Raconteur

“I don’t like this,” Gerard said as he and Frank approached the front yard of a rather crowded house. He looked down at Frank who started grinning as he took Gerard by the hand and pulled him up to the front door.

“Now I know you’re a little nervous because you don’t usually do this sort of thing, but you have to relax, Gerard,” Frank stated, looking at Gerard with a straight face.

“I really don’t like this,” Gerard repeated.

Frank sighed. “It’s gonna be fine. We’re gonna go inside and have a few drinks, maybe dance a little, hang out with some people I know from school and… you know, have fun. I want you to have fun, Gerard. You don’t seem like you get enough of that.”

“I have fun,” Gerard replied as a girl wearing a dress that was way too short walked past them and into the house. She didn’t even take the time to smile or say hello.

Frank started to drag Gerard into the house, speaking as he did so. “Writing stories doesn’t count as fun, Gerard. It’s a nice hobby and all, but you can’t devote all your time to something that isn’t necessarily real.” He looked back to his friend who seemed to be a little overwhelmed. “Do you get what I mean?”

Gerard simply nodded knowing that Frank wasn’t planning on changing his mind anytime soon. “Yeah…” he mumbled, eyeing the people around him, unsure of exactly where he would fit in. “Sure.”

Frank grinned and led Frank into the house, glancing around the room for a familiar face. “Hey!” He shouted upon seeing a familiar baseball cap. “Daniel! Is that you over there?”

The guy turned around and waved as soon as he saw Frank.

“That’s Daniel,” Frank spoke, turning to look at Gerard. “I’ve known him for a while. He’s a good guy and I think you’ll like him.”

The three of them met up in the center of the living room, Daniel giving Frank a quick hug hello. “Hey, man,” Daniel said. “What’s up? I’m glad you could make it because there is like nobody here.”

Frank chuckled. “Yeah, I’m glad I could make it too. This is my friend, Gerard. We have creative writing together.”

Daniel smiled. “Hey, dude. Nice to meet you.”

Gerard smiled back, trying to be polite. “Yeah. Nice to meet you too”

“So,” Frank began his eyes roaming the room in search of the drinks. “Where are the five kegs I’ve been hearing about? I’m ready to have some fun.”

Daniel shrugged. “I haven’t seen any of ‘em yet. I heard that guy, Peter, was supposed to be bringing, like, two of ‘em.”

Frank sighed, looking over at Gerard to make sure he was okay. He looked kind of bored and uncomfortable and Frank wasn’t sure about what he could do to help. Usually when he went to parties with people everyone had someone to see or something to do. He’d never been the one that was supposed to take care of his friend and show them the ropes. Frank had never actually sat down and thought about what he would do with Gerard once they got to the party.

“Well, we’re gonna check the house out, I guess,” Frank said. “I’ll probably catch you later though, Daniel.”

“Yeah. Alright, see you later, man.”

Frank turned to Gerard once Daniel had gone and ran a hand through his hair. “I guess we got here too early,” he said. “Nothing is really happening right now.”

Gerard shrugged. “Doesn’t matter all that much. I’m just trying to get used to the situation. I feel so out of place here.”

Frank watched as a girl walked toward the stereo and started blasting some dance song he’d heard on the radio a few days ago. A few moments later the living room was packed and everyone was dancing. Frank turned to Gerard and saw that he was even more uncomfortable than he had been only moments earlier.

“Hey!” Frank shouted, grabbing Gerard’s attention. “Follow me, okay?”

Gerard nodded as Frank took his hand and led him to the backyard. “There’s a tree house right there,” Frank pointed out. “You wanna hang out up there for a while?”

“Yeah, okay.”

The pair climbed the tree, Frank settling in one of the corners and Gerard leaning sitting against the wall across from him.

“I’m sorry this party kind of sucks,” Frank said. “I thought… I don’t know what I was thinking when I invited you to come. I just… I wanted you to experience something fun since you said you didn’t have a lot of friends and… it was just a bad idea.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Frank.”

Frank looked up, meeting Gerard’s gaze. “Yeah, but I feel bad because this didn’t go the way I thought it would. The music sucks, the kegs aren’t here, none of my friends showed up according to Daniel and to top it all off I can tell you don’t really even wanna be here.”

Gerard frowned, dropping his gaze. “I guess this just isn’t my scene.” He looked back up at Frank. “I honestly can’t even believe it’s yours.”

Frank looked out the window, running a hand through his hair. He didn’t know what to say.
He’d felt like he didn’t really belong in his group of friends for a while. He felt as if they were growing apart and he was moving on to different things. However, at the same time, he still enjoyed the occasional party here and there. He liked getting a little drunk and doing things he wouldn’t normally do.

“I don’t know if it is anymore,” Frank said, truthfully. “I mean, I like to have fun and dance and stuff like that but, at the same time, I’m not sure if I like it as much as I used to. I think I’m starting to grow up a little and my friends are trying so hard to stay the same, you know?”

Gerard chuckled. “I wrote a story about that once. Well, kind of.”

Frank smiled, glad to see Gerard feeling more like himself. “Wanna tell me about it?”

Gerard’s eyes grew a little wider. “Are… really?”

Nobody other than his brother ever really asked about Gerard’s stories. Over the years, Gerard had grown used to that so when Frank asked to hear something it kind of threw him off.

“Yeah,” Frank answered, smiling. “Will you tell me about it?”

Gerard sat up a little straighter and drew in a deep breath. “Well, I wrote a few years ago when I was in middle school,” he said. “And… it basically starts off with this prince and he lives in some kingdom I made up… I can’t remember what I called it, but his dad is really sick and he’s dying and the prince is gonna end up having to take over the kingdom once that happens. The problem is, the prince isn’t all that ready to grow up yet. He still wants to run around the palace and spend money and party and hang out with his friends; you know kid stuff.

"Anyways, his mom, the queen, tells him that his dad isn’t gonna make it much longer and he’s gonna have to grow up and learn how to run a kingdom on his own. This scares the shit out of the prince and he’s like “Man, what am I gonna do?” you know?”

Frank smiled as he pulled his knees into his chest and listened to Gerard tell his story. He watched all of his grand gestures and the excitement and happiness in his eyes as he shared his old story about the prince that didn’t really wanna grow up. It made Frank feel just as happy as he listened to Gerard’s words and was able to catch a glimpse of the world Gerard liked to slip into.

“… and he hates sitting on the throne and giving orders and having to run the kingdom, but he doesn’t want to go back to the way he was living before,” Gerard says, settling back into the wall. “The prince wants something different. And so he runs away with that girl he met at the shops and they live in the country together on a farm. His little brother takes over the kingdom like he always wanted to and everyone lived happily ever after.”

Gerard looked to Frank and waited to hear what he had to say. He felt nervous because he wasn’t sure what he would think. More than anything, Gerard wanted Frank to like it.

“That was nice,” Frank said. “You love that don’t you?”

Gerard smiled, nodding his head. “Yeah… I guess I do.”

“You’re kinda like the prince, I think,” Frank told him, moving so he was seated next to Gerard.

“What do you mean?” Gerard asked.

“You do what makes you happy even if it isn’t necessarily what everyone wants you to do,” Frank explained. “I think that makes you brave.”

Gerard simply smiled, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t call myself brave. I just do what I like to do… that’s all it really is.”