You're Beautiful to Me

"Frankenstein, that's my piece."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah-- you're the blue piece and the green piece. I'm yellow and red."
"I thought you were green and I was yellow?"
"I call you 'Frankenstein,' therefore, you are green."
"Why do we even have to play this?"
"There's nothing else on TV, you guys won't let me stay standing long enough to play pool, and Monopoly goes on forever."
Frank grunted and hopped his piece across the colored squares before landing on a pink tile with a plum on it. "I wanted Mr. Mint," he said in his congested voice.
"Don't we all? At least you were already at the starting line."
As I was reaching across the coffee table for a playing card,a knock came on the door.
"I GOT IT DAD DON'T MOVE." I heard Molly's feet come pounding down the stairs.
Frank mumbled something venomous under his breath. "I don't like that kid,"he said.
"Of course you don't, he's Molly's boyfriend." I did all I could not to huff under the effort of standing from the couch-- I didn't want anyone to make any more drama out of my healing as had already been done.
"You stay here," I ordered Frank. "I now give you permission to move the yellow piece for me."
"Why am I being bossed around by a fourteen year old?"
"Because you're a pansy." I winked behind me as I hobbled out of the room.
Molly was sitting on the stairs, tying her shoes as fast as possible. Another knock came on the door.
"Well hey gorgeous," I said to Mollers. "You look cute."
"Thank you, Juniper Juice," Molly responded. "Could you answer the door?"
"Glad to." I walked over and turned the knob, swinging the heavy door open and trying not to hit my leg.
There stood a rather attractive teenage boy, with crazy rum red hair and a nice face.
"The famous Jackamo Sawyer," I smiled to him. "Entree."
He grinned back. "And you're Clayah."
"That Iam. Raw hair, I thought it was orange."
"Me, too." Molly came up behind me (shoes tied) and fell into Jack. I watched sweetly as the enveloped each other in a hug. Damn, these two were in love.
"When did you change it?" Molly ran her fingers through Jack's hair.
"Not too long ago," he said. Jack looked at me. "And I heard you had hair like your oldest brother. What happened there?"
I could feel my face turn red and I looked to Mollers for an explanation. Gerard and Mikey and I still weren't sure what to do about people knowing we were siblings. Up until then I had just thought it was our immediate group and families.
"It's Jack, Clayah," Molly said to me. "It's not like he would run and tell the world."
"Oh, no way."Jack released Molly for a moment to hold up his palms, as if they bore proof that his word was solid. "I would never tell anyone if you guys didn't want me to."
I shifted. It's not that I didn't trust Jack. Hell, I hardly trusted anyone but my band,my brothers, and Molly.
Molly knew that and spoke for me. "She knows, Clayah just has a couple trust issues." She looked at me in a way that said 'sorry to make you sound like that, but you know it's true.'
I shook it off. "Yeah, my hair is like Gerard's. I just hacked it off and dyed it about a month and a half ago."
Jack nodded. "I like it."
I pointed at him. "And I like you, from what I hear. Now: I know that look on Molly's face.Get-to-know-you politeness over, you kids go have fun."
"But not too much."
I put a hand on my chest in the blind reflex idea that it would slow my racing heart. "Jesus Frank, I told you to wait by Candy Land!"
I should have stayed quiet when I noticed Frank staring down Jack. (Which was ironic considering how short Frank is.) Plus, you could tell he was trying not to sneeze again.
Jack looked nervously at Frank."Evening, sir."
"Jack," Frank regarded blandly. "Mollers, be home no later than midnight."
"Dad!" Mollers said in shock. "We're going to a concert, there's no way to be home that soon!"
"From what you said before the concert ends at eleven," Frank said firmly. "It shouldn't take you an hour to get here from downtown."
"Dad-"
"MIDNIGHT, Molly."
She frowned and slouched. "Okay."
Frank gave a stiff nod. "Clayah, I'm going to make more coffee. Jack, take care of Molly. No funny business."
I gave Frank a look. "'Funny business'? Seriously, dude?" I saw Jack stifle a laugh. Luckily Frank didn't, and he strode off into the kitchen.
I walked Jack and Molly out the door. As Jack headed down the driveway, Molly grabbed my arm before I turned to go inside.
"Help," she pleaded.
"You mean your curfew?" She nodded.
