I'm in Love...with a Rockstar (MCR)

Chapter Six: Love and Beer

        A week later, the boys and I are allowed to walk out of the hospital doors. My back is still killing me, and my doctor told me to take one Advil every twelve hours. I felt something spark between Mikey and I, that one day last week. He hasn't acted any different from usual, but I think he likes me. I hope he likes me. Yesterday, he makes a point of pushing his older brother out of the way to tuck the hair behind my ear. He grabbed my hand and held it, longer and more often than any of the other boys. He's holding mine now. I think the other guys have started to notice that we have....how to put it?? Started to like each other, I guess. As we climbed onto the bus, my phone buzzes in my back pocket. I pull it out and nearly drop it when I see the caller. Jared.

        "Oh my god!" I drop Mikey's hand and press the send button. "Jared?"

        "Hey." I can see his face, expressionless, on the other end of the call.

        "I was worried about you. You didn't call. Or text for over three weeks."

        "Cuz' I was angry at you."

        "I know. I know. And I'm sorry. Everything was just so new and I was trying to take it all in and I was just trying to get used to it."

        "I know."

        "Um...Jared?"

        "Yeah?"

        "You still want to be my friend right?"

        "Of course. I always want to be your friend. And someday, maybe more than that." My eyes widen and I swallow hard.

        "Yeah...um. Well, we're about to leave...so I guess I'll talk to you later. Or text. I'll try to call soon. Bye."

        "Bye." I press the end button and slip my phone back into my pocket, hands shaking. I don't move, standing still on the bottom step of the bus.

        "What happened?" Frank asks.

        "Nothing." I smile, shake myself off and walk the rest of the way onto the bus. I slump down into on one the arm chairs as the bus begins to move. Mikey sits down in the chair next to me and places his hand on the arm rest.

        "What happened? You can tell m--us. You can tell us." Gerard and Ray and Frank sit down on the couch across from me.

        "He...he told me that we could be friends. But someday he wanted to be more and...I just want to be friends."

        "Yeah, and it looks like you already found a guy." Ray teases and glances from me to Mikey and back to me.

        "What? No. We...we are just..." I choke up on my own words, looking at my feet.

        "Whatever." Ray says and grinning he stands up and walks to the fridge, pulling out four beers and tossing on to each of the boys, me included. I catch it and look at him, confusion splayed over my face. He grins at me and pulls out one for himself and sits back down. I hear four clicks, fizzes and then they all drink. I can't bring myself to open it. I know I'm eighteen, but technically I'm not supposed to drink yet. Frank smiles at me.

        "Come on," Mikey nudges me with his elbow. "Try it." I pull back the tab, and let the fizz bubble for a moment, before bringing the can to my lips. Just by chance, the bus goes over a bump at that very moment, and beer spills all over my front and pants, the seat of the chair too. I groan as the boys burst into laughter.

        "I hate you guys!" I say, standing up and shaking my hands to attempt to remove the sticky liquid. I shove the can into Mikey's open hand and run to the bathroom. I strip my clothes and step into the shower. I rinse the beer smell, taste, and feel from my body before I change into a new set of clothes and bury my soiled one into the dirty clothes basket. When I emerge from the bathroom, the boys are exactly where I left them. There is an unopened can of beer on my chair. The cushion is still soaked through. I walk to the chair, and stand behind it, resting my hands on the back. They all look at me, as if they are expecting me to try the beer again. "No way. No absolute way!"