Under Jersey Skies

Gerard’s POV - Gerard’s POV - Gerard’s POV - Gerard’s POV - Gerard’s POV

After bidding goodbye to the others Mikey & I walked up the driveway to our house. I hung my head, staring at my feet as I walked, I was afraid of what I was about to face behind that door. The school would have called to tell Dad that I had gotten detention from Mrs Veriton, Dad would be pissed, and I didn’t want to think about what he would do. Mikey caught up with me and put his hand on my shoulder, making me look at him.

“Mikey, as soon as we get in that door go to your room” I told him.
“Gerard no, I can’t leave you by yourself with Dad” he argued.
“Mikey, no arguments, just do it” I said sternly.
“No-” Mikey started, but I cut him off.
“JUST DO IT MIKEY!” I snapped.

Mikey closed his mouth, and nodded. We reached the front door and I opened it quietly, Mikey ran upstairs and I stayed in the entrance room. As I kicked off my shoes I heard the words I had been afraid of hearing all day.

“Gerard, the school called” said Donald, entering the room.
“Yeah?” I replied.
“You got detention today” he continued.
“I know” I said.
“Don’t get smart with me boy” he snapped.
“I wasn’t-” I began, but he cut me off.
“Don’t you dare talk back to me!” growled Dad, fuming.
“I’ve already spoken to you about this! First you’re failing Science, now I hear you’re skipping class!” he continued.
“Dad, I wasn’t skipping, Frank’s van broke-” I tried to argue.
“Don’t give me that bullshit story Gerard, if that Iero boy had a dollar for every time his van “broke down”, he’d be filthy rich by now!” said Dad, cutting me off.
“Dad, please, I mean it, it really did break down” I pleaded.
“CUT THE CRAP!” shouted Dad, swinging a fist at me, colliding with my jaw.
“I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS BULLSHIT GERARD! PULL YOUR FUCKING HEAD IN OR I MIGHT JUST DECIDE TO PREVENT YOU FROM SEEING ANY OF YOUR LITTLE FRIENDS!” he roared, pushing me hard, making me fall to the floor.
“Dad! Please, stop!“ I whimpered.
“I PAY $360 A YEAR FOR YOU TO GO TO THAT FUCKING SCHOOL! AND FOR WHAT?! FOR YOU TO SLACK OFF?! TO FAIL?!” Dad shouted.
“WELL MAYBE I’D BE MORE INCLINED TO WORK IF A HAD A FATHER WHO WASN’T ABUSIVE! WHO WASN’T A FUCKING ALCOHOLIC!” I shouted back, standing up again.
“DON’T RAISE YOUR VOICE AT ME BOY!” he roared, knocking me to the ground again.
“IF I HEAR YOU’VE MESSED UP ONE MORE TIME, YOU CAN FORGET ABOUT SEEING ANY OF YOUR FRIENDS! EVER!” he shouted, right in my face.

He stood up straight again, and turned to leave. Thinking that it was over, I began to lift my aching body off the floor. But Dad turned around and swung one last kick at me. It hit my stomach hard, making me cough and splutter. I tried to calm myself down, taking deep breaths to slow my heart rate down. When my breathing had returned to normal, I rolled over onto my back. I looked up at the second floor landing at the top of the staircase, where Mikey stood, a frightened look in his eyes, tears streaming down his face.

Once Dad had retreated to his room and slammed the door closed, Mikey descended the stairs and pulled me to my feet, helping me up the staircase and into my bedroom. He slowly lowered me onto my bed, taking care not to cause me to feel any more pain than I was already feeling. I let myself sink into the soft mattress, looking up at my little brother with a warm smile.

“Thankyou Mikey”

***

Jackie’s POV - Jackie’s POV - Jackie’s POV - Jackie’s POV - Jackie’s POV

My alarm went off, a loud buzzing sound that had scared the shit outta me. I slammed my hand down on the snooze button, rubbing the blurriness out of my eyes, I stretched. I threw back the pink covers and sat up, yawning. I stood up and walked across my room, opening the door and heading out into the hallway to grab a few towels before heading into the bathroom and turning on the shower. I let the hot water wash right over me, helping me wake up. After washing my hair I got out and dried myself off.

