A Kiss Before She Goes

Frank and I went to the park first. We played in the swings and at one point got into a game of hide and seek. He might have been turning eighteen today but he’s still a kid at heart. When we got tired, we went to the movies and saw a new comedy movie that came out. We got into an agreement on who would pay for the tickets and snacks. I wanted to pay for everything since it was his birthday but he wouldn’t let me. We just ended up splitting everything in half.

After the movies, I wanted to go to this new restaurant that opened a couple weeks ago. I had heard that they served some really good vegetarian dishes. We walked to the restaurant and it was a bar and grill kind of place. There was an inside and an outside patio. We decided to eat outside when the waiter asked us where we would like to sit. It felt good sitting outside and eating since it was a really sunny day.

Once we finished eating, it was already 5 PM so we decided to go to Gerard’s house. Everyone was there watching horror movies. It was still early to go trick or treating so we stayed and watched another movie. We let Frank decide since it was his birthday and he choose The Nightmare before Christmas. He was quoting almost the whole movie. When the movie finished it was 7 PM.

“I have something for you guys.” Gerard said to Frank and me as he went to his room. He came back with two masks in his hands. He handed a green mask to Frank which was of Frankenstein. Frank’s eyes lit up and jumped with joy taking the mask and hugging Gerard. Gerard handed the other mask to me which was of batman. I laughed as I showed the guy’s my shirt, making them laugh too. I got up and hugged Gerard. The other boy’s had masks too. Ray was a werewolf, Bob was Michael Myers, Mikey was Jason and Gerard was Freddy. We got pillow cases as bags and we headed outside.

“Where should we go first?” Ray asked as we got into Gerard’s car.

“I say we should go to the rich neighborhoods first. They always give out good candy.” Mikey said.

“And money.” Frank added. We drove to the neighborhood where Kyle lived. We hit every house in that neighborhood. We had gotten lots of good candy and some cash like Frank said we would. Frank even got some gifts from this old lady when he told her it was his birthday. She gushed and went inside her house bringing back Halloween cookies and some money for him. She was so sweet.

“Isn’t Kyle having a Halloween party?” Ray asked me.

“Yeah it should be going on right now.” I said lifting my mask up. Kyle had asked me to go but I told him that it was Frank’s birthday so I couldn’t go.

“We should stop by and get some free drinks.” Gerard said lifting his mask and lighting a cigarette.

“Yeah sounds like a good plan.” Frank said bumming a drag from Gerard’s cigarette.

We walked to Kyle’s house hearing the music from down the driveway. We entered and saw everyone dressed up. We made our way to his kitchen where Kyle was at. He spotted me right away.

“Hey you came!” He said yelling over the music as he hugged me.

“Yeah we were trick or treating around here and decided to stop by for a while!” I yelled. Kyle had stopped trying to hook up with me and settled for us being just friends. We had actually grown to be really close friends and I was happy everything was good with him.

“Happy Birthday man!” Kyle said to Frank patting him on the back.

“Thank you!” Frank said smiling. Frank had gotten over the whole jealousy thing with Kyle now. He was okay with Kyle and I being friends.

“Please help yourself to whatever you want and enjoy the party!” Kyle said as he hugged me and left the kitchen. I mixed myself a drink making sure not to make it too strong. We still had to go back to my house for Frank’s surprise party.

“Gee!” I motioned or him to lean closer to me. “Make sure that Frank doesn’t drink too much. We still have to go back to my house!”

Gerard nodded his head. “I’ll keep an eye on him!”

I smiled thanking him and walked to Frank kissing him on the cheek. He smiled and wrapped an arm around my waist pulling me closer to him. After an hour we were talking to some of our friends at school when Gerard cursed out loud. We all looked at him wondering what was wrong.

“We have to go now!” He yelled pulling Frank and me out the kitchen.

“Why?” Frank asked confused as I was.

“Brittany!” Gerard hissed. Frank’s face fell and grabbed my hand pulling me outside.

“Who’s Brittany?” I asked stopping. Last time we were at Kyle’s house Gerard was talking about her too. He never explained to me who she was and why everyone was always upset when hearing her name.

“She’s my ex.” Frank said softly. “She’s also the one that was kissing me last time at Kyle’s party.”

My heart sank a little remembering what I saw. “Oh.”

“I never really explained to you what happened that night. After I went to the bathroom she found me and asked if we could talk. She took me outside and threw herself on me and that’s when you saw us.”

“It’s ok Frank. Thank you for explaining” I said smiling softly at him. He smiled back pulling me to him and kissing me.

“I see you’ve found someone else.” A female voice said. We pulled apart to see a blonde girl smoking a cigarette next to us. Frank sighed heavily letting me go and looking at her.

“Hey Brittany.” Frank said rubbing the back of his neck.

So this is Brittany?

She had long dirty blonde hair passed her shoulders, almost stick thin, big boobs, and blue eyes. She was pretty short like me but you couldn’t tell with her high heels. She was wearing a nurse outfit, which was way too short. I saw her look me up and down before flicking her cigarette to the ground and walk to Frank.

“Happy birthday babe.” She said coyly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. He was hesitant at first but hugged her back.

“Thanks.” He said pulling away from her. “And don’t call me babe.”

“Aw why not? You used to love it when I called you that.” She said with a wink. I felt sick.

“Yeah used to. We’re not together anymore.” He said coldly.

“So is she your new girlfriend?” Brittany asked glaring at me.

“No.” Frank said trying to be nice but losing his patience.

“Oh then I still have a chance with you.” Brittany said eyeing Frank up and down.

Frank sighed, “No Brit, you don’t. We’re done. I’m never going to get back with you.”

