Butterfly Kisses
Chapter 3
“How am I supposed to help him?” Gerard asked as he loaded spaghetti onto his plate.
“I think just spending time with him is enough,” his mother answered. “He must feel like someone finally cares about him. I’m glad you’re helping someone that’s so challenged.”
“‘Challenged?’ He can’t even form a sentence,” he said through a mouthful of the delicious pasta. His mother glared at him, and he obediently swallowed before continuing. “He has weird hobbies, too. Something about butterflies.”
“Well, I think it’s sweet,” she insisted. “You’re almost like his little guardian angel.”
“Mom, please,” said Gerard, rolling his eyes. “Don’t start that again.”
“But Gerard, you’re so cute when you try to act smart!” Mikey piped in. Gerard quickly silenced him with a cold glare.
“You should invite him over for dinner sometime!” their mother suddenly exclaimed. Gerard considered slamming his face into the dinner table until he thought of how she would react. It was just like her to think that helping people in need was something required of her.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said flatly. He finished the sentence by crunching down on a piece of garlic bread. Mikey was still struggling to hide his laughter, drawing another sigh from his older brother in the process.
“Oh, don’t be so negative, Gerard,” their mother said with a light toss of her hair. “I certainly hope you grow out of this phase soon enough…trying to act like such a rebel all the time…”
Gerard excused himself from the table and trudged down to his room. His backpack thudded against each carpeted stair until it eventually slid along the floor and was slammed into the door, before he threw it onto the bed and let it go flying into the wall only moments later. He almost let out a smirk at how much he abused the object.
He flopped onto the bed and turned on the TV, planning to do his homework during the commercials or whenever else he felt like it. As usual, though, he remained stationary for several hours until he finally fell asleep, bored completely by the monotonous flashing of colors across the screen.
-
“Hey, I heard about you having to help that retarded kid.”
Gerard’s eyes opened suddenly, halfway through falling asleep. He didn’t recognize who was talking to him and blinked a few times as his eyes unblurred.
“Wha?”
“Yeah, I saw you trying to help him study in the library yesterday,” the voice said again. “It can’t be easy trying to get him to understand stuff.”
“No…it’s not,” he answered as he realized who was talking to him. It was a girl he knew he recognized, but at the moment he couldn’t remember her name. “He’s pretty stupid.”
“Most people wouldn’t do that for someone they didn’t really know,” she said with a smile. Gerard tried to return it, but the bell sharply interrupted his train of thought. By the time he collected his books and shoved them into his backpack, the girl had disappeared. Gerard narrowed his eyes for a moment in thought, but decided to forget about it as he hurried off to his next class.
-
“And you didn’t even get her name?” Ray said in a shocked tone. Gerard stared at the table and shook his head. “Are you crazy?!”
“It’s not his fault he fails at talking to girls,” Bob said with a laugh. Gerard weakly hit him on the back of the head.
“Why does this even matter?” he asked with a frown. “It’s not like she was saying she liked me. In fact, I think she felt sorry for me.”
“Still, a girl was talking to you. This is really a step up, Gee,” Ray said with a smirk. Gerard just rolled his eyes and returned his attention to the food in front of him. A blur of black suddenly appeared in the corner of his field of vision, and when he turned to look at it, his eyes widened in surprise.
“What’s he doing here?” Ray snapped. Gerard could barely find the focus to shake his head in response.
“I don’t know.”
“Hi,” Frank managed to whisper, his voice lost in the cloud of lunchroom conversation. Gerard wanted to sink into the floor and disappear thanks to the look Ray was giving him.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said, standing up and balancing his bag on one shoulder, pulling Bob with him as he started to walk away. Gerard was about to follow, but when he looked back at Frank, he noticed how hurt the boy looked and almost felt guilty enough to stay. The kid’s face lightened the tiniest bit at the thought of Gerard staying put, but it didn’t last.
“C’mon, Gee,” Ray called. “You don’t wanna be seen with the retard, do you?”
