"His face is still the same... but more mature... and cuter," She said. She looked at her picture. Glasses and braces. "Ew...." She closed the book.
"San Diego..." She whispered to herself, remembering her college plans. She remembered when she, Tracy, and Josie had planned it out. Ninth grade, a night in with a horror movie.
"I want to get the hell out of this town," Josie had said.
"Same. I want to go back to California, I love it there," Charlotte had said.
"We should all go. We can rent an apartment or something, split the rent, go to college," Tracy had said.
It had started out as a simple plan by a few fourteen-year-olds made up for the fun of it, none of them thinking they'd really go along with it, turned into what helped them make their choices for College. There was an art institute and a culinary institute next to each other. Josie and Charlotte would study art, Tracy would go be a chef. They'd been accepted to those schools, their first choices.
A thought clouded Charlotte's mind that she hadn't ever considered, she never thought it would come up while planning all this.
Gerard...
He was going to a school in New York. The complete opposite end of the country. Could two college kids really keep a long-distance relationship with all the temptations of college?
She hugged her knees as she thought. While planning, she never thought she'd be in a relationship with a guy she truly cared about. But she'd already accepted the school's offer.
But then again...
She had also applied for the School of Visual Arts...and they had accepted her...
"I can't do that to Josie and Tracy, we already worked out our budget and everything..." Charlotte said to herself. "Besides.... they say all good things must come to an end... nothing lasts forever... enjoy it now while I can..."
"Prom Next week," Josie said unenthusiastically at lunch. The boys were finally off of their suspension and back in school.
"Hello!" Lila said, walking over. "I know you're all gonna vote for me for prom queen! But here's some cupcakes for you anyway!" She put down a tray of cupcakes decorated in the school's colors.
Once Lila was out of sight, Frank threw them away. "Who knows what she put in those."
".... cupcake mix?"
"That's what she wants you to think."
"...."
"I... hate... Mr. ... Marcus," Gerard said as he walked over.
"Why did he make you stay after class?" Charlotte asked.
"He made me help him 'dispose of' some piglet bodies that the elective biology class dissected.... I don't think I'll be able to eat bacon for a while...."
"So that's what that smell is...."
"Saved the frogs but not the pigs," Bob commented, shaking his head.
"Okay, the pigs were probably already dead, the nearest farm is who knows how many miles away, and you do remember what happened while we saved the frogs?" Ray said.
"Bad images! They're comming back!" Tracy said, holding the sides of her head and closing her eyes. She began humming, trying to get the images out of her mind again. Frank did the same.
"You've got some blood on your sleeve, Gerard."
"I'm used to it by now..."
So the days went by. The prom getting nearer.
Prom night.
"Oh! Gerard, your senior prom! And you look so handsome," Donna said as she watched him put on his tie.
"Um... thank you..."
"Your collar's-"
"I'm gonna fix it mom, still working on the tie here," Gerard said, adjusting the red tie before fixing the collar of his black dress shirt.
"Gerard, your eyeliner is smudged, just right there," Donna said, brushing her thumb under his eye.
"Mom...."
Mikey was trying hard not to laugh... and failing.
"I'm gonna make you one of the undead in a few seconds, Mikey," Gerard said,"I can do that, remember I'm a vampire."
The phone rang and Donna picked it up, careful not to break one of her long acrylic nails on the receiver or get one of them caught in her hair as she put the phone to her ear.
"Hello? .... Hello Bob ..... yes, hold on." She gave the phone to Gerard.
"Yeah?"
"Look in front of your house."
"What?"
"Just do it."
Gerard walked over to the front window and looked out and saw a stretch limo parked in front of the house.
".... what the fuck?"
"My uncle's friend runs the rental place. There's a fucking phone in here... Frank! Stay out of the fridge! Brad's not gonna take any shit about you being drunk when we go pick up the girls! Sorry, Frank's helping himself. We'll pick up the girls in a minute, just come out when you're ready. See ya."
"Bye."
Gerard hung up the phone and watched as Frank stuck his head out of the sunroof of the limo. He rolled his eyes and pulled his jacket on.
"What did Bob want?" Donna asked, adjusting the red rose on his jacket.
"He's got a limo in front of the house," He said, pointing towards the window.
"Oh! Sounds fun," She said.
