Best Friends Forever

After school I find Gerard at his locker. He opens it, grabs a brown bag deep from within it, and proceeds to shove the entire thing down the front of his pants.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
Gerard’s eyes flash side to side. He murmurs, “Good; no one saw.” He then bops me on top of the head, fake scolding, “None of your business!”
He rushes out to his car, moving so quickly and in such large strides that I have to skip to keep up with him. He unlocks the car and hops in, gesturing for me to enter the passenger’s side. I do as I’m told, and Gerard puts the keys in, starting the car. He flips through the radio, finally letting out a frustrated groan. He begins to rummage through the various items littering the floor of his car.
Someone knocks on the back door window. I glance over to see a scrawny kid with glasses peering in. I jump in surprise, and nudge Gerard, whispering,
“Some creepy kid wants in!”
Gerard glances up, brows knitted, and then he relaxes into a smile. “Oh, that’s just Mikey, my little brother.” He unlocks the car, and Mikey steps into the back seat, throwing his bag against the opposite window.
“Who’s the midget?” Mikey asks.
I blush, and Gerard just chuckles and answers,
“This is Frank.”
Mikey snorts, demanding, “Frank? What kind of a name is that?”
“W-well what kind of a name is Mikey?” I stammer.
Mikey shrugs, opening a nudie magazine. “You tell me, but try not to stutter.”
I again redden, and Gerard scolds,
“Mikey, quit it. You’re embarrassing him.”
That makes me go even more crimson.
Mikey nudges me with the magazine, trying to hand it to me.
“No thanks,” I mutter.
Mikey tilts his head in confusion. “Haven’t you ever seen a vagina before?”
“Michael!” Gerard barks. “That’s not something you ask someone!”
Mikey slinks back in his seat, retorting, “Frank, what are you, gay?”
“Actually, yes,” I admit.
The car gets eerily quiet, Gerard with his forehead pressed into the steering wheel, and Mikey studying his nails.
“Apologize, Mikes,” Gerard orders.
“I’m… I’m sorry,” Mikey mumbles.
“It’s okay,” I reply.
Gerard starts up the car, pulling out of the parking lot.
We park in front of Gerard’s house, and step out of the car. Literally a second later one of the jocks’ car pulls up not six feet behind it. He quickly catches up to Gerard, wrapping one hand around the back of his neck. “Hey, freak. I heard that Mr. Ross tore you a new one.”
“Y-yeah, I guess you could say that,” Gerard utters, becoming flustered.
I step out of the car, and the jock turns to me, snarling at me, “You stay the fuck away from me, faggot.”
Gerard breaks free from his grasp and shoves the much larger and taller boy. “Hey, asshole! You can’t talk to him like that.”
The jock grabs Gerard by the throat and presses him up against the back of the car. He reaches down the back of Gerard’s trousers, his hand resurfacing with a bundle of Gerard’s blue underwear. He yanks up, bringing Gerard to his tippy toes and then completely lifting him off of the ground. Gerard yelps out, and he turns scarlet as the jerk proceeds.
I storm over, throwing myself at the kid, with no real objective other than to get him away from Gerard. He grabs me by the middle and tosses me off to the ground, sending me skidding back on my ass. He walks over, pulling my shirt over my head and punching me once in the stomach. He dismisses me back to the side of the street, warning,
“Way, Iero, you’re both on my shit list now. So you better be watching your backs!” He motions to Mikey, who’s been sitting silently in the car the entire time. “And keep your weirdo younger brother away too; I don’t care if he’s thirteen, I’ll kick his ass too!” He storms off to the house next to Gerard’s, huffing and puffing.
I run over to Gerard, who is now leaning against the back of the car, eyes fixed to the ground.
“Are you okay?” I question.
“Thanks,” Gerard mutters in response, not answering my question. He grabs me by the shoulder, guiding me towards his house. “Let’s go inside.”
We go down to the basement, which is oddly enough where Gerard’s room is located. Once we get down there, he tosses himself onto the bed. He reaches down the front of his waistband, stuffing his entire hand inside.
“What are you-” I begin.
Gerard pulls out the paper bag from earlier. He opens it, pulling out a smaller bag, unrolls that, producing another bag, and finally, removes the contents of that bag, which reveals a small zip lock full of weed. He takes a nearby sheet of paper, ripping a strand off. I watch him as he lays marijuana over the top of it, and then roll sit up, licking it to seal the edges. He pats his pockets. “Shit. Got a light, Frank?”
I shake my head. “Sorry, no.”
“Fuck,” Gerard whines. He sticks the joint back into the plastic baggie, returning this to its respective bag. “Maybe later.”
“You smoke dope?” I ask in amazement.
“Well, yeah,” Gerard answers. “Can’t you tell by my smell?”
I shrug. “I don’t really know what weed smells like, I guess.”
“So you agree that I smell?” Gerard challenges.
“I never said that,” I insist.
Gerard giggles, “Jesus Christ, Frankie, I was just fucking around, no need to get your panties in a wad.”
My cheeks flush, and Gerard grins at this. “So, Frank, do you have a boyfriend?”
I shake my head. “No one at our school is gay, really. And even if they were, they’d probably be too embarrassed to date me.”
“I wouldn’t be,” Gerard answers. “You seem like a good kid.”
“Well, no one at school cars about that. I’m not cool, I’m too weird, and I’m gay. Not exactly the best combination,” I confess.
Gerard places a hand on my knee in a form of comfort. “Someday, likely college, you’ll find your friends.”
“I have friends!” I snap.
“Name five,” Gerard orders.
“Well… not that many,” I confide.
“You don’t have to lie around me, Frank,” Gerard coaxes. “It’s okay; I won’t judge you.”
There’s some silence, and finally, Gerard asks,
“So how close is this dealer? Can we walk there?”
“We’ll go tomorrow before school,” I reply. “That’s easiest. Outside the back doors?”
Gerard nods. He hides his weed beneath his mattress, and we spend most of the afternoon playing video games.

Notes

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