Loverboy

The air was nippy outside but that didn’t stop me from meeting up with the lads at the park today. It wasn’t until last night that I called Matt and told him I was back in London and I swear to god he almost came over to my house at 23:10. So many memories were being brought back to my mind as I walked around the park. I even saw the sandbox where Matt and I first met each other. A smile came upon my face as I continued walking down the sidewalk with kids running everywhere. For a cold December day, a lot of people were here.

“Joshua Franceschi!” a familiar voice shouted from behind me. I turned my body around and saw Matt waving in front of the rest of the group. My heart was beating rapidly and I wasn’t able to move my body at the moment. Thankfully Matt bolted forward and tackled me to the ground. “I’ve missed you so much, holy shit!” he said whilst helping me back to my feet.

“Calm down, Matt. It’s like fall break all over again except you picked him up and spun him around in circles!” Dan said to him. “Give the poor boy some space now.” As much as I love Matt, he’s a bit like a leech to me. Always clinging on to you and gets back on you the second he’s off. Oi. Matt didn’t say anything to Dan. All he did was stick his tongue out as he tried to hold me closer to him. Like I said, he’s a leech. “So when are we going to start on some new songs?”

“Not sure. We’ve somewhat got down the instrumentals for Underdog but it still needs improvement.” I said, finally freeing myself from Matt’s grasp on my waist. “What about Playing the Blame Game and Contagious Chemistry? The lyrics are all done and somewhat of the vocals. If we ever get a record label, are we going to record them or keep the songs to ourselves?”

“How else are we going to create an album? It’s going to be our first one so it’s definitely not going to be the best album we’ll ever create. Trust me, we’re going to sound completely different in five years. Improvement is probably the biggest step when it comes to being in a band. But we’re not doing it for fame or money, we’re doing it because music is our passion.” Dan told us. This is some major speech shit going down in the field of playground full of screaming wankers.

“Boring!” Matt spoke up. “I don’t want to work on songs today. We’ve written down three songs and gotten our band name. Josh moves back in May so we still have time with You Came At Six.” Did he just. “Let’s not focus on the band for once and just enjoy the fact that Josh is back in London for a month so there’s time. Besides, it’s his first time seeing us since the break started so I don’t want to jump straight on to the band.” Can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I agree with Matt.

“We’ve not really talked about where you live, Josh! How’s Sheffield?” Max asked me, all of us were sitting at a picnic table at this point.

“Sheffield’s pretty good. I live way up in north Sheffield in Stocksbridge. It’s a small city but the small population makes the city less crowded and I like that.” I said, playing with a small nail. “Don’t get me started on the boys who go to my school.”

“Why, do you not like them?” asked Dan.

“They’re just annoying twats most of the time. I was able to make a few friends but even they can get on my nerves.” I explained.

“Have you fancied a lady yet?” Matt teased me. Fuck. I’m not sure if I should tell them about Oli and I. What if they don’t approve? I can kiss the band career goodbye if they’re homophobic.

“I go to an all boys boarding school, fuckface.” A+ save right there.

“So you fancy one of your classmates!” he said. No. No, no, no, no.

“Actually,” I paused as they all leaned in closer to hear what I was going to say next. “I have a boyfriend named Oliver, he’s my flatmate.” GODDAMMIT JUST NAIL ME TO A CROSS AND SACRIFICE ME TO JESUS CHRIST OUR SAVIOR.

“Really?” Well Matt sure did seemed appalled at what just came from my lips. For my own happiness, please don’t bash me or him. “Are you teasing us?” Just because I’ve not had many relationships in the past doesn’t mean I’m going to lie about this one.

“Nope. I really am dating a boy and I have been since I moved to Sheffield. Do I need to prove it to you or something?” I pulled out my iPhone and flipped through all my photos and picked out the one of me kissing Oli’s cheek. “Here.” I handed it to Matt and he passed it to Max and so on. “Do you have a problem with it?”

“No, of course not! It’s just all your previous relationships were with a girl so I just wasn’t expecting it. How come you never mentioned Oliver when we Skyped?” he asked me as I got my phone back.

“I was just scared you guys would think it was disgusting and stop talking to me.”

“Oi, you’re really something are you, Josh?” he lightly pushed me, “It doesn’t bother me if you’re dating a guy. As long as you’re happy, we’re all happy!” They all agreed with Matt so that made me even happier to tell Oli later on. I promised that I’d text him every day but I haven’t been good at keeping it since this’ll only be my second time this break.

--

After our day at the park was over, I headed back to my house and walked in to smell mum making dinner in the kitchen. I wasn’t necessarily in the mood to eat so I went upstairs to my room and quickly pulled out my phone to see an unread message from Oli.

From - Oli -
I miss you.

