FicWad

Chapter Five..

Scarlett tossed and turned, sweat across her brow as she struggled to get comfortable. She sat up panting, frustrated at not being able to get to sleep. She glanced at her alarm clock.
"Great.." She sighed as she read '2:37am'
'Now I'll look like hell as well as being nervous' she thought to herself dreading the morning coming. Her first day at her new university. Her stomach twisted with anxiety and head pounded with a dull headache as she got up, switching the light on in her bathroom she refilled her glass with water. Sipping it down slowly she tried to relax her shaking hands.
'Keep it together' she told herself as she fumbled through her bathroom cabinet for some Panadol.
'Freaking anxiety' she cursed in her mind as she spilled the tablets along the sink top. Quickly she swallowed one, replaced the spilled tablets back into the bottle and went back to lay down. Her mind wandered back to earlier that day. The memory of Gerard's lips so close and yet so far from hers. She wanted desperately to feel his kiss. She lined her lips with her finger tip, slowly moving tracing over her jaw line and down her neck. She breathed as she fantasised about what it might be like, his lips on hers, his body close..
'Oh, how I wish we had' she thought as she slipped her hand beaneaters her sheets, brushing her fingers up and down her stomach and across her nipples, moaning slightly at the sensation.
Sleep soon found her and though she barely ever remembered her dreams, she was sure that tonight she would dream of him..

"I hope Scarlett likes the campus" Frank pottered around the kitchen, pouring three cups of coffee.
"I'm sure she will, baby. She's just nervous. You were a wreck on your first day, remember?" Mikey chuckled.
"How could I forget! But at least I can show her around" Frank smiled putting some toast into the toaster.
"I should make sure she's up" Frank headed down the hall into Scarlett's room.
"Scarlett, you awake" he knocked. No reply.
'Must be in the bathroom' he thought as he entered her room.
"Scarlett, honey, you okay?" He asked knocking on the bathroom door. Scarlett coughed a bit as she threw up into the toilet.
"Aww honey, can I get you anything?" Frank asked with concern.
"No, no. I'm alright. Just nervous" she said, flushing the toilet.
"It's alright honey, I've made you breakfast. Just come out when you're ready" he replied.
"Thanks Frankie" she said as she started to brush her teeth. Frank headed back to the kitchen with a chuckle.
"Everything okay in there?" Mikey asked as he returned.
"Nervous vomit" Frank smirked.
"You two are alike" Mikey laughed taking a bite of his toast.

Gerard jogged through the park, playing everything over in his mind.
'You're falling for her, you know.. No, no, you can't. Matt is keen on her too... But I can't deny there is something between us.. Fuck.. What to do.. I don't know, fuck! I don't want to hurt Matt.. But I want her so badly' he thought. He ran faster, panting as he went. Perhaps distraction is all he needed, he turned his head phones up, continuing his morning run.

