The Crumbling Pyramid

That weekend was a good one. The second show went great, Gerard didn't try to French Anette on stage as she requested, and that Sunday at practice, Bob was there, (after getting lost and having to call Anette who called Gerard and told her to tell Bob the more exact directions he was giving her), and he was great. He was funny, a good guy, and a damn good drummer. It really didn't seem to matter that he was wearing a letter jacket and the other guys were wearing skinny jeans and band shirts.

Monday, there was a sort of different atmosphere in the school that no one could really explain. It could have been the hype all the theatre kids were still giving off from shows well done, but there was also this sort of tension that no one could really put their finger on, but everyone felt.

"Hey Ray," Anette said as she sat down by him in their usual corner of that deserted hallway. "Do you feel-"

"Like the school is charged with static electricity?" he finished for her.

She nodded. "Yeah. It's weird."

"Agreed."

They both pulled out work to do. Anette, her English book, and Ray, his Trig homework.

"Hey, so Gerard told me that you guys are thinking about letting Bob join your band," Anette said eventually.

"Yeah, he's great," Ray said. "It's nice to finally have a drummer."

"I bet."

"How was the show?"

"Awesome once Gerard stopped trying to lick my tonsils," Anette said slyly.

"He does that," Ray chuckled. "My mom and I are coming Thursday, so you two better not kill each other before then."

"We won't, I promise."

"Good."

They worked silently the rest of the hour, simply enjoying each other's company. And at this stage, it was safe to assume that they could say they were friends without actually saying anything at all.

-

It was lunch time on Wednesday, and Ray was heading for Frank and a practice room, where they were going to work on a song together. Clutching his music notebook in one hand, his sack lunch in the other, and shifting his shoulders so his guitar would stay on, he stopped just before he rounded the final corner to the music hall and shrunk into an alcove when he heard angry voices he recognized.

"It's getting kind of ridiculous, Anette," Chase's voice said, heated.

"What is? That maybe I'm hanging out with people who are actually nice to me?"

"No-"

"That I can have fun with people who, to you, are the gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe?"

"No, what I'm saying is-"

"Quit trying to control my life!"

"Shut up and listen!"

They both stopped talking and just breathed raggedly. Ray thought frantically how he could get around them without being seen, but there wasn't anything he could do but wait for them to leave.

"I just think that if you did hang out with Toro's group then Andrew wouldn't be harassing you all the time."

"Oh, so that's what this is about? Andrew's going to harass me either way, Chase, no matter who I hang out with."

"It would help if you weren't around the people he targets all the time."

"I'm one of his 'targets,' so it wouldn't make a bit of difference. I think you're just trying to come up with some cover for why you're really mad at me."

"And why's that, then?"

"You think I'm blowing you off for theatre-"

"Which you are."

"You blew me off for football, so I found some new friends. And you're pissed that we haven't slept together since September."

"It's just all about sex with you, isn't it?"

"No, that's all you ever think about."

"No wonder Andrew calls you a slut."

There was a sharp sound like Anette had slapped Chase, and then footsteps of her marching away as fast as she could. Chase's footsteps followed, and he called, "Anette, I didn't mean it!"

Ray waited until their footsteps and voices were completely gone before coming out of the alcove and walking carefully down the hallway. What in the world was going on? Why did Andrew hate Anette? And why was Chase being such a jerk to her?

"Dude, finally! I've already got a couple possible riffs written," Frank said through his vegetarian sandwich as Ray opened the door to the practice room.

"Sorry, I ran into a roadblock."

"Like what?"

"Chase and Anette were arguing in the hallway."

"Oh, I thought I heard her yelling."

"Yeah, she was."

"Well, what was it about?"

Ray shifted uncomfortably, unsure of whether he should start spreading rumors or not.

"I'm not gonna tell anyone. Seriously, who would I tell?"

"Good point. Um, well, Chase seemed the think that Andrew's only being such an asshole to Anette 'cuz she keeps hanging out with us and standing up for us and shit."

"And?"

"Well, she said that was all bull and Andrew's always been a jerk to her and always will be, but I don't know why."

He didn't add in the part about Chase and Anette not sleeping together since September - he would be taking that bit of information to the grave.

"I dunno, but she must have done something to him. Andrew, that is."

"We've never done anything to him," Ray pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's like... he knows something about her, you know?" Frank said, finishing his sandwich. "Like, every time I've heard him talk to her, he just knows how to push her buttons."

Ray didn't say anything in response because he and Frank both knew that Frank was probably right. Instead, he flipped open his notebook and started to unpack his guitar.

