"Star Wars reinvented sci-fi for an entire generation of people, how can you possibly not like it?" Gerard say, whilst scowling at a smirking Frank from across the room.
"Quite easily really," he replied bluntly, seemingly annoying Gerard even more.
"Ugh you can't have an argument about it if you don't actually explain why you don't like it Frank!"
"Gee, I think he's just trying to annoy you again..." Mikey said, smiling slightly at the two of them.
Gerard looked over to where Mikey was standing next to me and scowled even more.
"Yeah well it's working..." He said, crossing his arms in a sulk.
"Gerard you are too easy," Frank said laughing from where he sat on the floor.
"I know, he is, isn't he?" Lindsay added slyly, catching on to the double meaning.
I snorted from behind my hand, making Gerard turn to me and raise his eyebrows sassily.
"Sorry... I, uh, just really wasn't expecting that kinda comment," I said whilst trying unsuccessfully to hold back a smile.
"Well you're feeling better then," he commented, not letting onto the real reason I left the dinner table.
"Yeah, well having a rest helped," I shrugged, before pausing and adding, "besides, I thought I'd humour you."
He raised an eyebrow before chuckling slightly, "c'mon, sit down kid."
"Not a kid," I shot at him before sitting down next to Frank on the floor.
"Sorry kid, but you are," Frank smirked.
"I thought you'd be the cool one here..." I grumbled, my mouth turning up in the corner.
"I am!" He protested, looking mildly offended.
"You used to be cool Frankie," Gerard cut in, "but you're old now..."
He scoffed and stuck his tongue out at Gerard, causing the rest of us to laugh at their exchange.
"So what are your thoughts on Star Wars then" Gerard turned his head to me and asked, "bearing in mind your answer will affect me emotionally."
I looked at him blankly for a moment before answering, "I don't know, I've never seen it. I've been busy having a life these past few years."
He started to scowl again whilst everyone else laughed at his expense; though I could see the corners of his mouth twitch as he was fighting a smile of his own so I knew I wasn't in too much trouble.
"Well unluckily for you, we're watching the fourth one, so you won't understand anything at all," he stuck his tongue out at me like a four year old and proceeded to crawl to the TV to put the DVD on.
"Oh no, you really have shown me," I deadpanned back at him.
After a few more witty exchanges between Frank, Gerard and I the film started playing, which proceeded to be the longest couple of hours of my life. It was so boring that Zoe and Bandit fell asleep leaning on each other which was probably the most entertaining thing to happen through the duration of the film.
The only people who seemed captivated by it was Mikey, Lindsay and, of course, Gerard. Even Ray, who seemed to be the most level-headed person of the four men switched off at some point to play games on his phone. As for Frank, he spent most of the time fidgeting next to me and throwing in a few complaints every now and then.
"Shh!" Gerard harshly whispered after the third complaint.
"It's easy for you to say, me and Taylor have to sit on the floor like animals!" he said earnestly, "my butt hurts!"
"I second that," I said, raising a hand, "and my soul is starting to hurt from the pure shittiness of this film."
"Well go find a way to entertain yourselves then!" He snapped in reply. Frank turned his head to me and raised his eyebrow questioningly; I shrugged in response. He got up from his place on the floor and proceeded to go upstairs, with me following closely behind.
"Where exactly are we going?" I asked after we had reached the top of the stairs.
"Dunno really," he replied distantly before turning to me with a gleam of excitement in his eyes, "wanna have a little jam sesh?"
"A 'sesh'? What are you, a 16 year old pot head?" I looked at him incredulously.
"Oh you're a funny one." He said as sarcastically as humanly possible.
"Yeah yeah, tell me something I don't know," I turned away, bored, "where exactly are we going to get instruments anyway?"
"Ahh follow me, young one!" He skipped down the corridor before stopping in front of Gerard's office. I rolled my eyes and made a point to meander towards him, earning an impatient scowl.
"I thought this was an office?" Frank rolled his eyes.
"Gerard's a musician idiot, what kind of 'office' do you think he'd have?" He replied before opening the door with a flourish to reveal a mini recording studio.
