Give 'Em Hell Kid When Romance Makes You Hand 'Em High

Chapter 1: Monday Mayhem 1

“You like D and D, Audrey Hepburn, Fangoria, Harry Houdini, and Croquet. You can’t swim, can’t dance, and you don’t know karate. Face it. You’re never going to make it.” Ray said, sitting next to Gerard on the school’s stairs.
“I don’t want to make it.” Gerard replied. “I just wanna-”
“Fuck! Gerard!” This awkward shout came from Frank. “Have you seen Mikey anywhere?” He continued without waiting for Gerard to acknowledge him.
Gerard let out a loud exaggerated sigh. “Have you checked in the library?” he replied.
Frank plopped down beside him and sighed, “Yeah… I’ve checked everywhere. I couldn’t find him.”
“I bet the jocks had something to do with it.” Ray mumbled.
Gerard’s eye narrowed in anger. “That’s it.” He said through clenched teeth. “I’m not going to let us take this anymore. Not while I’m still standing.”
“But… you’re sitting.” Frank stated.
Gerard turned to glare at Frank, then stood up. “Like I was saying. We’re not taking this anymore. Not while I’m standing.” He looked over at Ray, and sat down again. “Besides, Mikey can’t live on his own. He’ll die.”
Frank laughed, “At this rate we’re screwed!”
Ray replied, “It’s alright. We have Mikey and his invincibility!”
“Remember the time he brought the heater into the shower because he was cold?” Frank said laughing harder.
Gerard rolled his eyes. “Laugh it up. We’ll see who’s laughing this Friday.”
“The thirteenth?” Ray asked. Gerard nodded.
“Oooo! How dramatic!” Frank grinned. Gerard mimicked Frank’s grin, and proceeded to push Frank off the stairs.2


Meanwhile…3

“Get him!” screamed a jock to his friends as they chased Mikey down the hall. Mikey ran as fast as he could, bumping into people every once in a while. He managed to bump into twenty- eight people in the last five minutes. Make that twenty- nine.
“Sorry!” he yelled as papers flew everywhere. “Kind of running for my life he-ee-ahh!” He’d forgotten there were stairs in front of him, and he was now taking two steps at a time downward, going faster with each step. If he didn’t stop soon, he’d hit the brick wall at the turning point.4

* * *5

Her papers were all over the floor after that awkward stampede of a tall guy, and oddly muscular guys came down the hall. “Hey!” she yelled. “Fucking bastards!” She ran to pick up the papers from off the floor. She gave up after her papers slipped out of her hands and decided to run after the stampede of guys to get an explanation of what happened. When she reached the stairs, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The tall skinny guy had just made a flip off the wall. “Whoa!” she breathed as he landed on his feet. “Run!” she yelled as she saw the muscular guys catching up to him.
The tall guy looked up behind him in the direction of the shouting. That’s when she realized he had black thick-framed rectangular glasses. He smiled at her, looking like he was out of breath, and then ran down the stairs again. She stared in disbelief as she grasped the fact that she had just helped the guy who had knocked all her papers to the floor, but she knew it wasn’t his fault. She stood in the same spot for a few minutes to try and figure out why the tall guy was running in the first place. Then she remembered: her papers were still on the floor.
She walked back to where her papers were scattered all over. She knelt down, and started to pick up the papers when she noticed the elevator door open. She looked up to find the tall guy leaning against the wall for support and gasping for air. “I… I… h…hate…” he took out an inhaler from his back pocket, put it to his mouth while pressing the button, and inhaled deeply. He did it once more before finishing his sentence more clearly, “fucking asthma.” He placed his inhaler back into his pocket, stepped out of the elevator and looked down to find a girl on the floor gathering papers. She had strawberry blonde hair a little past her shoulders, hazel eyes, and fair skin. She was wearing a Smashing Pumpkins T-shirt with long black pants.
She looked down again, ignoring him when he looked downward at her. He knelt beside her to help her with the rest of the papers. Every once and a while he’d see the name Nicole Soza on the top right corner of a page. “I’m sorry about before,” he said, hoping she wasn’t too angry with him. She wasn’t angry with him but she couldn’t think of anything to say at the moment so she ignored him again, and took the papers from his hands. “Look, I’m really sor-” His cell phone rang, and he sighed, sounding aggravated. He tried taking it out from its latch on the side of his pants but it looked like he was having trouble getting it off. She felt like she was going to burst out laughing because of the awkward noise he was making. When he finally got it off, it stopped ringing.
She looked up at him while he checked who had called. She noticed he was very tall, almost six feet she guessed. He had dirty blonde short-layered hair that was long at the sides in a messy cut, and brown colored eyes.
He dialed a number, and waited for someone to pick up. “Hello, Gerard?” he said. There was a pause. “What do you mean, ‘Who is this?’ It’s Mikey. What did you call me for?” There was another pause, this time longer. “Yeah! Why do you think I’m not with you?” Then there was yet another pause. “No, they didn’t get me. I don’t think I’d be talking right now, would I?” He paused for a long moment. “Okay, okay! I’m sorry! Look, call me later, okay? I’ve got to go.” He hung up the phone. Mikey looked down again to find that the girl was gone, and so were all of the papers from the floor. He pressed the redial button on his phone and said, “Gerard? You wouldn’t happen to know a Nicole Soza, would you?”6