"Let's get going with this shit."

-

That afternoon, Anette didn't talk at all during their free hour. She just stared at her open English book, but Ray could tell she wasn't reading it. After a while, he asked, "Hey Anette, can I ask a question?"

"Sure, Ray," she mumbled.

"Um... why does Andrew hate you so much?"

She gave him a curious look. "You don't know?"

"Should I?"

"Well, I guess you might not, but like, all the 'popular' people know." She sighed and closed the book. "We um, dated the good first half of last year, and he was an okay boyfriend. But I didn't want to sleep with him, and he got mean and threatening, so I dumped him. So that pissed him off, and then he and Chase have this huge rivalry, and so I started dating Chase just to spite Andrew." She paused, biting her lip slightly. "I'm a terrible person, really. I mean, I love Chase, but I started dating him for all the wrong reasons."

"It's not that bad," Ray said. "I mean, well... Andrew kinda deserves it."

"I guess," she sighed. They were quiet for another few minutes. "Ray, tell me about something."

He frowned. "Like what?"

"I don't care, anything. Anything you really like."

"That's a lot of things," he pointed out. "Besides, I don't want to bore you."

"You won't, trust me. Tell me about... I dunno, what's your favorite TV show?"

"Um," he mumbled, blushing a bit. "Probably Transformers."

"Tell me about that. Please. I gotta get my mind off... other things."

And so he did. He told her about his favorite episodes and how he always kind of like Decepticons more than Autobots, even though Optimus Prime was a complete badass, and he just sort of found himself rambling for longer than he ever had to anyone. And Anette listened to every word, never interrupting him for any reason, not even to ask him questions about what the hell he was talking about when he started using Transformers jargon as a bit of a natural reaction. It was only when he had run out of things to say for the moment when she said anything at all.

"You're really passionate, Ray," she commented, smiling at him. "Way more passionate than anyone I've ever met."

"You sure you've met Gerard and Mikey and Frank, then?"

She laughed. "Well, I have, but not met them like I've met you."

"So I'm not boring?"

"Not in the least." She checked her cell phone. "We still have a little bit of time. I want to show you something," she said, standing and offering her hand to him.

"Okay," he said, accepting it. They grabbed their bags and Ray his guitar and Anette took Ray's hand in her own (which was much smaller than his) and led him down the hallway and to a door that had no marking on it or even a doorknob for that matter.

"What's this?" he asked, curious.

"Someplace you can go to be completely alone," she replied mysteriously before pushing the door open. She took out her math book and used it to prop the door open, and then led him up the stairs opened the hatch in the roof.

She had led him onto the roof of the school. They walked carefully away from the door but not too close to the edge in case someone was looking up at the roof. They stood side by side, looking out over the town, which was a nice sight.

"I found that door my freshman year," Anette said simply, staring off into the distance. "I come up here when I'm really upset, or just want to be alone, which isn't that often."

Ray sent her a small smile. "I knew you were a rule breaker deep down."

She sighed. "I told you I'm terrible." They stood, holding hands and not saying a word, for maybe a minute. Then she asked, "Ray, what's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"To have people around you who accept you for who you are, not who you pretend to be. To not have to worry about if your friends are going to disown you because you dressed a certain way one day, or like something that isn't considered cool, or stood up for someone who was getting bullied by your friends. What's that like?"

"I - well," Ray stuttered, but he didn't know how to answer. "I guess... okay? I mean, I don't have a lot of friends, but I can count on them for anything. Why?"

"I envy you, that's why. I always wanted to be popular, but I didn't know it would come with a sacrifice of happiness. I wish I could have what you have."

"Three friends?"

"Who care about each other so much that they're like family," she added. She had such a sad expression on her face that Ray felt like he should do or say something, but she wasn't Mikey, who you could make smile when you talked about video games with, or Gerard, who could be cheered up most the time with talking about one of his artistic obsessions, or Frank, who it was all too easy to make laugh with some stupid joke or story. She was Anette, a girl who he felt was his friend, but was so different from anyone else he was friends with that he had no clue how to make her smile or laugh or cheer up.

"Well... um, I think we're friends," Ray said lamely and awkwardly. "I mean, I like you as a friend. You're pretty cool and stuff."

"Really?" It wasn't a desperate question, it was a distant-sounding one.

"Yeah, you're um... well, you're really not afraid to have fun, or take some risks. And you're a good person, which is all anyone could really ask for."

Anette smiled sadly at him, but she squeezed his hand all the same. "Thanks Ray. I feel like you're probably the best friend I've had in a while."

And without another word, they went back down the stairs and into the school.