Hand in Mine, Into Your Icy Blues

After my parents’ divorce, my mom decided it was time to pack our bags and start fresh. I wasn’t too fond of this idea, considering I only had one year left in high school, but my mom insisted that moving would be good for us. My mother and father never really got along, so once the divorce was finalized, she couldn’t wait to get as far from him as possible. I still loved my dad, but we were never really that close, so I knew I wasn’t going to be affected by his absence in my life. But still, the idea of beginning my last year of high school in an unfamiliar place made me nervous. Everyone already had their friends. How was I supposed to fit in? Especially when I was an outcast to begin with.

The summer after the divorce, we moved into our new home in Belleville, New Jersey. My mom picked Belleville because my grandparents lived a few towns over. She figured it would be nice to live close to some relatives. The town seemed nice; our new neighborhood was pretty cool. So far, Belleville seemed like a decent place to live.

August 12, 2012……

It had been a few days since we moved in. Most of the boxes were unpacked, and I had found a place for most of my things in my new room.

I really liked my new room. The walls were a dark purple color, and the floor was covered in gray carpet. My bed was dressed in a black velvet comforter, and I had various posters of my favorite bands and movies displayed all over the place. There were black sheer curtains draped on my window, causing the room to look dark, even during the day time. I didn’t mind though, I prefer the dark anyways.

“Christie, some of the neighbors are here to meet us! Come down stairs!” I could barely hear my mother call for me over the sound of my iPod. We hadn’t met any of the new neighbors yet, so I was excited to go downstairs and finally meet some people from Belleville. In our old neighborhood, we didn’t have much luck with the neighbors (they were all either rude or crazy), so I was hoping that maybe we had moved next to a nice family or two.

I got up off my bed and quickly checked myself in the mirror to make sure I looked okay. My dyed black hair was tied into a high ponytail, and my bangs were still angled around my face just the way they should be. My thick winged eyeliner hadn’t smudged, and my nude lipstick still hadn’t faded. Good to go, I thought to myself as I left my room and walked down the stairs.

As I approached the front door, I saw my mother standing next to four people on the front doorstep of our home. They looked like a pretty average family, at least by my standards. There was a mother and a father and two teenage boys, probably about my age, give or take a few years. I went outside the door to get a closer look and introduce myself.

“Chrystie, come meet the neighbors!” my mom said to me as I came through the doorway. “This is Mr. and Mrs. Way, and their two sons, Mikey and Gerard.”

“Hey, everyone, I’m Chrystie Davenport,” I said as I smiled at the family. I caught one of the brothers looking at me after I spoke, but I couldn’t remember which one it was.

“Hi sweetie, you and your mother seem like great people, I’m sure we’ll all get to know each other very well! We live in the house two doors down from here,” Mrs. Way said to me as she pointed to their home down the street.

Mr. Way spoke next. “Gerard here has been bugging me for the past few days to come over here and introduce ourselves!” He laughed while pointing at his son. So Gerard was the one looking at me before, I thought to myself. I saw Gerard blush smile slightly when his father said this. He turned to his brother Mikey and whispered something that I couldn’t hear.

“Well, Chrystie, I was going to invite Donald and Donna in for some coffee, so I guess you can get acquainted with Mikey and Gerard!” my mom exclaimed. She seemed pretty excited about our new neighbors. Then again, they seemed pretty cool, so I could see why.

As my mother, Donna, and Donald walked into our house, I turned to Gerard and Mikey.

Mikey spoke to me as soon as I turned around. The first thing I really noticed about him was his cute, nerdy glasses and shaggy brown hair. “Hey Chrystie, it was nice meeting you, but I actually have to head over to my girlfriend’s house. I promised her I’d be there by six. Sorry we didn’t get to talk much, but I’m sure I’ll see you around! Again, nice meeting you!” He flashed me a smile and went to shake my hand.

“You, too, Mikey! See you around.” With that, he turned around and walked back to his house. That left me and Gerard alone. I saw him give me a small smile, but he didn’t say anything. I guess he’s kinda quiet like me, I thought to myself.

I decided to start the conversation first, which is rare for me. “So, you’ve been begging your parents to come over here?” I said to him as I let out a small laugh. Normally I wouldn’t be so bold, but I figured I might as well try to start fresh and act like I wasn’t totally shy. Gerard didn’t know I was socially awkward, not yet at least.

He looked slightly embarrassed when I said that. To my surprise, though, he seemed pretty comfortable when he began to talk. “Well, begged is a bit of an over exaggeration. I saw you guys move in and I thought it would be nice to come meet our new neighbors. You seemed like you were the same age as me and Mikey. ” Despite looking a bit flustered, Gerard looked me straight in the eye as he spoke. I was sort of taken aback by his charisma; he seemed like he was going to be shy; but then again, I’ve only known him for like, five minutes.

“Well, I’m glad you guys came over. I haven’t met anyone here yet. So, you’re in high school I’m guessing?” I asked him.

“Yeah, me and Mikey both. I’m gonna be a senior this year, and Mikey is gonna be a junior. What about you?” As he spoke, I got a better look at his face. He was pale with long black hair. And his eyes especially stood out to me. They were a really pretty hazel color. I couldn’t quite tell if they had more green or more brown in them.

“I’m gonna be a senior this year, too.” I said to him. He was still looking me straight in the eye. His confidence kind of enticed me.

