Opposites Always Attract.

That night I had told my parents everything, well, to an extent. My father knew that Gerard and I were working on a project and that we were friends, while my mother knew about the bizarre events of that evening.

She was nothing but happy for me. In fact, she clapped her hands and jumped up and down at the news. While she was concerned that I couldn’t tell my friends about it, she was finally happy that I had got a somewhat boyfriend who I liked.

But that was just the thing. What was Gerard to me? Art Partners for definite, friends for sure, but a couple? No. We hadn’t officially decided that, we had only mentioned that we liked each other, that was all. Even if we did want to have a relationship, it’s not like we could tell anyone. It would be private. But still, I just didn’t know what would happen. Gerard and I liked each other...Now what?

I was in bed by 10 o’clock, snuggled up to my Pikachu in some Toy Story pyjama bottoms and Sum 41 hoodie. But I just couldn’t stop thinking. As I buried my head in between Pikachu’s ears all I could think about was Gerard. Not even in a romantic way, I was just excited and scared at the same time. I was nervous about seeing him tomorrow, what would happen? Were things going to be awkward, where things going to be the same? I just didn’t know.

A while later I groaned in frustration. I couldn’t get to sleep! I sat up and looked at my alarm clock. 12:07am!!! And I was wide awake!! I groaned again and threw my duvet off of me. I trudged down the stairs into the darkness, my arms crossed. Once I reached the kitchen I flicked the light switch on, the brightness burning my eyes a little.

I rubbed my eyes before making my way to the fridge, taking a look inside to see what I could find. There was nothing that took my fancy so instead I picked up the milk, a bowl, and some Fruit Loops. I flopped myself down onto the barstool, my cereal now in hand, and began to chomp lazily on the sugary loops. My eyes were half closed, and my bare feet were freezing, but if I was wide awake, there was no point in lying in bed trying to get to sleep.

The kitchen was strangely eerie, although it was bright inside, outside it was completely black, I couldn’t see a thing, and through each doorway the other rooms were swamped in darkness. While I ate my food every horror movie I had ever seen seemed to creep into my mind and suddenly every sound and every flicker made my heart jump.

Curse you, damn horror movies.

I shovelled a last spoonful into my mouth before dumping the bowl into the sink. I suddenly had a desperate need to be upstairs again. Regardless of the fact that monsters didn’t exist, my mind couldn’t help but make things up. It took all of my courage to switch the kitchen light off, before I literally ran back up the stairs into my room, taking a leap from my doorway so that I landed on my bed.

The time was now 12:23, and I still wasn’t tired. My bloody brain just kept filling with different thoughts and feelings every time I closed my eyes. I just didn’t know what to do. I sat up in bed again and wandered around my room, thinking that I would wear myself out from walking.

I must have been doing it for 10 minutes when I heard a noise from outside. Slowly I crept up to my window, opening my curtains a tiny crack so my eyes could peek through. In the darkness, a character was illuminated by the yellow lights of the street lamp. I continued to watch in confusion, who would walk around a Belleville street at this time at night, or morning, seeing as it was past midnight.

I watched them. Although I couldn’t seem them properly, I could clearly see the bottle in their hand as they swung it around, and it became apparent to me after another voice spoke, that somebody else was with them. Another figure walked into the light, both of them staggering around clearly drunk. This figure was much shorter than the other. Their voices were muffled and quiet, but from the tone I could tell that they were two males.

It took me only two seconds longer to realise who they were.

I threw open my curtains and opened my window wide enough so that I could climb through and stand on the roof below me. The cold night air did nothing for my already freezing feet, and the thin fabric of my pyjama bottoms only caused my legs to become colder.

“Gerard! Frank! What are you doing?” I hissed, loud enough so that they both swivelled around to see me standing on the low section of roof, staring at them unpleasantly while the wind wiped my tired face.

“Elliott! Oh my, God!” Frank cried, stumbling across the road towards my house.
“Guys, it’s the middle of the night, what the fuck are you doing?” I asked again, lowering myself so that I was now sat cross legged on my roof while Gerard and Frank stood on the sidewalk, staring up at me.

“We’re just having a bit of fun, Red.” Gerard giggled, taking what looked like a joint from Frank and taking a pull.

