“Ladies and gentlemen, Hoboken High’s class of 2011!”

I cheer and throw my hat up with the rest of the kids. I can’t believe I’m here. Finally free of all the shit this place put me through. I can do anything with my life. Anything at all. The possibilities are endless. But right now there’s only one thing I want to do…

I run over to my boyfriend, Gerard, and pull him into a kiss. He picks me up and swings me in a circle, “I’m so proud, Frankie!”

I smile, “Thanks. I can’t believe it’s really over!”

“Well it is. So what comes next?”

I shake my head, “I honestly have no idea. But I’ve got a while to think about it.”

I kiss him again and hear someone yell “fags” behind us. I don’t even turn around, just flip whoever it was off over my shoulder. Then I hear another voice behind me, “Frank, I’m genuinely insulted that you went to your boyfriend before your mother.”

I turn and smile sheepishly, “Uh, sorry Mom.” Then I hug her and deal with her blubbering. She’s acting like me graduating is the end of the world. I’m not even moving out for a while. I never applied for any colleges because I don’t know if that’s the path I want to take. I want at least a year to think about my life before doing anything. Whatever I do, though, I know Gerard is gonna be included in it.

I look over at him to see him patting his brother, Mikey, on the back. He graduated today, too, which is great because he’s my best friend in the world. Has been since the first day he was here, when he saved me from the school bully. Things were a little weird between us when I first started dating his brother, but we have it sorted out now. Good thing, too.

“Congrats, Frankie!” I hear my stepsister Jamia before I feel her arms around my neck. Then her dad, my stepdad, is squeezing my shoulder.

“Good job, boy. I trust you’re heading off to college soon?” I’m not fooled by his supportive parent voice. What he really means to ask is if I’ll be getting out of his hair soon. The guy has everything against me. He’s homophobic to no end, for one, and for two he still has some notion that I’m fucking his daughter because of the time we dated a while back. There are two reasons why that’s not true. 1) I’m madly in love with one Mr. Gerard Way, as I’ve mentioned. 2) He and my mom got married a couple months back. That makes Jamia and I related.

“Actually, I have no idea what I’m doing, sir. I thought I’d stay at home a while until I figure it out.”

His expression goes stony, “Well, you better figure it out fast. Strong, capable boy like you should be out in the world.”

I shrug and go back over to Gerard where Mrs. Way hugs me and Mr. Way shakes my hand. They don’t have a problem with me dating Gerard. In fact, they adore me to no end. They constantly remind me how happy they are that Gerard found someone as great as me. I don’t personally think I’m so great, but they’re entitled to their opinions.

“We did it, dude!” Mikey says next to me, grinning like a mad man.

“Yeah we did!” I grin back at him, “What’s next for you?”

“I think I’m gonna try out college. I applied to a couple places, just waiting for their replies.”

I nod, “Sweet. I’ll miss you, though.”

He laughs, “I won’t be too far away. And we’ll obviously see each other again. I’ll be waiting for the wedding invitation.”

He winks, causing me to blush. I haven’t even thought about the immediate future, let alone that far ahead! I cough, trying to cover up my embarrassment, “A-anyway, are you still having that graduation party?”

“Fuck yeah! You’re finally gonna get to meet Ray! He had to work, so he couldn’t make it here, but he said he’d for sure be at the party. I’m telling you, you’ll love this guy.”

I laugh, “From what you’ve said it sounds like you love him. And yet you make fun of me.”

He shoves my arm, “Hey! You know I’m dating Alicia!”

That was true. After a few months of him going to our school, he finally got noticed by the female gender. One girl in particular. Her name’s Alicia and I always thought her to be a total prep. She’s actually really cool, though.

I feel a pair of arms wrap around my waist, “Frankie, don’t embarrass Mikey. He doesn’t want people knowing about his man crush on Ray.”

Gerard and I bust up laughing, causing Mikey to turn even redder. And to make matters worse, Alicia chooses then to show up. She looks back and forth between us and Mikey, clearly confused about what’s going on. She kisses his cheek anyway.

“What’s wrong, babe?”

Gerard stops laughing long enough to gasp out, “You sure you want to come over tonight, Alicia? You’ll just get jealous of Mikey’s boyfriend.”

And then Alicia’s joining in on the laughter that’s starting to make my stomach hurt. Mikey looks really angry. “Fuck you guys,” he says before walking toward the door. The whole group follows, with three of us still trying to control ourselves.

Notes

Yay Chapter one! It was eating at my brain, so i put it on paper...Or i guess computer screen. Either way, It is good. I think anyway. What about you?

P.S. I gave Frank a more modern grad year to fit the modern story line