Opposites Always Attract.

”Elliott, the Resident Evil movies are shit! Just admit it.”
“They are not, well, the first one isn’t anyway.”
“The rest of them are though!”
“Oh, come on, Extinction isn’t that bad!”
“Elliott, it’s shit.”
“Gerard, don’t argue with me, because you will never win!”

Currently Gerard and I were in art class, the last period of the day. It was Friday, so straight after school I was off to Tara’s to get ready for the party...And to tell her everything about what happened yesterday. All day she had been eyeing me up suspiciously, and attempting to make eye contact with me. But as she promised, she didn’t say a single word in front of the rest of the girls. I knew she was waiting until we were alone.

“Whatever, Elliott. But I am not going to watch them with you, because I will seriously gorge my eyes out with a spoon if I have to sit through another hours worth of that shit.”
“You’re missing out, Gerard. You’re just blinded by your hatred towards them. If you’d open your eyes, you’d see how good they really are...Even if they are kinda shit as well.”
“That’s what you said about that Bieber kid. And I still fucking hate him. Probably even more.”
“Gerard, if you insult the Bieber one more time I with gorge your eyes out with a spoon, okay?”
“You wouldn’t dare. You wouldn’t have the guts.”
“Gerard, I’ve watched every single Saw movie, and never flinched. I probably have more guts than you do.”
“Fuck off. I’m a guy. I’m hardcore.”
“Gerard, I let skinny cheerleaders hold me up 10 feet in the air, and then let them drop me. I definitely have more guts than you do.”

Gerard just rolled his eyes and continued to draw. He couldn’t argue with me, because he secretly knew I was right. I may complain about hickeys and broken nails, but Gerard has never had to wear high heels for 9 hours before. And I can officially say it was excruciatingly painful. I couldn’t even walk in the damn things, so no wonder my feet bleed.

As soon as the bell rang everybody shoved their things into their bags and made a mad rush for the door, ready to finally start their weekend. I waited until everybody apart from Tara, Gerard and Mr Escobar were left.

“See you soon, Geebear.” I said quietly, brushing my hand against his own.
“See you, Red.” He grinned back, taking my hand and squeezing it, but dropping it after a second.

I looked in his eyes for a final time before making my way over to Tara, who was staring wide eyed at us both, her mouth open a little. As I came up to her, I pushed her jaw up, so that her mouth was closed. But her brown eyes were still staring in amazement. Without a single word we began walking out of the classroom together, Gerard staying put seeing as he needed to talk to Mr Escobar.

Just before I exited the classroom I looked behind me to see his hazel eyes gazing at me. I laughed and gave him the middle finger cruelly before walking out of the classroom and out of the school, Tara by my side.

Tara’s car door was barely closed before she opened her mouth again.

“Fuck my life, what the fuck is happening. Tell me every fucking detail. I need to understand. Is that what I thought it was. Gerard Way, Elliott? Really. How does that work, how does that happen? Tell. Me. Everything” I just laughed at her reaction. She was staring at me, her hands were on the wheel and her engine was on, but she made no effort to pull out of her parking space.

“It’s a long story.” I said simply.
“We have all night. Tell me, please!”

She finally pulled out and began driving back to her house. I took a deep breath, and began.

“Okay, well you know that Gerard and I were partnered up by Mr Escobar, right?” she nodded “Well, we were so angry about it at first. Because I mean, come on, it was Gerard. He was a freak. And he wasn’t happy about being paired with me either. The first time we got together just ended in disaster, we just shouted at each other and called each other names. But the more times we met up, the more we started becoming, I dunno...Less hateful towards each other I guess. We liked the same things, like comic books and zombies and stuff. But we still hated each other. He couldn’t accept that I liked zombies, yet I was a cheerleader. Because he was still convinced that I was a whore, and I still thought he was just this crazy depressed emo kid-“

