Chapter 3 – I got a bulletproof heart, you got a hollow point smile
"Yea, sorry, who are you?" Frank asked, as I straightened up and handed him his book. I met his questioning gaze.
"I'm Gerard, Mikey's brother" Realization crossed his face.
"Oh, cool. Yea, I see it now, sorry, you just don't look much like Mikey" Frank shifted uncomfortably, obviously feeling guilty that he couldn't tell I was related to Mikey.
"Good. I'm glad I don't."
"I take it you like being an individual then?" He smiled at me, and there was something about that smile that I couldn't forget. Something that showed me a glimpse of the person he was. And something that made me know, he was a genuinely decent guy.
"Well, I'm not one to follow the crowd"
"Me neither" I grinned at him, it was so difficult to find someone that didn't just follow everyone else. And just like that, the bell rang for lunch.
"You going to the cafeteria?" Frank asked.
"Yea, I am" I replied confused.
"Awesome, me too. Walk with me?" I looked at Frank, he was wearing black skinny jeans and a black shirt with a red tie. Despite the dark clothing he wore, he was surprisingly cute. Probably because of his height, he must've been about 5'4 and his beaming smile. It was then I realised I hadn't spoken for a while.
"You don't have to, it just makes sense if we're going the same way."
"Yea, I'll walk with you" His smile reappeared and we began walking out of the maths block towards the languages corridor.
"Cool. So, you want some help with playing guitar"
"Yea, I suck at it" I couldn't help but laugh. I was starting to think this whole learning from Frank thing wouldn't be so bad.
"I'm sure that isn't true" He nudged my arm.
"Trust me, you'll see tonight. I was never meant to play guitar"
"And I bet you're better at it then you're letting on" I pushed open the door that lead from the language block to the outside seating area and let Frank walk through.
"Thank you, how gentlemanly of you" He giggled.
"Is that even a word?" And by accident, I let the door shut on some random kid who pushed the door back angrily and shouted a few curses at me.
"Of course it's a word."
"I'm not sure it is" I smirked.
"Fine. I'm gonna look it up before I come round yours tonight" He said stubbornly.
"Really? Just to prove me wrong? Which I'm not"
"Yupp, what's your point? I like being right. You're wrong. Face it" He laughed. It was weird how much we were getting along seeing as I'd only met him about five minutes ago, I guess that's why Mikey was friends with him.
"Well we'll see. That reminds me, what time are you actually coming over tonight?"
"What time do you want me?" He asked and then his cheeks began to grow a gorgeous shade of scarlet.
"That sounded bad"
"Wow, you have a dirty mind." To my embarrassment I could feel my cheeks reddening as well so I hastily added, "How about seven thirty?"
"Seven thirty's good" Frank replied skipping ahead, I had to walk quicker to keep up with him. It was raining, but only slightly, and I liked the way it left little droplets of glistening water in Frank's hair. It reminded me of winter, which reminded me of Christmas.
"I'm so excited for Christmas" I said before I could stop myself.
"Ohmygoshmetoo!" Frank said all at once.
"I thought you would have called me crazy, seeing as it's three months away an' all" I laughed.
"No! This is when I start my shopping for it. I love Christmas, but it's Halloween first and that's the best holiday"
"I completely forgot about Halloween" I sighed, school really was messing with my head. How could I forget my favourite holiday?
"Ah I agree, Halloween is awesome" Frank span on his heel to face me and I accidently bumped into him.
"Sorry Gerard" Frank giggled, and then went to my side to walk next to me.
"I love it, I was actually born on Halloween"
"You were? That's awesome" I'd love to have been born on Halloween, it would be so cool.
"Yea and because of it, I'm going to get a tattoo saying Halloween on my knuckles" Frank explained excitedly.
"Really?"
"Yea, I've been saving up for ages"
"Hang on, it won't fit, Halloween's too many letters" I said, glancing down at my hands. Again Frank stopped, we'd almost reached the canteen and it was weird, but I didn't want to leave him just yet.
"See, H-A-L-L-O-W-E-E-N" I pointed to each finger separately and said each letter.
"It won't fit"
"Noooo, look" Frank touched my first finger.
"H" he moved onto the next.
"A" He continued looking down and I tried to ignore the softness of his skin.
"Then I'd have two L's on this finger, see, so then it goes, LL-O-W-E-E-N. And it fits" He smiled and looked into my eyes. I stood there for a moment, just smiling back at him until I realised it must have looked odd to the passers-by.
"I get it now" I said awkwardly.
"Cool. Umm, so I'll see you tonight?" Frank asked walking into the cafeteria ahead of me.
"Yea, see you at seven thirty" I called after him and he put his hand up in the air as a sort of wave before turning round the corner.
"Well that was weird" I muttered to myself.