Hopeless Hearts

For the next few weeks after that first day at my new school, I had sat in on the guys’ practice. The first time I watched their practice I instantly fell in love with their sound. It was a completely different side of them. You could tell they really put themselves into their music. Gerard showed a different side of himself in his singing and in his lyrics. You could see how serious he could be. Frank and Ray, with their guitars, would each be in their own world. Mikey would concentrate hard on his bass, and Bob pounded out a beat on his drums. Together their music flowed. I could feel their music within me, taking me somewhere seeming sad, but peaceful.

Soon, after sitting in at many practices, I found myself near the end of October. We were sitting against our usual wall at lunch; talking about the random things we usually talked about. I had become good friends with each of the guys, even Frank who didn’t seem to talk to me much. I’m not sure if we were actually friends, but I didn’t think he minded me being around.

“Claire,” said Gerard. “I want to invite you to the party I’m having this Saturday. Can you come?”

“Yeah,” I said. “What’s the party for?”

“Silly! It’s my annual Halloween/Birthday Party!” exclaimed Gerard, looking at me as if I should have already known that.

“Oh. Who’s birthday is it?” I asked.

“It’s Frank’s birthday,” said Gerard, smirking at Frank. Then Gerard turned quickly back to me. “Oh yeah! You also need a costume for the party. It is Halloween after all.”

“Really? Can you help me find a costume Gerard?” I asked, giving him my best puppy dog eyes.

“Oh! How can I resist your beautiful blue eyes!” said Gerard. “Of course I’ll help, sugar.”

“Thanks, Gee,” I said, smiling.

I looked over at Frank, who had been staring at me. He was still staring at me, and our eyes met. He didn’t turn his head, but I did after a second, feeling nervous. I didn’t know it then, but I was falling for Frank Iero.