Give Me a Reason to Believe

I dragged him into the courtyard, jealous and angry. I didn't care if I was being irrational, he had to keep his god damn hands to himself! He was MINE!

"Getting awfully friendly with darling Odelette, aren't we?" I asked sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes, amused and irritated.

"Lena, you're being absolutely ridiculous. The French are very touchy feely people, and she's ONLY a good friend. That is ALL. I have never felt any romantic feelings for her and I never will! It was a friendly gesture! That is ALL!" he said, his voice beginning to rise.

"Yes, of course you've never felt ANY romantic feelings for that French tramp. Of course, how could you? I mean, she's smart, beautiful, funny, sweet. Quite friendly too, I hear. And you just love me EVER so much, how could you ever even LOOK at her that way?" I yelled indignantly. This is getting out of hand. I should stop. But my jealousy propelled me.

"Oh my God. I can NOT believe you are throwing that at me. You know I love you, Lena. More than anything. I love her in a platonic way, because we've known each other for quite some time. And I know she feels nothing for me either! Its just not like that. Yes, she is pretty, I can't deny that, but you have something that she doesn't. I don't know what that is yet, but I'm planning to spend how ever long it takes to find out," he finished, throwing his arms around me and pulling me against his chest.

I was NOT having any of that.

I pushed him away and went back to the cafeteria to talk to the other guys.

He grabbed me and spun me around.

"Don't do that. We've already started this shit, now lets not be childish about it. You know you're being ridiculous, and you need to stop. Don't you have guy friends that you hug or throw your arm around sometimes? This is exactly the same."

"Yeah, whatever."

I walked back into the cafeteria to talk to the other guys. Odelette was gone. I gave them my brightest smile and sat down, as Gerard came and sat right beside me. He put his arm around my waist, and I my spine went rigid.

"Whats up guys? Where'd Odelette go?" I asked.

"What was that about? Oh, Odie went to get some fries or something," replied Bob.

"Oh," I said simply. They knew I was avoiding the first question.

"We just had to talk about something, its cool now," said Gerard smoothly. As he did, he leaned in and kissed my cheek. My face remained blank and I didn't look at him.

Odelette came skipping back with a plateful of fries and gravy. She planted herself on my other side and offered me some. I kindly refused. It was hard to even be civil to her, but I did it.

"Oh, you must 'ave one. Zey are absolutely incroyabl'e! Zey are not like zis in France. Please?" she drawled.

"No, Odelette, I do not want one. Here in America, they taste exactly the same one day as they do the next. They're not incredible and the gravy at this school is gross," I snapped, tired of her sickly sweet attitude and fake cheeriness. Gerard stared at me.

"Sorry, Odie, she's having a rough day," said Gerard, nudging me and giving her an apologetic smile. Her hurt look faded and she smiled weakly at him. I glared. That traitor. Apologizing for ME? Was he fucking serious?

"Well, I should get going. Gotta finish my homework for next class," I said and fled the cafeteria. Frankie followed me.

"Lena, what the hell is going on with you?" he asked. He wasn't mad, just curious and concerned. That was why I liked Frankie. He didn't pass judgment.

"Frankie, has Gerard ever... well, has he ever had any kind of a thing for Odelette? I mean, romantically?" I asked carefully.

"Not that I know of, but you really shouldn't be asking me. You should ask Bob or Ray or Mikey. Someone who knows her better and could see their interaction. But really you should ask Gerard."

"I did. Of course he would say that he hasn't... He's my boyfriend. He's supposed to keep those things from me."

"Lena. Come on. Of course Gerard would tell you if he ever liked Odelette. You should both be comfortable and trusting enough to believe each other when they divulge something like that."

"I know... its just... its hard for a girl to feel secure when there's something like that walking around," I said, looking through the door's window to see her once again, smiling and joking with my boys.

"Lena, if anything, she should feel threatened. You've got so many great qualities she doesn't, and thats more appealing than her fake smiles and double edged compliments. You have nothing to worry about, darlin," he said, and I smiled for the first time since lunch started.

That was why Frankie was one of my best friends. He always said stuff like that to make me feel better. He just had that air about him, that life doesn't affect him and we're all there just to make the best of it.

"Thanks, Frankie," I said, and threw my arm around him. I now felt secure.

I went and sat down in the cafeteria again, beside Gerard. I smiled at them apologetically and said, "turns out I finished it last night. I'm kinda scatterbrained, couldn't remember that I'd finished."

We laughed and I kissed Gerard softly.

I overreacted. Odelette was no threat.

Right?