I gave it some thought. "Alright, I have an idea, but you can't push it."
She gave me the most grateful look ever. "I love you so much."
"What are you going to do for an hour? Not to pry, but if I end up having to take a fall for you-- on a broken leg no less-- I'd like to know what for."
Molly looked at her feet. "Well, Jack's parents are out of town."
This took me a moment to process before my mouth dropped into an amused O. "Molly Iero, you awful girl."
"Shut up." She slapped my arm. "Can you just make sure Frank doesn't notice? Falls asleep or something?"
"Mollers, you're his daughter. No amount of Lunesta would knock that man out while his baby's out with some hooligan."
"...You sounded freaky like him there."
"What can I say, I get my Frank-impersonation skills from Gerard."
"MOLLY, COME ON!"
"JUST A MINUTE!" Molly yelled back to her boyfriend.
"Have fun." I started to shuffle her down the steps. "You're covered, now go."
"Love you, Clayah!"
"Love you, too, Mollers." I watched her go until I was sure she was close to Jack. When I knew she was, like any best friend would do, I called out loud enough so they could both hear, "KEEP YOUR PANTS ON!"
She would kill me when she got home, but it was worth it.

An hour later, Frank and I were playing our third round of Candy Land.
"Ooooh, no," he sniffled. "I am not getting stuck on those damn gumdrops again."
"Oh, but you are. Two yellow squares you need go, and that is the second."
Frank had set aside Jack and Molly's date and was now devoted to getting to the Candy Castle first. I knew the other guys would have better ways to distract him, but tonight it was just us.
Everyone had gone to the movies or the football game, including Jamia and the twin girls. Gerard had been damned to a high school reunion Mikey and I talked him into going to. He hated us for that. But I was not allowed to leave the house according to the evil people I call my friends the "doctor's" orders. Frank was on the verge of the flu (supposedly) and stayed to guard me.
New Jersey was a lot colder than California had been. Unfortunately by the time I was finally over the discomfort of California, I was shoved into the new awkward of Jersey, and meeting my biological parents. Of course, I loved them. I did miss Bandit like hell, though.
There had only been three truly entertaining parts of Jersey thus far.
One: Jamia and Molly's relationship. Jamia was sweet and fun, we all liked her. But there was some friction with her and Mollers. From what I knew it was because Frank had gone so long without mentioning Molly or her mother to his wife. Not that he'd known he needed to because Molly would turn up again in his life one day. Jamia and Molly weren't hostil to each other, but they weren't exactly buddies either. 'Civil' was the proper word, because that's about all it was. Despite how uncomfortable it was between the two of them, I got my kicks during the day seeing how many words they would say to one another.
I was an injured musician currently on break from tour. I had no other life to get kicks from.
Two: My new family. I already knew my sisters-in-law and my niece. That was fun, but bonding for the first time with my brothers and parents was a blast. Of course when we first met we'd covered the whole 'here's why you were adopted and what really happened' thing, but by the time Don and Donna felt the need to explain themselves I was over it. Shit happened and I knew that. I was just happy to have them now. The last thing any of us needed was to relive all that and waste any more time with each other than we already had.
Once we did have it covered, we were all great. We didn't really planto do the things we did together. Don and Donna took a few days off work while we were all in Jersey. I stayed with them. We would all wake up in the morning, have coffee, and just decide to do something. Take a walk, have them show me around Jersey, just sit and talk. We just enjoyed being a family for the first time.
It was kind of strange going around the Way's house, though. I felt like a stranger even though I knew I wasn't. Something about it was isolating. I would wake up in the morning and think, 'This is where I should have woken up every day.' Or Mikey would help me find the coffee filters in the morning; 'I should know where everything is in this kitchen.'
As saddening as it was, I think it was the same way four the four of them. They'd ask me if I was good with Mexican for dinner and I'd tell them I wasn't good with spicy food. Donna would offer me a bottle of makeup that just barely missed her skin tone but was perfect for me and I would tell her that brand make my skin itch. They'd all get these guilty faces, and then so would I. I loved being a Way. It just hurt sometimes.
But the third part was the best: Europe. We left from New York in four days, after the four bands helped host some MTV festival in Central Park. Rush And Ruin had come up with a plan to have kids under 19 be tech interns across Europe and Asia. We went through a bunch of letters from kids who wanted to, picking the most honest ones and drawing some of the names from a hat. All in all we were excited. Especially when we got a second letter from them regarding their acceptance. Their happiness was our happiness. We couldn't wait to get there.
