I wake up and forget where I am. Then I remember, and I smile. No 'wake up, faggot!' This morning. No, I was alone. I put on a pair of jeans and an old faded band shirt. I decide that I'd go and find somewhere for food, as I hadn't gone for any groceries yet. I'll do it today, I've still got some money...I need to find a job, too.
'Hey, Gerard!' I smile as I see the red haired beauty. He nods in my direction; he's wearing sunglasses and holding a glass of what I'm assuming is apple juice, seen as it's only 11:30am. He looked aged. His face was weirdly grey and he'd grown some stubble overnight, and from what I could see he had bags under his eyes. He looked terrible. Still gorgeous, but roughened.
'Frank, Wassupp?' His voice was raspy, and he put a hand to his head straight after saying it. Ah. Hangover. I chuckled to myself.
'For me? Nothing. You, on the other hand, look as though you've just come out of a 20 year coma.' He chuckles.
'Good night with your friends? Mikey, was it?' I asked him, chuckling to myself.
'You could say that...and yeah, it's Mikey. He's my brother....you wanna go to a diner, or something?' Oh, my god. I feel my cheeks burning with the intensity of a thousand suns, and I nod my head in reply.
'Sweet. You got anywhere in mind? 'Cause I don't care where we go'
Oh shit. I'm gonna look stupid.
'Um, not, not really.....I kinda don't know where anything at all is, I was gonna wander around until I found one and hope to find my way home!' We both laugh. Phew.
'Well, I know a great place- c'mon!' He reaches for my hand I give it him without a fight. He pulled me along behind him, running for a little but then stopping to clasp his head. Man, must be a bad one. Even though we're now walking and a couple blocks away from the apartment building, he's still got hold of my hand. He must've forgot he was holding, and I sure as hell wasn't going to remind him. I was enjoying this.
'So, frank. You're telling me, you moved here, all alone, and you don't know a single person or where anything is?'
I nod, a little sheepishly. Blushing again.
'Well, this place is one of the best I know, as far as diners are concerned. Go on in!'
I looked up and saw a sign that read 'Rays Diner'. It was neon, and had a guitar on It. I think I already liked this place. I walked in, closely followed by Gerard; who might I say, was still holding my hand. I was going to remember this for a long time.
Yes, I think. I loved it. They were playing a song by Misfits, one of my favourites. There were guitars and basses hung up on the wall, framed pictures of legendary rockers. Behind the counter, there was a man with a rather large afro, wearing glasses to read the paper with.
'Hey, Gerard- looks as though you had another crazy night last night!' The man called out to us.
Gerard just flipped him off and laughed, and I stood awkwardly in between the two of them. They started a conversation, which I deemed as serious, seen as the dude with the afro had stopped smiling and was slightly frowning, and I heard the words 'problem', 'drinking' and 'dangerous'. I zoned out and inspected the guitars on the wall. One of them kinda looked like my guitar, Pansy. There was also an acoustic hanging up, which I desperately wanted to play. I was just about to turn and ask if I could, when I heard Gerard saying:
'Oh, shit, sorry! Frank, this is Ray. Ray, this is frank!' Gerard indicates between the two of us whilst introducing us to eachother. I smile at Ray and he holds out a hand to shake and I accept it, taking a step to close the difference.
'So, Frank- you like guitars? Can you play?' Ray asks, his voice equally as happy as he looked. I nod nervously, and quietly say-
'Uh, yeah, kinda, a little.....you?' My voice gets slightly squeaky by the end of this sentence, and I blush again. Fuck.
His answer is yes, he does, and he then proceeds to get a guitar of the wall and hands me the acoustic- yes!, I think- and we start to play. He's amazing. I am so jealous, I'm a little angry. My mom wouldn't let me practice when she was home, which was fucking always. But I'll be able to practice now more. Maybe even get Ray to help me? I don't know.
Gerard then asked Ray if he could have his regular, and Ray nodded, out the guitar back and grabbed the coffee pot behind the counter and filled a mug before passing it to Gerard.
'You want anything to eat, Gee? Pancakes, bacon sand which?' Ray asks, concern in his eyes. I wondered what had put it there. Gerard shakes his head, drinking deeply from the mug. Ray sighs and turns to me.
'How about you? Bacon sand which?'
Oh crap.
'Um, uh, n-no thanks....I'm kinda, like, vegetarian, so....sorry, no thanks.' Oh dear god. Why was I so fucking awkward? I could feel myself blushing again.
'Oh right, uh, pancakes?'
I nod, sheepishly. Ray smiles and starts to cook the food, whilst me and Gee- I'm gonna call him that, now...- chose an empty booth and sat opposite each other, Gerard sipping his already half full coffee, me staring into his sunglasses. I wanted to see his eyes, again. I loved them.
He sees me staring and says-
'Oh...are you one of those people who don't like sunglasses inside, or..?' I blush a little, and I can only think that I must look like a deer stuck in the headlights, once again.
He sighs. 'I take that as a yes...' He reaches up to take them off.
'Gee, you don't hav-' he's already taken them off, and my god, his eyes were blood shot to hell. More red than white. And the bags under his eyes looked twice as worse without the sunglasses on.
'Its fine, frank, I don't mind. They were tickling my nose, any how's.' He then itched his nose inbetween his eyes, using only his middle finger. We both laugh, and I flip him off.
Ray then sets a plate in front of me, making me jump. 'Fuck!' I say to myself, and Ray and Gee just laugh, quickly followed by me. I thank him, and he goes back behind the counter to finish reading the paper. Goddamn, I think. I am coming here fucking again. These pancakes beat the shit out of any others I'd tasted. I think I just moaned a little. Did I moan? Over food? The answer would be yes.
Gee chuckles at me. 'Good?'
I nod, my mouth full of food. He chuckles again and finishes his coffee, then gets another.
When I'm finished, we both pay, and Gee says goodbye to Ray. By now there was a lot more people waiting to order, and it seemed as though it was only Ray working here.
'Hey, uh, Ray?'
'Yeah, Frank?'
'Would you by any chance have a job going...?'
He looked surprised, and then thought. 'Uh, sure, I guess. Never really thought about it. You want a job? Here?'
I nod, shyly.
He laughs. 'Then you got one, baby. Start on Monday?' I nod and wave, he does the same. We all yell goodbye to eachother. I'm starting to like this town.