“Well he is, isn’t he?”
“Let me finish, Tara. Well, one night we were at his, just doing his art project. We went outside so Gerard could have a smoke, and we heard his parents talking. They were saying stuff about this girl and how she ruined Gerard’s life and how they hoped I wasn’t the same, because both me and this girl were cheerleaders. I didn’t know what the fuck they were talking about, but Gerard got pretty angry about it and told me to go home. So I did. The next day I bumped into his friends, and Frank-“

“The short, scary one?”
“Yeah. Anyway, Frank asked me what I’d done to Gerard. I said nothing, I didn’t know what he was going on about. Turns out Gerard had run off that night and got drunk and passed out in an alley because of what his parents had said. And I asked them what they were talking about. So Frank told me about what happened to Gerard. About how he was paired up with that girl, and that they got on great, but then she became a cheerleader and ruined his life-“

“That was Annie Green, right?”
“Yeah. She made him try and commit suicide because of all the shit she’d done. But anyway, after that I kept telling Gerard that just because Annie was a complete and utter twat didn’t mean I was like that. Just because I was being nice to him didn’t mean I was trying to rule his life. And then that whole thing with Aaron happened where Gerard found me and took me home. Things went kind of weird after that. We were getting along I guess, but then one day when Gerard was at mine, we ended up kissing. I don’t even know how it happened. We just...Did. And then Gerard yelled at me and told me he never wanted to see me again, and that I needed to get out of his life because he thought I was playing a game like Annie did. And that night was the night we took E, remember?”

“Don’t remind me...”
“Well, I left that party and found Gerard. He was still pissed at me, and started yelling at me, and then walking away. And then I passed out, so like the nice guy he is he took me back to his house again. And no, Tara, he didn’t snort cocaine off of my body, or try and suck my blood, or sacrifice me, or whatever weird idea’s go through your head. No, I woke up in the morning, and we just starting shouting at each other again. I said how I wasn’t who he thought I was. I’m so much more normal than how I appear to be. You know what I’m like, Tara, right?”

“A nerd? A dork? A gee-“
“Yeah. Well, Gerard couldn’t believe them things. And I had to tell him that not everything was as it seems. I mean Gerard isn’t who I thought he was. He’s actually funny and kind, he’s just a bit troubled I guess. And after that, we kissed again, twice. And we don’t even know why. And ever since that night things just seemed to get even heavier. We just continued to kiss for reasons I don’t even know. And we were actually, dare I say it, friends. Although neither of us wanted to admit it. And finally, a few days ago, I just kinda realised, that actually, I liked him. It was so fucking weird. That night when we were at Maggie’s, I left to go and see him! And we ended up making out on his couch and just laughing and stuff. And then Mikey came home, and just said that obviously we both like each other, even if we didn’t want to admit it, because why else would we keep kissing? And why would we keep seeing each other and stuff. And then since like, last week Gerard and I have been closer than ever. But on Monday, when I ditched practice, I wasn’t ill. I just went out with Gerard, and I admitted I liked him, and he told me he liked me back. Everything has been a bit weird and confusing since then, and we don’t know what’s happening, but all I know is that we can’t tell anyone!”

Tara stayed silent. We’d arrived at her large house, so we both got out of her car and entered her home, into the warm hallway. She lead me into the kitchen where she got two bottles of water.

“So...So is that why you like, didn’t like Blake?” she was confused, and I don’t blame her. But like the best friend she was, she hadn’t yelled, or shouted, so that only meant good things.

“Well, yeah kind of. I mean Blake isn’t my type anyway, and he was a complete arsehole, but I think at the time I just...Wanted Gerard? On our first date Gerard actually followed me.” I laughed at the memory.

“So all those hickeys, they’re from Gerard?” she looked bewildered, yet impressed.
“Y-yeah.”
“Whoa! I never knew he had it in him! B-but he’s not like, a vamp-“
“Vampire’s don’t exist, Tara! He isn’t a vampire, he’s just slightly weird.”
“He’s mega weird! He’s so scary! I mean he always wears black, and he’s like, always super angry and depressed. And he tried to commit suicide! He’s totally insane!”

We walked up to Tara’s room while she ranted on about how weird and ‘emo’ Gerard is. I knew what it must feel like for her. After all I thought the exact same before I really knew what Gerard was like.

