Got some positive feedback on the first chapter so I'm gonna continue with the next one. Again, I don't expect a lot of traffic with this story, but I really don't care.

Chapter 2 – Can I Kiss You?

I was slightly nervous as I brought Ike up to the attic. No conformist had ever been in my room before, not even my parents or siblings. There were things I had in there that were private and no non-goth should be allowed to see. But I guess it was too late to do anything about it, because we were already in front of my door. I quickly fished the key out of my bag and unlocked the door.

"Don't touch anything," I warned Ike as we stepped inside. He nodded and followed me.

My room was fairly large and completely black. Since there were only two small round windows, it was very dark, even when I turned the lights on. But I liked it that way. I had it decorated with different satanic and occult drawings and symbols. The only thing that was really out of the ordinary in my room was my large vanity that I used for applying my makeup. I also had a closet where I hid things that were just best left forgotten. I only had one picture of my friends that was sitting on the nightstand next to my bed where a copy of the Satanic Bible also rested. And of course, my bed sheets were all black.

Ike looked around my room, standing in the doorway as I went to turn on the lamp on my nightstand. There was an overhead light and I had a desk lamp on the vanity, but most of the time I preferred to just turn on one lamp. Then I sat down on my bed and opened the drawer in my nightstand and pulled out my lighter, cigarettes, and ashtray.

"You don't mind if I smoke, do you?" I asked Ike.

"Actually-" I cut him off as I lit up. I actually didn't care what he thought. This was my room and I was going to smoke whether he liked it or not.

I got up and dragged my bag over to my bed so I could take out my half-finished homework. Ike joined me and sat down right on the edge as if he was uncomfortable or something.

"All right, so this is tonight's homework," I informed him, tossing the papers into the middle of my bed. Then I dragged out a really heavy textbook and flopped it down. "And then I'm supposed to read some chapter of this thing."

"You don't know which one?" Ike asked, looking at me. I rolled my eyes.

"No, I don't," I replied, "I got distracted because someone was whispering in my ear the whole time, and three huge football players sit in front of me and block my view of the board. And you know Mrs. Hamwell. If you ask her to repeat anything she's like 'well you should've been paying attention the first time.'"

Ike chuckled slightly. "Yeah, she is like that," he agreed, "All right, I'm pretty sure I know which chapter it is. Here, gimme." I chucked the large book at him and he caught it with an "oomph." He opened it to the right chapter.

"Here," he said, handing the book back to me.

"Whatever," I replied blankly. As I scanned the book, Ike started looking over my homework. Out of my peripherals, I saw him bite his lip and I grew unexplainably annoyed. I looked up at him with an irritated look.

"What?" I snapped at him.

"These answers are all right," he said, "It's just not finished."

"Yeah, so?" I asked, somewhat defensively.

"Well, if you'd just finish your homework I'm sure you'd be doing a lot better in school," Ike pointed out as if it was something I didn't already know. I rolled my eyes

"Thank you, Sherlock, I would've never figured that out," I hissed at him.

"Sorry," Ike muttered, "I just don't understand why you're failing. What's going on with you?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I growled. Ike recoiled slightly at my harsh tone. "My life is hard right now, all right? I'm just trying to survive each day and that means school work gets left by the wayside sometimes, ok?"

"I'm just trying to help," Ike murmured.

"You can help by just getting me through this stupid homework," I told him, trying to be less hostile. If I wanted to join my friends in college, I really did need to improve my grades.

"All right, then, let's get this done," he said, moving closer to me.

Ike helped me finish all of my homework, working into the night to get it all done. By the time we were finished it was dark out and past curfew. Not that I cared, but apparently Ike did.

"Oh shit, I didn't mean to be out this late," he muttered, looking at his phone, "My mom is going to kill me if I go out when it's this dark!"

"Sucks for you, man," I sneered, flopping onto my bed and putting my hands behind my head. Ike gave me a nervous look.

"Um, is it all right if I stay the night with you?" he asked hesitantly, "I'm sure mom wouldn't want me wandering around at this hour."

I rolled my eyes and let out a loud sigh. "If you must," I breathed out in annoyance. Ike smiled lightly at me.

"Thanks, Firkle," he said before stepping out of my room briefly to call his mom. While he did that, I walked over to my closet and got out an extra blanket and pillow. Because there was no way Ike was sleeping in my bed!

When he came back into the room, he looked mildly confused for a moment. "Um, my mom said it was ok for me to stay here tonight," he told me, "Er, what's all this?"

"You didn't really expect to be sleeping in my bed with me, did you?" I asked with a sneer, "No, you're sleeping on the floor."

Ike blinked in surprise at me. "Oh, um, all right then," he murmured.