Who knew three words can impact me like a train? He wanted me to text him everyday for winter break and I have no excuse to get out of it. Sick? Na, I don’t really go out of the house since I oversleep a lot. At least I have good news for him so that’ll hopefully brighten my mood tonight. I’m not even sure if he’s prepared to publicly announce that we’re dating and I told my friends without giving him a heads up before hand. But they did approve of it so Oli can’t get mad at me.

To - Oli -
I have really good news, Love!

Now I just feel sick to my stomach. I should’ve told him before this was going to happen so I won’t be as stressed as I am now. New Year’s Revolution: Think things through. Hah, we’ll see how long that lasts.

From - Oli -
Really? What is it?

Okay, I need to legit talk to him rather than send these stupid text messages. I scrolled down my contacts until I found the one named “Oli” and clicked the Call button on it.

“Hello?” his voice was so soothing to hear. Hell, I’ve not seen him for five days and I just want to hold him.

“Er, hi.” Jesus christ we’ve hardly ever talked on the phone and I feel so uncomfortable right now. “Sorry I haven’t been texting you lately. I’m not the best when it comes to keeping promises, obviously.”

A small chuckle came from his voice. “Don’t worry, I’ve been a little bit busy for the past few days so I haven’t been able to check my phone. Is the news so important that you have to call me?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty important.” I paused. How do I even tell him without having the possibilities of pissing him off? “So you know how I’m back in London with my mates, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Today we all met up at the park today and then the topic about school came on to me. They started asking all these questions and then Matt teased me if I was in a relationship.” My throat became dry seconds after those words came from my mouth. God I am screwed.

“Did you lie and say you’re not in a relationship?” I can’t tell if ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is the right answer at this point.

“No.” FUCK. “I said I was and showed them a picture of you.”

Silence. “Oli?”

“Please tell me they accepted it.” he said.

“Don’t worry, they did. What kind of friends would they be if they didn’t? I did one thing, what about you?” If he doesn’t sort things out with Tom, I swear to god.

“Er, I got to go. Bye.”

“Oli, just tell me. Have you started talking to your brother-”

“I said ‘bye’, Josh!” the line cut off moments later. Dammit he needs to talk to his brother again. I’ll ask the poor kid the first day we get back from winter break.

--

The next day I met up with the boys at the mall. One of our close friends was getting married in March so we were looking for suits to try on and get it over with. Hopefully it’s during a school day and I get to skip two days. “Does this suit make me look like a pimp?” Max asked us as he came out wearing his suit.

“Since when did this turn into that TV show Say Yes to the Dress?” Dan teased him. “Besides, you’re renting the outfit anyway so it’s not like you’re permanently stuck with it.” Yes, you heard him. Renting. We’re so fucking poor that we have to rent our tuxedos rather than legit owning them. “Josh, you should bring your boyfriend. Give him a taste of London rather than Sheffield!” What.

“Oliver? No, he’s too shy to meet people. His father definitely doesn’t have any suits for him; I know for a fact that his father won’t pay for the suit himself. Oli doesn’t even have a job so he’s lucked out.” I said. Bringing him would be fun but I could hardly even afford my own suit. “Reminds me, are we even renting the suits today or just looking for now?”

“Just looking.” Max said. “Renting an outfit from December to March is insane. I don’t know many stores that sell tuxedos in London so I wanted to get a head start.” Probably just another way of saying ‘I don’t want to spend the entire day at home so let’s all just go to the mall and waste time there.’

“All I care about is that they better have good food there or it won’t be a wedding.” Matt said, putting a pair of shoes back in the box.

“That’s all you ever care about.” Chris said. “And please explain to me how food has to do with a wedding.”

“Excuse me.” Oh god, here we go. “When I get married, we’re going to have a fucking buffet of food and then a large cake for everyone to eat.”

Chinese restaurant.

You’re thinking of a Chinese restaurant.

After we finished shopping for suits, we headed down to the music store since Max was looking for a Blink 182 album he’s yet to buy. “Think one day one of our CDs might be sold here?” I asked, picking up a Nirvana album.

“Well we just have to hope for the best. Not all bands are going to be sold in every single music store on this planet. But it would be nice to see our own in this mall. I’d kill to perform at the Wembley Arena, honestly.” Dan said.

“Yeah it’s always been one of the those places that I’d just love to finish a tour with. All the fans screaming our names and singing along as we play. Don’t get me started if I stopped singing and yet they’d continue the song for me.” I explained.

“How about touring with other bands?” Max spoke up. Oh god yes. Touring with other bands is my goal in being a band. “Kerrang! awards.” he whispered in my ear.

YES.

A THOUSAND TIMES YES.

“I would vote for our band a million times if I had to. Winning a Kerrang! award has got to be the best thing alive.” I told him. I’m not even lying. Ever since I was fourteen, I bought almost every single Kerrang! Magazine and I’m still going on. Oh my god what if we get front cover of it? Stop thinking, Josh. It’s never going to happen.

Oh well. Looks like all I can do is hope for the best.