Just as Brittany was about to say something mean most likely, Gerard and the boys showed up. Gerard told us to go ahead and walk out. As we walked down the driveway I looked back to see Gerard talking to Brittany. They were arguing and she pointed at me yelling at Gerard.

Whoa she’s crazy.

“I’m sorry about that.” Frank said softly. He had his head down. I laced my fingers with him and he looked up smiling at me.

“Don’t worry about it. We all have crazy exes.” I said laughing softly.

*Frank’s POV*

We walked back to Gerard’s car and made our way back to Rose’s house. Rose and the boys walked ahead of me to her house. They quickly entered and Rose stood by the door waiting for me. I entered and it was complete pitch black. When she closed the door the lights went on and many people yelling, “Surprise!”

I stood there shocked for a moment but then realized what was going on. I smiled uncontrollably as I saw my mom, Rose, Ray, Bob, Mikey and Gerard’s parents. They all hugged and told me happy birthday. I looked around to see black and orange streamers running across the ceiling. Spider webs across furniture and the staircase. I walked to the dinner table where Rose and the boys were. A huge banner black banner with red lettering that said, ‘Happy Birthday Frank!” was behind the dining table. The dining table was made with two tables put together and a Halloween themed table cloth.

“Surprised?” Rose asked laughing.

“Yes! You guys are amazing.” I said hugging all of them and kissing Rose. We all sat around the dining table and ate. They told me that my mom and Rose’s mom had been cooking all day for us. The other parent’s helped decorate the house and rearrange the furniture so we could all fit. There was spaghetti, the garlic bread that I loved when I first met Rose and her parents, salad, soup, and baked potato. I was in heaven with all the amazing food.

We finished eating and we started opening presents in the living room. I opened each present with speed and excitement. I got lots of clothes and money from the parents. Gerard got me a Black Flag shirt, Ray got me The New Bouncing Souls CD, Bob got me skeleton gloves, and Mikey got me A Nightmare Before Christmas sweater. I gave them all hugs, thanking them. Rose pulled me close to her and whispered in my ear, “I’ll give your present later.” I nodded my head and smiled.

“So is that all the presents?” Ms. Way asked.

“Yeah.” I said putting away the gifts into bags.

“Ok time for cake then!” Rose’s mom said walking to the kitchen with my mom. They came back with a two layered cake with the candles lit. As I got closer I saw designs from A Nightmare before Christmas and in the middle written ‘Happy Birthday Frank.’ They all started to sing happy birthday to me. As I blew out the candles Rose got some of the frosting and smeared it in my face. I grabbed some too smearing it in her face. We both laughed as we cleaned ourselves. The cake was double chocolate with vanilla frosting on top and in the middle. The cake was moist and soft since they made it from scratch. Everyone stayed for a little while before going home. My mom was tired so she went home with all my presents and I stayed with Rose to see what my present was. After I tried to help clean up, Rose wouldn’t let me since I was the birthday boy, her parents went to bed. Rose and I walked down to her room.

“So to be honest with you, I had no idea what to get you for your birthday.” She said as she leaned against her piano.

“Ouch.” I said jokily.

“I’m sorry but it’s true. I knew what you like but I just couldn’t find the right gift for you.”

“You know you didn’t have to get me anything. Being with you all day was enough.” I walked towards and kissed her. She pulled away smiling.

“I know but at the last minute the perfect gift was right under my nose.”

“Oh?”

“Do you remember yesterday when you snatched the notebook out of my hands?” She asked me as I laughed remembering. “Well I was writing a song and last night I finished it.” She paused and I waited for her to continue. “I realized that the song was about you.” I looked at her surprised and happy. She sat on the bench for the piano and motioned me to sit down next to her. “So my birthday gift to you is this song.”

As soon as she said that, her fingers started to hit the keys.

“Breathe air, you're not used to
Tread floors, you don't fall through
Make waves, you crash a symbol hard
Follow no one, always play the wrong card

Waste days in foreign places
Shed lights on your better side
Reassure me that you'll wait for me
Wait for me as long as it takes
And I'll hold my breath, I'll hold my breath

Until you see me in your dreams
We'll stay awake beneath the trees
We'll watch the buildings turn to dust
A sky of diamonds just for us

You are the risk I'll always take
The only branch I'll never break
Those fears, we'll blow them all way
We'll blow them all way

Fight fires in your best clothes
Touch skin with your eyes closed
Chase thunder with the volume down
Pack a suitcase, wander to the next town

Force quit on your losing streak
Solve a riddle in a magazine, be tongue in cheek
Tell me that we're still too young
That we're still too young and I'll hold my tongue

Until you see me in your dreams
We'll stay awake beneath the trees
We'll watch the buildings turn to dust
A sky of diamonds just for us

You are the risk I'll always take
The only branch I'll never break
Those fears, we'll blow them all way
We'll blow them all way

I'm here, I'm here to take you
I'll swim, I'll swim to save you
No fall, I'm here to catch you
I'll swim, I will swim to save you

Until you see me in your dreams
We'll stay awake beneath the trees
We'll watch the buildings turn to dust
A sky of diamonds just for us

You are the risk I'll always take
The only branch I'll never break
Those fears, we'll blow them all way
We'll blow them all way”

My heart felt like it was going to explode. She looked at me smiling softly and waited for me to say something. But I couldn’t. I didn’t know what to say. I was speechless by her song. I looked into her eyes and pulled her to me kissing her. When I pulled away I found my voice.
“That is the best present anyone ever gave me.” I said softly. She smiled and kissed me again. We went to bed together happily in each other’s arms. As I drifted off to sleep all I could think of was her song. Just like it said, I’d wait for her no matter how long it takes.