“On a Monday night?” I raised an eyebrow. I didn’t want to seem like a mother, but it was a Monday night, what the fuck did they think they were doing wondering around New Jersey in the middle of the night, particularly when they had school in the morning. Call me a nerd, but I was too scared to get drunk on school nights.

“You wanna join us?” Frank asked, his words slurring.
“No I bloody well don’t. What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Ellie, are you in your pyjamas?” Gerard giggled again, Frank joining in.
“Yes, I am wearing my pyjamas, because it’s 12 o’clock in the fucking morning!”
Frank’s high pitched giggle filled the air “You say pyjamas funny, say it again.”
“No.”
“You –You say it like, pyjarrrmas.” Frank laughed, attempting to imitate my accent. I just rolled my eyes at their drunken behaviour.

“Well done, Frank, you noticed my accent.” My sarcasm didn’t seem to affect him, he only grinned with pride and achievement.
“Come down, Elliott. Come and say hi!” Gerard pouted, staring at me with wide eyes.
“No! I can smell that fucking weed from here. You guys are crazy.”
“Ahh, come on, Elliott. It’s more fun being crazy.” Gerard whined again, taking a long swig from his beer.

“Oh, yeah, I know. I just like being crazy when it’s more convenient.”
“Like earlier in the woods?” Gerard teased, grinning wildly at me. Frank giggled again and swatted Gerard on the arm. I could faintly hear him say “Oh, Gerard, you bad boy.”

“Gerard, you told him already?” I asked in astonishment. It had barely been 5 hours since we’d confessed everything in his car, and already Frank knew.

“He’s my best friend, Elliott. I tell him everything!” he laughed when Frank pulled him into a tight hug. They both staggered in their embrace while I just watched them with my eyes half closed. As much as I wanted to laugh with them, my mood just wouldn’t let me. Not only could I not get to sleep, but now two fools had turned up in my street.

“You guys are really going to regret doing this tomorrow.” I said, referring to the beer and weed in their hands.

“I regret nothing!” Frank exclaimed, throwing his arms out in exaggeration, adding a twirl for effect. I seriously worry about him. I swear he’s either stuck in childhood, or he was once a fairy in his former life.

“Yeah well, I’ll be the judge of that in the morning.” I stood up and began making my way back towards the window, but they called out to me.

“Hey, Elliott!”
“Red! Don’t go.”

I sighed and turned around “What?”

“Come down with us, have some fun.”
“I’m tired guys.”
“You’re lame.”
“No I’m not.”
“Then come down with us!” Gerard encouraged me again. I growled in frustration and moved to the end of the roof and dropped down, landing daintily on my feet.

“Yay!!” Frank cried, running up to me and squeezing me tight. I patted him on the back awkwardly and took a step back when he releases me.
“Now what?” I questioned, my eyelids becoming heavier.
“Now you come out with us!” Frank clapped in excitement, pouting when some of his beer sloshed from its bottle. Gerard had possession of the joint now, and was taking a drag from it, letting out a lazy smile of relief.

“You guys have problems.” I said, while looking at Gerard as he took another hit.
“No we don’t. You have problems!” Frank accused childishly.
“I’m not the one getting drunk and high at 12 o’clock in the morning.” I pointed out, my eyebrows raised.

“No, but we’re also not the ones who lie to their best friends about her relationships.” Gerard said.
“Do you want me to tell Chloe?” I asked him angrily.
“No!” his eyes went wide at the suggestion. His intoxicated brain obviously didn’t realise the question was rhetorical.

“Well, stop making fun of me then.”
“But it’s so fun!” Gerard grinned. I went to say something back, but a drunk Frank interrupted.
“You know, you guys are funny. You hate each other and love each other at the same time.” He laughed to himself and casually started doing ballet while Gerard and I stared open mouthed.

Even if Gerard was drunk and high, he understood perfectly what he said.

“Gerard and I do not love each other. That is the single most stupid thing I have ever heard somebody say.”
“Fuck off, Frank. I do not love her! What the fuck are you talking about?”

We both started defending ourselves at the same time. Of course at this moment in time we didn’t love each other. What we felt to one another was simply lust. We had crushes on each other, and liked each other’s company. But our relationship was far from love. Far, far from it.

