Crash Into My Arms

I stepped up onto my front porch and rang the doorbell, a minute later; my mother opened the door, and stood aside to let me in. Without a single glance at her, or even a mere “Hello.” I shut myself in my room and locked the door. The curtains were drawn back and the blind was up, and I immediately pulled it down and drew the curtains shut.

I didn’t like light in my room, I felt better in the dark. I immediately changed out of my clothes and into a Misfits hoodie and some black tracksuit pants; much more comfortable. Just as I unpacked my bag and switched on my computer, I heard knocking at my door.

“What?” I groaned.
“Open up!” my mother’s voice snapped from behind the door.
I got up from my computer chair and opened the door.
“Where the hell have you been this afternoon?” she spat.
“At school?” I lied.
“Save the bullshit, Missy, the school rang, you wagged this afternoon, didn’t you?”
“Yup.” I pouted, popping the “P”
“Well, no computer for the rest of the afternoon!” she snapped.
“But Mama!”
“Wanna make it a week?”
I shut my mouth.
“And as punishment, you can go over next door and help the new family unpack.”
“But Ma--”
“GET!” she shouted, pointing towards the front door.

I let out a roar of frustration, and started off down the hallway. I ripped the front door open and stepped outside. I was about to slam it shut behind me when my mother started yelling.

“SLAM THAT DOOR BEHIND YOU AND YOU’RE GROUNDED FOR A MONTH!”

I closed the door gently. I couldn’t be fucked walking all the way down the driveway only to walk back up the driveway to the house next door, so I just jumped the low fence that divided our yard with theirs. Dodging the rain that dripped from the roof on the patio, I knocked on the door. A woman with curly blonde hair to her shoulders answered, I remembered her from just before; The Mother.

“Hello.” She smiled warmly.
“H-Hi, I’m Miseria, I live next door.”
“Donna.” She introduced herself.
“Umm, Mama sent me over here to help you guys get settled in.”
“Oh.” She smiled wider. “Well, sweetie, we’ve got all the heavy lifting done, but I suppose you could help my sons set up their bedrooms?”
“Sure.”

She held the door open and let me inside. The walls were still the sky blue colour they had been when Jeph and Fran had lived here, and the front room was still being used as a lounge room. I saw a grey haired man squatting in front of the large TV, plugging in the AV cords.

“Donald, this nice girl came over to help the boys.”
The man stopped what he was doing and came over to shake my hand. “Hello there.” He smiled.
“Hi.”
“She lives next door, Honey.” Donna spoke.
“Does she? I guess we’ll be seeing a lot more of you then.”
“Maybe.”
“How old are you, kid?” he asked.
“Seventeen.”
“Ah yup, our eldest boy is just a year older than you, and little Mikey’s Sixteen, I’m sure you’ll get along just fine.”
“How do you figure that?” I asked.
“Your jumper, for starters.” He smiled. “They love the Misfits.”
“Cool.” I smiled.
“Alright sweetie.” Donna chimed in. “Let’s introduce you to the boys.”
“Okay.”

She led me through to the middle room, which still had the same silvery blue linoleum floor and white washed walls, and then led me to the room just off the lounge room.

“Boys?”
The two boys I had seen before were huddled on the floor over a box, and they looked up.
“Yes, Ma?” the boy with the long black hair responded.
“This is Miseria, she lives next door.” She introduced me.
He immediately got up off the floor to shake my hand. “Gerard.” He smiled.
For a moment I was hypnotized by his beauty, now closer up, I noticed he had a small red mark under his right eye, and his eyes were the most beautiful Hazel. I snapped out of my daze. “Hi.”
The smaller boy appeared at his side. “I’m Mikey.” He said nervously, holding out his hand. I shook it, and nodded in acknowledgement.
“I’ll leave you kids to it then.” Donna smiled. “Oh, and sweetie, would you like a Milo? It’s fairly cold outside, you must be freezing.”
“She is.” Gerard spoke before I even opened my mouth. “Her hands are icy cold.” He laughed. “Can you make me some Coffee, Ma?” he added.
“Sure thing, hon, I’ll be back in a bit.”

She closed the door behind her, and the boys sat back on the floor. I hung around the doorway, feeling slightly awkward; this was the room where I used to sleep. Fran had always said I was welcome to stay anytime I needed to get away from home. Gerard looked up at me from the floor.

