Crash Into My Arms

With Gerard sitting next to me, making me laugh at every opportunity, I was distracted from my thoughts. He even helped me do some actual work for once, by helping me out with the questions I didn’t understand; I’d never been good at Math, and was grateful for his help. Mrs. Hansen even seemed pleased to see that I was making an effort.

“You got a free next?” Gerard asked me as we filed out of the classroom after our lesson.
“Yeah.”
“I’ll meet up with you outside, I gotta pee.”
“Nice Gerard.” I giggled.
“See you in a bit.” He called back as he ran off to the toilet.

I continued on down the hallway, until two girls stopped me in my tracks; Kimmi and Nicole.

I exhaled, annoyed. “Move.”
The twins sniggered. “Sorry, can’t letcha through.”
I folded my arms. “And why might that be?”
“Cuz you’re Emo.” They laughed.
“Wow.” I smiled. “What an incredibly lame excuse.” My expression turned dark. “Move.” I tried pushing past them.
“Ew!” they shrieked. “Don’t touch us Emo!”
“Relax.” I rolled my eyes. “You won’t have a sudden urge to cut!” I laughed.
“Oh my god!” they squealed. “So the rumors are true! You do cut!” they laughed.

“Hey!” I heard a familiar voice call out, and turned to see Alicia coming towards me. “You got a problem?” she pushed the twins.
“Oh look.” Nicole smirked. “The Emo’ness is spreading.”
“Emo?” Alicia said, eyebrows raised. “At least I wear clothes. Girls, it’s winter, short shorts, are you fucking serious?” she teased.
“If you got it, flaunt it, we don’t feel the cold.” said Kimmi.
“Uh huh…” she pretended to agree. “You know it’s really not a good idea…” she began to walk behind them. “Anybody could just do this.”

She grabbed at the back of both of the twins shorts, and ripped them down around their ankles, before pulling out her phone and taking a photo. As the twins hurriedly pulled their shorts back up, Alicia laughed.

“Now, I advise you leave my friend alone, if you don’t want this photo getting out to every kid’s email inbox around the school.”
“You freaky, disgusting, Emo lesbian!” they cried, and ran out of the building.
“Alicia!” I cried through the laughter that had me totally consumed. “You are fucking brilliant!”
“I know.” She smiled. “C’mon, I believe we have some more “Emo’s” to meet.” She giggled, moving her fingers sarcastically as she said “Emo”

She threw an arm around my shoulders, and the two of us continued out to the yard. Outside was a garden that was divided into four quarters, set in a circular shape with pavings in between each quarter, and a bench in the centre. A couple was sitting on the bench, and as we approached, the boy with the hugest afro I’d ever seen looked up and smiled.

“Alicia.”
“Hey Ray.”
“Who’s this?” he asked, turning his attention to me.
“Miseria.” Alicia introduced me.
“H-Hi.” I stuttered, holding out my hand for him to shake, but instead I was enveloped in a hug by his brunette girlfriend.
“Miseria!” she smiled as she pulled away, and I recognized her innocent features and sapphire blue eyes. Her hair was a light brown only a few shades down from the darkest blonde, and she was about a head shorter than me. “I’m Krista, we have English together.”
“Oh right, yeah I thought you looked familiar, hi.” I found myself smiling; Krista’s happy aura was contagious.
“Otter!.” She squealed, running past me.

I turned to see her run towards a really tall guy with light brown hair, who lifted her up in the air in a hug, before setting her back down again. The two of them came back towards the group.

“Hey shorty.” He smiled down at me. “I’m Matt, you?”
“Miseria.”
“Oh yeah, the quiet one, seen you around the school a few times.”
“Yeah, I do recall seeing you.”

Gerard approached the group, and wrapped me in a quick hug. “Sorry to keep you waiting, I see you’ve met the rest of the group.” He smiled.
“Don’t worry, Gee, we kept her company.” Matt smiled. “Didn’t we, Kris?” he added, placing a hand on Krista’s shoulder.
“Yup.” She smiled.
“Thanks guys.” Said Gerard. “So.” He turned to me. “Let’s talk, I hardly know a thing about you.” He said, taking my hand…

***

I allowed Gerard to make his Mum give me a lift home from school, and after talking to Gerard by the fence for a few minutes, had gone inside to take a shower. I was now curled up in bed in my pajamas, watching Sin City. At 6:30, Mum came in with my dinner, and didn’t say a word as she passed my plate to me, and then left the room.

Mum and I never really talked, only when we were fighting. We’d been really close when I was a kid, but then she’d met Burke, and our bond had diminished. She was totally blind to the fact that Burke was a complete asshole, and it had damaged our relationship. But things seemed to have been that way since Dad died.

I sighed, and looked over at the small silver photo frame on my bedside table. The brown eyed, brown haired image of my father smiled back at me; I was the spitting image of my father, but he died just a few years ago from Emphysema. He’d been a chain smoker, and it had cost him his life in the end.

I kissed my hand and pressed it to the glass. “Wish you were here, Dad.” I frowned. “I miss you.”