Scarlett stood with Frank in the administration office waiting for her lecture and class timetable.
"Here is your registration form to fill in while you wait, just double check the details before we file it" the lady behind the counter smile.
"Thank you" Scarlett smiled nervously as she checked over all her details.
"Here is your time sheet. If you need any other information please don't hesitate to drop in. Welcome" the lady smiled taking the paper work.
"What class do you have today?" Frank asked eagerly.
"Communications" Scarlett sighed, knowing once Frank walked her there she would be alone.
"Hey, perk up sunshine, that look on your face hurts my heart" Frank frowned.
"I'm sorry, I'll be more positive" she chuckled half-heartedly
"I'll walk you there, babe. Don't worry. Guaranteed you'll meet some nice people" Frank smiled linking arms with her.
Frank showed her where most of the rooms on her time sheet, bathrooms and library were before dropping her off for her first lecture. Scarlett entered the room awkwardly talking a look around, up the front was a massive white board whiteboard, a lecturers desk and a water cooler. The chairs and tables were set up like a small auditorium out in rows. Scarlett walked up the steps along the side and scooted into the third row. Taking her seat she opened up her handbag to pull out her book and pens.
"Good strategy" a voice came from beside her. Scarlett turned to see a guy with short blonde hair pushed off his face and intense grey eyes smiling at her.
"What?" Scarlett laughed awkwardly, tying her hair up in a high pony tail.
"Choosing the third row. See the front row usually gets called on first by the teacher and the two back rows will randomly get called on because teachers assume if you stick to the back you aren't taking things seriously. Third row it's easy to get lost in the middle and you can usually get away with answering what you want to" he smirked.
"That's very clever of you, but actually, I picked the third row because three is my favourite number" Scarlett smiled.
"Uh, I did not expect that. I'm Eric by the way" he laughed, offering his hand out.
"Scarlett" she smiled shaking his hand.
"Welcome to New Jersey. First day?" He asked propping his chin up with his elbow on the desk.
"Is it that obvious?" Scarlett blushed.
"Well that accent doesn't hail from these parts and you look mildly nervous" Eric smiled.
"Only mildly? Oh, good! I'm hiding it well".
Scarlett thought he was lovely. They chatted for a while before the lecturer came in and class started. Just as Eric had depicted - first row and back two rows were always the ones called on. This made Scarlett glad her favourite number was three. She dreaded the thought of being called on. Not on her first day.
"So where are you staying?" Eric asked as they walked out of the class room together.
"Do you know Frank Iero?" Scarlett replied.
"I do. Nice guy" he smiled.
"He's my best friend so we're living together"
"Nice. How long have you been in town?" He asked.
"Three days" she laughed.
"Wow. Very fresh face then" he smiled
"Yeah, lots to do. All my unpacking when my things arrive from Maine, learn where all the shops and things I need are, I should probably start looking for a part time job too" Scarlett pondered aloud.
"I'm glad you mentioned that actually. Maybe I can help out. There's a cafe I work at and one of the part timers just quit so they're looking for someone" Eric responded.
"That could be great. I've worked in a cafe before so I have experience"
"Perfect. Maybe one day this week we can head down there together and I can introduce you to my boss".
"Sure. Thank you so much".
"Happy to help".
"Hey guys!" A loud, familiar voice approached.
"Hey Frank, good to see you" Eric shook his hand.
"You too! I'm glad you two met. How was your first lecture?" Frank smiled.
"Good actually. Glad I didn't end up sitting awkwardly alone" she smiled at Eric.
"Always happy to make a new friend" he winked.
"Yay! We'll have to invite you over next time we have a get together at my place" Frank said, gently nudging Scarlett.
"Oh, thanks! For sure. Here" he replied taking Scarlett's hand. Taking out his pen he wrote his phone number on her palm.
"Text me some time and we'll see about getting you that job" he smiled.
"Sure, here's my number" she replied, borrowing his pen and writing it down for him.
"Awesome. You two have a great afternoon" Eric waved as he walked away.
"Oh my god, Scarlett you have to text him ASAP" Frankie laughed.
"What? Why?" she replied as they started walking back to Frank's car.
"Because he's gorgeous and available" Frank said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh c'mon, Frank" she huffed as they got into the car.
"What?" He asked.
"First you make cracks about me and Gerard, now you're going on about me and Eric? I just got here Frank.. Please. Give me time to adjust" she snapped crossing her arms across her lap. Frank frowned.
"I'm sorry, Scarlett. I was just playing. I just want you to be happy and I want you to meet someone and get back out there. I'm not trying to force or rush you, I promise" Frank said sadly. Scarlett sighed, annoyed with herself.
"I'm sorry.. I'm sorry I snapped. I guess I'm a bit too high strung right now" she turned to him offering an apologetic smile.
"It's alright. I'm sorry too" he kissed her cheek.
"Let's head home".

