My Heart Stopped Beating

“I don’t see why you’re making such a big deal about this,” I muttered, struggling to keep up with Lacey as we raced across the parking lot over to her car. Her nails dug deep in my wrist as she tugged harder, trying to get to the beat-up VW as fast as possible. “I mean, it was just a kiss on the cheek, it wasn’t at all what you think it is. Plus, if only you knew the circumstances…”
She pushed me towards the passenger door as she raced over to her side, pausing to look at me before getting in. “I don’t care about any stupid circumstances, all I care about is the fact that you and that stupid boy, that wasn’t Adam, I’d like to point out, were sitting very close and his stupid lips were in your stupid face!” With that, she yanked the door open and slid inside, steam practically flowing from her ears. She liked to use the word ‘stupid’ whenever she was aggravated. As I opened my door, she was still rambling.
“I mean, look, okay? You and Adam, were just so, I mean are so, you know? And you and Mikey are….well, yeah. But, come on, he’s one of Them, not one of, like, us, you know? And, I mean, now it’s like, oh my gosh, you’re not going to, are you?”
I rolled my eyes and turned on the radio as she continued. I nodded along to the latest by Korn as I tuned her out. Lacey’s mind gets all mixed up whenever she’s shocked, so you have to let her spew out some meaningless phrases until she’s got it out. That’s about when she starts making sense.
She sighed, long and deep, her fingers clenching the steering wheel. She knew I hadn’t been listening, so she started over.
“Okay, explain your self, woman.”
I sighed, leaning back in the seat as various stores flew by the window. I’d decided that she didn’t need to know about Gerard.
“Well, there was all this chaos from the fire drill or whatever that was, and I was standing outside when Ray came up to me.” She winced at his name; I shot her a glare. “He said Mikey was upset, so, as numerous disobedient students were leaving campus unnoticed to go get food,” I gave her a look, having seen her leaving first in front of all the other students rushing to their cars. She smiled, which quickly disappeared as she motioned for me to continue. “Well, Mikey’d skipped to go get coffee, so we walked down the street to go hang out with him and see what he was so upset about. Ray had to leave, because his teacher would notice if his fro were to suddenly vanish.” Lie. Well, not really. “And me and Mikey were talking, and it turns out that he was upset because of some rumors spreading around school,” Lie. “And I guess, according to his friends, I was ‘cut out for this emotional crap’. So that’s why I was sent to comfort Mikey, not one of his other friends.” Lie, lie, lie. Thank God best friends can’t read minds.
Lacey gave me an uneasy look, which made something squirm in my stomach. I’d never lied to any of my friends. I was about to take it all back and tell her the truth when she spoke, the uneasy look still written all over her face.
“He heard about those rumors, huh?” I blinked in surprise. She bought it? “I can’t believe anybody would say those things!” she continued, shaking her head. “I mean, why would Mikey and Gerard be necking behind the art room? Ugh, they’re brothers!”
My eyes widened even more. What?
Her brows furrowed as she looked over at me. “What do you mean, what? Isn’t that what you were talking about?” I shook my head as I realized my thoughts had been verbal. “Uhm, yeah. That’s what I was talking about. I’m just a little out of it, I really need to get home and relax.
She was practically glowing at my words. “Perfect! I set up a date for the three of us to get our hair done!” Us three, being Jordan, Lacey, and myself, always got our hair dyed some random colors every few months. I played with a stray piece of dirty blond hair between my fingers as we pulled up to the mall.
As we got out of the car and walked over to a waiting Jordan, I turned to Lacey and muttered quietly, “Don’t tell her anything about the Mikey thing, okay? She’ll just overreact and tell Adam, who’ll flip out and attempt to beat the life out of Mikey.” I threw my arm around Jordan’s shoulder and walked off like everything was normal.