“Yeah, but ask yourself why he tried to do that. Annie totally fucked up his life. He was getting beaten up every day and there were about 100 people telling him to kill himself.”
“Yeah, true. True.”
“Tara can I ask you something, honestly?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Were you one of them? Did you know Annie? Were you involved in all of this?”

The idea that the girls might have known Annie had been in my head from the first time Frank told me about her. I knew that they knew about Annie, I just never knew if they had any involvement with her, maybe they were even friends with her?

“Well, k-kinda. I didn’t do any of that website. That was all Annie! But I mean I made fun of him, everyone did. I called him fat and stuff. But I think I was one of the only ones who didn’t write anything on the website. I found it funny at the time of course, and I laughed when Gerard got beat up and stuff. But I like to think I have a bit more heart than Chloe. I kinda felt bad when we were told what Gerard tried to do. When he came back to school and I saw how thin he was and stuff, I felt bad. But I still make fun of him, just not as much as I use to. And when Annie got kicked out and the website was taken down everything sort of settled down. He gets bullied by Zayn and everyone, but people like Seth just don’t bother.”

“So, you were friends with Annie?”
“Kind of. I knew her and I spoke to her. When she first started school she wasn’t a cheerleader so I didn’t really know her, she was nice though. But when she got on the team she just turned into a right fucking bitch, like all of us are really. But worse cause she like, made Gerard kill himself.”

“Are you angry about this whole Gerard thing?” I’d pulled out some clothes so I could look at them.
One good thing about Tara and I were that we were the same size. She was slightly shorter than me, but most of her clothes fitted me perfectly. I may hate being popular, but I did love sharing my clothes with my best friend. She would often wear mine, and I would often wear hers.

“I’m not angry, I just think it’s so weird. I mean it’s Gerard Way. He’s like, not even human. He’s just that kid that takes loads of drugs and slits his wrists.”
“Both of which are wrong...Kind of.”
“Kind of?”
“Well, he smokes weed and gets drunk a lot, and I mean obviously he tried to kill himself. But actually he’s a lot more normal than you would first think.”
“Really? Are you sure? Because he seems super depressed all the time. I mean, he hates everyone.”
“Yeah, okay he does hate everyone, but he’s normal...Well, normal enough anyway.”
“So does he hate me?”
“He hates what you stand for. That’s what he said to me once. He doesn’t hate me specifically, he just hates that I’m popular, and that I’m a cheerleader, and that I’m fake.”
“Oh, I see...Hey, Elliott, what do you think of this dress? Is it too slutty?”

And just like that, we were back to normal. One strange thing about Tara is, she can accept strange things. After all she had been my best friend for two years, and knew that I was a slight nerd and had no problem with it. Tara was one of those people that would do anything to please someone because she was scared about what they would think of her. Which is why she always did what Chloe said, and always dressed a certain way and always acted like a slut. Tara hated hurting people’s feelings; she’s like a kitten really. She’s soft and cute, and is always there when you need a good cuddle. But she’s also vulnerable, and doesn’t quite understand the world so she needs guidance. She uses Chloe as a figure who she looks up too. She wants to make Chloe happy and does what Chloe asks, because if she didn’t have someone to look up to she would be lost. It was just a shame that Chloe made fun of Tara, because although she doesn’t act like it, the words that Chloe say deeply affect her. That is why she is my best friend, because sure she can be a bitch, and sure she can be a whore, but deep down she is exactly what I am, just a little fish in a big sea. Lost and not knowing where to go. But unlike Tara, I had found something, or someone that was my rock, who grounded me. But for some reason, I had a feeling that soon Tara would find her rock, and it would be someone she wouldn’t have expected.

-

“How are things going with Seth?” I asked Tara, looking at the different outfits that I had layed out on her bed.