Chapter 2: Lab Partners7

Gerard sat on his assigned table, located in the left side of the room toward the middle. He stared at the door, wishing for a substitute to walk in and say that their teacher died for the week. He had already decided he didn’t want to do any work for the rest of this week just in case he didn’t make it for the next. Someone walked through the door.
Gerard grew anxious hoping that his wish had come true, but it wasn’t a teacher that walked through the door. It was a girl about five feet in height, with beautiful strawberry blonde hair that cascaded past her shoulders. Her hazel eyes were cast down to the floor. She was holding a binder to her chest with papers sticking out from the edges. Gerard found her appearance to be quiet cute, with her skin pale except for the light crimson color on her cheeks. He was surprised he hadn’t seen her in the class before. Maybe she’s new, he thought as he watched her walk to the back right corner of the classroom. The bell rang and at that same moment the teacher walked in. Everyone went to sit at their tables.
The teacher put her folders and papers on her desk, and then looked at the class. “It seems everyone is here today,” she said, glancing around the room for any empty seats. “That’s excellent seeing as we are going to start a lab today.” Most of the class groaned. “I’ll be assigning your partners today,” she said, sounding pleased with herself.
“Mrs. Reyes, I’d rather work alone,” said Gerard, his hand raised, even though he spoke anyway.
“Well I’m sorry to hear that, Gerard Way, seeing as you’ll be working with Nicole… Nicole…” Mrs. Reyes paused, trying to remember Nicole’s last name.
“Soza,” said Nicole from the back of the room. She glared at Mrs. Reyes who looked like a tall skinny twig with a large nose and short black hair up to her ears.
“Ah, yes. Nicole Soza.” Mrs. Reyes said ignoring Nicole’s glare. Gerard froze. Wasn’t that who Mikey was talking about? Gerard thought to himself. “I’m surprised at myself. You’ve been here since school began a month ago and I can’t remember your last name.” Well, that blew Gerard’s theory out of the water. “Nicole come up here and sit next to Mr. Way.”
“Who?” Nicole asked, looking confused. This is what she hated about her classes; she didn’t know half the people in the room.
“Gerard, Nicole. I’m talking about Gerard. He sits right there.” Mrs. Reyes said, pointing to the table where Gerard sat.
Nicole got up from where she had been sitting and walked to Gerard’s table. He glanced at her and realized she was wearing a Smashing Pumpkins T-shirt. Then their eyes locked on to one another. His black short-layered hair was a mess as if he had gotten out of bed and just walked out the door. His bangs swerved to one side giving her the full impact of his hazel eyes. His eyes pierced right through her like he could see inside her soul. He looked down at his table, and as if she had fallen out of a trance, she dropped her binder on the table.
“Take a seat, Nicole,” Mrs. Reyes demanded, irritated. Nicole sat down in the empty seat next to Gerard. 8

* * *9

Lora sat there slouched next to the concrete wall. It was sixth period and she had asked her psychology teacher if she could stay outside for a while. Taking out her mp3 player, she turned it on and put on her headphones. Hawthorne Heights’ “Ohio Is For Lovers” was playing loudly in her ears. She sang along with the music.
Someone tapped on her shoulder. She looked up and saw a boy with thick-framed rectangular glasses, a beautiful face, and a messy haircut. He smiled down at her, and said, “Hey.”
Taking off one of her earpieces, she replied with a shy, “ Umm… Hey.” He sat down next to her and held out his hand. She just looked at his hand, glanced back to his face, and then back again to his hand.
“Mikey Way. Nice to meet you.” He waited for her to take his hand. When she didn’t, he put his hand slowly down and smiled uncomfortably. She blushed at his smile, a crooked smile that made his face look even more gorgeous.
Her short russet hair was partially in her face, and her auburn eyes stared intently at him. “Y-Yeah.” She looked down at her lap. This feeling’s going to be hard to explain to Cedric when I see him later, she thought, and winced.10

After school…11

Lora got off the bus, waiting for Nicole so she could walk home with her. A few seconds later, she appeared in the doorway of the bus. Once she was next to her Nicole asked, “So how was your day?”
She was use to this routine by now; everyday she would wait for Nicole to get off the bus, and everyday she would ask how her day was, and everyway they’d end up having a conversation.
“Eh… it was alright,” she replied, but inside her thoughts were in a jumble.
Nicole smiled, “I saw you with some guy during sixth. I met him earlier… sort of.” She was practically grinning as if there was a funny joke that Lora just didn’t get. “You should have seen the way you looked at him when you saw him. You were so cute!”
She chuckled. “Yeah? I act that way with everyone I talk to,” she said sarcastically and smiled back. She knew she wasn’t fooling Nicole though, she knew her better than anyone else; she was her best friend, her venting buddy. She would tell Nicole all about it later.12