That night Scarlett sat up in bed reading over some notes she had taken in class. After a while she decided to check her Facebook on her MacBook.
'Wow six friend requests' she thought.
"Mikey, accept. Matt, accept. Ray, accept. Jane, accept. Alice, accept. Gerard.." she muttered aloud.
"Accept of course" she giggled to herself taking a sip from her tea.
A moment later her phone buzzed on her beside table.
'New text message - unknown number' she read.
"Hmm.." She said opening the text.
'Hey love, how was your first day?' It read.
'Gerard?' She replied.
A minute later her phone rang, the unknown number appearing on the screen.
"Hello?" She answered.
"Hey, how did you know it was me?" A familiar voice responded.
"Because, Gerard you're the only one who calls me love" she smiled.
"Very clever, I'm surprised you noticed that little detail" he laughed.
"Attention to detail is very important, especially if I want to break into the world of journalism" she chuckled.
"Ah, very true. Speaking of which how was your first day?" He asked seeming genuinely interested.
"It was good, don't know why I made myself sick over it in the first place. I guess anxiety can blow things out of proportion" she replied.
"Literally sick or figuratively?" He asked.
".. Literally".
"Aw, love. That's not good. I'm glad you're feeling better about it all now. It's honestly a great Uni. I studied my graphic design and arts degree there"
"That's right! The gang told me you're head of animation and graphics for Cartoon Network. I'm impressed. I'd love to see so,e of your art one day".
"Yeah, that's right, I really enjoy it but my real passion is music and drawing, I travel now for work semi-regularly and that's great but I miss getting my pencils to the paper for work. I draw a lot at home though so that's alright" Gerard replied.
"It's great that you still express your creative side. Though I want to do journalism I still wouldn't give up my guitar. I love it too much" laughed.
"I didn't know you played. Wow, that's great"
"My brother taught me. He's the gifted one. He plays drums now though"..

They chatted and chatted for hours but those hours didn't seem to drag on. She found him charming and interesting. He found her sweet and stimulating. As they chatted Scarlett fidgeted and squirmed trying to deter the urge to go to the toilet. She didn't want to get off the phone but she was getting desperate so into the bathroom she took the phone, not letting it distract her from Gerard.
"So how long have you been playing the piano" she asked remembering their heated moment the day before as she wriggled her knickers down her legs and taking a seat on the toilet.
"Well I started having lessons when I was about 9.. Turns out I took to it quite well so my parents bought me a piano for my 13th birthday. I don't think I was ever more grateful for anything than I was that day... What's that sound?" He asked quizzically. Scarlett laughed for a moment before she got the courage to answer him.
"I'm peeing" she laughed, hitting her other palm to her face as she turned red. Gerard laughed.
"Okay, we're even. Now I've heard you pee" they continued to laugh.
"Well sorry but I had a cup of tea before you called and I'd usually wake up for a wee about this time" she said the giggling subsiding.
"Shit, what time is it.. Wow 4am! I'm sorry I've kept you up so late" he apologised.
"No, don't be silly.. I've enjoyed every minute. Besides it wasn't exactly early when you called.. By the way what made you text me so late?" She asked curiously.
"I knew you were up. I got a notification that you accepted my friend request" he replied, smiling down the line.
"Very observant, Mr Way. Perhaps you have the knack for details as well" she smiled.
"Perhaps.. Or maybe I was just awake and had my notifications on" he joked.
"Oh, you're funny" she laughed.
"Not curious as to how I got your number?" He flirted.
"Do tell" she bantered.
"Frank gave it to me and the group. I should warn you, you're probably going to receive a lot of pictures of Alice's cat and Jane is impossible to get off the phone" he laughed.
"Much like yourself" she joked. He laughed too.
"Touché. I should let you sleep".
"Will I see you soon?" She asked boldly.. Hoping.
"Are you free tomorrow?" He asked. Her face lit up and stomach whirled.
"Let me quickly check my Uni timetable" she said rummaging through her papers.
"Yes, I am" she replied doing a happy dance he thankfully couldn't see.
"How about we meet for lunch? I can show you where to get the best vegetarian food. Say I pick you up 1pm at yours" he replied.
"Sounds perfect.. Good night, Gerard" she said softly.
"Good night, Scarlett.. Sweet dreams" he replied as they both hit end call.