Goths in Denim (I only dress like a Goth!) (5/5) By Jason Ince

(1/5), (2/5), (3/5), (4/5), (5/5).

'How was your night?' asks my mam. 'It was good, thanks.' 'You look rough,' chuckles Steph, 'girls treating you badly?' 'You know it,' I wink at her and take a glass from the cupboard. 'You know who I always liked?' my mam suddenly added to the conversation. 'Not this again, mam,' I complain, knowing too well what was coming.

'Lex, why aren't you still seeing her?' 'She dumped ME, mam. Why do you keep bringing this up?' My face flushing red. 'You should win her back.' 'I'm fine as I am...sheesh!'

And so life continues as it does, college, work the usual, until Wednesday comes along. I don't wear my Goth gear during the week. Just plain old jeans and Goth comic t-shirts, which I think are hilarious, but not my college friends. So I'm sat in the upstairs of McCoys (the coffee shop), with a Mint Chocolate, hoping the rumours of Peter Levy coming here are true when Adrian and Clark walk in, adorned in their Goth clothing and styling their hair the same they did on Saturday night. They sit at a table on the other side of the room, completely blanking me as they scouted the room for a seat when they walked in. I set down my notepad and walk over.

'Hey guys,' I say with a broad grin. They look at me as if I was poison and Adrian stands up to me. 'What do you want?' His tone bitter and repellent. 'Do you not recognise me?' 'Should we?' 'It's Freddy!' 'Stop calling me that Clark, it's not my name.' 'What the hell!' shouts Adrian. 'What's with the look?' 'What do you mean? This is how I dress?' 'Where's all your Goth stuff, like what you wear to Spiders?' 'At home, until I come to Spiders.' I feel the looks of people around me as our voices get louder.

'So you're a poseur?' 'I am no poseur, Adrian. I simply wear the clothing to Spiders and look like this during the week, I'm still the same person.' 'Is this why we don't hangout during the week?' asked Clark in a desperate tone. 'It's not that.' 'Then what is it?' shouts Adrian at me. 'Seems to me like you've been lying to us, Goth at Spiders, Emo at all other time.' 'I am no Emo, Adrian.' 'Converse sneakers, jeans, geeky t-shirt, dark messy hair screams Emo to me.'

'Don't you dare label me; I dress how I feel. I never called myself Goth, that's what you assumed.' 'Fuck you, Finn. You lied, simple as.' 'Fuck you, Adrian. If you can't accept me who I am then rather then what I wear, then Fuck you!' I turn to return to my seat and my face gets a little warm as I notice people staring at me.

And that's how our friendship ended. We avoid each other at Spiders and I take my other friends and have a much better time. I gave most of my Goth stuff to Steph and she was way too giddy for my liking. There was just one thing left unresolved. The ringing from the phone makes me nervous the longer it goes on. 'Hello?' Says the voice from the other end. 'Hey Beth, it's Finn...'

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