GERARD'S P.O.V.

I sat on the bathroom counter as Frank wiped at my scar across my forehead. There was a bell going off and stomping feet outside, but we only paid attention to eachother's wounds. He had a bruise forming on his left cheekbone and a busted lip. I tried to protect him, apparently, as I had a few more bruises, some cuts, and a nosebleed. I can't remember exactly what went down. It's all a blur. Some shouting of insults, and then sudden pain. I remember stepping in front of Frank for more than a few times. A teacher saw and didn't even help. I can't wait until I leave this school, the faculty is terrible. I hissed as he touched a bruise that I didn't even know he had. "S-sorry," he muttered as he threw a wet scrap of paper towel, now stained red, into the trash.
"Are you okay, babe?" I blurted out, noticing that he was upset.
"I..." He stopped talking to purse his lips. "I don't like seeing you hurt."
I jumped off the ledge to bring him into a hug, him burying his face into my chest. "I'm fine, okay Frankie?" He barely nodded. "Now, we should be getting to class." I pulled away and grabbed my backpack. As I poked my head out of the bathroom to see if class had started yet, which thankfully it hadn't, he grabbed my hand. He smiled weakly at me when I turned around. We rushed to class, not wanting to get beaten again.

When we walked into class, still hand-in-hand, everyone paused their conversation to stare at us. I cleared my throat and they turned back around in their seats. But then the stares turned into whispers. I dragged Frank to two chairs in the corner (which were, fortunately, in the back). We had just plopped down in our seats when the door swung open.
Standing there was the math teacher. I had never seen her before, so I assumed she was new. She was probably the youngest teacher I'd seen. She had short brown hair, and was dressed pretty casually for a teacher: jeans, flats, and a simple black shirt. "Good morning class," she said, smiling. "I hope you all had a nice summer. I'm Mrs. Noriega." She walked over to the whiteboard and wrote her name in neat handwriting. "I'm a new teacher to Belleville High." My suspicions were confirmed. She turned back to the class. "I supposed I'll ask you all how your summers went?"
Immediately, a girl raised her hand. Trisha or something, I think her name was. She was called on. "Well, this summer, me and my boyfriend Jeff went to New York. He's an underwear model." She twirled a strand of hair around her finger as she talked. "He's like, 23, but he's an amazing boyfriend." She stopped talking to pop her bubblegum. "Or should I say, fiance?" She held out her left hand, a diamond ring around her ring finger. The girl sitting behind her gasped and grabbed her hand.
"Trish," she said with a distinct valley girl voice, "you never told me about this!"
"Because I wanted it to be a surprise, Lana."
Mrs. Noriega cleared her throat. "Miss Cappelletti, one, go throw out your gum, and two, if I remember correctly, you're only 17, correct?" Trisha nodded her head. "You do realize your relationship with your boyfriend, or shall I say, fiance, is illegal?"
"It's not like we do anything..." She giggled. "Okay, maybe we do."
Mrs. Noriega sighed. "I... I did not need to know that. Next?"

As people from the class shared their summers, me and Frank stayed completely silent, sometimes glancing at each other out of the corners of our eyes. I eventually got bored and opened my notebook, starting a sketch of no one in particular. Even when I could tell the summer stories had stopped and the lesson began, I didn't look up. I was smart and got good grades for the most part, if you want me to be honest, but math isn't fun for me. Frank handed me a worksheet and I smiled at him. I didn't really snap out of my daze until the notebook was suddenly ripped from my hands. I looked up to see Mrs. Noriega standing there, looking at my drawing. She studied it, squinting her eyes a bit, before looking to me. "Gerard, correct?" I slowly nodded, already feeling my body trembling. I didn't like it when people looked at my drawings. They were personal. "Please see me after class." She put the notebook back on my desk and walked back to the front before I could answer. Chewing on my bottom lip, I turned to Frank. "It's okay," he mouthed, which calmed me down a bit.

