WILLOW'S POV

"Holy shit, your hair," I gasped, holding back my urge to touch his new "do" as I knew it would send a jolt of passionate electricity through my body. His face dropped.

"What? Does it look bad?" he asked, a terrified look crossing his face. Both Liss and I shook our head immediately.

"No it looks AMAZING!" Liss squeaked, gazing at him. She was right. He now looked extremely hot. Great. Just what I needed to help me get over him. "And nice shades, dude," she added, complimenting him. "And is that a new jacket?" He nodded.

"Sweet, huh?" he asked, checking himself out in the window. I rolled my eyes.

"Come on, Mister Vain," I urged, walking threw the door. He joined me at my side.

"I am not vain," he growled, but I heard laughter behind the growl. I stopped.
"Happy birthday by the way," I smiled. As a good friend should, I hugged him. But I hated hugging him because it made me not ever want to let go. Getting over Gerard was harder than I ever thought possible. We broke apart. Liss piped up a 'happy birthday' and he hugged her too. Suddenly someone grabbed her from behind and spun her around.

"Cheating on me with my brother now, are we?" Mikey asked in mock-anger.

"Of course! Who are you again?" she giggled. He kissed her lovingly.

"Remember me now?" he pleaded, chuckling.
"I may need another one of those to remember…" she hinted, and he kissed her again. I tore my eyes away from the lovey-dovey scene and stood there awkwardly with Gee. Then Gee pointed behind me, and at Mikey.

"There's your one of those," he chuckled. I spun round and saw Frank and Ray walked through the door at the other end of the corridor, chatting away. They must have sensed us as they both looked up and smiled. When Frank reached me he hugged me tightly and planted a soft kiss on my cheek.

"Good morning," he smiled.

"Mornin' shorty," I giggled, and he pulled a face. He turned to Gee.

"Happy birthday man! The big one-seven! How old do you feel?" Gee punched his arm.

"I'm not old!" he laughed. Ray and the fro wished Gee a happy birthday too, and we were all full of high spirits that whole day. At lunch Frank produced a small (and slightly squashed) boxed chocolate cake from his bag. Gee's face lit up but turned red as we sang 'Happy Birthday' really loudly before we all dived into the cake. The only thing that truly bugged me that day was the sudden rise (well, the sudden beginning) of girls staring at Gee. Like, properly noticing him. I guess they had every right. He had suddenly turned from long-haired, greasy-haired shadow-lurker to a fresh-faced, short-haired, leather-jacketed, hot guy who had suddenly acquired a new swagger and a pair of flashy shades. What was not to stare at? But still it bugged me. I guess it was jealousy that one of those girls could catch his eye too. And then she would get lucky and they would be together, loved up and all over each other. Argh, these stupid fucking feelings!

GERARD'S POV

I had begun noticing that girls were looking at me. Like, properly looking at me. Did my new look really make me so much more of something to look at? I kept blushing when I saw them staring. It was all so new. But it boosted my confidence. It gave me a new desire to be noticed. If I was worth looking at, let them look. Holy shit, I was vain. But I couldn't help it in such an awesome leather jacket and super-cool sunglasses. The entire day was great. Frank got me a cake, and they embarrassed the shit out of me when they sang. But as I sat at the table it hit me what incredible friends I had. It proved you didn't need to be popular to have a good time at high-school. All you needed was a group of people who loved you for you, who would stick by you through thick and thin, and buy you your favourite cake on your birthday.

FRANK'S POV

After school, we were collected by Bob in the minivan. He too wished Gee a happy birthday and we set off to Willow and Jared's apartment. There we picked up Jared who also said 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!' and their suitcases. We took them back to the Way house where we were sleeping that night and leaving for Miami the next morning. We piled out of the car and into the cheery Way household, where colourful banners were strung and balloons floated.

"Shit, people, you didn't need to go all out," Gee mumbled to his parents.

"Of course we did! It IS your big day, after all!" Gee rolled his eyes and stood there looking embarrassed. Mikey flicked on the stereo and Queen came pouring through the speakers. We ordered pizza and whilst we waited for it to arrive, Gee opened his presents.

"Liss, this is AWESOME!" he cried as he admired his new Batman figurine. She blushed.

"I wasn't sure what to get you. I knew you like comics and Batman so I thought that would be ok." Ray handed over his.

"Tofro, thanks!" Gee held in his hand a new wallet. It was black and leather so it matched his new jacket. Bob gave Gee a grey beanie hat.

"Now you can be cool like me," Bob grinned, pointing at his own beanie.

"Hey, Gee. Here." I smiled, handing over a box. Gee raised his eyebrow and shook the box. It rattled.

"Oowh," he grinned and opened it. "Shit!" We all gathered closer as Gee produced a remote control helicopter from the box. He held it up, wide-eyed.

"You said you thought they were cool, so I decided to get you one." He grinned widely.

"Frank, this is epic. Thanks bro!" He hugged me and then Jared passed him his gift.

"A Misfit tee-shirt and jacket? Wow! Jay, thanks!" Jared blushed as Gee hugged him. Jay didn't know that I knew about their kiss. I would never judge him because of it. To be honest, homophobia is gay. There's nothing wrong with a guy loving a guy.

"Willow…wow…this is…wow…" I glanced up. He was holding a large art set filled with everything he would ever need art-wise. His eyes were wide and he was looking at the art box lovingly.
"I saw you were running low on supplies…so I thought this would help…" He hugged her tightly and I saw her blush. Aw, that blush again. Since being around us and feeling comfortable she didn't blush as much any more. However, recently she had been blushing quite a lot. Wait…she was only really blushing around Gee… Did she…did she like him? No. I couldn't be so paranoid. I pushed that thought to the back of my mind. But I couldn't help but notice the way she watched him. It wasn't like the way she watched Mikey or Bob or Ray. Hmm.