The Crumbling Pyramid

The following week, Ray was actually a bit entertained. He seemed to be the only one who knew both sides of the Mikey/Anette situation, and it was kind of funny watching them in Chemistry. They didn't really talk to each other, but when they did they were both too flustered to make much of a conversation, though neither one seemed to recognize that the other was uncomfortable talking to the other one. Ray was considering telling them to just quit being stupid and go after each other, but he didn't want to ruin anything. Plus it was funny.

Gerard had somehow caught on to Mikey's crush and had told Frank, and they and Ray spent quite a bit of time teasing Mikey and trying to get him to just talk to her like a normal human being, but every time he got a bit paler and cussed at them.

The day before the dance show was due to open, Ray and Anette seemed to have finally gotten over their awkward spell and were chatting animatedly during their free hour.

"So, are you free Sunday? We don't have school Monday, so Mikey and I have been planning a movie night at my house," Ray said, putting his finished History homework away.

"Sounds fun. Who and what?"

"Hopefully, all of us-" 'Us' now-a-days meant Ray, Mikey, Gerard, Frank, Anette, Bob, and Hailey, "-and a marathon of the Star Wars movies. I haven't seen them in ages."

"Sure, I guess. I'll have to ask."

"Yeah, no problem."

They sat for a moment in their own thoughts, and then Anette said, "Ray, do you want to try and figure out if you're gay or not?"

"I-I guess. When?"

"Now."

"Right now?"

"Right now."

Ray swallowed - his mouth had suddenly become rather dry. "Sure. Wha-what do you want to do?"

Anette was facing him now, and had moved closer. "Just... tell me when to stop." She glanced around the hallway, making sure they were still alone, and then leaned in and kissed him.

It was sort of a weird sensation, kissing someone when both parties were sober. Anette's lips were rather soft, albeit a tiny bit sticky from her lipstick, and they both trembled with awkwardness, Ray more than she. He closed his eyes as she continued kissing him, her hands finding the back of his neck and his hair. He let her do her thing, her hands traveling down his body, but he pulled away just before her hands could get lower than his belt.

"I—I'm sorry, I just... don't feel anything," he said, a bit shaken.

She just nodded and pulled away from him, going back to her original spot next to him. After a moment, she said, "Well, that was awkward."

"Yeah."

"So nothing?"

"Nope. You're a nice kisser, though."

"Thanks."

Despite himself, Ray found himself laughing.

"What?" Anette asked.

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head. He was thinking about how if she had ever kissed Mikey like that, he might have passed out, but he couldn't tell Anette that, because Mikey would kill him.

"Fine. So what's your assessment?"

"I think I might have been right."

"Okay, problem solved."

"One of them, anyways."

-

The dance show was a very intense affair for both Hailey and Anette, everyone could tell that. The two girls spent all of Friday in a tense state, but when the guys went and saw the show opening night, they were floored. The show had been very beautifully executed, and Hailey was an amazing lead dancer. Anette's makeup was very bright and matched the feel of every song, Ray felt, and afterwards, there was much congratulations before Hailey and Anette went to get celebratory shakes with the rest of the cast and crew.

Sunday afternoon, everyone began assembling at Ray’s house in the basement. Gerard and Mikey were the last to come, and when Mikey walked in triumphantly with all six Star Wars DVD’s in his hands, everyone cheered.

As Ray started up the player and TV, Frank asked, “Alright, everyone’s seen them, right?”

Everyone but Anette cheered, and she just turned bright red.

“Oh, don’t tell me,” Gerard said slowly.

“You’ve… never seen Star Wars?” Frank asked, his jaw dropping.

“I, um… no, actually,” Anette mumbled.

Everyone in the room just looked at her with various levels of shock on their faces. “Well, good thing you’re friends with us,” Ray said, and he started The Phantom Menace.

“Aww, I thought we were going by release date,” Frank grumbled, sitting on Gerard’s lap.

“No, chronological,” Ray replied, and he sat down on the floor next to Anette as the movie started.

Over the next six or so hours, there was much arguing over the characterization of Anakin and lots of counting of how many outfits Padme wore in all the movies and questioning as to why the queen of Nabu always had such ridiculous outfits and the consuming of four home made pizzas before they were done with half the series and it was really late at night. Ray’s mom had already gone to bed because she had to work early in the morning, and half the kids were asleep anyways, and Ray only woke them up to send them to sleeping spots.

Ray, Gerard, and Mikey were the only ones awake at the end of Revenge of the Sith. Bob and Hailey had fallen asleep on the floor together, Anette’s head was resting on the arm the couch, and Frank was sprawled out across both Mikey and Gerard.

“Alright, get up,” Ray said, starting to nudge Bob with his foot. “You and Hailey are taking the spare room.” When Bob looked at him, he pointed to the room that was connected to the one they were currently in. Bob nodded sleepily, got up, picked up Hailey, and they disappeared into the spare room. Frank and Anette were awake now, stretching and yawning.

“Frank, you’re the only one short enough for the couch upstairs.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve slept there for five years, Ray,” Frank grumbled, and he took the blanket Ray offered him before going up to the small couch.

“Gee, you can share my bed if you’d like.”

“Beats the floor,” Gerard said. “Thanks.”

“So um, Anette and… Mikey… you can share the pull-out bed,” Ray said, realizing just then who was left. “I’ll um, get the stuff for it.”

“I’ll help,” Anette said, following him to the linen closet upstairs.

“I’ll get this thing pulled out,” grumbled Mikey before they were gone.

“Ray,” Anette hissed when they were out of his earshot.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t really think about it until… well, just then. Sorry, but it’s pretty big.”

“Still Ray!”

“Anette, he’s Mikey, not Gerard,” Ray said, loading two pillows and a blanket into her arms. “If it were you and him, that would be a problem.”

