Gerard's POV
Frank... I honestly don't know what to think of that boy anymore. We've always hated each other, and now he goes and does something nice. And on top of that, he wants to meet me after school. It occurred to me that this could be a trap, but I really didn't care. I've already gotten my ass kicked so many times, what's one more? I tried not to think about it during 8th period, but I couldn't stop myself. Then the bell rang. I walked to my locker, in no hurry, and when I arrived there was Frank, leaning against it. He already had his backpack on. I walked up to him. "Okay, what's this about?" I asked
"Well, I've been thinking..." he started (I felt the impulse to interrupt with a snide comment here, but I kept quiet), "I never properly apologized for all that shit I said to you in grade school... so, officially, I'm sorry."
"You really think I'm gonna forgive you that easily? It's gonna take more than that half-assed apology to make up for calling me an emo fag and telling me to go slit my wrists," I replied coldly.
"Fine," he said, taking out a piece of paper and a pen from his backpack and writing something. He the handed me the paper. "Come over an I'll show you." He walked away. Written on the paper was his address.
I figured why the hell not. I would go, but I wouldn't tell Mikey or Ray until after I got back. I didn't talk at all while driving Mikey and Ray home. When I went inside the house, Mikey cornered me. "Okay, what's wrong?" he asked, "And don't say it's nothing. We both know that's bullshit."
"Mikes, I've just got something on my mind. I'll tell you later," I replied. After leaving my school stuff in my room, I went back outside and got in my car. I pulled Frank's note out of my pocket and looked at the address again. I drove to my destination as slowly as possible, to give myself time to think.
I finally arrived at his house. I sighed before getting out of the car. His mom answered the door a fraction of a second after I rang the bell. "Hi there!" she greeted me, then called to Frank, "Your friend's here, Frankie!" She stepped aside to let me in and then closed the door behind me. "He's up in his room." I nodded and proceeded to walk upstairs.
His room was the first one on the left. I knocked on the door, even though it was open. He looked up from what he was doing and his face lit up. "You came," he said happily.
"Yup, " said blankly, "So what did you want to show me? He got up and walked across the room to where a black guitar case lay. He opened it and pulled out a white electric guitar with 5 stickers on it that spelled out "Pansy". He plugged it into a big black amp that was in the corner and turned down the volume to 1.
"Okay, here's the thing. I know I shouldn't have, but I looked through your notebook a little. I saw your song, Demolition Lovers, and I thought the second guitar part was pretty cool so I sort of learned it. I want you to hear it," he said. I wasn't even pissed that he looked through my notebook; I was too busy being surprised that he liked my song so much.
I paused for a second before saying, "Go for it." He smiled and started playing Demolition Lovers. I don't think he made a mistake throughout the whole song. I was surprised at how skillfully he played, and that he remembered the whole thing, only having learned it yesterday. In the second verse, I found myself singing along softly. I gradually got louder, until I was singing just like I do at band practice. By the time the song ended, we were both smiling.
"So do you accept my apology now?" he asked.
"I guess so. After all, it was 3 years ago," I replied.
"Can I ask you a question?" he said.
"Sure," I replied.
"Why do you write songs?" he asked.
"Me and Mikey and Ray kind of have this garage band, Whispering Death," I replied.
"That's cool. I assume Ray plays guitar, since he has forever. So what does Mikey play?" he followed up.
"He plays bass," I replied.
"Little Mikey plays the bass? No way!" Frank exclaimed. I smiled.
"Yeah, he started in freshman year," I said.
"Who plays drums?" he asked.
"No one, at the moment. My friend Jared recorded some tracks for us but that's all we have. We manage pretty well, though," I replied.
"Wait a second... you said it's just you three, right?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said.
"And you don't play guitar, right?" he followed up.
"I don't play anything," I said.
"So how come Demolition Lovers, and all your songs for that matter, have parts for two guitars and a bass?" he finished.
"We usually don't use the second guitar part. I just wrote them for the hell of it. Ray only plays lead, though, so we have sort of been looking for a rhythmic guitarist," I said.
"I've got a few friends who play. I could give you their phone numbers if you want, or-" he began, but I cut him off.
"That's okay," I replied, "But... um... if you have time, maybe you could stop by during one of our practices." I took the paper with Frank's address out of my pocket, walked over to his desk, and grabbed a pen. I wrote my address on the back of the crumpled paper and handed it to him. He smiled. "Well I gotta go. I told Mikey I wouldn't be gone too long."
"Bye," he said as I walked out.
"Bye, honey!" his mom called from the kitchen. I laughed a little at how outgoing she was.
"Bye," I replied. I went outside and got in my car. Well... that went better than expected.