“Well, hey, maybe we’ll have some classes together then!” Gerard laughed. He was finally starting to lighten up a little bit.

“Yeah, maybe!” I laughed back. He gave me a really adorable smile.

Gerard looked down for a moment as if he was contemplating something, and then looked back up. “Hey, so, I was thinking… If you are looking to make some friends, you can come hang out with me and Mikey’s friends. We were all actually gonna have a little get together tomorrow night at my house, if you wanted to stop by.” He seemed genuine.

I thought for a moment and decided that it would be a good idea to finally meet some new people from Belleville. “Yeah, sure, that’d be cool.” I responded. I saw Gerard’s face light up when I said yes.

“Great! It’ll just a few of us. Just a few of mine and Mikey’s good friends and maybe his girlfriend, I don’t know. I’m sure they will like you. You seem like you’d fit in with us.”

I laughed again. “Well, I hope so at least. I have a hard time fitting in, actually.”

Gerard looked surprised. “Why? You seem like a pretty cool girl. And I’m not trying to be stereotypical or anything, but just based on how you’re dressed right now, you look like you might be into the same stuff as us.” I glanced down at my outfit. I was wearing black skinny jeans with Doc Marten boots almost to my knees. I had a black cami on with a sugar skull in the middle. As I glanced up at Gerard again, I noticed we were dressed in a similar way. He had on black straight leg jeans with a pair of high top vans. He was wearing a black tee shirt with The Misfits logo on it in white.

“Well Gerard, based on the way you look, too, we probably are alike, “I joked.

Gerard took a step closer to me and pulled out his cell phone. He handed it to me. “Here, put your number in my phone, and I can text you tomorrow so you know what time to come over.” I took the phone from his hand and typed my number into his contacts list. As I handed it back to him, my hand brushed against his. For some reason I got butterflies.
He looked at my newly added contact in his phone and then looked up at me. “You spell your name with a ‘y’, that’s cool” He commented.

“Yeah, my full name is Crystal, so I decided to spell Chrystie with a ‘y’.” He smiled at me.

“Crystal. Very pretty,” he said. “But anyways, I actually have to get going, too. I’m sorry. I have a few things to take care of. But I’ll text you tomorrow, okay?”

“It’s okay, I understand. And okay, that sounds good,” I hope Gerard didn’t hear the disappointment in my voice. I didn’t want him to go just yet.

“Alright, cool! See you tomorrow, Chrystie!” He smiled and waved at me and started to walk back to his house. I watched him for a few seconds as he walked home. I couldn’t help but notice how cute he was.

After Gerard was gone, I went back into the house. Donna and Donald were still with my mother, drinking coffee and happily chatting away. Donna noticed me come back inside the house.

“Hey honey, where did the boys go?”

“Well, Mikey said he had to go meet his girlfriend, and Gerard said he had to go take care of a few things back at home,” I responded. “He invited me to hang out at your house tomorrow though, if that’s okay.”

Donna looked excited. “Of course it’s okay, sweetie! I’d love to have you over! I’m glad you and boys got along.”

I chatted with the adults for awhile before I went back upstairs to my room. I laid down on my bed and checked the clock. 6:45 PM. It was definitely too early to go to bed, but I was too tired to do anything else, so I pulled out my laptop and decided to relax for the rest of the night. I caught myself thinking about Gerard quite a few times…

Gerard’s Point of View:

As soon as I got home, I went to my room and plopped onto my bed. I pulled out my cell phone and noticed I had one missed call from about five minutes ago. It was from Lindsey. I told her I would call her tonight.

As I began to dial her number, I hesitated.

My friends were always insisting that I should ask Lindsey out. Lindsey had been a friend of mine for about a year and a half now. We weren’t officially a couple, but we kinda had a thing going on. Kind of.

I thought I liked her, so I wasn’t really sure why I was hesitating to call her back. Then my mind suddenly reminded me of Chrystie.

I would be lying if I said she wasn’t pretty. She was fucking gorgeous. I first saw her for the first time the day she moved in. I noticed a moving van pull into her driveway, so I looked out the window to see who the new neighbors were. I saw a car parked behind the van. And then she stepped out. She was so pretty, even though I only saw her through the window. But wow, today when I saw her up close for the first time…she was just so beautiful. Her eyes. They were so blue. I hope she didn’t think I was weird for staring at her the whole time, I just couldn’t help myself. She captivated me. And she seemed so calm, just like me. Don’t get me wrong, Lindsey is a cool girl, but her personality is almost opposite of mine. She is loud and outgoing, and I’m definitely more introverted.

I tried to think back to Lindsey again, the girl I was supposed to have a crush on. But my mind kept wandering back to the thought of Chrystie.

I decided to think about a solution to my situation. Chrystie and I just met for the first time today. I knew I couldn’t have a thing for her already. But I at least knew I was attracted to her. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t.

I continued to think about the situation in my head for about ten more minutes. I finally decided that I really wouldn’t know what to do until tomorrow, the day she was coming over to hang out with me and the guys. I would get to know her better then, and see where things went. Besides, it’s not like me and Lindsey were actually official, so I didn’t see anything wrong with getting to know Chrystie.

I pulled out my phone and texted Lindsey.

Hey Linds, sorry I didn’t pick up when you called, my parents took me and mikey over to meet the new neighbors. Im kinda tired though, so ill talk to you tomorrow, okay? :)

I sent the message, but never bothered to check for a response. My mind was too occupied with the thought of someone else.