Chapter 3: The All-Knowing Frank13

Rain poured in sheets. It sounded more like static from the television than actual rain. Frank bobbed his head from side to side, and began singing, “It’s raining, it’s pouring, Mikey is snoring…” Ray threw a pillow at him from the couch.
“Shut up, man. No one wants to hear you sing like shit, okay?” he said drowsily. Frank caught the pillow and tucked it safely behind his head and smiled.
“Come on, Ray, lighten up. If you guys had listened to me we wouldn’t be stuck in Gerard’s room, bored as all fuck. You guys know I’m always right.” Frank stood up and pointed to his black and white stripped socks. “Kneel down at my feet for I am the all-knowing Frank.”
Ray threw another pillow. Frank sidestepped, dodging the pillow completely. Ray growled, “How does he do that?” Frank just grinned.
“Hey, guess what, guess what!” he said now hopping up and down. Everyone groaned, even the unconscious Mikey. “Bob is coming down the stairs in three, two, one…” Right then the basement door opened, and Bob’s footsteps were heard coming down the stairs.
“What?” Bob asked as Gerard and Ray stared at him wide-eyed and slack-jawed.
“You’re really weird you know that, Frank?” Gerard said shaking his head.
“Nah, I just saw the lights from his car through the basement window, or did I?” Frank raised an eyebrow, smirking.
“Yeah, okay. Whatever,” Bob said plopping down on the couch next to Gerard. “What’s new?”
Mikey stirred on Gerard’s bed, mumbling to himself, “Not the Jell-O. Anything but the Jell-O.”
Gerard blushed a deep crimson. Frank giggled. Ray and Bob looked at one another confused. “Long story,” Frank said waving his hand in dismissal.
“How do you know about that?” Gerard glared.
“I told you… don’t you guys ever listen to me? I know everything,” Frank said then sighed.14

Three weeks ago…15

Gerard came into the house grinning with a large plate in his hands. “Jell-O, Jell-O, I’ve got my Jell-O,” he said in a singsong voice. He looked around the house a bit before calling out into the air, “Anybody home?” There was no answer.
***16

Mikey strolled into the kitchen, dropping his black guitar case to the linoleum floor. “Gerard?” he called out, waiting for an answer. “Huh… I thought he’d be home by now,” he said opening the door that lead to the living room. Suddenly, he heard a loud thud coming from the basement, followed by a moan. “Gerard?” Mikey turned toward the kitchen, walked toward the door that lead to the basement, opened it and slowly descended the stairs. He heard another moan.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs, the first thing he saw was Gerard sprawled across his bed in only his Sponge Bob boxers with a plate shoved in them. “What the…?” Mikey yelled, wide eyed. He took a few steps back, stumbling when he hit the bottom step of the stairs. He regained his balance by grabbing into the railing.
Gerard scrabbled to his feet. “I-I-I can explain!” he stuttered, his face a crimson red. Mikey stared at him mind-boggled, waiting for an explanation. Gerard looked down at his boxers the plate still in place. “Okay… so maybe I can’t…but…” He turned away from Mikey and pulled the plate out, pieces of Jell-O plopped to the floor. He turned back around, his face even brighter than before.
“Jell-O?” Mikey asked, staring at his brother like he was insane. He shook his head, and then said, “I don’t want to know. Just go back to your… Jell-O. I am leaving.” He turned on his heals and took the stairs two steps at a time, mumbling, “Why Jell-O?” as he left.17

Two weeks later…18

Mikey stood in the kitchen, staring into the refrigerator waiting for something to burst out at him that he could eat. That’s when he spotted the Jell-O. “Hmmm….” Mikey said, a thought popping into his head.
Frank sat in the living room, watching the discovery channel. The back of his neck tingled. “Mikey!!! Don’t even think about it!”
A few seconds later he could hear Mikey shrieked, “Ah! Cold! Cold! Really cold!”
Frank laughed wildly, and hollered, “I told you so!!!” He shook his head. “They never listen,” he mumbled and went back to watching TV. 19

Chapter 4: Sloppy Swings and Puny Punches20

Present Day…21

Walking into her house, Nicole could hear her father screaming at Joey, one of her younger brothers. “Come here, you little faggot!” Their father screamed. Nicole could hear Joey laughing as she saw him dodging their father’s sloppy swings.
“He’s drunk again,” Joey said with a smile on his face.
A man with a balding head, and a bulging stomach came rushing at Joey. “I’ll show you drunk!” their father yelled. Joey sidestepped, completely dodging their father. He slammed into the wall next to Nicole. She tried to stifle a laugh. He shook his head and glared at Nicole. She gave him the finger.
He tried to hit her in the face but his hand fell short and barely touched her nose. This time she laughed in his face. “He’s such a pansy. He can’t even slap you in the face!” Joey said laughing.
Nicole walked over to Joey just as their father fell to the floor. “Actually, I think he was trying to punch me.”
At least today he was too drunk to try to hurt us, she thought, ‘cause otherwise we’d be kicking his ass right now. She chuckled.
“We’d so be kicking his ass right now if it was any other day,” Joey said, shaking his head.
“You just read my mind, Joey. You just read my mind.”22