My jaw dropped open in astonishment. There was a small mixing desk and a MacBook on a desk in front of the panel of glass that separates the recording booth to the rest of the room. I walked up to the door of the booth and opened it to reveal a full drum kit and a small line of guitars hung up on the wall as well as a few expensive looking amps. In the corner of the room there was another small desk that held a box of microphones and another box full of effects pedals. It was simply amazing.
I looked back at Frank with the first genuine smile I'd had all day to see he was looking at me with a smug expression.
"I knew you'd like it."
"It's fucking incredible..." I said before remembering where I was, "but wait, will Gerard mind us being in here?"
"He'll be fine, as long as we don't break anything," he smirked, "go on then, pick up a guitar and plug in."
"Are they gonna be able to hear us though?" I asked distantly as I considered which guitar I wanted to play.
"Nah, The rooms sound-proofed for obvious reasons." He picked up the battered looking white guitar that was propped in the corner of the room and plugged it into a medium-sized fender amp.
"I remember this guitar," he said whilst fiddling with the settings, "I'd given it to Gerard when we'd first started out 'cause he'd broken his and couldn't afford to replace it. I didn't think he would have kept it for this long though.."
Whilst he was musing about the guitar, I had picked up a cherry red guitar that faded to a beautiful orange colour in the middle and plugged into a similar amp to Frank.
"Well he's quite sentimental, it's not that surprising," I replied half-heartedly. He shrugged it off before turning back to me with a sly smile.
"Let's see what you've got kid." I narrowed my eyes at the nickname I appeared to have acquired before smirking, quite confident with my ability and a little too eager to show off.
I gestured for him to start playing, intending to follow his lead so he started with a generic, fast punk progression. I started soloing over it, beginning slowly and picking up the pace when I was comfortable with the key we were playing in.
He looked slightly impressed with what I could do so I shot him a cheeky wink before focussing my attention back on the guitar.
We ended up shooting back and forth between rhythm and lead, testing each other, for quite a while. I completely lost track of time, it had felt like ages since I'd played guitar with someone since I sing for the band I'm in so I was really enjoying myself.
When the control went back over to me, I smirked and looked at Frank slyly before playing the beginning riff to Thank You For The Venom. He looked up, surprised, before laughing and joining in. We got to the part where the vocals started when we heard someone start to sing them from the other side of the glass.
We both looked up to find everyone else in the room watching us, causing us to stop with surprise.
"That was amazing!" Ray said, eyes sparkling with excitement. I looked at Frank, chuckling before putting the guitar back and stepping out of the booth.
"Thanks," I said, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly.
"She's pretty damn good," Frank enthused, just behind me. I shrugged at the comment.
"I used to practise a lot so I guess I picked it up fairly quickly."
I looked up from the ground to meet Zoe's gaze. She was looking at me and smiling proudly from behind Lindsay. I gave a quick smile back before looking at Gerard.
"Apologies for not asking to use your stuff," I said, awkwardly trying to deter the conversation away from me.
"It's fine, I don't mind," he smiled, "besides I assume Frank was mostly behind it."
"You can't blame me! That stupid film was making me restless..." he grumbled.
"It's not stupid!" He exclaimed, crossing his arms.
"Seriously?" I started, "he doesn't like it and he does can we leave it at that?" I laughed in disbelief.
"Best idea I've heard today," Lindsay agreed, shaking her head at the two of them.
"Fiiiine," the both said at the same time.
"Anyway, it's getting late now. Bandits already in bed and you two both start school tomorrow so you should get some rest," Lindsay addressed Zoe and I.
Zoe nodded and yawned, rubbing her eyes in an incredibly adorable way before leaving to go to her room. Everyone then turned to look at me and I groaned.
"I'm not going." I said in a determined voice.
"Please Taylor, just go for a bit and see how you feel..." Gerard said, looking earnestly at me.
I pinched the bridge of my nose before exclaiming, "fine! But just so you know, my opinion of you has now lowered dramatically." I gave him a sassy look before sashaying out of the room and slamming the door behind me.
I heard Frank laugh from behind the door which caused me to linger a bit, paranoid they were gonna talk about me.
"She's pretty incredible," Frank said after he finished laughing.
"Yeah she is..." Gerard replied, sounding distant.
I frowned, unsure what they meant, before heading to me room to sulk all night.
This school business was not going to go well at all...