Another Way | Adopted by Gerard Way (Book Three)

6

Gerard had to sit down with Harley and gently explain to her that although she was used to going out on her own back home, she was still only fourteen and unfamiliar with the area and he'd rather her not go too far from his house— especially not without telling him before she left. In response to that, she decided to ask for somewhat of a compromise and said that she wouldn't leave without letting him know ever again if it meant she could go to the skatepark on her own since she'd found her way there once and wasn't in danger of getting lost.

Gerard had to think about that one for about a minute. And after thinking about it he decided he really didn't have a reason not to trust her, so he agreed on the circumstance that if she ever went to that café with the muffins again she'd bring him back a coffee.

They shook on it.

Harley, as usual, got up bright and early the next morning, excited to break in her new skateboard. She even laced up her new sneakers Gerard also bought her the day before despite the fact that she'd once said she didn't want new sneakers and would continue to wear her old torn ones. She had to admit, the new ones were much more comfortable and less of a pain than dealing with having holes in the toes. Before taking off, she wrote a simple note in her messy print that said, gone to the skatepark, will bring back a coffee- H, and stuck it to the coffee machine in the kitchen with a piece of tape. She knew there'd be no way Gerard could miss it.

She remembered the way to the park without having to look up directions on her phone, and was glad to see that it was completely empty when she got there. She wasn't surprised as it wasn't even seven in the morning yet, but it still made her more giddy than she already was.

As soon as she stepped onto the board and pushed off with her left foot, felt the sturdiness of the new board and how smooth the wheels were, she felt alive.

She let her mind wander.

Often, she thought about the happiest time of her life, which was the span of time she was friends with Holden. That was the only stable friendship she'd ever had. Even though she was happiest back then, it still made her sad to think about him sometimes because it'd been so long since then; two years was a long time to her. One of the memories she revisited often was the time when she was eleven and she climbed a tree in Holden's backyard higher than she'd ever been able to climb it before. She wasn't even afraid of falling despite how clumsy she was known to be even then.

Holden, who was sitting on the ground at the base of the tree, squinted as he looked up and called, "Woah, how'd you get up so high?"

"I climbed!" she called back.

"Well, yeah! I mean, aren't you scared?"

"There's nothing to be scared of! Just, come up here, Holden! You'll feel so free like a bird."

"Don't you mean like a squirrel or something that actually climbs trees?"

Harley rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. Just come up here!"

"I think I'm okay down here," he called up, but Harley wasn't going to let him get away with this so easily.

"Don't tell me you're scared, Holden."

"I'm scared, Harley."

"Well, then," Harley said to herself. She had to think of a way to get him up in the tree and then he'd know how much fun it is, and he'd feel how free she felt, and he'd understand. "If you come up here I'll let you copy my homework."

"I have better grades than you, genius. You're the one who copies my homework!"

"Okay, fine, if you come up here I'll stop copying your homework!"