XOXO// Frank Iero

Eight

Kit

Monday

Monday night at Joey's was always slow. Always. This Monday night was no different. I hated Joey's, but I had this strange feeling that when the summer ended, I would definitely miss it, even though it was a boring old dump.

With ten minutes left in my shift, and a few diary pages read that led me no closer or further to finding out who diary boy was, all my final touches were done. I turned on the turntable, sliding the Generation X record on and skipping to "Kiss Me Deadly", my favourite song by them. I had a strange relationship with Generation X. They were the only half decent band in Joey's record collection, and initially I was settling for them, but I genuinely started to like them.

I sang the words to myself. "Kiss me... Deadly.. Tonight!"

If anybody could sing, it was definitely not me. I had not one note in my head. Did I love to sing? Absolutely. In the shower, in my bedroom, at gigs, at sleepovers with Marlowe, you name it. Anywhere but on a stage, I will sing my little heart out.

"I never would've painted you as a British punk girl."

My breath stuck in my throat and I jumped with shock. I turned around and saw Frank, who'd made it half way across the shop and I hadn't even noticed.

"Jesus Fucking Christ Frank." I placed my hand on my chest, my breathing still hadn't returned to normal.

Frank walked over to the counter and leaned on it. "All alone on the night shift?" He chewed some gum in the side of his cheek while he looked around at the posters on the walls.

"Yeah. Just me." I said, finally calming down from my shock. I still hadn't really processed that Frank was standing here in front of me.

"When do you finish?" He walked away from the counter and began flicking through some records, letting out some interested "Hmm!"s and some not so interested "Eugh"s

"About five minutes." I leaned over and turned down the turntable so I didn't have to shout across the shop.

"Well, I was just going to get some pancakes at the Waffle House. Any interest in coming with me? I'll walk you come again, "The Hive" style." He winked, jokingly.

I thought about it for a second, mentally calculating how much cash I had on me before agreeing to go. The waffle house was like a ten minute walk from here, and no matter what direction you were coming from, it didn't make sense for anybody to have to pass Joey's to get to the Waffle house, so Frank was definitely just taking a little detour to see me. I liked that idea.

"Sounds fun." I smiled, closing up the register and heading to turn off all the lights.

We were both standing in the dark, but I could see Frank's silhouette quite clearly. We found each other and went outside, before I closed up with the key I had in my back pocket.

"No interesting band shirt today, huh?" Frank gestures towards my grey cami with a lace trim.

"No.. Not today. What have you got?" I gestured, asking him to unzip his hoodie. He revealed a Black Flag T-Shirt.

"Oh Yeah? Who's the best vocalist?" I asked as we started walking.

"Keith Morris"

"Wrong!" I interjected.

Frank rolled his eyes. "Nuh uh!" He trailer absentmindedly on to the edge of the road.

"Get off the road so I can tell you how you're wrong." I pulled Frank by the hand off of the road, and when he ended up by my side again, we didn't let go for a couple of seconds. It was like we both wanted that moment to last.