A few peaceful days passed, containing the usual canoodling and relationship stuff that was normal to the after school hour. During class was a different story, though. I had to constantly be on my guard about the Ryan kid asking Gee for help. He was doing fine on his own, so I knew it was just a chance for him to bat his freakishly long eyelashes and flirt. Which he did more times than me. And I was the one with crap art who was dating the teacher.

Then the fateful day came. I was about to head to school one morning when my mom called from behind me, “Oh, Frank! I’ll be coming at around four today. Think you can wait for me at the school?”

What? “Uh…Yeah, but why are you coming in?”

“Parent-teacher conferences are today. Hope you’ve been keeping your grades up.”

Oh….Fuck! What was I going to do? For one, my grades really weren’t that great. I mean, I wasn’t exactly failing…all my classes. But I was barely above a C in most. Including the one containing the teacher I least wanted her to meet. Gerard. I felt like she was going to figure it out just by sitting in the room with him. And there was nothing I could do to stop it from happening.

The whole day was spent in a worried frenzy. I couldn’t focus on anything. I got hit in the face with a dodge ball in gym, I accidently wrote Gerard’s name on my paper in English, and the teacher might as well have been speaking another language in Geometry. Circles? Tangents? What the fuck are those?! And the more I told myself to calm down, the more I just wanted to run out the door.

I was practically hyperventilating by the time Art rolled around, and I knew Gerard noticed. Every time he looked at me his eyebrows furrowed together in a concerned expression. More than once he opened his mouth to speak, but then either thought better of it or got his attention pulled away by one Ryan Ross. I was really prepared to kill that kid. He had no right going after my property. Not on a day that I was jittery and easily annoyed. I decided I was going to say something.

“Will you quit hitting on the teacher?! It’s fucking gross. I mean, you’re how old?”

He smirked, “Fifteen. Why, what’s it matter?”

“He’s seven years older than you! Just back off.” Wrong word choice. Wrong, wrong word choice.

“’Back off’?” his eyes narrowed, “This isn’t about age difference. You just want him for yourself. Well, I won’t stop you from competing, but we both know I have the prettier face.”

Prettier face my ass. Was he the one who got his “pretty face” sucked off by Gerard? Was he the one who got to have hot sex with the man at the front of the room? Was he the one staying after school every day just to spend more time with the object of his desire? No. I don’t think so.

“Whatever.” I should have tried to deny it, because Ryan looked at me with the most accusing glare. Thankfully the bell rang before he could say anything else.

Once the room was cleared out I walked up to Gerard and grabbed him into a heated kiss. Yeah, Ross didn’t get to do that!

“Whoa! Not that I’m complaining, but what’s got you so fired up?”

“Nothing. Everything. Fucking Ryan Ross, Fucking parent-teacher conferences. Take your pick, really.”

He stroked my hair, “Take a deep breath. First, stop letting Ryan get to you. I’m not going anywhere. Second, what’s so bad about parent-teacher conferences?”

I sighed and leaned into his touch, “Should I start with the fact that I’m doing crap with my grades or the part where I’m fucking my art teacher?”

A small frown replaced his calm smile, “I’d prefer the word dating.”

Cue nerves bringing out a sassy teen remark that didn’t need to be said, “Why? We’ve never been on a date. All that’s happened is sex. I mean, that’s what you were always after anyway, right?” See? I should have just agreed with him because it was really cute that he said that.

“Frank…We’ll talk about this later. I have to get ready for the first parent.” As he ushered me away I noticed that he didn’t look angry about what I said. He looked sad.

…

True to her word, my mom showed up right at four. Luckily she looked like she was in a good mood, which meant I might get off easy. I mean, there was a slight possibility…That I would get grounded for slightly less than my entire life. Yeah...

I spent my time avoiding the art room. I literally took her to every other teacher beforehand. And she was looking less and less happy with each one. I should have convinced her not to come. She thought I was doing less than I was capable of, but the truth is that I had saved all my hard core classes for senior year instead of taking them as a sophomore and junior like I should have. I’m a failure at life.

Then it was time. I led her slowly down the hall that ended in doom. I had no idea what to expect from Gerard. On one hand, he could give me a really good review because of our relationship. On the other, I insulted our relationship and made it seem like less than it was, so…He could be angry. Help.

We walked in and sat down after Mom had shaken Gerard’s hand. And it began.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Iero. Mr. Iero couldn’t make it?”

“Oh, no. He had to work.” That’s all he ever did. He was so committed to his job it wasn’t even funny.

“How unfortunate. I have to say, your son isn’t my best student.”

“Yeah. I’ve been hearing that a lot today.”

Gerard nodded, “I didn’t mean that he’s a bad person…I was mostly referring to his work. I expected a little more effort from a senior, but all I’ve seen are lazily thrown together projects. This is obviously a concern seeing as this is an effort based class.”

“May I see some of this artwork?” She would ask that…

Gerard smiled, “Unfortunately, I’ve sent all of his projects home with him. I’m sure he’d be more than willing to share them with you.”

No. Not happening. I threw them all away as soon as I got them.

“As far as his character traits go, I find him to be an enjoyable person. What he lacks in artistic drive he makes up for in staying after school to clean my room. I never asked him to do this, so I have occasionally awarded him extra credit for it.”

Mom was now nodding along with what Gerard was saying, putty in his hands. I suddenly had better hopes for the day.

“Is there anything else you need to discuss with me?” Gerard shook his head, “Then I’ll be on my way. Come on, Frank. I’m sure Mr. Way has other people to speak with.”

I got up and followed her slowly. Talking to Gerard would just have to wait until another day…

Notes

I'm so evil XD. Frankie's mom meeting Gee....This story was having too much peacefulness. It needed some drama to spice things up...