As he settled onto the floor, I went over to my vanity to remove my makeup. I always hated when I forgot to remove it and I accidently slept in it. My eye shadow and eye liner would get all over my pillow and sometimes get in my eye and irritate it. I could feel Ike watching me from the floor as I wiped my face down.

"Why do you wear so much makeup?" he asked me when I was done and got back into my own bed.

"Because contrary to popular belief I actually care about my appearance," I told him in a slightly hostile voice, "Makeup isn't just for girls, you know. It helps me look distinguished and lets people know right away that I'm a goth and I don't want to talk to them."

"Couldn't you convey that just by wearing black clothes?" he wondered. I scoffed.

"A conformist like you would think that," I dismissed, "Anyone can wear black clothes. That doesn't make them a goth. How would Pete, Michael, and I separate ourselves from all the posers if we didn't do something different?"

"Oh," Ike replied simply before falling silent.

I waited for a second or two to make sure he had nothing else to say before leaning over and turning off my bedside lamp. As expected, my room plunged into pitch blackness, the way I liked it. I've always been one of those people who can't have any light when I'm trying to sleep. I could never understand the people who could fall asleep watching TV.

I lay on my side, staring at my wall, and hoping I could fall asleep tonight before my neighbors started screaming at each other this time. Unfortunately, they decided to start early this night, and just a few minutes later I heard a loud crash, followed by a lot of yelling. I sighed with annoyance, knowing I wasn't going to fall asleep until they were done.

Apparently my neighbors had startled Ike awake or something, because a moment later I felt my bed sink down slightly with his weight.

"What is that screaming?" he asked me, a hint of fear in his voice, "Is that your parents?"

"No, that would be my neighbors," I explained with a sigh, "They like to give off the façade of being a perfect couple. They certainly have my parents fooled. But the man drinks a lot and the woman is a whore who sleeps around, so they get into these screaming matches at night. Which unfortunately happens to be right outside my window."

"Is this why you always look so tired at school?" Ike wondered. I couldn't see his face through the darkness, by I could imagine he looked concerned for me.

"One of the reasons," I replied, "Now get back on the floor, you're bothering me."

I heard him sigh before I felt him slide off my bed. I rolled back over and listened to my neighbors scream and throw things at each other for what felt like hours before they finally fell silent. That's when I finally closed my eyes and fell asleep.

…

The horrible things the football team has done to me throughout the year constantly haunted my nightmares. I didn't get very good sleep because of them. Especially what they did to me after the quarterback found out his girlfriend had a crush on me. As if it were my fault somehow. And now I usually woke up in the middle of the night and try to will myself back to sleep. Thanks to those assholes.

But thankfully that night I didn't wake up and I slept the whole night through. I didn't sleep well, but I still slept. When I woke up, I noticed something rather odd. There was something warm and solid pressed against my back. I rolled over and was surprised to see Ike asleep next to me.

Slightly irritated, I shook Ike awake. Sleepily and groggily, he woke and slowly sat up. He seemed a little confused, as if he forgot where he was at first. Then he turned around and met my annoyed expression.

"Didn't I make you sleep on the floor?" I asked. Ike blushed and looked away. I rolled my eyes and got up.

Even though it was Saturday, I usually tried to get to the bathroom first, otherwise my younger siblings and parents would destroy the room and render it completely untouchable. After I relieved myself, brushed my teeth and hair, and washed my face, I went back to my room and immediately went to my vanity.

As I started reapplying my makeup, I suddenly heard a noise behind me and turned to see Ike still sitting on my bed. I gave him a confused look.

"You're still here?" I wondered, "Why haven't you left yet?"

"Sorry," Ike muttered.

I sighed and turned back to my vanity to finish. As soon as I was done I went over to my bed and flopped down. I looked over and saw that Ike was still staring at me. I frowned slightly at him and reached over to my nightstand.

"Here. Here's five dollars," I said, tossing some bills at him, "You can leave now."

Ike watched as the bills fluttered around him then back at me. "What's that for?" he wondered.

"For the tutoring session," I replied, "I assume that's the reason you're still here." Ike fidgeted in place and kept looking all around and avoiding my eye. It quickly made me annoyed.

"What?" I snapped at him. He cleared his throat, but still refused to look at me.

"Actually, if you really want to pay me back for tutoring you, I was thinking of something else," Ike told me, "B-But only if you want to. You can say no. I wouldn't force you."

"Just spit it out," I urged him, "What is it?"

Ike looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "Can I kiss you?" he asked.

The title probably spoiled the ending of this chapter, but you don't get Firkle's answer until next chapter. What do you guys think so far? Please leave a comment!