Stop Me Going Home (REVAMPED)

Chapter 9

Ray Toro lives in a big ass house. Like seriously, his house is huge, and that is just one of the many reasons his house is the designated hang out spot, even though he lives an hour away from everyone else. His parents are both gone for the weekend on some lame business trip, and they told Ray he can have a party if he wants, and just not to make too much of a mess for their maid to clean up. Like they have a fucking maid who comes over on weekdays. Frank has known Ray for a long time, but honestly, his favorite thing about Ray is his hair. It's just so curly and long, and sometimes, he just wants to touch it.

Ray is at the door to let everyone inside when they all arrive and walk out of Gerard's badass Trans Am. It's late because of the long drive, but none of them are too tired.

"Hey guys," Ray says, opening the door and letting them inside.

"Hey," They all reply back, hanging up their coats and following him into his big bedroom. His bedroom is one of the biggest rooms in the house. It has a loft to a second floor that's accessible by a built in ladder. On the loft, there's two beds, one of them is the one Ray uses, and the other is a guest bed, because there's just that much room in there. There's also this funky arcade game up there that none of them know how to play because everything is written in Korean, but it's still fun to try and figure out what it does. They've been trying to play that game for years, but they always end up giving up.

Below the loft, there's a whole bookshelf filled with comics and books that Ray has probably never even read. Ray also has his own bathroom, and it has a large tub with jets, and the shower in there has a waterfall. He's got this one wall that's just glass, and looking outside is really beautiful in the daytime. It's hard to see right now because it's dark out. There's a hot tub and a pool outside, too, but Frank's favorite part of Ray's bedroom is the instruments he's got for when his friends come over. Gerard's favorite part is also the music stuff, and Mikey, well, he likes the funky arcade game in the loft and the pool.

"Well, boys, welcome to the cave," Ray says when they enter his bedroom.

Gerard goes up to the loft to go throw his and Frank's stuff onto the guest bed, and Mikey sets his things down on a bean bag chair in the corner of the room that's the size of a bed. It's really comfortable, too, Frank wishes he had one, but they're super expensive.

"Happy birthday, bud. How have you been?" Ray asks Frank while everyone is putting their stuff away, "Haven't heard from you in a while."

"Thank you, Ray. I'm doing alright. What about you? Enjoying your private school?" Frank asks in a lighthearted mocking tone. Ray rolls his eyes.

"I like it, but I don't think there's any chance that I'm going to get a girlfriend before college. I should have thought more about transferring to your school," Ray says. Frank looks at him with a you-should-not-have-just-said-that-because-my-school-is-actually-disgusting look on his face, and Ray can't help but laugh.

"Seriously though, I'm not going to find anyone. The majority of the boys there are closeted gay kids with very strict christian parents. One of my buddies told me his dad made him go here with some hopes this place would be like a conversion camp, but it's all boys. I don't know what his dad was thinking sending him here, but whatever he was aiming for, it didn't work. He's got a boyfriend now and daddy doesn't know," Ray says, grinning. Private school is a win for the gays.

"I'm glad my moms poor. I would never fit in with you guys," Frank says. He turns his head and then sees Gerard coming back down the ladder.

"Dude, do we got plans for tonight, or are we just gonna chill?" Gerard asks Ray. He shrugs his shoulders.

"The pool isn't closed yet if you guys want to go swimming. My dad just installed a new water heater a few weeks ago so it's probably warm still," Ray suggests.