Hell-Bent On Slipping Away

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"Pride, envy, avarice - these are the sparks have set fire on the hearts of all men." -Dante Alighieri

Frank waited expectantly outside the Way residence, and as impatient as he was, he was tempted to ring the doorbell again. Before he could, the wooden door cracked open so Frank couldn't see into the house, but a single eye framed by thick glasses peered out. Upon seeing who it was, Mikey, the younger Way brother, pulled open the door and let Frank in.

Mikey was Frank's age, two years below his brother. Despite the fact that Frank was closer in age to Mikey, they never became friends. And even though Mikey went to a magnet school instead of the public high school Frank attended, it was a bit of a mystery why they'd never been closer, as they had far more in common than Frank and Gerard did. They were both pretty shy, for instance, and attempted to hide themselves under long hair. And don't make assumptions, Frank thought Mikey was great, but there was just something missing that separates the two. Something Gerard had.

Mikey called upstairs to his sibling and Gerard came out of his room in a matter of moments, leaning over the banister with a giant grin on his face. "Hey, come on up," he said as Frank bounded up the stairs. "There's someone I want you to meet."

The last time Gerard had said that, it wasn't a person, but a reptile. A baby corn snake had found its way into his loving arms and was granted a makeshift cage, the name Lilac, and new home.

When Frank walked in the bedroom, there was in fact a slithery animal, but it was being held by an actual girl. He had seen her before around school, but she was a junior too. She was attractive enough - dark hair gathered into pigtails and stopped around her shoulders, red lipstick lined her smiling mouth. As happy as she seemed, Frank couldn't piece together why she was here.

Gerard came in after Frank and closed the door. "Frank, this is my girlfriend, Lindsey."

The tainted sentence came out of his mouth, filthy to hear. Frank couldn't believe it. "Girlfriend?" he asked, still in awe, the word tasting dirty on his lips. "As in, dating?"

Lindsey giggled. "He's so adorable, Gerard!" Would it be adorable to hurl all over her black boots? Because that was close to what was about to happen.

As the fact that Gerard had a fucking girlfriend set in, Frank tried to compose himself with a deep breath, willing his face not to be flushed with rage or disappointment or fear or whatever the hell he was feeling. But Gerard, obviously on top of the world, hadn't stopped smiling.

Gerard took Lilac from around Lindsey's shoulder and handed her to Frank. "She missed you," he said as the snake began to make its way up Frank's arm. The cool scales sent shivers down his spine as they touched his neck and he could feel her slender tongue flicking out of her mouth. At least she likes me, Frank thought.

Lindsey tried to make conversation, but as Frank's shock melted into anger, he only replied in clipped, one-word phrases. She exuded friendliness and had a sweet charm about her, and as much as he wanted to hate her, he just couldn't. She was great. She was what Gerard needed.

Coming to this conclusion, Frank put down the snake and excused himself to get a glass of water. He ran into Mikey halfway to the kitchen, who said to him, "It's weird, right?"

"Gerard, with a girl?" Frank asked, somewhat surprised Mikey was talking to him. Mikey nodded. "Yeah, it really is."

Mikey shuffled his feet. "It's gotta be pretty awkward up there." Frank shrugged. "You, uh, wanna come to my room, play some video games or something?"

It had to be better than being around Gerard and Lindsey. "Sure," agreed Frank, who followed Mikey to his room.

It was a lot like Gerard's: posters covering the walls, an unmade bed, a desk that was in desperate need of organization. It was only missing the stacks of comic books. Mikey sat down on the floor, his back leaning against the bed, and grabbed two controllers. "You have Guitar Hero?" asked Frank, pointing at two plastic guitars next to the television.