Every Mistake That I Make

If you go to school, you can’t escape the gossip, those sly little whispers that flutter round the classroom in the form of notes and voices when the teachers back is turned; those cackles and high-pitched nasal shrieks as the gossip gets juicier in the yard...

So really, it was just strange that Dallas McKenzie hadn’t heard this particular piece of gossip before her friend Anya West slammed down into the seat opposite her, gasping and out of breath, in the school canteen. Dallas felt Anya’s back thwack against her shins as she dropped her heavy rucksack under the table; she raised an eyebrow as Anya shoved Dallas’ lunch aside and leant across the table.

“Have you heard?”

“Heard what?” Dallas pushed Anya back and pulled her lunch back in front of her. “If it’s about the colour of Bob’s new underpants, I don’t want to know.”

“Ha ha, very funny...” Anya rolled her eyes and hauled her bag back onto the table. “No, I’m talking about Gerard.”

Dallas cocked her head to one side at the mention of one of her best friends and put down her sandwich.

“Did he get beaten up again?” Dallas questioned, sighing. “Put in a locker with Frankie? Has he been suspended again...Is he drinking, even?”

“No, no, no, and no!” Anya looked very excited. “It’s really shocking though, you won’t expect it.”

“Well, tell me then,” Dallas said impatiently.

“Y’know Rachael Leone...”

“Well, no, I don’t know her,” Dallas said sarcastically at the mention of the school’s ‘princess’, the prettiest girl of their grade, the girl with the looks, the brains, the money and the friends. All the boys fancied her and all the girls either hated her or wanted to be her...The teacher’s thought she was an angel but really, Rachael Leone was responsible for a few incidents were girls ended up in hospital. Rachael was no angel, and she was difficult to handle – basically, your biggest high school cliché.

“Oh, stop it. Well, she’s asked out Gerard!”

Dallas’ mouth fell open. “You what?”

“You heard – she asked out Gerard and, well, he said yes.”

Dallas picked up her sandwich and took a big bite out of it to stop herself from blurting something out that she really shouldn’t say.

“I...” she said after she swallowed, “I don’t get it? She’s never shown any interest in him at all – and he’s never shown any interest in her...”

“Look, Dall, this is Rachael Leone we’re talking about. What that bitch wants, that bitch gets. And he’s hardly going to turn her down,” Anya pointed out. “But yeah, it is pretty shocking.”

“I was thinking it was the wrong brother myself,” Dallas suggested. “Y’know, I could see a Rachael and Mikey pairing...” She shuddered at the thought and felt a blush creep up her cheeks; she swallowed and continued. “But Gerard and Rachael?”

“I know what you mean. Though, personally, I’d rather go with Gerard than Mikey.”

“You know what, Anya?” Dallas shivered, “I’m not even going to ask. Hey – here’s Bob and Mikey...”

Bob Bryar and Mikey Way (Gerard’s little brother who was in the same year as Anya and Dallas, a year below Gerard) sauntered over to their table and sat down, Bob next to Anya and Mikey next to Dallas, as usual. Frank wasn’t there yet, neither was Ray and – well, Dallas didn’t want to know where Gerard might be.

Anya was quick to fill them in on Gerard’s new girlfriend, and to their surprise they found Mikey scowling and saying, “yes, I know, I heard, he told me.”

They all stared at him, and he shrugged and said, “it’s just that...well. I think she’s going to mess him about.”

To Dallas’ ears, this didn’t sound very convincing; Gerard and Mikey were close but didn’t really get involved with stuff like that. No, she detected a note of jealousy in Mikey’s usually emotionless voice. When the other two continued to discuss the ‘important’ issue of the day, Dallas continued to watch Mikey out of the corner of her eyes until he noticed.

“Have I got something on my face?” he asked smirking.

“No...”

“Then why are you staring?” Dallas blushed slightly and turned away, finishing off her lunch.

The doors to the canteen swung open. A girl walked in; she was tall with lightly tanned skin, huge dark brown eyes lined neatly with kohl, with long, light brown hair tumbling straight down to her slim hips. She was thin with a pretty face, not obviously painted with make up. This girl wore a pair of light blue, faded skinny jeans, some black Converse and a figure-hugging black sweater. This girl went by the name of Rachael Leone.

“Well, there she is,” Anya commented, swinging her side-ponytail over her shoulder and curling her lip slightly.

“Not with Gerard, I see,” Dallas added to that.

“Well no, she wouldn’t have him following her round, would she,” Anya pointed out, running a hand through the ends of her ponytail.

“Where is he, then?” Dallas frowned, just as Frank Iero fell into his seat next to Bob, laughing loudly.

They all stared at him.

“Gerard’s on his way,” he sniggered.

“What are you laughing at?” Mikey questioned.

“I teased him about Rachael – I guess you’ve heard –and he hit me – so I pushed him into the girls toilets.” Frank was the only one who seemed to find this vaguely funny, let alone Gerard, who made a disgruntled appearance five minutes after this.

“That was very amusing, Frank,” he scowled.

“It was, wasn’t it,” Frank agreed with a smirk, bursting out laughing again until a soft cough interrupted.

They all looked up to see Rachael stood there. Her eyes passed over all the faces sat at the table. They fell upon Mikey and Dallas saw something flicker in her eyes before they flashed straight to Gerard and she spoke.

“Why don’t you come and sit with me, Gerard?” Rachael asked, flicking some hair out of her eyes. “I got us a table...”

Her voice was forceful, yet persuasive. Gerard, of course, gave in straightaway, collected his bag and followed Rachael to one of the smaller tables on the other side of the canteen.

As Rachael sat, she looked back over at their table. She smirked at Anya and Dallas, and then gave Mikey a look that Dallas could not describe at all...

Mikey looked away, disgust clearly written upon his face; Dallas’ eyes, however, remained upon Rachael even though Mikey was talking to her.

Rachael stared back for a moment, then turned to look at Gerard; so Dallas turned to look at Mikey.

“Will you come outside for a second?” She heard him ask. Hope and curiousness bubbled in her stomach and, with that, she nodded.