Some People Watch

Song: Helena by My Chemical Romance

Frank barely had time to compose himself before the rest of the class filed in. The kid with the afro from earlier, Ray, sat down beside him.
“Hey,” he forced a smile, making Frank feel horrible for ignoring him earlier. The boy must have been extremely lonely to try and talk to him not once, but twice in one day.
“Hi. Sorry, I uh, about this morning.. I’m Frank. Ray, right?”
“Yeah,” Ray smiled widely, “I saw your shirt yesterday, but I never got the nerve to talk to you. I really like The Misfits.”
“Seriously? That’s two people in two days!” Frank laughed.
“Right? Nobody has good music taste anymore,” Ray said, making Frank remember what Mr. Way – no, Gerard – had said yesterday.
“Or good hair,” he giggled, “besides you.”
“Oh, why thank you,” Ray said smugly, patting his head. Frank was just about to say something else when Gerard cleared his throat from the front of the room.
“Alright, class, since today was merely a fun day, today I’m actually going to have to make you do something. Groan all you want, I have to grade them,” he chuckled, “Anyways, write an essay explaining why you love the thing you hate most.” Everybody looked confused, and Gerard laughed loudly, again giving Frank the unexplainable feeling of joy in his chest. “Just think of the thing you hate most, and write about it like it’s the thing you love the most. It can be a person, place, object, whatever. I don’t care what it is. No cheating though, I can tell since I’m a wizard,” he paused as the class laughed, “Now get to work!”
Frank sat for a moment, dumbfounded.
Ray leaned over to whisper, “I’m screwed, this is hard,” to which Frank nodded in agreement.
Eventually Frank found himself scribbling things down about his dad, about how they had the same name, and that they were related, and mostly just elaborating on those two facts, and then going on about how he used to be really fun and would play superhero with him when he was little. Before he knew it, he’d written a full page of positive things about his father, and he almost felt guilty for hating him, and he was sure that was the point, but then he remembered that his guitar was now broken, and felt much better. Towards the end of the period, after everyone had finished and turned their work in, he mostly chatted with Ray, happy to have a new friend.
“Hey, we should hang out sometime,” Frank suggested.
“Really?” Ray asked, disbelieving that somebody could want to spend time with him.
“Yeah! Maybe this weekend?” he smiled.
“Your place or mine?”
Frank answered much too quickly, sounding and looking suspicious. “Yours.”
“Uh, okay..” Ray scratched his head. Frank was about to say something, but once again, he was interrupted by the school, this time by the bell ringing.
“Alright, class dismissed!” Gerard sang in a cheery voice, giving Frank an extra wide grin.
The rest of the day seemed like it took forever to get over, but when it did, Frank was ecstatic and rushed to Mr. Way’s classroom, relieved to see he was at his desk.
“Uhm.. Gerard?” he asked nervously.
His teacher looked up, giving him a sweet smile. “Yes?” he replied, as Frank approached the desk.
“Er… I’m going home with you?” he blushed a little.
“Why would I lie? Of course! I mean, unless you don’t want to, and want to go back to your house,” Gerard said, to which Frank shook his head violently, making him chuckle. “Alright, I take that as a no. Are you ready to go?” he pulled on his jacket and picked up his messenger bag full of papers.
“Yeah. Thanks again, I can’t believe you’d do something so nice for me,” Frank blabbered the whole way across the parking lot and into his teacher’s Volkswagen Beetle, until Gerard shut him up.
“Shush!” he laughed. “I already said, it’s nothing.”
Frank blushed, and couldn’t come up with a response. The rest of the car ride was in comfortable silence, and when they pulled up to Gerard’s house, he gestured for him to go in.
“Go on inside, I gotta get some stuff out of the trunk,” he said, and Frank nodded, getting out and going up to the steps, taking in every tiny detail. It was a nice house, and there were quite a few flowers. He gripped the Victorian handle and pulled open the door, stepping inside and freezing in his tracks.
