Butterfly Kisses
Chapter 1
“You finish your Spanish homework yet?” Gerard muttered, not glancing at his best friend and continuing to scribble answers on the worksheet.
“Is that even a question?” Ray responded with a laugh. Gerard laughed as well.
“Right, right. Forgot. You practically are Spanish.”
“Hey, Gerard,” called his younger brother’s voice. Gerard rolled his eyes and sighed.
“What.”
“Could you help me with my math homework? It’s kinda confusing…”
“Get Bob to help you. We’re busy,” Gerard said with a glare. Mikey narrowed his eyes, so Gerard threw a wad of paper at him to help get the message across. His younger brother retreated back into the hallway with a sigh. He caught Ray glaring at him.
“What? I hate math.”
“That’s why you’re failing algebra,” said Ray. “Eres un idiota.” Gerard threw a crumpled-up piece of paper at him, which Ray picked up and straightened out, finding a test marked with a large red ‘F’ on the front page. He just rolled his eyes.
“I can’t help it if I’m left-brained,” Gerard said with a shrug. He stopped and thought for a moment. “Or is it right-brained?”
“Ese es mi punto exactamente,” Ray continued with a flawless accent, smirking. “My point exactly.”
“I hate you.”
Meanwhile, Mikey trekked away from Gerard’s room, picking up the house phone and dialing his friend’s phone number. He traveled around the kitchen as the sound of ringing began echoing in his ear.
“Hello?” asked a familiar voice. Mikey grabbed a bagel someone hadn’t finished and went over to the pantry to grab the box of Cheez-its, taking a soda from the fridge.
“Hey, Bob,” he said warmly, cramming a handful of crackers in his mouth and quickly washing it down with the bubbly soda. “I was wondering if you could help me.”
“I can’t help you swallow your food, Mikey. You have to learn how to do that yourself.” Mikey laughed.
“No, on my math homework. I know you haven’t taken seventh-grade math in a few years…but do you think you could remember enough of it to help me?”
“Sure. Let me just finish up my Trig homework. I’ve only got one problem left…”
“You’re too smart, you know? Just go off to college and leave the rest of us alone,” Mikey said through another mouthful of food. This time Bob laughed.
“Thanks.”
The next day arrived as usual, with Gerard physically prying his eyes open with one hand and seeing a pile of empty bags of chips before him. Several cans of soda were lined up in front of the TV, a bittersweet reminder of the fact that he had played video games nearly all night once again.
“Gerard, we’re gonna be late if we don’t leave now!” Mikey’s voice came echoing down the stairs, almost making him nauseous. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to haul himself off the floor this time. He mumbled a response and let his eyelids droop closed.
The door to his room banged open suddenly. He already knew who it was, but his desire to sleep overpowered the inner voice telling him to get up. A hand gripped his arm and pulled him off the floor, and he quickly received an icy splash of water on his face. As many times as this had happened before, it never failed to shock him into a state of semi-awareness. His eyes fell open, clearly swollen and bloodshot.
“Thanks, Ray,” came the slurred, spluttering reply as Gerard struggled to maintain consciousness. Ray just sighed and pointed him in the general direction of his closet before leaving the room to wait with Mikey. Before ten minutes had passed, the older Way brother stumbled up the stairs to the front room, backpack hanging off of one shoulder and ready to leave.
He neared his first class in a similar state, ignoring the few remaining middle-schoolers scrambling to get to class without being squished. He rolled his eyes and glanced at his watch, realizing he had less than a minute before he was considered tardy. Against his better judgment, he sped his pace up to a slow jog to help cover more ground. He didn’t get far before he rounded a corner and plowed into a helpless sixth grader, knocking them both to the ground.
“Sorry,” he said instantly, managing to stand up on his own. He was about to offer a hand to help the smaller boy stand as well, but he realized with a sudden shock just who he had nearly run over. His eyes widened, and he found himself unable to speak. He had never gone near the boy before, mainly because of the gap between their ages and grade levels, but Gerard still knew him. Many people mentioned him in passing, but they had never spoken a word to each other. He knew better than that.
“I…uh…” He realized the boy was trying unsuccessfully to stand, his heavy backpack firmly anchoring him to the floor. Gerard accidentally let out a short laugh at his plight and grasped one of his hands, pulling him to his feet with ease. The sixth grader smiled up at him, eyes wide.
“Th…th-thanks,” he said slowly, dragging out the first syllable of the simple word. Gerard suddenly grew nervous. He had never spoken to a mentally challenged person before. He didn’t want to sound insulting, but then again, the boy wouldn’t understand anything he said, right?
“Uh…no problem, kid…” He tried to think of something else to say, but the ringing of the bell saved him from the awkward situation. He turned and dashed off to class, leaving the flustered boy still standing there and staring after him in confusion.