I got dressed in my school uniform and dried my hair, before going over to my mirror to put on my makeup. As I was brushing my hair I stopped dead at the sight of my hairline. My re-growth was coming through, and it was way noticeable. My bright blonde hair clashing with my jet black hair. I continued to brush my hair until it was rid of knots, before grabbing a green camo hat and putting it on, covering up the re-growth.

I walked over to my full length mirror and looked at my reflection. My hair was curled nicely, and it suited the hat I was wearing. My eyeliner was perfect, and the black and white stripy socks I was wearing with my school shoes suited the rest of my uniform, even though I knew the teachers were bound to have a massive bitch at me for violating the school dress code. Whatever, I didn’t care, it was just my socks after all.

A rock bounced off my window, startling me. I walked over to my window and looked down onto the pathway below. A pink-haired girl with glasses and a blonde haired blue eyed boy looked up at me. They waved, and I waved back, they gestured for me to come down. I grabbed my backpack from the corner of my bedroom and raced down the stairs.

I opened the front door and ran towards Arriana and Joey. I threw my arms around Arriana, giving her a warm hug hello. I pulled away from her and greeted Joey in the same way. Joey smiled warmly at me when I pulled away, and a chill ran down my spine.

Wow, he has really beautiful eyes.

“So Jackie, it’s still pretty early, you wanna grab some MacDonald’s breakfast?” Arriana asked.
“You know, I haven’t done that in years!” I replied.
“All the more reason to go” said Joey.
“Yeah sure, why not?” I agreed.

The three of us walked together in the warm morning breeze. It was mid-autumn, my favourite season of the year. The warm sweet smell of apples lingered in the air as we passed Mrs. Madison’s apple tree in her front yard, leaves crunched beneath our feet and danced in the wind.

“What a beautiful morning” I thought out loud.
“Oh how extraordinarily poetic of you” laughed Arriana.
“Hey, I love Autumn!” I retaliated, slightly embarrassed that I had let the words slip out of my mouth.
“So do I” piped up Joey, who had been pretty quiet until now.
“Please, don’t you start reciting poetry too Joey” Arriana said.
“Oh what a beautiful morning it shall be, as we walk to MacDonald’s, friends us three” recited Joey.

I burst out into laughter, and Arriana covered her ears.

“Ahh! Kill it! Kill it!” she begged.
“And as the leaves whirl and twirl in the wind, two friends torture the third, one boy, and one girl” I continued.
“Nooo!” whined Arriana.
“Alas!, MacDonald’s looms right ahead, soon our hungry tummies shall be fed” laughed Joey.
“ENOUGH! THAT IS WAAAY TOO MUCH FUCKING POETRY FOR ME!” cried Arriana.

Joey and I hi-fived each other for a job well done, and laughed as Arriana pushed open the door to the restaurant. She ran up to the counter, desperate to get away from us, but she had obviously forgotten to realize that we were headed the same way. Joey looked at me and winked, and I knew what he meant.

“What would you like?” asked the girl behind the counter.
“Hot cakes for the girl and me, and a couple of strawberry milkshakes lovely would be” recited Joey, continuing our poetry annoyance on Arriana.
“Haha, alrighty then, coming right up” laughed the girl behind the counter, before retreating to inform the cooks of what we wanted.
“You two are going to die, seriously” Arriana scowled.
“I sense anger in thee’s aura, thus this girl should calm down” I laughed.

Arriana threw a punch at me, hitting me hard on my arm.

“Alright, alright” I laughed, clutching my arm. That hurt.
“Thy shall bring our meals to us” laughed Joey, grabbing my arm and dragging me away from Arriana and over to a table in the corner.

We collapsed into our chairs in fits of laughter, and I hi-fived Joey again.

“God I haven’t had this much fun in years!” I said, running short of breath from all the laughter.
“Yeah me too, the look on Arriana’s face, man that shit was priceless!” laughed Joey.
“Ha-ha, very funny guys” scowled Arriana, slapping the tray down on our table.
“Oh c’mon lighten up Arriana, it’s all good fun” I said.
“Mmm-hmm” Arriana muttered, before stuffing her Egg McMuffin into her mouth.