There was art, everywhere. Paintings covered the walls completely, and they were stacked in corners on the floor, and some were just leaning against the wall. He couldn’t even tell what color the house was supposed to be painted inside, but he didn’t care. Slowly Frank shut the door and looked around them, reaching out to touch a few paintings cautiously. One of them in particular caught his eye and he just stared, in awe. He was face to face with a ballerina dancing down the aisle in an old church, who had her arms out and looked like she had a hold of him. A bouquet lay on the side of the row like it had just been tossed there carelessly. People filled the pews, and they all had their heads bent and eyes closed in prayer, blind to what was going on. An empty casket lay behind her in the background. Frank felt the paint with his fingerprints, memorizing the texture of the brush strokes.
“Who the fuck are you?”
Frank jumped back, panicking a little at the voice. “I, uhh.. “ he stuttered, finding the source of the words and looking at the taller person through his glasses.
“I said, who the fuck are you?”
Thankfully Gerard came to his rescue through the front door, a broad smile on his face. “Hey Mikes! Oh, I see you’ve met Frank. He needed a place to stay, so he’ll be on the couch,” he explained, like it was no big deal.
Mikey just glared at Frank and pushed up his glasses, turning around and leaving.
“So, that’s your brother, huh? Friendly guy,” Frank joked nervously.
“I don’t know what his problem is, really. He’ll warm up to you later. I promise. So, you hungry? Actually, nevermind, I’m making you eat anyway,” Gerard chuckled. Not seeing a couch or anywhere to go, Frank just followed him into the kitchen, still looking around.
“I like the artwork. Do you collect it or something?” he asked.
Gerard’s smile faltered. “I uh, yeah. I guess.”
“Wait… Did you paint those?” Frank asked slowly.
Gerard was quiet for a moment before answering. “Yeah.”
“They’re amazing! I can’t believe you’re so great at it, they’re just.. they’re beautiful!” he exclaimed.
Gerard looked down, shrugging. “Heh, thanks. I don’t think they’re so good…”
“No, really! The paintings, they’re absolutely wonderful!” Frank insisted.
“Yeah?” Gerard looked up, smiling a little. “Did you have a favorite?”
“The one of the ballerina, by far,” Frank answered matter-of-factly.
His teacher went silent for a few seconds, just going through the fridge and searching for whatever it was he needed. “That’s my grandma.”
Frank’s eyes widened. “Really? She’s so pretty, wow, what’s her name?”
“Elena.”
“You’re so great at painting, why aren’t you an artist? I mean, not that you’re a bad teacher, but woah, your art is just perfect.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Gerard said firmly, and from his tone, Frank could tell that was the end of that conversation.
Soon Gerard had finished their food and called Mikey downstairs, who continued scowling at Frank the whole time they ate at the table.
“This is really good lasagna,” Frank pointed to his plate with his fork, mouth full of food.
Gerard laughed his pretty laugh, turning his head to the side a little, in a way that was showing off his perfect nose. “I’m glad you like it, Frank.”
Mikey just rolled his eyes and they continued eating for a while before the conversation was picked up again.
“So, Mikey, how was business?” he piped up, and the two brothers chatted about their days, Frank finishing up his food, completely unaware that it was the first time he’d actually finished a meal in years. Something just felt different, and Frank couldn’t quite put his thumb on it until later in the evening. He felt happy there.

Notes

Wow, you guys.. All your positive feedback and encouragement got me to write this chapter. I'll admit your comments made me tear up a little, thanks so much you guys. I can't even express my gratitude; I've never really been this supported in anything I did before :')
And, change of subject, but if you haven't noticed yet, I've been putting songs at the top of the chapters. It's kind of one that I thought would go with the story, and I listened to it while writing that certain chapter to get the feel, if you were wondering what they were.
Anywho, thanks again, I love you guys. Comment, rate, subscribe <3
-xokillerthrusts