Breaking Hearts Has Never Looked So Cool

The perplexing mystery of who had called the cops on us was one that was never far from my mind. I turned the facts over and over in my head in vain, never being able to come up with an answer.

“Chill out,” said Gerard about two weeks later, when I quietly told him that it was still bothering me. He carefully placed his warm hands on my shoulders and the mere presence of his touch calmed me down. I could feel his normal, gentle pulse, and it was soothing to me.

“Doesn’t it bother you?” I asked, turning around to face him, “someone was trying to get you charged with a criminal offence and you don’t even care who it was?”

He made a face, and was clearly thinking, trying to formulate an articulate response.
“What’s up?” said Mikey’s voice. He was sauntering back in from the kitchen with a tray full of drinks. Frank followed in his wake with a big bowl of popcorn to accompany the ‘vintage’ horror film we would be watching.

I had to confess, it was nice to hang out with just Mikey, Frank and Gerard. The three of them encapsulated the roles of boyfriend, brother (well, technically, cousin) and best friend without the need for any outside help whatsoever. I felt momentarily guilty for not including Annabelle in my appraisal of ‘most significant people,’ but immediately pushed those feelings aside. In just a mere two weeks, she had managed to kiss 4 guys who weren’t her boyfriend. Mikey had said that he didn’t care because it was ‘just making out’ and she ‘was positively paralytic,’ but I could see sadness behind his eyes that stemmed from her betrayal. It had been going on for months, but it seemed to be reaching its absolute peak. That was partly one of the reasons why she hadn’t been invited.

“Connie’s still worried about the tip-off thing,” Gerard explained, helping himself to a handful of popcorn,

Frank and Mikey were the only ones in our circle to know what actually had happened, and that was because they were family.

“I don’t blame you!” Mikey addressed me, “if I were in your position, I wouldn’t rest ‘til I found out who it was!”

“Yeah,” agreed Frank fervently, “there’s clearly someone out there who’s got it in for you, and just because they didn’t succeed this time at this thing, that doesn’t mean that they’re not going to try to do something else again...”

Gerard shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, as though he was physically shrugging the unnecessary weight of worry off of himself, “We’re out of that now,” he said, “and we’re fine! We’re great! I’d like to know who it was but...it could have been anyone,”

“Well no,” I found myself correcting, “not that many people knew about it...”

“I would have bet on Auntie Liza,” said Frank thoughtfully, (‘Auntie Liza’ being my mother, of course).

“Why would she report Gerard to the police and then not press charges?” I asked incredulously, “Besides, she’s not that much of a tyrant, she’s actually pretty understanding!” I defended,

“I know!” replied Frank, holding his hands up in surrender, “I love Auntie Liza, but she sure is protective of you,”

I raised my eyebrows, “so are you, Frank, but you wouldn’t report Gerard to the cops,”

“True,” said Frank, “but that’s because Gerard’s my friend...if he wasn’t...”

“Oh stop having an answer for everything!” I cut across him,
“The only other people who knew were us...” said Mikey quietly, “well, and everyone else of course,”

Frank guffawed at the suggestion, “None of our best friends would do something like that!” he scoffed, “that’s crazy!”

“I agree,” I said firmly. The idea that one of my closest friends could betray me - and Gerard like that was unthinkable. I put my trust into each of them totally, and the fact was that everyone in our group was desperate for Gerard and me to get together, so they would have no reason to try and sabotage us.

“Maybe it was a teacher,” commented Gerard, toying with the DVD box as if he was trying to convey that he was bored with the subject at hand, and desperate to continue onwards with the film,

“What?” I asked sceptically, “shockingly my teachers know absolutely nothing about my private life,” I added in a sarcastic undertone,

“I know,” sighed Gerard exasperatedly, “But I’ve picked you up at school a few times, maybe one saw and thought I looked a bit dodgy,”

I wrinkled my nose. It didn’t seem very likely to me, but I could sense that everyone in the room was bored of this topic now. My mind still working at a thousand miles per hour to try and work out what had happened, I nodded vaguely.

