In the Best Damn Dress I Own

Frank dragged me to the bed where we slept in night after night. We changed into our pajamas. Frank wore only his boxers but I wore sweatpants.

We laid down, our bodies intertwined. Frank kissed my nose and I giggled. Then I kissed his lips, pulling away before we could get too hot and heavy. I nuzzled my face into the crook of his arm. Soon I heard the synchronized breathing patterns of Frank sleeping. Before I knew it I was asleep too.

I was putting on my make-up, getting ready for the pageant. Erika and I were joking about how good we looked in our dresses. Everything was perfect. My hair wasn't long enough to put up so I sufficed with letting it hang. My eyeliner and lipstick were near perfection. I had added a little bit of foundation, just to finish off.

"You look great, baby." I heard a voice say. Slowly, I saw the knuckles with "Halloween" tattooed across them. I turned around to see my beloved Frank.

"Honey, your not supposed to be in here. It's girls only." I whispered as a warning to Frank.

"Then you better come with me." Frank joked, though he was right. He kissed my lips passionately before turning to leave. He exited into the rest of the audience.

I turned back to my make-up and Erika. Suddenly there was the sound of a door being flung open and the crash of some chairs. I turned around, face-to-face with my brother.

"Mikey, I-" I started before he hit me. I laid on the floor, crying before he kicked me in the rib cage.

"What did you say? What was that big brother? Did the faggot want to say something?" Mikey screamed in my face as he roughly picked me up from the ground.

"No! Mikey stop. Not again, please." I begged, sobbing.

"I'll do what ever the fuck I want to my gay-ass brother. Motherfucking homo!" Mikey screamed in my face for the second time. I cringed away, continuing my sobbing. He threw me back on the floor and spit on me.

"I'll be back. Don't you dare move." Mikey warned. I heard a door open and close. I looked up at the ceiling. It wasn't the ceiling of the dressing room anymore.

I was back in my old basement room. The brick walls and one window was so familiar.

I needed to find an escape before Mikey got back. Only the good Lord would know what he would do to me next. I looked at the window. That was my only chance of escaping. I had to take it now.

I rushed toward the window, shakily. Mikey had bruised my ribs. I opened the small portal to safety and started pulling myself through the small crevice.

"Hey! Faggot brother! What did I tell you about moving." I heard someone say from behind me. Fuck. He had come back.

I felt something pulling at my legs and I fell onto the floor, uttering a low groan. I looked up at my brother. He held in his hand a very sharp knife.

"M-M-Mikey. What are you doing with that knife?" I asked, my lips quivering. An evil smirk spread across my younger brother's face.

"What I should have done oh so many years ago." Mikey responded before lunging at me with the blade. I scurried away before the tip could collide with my chest.

I maneuvered my way around Mikey and into a small corner. I saw Mikey's dazed expression. He turned around and saw me in the shadows. He suddenly lunged toward my whimpering body. I was picked up by my shirt and shoved against the brick wall of my bedroom.

"Now you'll die, queer." Mikey said. For the first time I smelled his breath. I smelled liquor on it. I was reliving my personal nightmare again.

Mikey screamed before pulling the dagger back, behind his head. Then he thrust his hand forward.

"Gerard, baby, are you okay?" Frank said, looking down at me worried. I faintly saw his expression from the light that the street lamp outside cast.

"Yeah, yeah. Bad dream is all. I'll be okay."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No!" I yelled. His expression looked hurt, but I was too scared to care. I saw him lay his head back on his pillow and roll over so our backs faced each other. I sighed, my heart still beating rapidly.

I spent the next three hours trying to get back to sleep. When I finally did the clock read 4:48.