Happy Birthday to Me

MARISSA

I could tell Bob was trying to remember where he knew me from as he looked at me. Eventually, his light bulb clicked on and he recognized me.

"Hey, you're that girl from the theater who brought up our take-out. . .you're the one who had the duffel bag." Bob said.

"Hey, yeah, I remember you now!" Frank said with a smile as his memory sparked me as well, "Are you really homeless?" he questioned.

I crossed my arms, looked away, and sighed, refusing to answer his question.

Ray glanced over at Frank and shook his head, "I'm sorry we didn't believe you earlier."

"What?!" Gerard questioned.

"Think about it Gee," Ray began to explain, "She didn't camp out here just for a chance to meet us. She's not a crazed fan looking for a chance to hang with us because she didn't know we were going to be here and neither did we. She was just looking for someone to help her and we just happened to be the first people she found who listened to her."

"What? Do you really expect me to believe that?" Gerard questioned.

Meanwhile, I had noticed Frank ran into the bus and a few moments later he came out with a blanket and wrapped it around me. I didn't realize how cold I really was until I felt the warmth of the blanket.

"Thank you." I whispered to Frank.

"No problem." Frank replied quietly.

I watched as Gerard shook his head, "No, no, no, we shouldn't treat this girl with kindness because she is a crazed fan and crazed fans are like stray dogs - once you are nice to them they will never leave you alone."

I pouted for a moment before I whined, "I am not a crazed fan! Would you please stop calling me that?"

"Gee, I don't think she is a crazed fan." Ray said and Bob nodded in agreement.

I began to shiver from the cold without even realizing it, but what I did realize was Frank had began to rub my back to keep me warm.

Gerard growled before he stomped over toward Frank and I, ripped the blanket off of me, and tossed it to Ray.

"Hey, that wasn't very nice!" Frank shouted. He must have been feeling a bit rebellious toward Gerard because he wrapped his arms around me, hugging me close for warmth. He then looked up at Gerard, "Why are you being so mean?"

Gerard looked me straight in the face before he said, "I don't trust her." he then looked at the guys and said, "C'mon, let's get back on the bus and wait for Mikey. . .without her." with that being said, he turned away and stormed onto the bus.

I smiled a sad smile as I looked up at Bob, Ray, and Frank, "Thanks for being so nice to me even after Gerard was such a jerk." After the guys nodded I continued, "It's alright though. I should probably get going anyways. Y'know, before someone with authority comes to kick me out or worse."

I pulled away from Frank, walked over to my tent, and climbed in. I zipped up the tent so I could change my clothes, brush my hair, and put it up in a pony tail.

After that, I packed up everything inside the tent into my duffel bag and then I climbed outside to pack up the tent as well.

When I got outside, I realized Ray, Frank, and Bob were still standing there.

I decided not to say anything about it because I didn't want to annoy them.

I began to take down the tent, but was surprised when Ray, Frank, and Bob began to help me with it.