Soon enough, class ended, and I packed up my stuff. Attempting to escape whatever punishment I might earn, I grabbed Frank's hand and shuffled into the crowd of kids leaving. But of course, we were pushed back, until we were the last two. So much for escaping. "I don't know why you're here, Mister Iero, but I guess you can stay," she said as she wrote down the date on the board. She turned around and smiled slightly when she saw us holding hands. Though it seemed like a supportive smile, I still let go of his hand. I didn't know if she was a good or bad teacher yet. "So, Gerard, I saw you weren't paying attention during class."
"Um... y-yeah."
"Would you like tutoring?"
I shot my head up. "No." I hated tutors. They make you feel like kindergartners. She nodded.
"Yeah, I didn't think you would. Looked at your record. Good grades for the most part. You're an amazing artist, by the way."
My breath hitched in my throat. I expected a lecture, not some compliments. "W-what--"
"I'm not mad at all, if you thought I was. I did the same thing during math class." She laughed. It was a hearty laugh; contagious, even. I smiled. "Do you take art?" I shook my head no. "Oh, it's a shame. Gabriel, the art teacher, would love your artwork. I wasn't going to discipline you, I just didn't want the other kids to think they can get away with not paying attention in class."
"But, I wasn't paying attention. I don't get detention or anything?"
She shrugged. "Do you want detention?" she asked. "I would think you and Iero here would want to go make out at the smoke area in the back no one goes to anymore."
I saw Frank tense up next to me. "H-How--"
"How did I know?" she interrupted. "It's pretty obvious. I don't judge though." He relaxed. "Now, go get to class. I don't want you to be late." She waved at us as we left the room and started walking to our next class.

"I like her," Frank whispered at the door to English came into view. I nodded. I did too. She seemed cool. There were more insults and stares as we walked to English, but I tried to tune them out. My fingers brushed the back of Frank's hand and he intertwined our fingers. As we went through the wooden door to class, someone yelled "fags!" at us. I sighed and looked up, to the class. Standing in the front was a pale, blonde girl, not any older than 25. She was wearing thick eyeliner and had dark circles under her eyes. I have to admit she was really pretty. Her red-painted lips formed a smile.
"Ah, Gerard and Frank, I presume?" she asked us. I nodded. "Yeah, Jenny told me you guys would probably be late." She waved at hand at the cluster of desks and students. "Take a seat."
I looked around. There were no open seats next to eachother. Frank smiled weakly and nodded, as if to say that it was okay. He took a seat in the front of the class, while I took one in the back corner. He turned his head a bit and smiled at me again before looking over to the girl in the front when she spoke. "Morning, all. Name's Miss Ferreira, though I would prefer you called me Sky. The title 'Miss' makes me feel so... old." She crossed her legs as she spoke, one of her feet bobbing up and down. "I'm your English teacher. You probably already shared your wonderful summers with your homerooms, so let's forget about that. I suppose you guys want to know about me? Well, my name is Sky Ferreira, as I just said. 21. Dropped out of school at 14, and man do I not regret it."
The class let out a collective chuckle at her joke.
A guy raised his hand. "What's with all the young teachers now?"
"Oh, kids were complaining about their teachers being too old and wrinkly. So, they hired a bunch of newer, younger teachers."
A voice that I could recognize as that of one of Jack's friends piped up, "what's your opinion on gays?" I shook my head. These guys try too hard. Then again, it does kind of get to me.
She tilted her head in confusion. "Why is that even a question? Is it relevant?"
"Iero and Way are dating," another voice said. She looked at me. I saw Frank hunch over her desk and wanted to go comfort him.
"I believe you love who you love," she said simply, and turned around to her computer before anyone could say anything. "Now, to the lesson. Today, we're going over elements of poetry."

Once again, I tuned her out. I began to draw again, and thankfully no one interrupted me. That is, until I heard some snickering and crumpling of paper. Sky had apparently left the room, and now some kids were surrounding Frank's desk, laughing and taunting him. "You fags need to burn in hell," one girl hissed.
"It's sick, wrong, and a sin," another one said.
Everyone else in the class was pretending not to notice, like the assholes they are. I heard the click of a lighter and Frank hissed. Are they fucking burning him? I slammed down my notebook and stood up. The kids surrounding him immediately looked at me, while some other people just glanced at me from the corner of their eye. One of the bullies, a girl who I recognized from the cheer squad, giggled. "Gonna stand up for your boyfriend here, hmm?"
"Leave him the fuck alone," I said firmly. She laughed.
"You expect me to be intimidated?" she asked, her eyes wide and tone mocking. I didn't notice the lighter was in her hand until she flicked it back on and burned Frank's hand.
I stomped over and grabbed the lighter from her, flinging it across the room.