“So what was with the fire drill thing?” Lacey asked as her hair got trimmed. Jordan stopped twirling around in her chair and turned towards Lacey and me. “It wasn’t a fire drill, it was the real thing! Apparently, somebody blew some stuff up in the science lab, and, at the same time, somebody else triggered the smoke detector by the office! They found a lighter afterwards.” She finished, attempting to sound mysterious. I laughed out loud, but it shook a little at the end. No doubt it had been Frank that blew something up in the science lab, but somebody holding up a lighter to a detector in the office, which just so happens to be right next to the art room… I’m no Nancy Drew, but that’s pretty suspicious. And, hadn’t Ray said something about-
My thoughts were interrupted as the lady doing my hair shut on a hair dryer. I watched as Jordan and Lacey continued to talk, their hair already done. Jordan had hers chopped to just above the shoulder, with a dye job that would make Jeffree Star stop to marvel. Bleach blonde, with black underneath and thick bright blue streaks; she was even more of a head turner than before.
Lacey dyed the underside of her naturally blond hair black, giving her a look that reminded me of an old Avril Lavigne Vs. new Avril. My own hair was simply dyed a solid black and layered.
As my hair finished, Lacey and Jordan stopped talking and looked over at me grinning. “I can’t believe you’ve never dyed your hair black before!” Jordan shrieked, running up to me and grabbing a handful of hair to examine is closely, as if it was a trick of the light. “It’s definitely your color.” Lacey rolled her eyes at Jordan’s enthusiasm.
After paying, we decided to go to the food court to flaunt our newly done hair. We picked a table for five, right on the outskirts of the food area, as Jordan went to get some Chinese. I turned to Lacey, smiling. “So….” I began, raising an eyebrow. “So what?” Lacey asked, confused. “So, got your eye on any of the boys at school?” Considering I had Adam and all, I couldn’t exactly run around flirting and talking about cut boys. Instead, I got off asking Lacey and Jordan about their crushes and giving them advice.
“Actually, now that you’ve mentioned it, there is this really gorgeous guy in Trig.” She started, eyes glowing. I leaned in, my smile growing. I always thought it was cute and exciting whenever one of my friends got a crush. “I don’t know his name, but he’s got red hair that he dyes black, you can just tell by the slight bit of red at his roots. And, he’s got the prettiest green eyes I’ve ever seen!”
I chuckled. “Let me know when you figure out what his name is,” I replied, just as Jordan set down two plates of Chinese. “Am I missing anything?” she asked, still standing.
“Go ahead and get your precious chicken sandwich.” I teased. She grinned uncontrollably as she turned and rushed over to the Chic-fil-A. Lacey and I giggled in unison. “So, you know who your hair reminds me of?” I asked, wiggling my eyebrows. Before she could reply, a throat cleared behind us.
Turning slowly, I met a pair of shy blue eyes. A boy of perhaps seventeen stood before me, shaggy black hair meeting his chin and pierced lips turned upwards slightly. He shuffled his feet, obviously nervous as he opened and closed his mouth a few times. Finally, he simply chuckled and scratched the back of his head. “Uh-um…” he stuttered, attempting to buy time. “I… noticed your jacket there. Uhm, wh-where’d you g-get it?” His hands were shaking as he shoved them into the pockets of his jeans.
I smiled politely, shooting a glance in Lacey’s direction. “I ordered it online for $115,” I said, still smiling as he let out a low whistle. “Holy shit.” He replied simply. I laughed lightly, my smile growing. “Well, yes, that’s what it says.” I teased. “Would you like the web address?” I asked, being polite, not flirty. Why couldn’t he have started talking to Lacey?
He laughed, less nervous. “That’s just a little out of my price range.” His laughter died down as he looked past us at something. He cleared his throat again. “Well, see, my brother and I were wondering if you’d like to go see a movie or something?” His voice was so light, it was almost a whisper. I turned to see a taller version of the guy standing next to us, with shorter hair and a few tattoos. I watched as Lacey raised an eyebrow before turning to Alex and enthusiastically nodding her head.
“I’m so sorry,” a voice rang out as Jordan walked up, her sandwich in hand. “But Sid here has a boyfriend.” She pointedly glared at me, her hair slightly shading her eyes. The boy gulped loudly, scratching his head again. “I’m s-sorry.” he stuttered, before walking off quickly towards his confused brother. Lacey groaned and jogged after him.
I turned to Jordan to thank her, and came face to face with a very angry teenager. “How could you even think about cheating on Adam?” she shrieked, startling me. My eyes widened in confusion. “What are you talking about? I wasn’t thinking about it! I was about to thank you for saving me, actually! You know how I suck at turning guys down. Especially when they’re all sweet and shy.” I looked past her to see Lacey handing her number to the brother and waving her hands in out direction, mouth moving to fast for me to figure it out.
Jordan sighed, rubbing her temples. “I’m sorry, Sid. I was just jumping to conclusions.” She locked pinkies with mine on top of the table and we both spat to our left. She stood from her chair, giving me an apologetic look. “I’m really getting a headache, I think it’s from the dyes or something. I think I should head home.” I frowned. “Hope you feel better!” I called as she walked off, abandoning her chicken sandwich.
Lacey returned, beaming. Her grin quickly died down as she looked around. “Where’s Jordy?” she asked, sounding disappointed. “She had a headache, so she left.” Lacey officially frowned. “I just set up a double date for us with Alex and Jacob!” she exclaimed, pulling out her cell and rushing off. She waved her hand over her shoulder as she too left.
I grabbed a piece of General Tso and nibbled on it as I threw the otherwise untouched food into the trashcan. I sighed and left the mall, starting my mile walk home.

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