“Oh, you know, okay. I’m just a bit worried about him.” She was towel drying her blonde hair with a fluffy white towel.
“Why’s that?”
“Well, he’s nice and everything. I mean he treats me so nice, he’s like a proper gentleman, but lately he’s just been taking loads of drugs. But not like, weed or whatever, I mean like coke and all that shit. But he does it like, every day. I keep telling him to stop but he pushes me away and does it even more. If he’s gunna start treating me like shit, I’ll just leave. I try to help him but he just doesn’t want it.”
“Oh, Tara. That sucks. But if he’s gunna be a dick he’s not worth it.” I picked up a simple black pencil skirt and put it up against a purple vest top, shaking my head and putting it back down again.

“Exactly. He’s nice and everything, and he’s good in bed, but sometimes those things aren’t good enough.” She finished doing her hair and dropped the towel on her floor, also dropping the towel that was around her body so that she was stood in her underwear. She flung open her wardrobe and looked inside.

“Yeah, I agree.” I said, inspecting a blue shirt, but chucking it back on the bed when I decided I didn’t like it.

“What’s Gerard like then? I mean he’s given you enough hickeys.”
“We uh – We haven’t got that far yet.” I blushed, opening up my bag so that I could pull out my own pair of high heels, holding them against the black skirt to see if they went together. They did.

“Really? Ahh, hurry up, Ellie. I need gossip!”
“You’ve only just found out about Gerard and I. Isn’t that enough?” I chuckled.
“That’s old news now! Anyway, what exactly are you two? Are you dating, or are you just fuck buddies?” Tara pulled out a black dress and held it against herself, looking in the mirror and smiling at what she saw.

“We’re not entirely sure. We’re just letting things play out.”
“Well you like him, right?”
“Y-yeah?”
“Well, then you’re dating.” She decided, slipping the blue dress on and zipping up the back.
“We haven’t decided that yet!”
“I’ve decided for you. It’s weird and it’s creepy, but you’re dating.”
“I thought you liked to approve of my boyfriends before I ‘date’ them?” I found a baggy white vest top with The Ramones logo on it. I smiled and held it against the black skirt...Perfect.
“I do. But I’m also not willing to talk to Gerard to find out what he’s like. If you like him, that’s fine.” She straightened her dress and began rummaging through her hoards of shoes.

“Tara, he’s seriously not as bad as you think he is. I mean I’ve managed to get on with him, and you know if I don’t like someone I don’t talk to them.”
“True, true. But he still scares the fuck out of me. So do his friends.”
“Well maybe if you got to know them you won’t think that.”
“Elliott, they’re emo’s, I don’t wanna talk to them.”
“You’re so judgemental,” I laughed as I pulled the vest over my head “They are a bit strange, but they’re completely harmless. In fact, I think you’d get on with them. They’re funny guys.”

“But they’re emo’s. And I’m a cheerleader.” She pulled a shoe out of the bottom of the large pile, sending the shoes toppling onto her like an avalanche. She yelped, but still continued to search through the wreck, looking for the shoes twin.

“So? I’m a cheerleader and Gerard’s an emo, we get along fine. Besides, I don’t like the word emo. They’re not emo’s really. They’re just slightly different to anyone else.”
“Do they slit their wrists?” Tara asked, finally finding the other shoe and holding it aloft in victory.
“Nope. There was that one time for Gerard, obviously. But other than that, the boys are completely sane. Well, apart from Frank, Frank’s a little crazy. But only in a good way.” I pulled the black skirt on and looked in the mirror.

The result was wonderful if I was to be honest. The vest top was baggy, meaning that my black bra was a little on show, but it only added to the outfit. My black skirt was tight and hugged my figure; it was short, but not too short. I looked simple, yet stylish. But I had yet to tame my mad hair, which was sticking up all over the place, the tips of my hair still slightly damp from my shower.

“Well I don’t care. They still scare me. Do you think I should wear this gold chain, or these silver earring?” she held up the items.

“Earings, definitely, that gold chain makes you look a bit...”
“...Gangster?”
“Yeah, kind of.” I smiled. I looked in the mirror and pouted at what I saw. My face held no makeup and my hair was crazy. I ran my hands through my hair to try and tame it, I still wanted it to be curly, but I didn’t want it to be out of control.

