We'll dance again

I sneak into the guys locker rooms at lunch. No one’s in there, they’re all in the showers. I would have tried this earlier but he was wearing it literally four minutes ago. I got his locker number and combination on Wednesday. This morning, though, we had a random assembly about bullying and the entire student body stared innocently up at the principle, and I never got the chance to sneak down to the locker rooms in the morning. Instead I had to wait until now, when I have about five minutes before steaming muscly guys materialise from the showers.
The locker groans like a whore and a pile of sweat infused gym shorts fall out. Trying not to puke, I feel around the infectious pile until I find the gross white jock strap. I then begin to artfully staple an A into the fabric. I do it so the pointy bit faces the crotch. When I’m finished I shake some more staples into the actual thing for good measure.
I push all the garments back into the “artfully colourful” red lockers and run as fast as I can for the squash courts where I plan on lying low until chemistry. No one in this school plays squash or at least no one uses the courts.
The bell goes and I run up the stairs and around corners. Through halls and past doors that are finally beginning to look more familiar.
Despite my athletic efforts I’m late for chemistry. Alison raises an eyebrow at me as I pull on a lab coat. I nod at her and she smiles gleefully, whispering something to the blond beside her. Ray, again asks me no questions but does raise his eyebrows when Alison slides a slip of folded pink paper to me as she reaches for a test tube. “Long story,” I mutter shoving the scented page in my pocket.
Carl is asleep before I even have my lab coat on and only wakes up in time to have his homework handed back just before the bell. The sheet of shitty diagrams and scrawled answers is adorned with a big, red B+ in the corner. Carl may not be as dumb as Geoff but he isn’t the most intelligent either. In fact he’s the last person I’d suspect to get better grades than me in chemistry.

Dear Frankie, Check your locker after class. I broke in. I need you to have Carl’s chem and math homework done by tomorrow morning. His math should be easy for you. If not you need to do it anyway because he has training and won’t get the chance. Love Alison xoxo.
Now I see why Carl does well in his homework, it’s because he doesn’t do it.
Sure enough when I open my locker there’s extra sheets and copies on top of my coat, all of which fragranced in that sickly sweet, fake flower smell Alison sports.
Bob gives me a lift home and I start on my homework as soon as I can. I already had a lot today. I’d, stupidly, left an essay till the very last minute so that has to be done today as well as two different sheets of math questions and two bouts of chemistry.
I eat my dinner in my room at my desk as I scribble formulas and ponder over simple plot twists I can use in my essay.
Gee arrives and my mom sends him up to my room where I’m still doing math. Carl’s maths is easier but it still takes a while to do. “A lot of homework?” Gee asks sitting back on my bed. I nod, punching numbers into my calculator and cursing under my breath.
“I might not be out tonight,” I say scribbling down something I think Y might equal. Nope never mind, time to restart the sum. “I have a lot to do.”
I can see Gee’s face fall in the reflection of my computer. “Want me to go or..?” Gee says shifting his seat.
“I don’t mind. You can stay if you want it’ll just be fucking boring.” I say, it may take me longer still to do homework with Gerard there but fuck it.
He smiles, “I’ll chill here then, if I’m not a distraction. I’m a bit tired for skating anyway.” He slides down the bed and sits on the floor. I stop paying attention to him then completely.
This takes all my strength.
I’m almost finished the second last math problem when my attention returns to Gerard. I’d almost forgotten he was sitting cross legged on my bedroom floor until he started humming. The tune is familiar…
I start humming along too to how soon is now by the Smiths. After a few bars we start singing. I turn away from the desk to see Gerard sitting on the floor singing and sketching. We get to the chorus but don’t go any farther because I can’t stop staring at Gerard’s drawing. It’s me and him skating but it’s like, really fucking beautiful…
“Uh I draw a lot and um I drew us…” he looks really embarrassed. I don’t blame him, it’s awesome and I love it but man I’d be embarrassed too.
“It’s fucking brilliant!” I smile to him. He seems a little less embarrassed but still has a radish complexion. I try to make things comfortable again, and fail, and talk shit for a bit.
“I mean like, you’re very talented. Your voice is good too. I want to be a singer but you’re way better and yea I guess just better at most stuff…” Fuck this I’m going to go do my homework.
I try to stand up but Gerard grabs my hand and yanks me back down. I land down half on Gee and his hands pull my face forward. Our heads collide in a way that could bruise but I don’t care because Gerard’s lips are on mine. We’re kissing on my bedroom floor. My thoughts blur and rationality leaves me. I think making out with someone you really like is like being drunk; everything just happens. You don’t even get the chance to think about it because your mind races on ahead and you’re left behind to just move your mouth against someone else’s.
After an unknown amount of time we stop. I stand up unsteadily and look down at Gerard, still awkwardly lying up against my half price bed frame. I sit down at my desk and smile through the remainder of mine and Carl’s homework.

I slide into school the next day and glide through the halls. I’d gotten a text that morning from Pete you’re gay, called it and one from Mikey Bert and Gee used to go out btw.
Interesting, all this time I had no idea Bert or Gerard were attracted to dudes and there was I trying to act heterosexual. No need any more I guess. But still, I’m keeping the whole ballet thing to myself. You can be gay without being a total faggot.
I unload my stuff into my locker and Alison strolls right up to me, takes Carl’s homework and strolls off as if nothing happened at all. Well jokes on Carl anyway, I spelt most things I could mentally bring myself to wrong…
I sidle off to maths. I take my usual seat in the front. There are other seats available when I walk I’ve grown now accustomed to being able to hear the teacher. Geoff sneers at me as he walks past my seat but doesn’t say anything. Throughout the class he doesn’t send any notes to me either, maybe Alison has the athletic student body totally whipped.
I survive through to lunch where I go outside with Bob and Ray and listen to them discuss something they were doing in geography. It begins to rain so we start walking back to the building. Ray claims to not be able to feel the rain through his hair and Bob makes several dry humoured jokes about it.
Drenched to the bone I walk through the school with the two other guys and I feel like a normal teenager.