Gerard lingered for a moment longer before casting an apologetic look at Frank and standing up to follow his friends as they went to locate a better table.
“I think just spending time with him is enough,” his mother answered. “He must feel like someone finally cares about him. I’m glad you’re helping someone that’s so challenged.”
“‘Challenged?’ He can’t even form a sentence,” he said through a mouthful of the delicious pasta. His mother glared at him, and he obediently swallowed before continuing. “He has weird hobbies, too. Something about butterflies.”
“Well, I think it’s sweet,” she insisted. “You’re almost like his little guardian angel.”
“Mom, please,” said Gerard, rolling his eyes. “Don’t start that again.”
“But Gerard, you’re so cute when you try to act smart!” Mikey piped in. Gerard quickly silenced him with a cold glare.
“You should invite him over for dinner sometime!” their mother suddenly exclaimed. Gerard considered slamming his face into the dinner table until he thought of how she would react. It was just like her to think that helping people in need was something required of her.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said flatly. He finished the sentence by crunching down on a piece of garlic bread. Mikey was still struggling to hide his laughter, drawing another sigh from his older brother in the process.
“Oh, don’t be so negative, Gerard,” their mother said with a light toss of her hair. “I certainly hope you grow out of this phase soon enough…trying to act like such a rebel all the time…”
Gerard excused himself from the table and trudged down to his room. His backpack thudded against each carpeted stair until it eventually slid along the floor and was slammed into the door, before he threw it onto the bed and let it go flying into the wall only moments later. He almost let out a smirk at how much he abused the object.
He flopped onto the bed and turned on the TV, planning to do his homework during the commercials or whenever else he felt like it. As usual, though, he remained stationary for several hours until he finally fell asleep, bored completely by the monotonous flashing of colors across the screen.
-
“Hey, I heard about you having to help that retarded kid.”
Gerard’s eyes opened suddenly, halfway through falling asleep. He didn’t recognize who was talking to him and blinked a few times as his eyes unblurred.
“Wha?”
“Yeah, I saw you trying to help him study in the library yesterday,” the voice said again. “It can’t be easy trying to get him to understand stuff.”
“No…it’s not,” he answered as he realized who was talking to him. It was a girl he knew he recognized, but at the moment he couldn’t remember her name. “He’s pretty stupid.”
“Most people wouldn’t do that for someone they didn’t really know,” she said with a smile. Gerard tried to return it, but the bell sharply interrupted his train of thought. By the time he collected his books and shoved them into his backpack, the girl had disappeared. Gerard narrowed his eyes for a moment in thought, but decided to forget about it as he hurried off to his next class.
-
“And you didn’t even get her name?” Ray said in a shocked tone. Gerard stared at the table and shook his head. “Are you crazy?!”
“It’s not his fault he fails at talking to girls,” Bob said with a laugh. Gerard weakly hit him on the back of the head.
“Why does this even matter?” he asked with a frown. “It’s not like she was saying she liked me. In fact, I think she felt sorry for me.”
“Still, a girl was talking to you. This is really a step up, Gee,” Ray said with a smirk. Gerard just rolled his eyes and returned his attention to the food in front of him. A blur of black suddenly appeared in the corner of his field of vision, and when he turned to look at it, his eyes widened in surprise.
“What’s he doing here?” Ray snapped. Gerard could barely find the focus to shake his head in response.
“I don’t know.”
“Hi,” Frank managed to whisper, his voice lost in the cloud of lunchroom conversation. Gerard wanted to sink into the floor and disappear thanks to the look Ray was giving him.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said, standing up and balancing his bag on one shoulder, pulling Bob with him as he started to walk away. Gerard was about to follow, but when he looked back at Frank, he noticed how hurt the boy looked and almost felt guilty enough to stay. The kid’s face lightened the tiniest bit at the thought of Gerard staying put, but it didn’t last.
“C’mon, Gee,” Ray called. “You don’t wanna be seen with the retard, do you?”
Gerard lingered for a moment longer before casting an apologetic look at Frank and standing up to follow his friends as they went to locate a better table.