The Sharpest Lives

A headache greeted Gerard in the morning, the feeling of his head pounding almost audibly was just about as unpleasant as the feeling of his tight jeans, twisting and rubbing against his legs. He groaned, turning over onto his other side to keep the sun out of his eyes, and let it warm his still-cold back.

That’s when he really woke up. The sun was shining brightly, it was almost blinding. For the first time in exactly nine days, there wasn’t a cloud to be seen in the blue sky. Gerard sighed at that, he had another reason not to leave the house today.

He sat up in his bed, the warm sheets wrapped around his thin torso. He was aware of his wild hair, and he ran his fingers through it in a failed attempt to tame it. With a heavy groan, he stood up, stretching his arms out until his back cracked loudly into the empty apartment.

Walking into the living room, Gerard sighed loudly. The clock on the wall told him it was one o’clock in the afternoon. Waking up at absurd hours wasn’t exactly uncommon to him, very much the opposite. He scratched the back of his head, ruffling his hair in the process. He decided to shower, and he grabbed a towel from the small linen closet near the bathroom.

Inside the bathroom was a sink, a toilet and a small, uncomfortably cramped shower. On the edge of the sink, all that could be found was a toothbrush, tooth paste and an ashtray. The rusty mirror above it was dirty. He examined his reflection in it for a moment before turning the hot water on.

The shower itself wasn’t in the best of shape. Some of the tiles on the wall had fallen out, and now there were just empty spaces of grout. The curtain had some sort of growth on it - Gerard had decided to ignore it - and there was a fairly large spider on the back wall. It twitched and ran away when the water hit it.

Gerard jumped in the shower with the creature still behind him. He didn’t mind spiders, quite the opposite actually, although this one was only a slight bit smaller than his hand. He ignored it as he stood directly under the stream of scalding water, letting his pale skin perk and redden under the heat. Goose bumps rose on his arms and legs from the sudden change in temperature. He ran his hand through how now-wet hair and stood, staring at the wall for a good ten minutes and then he remembered why he’d turned the water on the in first place.

He washed up and turned the tap until the stream stopped abruptly. It was quiet, then, and Gerard could hear the spider pitter-pattering around on the back wall. He swung the shower curtain open and stepped out onto the cold tiles. The mirror was fogged up, the air filled with steam. He grabbed the towel and dried his hair somewhat before wrapping the thin piece of cloth snuggly around his waist.

He padded out of the small bathroom and into his bedroom, where the outside light seemed amplified by the white walls. It almost hurt his eyes. He squinted as he walked towards the dresser, pressed up against the wall opposite his bed. He dug through it and pulled out a black t-shirt and a pair of torn skinny jeans.

He dressed himself and walked into the living room, kicking the boots he’d worn the night before out of his way. He ran his fingers through his knotted, wet hair, as if to brush it. It was almost two o’clock, and for the first time in quite a while, he found himself bored.

A soft sigh escaped Gerard’s lips as he noticed just how much of a mess the while apartment was. It never really occurred to him to clean it, since he was the only person who ever saw the inside of it.

A small list was taped to his refrigerator door, things he needed to buy. The long, thin piece of paper was almost full; he was in need of a grocery shopping trip. He contemplated leaving the house; it really couldn’t do any harm.

He laced up his black Converse All-Stars and grabbed his leather jacket and set out for his trip, shoving a little over a hundred dollars into his back pocket. The walk to the grocery store only lasted about ten minutes. But it only took five of those ten minutes for Gerard to realize just how sunny it was. His pale skin - that of which wasn’t covered by his jacket - had turned slightly red. His skin’s reaction to the sun.

He entered the heavily air conditioned store and grabbed a bright yellow basket from the pile of them near the door. As he walked past things he needed he grabbed them and put them in the basket, looking down most of the time. He’d come to realize, with time, that people who saw him judged him by his appearance, and in result, he didn’t like to show himself in public.

Gerard rounded a corner into the cereal aisle.

“Gerard!”

The sound of his name made Gerard jump, and he turned around.

“Oh God…”