"Sign mine and don't put anything dirty or mean," Charlotte said, giving him her's.
"Take the fun out of it why don't you," He joked. He opened the book the back as Charlotte started signing his. "Damn, Gerard, take up half a page why don't you," Frank commented as he looked at the page for signatures in Charlotte's yearbook.
"Still loads of room," He said.
Charlotte started writing in large letters on one page,"This is Charlie's Sexy Page, and no one else can write on it or I'll be upset. :P Frankie, I love you, you always make things... interesting! Don't ever change, you're way too cool the way you are. <3 Charlotte"
Gerard took his pen and wrote down,"Hahaha, I'm writing on Charlotte's forbidden sexy page. 'Interesting' is the nice way to put it. Keep in touch. xoxo G."
Frank gave her back her yearbook and she gave him his.
"Hate my picture," Frank said, opening back to it.
"All our pictures suck," Tracy said as she signed Ray's yearbook.
"They got some nice ones of you guys at the prom though," Josie said as she watched Bob sign her's.
"Yeah, a lot of nice ones mid-headbang," Mikey said.
"Yep, this was definitely a quite memorable year," Bob said. "No senior prank though..."
"They're considering the tape on the intercom the prank," Josie said,"Which is kinda lame cause it wasn't even a senior who did it." She glanced at Mikey.
"Seniors planned it out," Mikey said.
"That's true."
"It's done," was all Gerard could think of saying as he leaned against some lockers.
"It's so weird..." Tracy said. It was the last day of school and they had just finished their last final.
"Seriously. I guess we technically don't even go to this school anymore," Josie said.
"Does that mean we're trespassing?" Frank joked, putting on his sunglasses.
"Speak for yourselves..." Mikey said, he still had three years.
"Sorry Mike."
"It's alright."
"We still need to make sure we got all our credits... that would suck to have to go here another semester," Bob said.
"Damn Chemistry," Gerard said.
"I'm sure you did fine," Charlotte said.
"Let's go, it's officially summer vacation and we're <i>still</i> here," Josie said.
They fallowed the other students towards the front entrance.
"Graduation in two weeks as long as we passed everything," Tracy said. "Then... we are out of here."
"Yeah. So long Jersey, nice knowing you," Bob said.
Josie nodded,"Don't bother calling us, we'll call you."
"California, here we come!" Tracy said, putting her arms around Charlotte and Josie's shoulders. "I can't wait, I could skip!"
"... skip?"
"Yes." She went over and linked arms with Frank. "I'm Dorothy, cause I'm from Kansas."
"What am I?" Frank said.
"Toto. Gerard, you can be the scarecrow," She said, linking arms with him too.
"Um... thanks?"
"Mikey, you can be the tinman, and Ray since you've got the hair, you be the cowardly lion."
"What am I?" Bob said.
"A flying monkey."
"Okay."
"C'mon, let's skip, make our grand exit," Tracy said.
"What the hell, okay."
So.. they skipped.
"We're off to see the wizard," Tracy sang. "The wonderful wizard of oz, he truly is... I don't know the rest of this song..."
"I'll be Glenda, you can be the wicked witch of the west," Josie said to Charlotte. She, Charlotte, and Bob were skipping behind them.
"Okay."
Other students stopped to laugh at the group of seniors and a freshman skipping down the hall, singing off-key.
"So long and goodnight!" Gerard yelled as they left the front door and stopped skipping.
"We're dorks," Charlotte said.
"Yep."
"Now what?"
"Let's go raid Charlotte's pantry!"
"What is it with you guys and my pantry?"
"You've got a lot of really good stuff..."
"Not right now, my mom needs to go shopping."
"Oh... so plan B."
"What's that?"
"Raiding Frank's pantry."
"Okay!" Frank said. "My mom doesn't care, come on over."
"Okay, to Frank's house!"
