Pinky Promise (Frerard) ✔️

Seven

Lindsey was taking me on a date on Saturday.

On the day, I had about an hour left to tell my mom. She was sitting on the couch, calculating bills.

"Um...Mom?" I approached her, wringing my hands together.

"Hey, what's up?" She looked up at me.

"I, um, I'm going on a date," I said. "Tonight. In like an hour."

"Gerard! Why didn't you tell me? I can get you some money, I'll just have to work overtime next week..."

I shook my head. "No! Uh, she...she knows our financial situation. She wants to pay."

"You're gonna let a lady pay for your date?" She raised her eyebrows at me.

"Well, she's not exactly...a lady," I said. "You know. She's. A top."

Mom nodded knowingly. "I see. Alright! Let's get you ready!"

She stood up and pushed me into my room. I sat down on my bed as she went through my closet. She pulled out a Misfits shirt I'd had since I was twelve and black skinny jeans, as well as a flannel I had.

"Okay, you're gonna look a bit like a lesbian, but that's okay." Mom tossed me the clothes. She often made jokes like that, being bi herself. "Let me see after you change."

I got dressed in the clothes, anxiously tucking my hair behind my ears and opening the door for Mom.

She gasped. "Perfect! Okay, let's go to the bathroom. I'm gonna do your makeup real quick. When's the date?"

I checked my phone. "Half an hour."

"And where are you going?"

"The aquarium."

"Oh my god, that's adorable." She picked up an eyeliner pencil. "Eyes closed."

I tried not to struggle as she put eyeliner on me. I wanted to look good for Lindsey. She was really beautiful, and I wanted to feel that way too.

Someone knocked on the door. I raced to put my shoes on, tying them in an instant and popping a breath mint in my mouth from a can of Altoids we kept near the door, then opened it for Lindsey.

"Hey!" she smiled. "You look really cute."

"Thanks." I smiled. "You do too."

She was wearing a red plaid skirt and black crop top. Her hair was in curled black pigtails, and she had on bright red lipstick.

I could sense Mom lurking in the background, so I stepped out before she could say anything.

I followed Lindsey to her car, which was almost as beat up as my own. She had an array of bumper stickers though. The only one I had was the parking pass for our school.

"I'm sorry, it's such a mess." She opened the door and leaned over the seat, throwing some things in the backseat.

I shook my head. "It's fine. It...it shows me who you are."

"A disaster?"

"Well, I'm a gay disaster."

She smiled. "Hop in."

I climbed into the passenger seat.

"Have you ever been to the aquarium?" she asked.

"Yeah, the field trip in second grade," I said. "Just then."

"I'm going to warn you, the dolphins will recognize me. I've been there so many times that they've memorized my face."

I smiled. "That's...impressive. I'll probably watch the fish the whole time. I love the ocean, but because this is Jersey and it's always cold and polluted, I never go see it. Also, you can't see anything but crabs this shallow."

"I mean..." she shrugged, merging onto the highway. "Last time I went to the beach, I saw some sea lions. We had to get out of the water because of sharks. But I also saw a shark, and that was really fucking cool."

"I would be terrified if I saw a shark."

"Lots of teeth." She glanced at her GPS. "Okay, ten minutes. What do you wanna do first when we get there?"

I had googled the aquarium beforehand, so I kind of knew what to expect. "Can we look at penguins?"

"Of fucking course. I love penguins." She smiled at me before looking back at the road.

We drove for another ten minutes, talking about things like music and school. It felt good just talking and getting it all off my chest.

Lindsey pulled into the parking lot and found a space, then we ran into the aquarium, joining the line for tickets. Lindsey paid. I felt awful about that, but she threatened to leave me with the sea urchins if I didn't let her pay.

I wasn't really sure how this whole date thing went. Did I hold her hand? Act affectionate?

My concerns melted away as she took my hand, leading me past tanks full of fish to the penguins. They were all waddling around, making penguin noises and generally being adorable.

Lindsey sighed. "I want a penguin."

"They look so soft," I said. "They'd probably eat most of your fish, though."

"Sacrifices must be made."

I laughed.

"Okay, c'mon. We can go pet manta rays!"

"Sea pancakes?"

"Sea pancakes." She led me across the large room to a tank with a crowd of people around. "Don't touch their tails."

I put my hand in the water along with a bunch of other people, but recoiled when I felt it. "It's slimy!"

"It's a fish, yeah." Lindsey grabbed my wrist and lowered my hand. "Just feel. Close your eyes. Tell me what it feels like."

"It's still slimy," I said, feeling one pass under my fingertips. Uh, kinda rough?"

"Mhm. Are you appreciating it?"

"As much as I can appreciate feeling up a sea creature."

She giggled. "You can open your eyes."

I opened my eyes. She was very close to my face. I managed not to take a step back, but that was mostly because there were people behind me.

"Can we go see the dolphins?" she asked. "One of them was pregnant the last time I came here."

"Yeah, of course! Dolphin babies." I smiled and followed her through the crowd.

We walked a few floors to get to the dolphin tank. It was very impressive. A few of them swam right over, chittering happily.

Lindsey whistled, which seemed to make them very happy. I looked at her, confused.

"A few years ago one of the workers taught me how to say hello to the dolphins because I come here so often." She smiled. "Just a whistle. Pretty easy."

"I can't whistle," I said.

She smiled. "It's an acquired skill."

We watched the dolphins swim around. They seemed to be calling friends over to see Lindsey.

"Okay, look. That's Coco, Aqua, and Brad. Over there is Spots and Goldie. And there's some babies! I don't know what their names are." She squeezed my hand excitedly.

"They're so cute," I said.

"Like you." She smiled up at me.

I blushed and looked away.