“Is that even a question?” Ray responded with a laugh. Gerard laughed as well.
“Right, right. Forgot. You practically are Spanish.”
“Hey, Gerard,” called his younger brother’s voice. Gerard rolled his eyes and sighed.
“What.”
“Could you help me with my math homework? It’s kinda confusing…”
“Get Bob to help you. We’re busy,” Gerard said with a glare. Mikey narrowed his eyes, so Gerard threw a wad of paper at him to help get the message across. His younger brother retreated back into the hallway with a sigh. He caught Ray glaring at him.
“What? I hate math.”
“That’s why you’re failing algebra,” said Ray. “Eres un idiota.” Gerard threw a crumpled-up piece of paper at him, which Ray picked up and straightened out, finding a test marked with a large red ‘F’ on the front page. He just rolled his eyes.
“I can’t help it if I’m left-brained,” Gerard said with a shrug. He stopped and thought for a moment. “Or is it right-brained?”
“Ese es mi punto exactamente,” Ray continued with a flawless accent, smirking. “My point exactly.”
“I hate you.”
Meanwhile, Mikey trekked away from Gerard’s room, picking up the house phone and dialing his friend’s phone number. He traveled around the kitchen as the sound of ringing began echoing in his ear.
“Hello?” asked a familiar voice. Mikey grabbed a bagel someone hadn’t finished and went over to the pantry to grab the box of Cheez-its, taking a soda from the fridge.
“Hey, Bob,” he said warmly, cramming a handful of crackers in his mouth and quickly washing it down with the bubbly soda. “I was wondering if you could help me.”
“I can’t help you swallow your food, Mikey. You have to learn how to do that yourself.” Mikey laughed.
“No, on my math homework. I know you haven’t taken seventh-grade math in a few years…but do you think you could remember enough of it to help me?”
“Sure. Let me just finish up my Trig homework. I’ve only got one problem left…”
“You’re too smart, you know? Just go off to college and leave the rest of us alone,” Mikey said through another mouthful of food. This time Bob laughed.
“Thanks.”
The next day arrived as usual, with Gerard physically prying his eyes open with one hand and seeing a pile of empty bags of chips before him. Several cans of soda were lined up in front of the TV, a bittersweet reminder of the fact that he had played video games nearly all night once again.
“Gerard, we’re gonna be late if we don’t leave now!” Mikey’s voice came echoing down the stairs, almost making him nauseous. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to haul himself off the floor this time. He mumbled a response and let his eyelids droop closed.
The door to his room banged open suddenly. He already knew who it was, but his desire to sleep overpowered the inner voice telling him to get up. A hand gripped his arm and pulled him off the floor, and he quickly received an icy splash of water on his face. As many times as this had happened before, it never failed to shock him into a state of semi-awareness. His eyes fell open, clearly swollen and bloodshot.
“Thanks, Ray,” came the slurred, spluttering reply as Gerard struggled to maintain consciousness. Ray just sighed and pointed him in the general direction of his closet before leaving the room to wait with Mikey. Before ten minutes had passed, the older Way brother stumbled up the stairs to the front room, backpack hanging off of one shoulder and ready to leave.
He neared his first class in a similar state, ignoring the few remaining middle-schoolers scrambling to get to class without being squished. He rolled his eyes and glanced at his watch, realizing he had less than a minute before he was considered tardy. Against his better judgment, he sped his pace up to a slow jog to help cover more ground. He didn’t get far before he rounded a corner and plowed into a helpless sixth grader, knocking them both to the ground.
“Sorry,” he said instantly, managing to stand up on his own. He was about to offer a hand to help the smaller boy stand as well, but he realized with a sudden shock just who he had nearly run over. His eyes widened, and he found himself unable to speak. He had never gone near the boy before, mainly because of the gap between their ages and grade levels, but Gerard still knew him. Many people mentioned him in passing, but they had never spoken a word to each other. He knew better than that.
“I…uh…” He realized the boy was trying unsuccessfully to stand, his heavy backpack firmly anchoring him to the floor. Gerard accidentally let out a short laugh at his plight and grasped one of his hands, pulling him to his feet with ease. The sixth grader smiled up at him, eyes wide.
“Th…th-thanks,” he said slowly, dragging out the first syllable of the simple word. Gerard suddenly grew nervous. He had never spoken to a mentally challenged person before. He didn’t want to sound insulting, but then again, the boy wouldn’t understand anything he said, right?
“Uh…no problem, kid…” He tried to think of something else to say, but the ringing of the bell saved him from the awkward situation. He turned and dashed off to class, leaving the flustered boy still standing there and staring after him in confusion.