Sigh, c'est fini. We had some fun times. Some cries, some laughs, some disgusted noises in the back of our throats but the time has now come to say goodbye.
Fret not, though, because I'm writing new stuff. ;)

"Hello?" My phone had vibrated, displaying a number I wasn't familiar with.

"Hey, Gerard?" the raspy voice said on the other end.

"This is him. Who's calling?"

"This is Ray."

"Ray?! Like, the drunk Ray with the afro?"

"It's just Ray with the afro now. You remember the other guy, Bob?"

"Yeah, what about him?"

"This is gonna sound really weird, but you kind of inspired us to get sober, and um, Frank told us about this band you guys have…"

"Go on."

"I- I play guitar, and Bob is a drummer. So, maybe, if you needed us…"

"Definitely, dude!"

"Cool! Thanks. And uh, how about we talk more at school tomorrow? About the when and where of the whole thing."

"Sounds good. See you later, Ray."

Ray hung up, and I went to Mikey's room, which now had a rainbow flag on the wall.

"Mikey?" I asked him.

"Yeah?" Mikey was laying on his bed, throwing a tennis ball up and catching it again.

"I got some guys for the band."

Mikey sat up. "But I thought that those guys I showed you at the mall…"

I racked my brain. That seemed like forever ago. "Oh! Shit. And I already promised Ray and Bob they could be in the band."

Mikey broke out into an unexpected smile. "That's alright. I think Matt and the other Bob already forgot about it."

"Well, good. Do you think something good will come out of this? Maybe?"

"Maybe." Mikey nodded with a pensive look. "But I don't know. It all depends on how we're received."

"Oh." I bit my lip, debating on what to do next. Then I realized I should probably call Frank and tell him the good news.

I jogged down to my room and dialled Frank's cell. He picked it up on the first ring. "Hey, Gee!"

I could hear the smile he was wearing. "Hey! Guess who found us a drummer and a lead guitarist?!"

"No shit! That's awesome, Gee!"

"Thanks. You want to come over and practice for a while?"

"Sure!"

Frank hung up. Why did nobody ever say goodbye anymore? It didn't matter, though, because Frank was at my door in a matter of minutes. We hugged and got Mikey to come down into the basement and we jammed for a bit. Frank smiled at me, and so did Mikey. For the first time in a long time, I felt in my stomach that something was going to play out completely right.

The End.