You Give Love a Bad Name

I shivered and pulled my thick, knitted scarf tighter around me as the cool gust of November wind rushed past me, blowing stray strands of black hair away from my slightly flushed face. Hiding my hands in the pockets of my warm jacket, I looked around the street with mild curiosity. The trees around me were bare, preparing themselves for the enduring winter that laid ahead, and the streets were pretty much empty, besides the few occasional people who rushed from their cars to the safety of their warm homes.

"Lena?"

I watched a few dry, brown leaves flutter past me before I turned to Mikey. "Yeah?"

His glasses flashed from one of the last rays of the dimming sunlight as he studied me with annoyance. "Have you even been listening to me for the past twenty-five minutes?"

I blinked and looked away in shame. "Not really. Sorry. I've been thinking."

"About what?"

"Life."

"Oh."

"Well, what did you ask me?" I questioned, and out of the corner of my eye I could see Mikey kick a stray pebble across the street.

"Do you want to swing by with me to Ray's work so I can pick up some picks? I always seem to lose mine," he replied, following my example and hiding his hands in the pockets of his coat.

I shrugged. "Sure. I don't have anything better to do today, anyway."

We walked another five minutes in silence, both of us trying to brace our bodies from the icy wind.

"Fuck, it's cold today," Mikey mumbled finally, as we were about fifteen feet away from our house. "Do you think it's going to snow soon?"

Just thinking about the cold winter that was about to come made goose bumps spill all over my body. "Hopefully not. I'm not big on winter."

Mikey laughed, going up to our front door and taking out a key. "How come?"

"You know, you prat," I joked, punching him on the arm lightly. "I think it has something to do with your and Gerard's 'tradition'."

"I don't see what's wrong with our 'tradition'," Mikey said innocently, twisting the key inside the lock, and stepping inside the warm atmosphere of the livingroom.

"Oh really?" I stumbled in after him, taking off my scarf. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? Now I'm going to be the one who dumps a pile of freshly-fallen snow on you and Gerard while you sleep, to 'wake you up'."

"But it's only because we want the first snow of the year to be the first thing you experience in the morning," Mikey smirked, taking off his coat and starting to walk towards the stairs. "You have a tendency to sleep like the dead."

"Keep talking and you will be dead," I grumbled, following him.

"Mikey? Lena? Is that you?"

"Yeah, Mom!" Mikey hollered, almost tripping on a stair.

"I need to talk to the both you! I'm in the kitchen."

Mikey sighed and changed his course of direction. "Okay! Coming!"

"Hey, Mom," I greeted her as soon as Mikey and I were inside the kitchen, coming over and giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," she replied, kissing me and Mikey on our forehands, a tired smile nested on her face. "Where have you guys been? It's almost five."

I gulped and looked at Mikey, only to find that he was returning my panicked look.

Somehow Mikey and I managed to plant ourselves in detention, today. Mikey, because he was texting during class, and me, well, I fell asleep during class. I had a huge test for Calculus, and I've been studying for it all week, which resulted in me not getting enough sleep.

"Um...art club?" he mumbled quickly. "They meet on Fridays."

I rolled my eyes. Not only was Mikey the most unconvincing liar imaginable, Mom also knew that I couldn't draw to save my life. Gerard was the artist in the family.

"Right," Mom gave both of us a suspicious glance before running a hand through her dark hair. "Anyway, I have good news."

"You finally decided to listen to me and Mikey and ban Gerard from the bathroom in the mornings?" I looked at her hopefully, taking an apple from the kitchen counter and taking a bite. "He almost made me late for school today, you know. I had to threaten him with burning of his comic books before he opened the door and let me take a shower."

Mom sighed, laughing lightly. "You kids need to learn how to share."

"I have to agree with Lena on this one," Mikey defended, sitting down behind the table, across from our mom. "Gerard's unreasonable when it comes to his 'grooming'."

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to look good," Mom reasoned, holding up a finger as soon as she saw that Mikey and I opened our mouths to argue. "Do you want to hear the news or not?"

I took another bite of my apple. "Sure."

"Lena, don't talk with your mouth full," Mom scolded, shooting a disapproving look in my direction.

I swallowed, ignoring Mikey's smirk. "Sorry, Mom. As you were saying?"

"Your grandma and I finally figured out when to have the family reunion," Mom beamed, looking at me and Mikey with excited eyes. "Thanksgiving. Isn't this great?"

"But that's in like...um," Mikey counted on his fingers, "less than two weeks!"

"Yeah! We need to prepare for these things!" I complained, thinking of all the relatives and annoying, bratty, cousins and second cousins.

"Do we have to go?" Mikey whined, his head hitting the table with exasperation. "Because I really, really don't want to!"

"Mikey!" Mom's smile turned into a scowl.

"Fine," Mikey sighed, clearly defeated. "Is Gerard going?"

Everyone is going," Mom said with a note of finality in her voice. "Including Gerard."

Mikey looked a bit cheered up by this. I guess watching your siblings suffering through the same ordeal as you does lifts one's spirits. "Okay. Is there anything else? Lena and I have to go somewhere."

Mom shook hear head and turned back to the pile of mail she was sorting before we came. "No, that's all. Where are you guys going?"

"Guitar World," I replied, already walking out of the room. "Mikey needs some picks."