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enter two boys. one, short, scarred, and trapped. the other, tall, sharp, and trapped.
the rot was in him (boy one) and around him and he knew it was there but he didn’t want it there (ironically he had put it there himself) (it was the book) (he thought it would fix him but it did nothing for him all it did was hurt and make him sick sick sick) and the other boy (boy two) was with a rot of another kind a rot you were born from and then trapped with until you couldn’t breathe anymore it was not a grave but it was a mother (mum, 44, mary keay) and she kept him trapped away from what was real (to him) entrenched in fantasy stuck in a world of monsters (real to her) that by now he knew was the only world he could have (pause for laughter. pause for tears)
gerard keay was actually gerry delano and he wanted to escape a prison he’d been born into
michael crew was mike and he wanted to be free of his prison that had been given to him when he was playing outside when he was 8 (raindrops the size of blueberries) (dominic) (sizzling flesh) (the hospital)
boy one, alone (always) his parents were dead now (the rot) but he still went to school and he would brush his teeth in the bathroom because his house had collapsed and mike was sleeping in the public library and even if his house was still there he was sure if he brought the toothpaste home it would be moldy and greyed after a few minutes (intuition and paranoia) (the paranoia remained since the thing found him) (imagine being 16 and at school at 5 in the morning because you found a key to the school in your teacher’s room and took it so you could be clean and then you were the first one there and you’d be walking down an empty hallway in the dark and he would maybe see a flash of light and you would scream)
enter boy two (gerard, 17) who had missed so much school he would probably have to redo the grade but his mum traveled with him enough he would probably be at another school within a year anyways (gerry has never had a real friend) and he was on his bike on the way to the school where mike was going to brush his teeth half an hour after our gerard got there (he didn’t know but maybe he Knew) (the entities are fickle like that) and he used a hairpin from his bun (dyed and very crunchy) (what do you expect it’s a box dye mum) to pick the lock (his hair fell down to his shoulders now that was progress) and he was in the school, maybe he’d do eyeliner in the bathroom (boys) (although labels really didn’t mean much to gerry) (he liked to think gender didn’t apply to him) so he propped the school door open with a book (physics) and sat on the sink (gross but better than standing) (he got dizzy too easily) and he pulled out his eyeliner (tattoos on his knuckles) (stick and poke) and began to put his makeup on (fade back to boy one)
enter boy one (running) mike got to the school and the door was propped open and he didn’t think about it (tired and homesick) (missing his parents) and he ran down the hallway (mike doesn’t walk anymore he only runs) and crew was going into the school’s bathroom (boys) and it was a tuesday morning (rainy and cold. he was glad he had his scarf on him) and then he opened the door (there was light from under the door and that made no sense because wasn’t the light motion activated?) and someone was in there (our gerard) and they were sitting on the sink putting on makeup (eyeliner) and mike made eye contact with them in the mirror and they turned around (was that a tattoo on their hand?) and said something about it being early to be in school (“haven’t you got somewhere to be?”) (mike, scoffing) and then he saw mike’s toothbrush (loosely dangling from his hand toothpaste in the other) (boy two’s eyes soften) and jumped down from the sink to let mike brush his teeth (wordlessly) and mike scowled at him (all bark no bite) (“thanks.”) and he brushed his teeth (boy two exeunt)
gerry was in english class (a rare occasion) (they’re reading hamlet) (gerry has already read hamlet) when the boy from the bathroom came in holding a late pass (“i got busy”) (poor excuse) (….. a sigh from the teacher) (“that’s alright, mike”) (the boy’s name is mike) and sat down in an empty desk (as far away from gerry as he could) (it probably wasn’t on purpose) and took a copy of hamlet from his bag (molding) (books don’t do that) and gerry closed his eyes (fade to black)