And so... off to Franks house they went. "Oh god, remember in Junior year when we 'accidentally' shoved Kim into that wall?" Tracy said, grabbing some chips.
"Oh yeah, that was classic, thank god she moved," Josie said.
"Remember in sophomore year when Frank and Gerard came dressed in the girl's uniform? That was hilariously disturbing," Ray said.
"... oh my god that was you? I thought those were just freaky looking girls!" Tracy said.
"I did too!" Charlotte said as they laughed.
"We got away with it too, wore a stuffed bra and everything," Gerard said.
"I didn't wear a bra," Frank said. "And we only got away with it until about fifth period."
"I was hot as a chick," Gerard said.
"Sure you were..."
"Didn't you say that you always wanted to dress in drag though, you said it like you had never done it before," Charlotte said.
"Not outside the uniform," He said.
"Remember in Freshman year when Mindy gave me all those fake love letters?" Charlotte said.
"Oh and then she made you wait in front of the school where her friends hit you with eggs and water balloons?" Tracy said.
"I swear, that was probably one of the meanest thing she ever did to me," She said.
"Don't worry, I did the same thing to her last year," Josie said. ".. Only I threw rotten eggs."
"Nice," Mikey said, high-fiving her.
"Remember when I got stuck in a tree?" Bob said.
"Cause you were trying to get the psycho lady's cat!" Frank said.
"That was hilarious, it was all I could do to watch... and take photographs," Ray said.
"Remember when Charlotte's boyfriend dumped her for Mindy so we beat him up?" Frank said.
"When was that?" Charlotte asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Last week," Bob said.
"Oh my God... which one?"
"The two who were cheating on you with her, one that dumped you for her, and the other one who dumped you for her kinda... ran once he saw the blood on the croquet mallets..."
Charlotte stared at them for a moment then grinned. "I love you guys, you're such freaks."
"Adorable freaks," Frank said.
"Yes," Tracy said. "Very adorable."
Gerard knocked on Charlotte's door a few days later. He had decided to drop by for reasons unknown and hummed to himself as he waited for a response.
Charlotte opened the door an inch. "I'd open it more but you might get scared, I haven't put on any make-up," She said.
He pushed it open a little more and stuck his head in. "You look fine. Can I come in?"
"Of course," She said. She had on a black tank top and some grey plaid pajama pants. "I love summer, sleeping in is so nice."
"It is," He agreed. "Where is everyone?"
"Carley's at basketball camp, Mom and Dad are at work," Charlotte said. "And Buster is over there taking his mid-morning nap." She pointed to the nearby couch that the labrador was laying on his back on.
"Sure he's still breathing?" Gerard said watching the dog. When he moved his paw slightly and rolled to his side, this confirmed he was still alive.
"So, what brings you here?" She asked.
"You have to ask?" he said, putting his arms around her and kissing her cheek.
She smirked and kissed part of his neck. "I know, I'm so irresistible."
"Oh fuck yeah," He said, putting his forehead to hers, he played with a lock of her hair.
Finally what they'd been avoiding.
"College soon, huh?" He said.
"Yeah," She said. "Gonna be weird, huh?"
"Sure is."
"We'll... have to keep in touch," She said.
"...yeah," He said.
What else could he say? 'Charlotte, I know you've been wanting to go back to California since you were five-years-old and that you already told the school you were going but will you not?' He tightened his arms around her and kissed her forehead.
"Oh, I wanted to show you a drawing I'm working on and ask you what you thought, I just remembered," She said. "C'mon, my sketchbook is somewhere in my room."
"Okay," He said fallowing her upstairs. She started going through the many sketchbooks on her desk as he sat down on her bed.
"Hmmm...." She said to herself. "I just had it... I should start numbering my sketchbooks, they all look the same." She picked up another one and flipped through the pages before finding her picture. "Here we go."
She walked over and sat down next to him with her legs over his lap. She gave him the sketchbook.