“Attitude!” Adrienne screams as the first group of girls attempt movements in time with each other. She shakes her head and motions them all back to the wall. “You must take your time. I don’t care if you think you’re being fluid at that pace you’re wrong! Again!”
I see Alison’s sister roll her eyes and try again. She has a natural grace and perfect dance arches but she obviously never practices. One of those people who believe they’re born with it and that they’ll have the world served up to them.
Thanks to her sister I naturally don’t like her. But she took the videos of me so she can’t say she’s innocent.
I perform the two simple movements then. “Attitude! Frank come here and do that again, everyone watching.” I step up to Adrienne. I want to be good obviously but being the best when you’re new and a dude is just awkward.
I perform it again in front of the whole class. Adrienne nods in approval and sends me back to the others. “As you see girls, it’s not simply good enough to be born with perfect arches and balance. You need more than natural ability and flexibility. You need practice. Again!”
As the class picks up their things at the end and slowly begin to leave the room two girls maybe a year younger than me rush up.
They look at each other and one nods to the other. “Eh, hey Frank. We were just wondering… Uh you’re good at brisé and we fucking suck and um we wanted to ask if you’d help us tomorrow…? You know, show us how or give us tips or something” The other one nods quickly.
I smile at them, “sure, I’ll be here in the open class yea?”
They nod and grin, “Thanks Frank,” the talking one says again and they walk off together at a bouncy pace. People have obviously stopped overlooking me because I’m a dude. Or at least those two.

October arrives in a flurry of rain, wet leaves and folded pink notes. I do an awful lot of extra homework. By the second week in October I know exactly how to do all of the remedial math course and am learning a lot of the chemistry course off by heart by doing it twice. I’ve pulled basic pranks on half the popular people, all of which have slighted Alison in some way or another. When Carly was out going on a mini break with her family I had to sneak fish into her locker because she got position of cheer captain not Alison. I poked holes in a guy called Gus’s condoms because he and his girlfriend Stacey had spread a rumour about Alison being pregnant and getting an abortion. I stuck pinecones in gym socks and threw gum socks on top of lockers. I’ve cut holes in jocks and locked people in gym closets while taping signs saying you couldn’t grow some balls so you can wait with these ones till you do. I’ve literally become the schools fucking ninja. I take back halls and empty stairways. I jump over tables and hide in classrooms. I’ve learned the art of flying around corners and into classrooms, leaving halls as if I was never there. But of all the ninja like super sneaky spy shit I mainly get left with the pitchers homework.
The worst thing happened then. Alison and Carl broke up.
They were obviously a match made in hell. Always fighting, always making the other one look stupid and always picking fights with the other’s friends. But this morning it all went terribly, terribly wrong.
They had a massive argument in the car park that ended in Alison slapping the “ignorant, arrogant stupid jackass” across the face and ripping apart a sheet of paper he was holding. She stomped on the shreds in the puddle where it had fallen and swaggered into the school hall. I saw all this from behind Carl.
I sidle around him in the rain. He’s making low, guttural noises and picking up the scraps of paper now destroyed with weeping blue and red pen. That’s the fuckers English homework I did to nights ago.
The little fight in the car park was pretty bad, yes but nothing I hadn’t seen before. Alison will make me steal his towel while he’s in the shower or something and I’ll soon be back writing out his chemistry homework. Wrong.
At lunch almost the whole school is in the cafeteria at the same time. I’m standing in the queue waiting for my turn to get some grey burger when Alison bursts into the cafeteria, double doors swinging in her wake. Her friend Madison pushes through after her with lipstick smudged and her hair a mess. You can see how everyone knew what had just happened. “Ali, I’m sorry,” Madison said making a grab at Alison’s hand. “I’m so so sorry”
“Oh what the fuck ever Maddie, you can’t do that. Is there honestly not a single girl in this school who isn’t a back stabbing slut!” The room is silent now, staring at the two girls. Madison makes a pleading facial expression which only seems to encourage Alison to continue. “After how fucking upset you got when a girl tossed one of your million ex’s a flirty smile. How literally all the guys are “off limits” to me because you had your legs wrapped around there head making a fucking “deep connection” you fucking whore. All you know how to do is suck guys off so why don’t you go back to doing that and stop trying to suck up to me. You can’t now so go fuck off.”
Madison bursts into tears and pushes through the now gathered crowds and out the door.
“Oh fuck off,” Alison spits at random kids and stomps out a different door.
I knew a storm of revenge via me would come of this but I really wish I could have more instruction as to what I’m to do. I unfold the pink piece of scented paper that was slipped in my locker. It’s tear stained and I feel suddenly very sorry for the girl who could potentially ruin my life. Scrawled across the centre in black ink is RuIn ThEm.

Notes

Hey guys, so here's the next chapter ^-^ thank you all so much for reading and leaving such lovely comments y'all have honestly been making my day and giving me reasons to keep writing <3 I'm so glad people are enjoying reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it and I have two ideas for other fics imma write when this is finished :3 xxx