lights up on the cafeteria (the caf as the students call it) (mike thinks that’s stupid) and mike crew has found himself sitting next to the boy from the bathroom (mike knows his name is gerard now) (he heard a teacher reprimand him in the hallway for the piercings) (apparently you can’t have more than two) because there’s no open tables (mike doesn’t have friends anymore) (he doesn’t think gerard has ever had one) and mike puts down his lunch tray (a clatter) at the seat opposite gerard (gerry) and gerard pulls out his earbuds (mike can hear faint metal music) (that’s pretty loud for being directly in his ear) mike stares at him and gerard frowns (“what do you want?”) (“i just want to eat my lunch.”) gerard puts his earbuds back in, apparently satisfied, and pulls out a lunch bag from his messenger bag (not a backpack) and they both sit there in silence eating (a slice of mediocre pizza for mike) (a sandwich for gerry) (peanut butter and jelly) (it’s good that mike isn’t allergic to peanuts) he laughs a little to himself but gerard doesn’t hear (fade to black)
gerry finds mike in the hallway later that week (it’s not creepy) (he just knows something is up) and he taps him on the shoulder to get his attention (mike jumps) (“hey, mike, can i ask you something?”) (“why are you even talking to me?”) and they go to an empty classroom and gerry tries to be as sympathetic as possible (“so why were you here at five in the morning”) (“fuck off”) and by now he’s convinced the fears are involved with this (the crawling rot, maybe? or i do not know you) (either would be bad) and asks mike if he has ever seen something weird (“yeah, i saw some people making out in the atrium. what are you, hall monitor?”) (“i meant supernatural, mike.”) (“oh”) and mike’s face goes very strange and gerry notices his scar for the first time (branching arcs on his neck and his jawline) (his jawline…) (get ahold of yourself gerard) and he asks him if he’s ever been involved in the supernatural (a leitner ask him about leitners) and mike softens and says he has (the spiral from his scar and the corruption from a leitner) and they make an uneasy truce to find leitners and gerry will destroy them or mike will use them (they didn’t agree on that) (gerry doesn’t think he could stop mike if he wanted to) and they can be friends. tentatively on gerry’s part. (exuent the two boys. together, this time)
open on the public library in their town a couple months later (mike’s idea) and they’re going through books (for the stamp always for the stamp) and they haven’t found anything and mike is frustrated about it because he’s tired of running (gerry doesn’t understand) (he never will) (something tells mike he does but his teenage mind won’t believe it) so mike storms off, and gerry runs to follow (“leave me alone!”) (“never”) (“why do you even care?”) (silence) and cut to mike’s house and gerry’s head is in mike’s lap and mike is stroking his hair (crunchy) (not very romantic) and gerry is talking about some band he likes and mike realizes that he’s in love with gerry delano (how dare he make mike fall in love) and then he realizes he has to leave (exit boy one) (boy two, despondent, alycone-like: “am i dearer to you, away from you?”)
lights up on when they’re in college (mike is) (gerry isn’t) they haven’t kept in touch at all (mike’s fault) and mike found it, he found the book that could save him (ex altiora) (the falling titan) and he instinctively dials gerry’s number (a mistake) and he just has to hope that gerry doesn’t pick up (of course gerry will. he’s been waiting for this for years) and then he picks up and mike can hear him talking but he really can’t over the rushing wind but he has to say something (“this is it”) (“mike, don’t do this. or wait ‘til i’m there. please, please, don’t do th-“) mike hangs up and he turns back to the book, to the open window, and he jumps (freefall) (exeunt boy one)
gerry doesn’t see mike for a long time after that (mike’s fault) but if he did he doesn’t know what he’d do (kiss him?) (kill him?) and he doesn’t even know how he’d find mike or if he even wants to (he does) but the decision is made and the fates are spinning their threads together (he is half of my soul as the poets say) and then gerry is in a café in london (shitty coffee) and his mum has been fading (the book. the fucking book) and he’s listening to music (mastodon) (the staff is looking at him like they’re waiting for him to leave) (maybe they recognize him from the news) and suddenly mike is at his table, sitting across from him (no scarf/turtleneck to hide the scar) (his hair is windswept and he’s smiling) (he never smiled like that before) and he says some pleasantry about the weather (“the sky is beautiful today, isn’t it?”) (what a bastard) (“mike.”) and suddenly gerry realizes that if he’s going to kill him it would be now (knife in his boot) and mike is looking at him like he’s the only person in the world (half of my soul) (“i missed you, gerry.”) and gerry kisses him (he could kill you gerard get yourself together) and mike kisses him back (it’s a trap gerard don’t forget don’t trust him) and they break apart and they’re both staring at each other (wary) and then they kiss again (maybe he’s not dangerous) and they get out of that café and out under mike’s sky (because it’s his, to gerry) and they are together and they are sharp and dangerous and they are in love
exeunt boy one and boy two, together this time.