Thirty Five Days

22: Conversations

All through my classes, I couldn't stop smiling. Gee cared about me enough to do something for me that he had never even done for his own brother. The thought played over and over in my head as I completely ignored every word my teachers were saying. In the free period that I shared with Matt and Chris I hardly even heard them as they talked about the new presenter for the Battle of the Bands this year.

"Did you already know him, Frank?"

My sudden inclusion in their conversation startled me out of another Gerard centered daydream. I tried to replay what they had been saying in my head but I quickly realised it was pointless - I had no idea what they were talking about.

"Er, did I already know who?"

Matt rolled his eyes as he replied.

"This Ray Toro guy - he's the new presenter for Battle of the Bands. Apparently he's a friend of Dom's but Chris and me had never met him before."

"Oh, no I don't think I know him. Anyway, I never really see Dom without you guys being there so if you don't know him then I definitely don't."

"Mmm, okay then. Hey, what were you thinking about when we were talking? You seemed pretty into it, whatever it was."

They were both looking rather expectantly now, waiting for an answer.

"Just thinking about the end of school actually. It's so close, you know, and I'm just really looking forward to being done with this shit place."

"It is weird, isn't it. I mean, Battle of the Bands is the only thing left to enjoy here, especially since we're pretty much guaranteed to win. You know, we heard some of the other bands rehearsing the other day when we walked passed the music rooms. God, they were fucking awful. And anyway, most of them are about twelve and only started playing..."

I zoned out again as Matt and Chris began talking - and laughing - about all the other competitors. It was strange because a month before I would have been trying to join in their conversation, desperately starting sentence after sentence, only to be talked over or dismissed easily. Now I was just sitting with them out of habit more than a desire for their company, totally oblivious to what they were saying. It might not have been Mr Urie's idea of progress but I was happier than I had been in a very long time. Anyway, it's not as if I was trying to be the school's next success story. Friendless emo kid comes out of shell in time to finish high school with more friends than anyone else. I don't think so.

When I spoke to Mikey at lunch time neither of us mentioned the car journey or even Gerard. There were a couple of times that Mikey did something or said something that reminded of his brother but I was careful to keep my thoughts on the conversation, after all, I didn't want to lose my friendship with Mikey just because of how I felt for Gerard.

We talked about teachers and the homework we were and weren't planning on doing, we talked about what we were doing in the holidays, and our plans for after we finished school. I told Mikey about wanting to be in a band, and he told me about him playing bass. When the bell went we ignored and it continued talking, sitting under the stairs and watching as the school walked by us, heading to their next class full of boredom and anticipation. Sitting under the stairs with Mikey I felt like we could have changed the world. The bell rang twice more and the school trudged passed us again. When it rang a third time we reluctantly got up to join the mass of pupils heading back up the stairs and out of the doors, free once again.

Visible once again, it felt like we couldn't continue our world altering discussion so instead we started to talk about the weather, which was unseasonably warm. When we reached our street the conversation died off. Gee was sitting on the steps outside his front door, smoking. Without saying anything directly, Mikey muttered his goodbye to me  and walked up his path (completely ignoring his brother) and went inside. Resisting every urge in my body, I simply waved and smiled at Gee, who returned the gesture with a small nod, and went inside my house, wishing my mother hadn't already been home.

AN:

Hi! Look at this, another update so soon after the last one! I would say that updates will get better from now but in reality I have exams coming up so who knows what'll happen then. Anyway, thanks for reading and as always any feedback is appreciated so don't forget to vote/comment <3