I'll Be There For You

4

"So, you'd be my girlfriend?" Brendon asks again with a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

"Yes you dork, now shoo, I have work to get done," I say and ruffle his hair before some teenagers come in. There's four of them, all girls, looking about 13, maybe 14 years old.

"How can I help you ladies today?" I ask. I assist them in finding the right guitars, drum set, and bass. The group seemed quite intresting, they wanted to start a band.

When I get off work at 5, I head to the library to get a new book. After that I go home and decide to finally listen to the cd I bought from Brendon's band, since I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet. The music on it is actually quite good. Maybe I'll annoy the crap out of Brendon with references to his songs the next time I see him.

When 7 o'clock rolls around (which is when Lyn-Z and I normally eat dinner), Lyn-Z still isn't home. Which is unusual because she's always home by at least 6:30. I decide to wait for a while and when she still isn't home at 7:30, I just pop a frozen waffle in the toaster.

I spread a glob of Nutella on the waffle and eat my unhealthy dinner, washed down with a swig of milk directly from the carton. Hey, it's not gross, Lyn-Z never drinks milk anyway. At least not 2%. She, being healthy and such, prefers fat free milk. Blech.

When I finish my dinner, I go upstairs and change into my pajamas. I go back downstairs and make some popcorn. I search for something to watch on TV while I wait for Lyn-Z. I wonder what could possibly be taking her so long. When 9:30 comes and she still isn't home I send her a text. She replies with "Gerard took me out and i'm staying at his house 2night. Sorry, i should have told u earlier."

Ok then, I'm tired as fuck so I'm going to bed.

-- 3 months later --

When I wake up in the morning, I get ready for work then head out. When work is over, I go home and make dinner for Lyn-Z and I, since she texted me to inform me that yes, she will be home tonight. When she gets home, dinner is just about ready.

"Gerard invited me over to a barbecue at his house on Saturday. He said you and your boyfriend could come too," Lyn-Z says.

"He's not-," I begin to protest, but then remember that Brendon IS my boyfriend and has been for three months.

"Nevermind, he is my boyfriend," I mutter and Lyn-Z smirks.

--at the barbecue--

There's a lot of people here. By a lot I mean 11. 11 is a big number, especially for someone as antisocial as myself. It's Lyn-Z, Gerard, Mikey and his girlfriend, Claire, Ray and his girlfriend, Nelly, Frank and his girlfriend, Caroline, Bob, Brendon, and me, of course. Some might think it strange to have a barbecue in late of December, but not when you live in California.

Brendon and Gerard immediately start talking and I can tell they'll be good friends. I, on the other hand, am kinda just silently standing in the corner of Gerard's backyard waiting for someone to talk to me or something.

I notice that Claire is awkwardly following Mikey around, looking like she has no clue what's going on or what to do. I approach her, leaving my lonely quiet corner and try to start a conversation. By the end of the night, I have 8 new friends, which is a big achievement in my social life, since I rarely talk to anybody ever.

When I get home I look at my calendar and realize that, oh shit, there are only 5 days until Christmas.

"Lyn-Z, we should probably put up the tree," I call down the stairs to my friend.

"Oh. Yeah. Probably!" She calls back up to me. After we put up the tree and decorate it, I go to bed.

During breakfast the next morning, I get an idea.

"Hey, ask Gerard what their plans for Christmas are," I say shifting my attention from my food to Lyn-Z.

"Their?"

"Him and the gang. Mikey, Claire, Frank, Nelly, Caroline, all of them."

"Alright." Lyn-Z sends Gerard a text and a few minutes later, she reads the reply aloud, "I checked with everyone and nobody is doing anything, why?"

"I was thinking they could all come over for Christmas dinner. We could do a gift exchange too. I'm gonna invite Brendon and Ryan too."

"Oh, that's a good idea. Gerard says sure. Who is Ryan?"

"Ryan is a friend of mine, he is in the same band as Brendon. He plays guitar."

"Oh, ok." I text the guys and they both say sure.

Well yay, now I have plans for Christmas.