I looked over at Joey, and the look in his eyes told me that he was far from finished with her. He winked at me again before folding his straw and releasing it, making it fling at Arriana’s head. Arriana dropped her McMuffin.

“JOEY, CUT IT OUT!” she cried, slapping him hard across the face.

Holding a hand to where Arriana’s hand had hit him, Joey continued to laugh, and kicked my foot under the table, signaling that it was my turn. I began poking Arriana repeatedly.

“Jackie, fuck off” she snapped, but this time, there was laughter in her voice.

I continued anyway, wanting her to laugh more and join in on the fun. She slapped my arms away again and again, but I just kept going. Eventually, Joey got up from his seat and joined in, slapping Arriana repeatedly over the head. She wriggled and squirmed, trying to escape us.

“What is it? Fucking “Torture Arriana Gregorio Day”?” laughed Arriana, finally having fun.
“No, it’s “Torture-Arriana-And-Make-Her-Laugh_Day” I replied, continuing to slap her.
“Yeah well if my intelligence of telling the time is correct, I’d say we should get moving if we don’t want to end up getting our heads cut off by the teachers for being late” Arriana said suddenly, ending our fun.
“Oh holy crap!” I gasped, swinging my black satchel bag over my shoulder and getting up out of my seat.
“Wait up” said Arriana and Joey, grabbing their bags before also getting up.

The three of us rushed out the door and began running down the street in the school’s direction, laughing at the fact that we knew full well we were dead as soon as we got through that gate.

***

Inevitably, I got detention again, but this time it was from Mr Tanner, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, he still had me read the chapter of the book we were supposed to have read that morning in class, but let me listen to the radio as I did it. He was such a cool teacher that one. Joey, Arriana and I finished the chapter reasonably quickly, and spent the remainder of our recess having paper ball fights, until we got told off by a laughing Mr Tanner at the end of recess and had to clean up the mess we’d made.

I headed off to Science, where Mrs. Veriton watched me like a hawk from the moment I entered the room. I took my usual seat three rows away from the front and unpacked my stuff. As I pulled out my water bottle I looked up to see Gerard walk into the classroom, he smiled warmly when he caught sight of me, and took his seat next to mine. He pulled out his pencil case and Science book, and his sketch pad too.

I smiled, Gerard usually spent most of his time drawing in Science until just a few weeks ago, when he had actually started working in class, telling me that his dad had been on his case about his grades, it was good to see him getting back into drawing again, he was talented, and I would have hated to have seen that talent go to waste.

“What?” he asked, catching me smiling at him.
“It’s good to see you drawing again, I’ve missed your drawings” I replied.
“Haha, they’re not that good Jackie” Gerard smiled, turning back to his sketch pad with a pencil in his hand, I could see he had already gotten started on something, an army of strange looking beings, an angel type thing holding a gun, and an eye poking out of a zipper, with “My Chemical Romance” written just to the left of it.
“Yes they are Gerard” I reassured him, and saw the smile creep up in Gerard’s lips.
“Thanks” he replied, before going quiet again to concentrate on his drawings.

Mrs. Veriton began to speak, and I shot my head up towards her before she could complain that I wasn’t listening yet again. Even though I wasn’t. I was looking in her direction, pretending to pay attention, but I let my mind wander elsewhere. For some strange reason I kept finding myself thinking about Frank, and part of me started to become overally excited that I was going to see him in 45 minutes time.

What the hell is happening to me? Why do I keep thinking about Frank?

I let myself snap back to reality again, and shot a glance at Gerard’s sketch pad, he was adding more detail to the drawings now, and they were really beginning to come to life, the army of strange beings in particular. I smiled, he really was creative, and I hoped he would make something of those drawings one day. As Mrs. Veriton finished rambling on about whatever it was she was attempting to teach us this time, I pulled out my sketch book and picked up my pencil.

“What’re you doing?” Gerard asked curiously.
“Drawing” I replied, setting my pencil to the paper.
“What’re you drawing?” he asked me.
“Not sure yet” I smiled, glancing at him quickly before turning back to my paper.

I began to sketch in the outline of a face, and the shape of it’s hair. Gerard watched me intently, and 35 minutes later, my drawing had begun to take shape. It was my best work so far, I had never drawn this well before, I guess I was inspired.

