For the Last Night I Lie, Could I Lie With You?

It was my junior year of high school. Ericka, David, and I all walked into the same brown old fart school we always walked into at 7:30 in the morning. We walked down the same crowded hallways as we always have. Heck, we even got our stuff out of the same gray-ish white colored lockers as we always have. The only difference is that this year I scored myself a top locker…and I’m another year older of course. 16 to be exact.

“We go to homeroom today don’t we?” Ericka inquired.

“Obviously.” I answered, still very sleepy. “We have to get our schedules, you know.”

“Oh…yeah.”

I rolled my eyes. Ericka is great fun to be around, but she can be a bit slow. David on the other hand is my twin brother and he’s really cool. We get along really well, so well you’d think we were merely friends.

The warning bell rang and David and I left Ericka to go down the hall to our homeroom. Ericka had to climb The Hill to get to hers. Yeah, our school is made up of seven different one-story buildings that are spread out over a big hill. It totally sucks climbing up and down all day.

I took my seat in Mrs. Tompson’s class. It’s the same seat I’ve been assigned to for two years. Naturally, David sat behind me. I barely come before him in the alphabet. I’m Bridgette Jackson and he’s David Jackson.

“Alright, guys! It’s great to see all you’re shining faces again for a fresh new school year!” Mrs. Tompson cheered.

“You’re enthusiasm is infectious, Mrs. T.” I remarked sarcastically.

“No need for negativity, Bridgette. Now…I’ve got your schedules right here. Give me a moment to pass them all out and you can be on your way.”

I got my schedule and spun in my chair to face David. I snatched his schedule out of his hands.

“Yes!” I shouted, doing a little fist pump. “We’re in Physics 2 together and German 3…and study hall. That’s awesome.”

“Seriously? Cool. When do you have choir?” David asked me.

“4th period.”

“Oh yeah, I keep forgetting you’re in varsity now. Well, I have journalism fourth period and that’s right down the hall so we can walk to German together.”

“Sweet.”

The bell rang again and David and I were off to Physics 2. When we got into the classroom and sat down, our other good friend Elena came running into the room. She stopped, out of breath, in front of us.

“Nice to see you too, Elena.” I joked.

“Oh. My. Gosh.” She panted. “There is a new kid in my homeroom. His name is Gerard. He’s really shy and anti-social, but he’s so hot. He’s definitely you’re kind of guy, Bridgette.”

“Oh really? What does he look like?”

“He’s kinda tall, longish black hair, he’s wearing all black today, eyeliner, pale, very cute face…and a nice a-...Oh crap, there he is!”

Elena froze, staring at the kid who just walked through the door as the bell rang again. He sat down in the very back corner of the room and placed his backpack on the chair next to him so no one could sit by him. Elena scrambled into the seat behind me. I casually looked at the Gerard kid out of the corner of my eye. He was hot. He was really really hot, but at the same time, very mysterious. I could tell he was a loner just by the way he sat and the look on his face. Curious…very curious.

I already knew I had one class with this guy and when I walked into my English class in 2nd period, there he was again. He went to the back of the room and filled the seat beside him with his backpack just like he’d done before. 3rd period I had Pre-Calc. I walked up The freakin’ Hill and found my Pre-Calc room. This time I sat in the back row, anticipating the Gerard guy to come in. This time he didn’t.

For 4th period I had to run all the way down the hill to the building farthest from where I’d come. My counselor had better be getting a good laugh out of this. I had a lot more climbing to do before the day was over.

I was greeted in the choir room by the director, Mrs. Snomel. She shook my hand and congratulated me for getting into varsity choir after rotting in freshman choir for two years. I sat on the back riser and put my Smashing Pumpkins messenger bag in front of me. Just before the bell rang, Gerard guy walked in casually. He stepped up the risers and threw his backpack next to mine and then sat a good five or so feet away from me. So he was a singer, eh? This ought to be good.

“I think I’ve just had my mind blown.” I stated.

“Oh, really? How?” David wanted to know, laughing a little.

“You know that Gerard kid Elena was telling us about? Well, he’s in nearly all my classes and he is in choir with me. He has an absolutely beautiful voice.”

“Really? Well, then he better watch out. You’re always so strongly attracted to singers.”

“Oh, hush, that’s not true!”

“Then what was up with that time last year when you had your walls completely covered with pictures of Billy Corgan?”

“That was just a phase. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Or would I?"

“No, you wouldn’t. My infatuation towards guys that sing is totally not your business.”

“Oh, so you admit it?”

“Yes…Guten Tag, Frau.”

“Tag, Gerda! Tag, Gutenberg!”

David and I entered our German room. Gerda was my German name and Gutenberg was David’s. I sat down towards the front. A few more students trickled in, but there was no sign of the Gerard kid. I guess he wasn’t taking German then.

Halfway through the period, we had to break for our lunch period. We got stuck with second lunch so our class time got all screwed up. Half an hour in class, then half an hour at lunch, then half an hour back in class again.

David and I walked down to the cafeteria or should I say up? Yeah, the cafeteria is on The Hill as well. Standing by the doors were Elena and Erika. What a pleasant surprise, the gang is all in the same lunch slot.

“Having fun?” Elena asked me.

“Not particularly.” I answered.

“Hey, Bridgette, you can take off the mask, it’s not Halloween yet!” Some annoying kid teased from across the hallway. It was Tyler. That kid has been the death of me since first grade.

“Grow up, Tyler!” I remarked.

“Ooh, I’m so scared! Whatcha gonna do? Stab me with your eyeliner?”

“Yes, only because it would be slow and painful.”

“You wanna go, little emo?”

I glared at Tyler and took a step towards him. He came closer to me and I felt David’s hands on my shoulders, holding me back.

“F*ck off, punk!”

Gerard guy stepped in between us and shoved Tyler into the wall of the narrow hallway.

“Who the h*ll are you?” Tyler shouted, shoving Gerard back.

Gerard collided with me by accident and we both hit the opposite wall.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “But that’s none of your business, man!”

Tyler grabbed the collar of Gerard’s Misfits hoodie and held him up so his Converse-clad feet barely touched the ground. I scowled and yanked on Tyler’s arm.

“Let him go! You don’t have to be mean to everyone, Tyler!” I yelled.

I tugged on his letterman jacket a little too hard and the seams on the sleeve tore a little bit. Now Tyler was really ticked. He dropped Gerard right onto his back and turned towards me. Gerard scrambled out of the way as Tyler lunged for me. Before he even touched me, David kicked him where it hurts and pulled me out of the way.

We left the hallway and went into the cafeteria. Tyler could be heard whimpering on the floor.

“Thank you.” Gerard muttered almost inaudibly.

“Thank you.” I returned gratefully. “Would you like to sit with…where did he go?”

I turned around and Gerard had completely disappeared. My guess was that he went out to the courtyard or something. I told you he was a loner.