"Yeah, just got to keep Frank from the Champagne in the fridge," he mumbled.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Mikey rolled his eyes and picked up the red rose corsage that Gerard had picked up for Charlotte and handed it to him. He was on his way to the front door when Donna stopped him to take a few snapshots. Finally she let him leave, and he walked out to the limo. Frank waved to him from the sunroof and Gerard waved back. "Having Fun, Frankie?"
"Fuck, yeah!"
Gerard got in the car and they pulled Frank back in as the driver pulled out of the neighborhood. Frank, Bob, and Lola were the only other ones in the limo.
"We're gonna pick up Tracy, Josie, Charlotte, and Ray at Charlotte's house," Bob said.
"And Mrs. Miller will take God knows how many pictures of us....."
"Already went through that with Lola's parents... it was really bad, I still have flashes in my eyes," Bob said.
"Sorry. My mom's just way too excited I got a date," She said. She had on a black gothic lolita-esque dress that went slightly below her knee with long sleeves and two blue stripes at the hem and across the top with some fishnets.
"You look nice tonight Lola," Gerard commented.
"Thank you Gerard, you do too."
Bob picked up the phone again and dialed Ray's number as they pulled in front of Ray's and Charlotte's houses.
"Is Ray there? .... Why's he at Charlotte's?.... oh, getting pictures over with, I get it, I'll call her place then... okay, bye Mr. Toro." Bob dialed Charlotte's number and asked for Ray.
"Yeah, we're in front of the house."
Gerard and Frank both looked through the sunroof as Ray opened the front door looked out at them. They waved.
"What the hell?"
"Bob has connections at the limo place I guess," Gerard said. They climbed out of the limo and walked to the house. Bob and Lola got out too, just because.
"You all look so great!" Melissa said, snapping pictures. Brad sat in a chair nearby, watching them all like a hawk. Josie was helping Tracy fix the bun in her hair. Josie's halter dress went right below her knees and was pinstriped like Ray's suit. Tracy's dress was floor-length, black, strapless, and had white flower designts along the upper half of it.
"Where's Charlotte?"
"Killing Carley," Tracy said casually.
Carley, who looked vaguely like a mini Charlotte, but with obvious errors, such as a different nose and body structure stomped down the stairs.
"I don't know why you're so concerned about looking good for the hermit vampire!" She said.
"You always ruin everything you little brat, I'm gonna- Oh, Hi everyone!" Charlotte said, stopping halfway down the stairs. She giggled nervously, her hair in her face, if she'd taken another step she would have tripped over her own dress.
"Carley, upstairs, now," Melissa said. "And give you sister back her eyeliner already!"
Carley rolled her eyes and walked up the stairs and put the liquid liner into her sister's palm.
"Charlotte, move your hair out of your face," Melissa said.
"Mom, for one night, one night Could you not bug me about where my hair is?" Charlotte said, brushing her hair from her face before she started putting the eyeliner on.
"Don't give her attitude young lady, or there won't be a prom for you tonight. I don't see why you have to go anyway," Brad said, eyeing Gerard. "And you, I'm warning you now, believe me, I know what teenagers do on prom night-"
"Oh and what's that Dad?" Charlotte asked, putting the lid back on her eyeliner.
"Um... never mind."
"Oh, no, Brad, do enlighten us, what went on during your senior prom?" Melissa said.
"Someone's in trouble," Tracy whispered.
Gerard hadn't heard Tracy, he was looking at Charlotte, she had finally turned so that he could see her face and the entire dress. It was black, strapless, with a black and red corset top. There were black designs on the corset. Her naturally straight brown hair was curled. "You look fantastic."
"Thanks," She said. "You too."
"Nothing, dear, nothing at all happened at my senior prom, at least nothing to do with me of course, I-I don't even think I went to Senior prom now that I think about it. Oh! Look at the time, there's a very important documentary on TV right now," Brad said, getting up and walking into the other room. Melissa scoffed.
"Like I'm not gonna see him later.... Okay, couple pictures!"
"Humor her, she promised not to take more then five at a time," Charlotte pleaded to them as Gerard helped her with her corsage.
They left the house, each with flashes in their eyes.
They piled into the limo and drove past the one in the driveway of Mindy's house.
"Then they take pictures at prom... so many pictures...." Frank said as they drove to the school.