Big mistake.

I was suddenly on the floor, kicks coming from all directions. So many kids in this room, and none came to help. Another blow to the stomach, and I was lying on my stomach, wheezing. "Stop!" I heard Frank whimper. Someone spit on me, and that's when I heard the door swing open.
"What the hell is going on here?" Sky asked, her tone harsh. I barely opened my eyes enough to see her face, worried, but enraged. She rushed over to me, getting on her knees to help me sit up. "Oh, shit, your nose is bleeding." She rolled down the sleeve of her (thankfully, dark-colored) cardigan to wipe blood running from my nose and down my chin. She helped me up and slung my arm over her shoulder. It didn't really work out, since I was taller than her, but she made me lean on her.
"Frank," I said, my voice rough. She looked over to Frankie and saw the burns on his arms.
"Frank, come with me. Keep Gerard up." He nodded and shuffled over to me, letting me lean on him as he swung an arm around my waist. Sky began yelling at the kids, using quite a lot of profanities. Then she started addressing the rest of the class.
"And you guys, you didn't even help! If someone was burning you or kicking you, wouldn't you want help? Treat others how you fucking want to be treated!" Her hands balled up into fists as she spoke. She ran over to the telephone and dialed the office number. "Yes, I need Johnson. Right now." Johnson was the school's guidance counselor. The girl with the lighter's eyes widened.
"No. No, please don't bring Johnson into this. My dad will kill me. He just bought me a new car, too!" she pleaded.
Sky shrugged. "Maybe you should think before you decide to condone violence."

A middle-aged man came through the door, who I recognized as Mr. Johnson. He looked over to me and Frank and nodded, understanding the situation. Sky led us out of the classroom and to the nurse's office, being sure not to go too fast on account of my limb. We eventually reached the red-and-white painted doors and she turned to me. "Are you alright, Gerard?" she asked, her voice wavering and worried.
"Y-yeah..."
"I'm so sorry. I was bullied during school, but not as bad as this." She opened the door for us. "Tell me if you need to talk, yeah?"
We nodded as she walked off, back to the class.

We were immediately greeted by the nurse, who sent me to lay on one bed and Frank to the neighboring one. She gave us both Advil and gave me some paper towels to stop my nosebleed. She just put some burn cream on Frank's arm. She didn't even question our wounds or anything. Typical Belleville High faculty.

I liked Sky too. She seemed cool. Let's just pray my other teachers are like that.

---

They weren't. At least, my history and science teacher weren't. They were the same old strict teachers you'd expect. Those two classes involved lots of whispers and insults and papers thrown at us containing death threats. Thankfully, me and Frank were able to sit next to eachother. I couldn't wait until lunch though. As soon as the bell rang, I stuffed my notebook into my bag. Smiling weakly as I turned to him, I asked Frank what he wanted to do for lunch. He shrugged in response. "Smoking area?"
I nodded. "Sure, darling."

The second we stepped foot in the old shack in the back of the school, Frank threw his stuff on the ground and pulled me in for a kiss. I pushed into him, wrapping my arms around his waist and deepening the kiss. As he pulled away, I realized his eyes were brimming with tears. "What's wrong?"
"I was hoping this year would be different," he whispered, a few tears spilling over and rolling down his cheeks.

We spent all of lunch hour sitting on the floor of the old smoke area, arms wrapped around eachother as Frank cried into my shoulder and I whispered into his ear things like "I love you" and "It's okay, I'm right here."

"F-Fuck, Gerard," he whimpered between a few sobs.
"Yeah, Frankie?"
"I love you more than you can imagine."
"Not as much as I love you," I replied, and kissed his cheek. He smiled weakly before pressing his lips into mine softly.

Notes

if you know where i got the name Trisha Cappelletti from, i love you.

if you know who sky ferreira is, i love you.

xo