You Give Love a Bad Name

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" I swore loudly, causing a few heads to turn my way with sheer shock and disprovement at my actions.

Cara threw an apologetic glance towards an elderly woman who was staring at me with distaste and grabbed my arm, leading me towards the mall's food courts.

It was two days before Frank's birthday, and I had nothing, nothing, to give him!

For the past three days I've been cruising through malls, desperately trying to find something that would interest Frank, but had no such luck. If it wasn't for Cara, Melanie, and Logan who faithfully tugged along on those wretched shopping sprees, my hysteria would have done me in on the first day.

"Take big breaths and relax," Melanie pushed me on to the nearby bench and sat down next to me. "We're gonna find Frank a present, don't you worry."

"That's what you said two days ago!" I groaned, burying my face in my hands and heaving a great sigh. "And all we got so far is a pair of socks for Logan."

"They were on sale," he justified himself with a small smile. "Besides, I agree with Melanie, you worry too much."

"Easy for you to say," I said through clenched teeth. "All of you already have something for him. Even Logan, and he met Frank only last Sunday."

For some reason Logan started laughing.

"Whaaaat?" I questioned, puzzled and somewhat annoyed.

"Who do you think the socks are for?"

"What are we doing after this?" Logan asked me softly as both of us stared at the retreating backs of Cara and Melanie, who went to Panda Express to - as Melanie kindly put it - 'fuel up on bamboo shots'.

"Um," I rubbed the back of my neck in frustration, now staring at the ground. "I have no idea. Cara's going out with Jake, and I dunno about Melanie."

"Want to go to my place and watch a movie?" Logan offered and I heard a rustle of paper bags, making me look up. He was holding a shiny DVD titled Live Freaky, Die Freaky. "I got it today at Streetlight Records, it's supposed to be good. Its an animated film about Charles Manson with contributed voices starting from Green Day to AFI."

I grinned. "Sure. Will your parents mind though?"

The two times that I've been to Logans house - even though they were too nice and polite to say anything - I got the feeling that his parents didn't really like people over when they came home from work. I guess I wouldn't either if I worked hard all day and came home to a bunch of bratty kids running under my feet. Not that I was bratty or ran around like some sort of a maniac.

"Mom's at work till seven today and Dad is in Chicago on a business trip till Friday, so we're all clear." Logan explained, putting the DVD back in its bag.

"What does your Dad do?" I asked curiously. "I know that your Mom is a receptionist at a beauty spa, but your Dad - I have no idea."

"How do you know where my Mom works?" Logan asked me with mock suspicion, laughter dancing in his eyes. "I have a stalker already? Well, that was quick!"

I laughed and nudged him with my foot. "Shut up. Your Mom offered me a free facial."

Logan groaned and turned away from me in horror. "Oh God. Can she be anymore embarrassing?"

Smiling, I patted his shoulder. "Relax, I thought it was sweet. Anyway, back to your Dad."

"He's one of the lawyers for Reprise Records/Warner Music, so he travels a lot to their biggest headquarters, which are stationed anywhere from L.A. to Chicago."

"That must be so cool!" I exclaimed with excitement. "Does he meet with famous bands and stuff?"

Logan chuckled at my childish antics. "Yeah. He also gets inside scoop about secret shows and things like that. For example, Green Day is playing a secret gig next Friday in N.Y.C. I don't really like them myself, but I can get the tickets for you if you're interested."

My mouth almost fell open in shock. It was just too perfect!

"Can you get me two tickets?" I asked Logan sweetly. "And how much are they?"

"Um, sixty bucks each, but I can get them for free-"

"No, I'm paying," I refused flatly, not wanting to take advantage of him. "How soon can you get them?"

"Two days tops if I ask Dad to mail them," Logan said, looking at me with slight uncertainty. "Are you sure you want to pay? 'Cause-"

"Logan." I took both of his hands and mine and turned him so tha he was facing me. "You just saved my life. Paying is the least I can do."

"Saved your life?" he asked with confusion traced on his features. "How so?"

"Tickets for Frank and Manda," I replied, beaming, "his birthday gift."

"Ewww, nasty," Melanie squeaked, covering her eyes and blood mixed with flesh on the screen of the TV in front of us."I thought it was supposed to be a sweet and innocent cartoon, Logan."

"I never said that," he smirked, watching as Charles Manson's minions killed an elderly couple.

Melanie groaned and buried her face in the crook of my neck. "Tell me when it's over."

We were sprawled in the basement of my house on the old tattered couch, watching Live Freaky, Die Freaky, which was far from the innocent animated feature that I first thought it was going to be. We decided on my place instead of Logan's - like we first intended too - because his Mom called right after we left the mall to say that she was coming home early. Seeing that I didn't want to disturb her, I convinced Logan to move our little get-together into my house instead.

All of a sudden I felt my stomach produce s series of grumbles that were louder than exploding bombs. I sighed and pushed Melanie off of me. "I'm hungry. I'm going upstairs to the kitchen. You guys want anything?"

"Yeah, food," both of them replied in unison.

Laughing and shaking my head, I went up the stairs and into the cozy little room that I desired. Seeing that Melanie, Logan and I were the only ones in the house, I almost had a heart attack when I turned on the light and found some creep rummaging through the refrigerator.

Hearing the sharp intake of my breath, he looked up and flashed me a smile. "Sup?"

"Gerard, you scared the shit out of me," I hissed, coming over and slapping him on the arm. "Use lights next time - like normal people do. Ben Franklin invented the lightbulb for a reason, you know."

"Sure, okay," he dismissed my rambles with a wave of his hand and slammed the refrigerator door closed. "We have nothing to eat around here! I should have raided Frank's fridge when I had the chance."

My ears perked up. "You saw Frank?"

"Yeah," Gerard took out his wallet and started to look for something in it. "Manda came home last night and they had a huge fight. Want combination?"

I stared at him. "Huh?"

"Combination," he explained with a tad of annoyance. "I'm ordering pizza."

"Sure," I seriously didn't care one way or another if it was combination, cheese, or anchovies that he ordered. There were more important matters on my mind. "Manda came home? I thought she was supposed to come home tomorrow."

"Yeah, she was," Gerard started dialing the pizza place's phone number in his cell. "But her Mom ate something bad and got sick, so they decided to end their vacation a bit early."

"What was the fight about?" I asked, trying to control my heart which was beating out of control.

"Some petty bullshit. Apparently, Frank didn't call her enough when she was in Hawaii, or something like that. I seriously don't know why he even bothers with her. I would have dumped Manda's ass a long time ago. Hello? Pizza My Heart? Yeah, I would like to order a large, combination pizza with..."

I tuned out Gerard's voice and sat down on the counter, trying to calm myself down. It wasn't right that I felt so hopeful - he was my best friend after all. That is all we were ever going to be - best friends, even if he did dump Manda.

"Hey, Gerard?" My voice was soft and berly audible. "Are they - are they still together?"

He looked up, surprised. "What? Yeah, yeah they are. By the way that girl is holding on to him, I think it will take more than one fight to end their relationship."