Meanwhile…23

Gerard stood outside the Barnes and Nobles where Mikey worked, smoking a cigarette. He blow out his last puffs of smoke before throwing the cigarette on the floor and stomping it out with his foot. He walked into the Barnes and Nobles and was greeted by Elizabeth, a girl with brown hair and a lip ring. “Hey, Gee!” she said, smiling at him as he walked closer to her. He smiled weakly and waved back at her. Elizabeth had a crush on him since he was a freshman. Gerard just thought it was funny ‘cause the only reason she got a job at B&N was because she knew his brother worked there. So she thought she had a connection… she was wrong. Mikey hated her. “Need help with anything?” she asked him, a little too eagerly. She was standing in his way now.
“Uh… no,” he said shaking his head, trying to sidestep his way around her. “I… was just looking for Mikey.”
“Oh…” her face fell a little, and she let him pass. “Well he’s—”
Before she could finish her sentence Gerard saw Mikey in the cookbooks section and ran toward him. “Mikey!” Gerard yelled, people around looked up and glared at him. He just shrugged. Mikey looked up a little flustered, and closed the book he was reading. Gerard raised his eyebrows and snatched the book from Mikey’s hand. He read the title, The New Joys Of Jell-o, and sighed. He put the book back on the shelf. His face was turning red. “Mikey, please just drop it. It was a onetime thing okay? So stop thinking about it.”
Mikey pushed up the rim of his glasses and nodded. “Okay, it’s dropped.” He started laughing. Gerard glared at him. “Sorry! I couldn’t help it!”
“Is your shift over yet?” Gerard asked as he walked toward the comic book section of the store. Mikey followed him.
“Not yet. It ends at two,” he said as they stopped in front of the shelves filled with comic books.
“What time is it now?” Gerard asked.
Mikey laughed, “Don’t tell me you came to pick me up without even knowing the time!”
“Just tell me what time it is okay?” he smiled at himself as he realized just how stupid he sounded.
Mikey turned to look at the clock, and that’s when he saw her. That girl he met in the middle of sixth period; the girl with the brown hair and eyes. She was sitting in one of the chairs reading manga. The manga in her hands had the words Hot Gimmick on the back? Mikey shook his head; Japanese comic books always confused him. Gerard waved his hand in front of Mikey’s face. Mikey looked at Gerard like he was crazy. “Time?” Gerard asked.
“What? You can’t read time on a clock?” Mikey said, walking away from him.
Gerard looked at the clock, then at the girl Mikey had been staring at. “Five minutes ‘til two.” Gerard grinned. “I can read time just fine.”24

Chapter 5: Waiting For That Break Up Song25

Lora got up from the chair and stretched, the book still in her hands. She looked back at the chair. “I should have sat on the floor instead,” she said stretching again. She placed the book back on the shelf. “I’ll come back for you later,” she said smiling. Her smile fell as she realized she was talking to an inanimate object. “What am I going to do with you Lora,” she said to herself.
She weaved her way around the bookshelves like she always did; for some reason she could never walk in a normal line. “Hey Lora!” she heard someone say and began to walk backwards. When she turned back around, she bumped right into one of the shelves with a smack. She plopped to the floor, rubbing her forehead. Good thing the books didn’t fall with her. “You okay, babe?” someone asked her, holding out a hand to help her up. The voice sounded familiar but she was hoping it wasn’t who she thought it was.
She looked up. It was Cedric. She sighed. “What are you doing here?” she said ignoring his out reached hand as she helped herself up. “You don’t even like books.”
“Yeah… well, I saw you were in here and I wanted to talk to you about something,” he said with a serious face.
Lora’s eyes lightened up, “You going to break up with me?” she was smiling in her head.
Cedric’s eyes widened. “No silly! I’d never do that to you! You know I love you!”
Lora mentally rolled her eyes. “Uh… yeah… sure…” she said as she walked away from him. She looked down at the floor, spacing out as he talked to her. Looking up, she saw Mikey glancing back at her just before he left the store.26

Tuesday…27

“Aw, well don’t you look pretty?” said Jacob, a jock, as he pushed Frank into the janitor’s closet. Frank stumbled, slamming into the closet’s wall. He was wearing a flower-printed dress, his face a ruby red. Jacob strode over to him and grabbed him by the hair. He smiled, holding Frank’s face close to his. Frank struggled to get away as Jacob licked his cheek. Frank winced. “How about you give me a private show? Or would you rather me force one out of you?”
“Screw you, jackass,” said Frank, his cheeks burning.
“What did you just say, you pansy?” Jacob shook Frank’s head until their eyes met. Frank groaned.
“You heard me, babe. Just because you’re bigger than me, just because you’re smarter than me, just because you drive a better car than me, does not mean, no way no how, that I am sucking you off for any amount of money.”
Jacob chuckled. “That’s where you’ve got it all wrong. I’m not going to pay you. Unless you count me fucking you as payment.”
“You wouldn’t,” Frank’s eyes narrowed.
“Oh, wouldn’t I just. Besides I’ve seen how you’ve been eyeing me in the hallways.” Jacob kissed Frank’s soft lips. Frank moaned as Jacob pulled away.
“I may be bi and you may be good looking, but you are not my type, okay?” he pushed away from Jacob.
Jacob grinned, lifting Frank’s chin up with his forefinger. “That groan and the lower half of that dress say differently,” he laughed.28

Chapter 6:  Hate Is Such A Strong Word 29

Frank slowly pulled himself up, his body aching. He looked down at Jacob laying down on the smooth concrete floor still panting for breath. Smiling, Frank raised his hand toward Jacob’s body making it look like a gun and said, “Bang.”30

Meanwhile…31

Cedric held Lora close to him. He held on so tight; it was like he was afraid that if he let her go she’d fade away from his life forever. She had to wonder if she really was that special to him or if he just wanted someone to hold on to. It was a horrible thing to think about but she couldn’t help it with how many times she’d been hurt in the past.
Lora liked him; that she was almost certain of. Maybe he really did have a reason to worry about her disappearing. The problem with her was that she loved a chase. She was like a cat trying to catch a mouse, or a wolf tracking a rabbit; after she got what she wanted what was the point in staying? She loved the things she couldn’t have, but then again doesn’t everyone?
She wouldn’t be the one to leave, though. What Lora wanted was someone to love her; so leaving would defeat the purpose. “I’m a horrible person,” she told Cedric now.
He pulled away for a moment, looked at her confused, shook his head and then said, “What are you talking about?” He smiled. “ You may be horrible at taking a joke, you may be horrible at explaining things and you may be horrible at not over exaggerating things but that doesn’t make you’re a horrible person.”
She smiled wryly, she wasn’t sure whether to thank him or to smack him over the head with her hand. She hated when he acted like he was giving her a compliment when he was really just insulting her. She decided just to stay quiet; nothing good could possibly come from her mouth at the moment.
Wrapping his arm around her waist, he pulled her close again. She felt like she was suffocating now, but she didn’t pull away from him. She wanted to be free but wanted to be with someone at the same time.32