“Then why do you kiss all the time?” Frank asked, spinning around with his hands above his head.

“W-well because, we l-like each other. It’s like...A crush...Feelings...We have feelings towards each other.” I said carefully.

“You totally want to fuck each other’s brains out and I can tell. So just admit it already.”

Gerard rolled about laughing at his friends words, while I blushed.

“Frank d-did you just – What did you say?”
“You so totally want each other so bad. You just admitted you like each other. Just fucking get together already.” He drank from his bottle again and danced around the street lamp.

“F-Frank, that’s crazy...That’s...That’s – It’s more difficult than that. We don’t want to get together, we just like each other!” by now Gerard was just lying on my front lawn with his eyes closed, occasionally lifting the joint to his lips, clearly in his own world.

“You are such a little liar,” Frank said, coming up to me and bopping me on the nose with his finger tip “You two so totally want each other but you hid that by just saying you like each other. If you like him, you want him. He likes you, he wants you.”
“But what are you implying. We should date? We can’t date.”
“No,” he laughed drunkenly “I mean you want a relationship. There’s a big difference.” He held his arms out in an attempt to explain his meaning. All the while his words were slurred.

“You don’t have to be public. You just be together because you like each other. If you don’t go public with this whole thing, people don’t have to know. Gerard will be your secret lover.” Frank battered his eyelashes.

“You’re crazy, Frank.” I said again, but this time I had a smile on my face as I watched him dance around Gerard’s body, occasionally he leapt over him, giggling as he did so.

“It will be lie Romeo and Juliet. You’ll be all secret and sexy. No one has to know and you can sneak around, and Gerard can come and charm you from your window. And then fall madly in love and have sex until morning.” Frank said, clasping his hands together.

“Frank, are you gay?” I asked bluntly.
“No, I’m just very effeminate.” He grinned back at me, stealing the joint from Gerard’s hand.
“So you’re not bothered about Gerard and me?”
“Nope! So long as you don’t hurt him like that bitch did. Besides I like you, Elliott. You laugh at my jokes.” He grinned, squeezing me in a hug again.
“Well, you’re a funny little guy, Frankie.”
“You called me Frankie!” he grinned happily, downing the rest of his beer.
“Anyway, Frankie. It’s like, 1am, I better get back inside.” I motioned towards my window.
“Aww, do you have to go?” he pouted.
“Yupp, afraid so.”
“Okay, Elliott. See you tomorrow. You’re my secret friend. Maybe you can teach me some cheerleading one day.” He grinned, taking Gerard’s hand and pulling him up from the floor. Gerard’s eyes flew open as he staggered around in confusion.

“Yeah, Frank. Maybe.” I laughed. I patted him on the shoulder before I made my way back to the roof. But Gerard’s arms wrapped around my waist.

“No, Ellie, don’t go yet.”
“I have to!” I laughed, pulling his arms away from mine.
“B-but I’ll miss you.” He pouted. I looked at him with raised eyebrows before he pulled me into a tight hug. He staggered around while I laughed.

“Goodbye, Gerard.” I said, looking at his bleary eyes.
“Goodbye, Elliott,” He grinned, stroking my hair. God Gerard was weird “I hate you.” He said, before running after a skipping Frank.

I put my hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing when Gerard tripped and fell over, landing in my neighbour’s yard and then screaming when a dog began barking at him. The two boys then ran off down the road, leaving me outside on my own, in my pyjamas.

Of all the weird encounters I have ever had, that was defiantly the weirdest. I climbed back onto the roof and slid in through my window so that I was now in the comfort of my own room. But thanks to what Frank said, I had so much more to think about. Could Gerard and I really be a secret couple? Could we have a real secret relationship without anybody finding out? My heart fluttered at the idea. If that happened, Gerard would be mine. And I would be his. While nobody would know it, I would actually have somebody I could technically call my boyfriend. He wasn’t someone like Blake, who I was only with to enhance my popularity, no. Gerard was someone I wanted to be with simply because he made me feel right. We just fitted together. Whether we wanted to admit it or not, we just fitted together perfectly. It would be hard, not only because we would have to sneak behind the whole schools back, but also because we would have a hard time accepting it ourselves.