Tara and I continued to get ready for around half an hour, while we continued to debate about Gerard and his friends. Slowly I was beginning to make her understand that they weren’t quite as bad as they seemed. She was still petrified though, and she still found it surreal that Gerard and I were basically dating.

“Ow! Fuck me that hurt!” I turned to Tara to see what she was yelling about, and saw her clutching her eye.
“What did you do?” I giggled as she run around in a small circle to try and ease the pain.
“I stabbed myself in the eye with mascara. Elliott, I think I've+ gone blind!” she looked at me, on eye open, the other closed tightly.

“Well open it and see. I’m sure you’ve not gone blind.” I laughed.
“I can’t! I can’t open my eye, I just ca – Oh, okay no, I’m fine.” I’d grabbed her face and pulled apart her eyelids so that her brown eye peeked through.

“Thank, Elliott.” She grinned, going back to the mirror and continuing her make up like normal. I just shook my head, that girl was seriously crazy, I worry about her.

I’d already finished my makeup. Like my outfit it was simple, I had mascara and eyeliner with only light lipstick and blush. What I liked about getting ready with Tara is that I felt no pressure to look a certain way. When I get ready with Chloe I am forced to dress a way to please her, and put as much makeup on my face as humanly possible. I slid a few bracelets onto my arm and slipped my feet into my chunky black high heels.

“Nearly ready?” I asked Tara, watching as she applied her mascara, her hand shaking with care.
“Yepp. Just got to get my shoes on.” She finished her makeup and grabbed her shoes, which were incredibly high.

“Tara, you realise we’re walking there, right?” I said, my eyebrows raised as I watched her stumble in her heels slightly.
“Yeah, it’s fine. I can walk, it’s fine.” I giggled as we walked down the stairs. It took me thirty seconds, but Tara two minutes as she gently took one step after another, trying not to fall in her shoes.

I began making my way to the door, my leather jacket already in my hands, but Tara stopped me.

“I just need to get something.” She said before running (Staggering) off to the kitchen. She returned with two bottles of wine, one red, one white.

“Red for the ginger haired lady.” She giggled, handing me the red wine.
“A whole bottle, Tara. Really?”
“Yupp! And they’re already opened,” She smiled and took a sip of hers “Now let’s go before my parents realise I’ve taken them.”

We laughed and shut the door behind us as we made our way to the party.

-

”EVERYDAY I’M SHUFFELING” the whole room sang. We’d been here for two hours, and Tara and I had been dancing the whole time. I laughed at her as she attempted to ‘shuffle’ in her shoes, but trip and nearly fall to the floor.

I helped her up and continued to dance. I was drunk, but not nearly as drunk as I’d of liked to be. Chloe on the other hand was so drunk she looked close to being sick, but that didn’t stop her from making out with an older boy who had a tattoo of a naked lady on his arm.

As I danced I felt my phone buzz in my bag which I had been holding all night. Opening it I grabbed my phone and checked the text.

Gerard:
You shoiuuld so toitaly
come tio Rahys
its so fucxikgn fubn!

I laughed and sent him a message back

To: Gerard:
Wish I could babe
But Im stuck here
With Tara unless
You want me to bring her to?
Lol

I’d intended it as a joke. No matter how drunk Gerard was, I seriously didn’t think he’d agree to what I had just said. But the text I received back from him told me he thought it was a brilliant idea ( or ‘briklanht idfea’)

But would I do it? Tara probably wouldn’t agree to it, but we were meant to be crashing back at mine tonight, so I couldn’t just leave her. But maybe she would, after all she was so drunk she looked like she didn’t give a fuck where she was.

“Hey, Tara,” I yelled in her ear over the load music. She stopped dancing and listened to me “Do you want to get out of here and go to another party?”
“Whose?” she yelled back.
“Someone’s. It’s a surprise.”
“Will there be alcohol there?” she slurred.
“Yes.” I smiled
"Then lets go!!” she pulled my arm towards the front door, but we caught Maggie hanging off the arms of a boy who wasn’t her boyfriend.

