I Will Not Kiss You

Gerard and I walked rather than drove. He said it was better for the environment which is true. But then it started to drizzle with rain so we had to run. My jacket had a hood so I pulled it up so that I wouldn’t get as wet. Gerard didn’t have a jacket or a sweatshirt so he got very wet and we had to stop in doorsteps every so often.

“Honestly,” He said very loudly, throwing his hands in the air as we stopped for the seventh time “This could only happen to me.”

So I said “What could only happen to you?”

“The one day I decide I’m gonna’ try and help protect the environment for future generations, whilst contributing to my own physical fitness, and it decides to pee it down with rain!”

I laughed because he said it in a funny voice. But I wasn’t sure if he meant it to be funny or not.

“C’mon let’s go.” He laughed.

So we ran through the rain again and he got wetter. By the time we’d reached the place he wanted to go to, he was soaking wet. He looked really funny. So I couldn’t help laughing but then I said ‘I’m not being horrible but you look funny’ in case he thought I was and he said ‘It’s ok, I know. Thanks for saying though’. Then he held the door open and gestured for me to go in. So I went in.

The place was called ‘The Coffee House’ and smelt of coffee and muffins. It was painted magnolia inside and the furniture was a dark brown. The tables had light green table cloths on them. There were also booths along the walls with squashy sofa-like things. They were purple and I like purple because Mom told me when I was little that it’s a safe colour. She told that her Mother’s Mother told her that when she was little. Then she showed me a photo of her and said that she always wore something purple because it was supposed to be safe.

Duran Duran was playing quietly but I tried not to listen to it because they’re not music I listen to normally. As we walked in through the door, a girl in a tight black t-shirt and black trousers called ‘Jeez, Gee! What ya been doin’?’ and Gerard laughed and replied with ‘I decided to save the environment!’. The girl laughed and said ‘It could only happen to you, eh?’. And Gerard nodded. She was very pretty and had chestnut colour hair, brown eyes and pale skin. She was also very skinny and I wondered if she’d been sick because people lose weight sometimes when they’re ill.

“C’mon dreamer.” Gerard laughed, walking over to the counter where the girl was.

So I followed him. I thought he’d stop and ask for some coffee but he went to skip around the counter, telling me to follow him. The girl barred his way. Then I figured that she worked there and her black clothes were her uniform.

“Oooh,” She began, tutting “I dunno’ if I should let you back here out of uniform.”

“Awwww, pwease Tyler,” Gerard begged, in a funny voice “’Cause you love me so much!” He added.

She laughed and looked at me.

“What d’you think?” She asked “Should I let him back here?”

And I said “I don’t know.”

I didn’t really want to talk to her because I didn’t know her. She turned back to Gerard. He stuck his bottom lip out and made his eyes look sad. I wondered if he was thinking about sad things. The girl laughed and went ‘Noooooo not the puppy dog eyes! Not the puppy dog eyes!’. Then she said ‘Fine! Go on through’ and Gerard started pumping his fists in the air and dancing whilst cheering ‘Woohoo’.

“Frank, this is Tyler. Tyler, this is Frank.” He said when he’d finally stopped dancing.

“Oh?” She said, looking me up and down.

“No.” He replied, immediately.

“No what?” I asked.

“You’re not dating him?” She said, looking sad.

“Sorry to disappoint you.” Gerard laughed.

Then he walked off through the door behind the counter. Tyler winked at me and said ‘Go on through, Frank’ so I said ‘Thank you’ and followed him. Gerard was looking through come cardboard boxes that were all on a big shelf. The walls were white tiles and the floor was blue linoleum. It didn’t smell of anything in that room. It was very clean though. There was a big silver freezer, some metal trolley things and a coffee machine as well as a bunch of cardboard boxes with labels on them all. There were also some pegs with aprons and bags hanging on some of them.

“Is Tyler your friend?” I asked.

“Yeah.” He replied, smiling.

“Is that why she let you back here?”