The bell rang, announcing the end of the school day. Lora walked the same route she always did but with a few exceptions; she wasn’t walking alone and she wasn’t listening to her music. “So, how’s life?” asked Nicole, snapping her out of her thoughts.
“It’s alright,” she replied dryly. She wasn’t in the mood to talk at the moment.
Silence.
“How’s the love life?” Nicole asked, trying to get her to talk about her life.
“It’s… there,” she answered, hesitating to tell her friend how she was really feeling.
“Oh? Is it that one boy?” Nicole asked, clearly interested.
“No, it’s another guy,” she said, wincing as she did so. “His name is Cedric,” she added quickly, he deserved that much.
Her friend shrugged, “Don’t know him.” And that was that. The conversation dropped like a needle in a silent room, sudden and all too noticeable.
Suddenly, someone came up from behind her and hugged her at the waist. She sighed, “Hey, Cedric.” She turned to hug him, and smiled submissively. She knew it was horrible to think so, but she had hoped not to see him.
“You okay?” he asked looking down at her in the eyes. Nicole disappeared from her vision. She nodded, not trusting her voice again. In the corner of her eye she could see people staring at her, or maybe it was just her imagination. She turned her head in the direction of the uneasiness and realized why she was feeling like her stomach was doing flips. It was Mikey. She pulled away from her boyfriend and ran over to Mikey, smiling all the way over. “Hey!” she said, a boy with black hair that met at a spirally tip on his forehead came up behind him hugging him, almost knocking him over. Was he wearing a dress? Lora shook her head and looked at the boy again. He was definitely wearing a dress.
Mikey smiled. “Hey,” he said to Lora and smiled. She wanted to talk to him more but another friend came over and started pulling him away from her. This one had thick, curly, dirty blonde hair in a floppy Afro. Mikey yelled, “Hold on, you guys!” but it was no use; he was being dragged now. Cedric quickly took Mikey’s place. He put his arm around her waist like he always did. She couldn’t help but notice him getting in the way of her view of Mikey. She smiled; obviously he was jealous.
Really, she didn’t blame Cedric for getting jealous; she did think Mikey was good looking. Cedric was holding on to her tightly as he walked her to her bus, and as they reached her bus he kissed her on the lips hard. He always did this but for some reason, now she was furious when he did so, she didn’t show it though. He was her boyfriend after all.
She pulled away missing the darkness that showed in his eyes. Lora hurried onto her bus not looking back to say her usual goodbye. She hated the way he felt like he had to mark his territory like a dog; she wasn’t a landmark he could name as his own. 33


Chapter 7: Some type of Connection?34

“Hey,” Frank said, letting go of Mikey once they got to a blue bench near the patch of grass in the middle of the school. “Who’s the girl?”
Mikey smiled, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. “I think her name’s Lora but I have no idea.” He chuckled as he said this.
Frank raised an eyebrow, looking at him like he was crazy. “Well, it looked like she knew you. Where’d you meet her?”
“In the middle of sixth period, yesterday. We talked for while but she never told me her name,” Mikey frowned in disappointment.
“Well, she’s kind of cute.” Frank said, nudging Mikey in the side. “Think you’ll talk to her again?” Frank had an enormous smile on his face.
Mikey chuckled. That’s what he loved about Frank; he always had some reason to smile even on the worst occasions. “I kind of hope so. She’s got something different about her. Not only that but she’s friends with Nicole Soza…”
Ray jumped into the conversation now. “Did Gerard ever find out who she was? You called him yesterday and asked him about her, right?” Mikey nodded. “Yeah, ‘cause I remember him looking at the phone and saying ‘Why the hell are you asking for a Nicole Soza? Do I look like I know a Nicole Soza?’ And then that same day he said, ‘Okay, so I do know a Nicole Soza.’ Or something like that. You kicked him afterwards and he was on the floor bawling. I’m surprised he didn’t try to tackle you.”
Gerard came waltzing into the conversation, after hearing the last few sentences. “Ray… please… just don’t.” He said raising his hand to silence him and shaking his head in dismay. Gerard stared at Frank for a moment baffled, “Why are you wearing a dress?” Frank began to answer but Gerard shook his head and interrupted by saying, “You know what? Don’t tell me.”
Mikey looked at Frank and glanced at him up and down, in uncertainty. “I’m sure we all don’t want to know.” Mikey looked back at Gerard. “Gee, I know I’m your brother and all, and I should be used to you coming out of nowhere, but where the hell did you come from???” He flailed his arms around, frantic. 35

