I Drew You Once in Art Class

Ninety-Six

The Date:

December 24th.

The night of the dance.

"You two look just so sweet! Just one more!"

"Mom!"

"No, now you're complaining in that one! Just smile!"

Frank forcibly smiled, Hayley next to him. Her mouth was closed and she brought the corners of her lips up ever so slightly for the camera. She had complained to him earlier that she hated smiling for photos.

They weren't standing how you're picturing right now, that stupid prom pose where the guy wraps his arms around the girl from behind. These two are standing how you'd stand next to your mom's friend's kid who you haven't seen in 6 years.

"You two are so cute! Just let me take one more-"

"No!" Frank practically wailed. "Please, mom, please just drive us."

His mom held up her hands in mock surrender. "Fine! Fine! Don't come crying to me 20 years from now when you don't have any pictures of you and your first girlfriend."

Frank's face heated up. "Mom, she's not my... we're just going to this thing together. As friends. That's all."

Frank didn't notice Hayley's smile falter, ever so slightly, when he said that.

Frank and Hayley sat in the backseat of his mom's car.

Hayley looked out the window. It had rained about an hour ago, and there were still drops of precipitation clinging to the car windows, distorting and blurring the stoplights and street lamps behind her figure. Frank watched her.

She really did look gorgeous, her eyes sharpened with her usual black wing. Her red hair was half-pulled up, and Frank couldn't help thinking that she was pretty.

I mean, he probably should be, right? He was the one who invited her to this thing.

He was wearing a suit stolen from his dad's closet. The dress code was formal; why not go all out?

Hayley must have noticed Frank staring at him because she turned around and smiled at him, her red lips pulled up at the corners. Without saying anything, she reached over and grabbed Frank's hand, leaving their intertwined fingers in between them on the middle seat. Frank noticed Linda looking at him in the review mirror, so he quickly turned away. Being near his mom in all this was awkward enough.

Finally, the school came into view, lit up against the navy blue sky.

Frank grinned. What can he say? He was excited.

"Bye mom, thanks for driving us!" Frank hurriedly says, dragging Hayley out of the car, still connected to her by the hand.

"Hey!" Frank's mom leaned out of the window, her hand on the side of the car. "Don't do drugs! And I want you home by 11:30!"

"Okay, bye, love you," Frank says, distracted.

Hayley giggled. "You're so excited!"

"I know, I'm being stupid. But I've never been to one of these before and... I don't know."

Hayley smiles. "I thought it was cute."

Frank hoped it was dark enough that she wouldn't see his face turn red.

He just then noticed that their hands were still interlocked.

This felt weird. Because... he sort of liked Hayley?

That felt SO wrong. Wasn't he just totally kissing Gerard, like, a week and a half ago? It felt fucked to transition so fast.

Oh well, he thought. It's not like he and Hayley are together or anything. It's not like he started dating someone a hot second after his fight with Gerard. They're just going to this dumb dance thing. And holding hands. People do that, right? Right.

Jesus.

"Come on!" Hayley tugged him up the concrete hill toward the front entrance. They opened the door, and Frank was immediately overwhelmed by the number of people there. Out of instinct, he dropped Hayley's hand and traded it for linking their elbows together.

That's more platonic, right?

"Come on, let's go pay for dumb photos!" Hayley said excitedly, pulling him toward the line of people waiting to take photos in front of a sparkly lavender-colored background.

"I thought you hated photos!"

"Not when I choose to take them!"

They eventually got to the front of the line and took a similar sort of picture as they had when Frank's mom took them. The guy took two, one on a digital camera, and one on a polaroid (you had to pay two extra dollars, which Frank did)

He got the photo back and stuck it in his pocket, waiting for it to develop.

The gym was unrecognizable. Projections of snowflakes danced on the walls, and royal blue streamers hung from the ceiling. Some tinsel-looking stuff covered the walls and reflected light back onto the faces of a bunch of dancing teenagers.

He figured Gerard wouldn't be there. He'd not been too adamant on the whole dance thing in the first place, so Frank doubted he'd show up.

Everyone was sweating and way too close to each other. Frank couldn't believe people did this for fun.

He was gonna be of those people.

He walked in, Hayley at his side, trying not to scan the room for Gerard.

Not thinking about him!

"I'll get us drinks," says Hayley, walking to a table covered in a silky blue cloth and a bowl full of hopefully-not-spiked punch.

Frank stood with his hands in his pockets, taking in the sight around him when he saw him.

Sitting on the bleachers, with black skinny jeans and a suit jacket (with a white t shirt underneath, naturally) sat Gerard Way, by himself, alone, unaccompanied, independent, synonyms.

Frank's stomach dropped.

God, was he really just sitting there alone? Frank took a step forward before he heard the door open again. He looked over out of instinct, and the sight of Bert-fucking-McCracken with a damn near identical outfit was enough to make his lungs skip a breath.

Of-fucking-course. He should have known. He scoffed and turned around to face Hayley. He didn't need Gerard. Hayley passed him a cup while she sipped out of her own, standing closer to Frank than she had been before. He glanced at Gerard, who was being pulled to his feet by Bert. He rolled his eyes. Hayley followed his gaze.

"Hol-ee shit. Is that the Bert dude?"

"Mhm."

"Christ." She grabbed Frank's face and turned it back to her with her pointer finger and thumb, catching him a little off guard.

"Ignore them. We came here to have fun, remember? Fuck them."

Frank shook his head, trying to clear up some of his thoughts. "Yeah," he said. "Fuck them."

It didn't come out quite as enthusiastic as he'd meant to make it sound. Hayley grabbed his arm. "Come on. Let's just go have fun."

Frank kicked the thoughts of Gerard and Bert out of his head and ran after Hayley, grinning, trailed by her hand in his.