Give 'Em Hell, Kid

“So, are you guys all set for the Homecoming dance?” Mikey asked, taking a bite out of his sandwich and fixing his glasses.

Shit. With everything going on, I’d forgotten Homecoming was this week. The formal dance was being held on Friday, after the game. Was that why Alexia was pissed off with me? I looked at her, and I was relieved that she looked just as surprised as I did. She blushed a little, meeting my eyes, then quickly took Ray’s bag of chips and opened them with a savage tug.

“I’d forgotten about it.”I admitted, shrugging my shoulders and grabbing a few chips from the bag in Lexi’s hands.

“What do you even see in him?” Mikey rolled his eyes, sniggering at me while poking Alexia’s rib, earning a smack in the arm for his effort.

“Beats me,” she sighed, glaring in my direction for a brief moment before breaking into giggles.

“You forgot too,” I defended myself, a little embarrassed that I’d let myself forget about my first proper date with Alexia, as though I hadn’t been waiting for it for years.

“Maybe, but you asked me, remember?”

I had no defence against that. It wasn’t the best way to start this new chapter of our relationship, but I knew Alexia wasn’t truly bothered. Everything seemed so crazy lately, it was inevitable that some things were going to be sidelined, especially with Lexi’s dad trying to put a wedge between us. Shit, would he let Alexia go? That was a distinct possibility when taking his recent behaviour into account. Alexia’s playful expression went blank when the thought crossed my mind, and I knew that she had just thought of the same thing. She looked so sad right then, my hand instinctively sought out her hand, clutching it with a gentle squeeze of reassurance. I would have kissed her, but I knew she wouldn’t appreciate it in front of the rest of the guys. She tried to cover up her thoughts, quickly plastering a smile on her face and twisting her hand away from mine.

“Are you losers gonna come with us?” Alexia asked, to my surprise and annoyance.

“Maybe,’ Ray shrugged, ‘I was thinking of asking Melissa, actually. It is senior year, last chance to do all the cliché shit.”

“Dude, you haven’t asked her yet? How do you know she hasn’t been asked by someone else yet?” Alexia questioned, either ignoring or unaware of the glare I was sending her way. Was she always going to avoid the two of us being alone? What was it that scared her so much about us being left alone? Maybe I was being paranoid, but I highly doubted it.

“We’ve been texting and stuff, and she hasn’t mentioned it. I was going to ask her after Geometry later.”

“Ooohhh, Ray, you sly dog, keeping us out of the loop. Will we be adding a new member to our group?” Mikey had to put his two cents in. I didn’t listen to the rest too much, stewing in my annoyance.

I didn’t talk much for the rest of the day, afraid that I would snap at the wrong person. Alexia gave me a few puzzled looks during classes and a few notes, but I ignored each and every one of them. If she couldn’t figure it out herself, then she didn’t deserve to know. And yeah, I knew I sounded like a teenage girl, but I was getting really frustrated with the lack of any fucking progression in our relationship. Things should have been moving on, we should have been able to do couple-type things without the guys hanging around. I wanted to hold her hand, or kiss her, without the guys gawking and mocking us, or Frank glaring. Was it too much to ask for just one thing to be just ours? When we were let out of our last class, I went straight to my locker without waiting for Alexia, afraid I might lose my cool like I was so prone to these days. Alexia sensed my agitation, and thankfully she stayed away from me. I was too angryto care about the way she was biting her lip when she waited by my car, her big eyes searching for a clue that would help solve the puzzle. I just got in the car, turning on the radio to kill the silence. I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty when Alexia took her place in the passenger seat. Mikey and Frank came not too long afterwards, so all we were waiting for was for Ray’s appearance. I wondered what the hell was taking him so long while I lit up a cigarette, ignoring Alexia’s glare. She hated it when I smoked in the car, but fuck it, it was my car, and it was up to me if I smoked in it or not. Alexia’s phone rang in the middle of her conversation with Mikey.

“Hi, Mrs. Way.”

I was surprised that my mother would call her. I strained to hear what she was saying on the other end, but I couldn’t make it out. I could hear excitement in her voice, though, so whatever it was, it was good.

“Yeah, we are…Not yet, no…I have to ask dad…oh, okay…yeah, I’ll ask him. Thanks Mrs. Way…Donna…I’ll see you soon.”

I looked at her, expecting an explanation. Instead, all she said was “I’m going over to yours,” before she continued her conversation with Mikey. I gritted my teeth, and pushed down my desire to snap. Ray came bounding into the car soon after I finished the cigarette.

“What took you so long?” I asked.

“I asked Melissa to Homecoming.”

“And?”

“She said yes.”

“Awesome, man!Congrats!” I gave him a genuine smile.

I started the car and drove us back to mine. Ray’s news had put me in a slightly better mood. I’m a sucker for romance, I suppose. I grabbed Alexia’s hand, holding her back while everyone else got out of the car. Alexia waited until everyone was gone before facing me.

“You gonna tell me what got up your ass?”

“I thought things would be different.”

She furrowed her eyebrows, confused, “What do you mean?”

I sighed, leaning back in my seat, “I mean, things should be different between us. We never do anything alone, just the two of us. I asked you to Homecoming, not the guys. I wanted us to do something different, something for us. I feel like you don’t want this. It feels like you’re avoiding being alone with me, and I’m getting a bit tired of it.”

“Gerard, I…I’m sorry. I just don’t know how to do this. You know that.”

“Neither do I, but at least I’m trying.” I accused.

“I am trying, Gerard, but it’s a bit hard, okay. You’re just so-”

“So what?”

“Intense. Dad had a talk with me, that night. He said some things, and I just…I just don’t want to go rushing into this. I’m sorry if I made you feel like I don’t want this, I’m just trying to be cautious.”

“I’m being intense?” I asked incredulously.

“Gerard, you’re pissed because we’re not spending enough time alone. Why should it matter if we’re alone, as long as we’re together?”

I didn’t give her an answer. Instead, I pressed my lips against hers. She opened her mouth, and within seconds our tongues were dancing together, battling for dominance. She let me win, something neither of us minded. The lack of oxygen forced us apart eventually.

“Because we can’t do that when the guys are around.” I grinned.

“That’s my point. We’re teenagers, and I don’t want us taking things too far before we’re ready.” She was blushing.

“And we won’t. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little bit of fun. We're teenagers, we’re,” I stopped myself before I finished that with ‘in love’, “we like each other. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

She nodded, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation. I decided to leave it be, for the time being. I gave her one last kiss, before going inside the house, where my mother was waiting.

“You ready?” she asked Alexia, ignoring me completely.

“Hello to you too, mother,” I grumbled.

“Don’t sulk, Gerard. Lexi and I have a bit of shopping to do. The sooner we get going, the better.”

“Shopping for what?”

“Dresses,” Alexia supplied, not looking particularly pleased,which was in complete contrast to my mother, who looked excited to finally have an excuse to take Alexia dress shopping. I hid the smirk that threatened to break out, well aware of how Alexia felt about shopping, and dresses.

“Have fun,” I grinned, earning a smack form Alexia when my mother wasn’t looking before they departed.

Better her than me.