"Yep, it sucks," Charlotte said.
The limousine driver dropped them off at the front of the dance hall before pulling into the last available parking spot.
"Okay, so we'll go... do whatever one does at the prom, then about an hour into it you can go to the limo and get your instruments and start setting up," Josie said.
"Okay."
"You guys'll do great," Charlotte said.
"Thanks."
"Oh my god, an announcer?" Josie said. She sighed. "Josie Wedson and Ray Toro."
The announcer said their names, he sounded like a wannabe talk show host.
So much for slipping in unnoticed.
After about thirty minutes, Mindy and her current boyfriend showed up, fashionably late.
"Oh good! You got a dress with a corset!" Mindy said to Charlotte. Mindy's dress was made of brown satin with a train that fallowed about three feet behind her. "But y'know, still having baby fat is nothing to be ashamed of. And I think it's great that you're so comfortable with your size."
Charlotte's mouth was slightly agape, a 'wtf?' expression on her face. Mindy smirked and started walking again. Gerard rose an eyebrow. Charlotte wasn't anywhere near fat.
As if they had planned it, Charlotte, Tracy, and Josie all took a step forward on the train of the dress.
It seemed like the entire room stood still. There was no sound but the rip of the fabric.
"And I think it's great you're so comfortable about showing your ass to the entire senior class. Nice tattoo," Charlotte said.
The butt of the dress had ripped, revealing Mindy's. A quite expensive g-string and a tattoo that said,'Diva.'
"OH MY GOD!" She screamed, only drawing more attention to herself. "CHARLOTTE YOU ARE SUCH A BITCH!"
"Takes one to know one. You're finally getting what you deserve," Charlotte said, taking a step back as Bob and Ray came up behind Mindy with the punch bowl and dumped it on her head. Mascara ran down her face, her hair sticking to her forehead. She moved her hair from her face and glared at Charlotte as someone from the yearbook along with someone from the newspaper took pictures.
"Lila! What are you doing just standing there!? Cover me!" Mindy snapped at her blonde friend. Lila had a sparkly sash draped over her shoulders and put it over the back of Mindy's dress.
"YOU IDIOT!!" Mindy screamed. The sash was transparent. Lila sighed and tossed it on the ground.
"COVER YOURSELF THEN IF I'M SUCH AN IDIOT!!!" She screamed at her.
"ARE YOU SCREAMING AT ME!?"
"AND PEOPLE CALL ME STUPID?!"
"I'm glad we came," Gerard whispered to Charlotte.
"Lot more fun then re-runs of horror movies, huh?"
After a while the chaperons broke it up and Mindy went to go get cleaned up.
Tracy and Frank were on the dance floor. "How's family stuff been?" Frank asked.
"About the same," Tracy said bitterly.
"I'm sorry."
"Thanks. You're really sweet, Frank."
"I try."
Tracy had her hands on his shoulders and Frank had his on her hips. They leaned forward, her arms slipping around his neck until their lips brushed against each other's.
"... Is that Tracy and Frank making-out?" Josie said, watching from across the dance hall.
"Yep...." Gerard said.
"Okay then," Charlotte said.
"I'd ask you to dance, but I don't know how," Gerard said.
"Sure you do, and if you step on me I'll forgive you, c'mon," She said, taking his hand.
Tracy and Frank broke apart.
"Well.... that was interesting," She said.
"...Yeah..."
Ray and Josie watched as they danced. "It's weird they're all pairing off... have you seen Bob and Lola?"
"Making out in the limo."
"Are you serious?"
"Yep. They should be back soon, the driver was still there and there's a chaperon patroling the parking lot."
Ray rolled his eyes.
"It's fucking weird," Josie said, putting her head on his shoulder for reasons unknown.
"Seriously."
"What the fuck do you mean you can't dance, you're doing fine," Charlotte said.
"I was joking..."
"... oh...... never mind..."
He smiled and pulled her closer to him. "I love you."
"Ditto on that one," She said, kissing his cheek. She tried not to think about college again, she didn't think she'd be able to make it through the night if she did.
After another few minutes they started setting up their instruments behind the curtain of the stage. Once they were done Mikey snuck in from the back door and they waited by their instruments.
"They're already announcing prom king and queen," Charlotte said, putting her ear next to the curtain.
"Prom Queen is... Josie Wedson!'
