21st Century Breakdown Chapter 5: Before Lobotomy, an american idiot fanfic

Double update because those are fun! It's time to celebrate our first holiday with the Class of '13. Leave comments, questions, suggestions, and things of that sort in the reviews. Read.

BEFORE THE LOBOTOMY

September went by quickly. None of us complained though. It just meant more October. Halloween was our favorite holiday. My parents were in a good mood, role-playing before sex with costumes made them happy I guess. The Class of '13 always dressed up. Even if it meant lazy last-minute costumes for the guys and slutty outfits for the girls, nobody complained. Plus the cops were out busting cheap vandalism and our chances of getting caught were low. And Jimmy always gave us the best stuff that night. Up until he met a really hot girl, sometimes it included meth. Gloria hung out with us a lot by then. She kept to herself and spent most of her time glorifying the once grey walls of The Underworld. I still wanted to know more about her. I wanted to know the story of her life. I didn't want her to be an army kid who just let that be their personality, I had a feeling she wasn't since I never would've guessed unless she told me. Gloria was different and I liked that. I just wanted to know why she was different.

"Ding dong, trick-or-treat." I shouted knocking on the apartment door to Jimmy's apartment. Whatsername opened the door.

"Great costume kid." She said smiling. I glanced down at my regular clothes; ripped jeans, band shirt, black hood, leather jacket. "So what are you supposed to be?"

"Modern day stoner." I said smirking. "That way if the cops catch us I can say it's just a costume."

"But if it's what you really are it's not a costume." Whatsy said.

"Fair enough." I replied.

"Is that Christian?" I heard in the back.

"Yeah." She shouted. Jimmy walked over.

"Hey there kiddo." He said. "Are you dressed as me?"

"Sure." I said shrugging. Jimmy pulled out his eyeliner and rimmed my eyes quickly.

"There, at least look like you gave an effort." He said. I shrugged. Jimmy grabbed a box and handed it to me.

"Happy Halloween kid." He said smiling. "I'd love to tag along and watch you try to hide your boner when you see the girls, but I've got business elsewhere."

"That won't be happening tonight. Gloria's not the type to wear slutty outfits." I blurted.

"Gloria you've loved from afar since kindergarten, Gloria?" St. Jimmy asked. "Gloria you kissed in kindergarten causing your name to become a verb as well as causing me to meet you through a congratulations fist bump, Gloria?" I nodded.

"Take this." He said handing me a bottle of wine. "Tonight is too good for beer. Even though nothing is ever too good for beer."

"Thanks." I said walking off. The nice thing about The Underworld was that it was only a few blocks away from Jimmy's place. Tyler and Angel were there already. Tyler was wearing his hobo costume for the third year in a row and Angel dressed as her namesake flashing a heavenly amount of cleavage and legs.

"Wine in a red solo cup. Does life get any better?" Tyler asked taking the bottle from me.

"I don't think so my friend." I said setting the box down. "Gifts from Jimmy."

"He's too good to us." Tyler said smiling and tearing the tape off.

"So who are you supposed to be?" Angel asked falling onto the couch. I sat next to her.

"St. Jimmy." I said.

"That's my costume!" Theo shouted walking over in a much more Jimmy-looking outfit complete with skinny jeans, a black tank top, and a chain.

"Damn Theo, those jeans look tight." Tyler shouted.

"They're women's." He shouted back.

"Okay then." Tyler muttered as Theo took a bag from him.

"Freak." Angel whispered into my ear.

"Aren't we all?" I asked. She smiled. Jason and Annabel showed up together holding hands. Annabel was a naughty nurse, Jason was wearing jeans and a neon yellow hoodie.

"I'm a lemon." He announced.

"Nice." I said high-fiving him. Nicole trotted behind them in red high heels as a red-hot devil.

"I wouldn't mind either of you on my shoulders." Tyler said as she walked over with a plastic bag. "But I'm not sure which one of you is sexier."

"Me." Angel said standing up and walking over to him. "You always want what you can't have."

"But I'd be more fun in bed." Nicole pointed out. "I brought candy. It is Halloween after all." She dumped out the contents of her plastic bag. Name brand chocolates and a few fruit things. All fun size. We gathered on the floor in a circle around the pile.

"If we eat these it'll make the hangovers shorter." I said grabbing a few. "Plus I love Kit-Kats. You rock Nicole."

"Where's Gloria?" Theo asked unwrapping a Snickers.

"Nobody ever knows where she is." Angel said.

"She does take the bus here." I said. "She'll be here soon."

"In the meantime we need music." Angel announced. She found an outlet and plugged in her CD player. It was a bunch of recordings of me, Jason, and Tyler. Nicole popped the wine cork and Tyler handed her the red solo cups. Everyone began arguing about whether or not we should let it breathe and if it would be better right out of the bottle. I really wanted Gloria there so I pretended to get a call from Jimmy that he needed help pushing and I left. I wasn't worried about missing any fun. Our Halloween parties lasted well into November.

The bus ride was longer than I wanted it to be but I got to Gloria's neighborhood. The nice thing about it on Halloween night was that nobody knew who I was. That meant I had no chance of being Christian or a 'hey, that guy looks easy enough, let's mug him'. I knew how to fight anyways. The liquor store was buzzing and her apartment building was lit up like a Christmas tree. I heard glass break and a few prostitutes flashed me as I walked by. I really didn't want to go through the lobby and I remembered that Gloria's room had a window. I walked around the side of the building and I looked up at the fire escape. She was the only one out. Gloria leaned against the railing and the wind blew her blonde hair in her face. Black tears fell down her face. She was crying. I could hear her sniffing and I knew it wasn't just crying; it was flat-out sobbing, the kind that made your nose run, the kind of crying you never saw in movies because it was so ugly. I began climbing up the stairs and the noises got louder. Gloria was gasping and wheezing for breath. Gloria took deep breaths. She wasn't that far away now.

