The Crumbling Pyramid

It was quite a while before Anette and Frank were both ungrounded. It was February now, and only a week until the dance show opened. Anette had been so busy being miserable and working on makeup designs to notice how much time had passed. She had found a little comfort from her new official friends, but Chase had still left a gaping hole where her heart used to be.

It was a Saturday night, almost time for her to be putting Terrence to bed, when Anette's phone buzzed. It was Ray.

"Hey Ray, what's up?"

"Anette, this is so stupid..."

"What's going on?"

"Uh... do you think that you could come to my house tomorrow morning and..."

"And what?"

"Help me straighten my hair."

Anette laughed a little. "Ray, that's got to be impossible. Why on earth do you want to straighten it?"

"Just... I do. For practice tomorrow. So, yes or no?"

"Let me ask my mom."

Anette put the phone down and found her mom, who was pulling a shirt over Terrence's head. "Mom? Can I go to Ray's house tomorrow for a little while please? I'll watch Terrence the rest of the day," she added, hoping to get on her mom's good side.

"I... guess," she said unwillingly. "I want you home at a reasonable time though."

"Alright, thank you Mom," Anette said, and went back to her room and her phone.

"Ray? I got an okay."

"Awesome! Um, so do you know which house is mine?"

"Not really."

"Just uh, walk up the block and cross the street, and I'm the corner house. Can you be here at like ten?"

"When's your practice?"

"Eleven."

"I'll be there at nine."

"Oh, okay. Thanks Anette."

"Yeah, no problem. Bye."

"Bye."

-

Anette left her house at eight-fifty the next morning, hugging her grey pea coat to her body as tight as she could, her boots making squelching noises on the slushy cement of the sidewalk. She had her purse with her, filled with her straightener and a brush, along with the usual items she carried: her wallet, some gum, her planner, iPod, headphones, cell phone, and a small bottle of perfume. She made it down the block and across the street to Ray's, which was a small house that looked like it might have a basement. She stepped up to the door and knocked on it.

Ray opened the door, looking a bit groggy. "Hey Anette, my mom's still asleep, so we'll go downstairs," he yawned, leading her inside.

"Why is she asleep?" Anette asked, astonished that anyone could still be asleep at this time of day.

"She worked the night shift last night at the diner. She's a cook," he explained as they walked down the stairs. "Doesn't matter, my bathroom is down here anyways."

The basement comprised mostly of a living or game room, probably a game room considering Ray. There was a large, old television against one wall, stacks and stacks of games and movies around it, and a large, soft couch in front of it. Ray led her instead to a bathroom that was messy, but usable.

"Sorry for the mess, I only just got up," he apologized, starting to tidy up.

"It's fine. Were you up late?"

"'Till two. Mikey and I were raging WoW last night."

Anette laughed and pulled out the straightener. "Well, here it is, and I brought a brush just in case."

"Thank you so much, Anette," he said, and plugged it in. "How long do you think this'll take?"

Anette looked at his hair, which seemed to be an even more untamed mess of curls today than it had ever been. "Honestly... ages. But I'll try and make it fast."

"You know you're awesome for doing this, right?" he said, sitting on the edge of the bathtub so Anette could reach his hair easily.

"Thanks. But why would you want it straightened? I like it curly, personally," she said, testing to see if the straightener was hot yet.

"I'll, um... I'll tell you later, okay? After band practice."

"Alright."

And so Anette began the long, painstaking process of trying to tame Ray's hair into submission. It was very slow going, and even though she was trying to be efficient as possible, his hair was only becoming wavy instead of straight.

"This... has got... to be... impossible," Anette grunted, tugging a particularly stubborn section though the hot iron.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"This wasn't some stupid dare, was it?"

"No, it's... kind of an experiment."

"Great. Now you're Doctor Frankenstein, too?"

"Well, since you're the one holding the straightener that makes you the doctor and me the monster, no?"

"True."

Anette worked for as long as she could before Ray absolutely had to get dressed and they jumped in his car. His hair had only really been half-tamed, and was fluffier than ever.

"Thanks for trying, Anette," he said as he pushed the speed limit through the neighborhood.

"Yeah. Um, Ray? Are those skinny jeans?"

He blushed slightly. "Yes. I decided to wear them today."

"Oh... okay," Anette said, confused. Ray was acting really, really weird.

They made it to the Way house just before practice was due to start. Hailey had decided to tag along today, and she and Frank seemed to be caught up in a deep discussion of different guitars.

"About ti—holy shit Ray, what happened to your hair?!" Mikey exclaimed as Ray and Anette walked in, and everyone turned around to see what Mikey had been walking about.

"I uh... tried to straighten it. Anette did anyways," Ray said shyly.

"I kinda failed. If I had a few more hours maybe..."

