I See You Lying Next to Me

***Frank’s POV***
My heart shattered into a million pieces as I watched him run out of the classroom. It was all my fault…If it weren’t for me begging to read his work, then he wouldn’t have stormed off like that in the first place. As I stood there frozen, unaware of what I should do next, I began to hear several whispers coming from my students. “Ugh why did we have to get the emo kid in our class?” I heard from a group of girls in the back. “I bet you he ran off to make sure he didn’t smudge his eyeliner with all his emo tears.” I overheard one of the jocks say. Without saying another word to my class, I decided to run out after Gerard. I couldn’t let him be alone like this. I needed to find where he was and talk to him. As I continued to search all around the campus, I began to hear muffled sobbing coming from the boy’s bathroom. Could that be him? Without thinking, I quietly entered the bathroom. The sobbing then became clearer. Just to make sure it was Gerard that was in one of the stalls, I looked down at the ground to see that the boy inside the stall was wearing black converse. This must have been him then. “Gerard?” I called out. The sobbing immediately stopped. “Go away…” He muttered between sobs. “Gerard please come out of there.” I pleaded. “No…I can’t have you see me like this…” I sighed as I couldn’t help but want to make him feel better. “Just come out so I can talk to you…I’m not going to judge you.” I reassured him. “Y-you’re not?” He hiccupped. “No Gerard, I would never judge you.” I replied sympathetically. “Alright…” He mumbled as he unlocked the stall door and stepped outside to face me. I could see that his eyes were red from crying and his eyeliner was smeared. “Gerard please be honest with me…are you depressed?” He kept his focus on the ground as he tried to hide his tear-stained face. “I don’t know…” I then lifted his chin with my finger so I could meet his eyes. “Based on the poem I read, it seemed like it.” He sighed as he turned his head away from me. “Fine…I am…” He spoke, his voice trembling. “Can you tell me why you feel this way?” I asked as calm as possible. “No…” I crossed my arms. “And why’s that?” He then looked back to face me. “Because I don’t know if I could trust you…” He admitted. “Gerard…I’m your friend you can trust me.” He furrowed his eyebrows. “But I’ve only known you for a day, how could we possibly be friends already?” I chuckled lightly. “Because I like you Gerard. You are unique and I like that.” He brushed away a tear with his shirt sleeve. “Really?” I nodded. “Yes. I’m your friend and you can tell me anything. I promise I’ll keep whatever you have to say between us.” He sighed deeply. “Alright. Well to be honest the reason I am depressed is because of my family…” I then began to wipe away his tears with my thumb as he continued to speak. “Ever since my Dad left, my mother married this guy who has a douchebag son. They both favor him so much, he’s like an angel to them.” He sniffled. “Is your brother homeschooled too?” I asked curiously. He shook his head. “No, he goes here “He explained. “Oh really, what’s his name? I might know who he is.” I replied. “Mikey Way. His name is Mikey Way…” My eyes widened. “Mikey Way is your brother? Isn’t he the star player of the high school football team?” He nodded. “Yeah so you can see what I mean when I say he is the perfect child in the family.” His frown appeared once again. “Gerard you are much more special than you think you are. You just have to stop comparing yourself to your brother.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he continued on. “How can I not compare myself to him? He’s fucking perfect and then there’s me who’s a complete piece of shit…” “You are not a piece of shit! Don’t ever say that about yourself.” I exclaimed. “Sorry…” He muttered under his breath. “Don’t be sorry Gerard…I just wish you would realize…” I spoke as I brought him over to cry onto my shoulder. “Please tell me you have never hurt yourself over this…” He then remained silent. “Gerard?” He then pulled away from my grasp as I noticed that he was now crying again. “Please tell me what you did to yourself.” I said, sounding stricter then I intended it to be. “I can’t-“He sobbed. “Gerard tell me. I’m going to find out sooner or later.” He sighed in defeat. “Fine, I’ll tell you since I trust you now…” He then backed away as he began to speak. “Well recently I’ve been s-starving myself…” He stuttered. “For how long?” I asked concerned. He paused. “Two weeks…” I gasped. “Show me…” He gave me a horrified look. “Show you what?” He asked, confused. “Lift up your shirt so I can see your stomach.” I ordered. “Frank I can’t do that-““Gerard It’s for your safety.” I muttered. “But what you will see will scare you…” He spoke quietly. “What do you mean it would scare me-“Before I could say anything else, he finally lifted up his shirt to expose several scars on his upper hips. My heart sank at what I saw. I was even more horrified as I noticed that he was unnaturally thin and his ribs and hips were jutting out sharply. “Oh my god…Gerard…” A tear escaped from one of my eyes. “Please don’t tell!” He pleaded. “I-I w-wont…but you have to promise me something. Promise me that you won’t do this to yourself anymore.” He shook his head. “I can’t just do that…” I ruffled my fingers in my hair with frustration. “Gerard…please…” I begged. “But-“I immediately interrupted him. “Gerard I’m your friend right? He nodded slowly. “I-I guess…” Ok well then can you please just take care of yourself for me, your friend?” He met his teary eyes with mine. “Ok…I’ll do it for you.” He muttered softly. “Thank you… Now let’s fix your eyeliner and get back to class.”

Notes

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