"Dreaming

I was only dreaming
Of another place in time
Where my family's from.

Singing

I can hear them singing.
When the rain had washed away
All these scattered dreams

Dying

Everyone's reminded
Hearts are washed in misery
Drenched in gasoline

Laughter

There is no more laughter
Songs of yesterday
Now live in the underground"

Gloria broke back into sobs. I was one below her and I headed up the final set of stairs. She wiped her eyes and nose with the long fuzzy sleeve of her black sweater. I walked over.

"Hey." I said softly. She turned around and- to my shock- threw herself into my arms. It felt nice to have her there. Gloria's arms wrapped around my neck. I held her and kept my arms at her hips. "Hey, don't cry. It's Halloween. What's wrong?" Gloria took a few moments to gather herself.

"Halloween just holds a lot of bad memories for me. I almost got kidnapped at age ten when I was trick-or-treating, when I was five somebody was shot in my building, and plus right after Halloween it's November and that means a reminder of the anniversary of the lowest point in American history- George W. Bush's swearing in. And then another empty Thanksgiving followed by and empty Christmas and November is hard enough without-"

"The anniversary of your dad's death." I finished for her.

"Yeah." Gloria said. She wasn't done hugging me yet, I didn't mind. Her head stayed on my shoulder.

"Look, you're not going to be alone tonight. I came here because I really wanted you to be at our party." I said holding her tighter. "So please, come with me. I really don't want to fend off Angel's passes at me all night until we all get stoned or drunk." Gloria laughed a little.

"Okay." She said. "Just give me a moment." She climbed back into her room and came back out without her smudged makeup, her eyes were still a little puffy.

"Let's go." I said taking her hand and leading her down the stairs. We ran in the streets like crazy teenagers, me pulling her ahead. On the bus Gloria used the windows as a mirror while she drew a cat face with eyeliner in her pocket. Gloria adjusted her cat ears before she decided to draw a mask on my face. Even though it was Halloween everyone on the bus stared at us. And when we got off at our stop a random guy told me my girlfriend was hot. It made my night. Everyone stared at us when we got to The Underworld.

"Life before the lobotomy
Christian sang the eulogy
Sign my love a lost memory
From the end of the century" Gloria sang.

"Well it's enough to make you sick
To cast a stone and throw a brick
When the sky is falling down
It burn your dreams into the ground

Christian's lesson

Is what he's been sold
We are normal and self controlled"

Tyler tossed me a joint and a lighter. After one puff I knew this had to be one of Whatsername's joints, half pot and half oregano. She knew we'd get plenty high on everything else. Either way it made me crave pizza.

"Remember to learn to forget," Everyone looked at Gloria who held the wine bottle in her hand.

"Whiskey shots and cheap cigarettes!" She downed what was left and threw the bottle against the wall. I held up a black box for Gloria to see and she ran over. I sat down on the concrete, she took a seat next to me.

"Heroin." I said opening it. She tensed up. I touched Gloria's hand, she didn't freak out.

"Nobody else has used the needle yet, Jimmy always disinfects anyways. We do too. No chance of STDs, that's why he's popular."

"It's going to ruin everything. I don't want to become an addict." Gloria said. She looked scared.

"You won't." I promised holding her hand. "As long as you pace yourself you don't. I know this. All that stuff they say in ads and health class is just to scare you."

"Isn't that what the guy who dies always says?" Gloria asked.

"But they weren't Christian Armstrong." I said. Gloria bit her lip.

"This is it. The moment when I decide I've been waiting long enough." Gloria rolled up her sleeve and I took off my jacket and sweatshirt.

"People usually shoot with a partner." I said setting up the two needles. Jimmy knew how to get me ready for a drug date. "Maybe that's what you were waiting for."

"Don't flatter yourself Christian Armstrong." She said rolling her eyes. Even with cat whiskers Gloria looked hot. I began tying off her arm.

"Watch carefully, I need you to do the same to me in a moment." I instructed. Gloria nodded and bit her lip again. She was getting nervous. Her hand shook as she repeating what I did perfectly on my right arm. I took out my lighter and disinfected both needles. I handed one to her. I held out my arm and Gloria took my hand. "It's okay." I said. She nodded again and took the needle. I grabbed her wrist and turned her arm. Gloria's hand shook for a few more seconds then stopped. We held the needles in place.

"On three?" She asked. I nodded. Gloria held her breath and turned away.

"One, two, three." The needle hit my arm before I injected into hers. Gloria winced slightly, then sighed. I untied both of us. "And you thought that would ruin everything." I whispered. Gloria laughed in a weird way. The drugs were taking effect already. Annabel and Jason were dry-fucking each other on the couch and I could hear their mouths making weird noises while they French kissed. Theo was obsessed with arranging his cocaine into perfect lines before he began snorting. I placed the needles back in their box before my effects began kicking in. "Oh yeah!" I shouted. "It's been too long since I got this high."

"I'm baked like a cake." Tyler shouted pumping a fist into the air, lying on the ground. Gloria stood on the table and threw her arms into the air.

"We'll I'm not stoned
I'm just fucked up
I got so high I can't stand up
I'm not cursed 'cause I've been blessed
I'm not in love 'cause I'm a mess"

She jumped off the table. Dilated pupils and skin more pale than usual. It made her hotter almost.

"Like refugees
We're lost like refugees
Like refugees
We're lost like refugees
The brutality of reality
Is the freedom that keeps me from"

Gloria fell to her knees, her eyes glassy.