“No, she let me back here ‘cause I work here,” He explained “So I count as staff.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh,” He laughed, pulling out a chocolate muffin “You want anything?” He asked.

“Don’t you have to pay?” I asked, stepping closer.

“Yeah. But I get a discount so I can either pay or get Tyler to write it down and get it taken outta’ my paycheque.” He explained.

“Oh.” I replied.

“Go on,” He laughed “If you want something just take it.”

So I looked through the boxes. There were all types of cakes and flapjacks and things. They all looked nice and I didn’t know what to choose. I’m allowed to eat this food because it’s all packaged and will have come straight from the place where they’re made and no one will have touched it otherwise they’d have gotten into trouble with their quality control supervisor. Finally, I chose a flapjack with a label that said Momma’s finest Plain Flapjack.

“D’you want a coffee?” Gerard asked.

“Yes please.”

“What kind of coffee d’you want?” He asked, gesturing to the machine.

I looked at it. There were lots of buttons that each had a type of coffee written on it. Gerard opened a cupboard and pulled out two disposable cups. He said he would give me a proper cup but they were needed for customers who were sitting in. Then he put a cup under the machine and told me to choose what I wanted. So I asked for a mocha and he pushed the button for me. Then he put a plastic lid on it that had a little hole in it. I guessed it was for drinking from. I thought it was clever; I’ve never seen it before because I’ve never had a take out coffee.

“Where d’you wanna’ go?” Gerard questioned, pushing the button that said ‘Black’ “We can sit back here or go and sit out there…we can go for a walk if you want.”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, I recommend we stay inside ‘cause it’s still raining!” He said “Um…I dunno’, where d’you wanna’ sit?”

“I don’t know.” I repeated.

He laughed and hoisted himself up onto the big freezer. So I sat on it with him. And he said ‘Ok, in here it is’. I didn’t say anything. Neither did he. We both sipped our coffees quietly. I wondered what he was thinking about. He was looking into his coffee cup as he drank the steaming liquid. I don’t understand why they call it black coffee because it’s not black! It’s a very very dark brown. And when you add milk, it’s not white it’s just brown.

“So…” He began.

“So what?” I asked because I didn’t know what he meant.

“I dunno’,” He laughed “What d’you wanna’ talk about?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged.

“There must be something,” He replied “C’mon! How ‘bout music? What kinda’ music d’you like?”

“You wouldn’t know it.”

“Try me.”

“You won’t know it.” I insisted.

“If you won’t tell me, I’ll guess.”

“Go on then.”

He stared at me for a little while, looking me up and down. I wondered what it was he was looking at. It could be my clothes, my face, my posture, how fat or skinny I am… Gerard chewed the inside of his cheek as his eyes flicked from right to left and up to down.

“Y’know what I reckon?”

“What?”

“You look like a punk rock kinda’ kid,” He said, nodding his head “I think you listen to stuff like Misfits. Bouncing souls, maybe a little Black Flag-“

“How did you know that?”

“’Cause that’s what I like. And you have that look. I can’t see you dancing to Spandau Ballet.”

I laughed because I couldn’t see it either. When he said ‘I can’t see you dancing…’ he meant he can’t imagine me dancing to it. I know this because I asked Mom why an old lady once said ‘I can’t see you keeping him for more than a few years.’. The lady was talking about me. She wasn’t very nice, she lived over the road from us until she died of a stroke. I’d just screamed because she came out and scared me by shouting at me when I picked a flower from her garden because I didn’t know it was bad.

“Maybe you do know them then.” I smiled.

“Maybe I do,” He smiled back “I’m not as old as you think.”

“You’re not twenty?”

“Yeah I am,” He replied “I meant…um…I meant, like, I’m not an old man yet.”

“Oh, but I know that.”

“Yeah…oh never mind. I’m just gonna’ confuse myself trying to explain it.”

“Ok.”

A little forced and rushed. It would be better but it’s mocks week for me so I’ve been cramming myself with revision and etc. So…….. sorry about this guys! They’ll get better when mocks week is over!