As time wore on, I was constantly living for the weekend. The boys were starting to get really good, and were even writing their own stuff, so they were nearly always playing a gig at some club or other, and Annabelle and I would never fail to go and perform our 'girlfriends of the band' duties.
In the few weeks that had passed since she had warned me against Gerard, I had managed to forgive Annabelle and bury the hatchet. She had even been behaving better; she hadn't cheated on Mikey since the infamous 'third base' affair. On top of that, it was approaching June which meant that school was nearly out for summer.
However good life was starting to turn out, however, on a certain Wednesday in final period maths, I was finding life a little hard to deal with.
"It's Olivia's party on Saturday," said Lauren, the girl who I shared a desk with. She was nice enough and always very friendly, so I was happy to oblige in some conversation with her.
Anything was better than maths, anyway.
"Yeah," I agreed, vaguely remembering receiving the invitation, "are you going?"
"I don't know," mused Lauren, "I think so...I think there's going to be anything better to do on Saturday night,"
I smiled knowingly. I had an amazing Saturday night planned; in fact it was so good that I could not quite wait for the week to be done with so it could just go ahead and happen already. My Chemical Romance were playing their first headlining slot, albeit at a fairly dreadful, unfrequented bar. Nevertheless, the excitement amongst our group was at fever pitch and we couldn't wait. We were planning on a celebration afterwards, as well. And yet, despite this prospect of a fantastic weekend, week itself was dragging, apparently bent on lasting for what felt like a million years.
"I wonder if there will be any hot guys there," said Lauren thoughtfully, biting the top of her pencil.
I mirrored her actions, but instead of contemplating the potential for hotties at a party, I contemplated the 'hottie' I knew would be waiting for me by his car when the bell rung.
"Oh," she said softly, looking at my pensive face interestedly, "You don't need to scout out hot guys, you have a boyfriend don't you?"
I tried not to look too smug as I answered, "Yes," I said, my voice positively oozing content,, "I do."
"Yeah, I've seen him come and pick you up," continued Lauren, "he's cute,"
"Thank you," I said guardedly. I'm not a jealous person, but I am wary of anyone who puts their eyes on Gerard in an appraising way.
"How long have you been going together?" she asked, and there was a hint of envy in her voice. Maybe it was because she wanted a boyfriend as good looking as Gerard, or maybe it was because she just wanted a boyfriend.
I performed a mental count-up in my head, "Uh...about five months," I said, surprising myself with the length of our relationship. It felt like we had been together for five years we knew each other so well, and were so in love – yet the time had still managed to flash by in what felt like a few weeks.
"Wow!" enthused Lauren, looking surprised. Relationships don't tend to last so long around our school, "that's ages," she sounded a little envious again before continuing, "are you like in love and stuff?"
She looked quite eager as I found breath for my answer,
"Yes," I said, but not wanting to give too much away, "we are."
"You're lucky you have a guy in your life who loves you," commented Lauren, and I thought about that for a moment, silently agreeing with her.
"Yeah," I murmured, once again being hit with an epiphany; Gerard really did love me, and that was kind of amazing.
The bell rang shrilly to signal the end of the day, and I couldn't help but let out a monumental sigh of relief as I surreptitiously stuffed my books into my bag.
"I am not working at all tonight," said Lauren firmly, doing the same as I was doing; practically shoving her stuff in so hard that she was nearly breaking her bag,
"Me neither," I said, mentally checking Wednesday off of the day checklist. Just two more to go until Saturday, the day I was waiting for with hot anticipation.
Lauren accompanied me to the corridor, where she bid me goodbye to go and meet her other friends at her locker. I smiled at her, happy to carry on alone; I knew what was waiting for me outside.
"Hey Connie," said a voice at my side, and I turned to see Matt standing there, looking flushed.
"Hey Matt," I replied, "You ok?" I was asking the question more out of politeness than genuine interest; harsh as it sounded, I just wanted to get to Gerard as quickly as possible.
"I'm great," he answered, "you?"
I sighed; I hated pointless exchanges of conversation like this, "I'm good," I answered with a false smile as we pushed our way through the huge bustle to the front doors,
"Gerard picking you up today?" he asked, looking wistfully at the parking lot,
"Yes," I answered, grinning uncontrollably,
"How are you guys doing?" he asked, putting a concerned expression on his face and softening his tone.
"We're fine," I said warily, turning my head to study him more closely. What did he know that I didn't know that made him ask that question? I resolved to find out.
"Why do you ask?" I asked, not too subtly,
"No reason," he said evasively, clearly failing to disguise the fact that there was a solid reason,
I narrowed my eyes at him. I was about to press him further when a heart-stopping voice called out my name. I was powerless to prevent myself from going to Gerard, so I bade a half-hearted farewell to Matt and went on my way.
The concerned expression that had been on Matt's face, and that mysterious question were going to haunt my mind for longer than I thought.