“Is that supposed to be me?” Gerard asked.
“Maybe” I replied with a chuckle.
“It is isn’t it?” he said, grabbing the book out from under my hands as I finished the drawing and signed my name in the corner of the page.
“Yeah well, yeah” I confessed.

Gerard studied it carefully, with narrowed eyes, taking in every detail. A smile crept on his face and he laid the book back down on the table, turning his attention to me with softened eyes.

“It’s really good” he said.
“Thankyou” I replied, blushing a little.
“What’s this on the other page here?” Gerard asked suddenly, pulling my sketch book back towards himself again.
“Oh, nothing really, just a drawing I did of you guys, there’s You, Mikey, Frank, Ray and Bob” I replied, pointing to each of the different faces as I said each name.
“That’s heaps cute Jackie, cartoon versions of us, very creative” he told me.
“Thanks, I guess I could say I was inspired” I laughed.
“Aww, are we that important to you?” he asked me.
“Well let’s see, you guys have been nice to me since day dot, you’re always there for me, you’ve helped me out in some pretty scary times, so yeah, I guess it’s safe to say you are important to me, my best friends” I smiled.
“That’s cool” said Gerard, continuing to flick through my sketch book.
“What’s this?” Gerard asked, picking out a folded piece of paper from the middle of my book and unfolding it.

I bit my lip as I watched Gerard study it carefully, I had forgotten that was in there, and I was kind of hoping nobody would ever see it, I don’t even know why I drew it in the first place. I had just sat down one day and put pencil to paper and next thing I knew I had done that drawing. I had meant to stash it before anyone saw it, but had obviously forgotten all about it.

“Is that Frank?” Gerard asked me.
“Uh, yeah” I replied, struggling to get the words out.
“It’s very detailed” he told me, examining the drawing more closely.
“O-Oh well, I-I guess it-it was just a good day then” I stuttered.
“What inspired you do draw this one?” Gerard asked me.
“I-I guess I was just bored” I lied, I really had no idea why I had drawn it.
“It’s amazing, you should show Frank” Gerard replied.
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no” I shot back, snatching the paper out of Gerard’s hands and folding it back up, stashing it in my book, slamming the book shut and stuffing it back into my bag.
“Why?” he asked me, wide-eyed and surprised at my odd reaction.

I froze, I didn’t know what to say, I just sat there, blank faced and silent. What was I supposed to say? I didn’t want Frank to see it, that much I knew, but the reason why, that was what stumped me. Suddenly, a loud ringing sound filled the room and I sighed in relief.

Saved by the bell.

I gathered up all my stuff and shoved it into my bag, before slinging it over my shoulder and heading for the classroom door.

“Jackie! Wait up!” Gerard called after me.
“I’ll catch up with you in a few minutes, I’ve gotta go meet up with Arriana and Joey!” I called back over my shoulder, before slipping out the door and disappearing from Gerard’s view.

I dashed down the corridor and turned around the corner, heading down another corridor which led to Arriana and Joey’s Math classroom. They were the last ones there, everyone else had already left for lunch, and Mr. Becker had only just gotten out of the classroom.

“Hello Mr. Becker” I said cheerfully, smiling at him.
“Good day Jackie, how are you today?” he asked me.
“Great!” I replied.
“Excellent” he said, putting the key into the keyhole and locking the door.
“Enjoy your lunch” he said, before turning and heading down the corridor in the direction of the staffroom.

He was a kind old man Mr. Becker, okay, so he wasn’t that old, around his late 40’s, but he was one of the nicest teachers in the school, he always made people laugh, and would always offer a helping hand when the students needed it the most.

“Suck up” Arriana teased when he was out of ear shot.
“Hey, he’s nice!” I snapped back in defense.
“Yeah sure, teacher’s pet” Arriana continued.
“He is pretty laid back though” piped up Joey, defending me.
“He’s a crab apple” Arriana laughed as we began to walk down the hallway.
“He’s not a crab apple!” I shot back.
“Whoa, chill out Jackie, anyone would think you had a crush on him” Arriana laughed.
“Eww! No! He’s old!” I spat back.
“Exactly” said Arriana.
“And your point?” I asked.
“Dunno” she shrugged.
“You’re a weird one” Joey said to her.
“I know, but you love me” she replied.
“Only cuz you pay me” Joey laughed.