It would be awkward at first. The kisses to begin with were fun because we weren’t meant to do it. We weren’t dating, I had a boyfriend, and we hated each other. But now that we admitted we liked each other, would things change? Now that we were basically allowed to kiss, would it loose its spark? Or would it create even more fireworks because we knew each other was enjoying it? I wouldn’t know yet, I’d have to wait until I see Gerard when he was sober.

But for now, all I wanted was sleep. Seeing as it was now 1:27am sleep was probably the best option. I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow, and proceeded to have a dream, or possibly a nightmare about Frank dancing to Swan Lake, complete with feathers and tutu. Terrifying.

-

I parked my car in its usual space and dragged myself out of the car. My eyes were half open and I knew I had dark circles under my eyes. My attempt at make up this morning was simply mascara and blusher. I was so tired I could barely hold the mascara wand in my hand long enough to apply one coat. My skin was pale today; my pasty legs on show through my shorts while my top half was covered in a grey hoodie. I shuffled into school, my mouth half open, occasionally yawning. To put it bluntly, I didn’t get enough sleep. And what just made my day worse, was the realisation that I had skipped practice yesterday, with no excuse.

“Where the fuck were you yesterday, Elliott? You let the whole fucking team down.” Chloe screamed in my ear. I flinched and turned around to meet her. Her brown eyes were glaring at me, the unusual orange tint making her eyes seem even more angry and evil then usual.

“I’m really sorry, Chloe. I’m just ill at the moment.” For a second I had to thank Frank and Gerard for keeping me up last night. At least my appearance made my excuse seem more plausible, because I really did look ill. My hair was loose and curly, I hadn’t even bothered to brush it so it basically resembled a birds nest.

“Yeah I can tell, you need to fucking sort yourself out. You look like a fucking mess. I mean look at your legs, when was the last time you tanned?”

“Like, three months ago when I was in Spain?” I shuffled alone next to Chloe, looking like a zombie in comparison to her. She was full of life as her blonde hair bounced around her shoulders as she strutted inside her kingdom.

“Oh, God, Elliott. You look so ill, is something wrong?” Tara’s worried voice said next to me. I didn’t even see her coming, so her voice made me jump.

“Yeah, Tara. I’m fine, I’m ill, but fine.”
“But you’re so pale, and you eyes, they’re so dark. What’s happened to you?”
“I’m just tired, Tara. I’ll be okay in a few days.”
“But what’s that on your neck? Is that a bite mark? Oh God. You’re a vampire. Someone’s turned you into a vampire!” she squealed and stepped back from me. Chloe and I stopped to look at her.

“Tara, you’re so fucking stupid.” Chloe said, strutting off when she saw better people to talk to.
“What bite mark?” I asked Tara. She carefully edged towards me, getting a small mirror out of her bag as she did so. She handed me it and took a step back again.

On my neck there was a red mark, which wasn’t a hickey. There were two jagged lines, which were clearly teeth marks. Damn Gerard and his sexual ways.

I handed her the mirror back “Tara, that’s nothing. I’m not a vampire, I’m just ill, okay?”
“So, what’s that mark?”
“I had to babysit this kid and he bit me.” I made up the excuse instantly. It was so obviously a lie, I didn’t know any children. But Tara didn’t know that.

“Oh, really?” she seemed relieved “So you’re not going to try and drain my blood?”
“No, Tara. Now come on.”

We walked down the hallway together, and that’s when I saw him. He was standing with the four of them, as he always does. Time seemed to go in slow motion as we passed each other. Our eyes were locked, his bloodshot and bleary eyes looking at mine with a mischievous glint in them, while my own shadowed and tired eyes looked back at his playfully. Nobody else saw the exchange, not even Frank who was standing right next to him saw the eye contact. But Gerard and I had seen it, and as we broke away a smirk formed on my face.

“Elliott, what are you smiling about?” Tara asked me, looking at my face.
“Oh, nothing, nothing. Carry on, what were you saying about Seth?”
“Well, he cooked me dinner last night. And it was so cute, I mean it was amazing-“ and that’s when I drifted off again.