in my hand and set it down carefully, shakily, on the desk. However, I did not remove my hand quite yet. I planned on making that as slow of a process as possible.

Frank had different plans, though. He set his hand on top of mine and kept me from revealing my response. Instead, he set down yet another heart that was a shade of white. I looked at its words and gasped aloud.

‘Kiss Me.’

I set my glance at my feet immediately, but I felt a warm hand tilt my chin up. I found myself looking into the most beautiful eyes in the whole world. They were swirling pools of olive and chocolate. Some unknown force was drawing me closer, nearer to them. I could feel it pulling me into his eyes, but before they were able to touch, I felt something different connect; lips.

My lips and Frank’s lips: what a perfect combination. They molded and melted against each other, fitting together again and again. I could feel his hands holding me close and tight as his mouth silently spoke love. I even felt a hot tear spill out of my eye and entrace itself into the kiss: our kiss.

When he were forced apart to breathe, Frank held up both of his hands in front of my face, showing me that nothing was inside. He then he held up a single index finger, asking me to wait. As Frank reached behind my ear, I asked him, “What did you want to ask me earlier?”

He did not answer, but simply pulled his hand back from behind my ear and I noticed that he had something inside of his palm. I gasped, remembering that I was, in fact, still holding onto an object as well.

Slowly, we each unfolded our hands and found that each of us was holding a pink, candy heart with the exact same red letters engraved into their sugary figures. These letters spelled out, ‘I Love You.’


I smiled shyly as he tucked a lock behind my ear, once again, and leaned in to capture my lips in his own. I could have stayed like that forever. His arms were so safe and warm. They enclosed me and held me as I let my lips linger with his own. However, the moment was short-lived due to the fact that a loud, “YEAH!” startled us away from each other.

I swear to God, all this surprising bullshit had better stop fast. I was about to go and kick someone’s ass for ruining my once-perfect Valentine’s Day, but I stopped in my tracks when I looked out the classroom door’s window and saw four figures dancing around and giving each other high fives.

Frank seemed just as shocked to see Mikey, Mr. Bryar, Mr. Toro, and Mr. Hoppus all jumping around like 5-year-olds in a Bouncy House. I should have known that Mikey was behind this whole day. That kid was quite the devious little bastard. But what could I say? I loved that little schemer, especially right now.

He seemed to had read my mind because he looked into the window at us and quit celebrating in time to yell, “OH, SORRY FOR RUINING THE MOMENT. I’LL JUST GO NOW…” and backed away with his teacher friends to rival in their triumphs somewhere else, leaving Frank and I alone once again.

“Well, now that they’re gone,” Frank prompted before he took me in his arms, dipped me in a way most romantic, and kissed me again and again and again.