stone cold {gallavich}

chapter six

"and then he called me a slut!"
mandy exclaims loudly to ian in the hallways of the over-crowded school.

"he aint fuckin wrong," mickey says coming from behind and playfully shoving mandy on her shoulder.

ian grins and looks at mickey from the other side of mandy. it had been a month since mickey found out ian had to be taking pills. since then, they remained the same: fucking, stealing, ian hitting on mickey, mickey rejecting ian, and more fucking.

"i was invited to a party today," ian says with a proud smile.

mickey and mandy both raise their eyebrows and give approving stares at ian. "who's party?" mandy asks surprised.

"gianna carson's," he says feeling himself blush.

mandy stops in the middle of the hallway.
"what the hell? she says freaking out. "you have to bring me! please ian!"

mickey chews on his fingernail and looks away at the people talking besides them. ian doesnt recognize mickey's strange behavior and answers mandy with a laugh, "yeah sure."

ian puts a hand on mickeys shoulder and mickey shrugs it off with a nervous expression on his face.

"dont touch me. look, i gotta go," he says storming off and scratching the back of his head anxiously.

ian decides to walk to his own class when hes interrupted by gianna herself.

"hey gallagher! you comin' tonight?" she says smiling.

ian smiles back and nods. "yeah sure, i'm bringing a friend. that alright?" he asks, hoping he wont have to let mandy down later.

"yeah, the more the merrier! well, i'll see you," she says biting her lip, putting her hand on ian's shoulder and letting it linger there until she walks away, both of them looking back at each other.

ian's head swirls.
did gianna just flirt with me, or am i being crazy? he thinks to himself. he's only had a few previous girlfriends, but he can identify her flirting instantly.

he shakes the thought of gianna out of his mind and resumes to walk to his third class, now confused.

***

"ian are you gonna eat your damn fries or not? because i'm fuckin' ravenous over here, man!" mickey exclaims.

ian doesnt hear mickey over all his thinking. he couldnt stop thinking about gianna, and he kept searching for her from his spot on their table in the cafeteria.

"ian," mandy shouts, snapping her fingers in front of his eyes.

"what? jesus," ian mutters to himself.

mickey takes ians fries himself and ignores the glare ian gives him.

"am i invited or not? what should i wear?" mandy asks in excitement.

ian laughs quietly and shakes his head. "yeah, yeah, youre invited. i dont know what you should wear."

mickey rolls his eyes and sighs with a mouthful of fries. "dress fancy. gianna's family is fuckin' rich, and their parties are always some classy shit.

ian and mandy look at mickey once again with the same look as before.

ian thought the fact mickey knew certain details about gianna's family and her parties was hilarious. everybody but mickey seemed to be clueless, but he was the one who wasnt even going.

"mick, i didnt know you were going?" ian teases in a grin.

mickey scoffs and gets up to throw his plate away, picks out the pack of cigarettes out of his back pocket, and lights one once he exits the cafeteria.

"what's his problem today?" ian asks mandy.

"i think he's upset, because he had a thing with gianna a while back. not sure though," she says doubting herself.

ian frowns and hopes mickey isn't mad at him for going to the party.

***

ian looks at himself in his mirror, smoothing out his suit. there was only twenty minutes until the party, and he didnt even have a ride for him and mandy.

"damn, you meeting the president?" lip laughs and stares at ian's reflection on the mirror.

ian rolls his eyes with a smile spread on his face. "nah, i'm going to some fancy party. i was invited," he adds. "you mind driving?"

lip shrugs and nods his head, "sure."

he grabs his keys from his pocket and signals ian to follow him, while ian's too caught up in folding his sleeves.

in the car, ian texts mandy and tells her to be outside, but she doesn't answer.

"hey, drive by the milkovich house," he tells lip.

ian was excited for this party. he was never invited to any parties, and although he was a bit upset by the fact mickey disagreed to come, he couldn't wait to get there.

they park along the house, and lip honks. mandy comes out with mascara flowing down her cheeks and ian frowns, exiting the car.

"hey, what happened? are you okay?" ian says with a whisper. he pulls her into a hug and feels his hands glide against her dress.
she wore a silky red dress with the smallest straps ever, and black pumps that complimented everything.

mandy shakes her head and sobs quietly. "my dad hit us again, lets go," she says in a panic.

they both climb in the car, lip ignores the crying girl in his car, and speeds off to the address ian gave him.

ian prayed to himself that mickey was okay. he couldn't imagine what he'd do if he found out that mickey was hit again.

he hated the fact that his two best friends had to live with some nutjob of a father. of course ian couldn't say anything, because his father was almost the same.

ian wipes away the mascara dripping from mandy's cheeks and makes sure she looks presentable for the event.

"thanks ian," she says smiling and sighs.

mandy feels an occasional stare coming from the rearview mirror and tries not to blush when she feels lip look at her. she's been eyeing him for years, but he seemed to never noticed her.

she gives him a weird look through the mirror and he smiles, looking back on the road. she laughs softly and hears him laugh, too.

ian tries to ignore the weird eye sex for mandy's sake, and sees they've arrived to the house.

"oh, look! we're here. thanks lip!" he says exiting the car quickly.

"thanks lip," mandy says biting her lip, exiting the car as well. lip smiles at mandy and watches both of them enter the house until they disappear, driving away.