Tomorrow's Money

Saturday came and I was a ball of nerves. Gerard was supposed to pick me up at 7? Maybe 8? I couldn't even remember the time. I wanted to text him and cancel our plans, I just felt so awkward after he told me we should forget the kiss. Why forget it? Because I was underage? I'd be 18 in six months. That's soon, right? What then? What happens in six months? Do we remember that kiss and everything is magically okay again? That didn't seem right either. I didn't even know if going on this not date/date/movie thing was a good idea anymore. What if I wanted to kiss him again? Ignore it? and how the hell was I going to walk into art class and not think about it?

A lot was going on in my head, but I couldn't even imagine what was going through Gerard's. I was so focused on myself and how I felt about forgetting our kiss that I had barely even thought about how Gerard felt. He was probably freaking out about getting caught and going to jail or something. he didn't seem like the paranoid type, but I know I would have been freaking out about it. I had convinced myself that he just wasn't interested in me, but the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if he actually was interested in me, but our ages made him second guess himself. I was hoping to talk about it with him when we went out, but I wasn't sure how to bring it up.

I curled my hair into it's oddly perfect little way, it must have just come almost natural anymore. I dressed in black leggings, a black tank top, a cute pair of heeled boots, topped with a leather jacket I'd never worn until that night. I wanted to look nice but not too over done, it was just a movie. I did my normal make up routine and head downstairs to see my parents were already eating dinner.

"Lilian, please, sit." My mom said, pulling out a chair next to her.

"Okay?" I said, not really knowing what she wanted.

"Where have you been lately? I haven't seen you around the house." She faked her concern, I could easily see that. She just wanted into my business again.

"My room. I've been doing homework. Public school is a lot different than private school, Mom. Here, you actually have to work for your grades, you don't just get them with your daddy'd last name and bank account." I spat at her. I had realized very quickly, that a lot of things in life that I had once held so important, weren't actually important at all. Social stature meant nothing when you were expected to work from the ground up.

"Well tonight you are going out with us. We have a party at the Hilton to go to and you are expected to be there." She said, nose held high. This must have been some invite only get together.

"I have plans tonight." I said, already getting angry.

"Cancel them." She spat back at me.

"I have a date. We're going to the movies." I admitted, hoping it would help get her off my case. I was sadly mistaken.

"With who? Blake? The handsome, rich boy you went to homecoming with last year?" She asked, getting excited.

"Mom! No. He's a normal guy. He isn't loaded, he isn't hugely popular, he's normal. You don't know him." I muttered, trying to figure out how I was going to get out of this one.

"What's his name?" She asked, already disgusted. I didn't want to tell her in case she looked him up somehow, like I knew she would. But what was I supposed to say? What if he started coming around? I couldn't lie forever.

"His name is Gerard. That's it. That's all I'm telling you." I said in the brattiest voice I could muster.

"And is he in your grade?" She asked, not giving up on this.

"No, he's older." I said, trying to stay as truthful as possible.

"How old?" My dad interjected, getting disgusted with this as well.

"Older, okay? Would you leave me alone? This isn't your business." I argued, getting more and more angry by the second. I knew all they would do is judge him anyway. Why even try to make them listen?

"No, how old?" My dad leaned forward in his chair, glaring at me.

"Uh, 19." I lied. Damn it.

"Where on Earth did you meet a 19 year old?" My mom asked, shocked.

"He's my friend's boyfriend's brother. He's a nice guy." I defended.

"I want to meet him before this date happens." my dad said. I knew once he said something, he meant it, and he would follow through.

"I don't wan to scare him away yet, please." I begged.

"Too bad. We meet him or you go to our party tonight. That's it." My dad got up from the table and went to his study, leaving me with those terms.

I got irritated and went back to my room, immediately texting Gerard. "SOS. Send help."

"You okay?" He asked.

"No! My parents want to meet you. I kind of got cornered into telling them I was going to the movies with you and now they want to know your age and everything. I'm freaking out!" I sent. I figured I'd at least give him the heads up first.

"What do you want me to tell them?" He asked, seemingly calm, but little did I know he was in a complete panic just as I was.

"Whatever you want really. You don't even have to come if you don't want to." I said, feeling bad.

A long pause came before he replied with "I'll be there by 8." I was a little relieved but also nervous. This was going to be an interesting night.

By the time 8 came around, my parents were ready to go to their party and were just waiting on Gerard until a subtle, yet terrifying, knock came. "That's him." I said quietly. I answered the door to find Gerard dressed pretty nicely in his normal tight jeans, black button up shirt (Which never seemed to be buttoned all the way up) and a leather jacket. His hair was clean and swept away from his eyes, looking almost professional. He cleaned up nice, but I just hoped my parents would buy that he was 19. "Hey Gerard." I smiled, nervously.

"Hey Lily." He smiled, looking oddly cool and confident.

I walked him to the living room where my parents were waiting. "Hello, you must be, uh Jared?" My mother started, already disgusted.

"Gerard. Nice to meet you." He said, hiding his bitterness. He must have already been just as annoyed as I was.

"Sit. Tell me about yourself." She said, glaring at him. I didn't think this would turn into an interview.

"Well, my name is Gerard, I go to the School of Visual Arts in New York, I'm a fine arts major. I rent a house from my parents and make money by selling art work and doing small shows." He explained briefly.