***36

Nicole was leaning against the wall in front of the bus loop. Gerard smiled, and she couldn’t help but find herself smiling too. He had talked to her in Chemistry but she felt awkward with him staring at her half the time. He was watching her pour chemicals into the test tubes, she knew that but it still made her uncomfortable.
Someone yelled out her name, bringing her back to the present. She looked around but didn’t notice anyone she knew. Then she saw Gerard looking at her. He smiled and waved her over. She looked around again uncertain, then looked at him again. He nodded.
Grabbing her stuff, she walked over to Gerard and his gang. “Hey!” he said as she stopped in front of him. She looked over at the group and stopped at Frank.
“Uh… And he’s wearing a dress why?” she asked pointing to Frank but looking at Gerard.
Frank smiled, opening his mouth to speak but Gerard cut him off. “You don’t want to know,” he stated.
Mikey added, “None of us want to know. That’s a secret for Frank to keep to himself.”
Nicole stared at Mikey for a moment. Her eyes widened and she yelled, “Oh my God!!! You’re the guy that—”
Frank interrupted her, “That was chased by the angry mob of jocks, knocked down all your papers, did a flip off the wall, and helped you with your papers before talking about you to Gerard.”
Mikey tried to punch Frank in the stomach but he dodged. “Y-yeah… okay?” Nicole said and made a weird noise of confusion.
Ray came up next to Nicole and said, “Frank knows everything. That’s all you need to know.” Nicole nodded, still confused. She didn’t want to mention that Frank was wrong and that wasn’t what she was going to say.
Gerard cleared his throat. “Care for an introduction?” He grinned and motioned to the gang.
“Not really.” Nicole said, shaking her head. “The only one I don’t know is the floppy afro.” She said pointing to Ray.
Ray smiled and said, “It’s Toro. Ray Toro.”
“You looked like an idiot when you said that,” Frank laughed pointing at Ray.
“Says the guy wearing a dress,” Ray replied.
“You know you like it.” Frank said slowly lifting up his dress.
“No!” Everyone yelled, hands stretched out to stop him.
He smiled, “Psh… fine. But you know deep down you guys really want it.”
“Real deep down.” Ray replied, looking away from him.
“The deepest part.” Mikey added, walking away.
“Way down deep that it doesn’t even really exists.” Gerard whispered to Nicole. She smiled, and nodded. They both turned, along with Ray, to walk away.
“HEY! You guys are mean!” Frank yelled, pouting as everyone walked away from him.37

Chapter 8: Holding On38

Mikey wiped his brow as the last cord rang from his bass and Frank’s guitar, the night sky barely visible from the garage. Gerard slid to the floor, the song finally coming to a close. A few seconds passed; no one in the band said a word.
Finally, Ray took in a sharp breath and breathed “wow.” Gerard lay on the floor, tears streaming down his face. Placing his bass against the amp, Mikey knelt down next to Gerard.
“Gee, its okay. I know it was hard to sing, especially so close to Nana’s death. But-“
“That was amazing.” Bob cut in.
“Elena would be proud, man.” Ray added.
Mikey nodded. “So what are we going to call it?” Frank asked, his voice low.
Gerard wiped his face with his hands and slowly breathed in. “Helena,” he said in a whisper. Everyone looked at Gerard in confusion. Even the “All-knowing” Frank didn’t know the reason for his title choice.
A grin appeared on Mikey’s face. “We always thought of her as a Helena.” A small smile crept onto Gerard’s lips. Slowly the silence that followed grew. Bob coughed. “Er… sorry,” he mumbled.
Gerard shook his head and smiled. He closed his eyes and sighed. Reopening them he asked, “So who’s hungry?”
“I guess I am.” Ray said. He wrapped his arm around Mikey’s shoulder and smiled. “Let’s all head out to get some pizza.” 39

Meanwhile…40

“Fuck off, Cedric!” Lora screamed. She struggled against his hold on her arm as he shut the door of his apartment behind him. “Let go of me, you asshole!”
His grip on her arm tightened. “ Bitch! Shut you damn mouth!” Again she struggled, trying to get him to loosen his grasp on her. He whirled her around to face him. “You conniving little whore!”
Slap!
She was on the floor. The coffee table that was cluttered with magazines and soda cans only an inch away from where she landed. Her cheek was a dark red where his hand made contact. Her jaw dropped, hurt pooling in her eyes along with the tears she wouldn’t dare let fall.
“I don’t want you so much as looking at that skinny ass punk again!”41

Wednesday…
“Alright, mother fucker!” Cedric yelled. He grabbed Gerard by the shoulders. Cedric slammed him into the brick wall behind them “You and your brother are going to get it one of these days.”
Gerard grinned. “And you’ll be getting it sooner. Homophobic ass crack,” he said, spitting into Cedric’s eye.
Cedric dropped his hold on him He wiped at his faces with his sleeve. “Fag!”
“Yeah, I like my cigarettes. Got a problem?” Gerard replied.
“Tell your fucking brother to quit messin’ with my girl. Or I’ll be doin’ it for you.”
“What are you going to do? Huh, you moron?” Gerard asked, leaning back against the wall.
Cedric stood up straight his squinting eyes smoldering. “Why don’t you ask your little buddy Frank?”
Gerard rolled his eyes. “I’ll be sure to do that.” He began to walk away, pointing in the direction he was going. “In fact, I’ll go see him now.” He rolled his shoulders, cursing under his breath.42