“Where the fuck are you two going?” she asked, she was clearly drunk.
“We’re going to anot-“ i put my hand over Tara’s mouth
“I think Tara’s gunna puke, I’m just taking her outside.” I ignored Tara when she licked my hand. I wasn’t removing it until we were outside, so she couldn’t say anything else.
“Alright. Whatever.” She said before egarly kissing the boy again.

We ran outside, where I finally removed my hand from Tara’s mouth.
“You’re a meany!” she giggled, prodding my chest.
“Come on, let’s go.” I smiled, leading the way to Ray’s house. My heart was pumping, I didn’t know why I was doing this, I especially didn’t know why I was bringing Tara with me. But I think she might enjoy herself.

“Hey, Elliott. Look what I stole from Seth.” She held up a packet of cigarettes and a lighter.
“Brilliant, Tara.” I said, taking one and putting it in my mouth. I let Tara’s shaking hands light mine before we continued the short walk to Rays.

-

I didn’t know what I was expecting to see once I got to Ray’s, but certainly not anything like this. Boys with skinny jeans and tattoos were yelling and laughing and running around outside of Ray’s house. While girls with eyeliner and piercings were sat on the lawn, watching the boys while taking swigs from beer cans.

The girls eyed us suspiciously as Tara and I approached the house. They looked a lot different than us, or rather we looked a lot different to them. One girl with a cruel face whispered to another as we walked up the path to the front door. Tara was smiling and waving to the boys who were now staring at us, but I took no notice. I was more eager to discover what was happening on the other side of the front door.

Opening it I saw a wild party inside. Possibly wilder than the one we had just attended. Heavy music was pumping through the speakers, and I saw a smiling Mikey talking to a smiling girl in the corner of the room. I laughed to myself when I saw him push up his glasses and blush at what the girl had said to him. I also laughed out loud when I saw an incredibly drunk Frank jumping and screaming to the music with a few other boys. Two girls sat on the sofa with fake hair and very short skirts eyeing up Frank hungrily, trying to grab his attention with their shrill giggles. I giggled myself when Frank took no notice of them, instead catching my eye and shouting:

“ELLIOTT!” he charged at me, slamming into my body and squeezing me in a hug. I laughed, more so at the two girls reactions as I hugged him back.

“What are you doing here, Elliott?” Frank asked, jumping up and down on the spot.
“Gerard asked me to come. I brought Tara with me. She knows about everything and wanted to met you guys.”

Frank whipped his head around to spot a scared looking Tara being spoken to by several emo looking guys.

“Tara?” she looked around to see Frank. Her eyes went even wider when she saw someone she recognised. She looked slightly petrified, and knowing her she probably though half the people in the room were vampires.
“TARA!” Frank ran over to her and engulfed her in a hug “Hi, Tara. My name is Frank. I don’t know you and I think you’re a whore but it’s really nice to meet you.” Frank spoke quickly.

“Hello, Frank. Thank you for that. I don’t know you but I am scared of you...And I also want a drink.”
“I’ll take you to the kitchen!” Frank said excitedly. He drag the drunk Tara into the kitchen while I looked on in wonder. Oh my, they were going to make quiet a pair. They were both slightly mental and slightly stupid. This can only mean great things.

“You came!” I heard a voice from behind me. I turned around and hugged him straight away, breathing in his usual scent of cigarettes which was strangely comforting to me.

“Yeah, Frank’s just taken Tara to the kitchen. She’s so scared.” I laughed. But Gerard looked at me seriously.
“You’re not drunk yet, are you?” he asked me.
“Not really, no.”
“Well come on then, Red.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me into the kitchen.

Once we arrived I saw Tara and Frank chatting awkwardly, Frank speaking with wild hand movements while Tara stared in awe. She was fascinated by him. Not necessarily scared, but fascinated. As I had told her, these boys are not scary, they are just simply crazy.

“Drink!” Gerard commanded me, handing me a bottle of beer. I smiled and clinked our bottles together before downing it.

And then another. And then another. And then another.