Story of a Lonely Guy

“Mikey, just take a deep breath, dude! It’s not the end of the world if she says no. Just go in, be confident, and for the love of God, make eye contact!”

Gerard clearly wasn’t great at pep talks. Ask him anything about Star Wars or Dungeons and Drgaons, and he was a genius; but when it came to girl stuff, well, he was a bit lacking, when it came to doling out advice. He was at college , and it was only through some miracle that he had successfully asked Lindsey out. They were together two years now, and things were great. Gone was the awkward high school ’who do I ask to prom?’ and ‘how do I talk to girls?’ problems that used to plague him.

Mikey was still in high school, however. They were quite different in appearance, at first glance. Mikey was the taller of the two brothers now. His hair was lighter, he wore glasses, and his jaw was a little squarer than Gerard’s. Once you saw behind the obvious difference, it was clear they shared the same genetics. Mikey also didn’t have a car, and on most days, was left with the arduous task of walking to school by himself. Gerard was home for the summer, though, and since he owned a car, he gave Mikey a lift to school that day. Mikey thought Gerard might be able to give him some advice, or at least make what he was about to attempt a little less scary, but so far, Gerard had failed.

Mikey just nodded, staring blankly ahead, as he watched the student body enter the school building. He wasn’t ready for the day yet. There were too many possibilities, most of them scary, and he was doubting his resolve to ask Lizzie to prom that day.

“Don’t chicken out, Mikey! Just do it!And,worst case scenario, I can get Lindsey to find a friend to go with you. It’ll be fine.”

“Thanks for the confidence,” Mikey muttered in the monotonous voice that was one of his distinguishing features.

“It’s gonna be fine, Mikey. She’ll say yes.You just need to have some balls, and ask her, before someone else does.”

“Right. Right,” Mikey nodded his heads again, not feeling any better.

The school bell rang out, forcing Mikey to get out of the beaten up silver car,which hadn’t been washed since Gerard had been gifted it when he'd turned eighteen.

“Good luck,” Gerard called out, his voice barely audible over the chattering of Mikey’s peers, as they rushed to make it to class on time.

Mikey made it with a couple of minutes to spare before the tardy bell. He sat in his usual seat in the back, where he could see everything, while remaining unseen himself. He didn’t do this to avoid the teachers, or his classmates. No, he did it because, from his corner seat, he could see her.

Lizzie was perfect. She had perfect dark hair, perfect blue eyes, that were ringed with a perfect amount of black eyeliner. Her outfit (jeans, a BugsBunny top and red converse) was perfect. Her grades were perfect. She was going to Rutgers, to study English, on a scholarship, which was perfect, because Mikey was going to Rutgers too, in the fall. Her taste in music was perfect, from the conversations he had overheard between her and her friends. She listened to a lot of Britpop and rock, and she loved the Smiths and Misfits. The way she laughed was perfect. Her smile, and white teeth, were perfect. Her handwriting, which curved and slanted a little to the left, was perfect. Everything about her screamed perfection, and she was the epitome of the word. And Mikey wanted her. So badly.

Not in a possessive way, not even necessarily sexual, either. He just wanted to be the one who got to hear her laugh, because he told her a funny story. He wanted to be the one who got to take her to the movies, to see the new Tarantino movie. He wanted to be the one who got to hold her hand, and treat her the way she should be treated. But he was just Mikey. Mikey Way, who stayed out of people’s way. Mikey, who remained in the background, and stayed within the same group of friends, since the day he walked in the doors of the school. Mikey, who watched everything, and never stood out or made a name for himself. He was okay with that. Only, now, when he wanted someone as amazing and perfect as Lizzie, his insistence on gliding by in high school meant that Lizzie didn’t see him.

He had resolved to changed that his year. It was his last year, and his last chance before college. Every day, he was determined to walk up to her, and start a conversation with her. He wanted to be a part of her life, he wanted to be able to ask her to prom, without seeming like a creep, who had never bothered to get to know her, before asking her. It hadn’t happened, though. No, his lack of courage had meant that prom was only a week away, and he still hadn’t asked. He was shocked that she hadn’t accepted a date yet. She was a popular girl, pretty and smart, and she got along with everyone. How she was still dateless was something that Mikey couldn’t understand. It meant he still had a shot, though, if he could, as Gerard had pointed out, grow some balls.

He watched her throughout the morning (she was in all his classes, coincidentally), and every time he thought about approaching her, he chickened out. The lunch bell had just gone by, and now he was at his locker, berating himself for not being more of a man. The Blink 182 song 'Story of a Lonely Guy' replayed in his head, and he felt that no song ever understood him better, in that moment.

“Hey.”

He froze. No, it couldn’t be her voice. She didn’t know him, she didn’t see him. She probably didn’t even realise their lockers were so close together. He turned around anyway, just to make sure he was indeed, hallucinating.

And there she was, in her non-hallucinating glory. All perfect, with her perfect, nervous smile, her hand pushing a piece of hair behind her ear in, what looked like, a nervous habit.

He opened his mouth, tried to say hello, but all that came out was a strangled noise.

“I just wanted to say that I like your hoody. I’m a big Misfits fan too.”

“I know,” he said, before he realised just how wrong that sounded.

She blushed, and he knew he sounded like the world’s biggest creep. Fuck!How did he fuck up the first conversation he ever had with her?

“I, um… Okay, I know this is going to be really, really weird. I just…I kinda noticed you, and I um…um…I was wondering if, maybe, if you don’t have a date to prom, would you…go…with me?”

She was asking him to prom. She, the most perfect girl on the planet, was asking him to prom. His mind took too long to process what was happening. Before he could make his brain work, he could see her face fall, dejection getting rid of her wonderful smile.

“If you don’t want to, that’s okay. Just…just forget I asked. I shouldn’t have listened to Jamia.”

She was about to walk away, tears in her hers, when Mikey’s brain caught up with him, and he realised that this was his one chance, and he had blown it.

“No, wait!” He raced after her, which wasn’t very far, since she had only taken a few steps.

“I’ll go. I just… Why me?”

She blushed, then shrugged.

“I just noticed you. You seem like a nice guy and…I saw you watch me, sometimes. I was waiting for you to ask me, but you never did. Then Jamia, from our English class, she told me that you were a really shy guy, so she told me to ask you. She almost murdered me for turning down Brendon for prom when he asked me, but…I wanted to wait for you.”

“I was going to ask you today…I just…”

“Too shy?”

“My mother says 'Anti-social'.”

“Well, I think you’re cute,” she blushed again, a little more confident now that Mikey had said yes.

“Do you wanna sit with me for lunch?”

Holy shit! Mikey had asked her to sit with him. She had just asked him to prom.

“Only if you take me out on a date on Friday night.”

“I can do that,” Mikey smiled, the first true smile he had ever smiled.