You Give Love a Bad Name

Dammit, I thought angrily, trying to figure out a way out of this situation. The only way to get out from under Frank and away from his penetrating eyes, would be to surrender the possibility of me being the winner of this stupid game. And I was about to do just that.

"What are you doing?" Frank asked me with surprise as I started to slide from under him.

"Letting you win so I can answer my phone," I replied, standing up, which was only half of the truth. At this point in time, I just wanted to get as far away from this livingroom as possible so I could calm down and figure things out. Things like, why Frank, the guy that has been my best friend since I was nine years old, made me feel butterflies, something that people felt when they were nervous or exited. Or if they liked someone.

Of course, the last part was totally out of the question for me.

You just had too much to drink and this is the result, I tried to reassure myself, walking out of the room and trying to ignore Gerard's cries of pure triumph as he realized that I was out of the game.

Sighing, I took my phone out of my pocket, and examined the caller ID as I slid the glass door open so I could walk out into the backyard. Making sure that I indeed didn't know the number, I flipped it close and looked around at my surroundings.

Today was a typical August day. The air was getting cooler with every minute, but it was warm enough that I wouldn't need a jacket as I stood on the lush, emerald grass, staring at the swaying trees, deep in thought. Lukewarm breeze played with my jet black strands of hair, picking up some fallen leaves, only so it could carry them away.

"Shit," I jumped, startled, as the phone started to vibrate once again in my pocket. Fishing it out, I quickly flipped it open and brought it to my ear. "Hello?"

"Lena?"

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, not recognizing the voice at all. "Yeah. Who is this?"

"It's Melanie. Melanie Hamilton. The girl from your Foods class?"

"Oh, hey," I breathed out as I started to make my way towards the wooden fence that separated our land from the neighbors'. "I didn't recognize your voice, sorry about that. What's up?"

"Boredom. My Mom and sister canceled our little shopping trip, so I've been stuck in my barely furnished room for the past three hours, doing absolutely nothing."

I chuckled at the annoyance in her voice, sitting down on the cold ground and leaning against the fence. "You should have called me! There’s a small get-together at my place, and we are in a desperate need of females, so get your ass over here."

"I guess. How can I not, seeing that you've asked so nicely."

I laughed, detecting a note of teasing sarcasm in her voice, as I picked at a blade of grass absentmindedly. "Listen, can you stay over? Mikey and I can drive you to school tomorrow. It'd be fun."

"Wait, let me see if my parents are okay with it."

There was a pause, and a slight rustling could be heard on the other line, along with some muffled voices.

"Lena?"

I straightened up, shuffling my body weight around a bit from the lack of movement. "Yeah?"

"I can. I just need your address and stuff, for the obvious reason that I don't know where you live."

Smiling, I informed Melanie of my whereabouts and she promised me that she would be over in about fifteen minutes, seeing that she didn't live that far away from me, but she needed to pack the necessary items for her stay first.

"I'll see you in a few, then," I spoke into the phone, bidding ger farewell and closing my flip phone with a snap.

Before I put away my cell, I looked at the glowing screen to find that it read 6:10 PM, which would explain the growing darkness.

Not really wanting to go back inside, I hugged my knees to my chest and rested my chin against the rough fabric of my jeans, thinking about everything; school, my Mom and Dad, Mikey, Gerard, Laurie... Frank, and those butterflies.

He moved closer to my slightly trembling body. So close that I could see my reflection in his hazel eyes.

"Do I make you nervous?" He asked in a whisper.

It was a 'Yes' or 'No' question. He didn't ask for an explanation. But I couldn't answer. I couldn't answer him for the fear that if I opened my mouth, all my thoughts and feelings would come spilling out, forming sentences that I would regret later on.

I shuddered involuntarily as I recalled the dream that I had a couple of days earlier.

I was making a big deal out of nothing. It was only natural for me to feel attached to Frank, seeing that I almost lost him as a friend. Yeah, that was it. I was just afraid that if I let go, I would lose him again. This time for good. That's the only explanation that made sense anyway...

"What are you up to?"

Startled for the second time in the last thirty minutes, I turned around to see Gerard standing next to me with a cheesy smile on his face, holding a lighted cigarette in his hands.

I shrugged and patted a spot next to me, waiting till Gerard sat down to snatch the cigarette away from him.

"What the hell?" My oldest brother asked, mildly outraged, as he watched me take a drag and throw my head back to blow the smoke out into the ever darkening air. "I thought you quit."

"I need to calm down," I sated simply, taking a drag once again.

Gerard studied me, looking somewhat interested and surprisingly sober, despite the amount of alcohol that he had tonight. "Why?"

"Dad," I lied, passing the cigarette back to him. "School, Laurie, just life in general."

Gerard’s frowned as he continued to analyze my faraway expression. Suddenly, he raised his index finger up into the air and pulled out a nearly empty vodka bottle with only one thirds of it's contents still splashing around.

"This should help," he said brightly, extending the bottle to my slumped form.

"Shouldn't you keep that stuff away from me? Seeing that you're my older brother and all," I smirked, taking his offering never less.

I didn't have to look Gerard to know that he rolled his eyes. "You're not a kid, Lena. You can make your own choices. But if it makes you feel better, I can go all 'protective brother' and shit on your ass."

I chuckled, taking a sip straight from the bottle, not bothering to go inside for a shot glass. "Thanks, but no thanks. I like you better like this. What are you doing out here anyway?"

"Bob made me lose at Twister," Gerard replied bitterly, staring straight ahead with a scowl.

So much for the sober part, I thought with a snort.

"How?" I asked, taking another sip of vodka, trying to make myself loosen up a bit.

"Fucker made me laugh so hard that I lost my balance," he informed me, crossing his arms childishly with a pout.

I grinned and shook my head, feeling a sudden warmth spreading in my stomach as I stood up and grabbed Gerard by his hand. "Shall we go get some revenge, then?"