Emerald and I exchanged numbers. I can already tell we'll turn out to be really good friends. I mean, she likes the same books as I do, we have a similar style, and she may be super pretty and nice and smart and—

But, she's also a pretty big fan of My Chemical Romance.

I didn't tell her about Gerard. How do I tell a fan something like that? First of all, she might not even believe it, and secondly, I need to make sure she's not the kind of person who would just use me to get to the band. I'm pretty sure she's not, but I have trust issues.

Anyway, all of my teachers seem alright, I didn't get lost, and my locker was easy to open, so overall, I'm pretty lucky with how my first day of school turned out. One downside though, is that there are a lot of preppy girls in my grade. One in particular, (Charlotte, I think it was?) kept giving Emerald and I cold looks during any chance she got.

When the bell finally rings at the end of the day, I get a call from Gerard.

"Hey, Gee," I say into my phone.

"Hey, Eve, Mikey's picking you up. He's coming over anyway and he offered."

"Okay," I step outside and look around the parking lot, spotting him pretty easily, "I see him!"

"Alright, Kiddo, can't wait to hear about your day. And, don't get run over in the parking lot!"

"I won't! See you soon." And on that cheery note, I end the call.

Once I climb into the passenger seat it takes Mikey only about three seconds to leave the school grounds. Impressively, he doesn't hit anyone with the car.

"In a hurry, are we?" I laugh.

"Teenagers scare me," He confesses. "They judge you, but... accurately, you know?"

"You got that right. They scare me too, and I am a teenager."

Mikey nods, keeping his eyes on the road. "So, Kid, how was your first day?"

"Pretty good, actually. I made a friend."

"A new friend already? I guess school's not as bad as you thought it'd be."

"Yeah, it's not too bad. Yet, anyway." I say 'yet' because it's only just begun, after all. We haven't had any homework assigned or anything, and I haven't yet had to live through the horror that is gym class.

I just know it's going to get worse.

"Gerard told me you got pretty panicked about it," Mikey continues.

"Oh, yeah. But I'm okay now." I suspect Gerard told him that I was more than "pretty panicked" because that's a severe understatement. I'm not mad at him for telling, though.

As soon as we walk in the house, the first thing I hear is music blasting. It's the album Station to Station by David Bowie. I enter the living room only to see Gee dancing around.

I stand and watch for a good thirty seconds, Mikey right behind me, before yelling over the music, "Hey, Gee!"

He turns the music off quickly, "Hey, Evie! I was just—"

"Being a dork."

He shrugs, "I guess you could say that. So, how was your day?"

"Hold on, lemme take my stuff upstairs and I'll tell you everything," I run up the stairs two at a time and drop my bag on my floor. Then, I go to the bathroom and wash my hands because schools are filthy.

Once I'm done, I rush back down, then take a seat on the couch between Mikey and Gee, interrupting their conversation about which Bowie album is the best.

"Low." I say, as if that settles anything. "Now, for my day. First I just gotta wonder, who even had the idea of high school in the first place? Like, putting a bunch of teenagers in one building? Stupid idea."

"I'm guessing it didn't go so well then?" Gee asks disappointedly, but he's still slightly amused at my comment— I can tell.

"Oh, no, it was fine. Pretty good, actually."

"Oh, well, that's good to hear." Gee smiles, relieved. I hadn't even thought about how worried he must've been, especially after seeing how freaked out I can get.

"Yeah, and she made a friend!" Mikey pipes up.

"A friend? Like, a real life one?" He asks, faking disbelief. Or, maybe he really is in disbelief. I would be.

"Yes, a real life friend!" I announce dramatically. "And here's the weird thing; we've met before! But, like, really briefly. It was on that day we went to Hot Topic and we met that girl with blue hair and there was another one with red hair. She's the blue haired one. Her name is Emerald."

"Oh yeah, I remember that." Gee nods. "But what's she like? How are your classes? Do you have any together?" I like the way his eyes light up as he asks me these questions. Its like he's genuinely interested. Is this how good parents are meant to act?

"One at a time, Gerard!" Mikey tells his brother, "This isn't some quick-fire interview shit!"

I laugh, "It's fine, Mikey. I got this." I pat him on the head, needing to stretch a little bit to reach.

• • •

It's just Gee and I now, and we're quiet over dinner because we talked so much earlier. He and Mikey kept asking a bunch of questions about school, my favourite subjects, my least favourite ones and whatnot. Now, the silence just bugs me. All I can hear is the scraping of our silverware on the plates.

"It's too quiet, we need to talk about something." I break the silence, then take another bite of my pasta.

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?" He asks.

"Oh, I was hoping you'd have an idea 'cause I don't."

"Let me think..." Gerard looks off for a few seconds, thinking. "Tell me a fun fact about yourself," He says finally.

At this moment, my mind goes completely blank. It appears I've suddenly forgotten everything about myself. "I... am not a very interesting person."

"C'mon, I'm sure that's not true. There's gotta be something," Gee encourages.

I wrack my brain for anything I can say about me that's even mildly intriguing. My past is filled with the horrible things that happened when I lived with my mother, and then in my first foster home which I'll never forget. Then of course there was the second one.

Shaking away the bad thoughts, I finally say, "Well... I can speak French?" It's true, but it comes out sounding more like a question.

"Wait, really? How haven't you told me that yet?"

I shrug.

He looks at me expectantly, urging me to go on, so I do. "One of Mrs. Miller's friends was from Montreal, I think, and she was like, 'Hey, wanna learn some French?' so I did."

"There's no way she taught you an entire language unless she had a whole lot of free time!"

"I'm a weird kid, alright? Soon as she started teaching me I thought it was the coolest thing ever, so studied by myself a lot."

"Tell me something in French, then." Gee says, taking our empty plates from the table and placing them in the sink.

"Um... Je m'appelle Evelyn et j'ai treize ans."

"My name is Evelyn and I— what?"

"J'étais née le vingt et un novembre."

"Okay..."

I giggle and run off to the living room as if I'd said something that I shouldn't have.

"Get back here, Eve!" Gee runs in after me. I fall on the couch, laughing, "Okay, I guess you do know French! Are you gonna tell me what you said?"

"Jamais," I whisper devilishly, still in a heap on the couch. Gerard shakes his head, then grabs my arm to help me up.

"Alright, alright, keep your secrets. Let's watch a movie or something. Any suggestions?"

• • •

I made a new cover! thoughts??