When Did Your Heart Go Missing?

July 4th

"God bless America."

Kelsey and I knowingly exchanged smiles. Ray was looking at Sarah's legs. She'd decided to wear that outfit we had picked out for her the other day at the mall. We were all by the Hudson River, patiently waiting for the fireworks to start. All except for Mikey.

"Start already!"

"Shut up, Mikey," Gerard said patiently.

"But every year," Mikey complained. "It always starts late."

"Look at the fireworks in Manhattan," Bob said, pointing across the river. Mikey groaned.

"It's not the same!"

Frank chuckled. He had his arms around me from behind, holding me as close to his body as was physically possible at this point. He swayed me back and forth slightly, distracting me from the unreasonable arguing Bob and Mikey were doing.

"Fireworks," Frank said softly, kissing my neck. I could feel the fireworks...

The last few days had been...interesting.

Kelsey's mom and dad arrived from their "business trip" to find two teenagers, seemingly soaking wet, lying on the bed of their guest room. Kelsey had had a hard time explaining to them that we hadn't "done anything" and once they'd given in, she'd hugged us senseless. We really hadn't done anything. We just lay together. (No, we didn't bother to dry off.) He held me tightly, whispering, pressing his lips against mine.

The second person to "find out" was...Linda.

Frank and I walked together, hand-in-hand, slowly, back to his house the next morning with fresh new clothes. (Kelsey had extra clothing in her mansion even for the guys.) When we arrived to his house, Linda lost it. I mean completely lost it. For a total of 10 seconds. Then she had that motherly "awe" look in her eyes. She brought us inside and gave us the talk. The Talk. I'd never gotten The Talk, I just heard my friends complain about it. Now I get why. Frank was embarrassed.

Then there was Sarah and M. Sarah acted like she didn't care when she obviously did. M ranted giddily in French about how romantic it was (I guess so...I don't know French).

Then there were the guys. They teased us about it. They called us Romeo and Juliet. (The balcony scene. Hysterical, isn't it?)

I really didnt care what they thought. I just cared that I had Frank beside me.

"They started!" Mikey yelled excitedly, jumping up and down. The sky was littered with color, bright neon explosions that caused the people lining the river to applaud and cheer.

"Finally," Frank muttered. I smiled.

We watched intently, Frank swaying me back and forth a little more.

"You're distracting me," I told him, trying to keep my stare on the fireworks.

"Hearts," Frank said softly. I looked up. Gigantic red hearts were decorating the sky, shooting from somewhere and lighting up our side of the river momentarily. I looked up at Frank. He smiled.

A little while later, they stopped. According to Mikey, the while was way too little.

"And they get shorter every year!" he complained.

"I need a leash for that kid," Gerard said. I laughed.

Oh and about The Dictator. We agreed its best I don't live with her. It was the most awkward phone conversation of my life. And yet somehow the most relieving. Linda and Kelsey's parents said I could stay where ever I want.

"Oh my God, look who's here."

I followed Kelsey's angry stare.

"The Blond Ones," I muttered. Frank's muscles tensed. Rodney and Remi were a few yards away, holding each other and laughing and sharing a drink Remi had in her hand. I was disgusted.

"Those ass holes give blonds a bad name," Bob complained. Sarah nodded, shaking her little blond head.

"Hey, let's get revenge," she joked. Bob's eyes lit up.

"Good idea."

"Huh?" This was from everyone in the group that wasn't blond. Sarah cocked an eyebrow. Bob walked away from Kelsey and whispered something in Sarah's ear. Sarah laughed and nodded.

"Where are you going?" Ray asked once they started to walk away together. They ignored him and went straight up to the Blond Ones.

"What are they doing?" Frank said. I shrugged. We watched.

Sarah came up to Remi, smiling pleasantly. We couldn't hear them. Remi smiled pleasantly back. Bob stood near, getting strange looks from Rodney. At some point, Remi looked our way and muttered, Losers. Then the unthinkable happened. Sarah tipped Remi's cup upward, causing it to spill all over her white shirt. From where I stood, I could hear her scream. Frank and I started laughing. Then Bob raised his fist and hit Rodney straight in the jaw. He fell to the floor. Everyone else joined us laughing.

"Now, let's go before we get arrested," Bob breathed once he and Sarah had run up to us.

"That was awesome," Frank said, grabbing hold of my hand. "You are my hero, Bob."

We ran away before it was too late.

"Dude, why the hell would you do that?"

We were all in the limo again. Gerard directed this question toward Bob once we'd all stopped laughing.

"He pisses me off, is all," Bob stated.

"You know Remi's dad will kill you," Frank said. I was sitting comfortably in his lap.

"That was fun!" Sarah interrupted. "I wanna do it again!"

"Ooh, girl fight," Ray said. Sarah hit his chest playfully. He started tickling her. I heard a deep sigh and turned my head toward it.

"Gerard, what's wrong?" Kelsey asked. Bob was trying to kiss her and she kept pushing away.

"You guys are so cute," Gerard said.

"Aw, he's lonely!" Frank said. I poked his cheek. He looked up at me with furrowed brows and poked my stomach. I giggled and moved over onto Mikey's lap. Frank grabbed my hand and tried to pull me back.

"Yes, please, get her off of me," Mikey complained. "You're not as light as you look, Layla."

There was laughter in the car as I glared down at Mikey in disbelief.

"Wait--look at Gerard, he looks so sad!" Kelsey said. We all looked at him. He looked up at us nervously and sighed.

"Look at you guys!" he said. "There are some disgustingly cute couples in this car!"

Bob smiled and leaned down to kiss Kelsey neck. She giggled and pulled away. Short Sarah, who was sat on tall Ray, reached up to kiss his chin and he smiled. Frank managed to get me off of Mikey and back onto his own lap, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist.

"Even Mikey has a girl, dammit," Gerard sighed. Everyone's eyes fell on Mikey. He looked around as if he was cornered by cops in an alley.

"Umm..." he said awkwardly.

"Who is it?" Bob asked forcefully.

"You know that girl...my lab partner? In Living Environment?" Mikey said to Frank.

"Alicia?" Frank said. "Alicia Simmons?"

Mikey nodded. "She gave me her number and told me to call her." He failed at concealing his smile.

"Mikey's a pimp!" Ray said, laughing.

"And I'm gonna die alone," Gerard said.

"Dont say that, man," Bob said. "You're sexy, you'll get someone."

I laughed.

"What?" Gerard said, looking offended. "I'm not sexy?"

"No," I said with as much sarcasm as I could. "You're fucking ugly."

"Shut up, Gerard is a babe," Frank said. Kelsey laughed.

"Mental...images!" she said. I looked down at Frank who at first looked confused. Then, he looked at Gerard and looked disgusted.

Oh, I get it. Gerard and Frank. Ew...

"You're going to college, dude," Sarah said. "College girls..."

She looked at Ray sadly. That whole "different college" thing was rocking their relationship. I looked away and down at Frank who still looked disgusted. His jaw had dropped. His eyes looked at Gerard as if he was staring at death. I lightly touched his lip ring and he looked up at me.

"Stupid," I whispered. He smiled.

"As I'll ever be," he whispered back. I ran my finger along his lip as I leaned down to...