“Like he’s not going to be a problem to you?” Ray’s face fell. “Oh, sorry,” Anette said softly.

“No, it’s cool. He probably won’t sleep. He usually draws when it’s just us, but he never shows me what he’s drawing.”

“Well, it’s Gerard. He’s a little weird.”

“Aren’t we all.”

They walked back downstairs to find that Mikey had pulled the couch out into a bed, and the three of them made short work of making it, though Ray had to admit that Anette would have made the bed better by herself, but hey, it was only for a few hours. He left to go to the bathroom one last time before going up to bed.

“Take the bed, Anette,” Mikey said as the bathroom door closed. “I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“That’s stupid, you take the bed, I’ll take the floor.”

“No, I’ll take the floor. I’m trying to be nice here.”

“So am I.”

“Look, either you’ll both sleep on the bed,” Ray said, coming out of the bathroom, “or you’ll both sleep on the floor. You’re both being stupid and prude.” And he walked up the stairs before either of them could protest.

Still in a slight shock from Ray’s words, Anette and Mikey picked their own side of the bed and lay down gingerly, trying to keep as much space in between them as humanly possible. It was uncomfortable for both parties, but it was better than what they each feared would be an awkward experience if they got too close to the other during the night.

They both apparently were having problems finding sleep, because a few minutes later, Mikey said, “So, you and Ray, huh? I thought he was gay.”

Frowning, Anette turned over so she could see him in the dim light, though it probably wouldn’t have mattered much, because Mikey couldn’t see anything without his glasses on. “What? He is.”

“Then why were you kissing the other day in the hallway?”

Anette blushed. “How did you see that?”

“I was on my way to the bathroom.”

“Sure.”

“I was. Did you guys do anything else?”

“No, and it didn’t mean anything anyways. Ray wanted to know if he was gay or not.”

“So you kissed him?”

“Yes.”

“How’s that supposed to solve anything?”

“He—oh, never mind.”

“He what? I feel like I have a right to know here if you’re fucking around with my best friend.”

“I’m not fucking around with him!” Anette hadn’t realized she had shouted this until she already had, and waited for someone to burst in on their conversation/argument, but no one did. “Look Mikey, Ray was unsure of whether he was really gay or not because he had only every kissed a guy before, so I offered to kiss him if it would help him figure out stuff, and he agreed, alright? He’s decided that he was right initially, and I only offered because he’s my friend and seemed to be having problems with it, and I don’t have a problem kissing my friends—”

“Okay, I—”

“—so maybe next time, you should learn all the facts before you jump to conclusions,” Anette finished haughtily. “Look, I get you’re looking out for your friend and all—”

“You don’t know half of it.”

“Sounds like you don’t either.”

And she promptly turned her back on him, too angered by him to want to continue speaking to him. But she really couldn’t resist adding, “And anyways, don’t you think that if we were an item and he wasn’t interested in Gerard anymore that Ray would have invited me to sleep with him rather than sticking me with you?”

-

“Hey, Anette. Rise and shine pretty lady, Gerard’s making breakfast.”

Anette opened her eyes to see Frank standing over her, grinning. “There’s my wife! Come on,” he said, holding a hand out to her. She took it, and they walked up the stairs together.

Frank led her into the kitchen, where everyone was crammed inside, looking a bit bleary. “Gerard? My wife and I shall be served now,” he announced, sitting promptly on the table.

“Wha-wha-what are you talking about, Frank?” Anette yawned.

“You never divorced me,” Frank pointed out. “So we’ve been married since kindergarten. Almost twelve years now.”

“Shit man, that’s commitment,” Gerard commented from the stove.

“Well, I’m sorry Frank, but I’m afraid I’ve cheated on you with three boys – no wait, six,” Anette said, smiling. “If we’re counting people we’ve just kissed.”

“No, don’t worry, I’ve cheated on you with…” He started counting on his fingers. “Four girls, three guys, Gerard who counts as two people, and my right hand, so we might be almost even.”

“Dude, gross, I don’t wanna hear about your sex life,” Bob said, covering his ears with his hands.

“Breakfast is up,” Gerard said, and he brought over a skillet almost overflowing with scrambled eggs and a plate of toast. “The toast is mostly for Frankie ‘cuz he’s being whiney about eating animal parts ‘nd shit.”

“I’m not being whiney, I’m being vegetarian,” Frank said through a mouthful of toast while everyone dug in. Anette and Mikey glared at each other for a split second before getting their own portions of eggs.

As soon as everyone had food, Hailey and Ray resumed an argument they had apparently been having before Anette had woken up. “I still think you’re wrong Ray. Anakin slash Darth Vader is no where near the definition of a hero,” Hailey said, drizzling some ketchup on her eggs.

“I didn’t say he was a hero, I said he was a tragic hero. There’s a difference.”

“He’s no type of hero at all.”

“Hailey, he’s like Snape in Harry Potter. He may have done some stupid things, douche-y things, but he’s still a hero. He just didn’t win in the end.”

“But he did win. He killed Palpatine, whereas Snape never managed to kill Voldemort, or save Lily, for that matter.”

“Yeah, he tried, but everything he did just lead him further down to the Dark Side.”

“Yawn,” Frank said, finishing up his fourth piece of toast. “Can we just go put in A New Hope and you two can quit arguing because you’ll see Vader is the Dark Side Badass?”

“There’s no archetypal character for a badass,” Ray said. “Not officially, anyways.” But he stood with everyone else anyways and they trouped back down to the basement, piled on the slightly rumpled bed, and started the fourth (or first, in Frank’s opinion) movie, eating Gerard’s awesome scrambled eggs and laughing and talking and pestering Bob and Hailey about what they had done last night.

Anette and Mikey refused to make eye contact with one another the rest of the day.