He looked down at the page. It was of some sort of demon. She had wings that looked like they were made of cobwebs, long, claw-like nails, and haunting eyes.
"This is really good," Gerard said. "Got to make it a bit wider right there though I think, so she's more in proportion."
She looked to where he was pointing. "Yeah, Okay."
"Her face looks good, you made her hair a bit big."
"Alright I'll fix that."
"That's all I see wrong with it," He said as he continued examining the sketch. He gave it back to her and she put it on her bedsite table. He kissed her again and she ran her fingers through his hair. She leaned forward, causing him to lean back and lay down as they continued kissing. He pulled out of the kiss for a moment. "I love you," He whispered.
"I love you," She said back.
Gerard returned home a few hours later. He inhaled deeply and ran his fingers through his hair.
"What's up?" Mikey asked.
Gerard jumped. "How long have you been right there?"
".... fifteen minutes... why are you so jumpy?"
"... no reason," He said.
"Is your shirt on backwards?"
"No."
"Yes it is, was it like that when you left?"
He looked down at his shirt to see that it was in fact on backwards. "Oh... yeah, it probably was."
Mikey rose an eyebrow to Gerard before shrugging it off and looking back to his comic book.
Gerard walked into his room after a few moments of silence. He sat on his bed and sighed. He picked up his sketch pad and started drawing like crazy. Circles, straight lines, curves. Erasing, re-drawing. He lost track of time while doing so, trying to get this sketch as perfect as possible.
"Gerard! Dinner!"
He hadn't even heard his mother come home from work. He checked the clock. He'd been drawing for a good five hours. His trash bin filled mostly with pencil shavings, his pencil decreased by at least an inch. He put the sketchpad and pencil onto his desk before going to eat.
"So, what did you do all day?" Melissa asked Charlotte as the news went to commercial.
Charlotte was sitting on the couch, reading a book called 'Fleshmarket.' She looked up and said,"Oh... not too much."
"Like what? Draw and read again?"
"Pretty much," She said, moving her gaze from her mother's eye and back to the words in the book.
"You need to get out more," Brad said.
"Mmhm," Charlotte said. She'd heard it all before. She got up and went upstairs. She straightened her comforter before lying down on it. She blinked, her head on her pillow as she gazed at her photo of herself and Gerard. She had forgotten who'd taken it, it was from a few weeks ago, a couple of days after prom. It was a nice picture of the two of them, Gerard behind Charlotte with his arms around her as she kissed his cheek. She inhaled deeply, thinking of him. She thought about college and the other end of the country.
"I don't want to leave him," She whispered. Her eyes filled with tears. Large tears that swelled and fell from her eyes, dragging mascara with them. She got up and went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Tears still running down her cheeks as she undressed and got under the hot water. Black streaks covering her cheeks from the combination of her tears and the water.
"Why should I leave him?" She said to herself. "Maybe I shouldn't. I could just-... no. No. I can't do that. Tracy, Josie, and I, we've had this planned forever... I.... but he's the best thing that's ever happened to me." She sighed, still quite confused.
"I'm already going to go to school in California. So... California it is," She decided.
"... or have you go, it's better off this way..." Gerard sang softly to himself, drawing another few lines, back to his drawing. It was about eleven at night now and he was almost finished with the sketch. It was a very detailed drawing, a couple. The girl in the corner, looking away, her hair in her face. The man in the corner opposite her, looking back at her, though the rest of his body was facing away. He had a gun in his hand but looked hesitant over whether to use it. The girl looking away as if there was something she wanted in that direction, but she wasn't sure whether to go after it or not, the man glancing at her knowing he could prevent her from leaving but wanting her to be happy at the same time.
Gerard admired his sketch, erasing a few lines again before re-drawing them. It was his best yet. He got his camera and took a picture of it as a keepsake. He signed the corner "xoxo g" as always and carefully tore it out of the sketchbook. He flipped it over and wrote something down on the back before carefully placing the sketch on his desk.
Trust Me