It Started With A Dare

We arrived at Frank’s house a little while later. I got out of the car with Gerard and Bob and followed them up the path where they knocked on the door. Moments later the door swung open to reveal Frank standing in the door way. He smiled at both Bob and Gerard and when he noticed me standing behind them he grinned.

“Hey it’s Cassie!” he exclaimed, pulling me into a hug, which shocked me slightly, I was also a little surprised that he remembered my name.

“Uh hi.” I said, still entrapped in Frank’s embrace. I noticed that he wasn’t all that taller than me, only by about another inch or two.

“So what brings you to my humble abode?” He asked me, chuckling slightly.

“Oh, I actually came to see Damien, if he’s here.” I said, scratching the back of my neck awkwardly.

“Really?” I nodded “That’s great! Damien really needs more friends.” He said, more so to himself. He then directed me up the stairs and where Damien’s bedroom was. I could hear music blaring out from behind his bedroom door, and upon closer inspection I deciphered that it was in fact Guns n Roses. Bringing my hand up, I knocked on his door. The music stopped and a few moments later he opened the door, looking shocked to see me.

“Cassie?” He asked, his face crumpling with confusion.

“Hey Damien.” I said smiling.

“H-How do you know where I live?” He questioned.

“Oh, I came with my brother Bob.” I explained.

“Bob’s your brother?” I nodded “Wow, small world.” He chuckled. It was the first time I’d heard him laugh, and it was a lovely change from his usual emotionless face.

“My thoughts exactly. So anyway, can I come in or what?” I asked, giggling.

“Oh, yeah of course.” He said, opening the door wider and letting me walk though. “Sorry about the mess.” I looked around to see that the only mess in the room was a bit of clutter on his desk and a few pieces of clothing on the floor.

“Hey, it’s cleaner than my room!” I said. I took a seat on his blue bed sheets and looked around the room; he had a lot of cool band posters on the walls and what looked to be a large DVD collection entitled horror. He sat back down in front of his TV awkwardly where he looked to be playing some sort of zombie video game.

“You know, you can put the music back on if you want, I love Guns n Roses.” I said, trying to make things more comfortable.

“Really?” he asked, looking quite shocked.

“Yeah, what’s so surprising about that?” I asked, hands on my hips as I grinned at him.

“Nothing, I guess I pegged you all wrong.” He said, reaching over to turn his stereo back on but not quite as loud as before.

“How so?” I asked.

“Well you hang out with all the preppy girls. Oh, how is Debbie by the way?” He asked, sarcastically, making me groan.

“Ugh, don’t even get me started on her. I didn’t realise what I was getting myself into talking to her.” I said, making him laugh. “So you’re gay then?” I questioned. He seemed to tense up after that question and I watched as his face fell, I guess I shouldn’t have just brought it up out of the blue like that.

“Y-Yeah, why, you got a problem with that?” He asked, looking as if he was trying really hard not to break down in tears.

“Oh God no! Crap, I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. I’m not homophobic or anything, my cousin’s gay and I have no problem with him, I just wanted to be sure that you were.” I rambled on as I got up from my seat on his bed and kneeled down next to him, wrapping my arms around him in a hug.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m fine.” He said, chuckling slightly. I pulled back from the hug and grinned at him before glancing at the TV screen.

“Hey, can I play?” I asked, gesturing to the other controller.

“Sure, but be prepared to have your ass kicked.” He said, plugging in the other controller and passing it to me.

“We’ll just see about that.” I retorted. The game began and we started to fight off zombies together. We played for over an hour and I’d already beaten him 3 games to 2. Needless to say, living with an older brother did have its advantages sometimes.

“It seems you’ve underestimated me, Mr Iero.” I said smirking just as I won the next game.

“Damn you!” he exclaimed jokingly as he threw his controller at the floor, masking me giggle. At that moment the door opened and Frank stood in the door way.

“Hey Cassie, Bob and Gerard are about to take off so unless you wanna walk home, you should probably get your ass downstairs.” Frank said, making me giggle even more.

“I guess I’m leaving now then.” I said standing up as did Damien “I’ll see you tomorrow at school, okay?” I asked Damien and he nodded before hugging me goodbye. I followed Frank down to where Gerard and Bob were waiting by the door. We said goodbye to Frank and went outside and into Gerard’s car where he dropped Bob and I off at our house. I went to bed quite early that night; overall my first day at high school has been pretty great if I do say so myself!