Nobodies

I miss Frank so much that I end up staying the night with him at Jamia’s. Can you blame me, I mean, I spent half a month away from the kid. I really want to go and beat the shit out of Christian, but I want to see Frank even more.
I race to Christian’s house that Saturday morning, since A: I can’t wait until Monday to see him, and not for a good reason, and because of B: I may not want to do this whole confrontation on school grounds.
When it sinks in that I am, in fact, going to yell at Christian away from school, I stop dead in my tracks. Christian’s bigger than me, by like, a lot, so what happens if he gets upset? He had the audacity to fucking drug me, so I doubt his morals would stop him from beating my ass to a pulp.
I remind myself that nothing fuels a man like anger does. My rage gives me the courage and incentive to continue to his house. I walk, fists tight, and teeth clenched.
I knock on the door, tapping my foot impatiently. Christian answers with a grin. He must think Jamia had kept his deed a secret from me, her best friend. What an idiot.
“Hey, Gerard. Come in,” Christian greets.
I take a step inside, gazing around the room. “Are you home alone/”
“Yeah,” Christian replies. “Why?”
I shove him, knocking him back onto his ass.
“What are you doing?!” Christian demands.
“Jamia told me the truth,” I hiss. “How… how you framed me, made it look like I had hurt the one person I care about most!”
“Listen, Gerard, I swear, I didn’t do it to hurt you,” Christian swears.
“”Then why the fuck did you do it?!” I scream.
“Calm down!” Christian orders. He stands, puffing his chest out to look bigger. He looms over me portentously, almost as if he was purposely taller than me merely to show his dominance.
“I’m calm,” I lie, gritting my teeth. My fist stiffens.
“Look, I did it because… you deserve better than Frank,” Christian confides.
“What?” I growl.
“You can do better,” Christian reasons, but it doesn’t make any sense to me.
“How so?” I question.
“Fucking Frank is an ass!” Christian insists.
“He is not!” I retort.
Christian shakes his head violently. “Gerard, he took you to a fucking psych ward.”
“To help me!” I point out.
“More like to fuck you over!” Christian shouts.
“He loves me!” I cry.
“Is that why he said he ‘couldn’t take you’ and broke up after a little argument?!” Christian yells.
“I made fun of the poor kid for crying!”
“He fucking let you try to kill yourself!” Christian roars. “Not to mention, he fucking bullied you for years!” There’s a pause, us staring at each other and panting from the screaming match. He grabs my arms and softly says, “Gerard, honey, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Frank couldn’t care less about you.”
Christian presses his lips to mine. I pull away immediately, slapping him. Christian reels back in shock, his hand on his cheek, where the skin flames red.
“Frank… loves me, and I love him back,” I tell icily.
“How can you know?” Christian whispers.
“I’ve seen the way he looks at me,” I answer. “He’s held me in his arms and told me he loves me, genuinely. He’s told me things he’d never told anyone. He gave me his darkest demons, and I lent him mine. He would stand up for me when I wouldn’t do so for myself. He believed in me when no one else would. He…. He’s my Frank. And it’s a privilege to be his boyfriend.”
Christian says nothing, so I take it as an opportunity to leave. I call over my shoulder,
“Christian, you almost made me lose the most important thing in my life. You hurt me more than Frank ever could. I hope you lose sleep over it.”
Christian’s crying by the time I walk out that door.
The next day at school, I suggest,
“Frank, do you want to go to a boarding school?”
Frank scrunches his nose. “Like baby college?”
I chuckle, agreeing, “Yeah, like baby college.”
“I… I dunno. I don’t have much money, but I have pretty good grades, so….” Frank trails off.
“I don’t have very good grades, but I have a lot of money,” I counter, taking Frank’s hand and squeezing.
“Why would we want to go to a boarding school?” Frank asks.
I shrug. “I don’t know. I’m just tired of the assholes here.”
“Rude!” Jamia shrieks. “I’m right here!”
“Not you,” Frank assures, patting her knee.
I kiss Frank, snuggling up next to him.
“Get a room!” Jamia crows.
“Hey, pillowbiters,” someone greets maliciously.
I look up, pulling away from Frank to see Shane. I stand up, returning,
“Hello, Shane.”
“What the fuck’s wrong with you?” Shane asks. “You’re getting your gay germs all over the hallway.”
“Oh, am I?” I ask. “I’m sorry, I had no idea.” With that, I take Shane’s hand, lick my lips, and place a kiss in the center of the back of his hand.
Shane recoils, screeching in disgust. “You’re fucking gross, Way! You trying to rape me?”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” I scoff.
Shane shoves me, barking, “Bring it on, wuss.”