***43

Mikey stared at his brother in disbelief as he peeked around his hiding spot; Frank. “You know that’s not much of a hiding spot, right?” Frank asked him as he tried to side step away from Mikey. “It’s like hiding behind a twig.” Mikey fell forward a bit but caught himself before he fell face-first to the ground.
“Hey! It was better than nothing!” he yelled as regained his balance.
Frank’s eyes narrowed. “Do you know what that was about?” He waited for Mikey’s answer and when he shook his head Frank grinned. “Well, I do!” He put his arm around Mikey’s shoulder and said, “And if I were you, I’d either leave the girl alone, or get ready for the shit that’s coming. Scratch that. Just get ready. He’s coming.”
Mikey tensed, his eyes widening. Frank laughed. “Gerard. I meant Gerard.” Mikey sighed and looked to see Gerard walking over to them, rolling his shoulders. He looked pissed and was muttering something inaudible.
Then he looked up. “Fuck.” Mikey said as he made eye contact with his brother. Gerard glared. Mikey knew he had some explaining to do.44

Chapter 9: We Don’t Play That Shit45

“Alright, what the hell, Mikey?” Gerard asked, crossing his arms as he stopped in front of Mikey and Frank. Mikey backed up behind Frank a bit.
“I’ll tell you!” Frank grinned.
Gerard looked over at Frank. “Shut up.”
“But, I’m the All-Knowing Frank!” Frank yelled. Mikey nodded, pushing his glasses up with his index finger.
Gerard sighed, shaking his head. “Shoot.”
“Not until you say iiiiit,” Frank said, poking Gerard in the shoulder. His grin widened.
“This is such a waste of tiiiime,” Gerard rolled his eyes.
“Say it.” Frank said, poking him again.
“Will one of you just tell me?!” Gerard fumed.
Frank pouted. “Fiiiiiine.” He sighed. “He hasn’t done anything… yet.” Mikey rose an eyebrow, intrigued. Frank continued, “One of Cedric’s buddies saw Mikey talking to Lora the other day. Thought something was going on, and told him. That’s it.”
“Yet?” Mikey asked at the same time that Gerard said, “That reminds me!”
Frank held up his hands to stop them both. His face was serene almost like a chief Native American. Gerard and Mikey stood there staring at him. He looked at Mikey, “You’ll see.” He grinned and then looked over at Gerard, “That’s what the dress was for.”
Gerard starred at him in confusion for a moment. Then it clicked. “Ewww! Cedric?!”
Frank shook his head. “Jacob.”
Mikey glanced from Frank to Gerard. “What are you guys talking about?”46

Meanwhile…47

“Fuckin’ poopballs!” Nicole yelled as she slammed the door leading from the hallway to her Pre-Calculus classroom. Everyone in the class stopped what they were doing and looked in her direction. The teacher wasn’t there yet, thank goodness. Not that Nicole cared what the teacher would have said. He could fuck off for all she cared. He was, after all, a fucktard. And so was her father for that matter.
The few moments before she got to class passed through her mind. The incessant shouting that took place in the car with her father and brothers as the asshole drove her to school. The administrators stopping her just to tell her she was going to be late for class, when if they hadn’t stopped her she would have made it on time. Not that it mattered! The stupid teacher wasn’t even there! She sighed as sat down at her desk.
She looked at the clock for a moment. It was 7:21am. She then glanced at the door. Getting up, she walked to the door and opened it. “Fuck it!” she said, and closed the door behind her.
“Hey Nicole!” A male voice yelled as she walked into the hallway. She turned to look at who was calling her. She saw the afro before anything else.
“Raaaaaaaaay!” she said, smiling as he waved at her.
“I’ve got something to tell you. It’s really important.” 48

***49

Lora stared at her reflection in the mirror. The bathroom stalls behind her were empty. Her headphones were blaring “Bandages” by HOT HOT HEAT as she examined her face. The red mark from the night before had long went away but the busted lip she had was still there. She touched it with her fingers and winced. She’d just have to tell everyone she fell down the stairs. She was clumsy, and everyone knew that. She sank down onto the tile floor and sat there facing the bathroom sinks.
The bathroom door opened. Lora froze. A moment later she turned so that she could see who had walked in. It was Nicole. She sighed in relief. She smiled slight, winced and then covered her mouth. “Hey!” she said, her voice muffled. She lowered down the music from her mp3 player.
“Guess what Ray just told me!” Nicole said as she walked further into the bathroom. She paused. “Wait…Why are you on the floor?” she asked, and knelt down beside Lora. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m fine.” Lora said, smiling with her eyes.
“Liya!” Nicole said, nudging Lora in the side. “Tell meee!”
Lora shook her head. “It’s nothing. Seriously. I’m fine.”
“Liya! You are such a liya!” Nicole glared at her for a moment. She then realized Lora’s hand. “Show me your mouth, Lora.”
“It’s nothing! I’m fiiiine!” Lora insisted.
“If you’re fine then show me.”
Lora lowered down her hand. 50

Chapter 10: Paper-cuts And Drive-by Shootings51

“Did you give it to her?” Gerard asked Ray as they bounded down the school’s steps.
“Yeah, yeah. I gave Nicole the note you wanted her to have. It gave me a goddamn paper cut though.” Ray replied, glaring at Gerard.
Gerard laughed. “I’m sorry man. That really sucks.” He said, wrapping his arm around Rays shoulder. “Have you talked to Bob? Is tonight still okay with him?”
“Bob will be there. Don’t worry, Gee.”
Mikey popped out from behind a bush that was next to the stairs, placing his glasses back on and scaring Gerard and Ray in the process. “What’s tonight?”
“Why the hell were you in a bush?” Ray asked, punching Mikey in the arm. Mikey dodged, and held his hands up in surrender.
“Glasses fell,” he replied.
“The trip to see Elena,” Frank replied as he walked from behind Gerard and Ray. Gerard, Ray, and Mikey stared at him in bemusement. He grinned, “ Aaaall knowing.”
“So Nicole—”
“Yeeees, Nicole knows about it, and yes, Ray knows where she lives.” Frank interrupted Gerard.
Gerard glared at him. “Would you quit doing that already? It’s getting annoying!”
Frank rolled his eyes. “You’re saying that now, but you’ll want to know things later.”
“What do you mean later?” Mikey asked.
Frank huffed. “You’ll see.”52