“You’re awfully quiet.” He chuckled; his smile was beautiful.
“Yeah, sorry.” I smiled, shaking my head; I sat down on the floor in front of the box they were both hunched over. “Whatcha got there?”
“Our comic book collection.” Mikey smiled.
“Yeah, I’m a big comic book geek.” Gerard blushed; seemingly embarrassed.
“Don’t be ashamed of that.” I smiled. "Comics are awesome.”
“You like comic books?”
“I’m not so into like Batman or anything, though I will say I love The Dark Knight and Batman Begins, and the Spiderman movies were amazing.”
“You like X-Men?”
“I LOVE X-Men! I wish I had more of the comics, I only have one that I picked up on Free Comic Book Day last year, along with about three issues of Wolverine.”
“You’re welcome to borrow my comics anytime.”
“Oh, I couldn’t.”
“It’s no problem, really.” Gerard smiled.
“Thanks.”
“What else you like?” Mikey asked.
“Hellboy’s pretty cool, I have the hardback collection of Seed Of Destruction, and about two issues of Darkness Calls.”
“Here.” Mikey smiled, pulling a book from the box. “You can borrow it, it’s mine.”
The book was the hardback collection of Darkness Calls.
“Have you read the other series?” Gerard asked.
“Only Seed of Destruction and the two I have of Darkness Calls, I’m waiting to have the money to buy Wake The Devil.”
“Alright.” He took Darkness Calls from my hands, and lent over the box, skimming through the comics. “Here.” He smiled, handing me the hardback collection of Wake The Devil.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, best to stick to the storyline, don’t jump too far ahead, or you’ll get lost.”
“I’ll remember that.”
“So, how old are you?” he asked.
“Seventeen.”
“I’m Eighteen.”
“And I’m Sixteen.” Mikey added.
“Yeah, your Mum told me.”

There was a knock at the door.

“Speak of the devil.” Gerard laughed, and got up from the floor to open the door. “Thanks, Ma.” He smiled, taking his Coffee and my Milo from his mother.
“You’re welcome, hon.” She replied. “You guys getting along okay?”
“Yeah.” I smiled.
“She’s cool, Mama.” Mikey piped up.
Donna laughed. “Okay then, you have fun.” She smiled, and closed the door.
“Here.” Gerard said, handing a pink mug to me. “Be careful, it’s kinda hot.”

Like you…

“It’s okay.” I smiled, pulling my sleeves up over my hands and taking the mug from him.
Gerard sat back down behind the box.
“Still, be careful.” he smiled.
“So are you guys gonna go to Newark?”
“Yeah.” Mikey answered.
“I’m in senior year, so yeah, I’ll be there, for like five minutes.” Gerard laughed.
“Then I’ll be sure to make the rest of your school year memorable.” I smiled.
“You better.” He teased.
“You like the Misfits?!” Mikey exclaimed, having only just now noticed my jumper.
“Yeah.” I smiled. “They’re awesome.” My eyes caught sight of the guitar in the corner of the room, the one that Gerard had been carrying over his shoulder just a few moments before. “You play guitar?”
“Not very well.” Gerard laughed. “I’m no Billie Joe Armstrong.”
“You like Green Day?”
“Hell yeah I like Green Day, Billie’s the very reason I took up guitar in the first place.” He smiled. “You?”
“Yeah, I’m no good at guitar either, mine sits in the corner of my room collecting dust.” I frowned.
“Shame.”
“Yeah, it is. My father was great at guitar; I was hoping maybe that gene would’ve been passed on to me.” I sighed. “Guess not.”
“Was?”
“Yeah, my Dad’s dead.”
“Sorry to hear.” Mikey chimed in.
“Yeah, it’s okay.” I said, flipping my fringe out of my face. “It was a long time ago now.”
“So you live with your Mum?” Gerard asked.
“Yeah.”
“You guys close?”
“Not really.”
“Oh.”
“It’s okay though, you have friends right?” Mikey asked.
“Not really, no.” I shook my head.
“You don’t?” Gerard asked, wide eyed. “How come?”
“Everyone here thinks I’m a freak, all because I listen to heavy metal and wear a lot of black.”
“You’re not alone on that one, why do you think we moved here?”
“Don’t you worry.” Mikey smiled. “We’re here now.”
“Yeah, we freaks gotta stick together, right?” Gerard laughed.
“Yeah, I guess so.” I smiled. “Thanks guys.”

They’re sooo nice…