"Well, the pants make up for it," Gerard said, winking at Ray. "Skinny jeans make the world go round."

Ray just blushed and got his stuff set up. Hailey and Anette sat on the floor on their jackets and listened and made comments. Hailey was better at being critical because she actually played guitar and sang and wasn't afraid to give criticism, whereas it made Anette feel rude and a bit nervous to be critical of someone who was doing something she could never do.

"Can we play that again?" Frank asked as they finished a song. "I fucked up majorly."

"Me too," Bob said, twirling a drumstick in his fingers.

"Sure thing," Gerard said, and Ray started the intro guitar line once more.

Anette simply closed her eyes and tried to take in every sound she could, all the guitar riffs and bass lines and drum beats. And Gerard's singing. It was so different than when he was on stage doing a theatre show, it was actually kind of weird. Like it was a different person singing.

"I'm not okay. You wear me out..."

‘You're tellin' me,’ Anette thought as she listened, finding herself connecting more and more with the song as it went on. It ended it seemed too soon, and Anette opened her eyes, smiling.

"Was that better?" Frank asked.

"Much," Hailey said, nodding.

"I love it," Anette said softly. "It's so... relatable."

"Thanks," Gerard said. "I kinda felt like that's what we feel like all too often."

"Sure thing."

-

They ended practice at about one, and Ray drove Anette home. Neither her mom nor Noel was there, so as they pulled up to her house, she said, "Hey Ray, wanna come in for a while?"

"Uh, sure," he said, parking the car and getting out with her. Terrence wasn't there either - he must have been dropped off at daycare. The two teens flopped down in the squishy chairs in the living room.

"So, what was this all about?" Anette asked, gesturing to Ray's hair and clothes.

"Um, well, it's kinda stupid, actually..."

"Life is kinda stupid."

"Yeah, that's true. Well, honestly? I was… trying to impress Gerard."

"Why would—oh," Anette said, realizing what he was talking about. "You like him."

"Yeah, stupid, right?"

"Not really. It's perfectly fine."

Ray looked at her, relieved. "So you're not a homophobe?"

"Not at all," Anette said, laughing a little. "I mean, why would I be?"

"Well, 'cuz... I dunno."

"'Cuz I was a popular?"

"I guess that's it."

"But anyways... so you like Gerard, huh?"

"Yeah, but he's too busy being... well, Gerard, to notice."

"I'm sorry. That sucks."

"Yeah, and I mean, I think I've liked him for a long time, but I'm not even sure if I'm gay or not."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, uh—" He paused and looked around, as if expecting someone to pop out of a plant with a tape recorder. "I started liking him our sophomore year when we got really, really wasted on Halloween and made out a lot," he said in a lower voice, blushing a little again. "I mean, I haven't dated many people, so I didn't really know... but I liked it, so that means I'm gay, right?"

He searched Anette's eyes for an answer, but she couldn't give him one. "I dunno, Ray. Have you ever kissed someone else? Or done anything with a girl before?"

"Like I said, haven't dated many people."

"Okay, well, um..." She stopped and thought for a moment. "I remember in mid school there was this guy who I think kissed a lot of different people, guys and girls, and then sort of... determined it for himself."

"That's an... idea, but I don't think I could find a girl who'd do anything with me," Ray said, laughing nervously.

Anette's eyebrows furrowed. "Well, I would. I mean, like..." She blushed now, realizing how her words were sounding. "If you wanted me to. To you know... see..."

"O-okay," Ray sort of stuttered, and they sat in an awkward silence until Anette sighed.

"You know Ray, you're not the only one who has a stupid love life," she said, half-smiling at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well... please, please don't tell anyone, okay?"

"I promise."

"M'kay, well... at the end of the day? I think I'm kind of attracted to Mikey," she mumbled, blushing bright red.

Ray gave her a look of surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah..." She sighed, shaking her head. "It's stupid, right? I just broke up with Chase, I still want Chase, and I don't care if Mikey said he didn't hate me, he probably still doesn't like me much, and I'm probably just being desperate to fill the space that Chase left, but..."

Ray shook his head, unable to believe any of this. "Why Mikey?"

"I really don't know. It's like... on the roof, even though I didn't want him there, it was kinda nice that he was, you know? But he's so confusing, like he'll be rude one minute and doing unspoken favors for me the next."

Ray laughed shakily. "Yeah, he's a weird kid. Don't worry though, it's just taking him longer that the rest of us to adjust to the fact that you're actually nice to us. I mean, I know he's confusing to you, but you're just as confusing to him, if that makes sense."

"Oh," Anette replied. "I don't mean to be."

"And I don't think he means to be either."

There was a moment of silence.

"You won't tell him, right? That I might like him?"

"I swear I won't."

"Okay. Thanks Ray."

"No problem."