All the other bands had been to Europe. In fact, everyone had been to Europe, on tour or as kids or both. The only people who hadn't were Molly and me. So we blew it out of proportion.
Molly's bedroom was a mess. Strewn with clothes (both hers and mine), change (we searched the whole house for all currency that we could convert, and made budget lists between clothing and food for every country), maps (to save money, bless the Internet), and sightseeing pamphlets (despite the fact we'd be with natives of each country). Yes, we were insane, but we were having a blast.
Frank wrapped the patchwork quilt tighter around his shoulders as he drew another card. "Dammit! Why do you keep getting the yellow cards?"
"King Kandy loves me," I said smugly. I drew another card. "See? Gramma Nut." I hopped my red piece toward the round face old woman and the peanut brittle house.
Frank drew another card. "Ah HA! Suck it, Way." Frank jumped his blue figure to the next sunny square.
"Frankenstein, I'm still 'Shier,' you know."
"It's easier to keep you all in line if I just call you Way. And you're a Way, anyway." He chuckled. "Say that ten times fast."
"Way anyway Way anyway Way anywah Weh-- blah. You do it."
Frank and I laughed at each other when the door clicked open and Gerard called out for us.
"Living room!" I yelled.
"Oh, WHAT! Queen Frostine, bitch," Frank sang.
"Hey now, no callling my little sister a bitch." Gerard plopped down on the couch next to me and kissed my head. "How's the leg?"
"Fine. My pride, on the other hand, is dead, as this is about to be the second time I lose at Candy Land."
"Fuck yeah it is!" Frank's green piece danced two blue spaces further.
"Is this all you guys have been doing?"
"Well there's nothing better to do," Frank said.
"How was the reunion?" I asked.
Gerard shrugged and loosened his tie even further. "Don't get me started. High school sucked when they were teenagers. Now they're in their thirties and they're still assholes."
"There's coffee in the kitchen if that would help any," Frank pointed.
"Thank God, it would." Gerard started to go to the kitchen.
Frank looked at the clock on the wall. "Shouldn't you still be there?"
"Hell no, are you kidding," Gerard called. "I was there for half an hour. I went to the bookstore, I was bored." He walked back in, now with a mug in hand. "I couldn't stay the allotted time, let alone the time they expect you to spend afterwords."
"Yeah, but it's only ten thirty," Frank said.
"No it's not." Gerard glanced at his watch. "It's one thirty."
"WHAT?"
The door clicked open again and I could hear a car drive away. Molly came into the living room, looking post-concert grimy and post-date elated. When she saw the look on Frank's face her's dropped.
"Molly Kayla Harper Iero," Frank spat, "What time is it?"
Molly's face went white and still. She peeked at the wall clock behind Frank. "Ten thirty?"
"Then why does Gerard's clock say one thirty?!"
"I don't know, Dad! I... uh.... shit....I..."
"The clock didn't break itself did it? It was working fine when you--"
Frank froze mid-yell. Gerard froze mid-sip. Molly froze mid-freeze. They all looked at me. I froze as was.
"Clayah," Frank said, "You didn't have anything to do with this, did you?"
I shrugged, guilty. "I may have changed all the clocks back three hours while you were in the bathroom."
Frank was horrified. Molly was staring at me in a 'great idea, how that work out?' way. Gerard was torn between discipline and admiration.
The front door clicked yet again and noise burst through the house as everyone piled through into the living room.
"Hey guys," Bert was laughing. "What'd we miss?"
"Clayah changed all the clocks in the house to trick Frank so Molly could stay out longer on her date with Jack," Gerard explained.
"Badass!" Tre nodded.
"No, notbadass!" Frank stomped. "Just... bad."
"Jesus, calm down, princess," Monster said with a swig of, well, Monster. "Don't get your panties in a bunch."
Frank threw up his hands. "I'm going to bed. I'll deal with this in the morning."
"Haha, dude you're a chick," Drew laughed. Quinn high fived her. Frank pushed past them and stomped up the stairs. A door slammed.
"Did you really change the clocks for me?" Molly asked.
"Yeah," I nodded. "You so owe me. Did you guys bring any more Monster?"