"... I won?" Josie said.
"You won!" Tracy said. Josie smiled and threw her arms around Ray and kissed his cheek out of excitement. She went out onto the stage.
"We're gonna pull the curtain," Tracy said as she and Charlotte walked over to the ropes attached to the curtain.
"Everyone ready?" Gerard asked, nervous.
"Yeah. We can do this."
They heard Josie take the mic. "Instead of the king and queen dance, I'd like to make an announcement. You've all been lied to! Jock boy and his buddies didn't write that great song on the intercom, these guys did!"
Charlotte and Tracy pulled the curtain as the guitar started up, Gerard had his back to the crowd, tapping his foot to the beat. He turned around. "Well if you wanted honesty, that's all you had to say, I never want to let you down or have you go, it's better off this way."
He watched the faces as he continued the song. A lot of sneers, some with shock, and then... there was a few in the front middle, rocking out, singing along to the chorus. The crowd that was jumping and singing grew rapidly.
"What will it take to show you that it's not the life it seems?" He sang before shoving the mic to the crowd, who yelled "I'm Not okay!" with Frank and Ray. "I told you time and time again, you sing the words, but don't know what it means, to be your joke and look, another line without a hook..."
Frank was on his back on the floor. One could mistake him as having a seizure as he continued to play. He got on his knees and still played.
Eyes turned to Ray during his solo. People's fingers cringed just watching his dance up and down the neck of the guitar. A few girls in the crowd whispered and pointed to Mikey. "Isn't he a freshmen? That's too cute."
Lola stood backstage with Tracy and Charlotte watching Bob. "Nothing bad's gonna happen to Bob, do you think? It's always the drummers!" She said over the music.
"Who knows?" Tracy said with a shrug. "I doubt his drum set will suddenly burst to flames or something."
"TRUST ME!" Frank screamed into his microphone.
"I'm not okay!" Gerard sang into the microphone. He was jumping up and down, really getting into it. Frank was standing on top of Bob's drums but fell during the last second. He still finished the song though. "...not okay."
The crowd that wasn't sneering applauded. Whistles and cheers filled the room.
"Thank you," They said into their microphones before Tracy and Charlotte pulled the curtain again.
Donna came backstage, video camera in hand.
"Mom! What are you doing here?" Gerard said.
"Who do you think gave Mikey the ride? Oh, Gerard, Mikey, boys, you all did so great! I'm sending a copy to grandma, she'll want to see it. You know how much she wants you two to be musicians. Oh, come on Mikey, let's go let them finish their prom. Charlotte, girls you look lovely." Donna and Mikey went towards the back door. "Gerard, fix your hair."
"Great Job Mikey!"
Gerard ran a hand over his hair. It wasn't as neat as it had been, he had head banged a few times while performing, but it looked fine, nonetheless.
"You guys did great," Charlotte said to him.
"Yeah, I saw you headbanging."
She smiled. "Couldn't help it."
When they went back to the dance hall there were people who pointed and whispered, seemingly impressed. Others, sneered, whispered and scoffed. The first outweighing the later.
"Your majesty," Frank said, bowing dramatically to Josie. The others did too.
"Thank you, my loyal subjects," She said, curtsying back to them. The girls who hadn't won glaring at her.
"I guess you have to have the King and Queen dance now?" Ray said, looking to the lacrosse captain who had been crowned king who was still on stage, looking impatient.
"Fuck him," Josie scoffed.
"What!?"
"C'mon Ray, you're my only king tonight," She said, pulling him onto the dance floor.
"Awwww," The rest of them said in usion.
"Want to go outside for a while? It's really warm in here," Gerard said to Charlotte as they watched the lacrosse captain leave the stage and Josie and Ray continue dancing.
"Sure," Charlotte responded.
They walked out the doors and sat on a bench outside the dance hall. Gerard put his arm around her shoulders.
College turned it's ugly head in Charlotte's mind again. She hated the idea of going that far from Gerard. She put her arms around him too and he pulled her onto his lap. He ran his fingers through her hair before kissing her.
Mindy and some of her friends walked by and saw them. "Looks like someone's already got themselves a widdle groupie," She sneered. In response, Gerard and Charlotte both gave her the finger, still deep in the kiss.
She rolled her eyes and kept walking.
Trust Me