I smiled, the look in those two’s eyes, I knew there was something between them, but they were obviously too afraid to admit it. It was sweet. For some reason, a little voice in my head said:

Just like you and Frank.

What? That was a lie, Frank was my best friend, nothing more.

You sure about that?

Yes, why wouldn’t I be?

We exited the building and walked outside. The sun was high up in the sky now and it’s warmth still hung in the air, I smiled as I felt the Autumn leaves crunch under my feet, I loved this season so much, it was beautiful. We walked over to where Gerard and the others sat, but Arriana however, hung back. I grabbed Joey’s shoulder, making him turn around.

“What?” he asked.
“Arriana” I answered, pointing a thumb over my shoulder.
“Oh, yeah, she’s shy around people she doesn’t know very well” he answered.
“Oh, well you go on ahead, I’ll talk to her” I replied.

Joey shook his head.

“No, I’m helping” he said.
“If you insist” I replied.

The two of us walked over to Arriana, who stood a little way away from us, her arms folded. I walked up to her, and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at me, and gave me a shy smile. Joey joined us and wrapped an arm around her waist.

“You okay?” I asked kindly.
“Y-yeah, just-just not to good at meeting new people” she replied.
“I understand, but Gerard and the guys are the nicest people you’ll ever meet, they won’t judge you” I reassured her.
“Okay” she said with a smile.

I took her hand and Joey, who still his arm around her waist, helped me lead her over to the others. Ray was the first to look up, and greeted us with a warm smile.

“Hey Jackie” he said kindly.
“Hey Ray” I replied.
“Where were you at Recess?” Frank piped up.
“Detention” I laughed.
“Late again?” asked Bob.
“Yup, thanks to these two” I replied, nudging Arriana and Joey.
“Haha really, and who might these two be?” asked Mikey.
“Oh, sorry, this is Arriana, and Joey” I introduced.
“Nice to meet you” said Ray, extending a hand out to greet Arriana.
“Y-you too” she replied nervously.
“She’s a little shy with people she doesn’t know very well” I informed him.
“Aww, well there’s no need to be shy with us, we won’t judge you” said Ray.

Arriana smiled.

“See? I told you” I said.
“Come sit” Ray said, patting the ground next to him.

Arriana nervously walked forward and sat down.

“Hey you” Mikey called over to Joey.
“Yeah?” he replied.
“You into comic books?” he asked.
“Hell yeah” said Joey, going over to join him.

I smiled to myself, I was glad the guys had welcomed them so warmly. I sat down between Frank and Gerard, and Frank put his arm around me, sending shivers down my spine. Gerard cleared his throat, and I feared he would say the one thing I didn’t want him to.

“Hey Jackie, you should show Frank that drawing” he said.
“Gerard!” I shot back at him through gritted teeth and widened eyes.
“What? It’s really good” he replied.
“What drawing?” Frank asked.

Accepting that there was no way I was going to worm my way out of this one, I pulled my sketchbook out of my bag, as I flicked through the pages, a devious smile crept up onto my lips, I knew how I could worm my way out of showing Frank the drawing. I stopped at the page where I had drawn the picture of Gerard, and showed it to Frank.

“Wow, that is good!” he said, examining the drawing.
“I like this one too, it’s cute” he added, pointing to the drawings on the page opposite.
“No, not that one Jackie, I meant the other one” said Gerard, pulling the book out of Frank’s hands and flicking through to the middle.

He grabbed the folded drawing of Frank out of it’s place in the book’s curve and unfolded it, showing it to Frank. I bit my lip as Frank examined it with narrowed eyes. My heart rate sped up, I really didn’t ever want him to see that drawing.

“It’s beautiful, it looks exactly like me” he said, with a smile on his face.
“Nah, I don’t think so, it’s pretty crap” I lied.
“No really, it’s good” said Frank.
“I don’t think so” I replied.
“Jackie, c’mon, you and I both know it’s one of your best drawings, you’ve gotten really good lately, and I can’t help but think there’s more to it than meets the eye” Gerard cut in.
“They’re not good ok! They’re shit! The shittiest drawings I’ve ever done!” I snapped, snatching the drawing out of Frank’s hands and stashing it back into my book.

