You Give Love a Bad Name

My eyes narrowed and I pushed Logan away. "That's not true!"

"Lena." Now it was his time to sigh. "I'm not stupid, you know. We may not have known each other for long, but it's obvious, at least to me, that whenever both of you are together, your face lights up like a shooting star."

"Shooting stars light up?" I asked nervously, trying to change the topic.

"That's not the point," Logan waved his hand in dismissal. "Figure of speech. What I'm really trying to say is that you should talk to Frank. Tell him how you feel and I'm pretty sure in the end it will all work out."

"Okay, first of all," I started, poking my index finger in his chest. "He doesn't like me like that. Which brings us to the second point, the only thing that will come out of me telling Frank about my stupid schoolgirl crush - that is going to go away soon, by the way - is the loss of his friendship and perhaps a restraining order."

"Why would Frank file a restraining order against you?" Logan asked, looking confused.

"Not him. You. If you tell anyone about, well, you-know-what, I'll hunt you down and kick your ass." I crossed my arms and tried to look tough.

That only made him smile. "Okay, fine, you have my word. I think we should change the subject, though. Your brother is coming over."

"Mikey?"

"Sup, sis? How was the dance?" Gerard's hand clamped on my shoulder as he came up behind me. "Hi, Logan."

"Um, hey." And just like that, the fierce Logan that I spoke to a second ago evaporated and in front of me stood a jittering boy. "I'm j-just gonna go use the bathroom. Bye."

Gerard raised his eyebrow as he watched Logan maneuver through the crowd and out of sight. "Is it me or is does this guy always has to go somewhere whenever I come around?"

"Nope, just you," I answered back loyally.

"Anyway," Gerard turned towards me and tilted his head to the side, examining the almost-full vodka bottle that Logan thrust in my hands before leaving. "Mikey called. He said that something, uh, unsatisfactory happened at the dance. He wouldn't say what, though. Care to explain?"

I groaned and poured myself another shot. "Yeah, I'm in deep shit tomorrow, that's what."

Gerard's eyes narrowed as they left the bottle and traveled to mine. "What?"

"Manda went ballistic and accused Frank of cheating. With me of all people. I'm seriously debating weather or not to switch schools with all of the shit that I'm probably going to get from Manda's minions." I laughed humorlessly and shook my head. "Maybe I'll leave the country?"

"Lena, be serious," Gerard shushed me, looking deeply lost in thought. "You did tell her that it wasn't true, right?"

"How do you kno-"

"Dammit, Lena, it's not a time for your sarcasm. Did you?"

"I tried, but she spat in my face."

Gerard sighed and gave me a quick, one-armed hug. "I'm going to go and call Frank, okay? Don't worry, sugar, we're going to sort this all out."

I nodded and watched as he walked towards the backyard, fishing for his cell phone in his tattered zombie pants.

This was going to be a long night...

"Yo, Lena!"

I turned around and smiled. "Hey, Bob. Nice costume."

He grinned and shrugged. "What can I say? Ninjas are hot. How did you know it was me, by the way?"

My eyes trailed over his black ensemble and stopped on the ninja mask. "Your voice."

Bob looked at my puffy blue dress that coated me like a cloud. "And you are - "

I cringed and put my index finger to his lips. "Merriweather from The Three Good Faeries, okay? Call me a marshmallow and it'll be last thing you say."

Bob laughed and lifted up his hands in defense. "Okay, okay, fine, whatever you say."

I grinned weakly and hoped that it looked like I was having fun. That everything was normal and I wasn't going to be eaten alive in school tomorrow.

Bob's lips tightened in a straight line with worry. "Are you okay? You look distraught."

I faked a smile and clapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about me. When are the strippers coming over, anyway?"

Bob looked surprised but then winked. "Why? Want to be in the front?"

I made a face. "Actually, no. I'm asking so I can go and lock myself in my room when that happens."

Bob laughed and looked around. "Where's Frank?"

"At the dance."

"Oh. Then why are you here?"

"Um, I got bored?" I bit my lip and looked away. "Is there anything you wanted to ask me when you came over?"

He nodded, catching on. "Um, yeah. Where's Gee? I need to ask him something."

I nodded at the sliding, glass door. "Backyard. He's, uh, making a phone call."

"Well, I'm off then. There's people to see, beer to drink, y'know?"

And with that I was left alone once more.

All of a sudden I felt a vibrating sensation near my chest. Puzzled, I took out my cell phone from it's hiding place, which happened to be my cleavage, and looked at the screen.

Frank.

I sighed and let the phone go to voicemail. Speaking to Frank was the last thing I wanted to do right now. I needed some time to compose myself and figure out what to do.

I tried to block out the pulsing music and the chatter of the one hundred and fifty people that were currently crammed in my house. A headache was starting to creep up on my exhausted brain, so I decided to head up to my room and lay down.

I pushed a couple of drunk people out of my way and started to make my way up the stairs, feeling like my head was about to explode.

My room was drunk and - thankfully - unoccupied. A beam of moonlight fell through the soft carpet and into my bed, inviting me to lay down and block out the music from downstairs and relax.

That's exactly what I did.

I threw myself on the comfortable-looking comforter and felt it literally groan underneath me.

I muffled a scream that rose in my throat as I realized that I wasn't the only one who was sprawled on my bed.