Hiding in Plain Sight

Lori’s pov
I woke up and yawned before opening the curtains to my room. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw the beach that was basically right next to the house. It was only about six in the morning so I knew I was the only one up right now. Quickly I grabbed clothes out of the pile that Val had bought me, then headed towards the bathroom to shower.

As soon as I stepped out of the shower, I dried off, and dressed in the clothes I had picked out. I smiled at my reflection in the mirror as I dried off my hair with the hair dryer. I had my mother’s long, wavy hair and my fathers warm eyes. I could remember my mom holding me in her tattooed arms. She had a portrait of me as a baby on her right, Ian’s name on the inside of her wrist, and a portrait of her and dad on her hip. I could remember asking her if I could get one, she would always just say “Wait till you’re older, then you can have one.”

I bit my lip as I walked out of my room, I really needed a cigarette right now but I didn’t want to wake Jimmy up and ask him to go get me some. Then I remembered Frank. I scrawled a small note on the white board that was on the fridge before leaving the house into the chilly morning air. It didn’t take long for me to walk from the house to main street. I played with my fingers as I walked along the sidewalk, looking for RAY’S. I found the brick building and pushed the door open.

“Welcome, first costumer of the day.” Aguy with grungy looking guy with pale pink lips, greeted me as I walked in the door.

He was a rather attractive guy for a guy that looked like he hadn’t showered in about a week. I stopped dead in my tracks and stared at him with curiosity probably very evident in my eyes.

“Is Frank-” I started my question but he cut me off with a chuckle.

“So you’re the little girl Frank was telling us about.” He shook his head, the smile never leaving his lips.

I narrowed my eyes at him slightly, “I’m not a little girl.”

“Right.” He used air parentheses.

I walked closer to the counter that he was sitting behind, “My name is Lori.”

Being stupid and polite normal me, I stuck my hand out for him to shake. For a minute he stared at it and right as I was about to pull my hand back, he took a hold of it gently with his surprisingly soft hand.

“Gerard.”

I nodded and we both pulled our hands back.

“So is Frank around here?” I asked.

He nodded, “Yeah, hold on.”

Gerard turned around and grabbed a phone off of the wall and pushed a few buttons. There were a few words that I couldn’t make out then he hung up and motioned for me to hop over the counter. I made a face but set my hands on the smooth counter top before lifting myself on top of it then sliding off on the other side.

“Follow me.” Gerard motioned for me to follow him up a flight of stairs.

I made a face noticing that the stairs creaked a lot as if they would give in if more than one person was to walk on them. I made an unsure face but followed him up the stairs anyways, some how I was now sort of not in dire need for a cigarette.

“So Lonnie-” Gerard started but I stopped him.

“Lori.”

He shook his head and smiled, “Right, sorry. Anyways, Lori do your parents happen to know where you are this early in the morning?”

“I left Matt and Val a note.” I huffed, not wanting to refer to them as my parents.

Gerard nodded, “Are Matt and Val your grandparents?”

“No they adopted my little brother and I.”

He didn’t say anything else when we reached the top of the stairs. He just pointed down the hallways and said, “knock on the mauve door.”

I nodded and started down the hall only to hear him call out from behind me, “Mauve is a mixture of blue and purple!”

“I know!” I shouted back.

The hallway was a bit dusty and I couldn’t help but sneeze a handful of times. I finally found the mauve door, but before I could knock I stopped when I heard Green Day’s song Minority, blaring from the room. A smile found it’s way onto my lips and I knocked loudly on the door hoping he would hear it over the sound of Billie Joe Armstrong’s voice.

“Who is it?” He yelled, after the music was stopped.

I bit my lip, “It’s Lori.”

“Hold on a minute!” Frank hollered.

I could hear a string of curse words, and a series of crashes. I figured his room was pretty messy. The door across the hall from Frank’s opened, out into the hall a girl around my height with blonde hair.

She gave me a funny look then nodded, “so you must be Lori.”

I nodded, “And you are?”

A grin broke out on her face, “Nikki Iero. Frank’s little sister.”

I went for a handshake but instead I got a hug. Who just randomly hugs someone they don’t even know? I mean for all she knows I could be a serial killer or a dug addict, not that I am of course it’s just I could have been for all she knew.

“Welcome.” Frank’s door opened and he leaned against the frame with a cool smile on his pale pink lips.

Nikki rolled her eyes, “How come you’re not that nice to me?”

“Because you’re my little sister and it’s my job to not be nice to you.” He grinned then took a hold of my hand, and pulled me inside. I barley had a chance to even wave goodbye to Nikki.

I smiled when I looked around his room. It was slightly on the messy side but it had dark red walls and a lot of posters on the walls. In the corner by his bed was a stack of comic books and if I wasn’t mistaken a few playboys. His bed was a simple queen sized bed that was basically big enough for two, with a nice black bed spread. There was not one article of clothing laying on the floor though, they all seemed to be situated in the laundry basket next to his dresser.

“Sorry about the mess.” Frank said as he kicked a pillow to the side.

I smiled and shook my head, “it’s fine. I like your room.”

“Well I like you.” He grinned cheerily and gave me a small kiss.

I giggled when I felt the cool metal of his lip ring brush against my bare skin. He smiled and gave my cheek a series of kisses making me giggle even more. Soon enough we ended up in a heated make out session on his bed, then I finally smoked the cigarette I had been dieing for.

“What time do you have to be home?” He asked as I cuddled into his chest.

I yawned, “Who knows, I bet they aren’t even awake yet.”

He nodded and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me even closer into his warm chest.

“Get some rest, I’ll wake you up in a bit. Okay, babe?”

I smiled and placed a small kiss on his lips before resting my head on his chest again, “Okay Frankie.”