“Maybe,” I said quietly,

“Now can we watch the film?” he asked, waving the DVD case in front of me,

“Yes,” I sighed, getting up to sit next to Mike and Frank, “but only if you let me grab your arm in the really scary bits,”
“You can grab any part of me you like sugar,” joked Gerard,

“Oh get a ROOM,” cried out Frank, giggling like an innocent schoolgirl.

I rolled my eyes at him and turned my attention to the screen.

About halfway into the film, it started to get really scary. It wasn’t just ‘clutch Gerard’s arm and resist squealing’ scary, it was ‘squeeze eyes tightly shut and run off blindly into the distance’ scary.

I opened my eyes after one such moment had passed to see that Mikey’s position on the couch was now vacant. A jolt of worry resounded in my stomach. He had been making a valiant effort at being positive and happy for that whole day; he had smiled brightly and nodded eagerly and done all of the things he normally did, but the light in his eyes was gone and he seemed completely lacklustre in every way. In moments when he thought no one was looking at him, his expression briefly slipped into being downcast and almost despairing.

“I’m just going to go and get a drink,” I whispered to Gerard, who nodded without looking away from the screen. He seemed to be compelled to watch the guts and gore that were being sprayed everywhere, and although Frank winced, he seemed to be enjoying it too.

As I had predicted, Mikey was standing forlornly in the kitchen, looking blankly down at the work surface.

“Hey,” I said quietly, “are you ok?”

When he looked up I was shocked to see that his eyes were glistening with tears, “no,” he said hoarsely, “not really,”

I rushed to give him a tight and comforting hug, “what’s wrong?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

“Annabelle,” he said in a word, and I understood.

I knew that it was partly my duty as Annabelle’s closest female friend to defend her somewhat, but I could not think of a single argument that justified her abhorrent actions.

“I know that what she does is totally wrong,” I said carefully, gently laying a hand on Mikey’s arm, “and I really dislike her for doing it, but if it’s any consolation, she only ever does let herself slip when she’s really drunk and it’s never on purpose...”

Mikey didn’t respond, he remained fixed on the same spot. The expression on his face was so similar that I wondered if he had even registered that I had been speaking.

“She does love you, you know,” I added, guessing that he would need that reassurance.

He snorted loudly at that, “If that’s the case, she has a really weird way of showing it,”

I sighed; there was nothing I could say in this situation that would even vaguely help.

“There’s something I haven’t told anyone,” said Mikey in his tiniest voice, so quiet that I had to lean in closer to hear these words,

“What’s that?” I asked, intrigued,

“She didn’t just make out with one of the guys...”

I felt my jaw slacken, “what did she do?” I gasped,
“She...” Mikey couldn’t seem to get the words out, “Base three,” he stated, settling on the euphemism.

I was shocked; I hadn’t known that it had gotten that bad, after all.

“I had no idea it was that bad,” I said in a small voice, fighting the urge to send a very indignant text message to Annabelle,
“Well, now you know,” said Mikey in a mock cheerful voice, “I know that she was only doing it because she was drunk, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less...”

“I can’t even begin to imagine,” I said in a daze. The very idea of Gerard doing that to me was something I didn’t even want to contemplate.

“You had better watch out,” said Mikey weakly,

“Why?” I asked, bemused,

“Gerard’s the same as Annabelle you know,” he said as though he was doing me some great service by making me privy to this information,

“No he’s not!” I protested, “He’s nothing like her!”

“He enjoys a drink!” countered Mikey, “and he drinks a lot! He gets drunk and he forgets things...he speaks to other girls lots as well,”

“So?” I replied in a high voice. Until Mikey brought them to my attention, these things had never bothered me particularly,

“Other girls want him the way that other guys want Annabelle,” said Mikey sadly, “all he needs is the right amount of alcohol to be pliable...”

That was a terrifying prospect, but I tried to look as if Mikey wasn’t getting to me.

“Just be more assertive than I’ve been,” whispered Mikey sadly, loping off back to the sitting room.

I took a moment to consider what said. He had exposed me to another world of worry, and opened the door to my insecurities. After I had returned to the film, and to Gerard’s arms, I tried to blot out everything Mikey had said, but it was virtually impossible. I knew now that I would be haunted by Mikey’s ominous words for a long time to come...