Later that night…53

Gerard and the gang stood outside Nicole’s house, waiting under the lamp-post that lit the road. The door to Nicole’s house slammed close and Gerard looked over to see Nicole walking down the driveway.
“Hey!” Mikey said from behind Ray.
“Hey Laydeh!” Franks yelled, tackling Nicole and almost knocking her over. He grabbed onto her so she wouldn’t fall.
Nicole laughed. “Hey guys. Hey Frank.”
Frank took a step back and glared at her. “Heeeey.”
Nicole grinned. “Feel special, silly face.”
Frank rolled his eyes then smiled. Gerard grinned as he went over to her and hugged her. “Hey.” He said and put his arm around her shoulder.
“Ooooo,” Frank said. “ I knew you liked her!”
“Shut up!” Gerard yelled, his face turning a deep crimson.
“Ha… you two match! Both your faces are red!” Frank pointed at both Gerard and Nicole.
Gerard cleared his throat. “Where’s–”
“Lora?” Mikey finished. He stepped out from behind Ray who was pretending to play the guitar, his afro flopping as he proceeded to head bang. Bob was standing next to him pretending to play the drums. Nicole could see an ear-bud from Ray’s left ear and another in Bob’s right.
“She-”
“Right here!” Lora yelled, running toward the group from Nicole’s house.
Gerard and Nicole turned to look in her direction. They all smiled as she stopped until she walked into the lamppost’s light. They stared at her for a moment not saying a word. Nicole shifted her stance. After another moment of no one saying anything Nicole walked over to her, and hugged her tightly. “Hey Lady face,” she smiled as she let her go.
“That bastard.” Frank said, turning his face to glare into nothingness. Everyone but Nicole and Lora turned to look at him.
“What—”
“Cedric.” Frank answered before Mikey could even ask what happened.
Gerard took a deep breath. “Frank I need to talk to you.” He grabbed Frank by the arm and led him a few feet away from where the rest of the gang stood. “ This is important, and I need a straight answer from you.” Frank leaned against a nearby tree. Gerard looked over to where Nicole stood and sighed. He stared back into Frank’s eyes. “Is… is it going to work?”
Frank stared back at him for a moment then looked at Gerard’s shoes. “Where’d you get those?” Frank asked, smiling.
“Frank!” Gerard yelled, stepping toward him, his face getting red with anger. The gang looked over at them. Gerard continued, lowering his voice to a whisper. “This is serious. I need to know.”
Frank shook his head. “I told you. I knew you’d want to know things later on.” Frank sighed. “I know you want to know this… but…” He looked Gerard in the eyes. “This is one thing I can’t tell you.” He put his hand on Gerard’s shoulder. “No matter how much I want to tell you.”54

Chapter 11: Cemetery Memory55

“This night, walk the dead,” Gerard began, bobbing his head along with Bob’s drum rhythm and Ray’s guitar noises. “In a solitary style and crash the cemetery gates.”
“In the dress your husband hates,” Frank chimed in, pointing to Nicole.
Nicole glared at him. “Way down,” She tried to punch him in the stomach. He flinched. She laughed and pointed back at him. “Mark the grave.” She turned to walk over to Lora, and Frank followed.
“Where the search lights find us drinking by the mausoleum door,” Bob added. Gerard laughed, and shook his head.
“And they found you on the bathroom floor,” Frank whispered to Lora loud enough for Nicole to hear. Nicole punched him in the arm.
“Whaaat?” Frank said jumping back. “It’s not like I was trying to be meeean.”
“Still.” Nicole replied. “Still. That was low.”
Lora frowned, and shook her head. She took a deep breath and then smiled. She turned to look at Mikey and said, “I miss you, I miss you so far.” Mikey blushed a deep crimson.
Gerard came up behind Nicole and took her hand. He smiled when she turned around and motioned her to follow him. “We’ll be back in a minute,” said Gerard as Lora looked at them in confusion.
Lora nodded. “Alright.” She smiled.
Gerard guided Nicole to Elena’s mausoleum. He stopped a few feet away from the mausoleum and turned to gaze into her eyes. He reached up and touched her cheek. Leaning in, he kissed her. Once they broke away he said, “The collision of your kiss that made it so hard.” Nicole blushed and looked away for a moment. She smiled.
Gerard closed his eyes, sighed, and walked to the mausoleum doors steps. “I have to tell you something.”
“W—” She cleared her throat. “What is it?” she asked, watching as he sat down on the last of the steps.
“I have a plan.”
She looked at him in confusion as she sat down next to him. “What are you talking about?”
Gerard took in a sharp breath and let it out slowly. “A plan to stop everything.”
Nicole was getting worried now. She got off the step and knelt down in front of his, staring straight into his eyes. “What do you mean to stop everything?”
“To stop the bullying. To stop Cedric from hurting Lora… everything,” He replied, looking away from her stare. “We’ve only got one chance to put this at an end.”56