I stuffed the book back into my bag, swung it over my shoulder and ran off. I knew I had overreacted, but Gerard knew I didn’t want Frank to see that drawing, yet he had showed him anyway. The fact that I felt like I couldn’t trust him hurt me, Gerard was supposed to be my best friend, how could he do that to me? How could he humiliate me like that?

Then why did you draw that picture in the first place?

I don’t know.

You shouldn’t have drawn it if you didn’t want anyone to see it.

Shut up.

Why don’t you just tell Frank the truth?

What truth?

About how you really feel about him.

You’re insane.

Am I? I’m your own thoughts, which would mean you’re calling your own self insane.

I’m not insane!

Then stop running away from the truth.

I’m not!

You love him.

I stopped dead in my tracks and walked over to a nearby bench. I sat down and wrapped my arms around myself. It was true, even though I had been denying it all this time, it was the truth. Frank had always been there for me, he and Ray had stuck with me at Danica’s party, he’d helped me out when I was drunk, he’d let go of my hand and let me talk to Gerard when he was upset about what had happened with Jessica, and had even given me a lift to school without me even asking. Frank cared about me, and inevitably, I had ended up caring about him in the same way.

I let out a frustrated huff and buried my face in my hands. So there was something between us. Big deal. Nothing was going to happen. Why? Because I didn’t want it to, what would happen if things didn’t work out? It’d ruin our friendship. I had let my heart win this game once before, and it had only left me with a broken heart when the guy left me for someone else, and even though we’d tried to be just friends again, it hadn’t worked out. I couldn’t let that happen again, even though I knew Frank wouldn’t hurt me like that, I still couldn’t help but be afraid, what if the tables turned? What if I ended up leaving him for someone else? I couldn’t bear the thought of putting my best friend through that much pain, not after everything we’d been through.

Still though, part of me wanted to take that risk, what if it did work out? I could be really happy with Frank, because he was the kind of guy who would do anything for me. I heard footsteps approaching, and looked up to see Arriana walking towards me. She sat down beside me and gave me a reassuring look.

“You alright? I saw you go off at Gerard” she said.
“Yeah” I sighed, burying my face in my hands again.
“What’s wrong?” she asked me.
“Argh!” I groaned in frustration.
“What?” she repeated.
“Promise me you won’t repeat this to anyone” I asked her.
“I promise” Arriana replied.
“I think I’ve fallen for Frank” I confessed.

Jackie James, did you just admit that?

“So that’s why you got so defensive about that drawing” Arriana said.
“Yeah” I muttered quietly.
“I understand” she reassured me.
“Thankyou, but it’s just weird” I said.
“What’s weird about it?” she asked.
“Frank’s my best friend” I replied.
“Yeah, it happens, people fall for their best friends all the time” said Arriana.
“I know but, I feel like if I do get with him, and something goes wrong, it’ll ruin our friendship” I sighed, burying my face in my hands once more.
“If he’s really that good a friend to you, he won’t let that ruin your friendship with him” she said, putting a hand on my back to comfort me.
“You really think so?” I asked, lifting my face out of my hands.
“I know so, you should tell him the truth” said Arriana.
“Maybe you’re right” I replied.
“Trust me” she said.
“Okay” I smiled.
“Oh, by the way, nice hat” she said after a few moments silence, snatching my camo hat off my head and putting it on.
“Arriana no!” I gasped, snatching it back off her.
“What’s the big deal?” she asked.
“My regrowth’s coming through” I said quietly, the thought of someone overhearing me was too embarrassing.
“Oh, sorry” apologized Arriana.
“It’s ok” I replied.
“Hey, you should stay over my place tonight, Mum could fix your hair for you, remember she’s a hairdresser” she suggested happily.
“Oh no, I couldn’t ask that of her, besides, where would she get the dye?” I asked.
“She mixes it herself, duh” Arriana laughed.
“I’d have to ask Dad first” I said.
“Sure, we’ll stop by your place after school so you can ask him” she replied.

I smiled, I was lucky to have a good friend like Arrianna, now all I had to do was figure out how I was gonna tell Frank how I really felt about him. I was nervewracking, I didn’t have the slightest clue where to begin…