I consider all of my options. I. I could walk away and tell a teacher. II. I could just take the beating. III. I could wait for him to throw the first punch and then fight back. Or IV. I could initiate the fight.
Let’s be honest, none of the options are any fun but the fourth one.
I get expelled; my school has a no tolerance policy towards fights. My mom gives me Hell for it, but when I reveal some of the things this boy has said and done to Frank and I, she understands, even offering to sue him. I decline, since I don’t see any gain out of it for us. Besides, let Shane live his little pathetic life. Jail can wait until he’s an adult.
Jamia’s dad and stepmother get divorced, which she’s completely fine with, because not only is her dad now dating a much nicer woman, but she doesn’t have to see Christian’s ass ever again.
My dad retires his shotgun after he finds out I’d tried to off myself with it. He sells it to a local pawn shop, who discover it to be an antique, and he gets a great sum of money for it.
Mikey finds himself a girlfriend. Her name’s Amelia, and she’s got real pretty eyes and nice hair. I think Mikey really likes her. She must like him, because they go to their school’s Sweetheart Dance together. Mikey goes to me to help pick out an outfit.
I find Ray and contact him because, Hell, I miss that crazy son of a bitch. His schizophrenia is practically cured, with the aid of medication. I’m glad; he seems a lot less preoccupied and more in tune with the present.
Oh yeah, and Frank and I go to a separate public school in the city until summer break, which we spend applying for the boarding school. When the envelopes come in the mail about a month later, I make Mikey open both of ours because we can’t bear to look.
“Dear Mr. Way,
Lincoln Academy has successfully received and reviewed your application. It is with great pleasure that we inform you that you’ve been accepted into our school. Congratulations! You will be learning among side some of the world’s brightest and most impeccable students of all diversities. Not only do we excel academically, we do exceptionally well in sports, offering over 12 competitive team and individual sports and having won State in cross country the previous year. We have an excellent fine arts program with a prestigious theatre and music productions. We have a 10:1 student teacher ratio and one on one tutoring programs along with online classes. We offer foreign exchange programs as well and a large variety of field trips. We encourage to do your best, and provide our students with the environment to do so.
Your given information, which is to be mailed in a week, will include the following: visiting dates/arrival times, room and roommate information, a link to a virtual tour of the campus, a student handbook on school policies and dress code, a parent information packet, and a pamphlet of all our available extracurricular activities.
Any questions or comments? Please, call 787-9488 and consult with our secretary.
Congratulations once more, and welcome to Lincoln Academy!”
“Dear Mr. Iero,
Lincoln Academy has successfully received and reviewed your application. It is with great pleasure that we inform you that you’ve been accepted into our school. Congratulations! You will be learning among side some of the world’s brightest and most impeccable students of all diversities. Not only do we excel academically, we do exceptionally well in sports, offering over 12 competitive team and individual sports and having won State in cross country the previous year. We have an excellent fine arts program with a prestigious theatre and music productions. We have a 10:1 student teacher ratio and one on one tutoring programs along with online classes. We offer foreign exchange programs as well and a large variety of field trips. We encourage to do your best, and provide our students with the environment to do so.
Your given information, which is to be mailed in a week, will include the following: visiting dates/arrival times, room and roommate information, a link to a virtual tour of the campus, a student handbook on school policies and dress code, a parent information packet, and a pamphlet of all our available extracurricular activities.
Any questions or comments? Please, call 787-9488 and consult with our secretary.
Congratulations once more, and welcome to Lincoln Academy!”




THE END.

Notes

Thanks so much for reading this story! Sad to see it end, but luckily for all of us, there will be a sequel based on Gerard and Frank's boarding school experience! It's an all boys school, by the way.

Comment below on ideas for events/characters or send them anonymously here: www.varsity-frank.tumblr.com

Thanks again for reading, I loved yanking all of your chains! I couldn't ask for more devoted readers.