Coffee and Cigarettes

"What's wrong?" Cara asked me at lunch the next day. "You seem kind of down."

I shrugged my shoulders and slouched over my sandwich. "I dunno, just down in the dumps, I guess."

"Well, you don't get that way for no reason," Ryder noted. "Wanna vent?"

"I have nothing to vent, really..." I said. "My best friend and I just had a bit of a fight, that's all."

Cara's eyebrows flew up. "That's all?" she questioned. "That sounds pretty serious to me. If Ryder and I had a fight, even though I'd clearly be right, I know I'd be really upset."

"Thanks, Care," Ryder grunted, nibbling on a carrot.

I shrugged again. "I guess she had a reason to be mad at me, but still, she could've handled it better."

"Why was she mad?" Cara asked.

"Because," I took a bite out of my lunch. "She said that I had abandoned her and replaced her with the two of you."

At that very instant, Ryder and Cara's eyes went wide and they both said, "Oooh."

"It's one of those cases," Ryder sighed.

"One of those?" I repeated.

"Yeah," Cara explained. "We've been in this kind of situation before. We call it..." she paused. "Okay, so maybe we don't have a specific name for it yet, but we recognize the behaviour! Let me guess...you mentioned us to her a few times, suggested that we meet up and all be friends, rainbows and flowers?"

"Uh," I scratched the back of my head. "I suppose that's how it went..."

"Well," Cara continued, "she's just having some issues with the fact that you've made new friends so quickly. Just don't drift from her if she's important to you, alright? That's not smart."

"Okay," I nodded and kept my eyes glued to the floor.

"Hey," Ryder said suddenly. "Guess who's going to the party this weekend?"

"Who?" I asked.

"Kayla Birmingham," Ryder said with a dramatic air.

"Oh, no..." Cara groaned.

"Who's she?" I asked.

"You might've seen her tormenting the lowerclassmen," Ryder explained. "She's a junior, like us, but she's at the top of the social food chain. She's tall, got blond hair...very bitchy, but really hot..."

I pondered for a moment. "You know, I think I might've had a hallway collision with her on my first day," I said with a grin.

"Lovely," Cara said, amused. "You know, she used to be Ryder's girlfriend."

I smirked. "You used to tap that, Ry?" I let out a small chuckle. "Way to go!"

He started to blush and his entire face went red. "I didn't tap anything! God, leave me alone, that was last year!" He look his face and buried it into the cloth of his backpack.

Cara and I laughed. "He was so whipped while he was dating her," she explained. "He was honestly like a little lapdog. It was amazing, to say the least."

Ryder grumbled. "Yeah, well...she just has that effect on people."

"Anyway," Cara said loudly. "Just a heads up...if you see her at the party, steer clear. She's not as nice as she looks. And she doesn't even look nice."

"I'll remember that," I chortled, biting into my sandwich once again.
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"You and Libby have got to sort things out," Gerard noted from the shelf of books he was organizing. I'd decided to pay him a visit after school because I hadn't spoken to him in a while and because I just felt like talking to him. It calmed me...sometimes.

"I know that," I responded, clearly irritated. "But enough about me and Libby. How are you, Gerard? I mean...you know, are you at least trying to cut back on the--"

He narrowed his eyes at me. "I told you already, I don't have an alcohol problem. I'm fully capable of controlling it, alright? Drop the subject."

I shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably and he sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry, alright? Let's just talk about something else."

I nodded. "How's the band?"

"Actually, we--"

At that very moment, Mikey ran up to us holding a book by Irvine Welsh. "Are you okay, Michael?" I asked tentatively.

"Name! Band! Me!" he gasped for air.

Gerard exchanged glances and waited for him to catch his breath again.

"I've found a name for our band!" he finally declared.

Gerard and I gave him identical looks of confusion and surprise. "Yeah? Really?" Gerard asked.

"Like what?"

"Like...how's My Chemical Romance?" Mikey grinned.

Gerard stood there, mouth agape, trying to absorb what Mikey had just said. "Holy...shit..." he mouthed.

"Mikey, that's genius!" I exclaimed, giving him a high-five. "Where'd you come up with that idea?"

"I was reading the synopsis of this book, it said 'tales of chemical romance'. The term just kinda shook me and I decided to throw the 'my' on there for a little personal twist. What do you think, Gerard?"

Gerard's smile grew wide. "It's brilliant, Mikey. You're the fucking best."

I laughed as Gerard captured Mikey in a bear hug and as Mikey gasped for air.

It had been a fairly neutral day, but at least some good came from it.