"What kind of shows?" She asked, visibly afraid of his answer. I didn't even know he did shows of any kind.

"I play guitar for a local band. We play shows at bars about once a week. I don't get paid much but between that and selling artwork, I can sustain myself." He said. I was actually really impressed by him, I didn't know a lot of what he'd just said.

"And why don't you get a normal job?" My mom asked, even though it was completely rude.

"I'm a full time student. I don't have a lot of time for a practical job. I actually had to quit my job at Barnes 'N Noble to be go to school." He seemed a bit ashamed of himself, but held his head up high.

"So it seems like you're working pretty hard then." My dad, who looked much less disgusted than my mother, who made an even more disgusted face at my father's comment.

"I do what I can to get my life where I want it." Gerard said, simply. I started to gain some hope that we'd get out of this okay.

"Well Gerard, you take care of my daughter tonight and be safe. Get her back by midnight." My dad said, standing and making his way to the door. "I'll see you guys later."

"Excuse me?!" My mom burst out. "Harold! Is that it? That's all you have to say?" She tried hinting something at him, but he seemed to not care.

"Oh I forgot, have fun kids." He smiled and walked out the door, being followed by my angry mom. Thank goodness for my dad!

"That went better than I expected." Gerard laughed after they left.

"I'm sorry about her." I said, though smiling. "She's crazy."

"That's okay, are you ready to go?" He asked.

"Absolutely." I got up and lead him out of the house and got in his car with him. The whole car smelled like cigarettes and whatever cologne Gerard always smelled like. It was oddly great and I was more than happy to get on with my night.

I looked over at Gerard as he lit up a cigarette and rolled down the window a bit. The wind danced through his hair in perfect sync with the smoke coming from his cigarette. He was focused on driving, quietly singing the words from the unfamiliar song that came on the radio. It was the first time since we'd met that I looked at him as a man I wanted to be around, and not just my student or substitute teacher. I didn't remember that he was 7 years older than me, or that he was an adult with his whole life in order and I was just a teenage girl. I finally felt like we were equals. We were two people going out to a movie, not anything less or more. It was nice to finally feel free.

When we got to the theater, Gerard got popcorn, M&M's and drinks for the both of us. When we took our seats in the back, I thanked him, no one had ever been as nice to me as Gerard was. Not without a reason anyway. We laughed and talked through the previews, noticing that there was barely anyone else in the theater.

The movie was actually a lot scarier than I had anticipated. At one point, the movie started to build suspense and I fell for it. My hand found it's way to Gerard's and I gasped. Gerard laughed at me and turned to face me. "I'm sorry." I laughed.

"It's okay." He said, gripping my hand a little tighter when I tried to let go. "Can I just tell you something?"

"Yeah sure." I said, not really having any idea what he would want.

"I just want to say that you look great tonight. I think you're beautiful." He said, a little obviously admiring me.

"Thank you." I blushed, not really knowing how to take a compliment, even though I had gotten them often at my old school.

"Remember what I said yesterday, about forgetting what happened?" He asked, inching closer to me. I nodded in a way to tell him to continue. "Well, fuck that. Okay? And I'm definitely about to fuck up and do it again." He said, quietly.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" I asked, leaning into him a bit more than I probably should have.

'Absolutely." He said, softly pressing his lips on mine. It felt great to be there again. He cradled my face and placed his other hand on my waist, pulling me closer.

Things got a little heated between us after I ran my fingers through his hair and lightly pulled. He smiled into the kiss which made me smile back. It was probably the most thrilling kiss I'd ever had. He pulled me even closer than before, if at all possible, and kissed me harder. I wrapped my arms around his neck and reveled in what was happening.

"We should stop." I whispered between kisses.

"I know." He whispered back, though with no sign of stopping.

"This is wrong." I said, still kissing him back.

"I know." He repeated. Before I could speak again he lightly bit my lip, driving me crazy. Fuck.

I pulled away a little, still wrapped in his arms. "What happened to this being wrong and all that?" I asked, smiling.

"Fuck it. What's the point anymore? It's already been done." he laughed in his honesty. It was true, but we both knew this shouldn't go on. I had no idea how things could go from normal stranger/ student teacher to making out in the back of a movie theater. I wanted to feel wrong but everything felt so right and incredible.

"I guess." I kissed him one more time, mostly because I had the urge and felt like I could. He smiled and laced our fingers together, kissing my forehead.

"We'll just go on however we want, okay? If things get bad, we either break whatever this is off, or run away together." He said sarcastically, though I knew there was a hint of seriousness in his voice.

"Sounds good." I said, resting my head on his shoulder.

We sat like that until the movie ended. It was already about 11:30, close to curfew. Gerard drove me home, making it almost exactly on time. "Thank you, Gerard. I had a great time." I said once he parked in the driveway.

"Thanks for coming." He smiled back. He leaned in and kissed me, visibly feeling more free about it than he had the first time we kissed.

"I'll see you Monday, in class?" I asked, thinking it was a little weird that the next time I would see him would be in school as my sub.

"I'll be there. Night princess." He gave me his cute little crooked smile before kissing me one last time.

"Night Gerard." I got out of the car and snuck up to my room, not knowing if my parents were home or not. all the fear and anxiety sunk in after a while, what if someone found out? I tried not to dwell on it and to think about how amazing of a kisser Gerard was. Damn. I rolled over and went to bed, praying for Monday to come as quickly as possible..