Some Other Way to Continue

My dad drives me to the train station. He would have driven me all the way home but that’s hours and I’ll be frank, I could not think of a worse way to end a difficult month. My dad and I never really got on then he left my mom for a woman who reminds me of an aged Alison which didn’t help things. He guilted me into spending Christmas in his penthouse flat for Christmas. The Monday after my show I was placed on a train and sent to Jersey where I didn’t know I couldn’t leave until the tenth of January. I thought I’d be home for a New Year’s party Pete was throwing and I know its lame but maybe kiss Gee into the New Year. It’s stupid but whatever I know he’d have done it but it couldn’t happen because my fucking father suddenly thinks he should see me.
We had a dry and plastic tasting Christmas dinner poorly prepared by my dad’s new woman and opened presents. My dad got me an amazing guitar and I got him 20% a suit I won in a weird raffle.
So now I’m on a train hurtling through frost covered country. Trees look completely dead and the sky is a special colour that can only be described as cold. The train fills and empties at different intervals. I can’t believe I’m going to be two days late for starting a new school. My dad decided to keep me as long so that I’d be home hours before I had to start school, if I was in jersey. Pencey starts on a Monday unlike the Jersey schools whose principles think starting school on a Wednesday makes them unique and interesting. I can say as a past pupil of three schools in New Jersey they’re incredibly normal and boring.
I sit back with my earbuds in and try let the misfits drown out the sound of the train, the passengers and my worry.

Saying I walked into that school perfectly calm would be a complete fucking lie. My stomach feels like there are drunken butterflies raving and I can hear my heartbeat really fucking loud. Students push past me as I walk in the door. I’m the kid who moved to the town a few months ago, does ballet, skates and left his school after four months after literally fucking up everything and everyone. I try to act normal but I know that won’t last long. People here are wearing an unusual array of clothes, from black jeans and band shirts to skater skirts and blazers. Some of the guys are wearing more eyeliner than some of the girls and some of the other guys are shoving the ones in eyeliner into lockers. I take a deep breath walk confidently, or what I think is confidently, through a patch of sophomores in the direction of the OFFICE sign. They all turn and stare and I realise one is Mikey. He says something to another guy and Mikey and Pete push through the students to come over to me.
“Frankie!” Pete beams and jumps on me, hugging me shamelessly in front of the group of people they were just talking to. Mikey smiles at me before returning to his normal facial expression but I know it’s genuine. “Want us to show you to the secretary’s office?” Pete smiles, “or to the guys. I think they may have put you in Gee’s class or maybe Bert’s.”
“Uh okay cool,” I say, eyes of the others burning through my soul, “I think I need to get to the office, get my schedule and stuff.”
Pete nods in agreement, “Yes that’s a good plan. We’ll bring you in case you get lost in the sea of freshman who hang around the offices.”
Before I can even think I’m being led through a group of teenagers all holding books with massive back packs. Pete says something magic and they all part. It feels really weird walking through a parted group of people. I feel like I should be in mean girls.
Pete leads me into an office and points to a middle aged woman in a gaudy pink shirt and spectacles. I turn around to say something to him but he’s gone, Mikey visible, tall in the mix of freshman. I walk up to the secretary.
“Hello sweetie, what’s your name?” The woman says not looking up from a game of solitaire on her computer, the cards reflected on her glasses.
“I’m uh Frank Iero, I’m a new junior...” she just completed the hand and looks up. She smiles at me and to be honest she’s kind of scary looking.
“Just one second sugar,” she shuffles through files in a cabinet. “You moved from riverside, yes?”
I nod at her back, “… yea”
She stands up tall and spins around with a little file. “Good. Gabe told me about you. I’m his aunt, Ms Saporta,” she extends a hand. “I’ve put you with people you know to the best of my ability,” she smiles as I shake her hand, “but of course you’ll make plenty of new friends here too. Bye now!”
“Um bye…” I turn away and walk out of the office into the swarm of freshman. I take out my schedule. English is my first class this time. Room thirty one. I have no map or way of navigating this new school so I just try stumble through the freshman and search for my new locker. I find a block of green metal lockers that look like one could be mine. I sidestep along the aisle, scooting around people at their lockers I scan the numbers.
“Frank?” I hear from behind me. I twirl around and see Gerard pulling out an earbud, leaning against a locker on the other side of the hall.
“Hey Gee,” I say and walk over to him. “I’m back from Jersey.”
“I see that, you’re a little late” he laughs and takes out the other earbud.
“Yea well my dad doesn’t really think outside of Jersey,” I mutter. “I’m looking for locker 680, do you know where that is?”
He pauses and then nods, “Yea over this way. What’s your first class?” He starts walking to a block of lockers strategically covering a window, leaving free wall space for some reason.
“Uh English, room thirty one,” I say as Gerard points to a locker with 68 written in black metal on top of the green and a faded oval indicating an 0 was their before someone decided to pull it off.
“Can I just look at your schedule?” Gee says pulling a sheet of paper out of my hand. He reads it nodding slowly. “We have three classes a day together. You have four with Gabe and three with Bert. You have English with Gabe, math with the three of us and French with me and Gabe…” he continues reciting our shared classes as I poor the contents of my school bag and extra first day book bag into the locker.
The bell rings and when I turn around to ask Gee for directions to room thirty one but he’s gone. Alright it’s obvious I’m going to have to be quicker to keep up with the guys here. I stumble down a hall looking at numbers on doors until I spot Gabe running up stairs. “Gabe!” I shout and he turns around, spots me and grins, gesturing me toward him. I push through the mass of students that are flowing steadily fast down the hall. Gabe pulls me from the crush and up the stairs, “My aunt says she put you in my English class so lets go!”
I run behind Gabe as we turn around corners until we’re at the very front of the school and in front of a class room that says “3!”. Some kid turned the 1 into !. Hilarious.
Gabe gestures to a girl to move one desk to the left so I can sit beside him and his window seat. Gabe sits up straight and stares out the window for the entire class. The teacher either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care. By his exam results he seems to be averaging a B- in English so he might not completely zone out. The English class I’m in is, thankfully, doing Othello. They are a scene ahead of where I was so I can probably catch up.
I answer a question and give an alternative way of looking at the scene and suddenly the teacher is smiling and everyone around me have raised eyebrows and/or scowls. Maybe that wasn’t the best idea.
I’m walking out with Gabe, laughing over a joke we carried on too long and let get so out of hand that we sound insane. “Oh god and imagine it was blue from the cold!” I laugh and Gabe makes a dick sucking motion. Some girl behind us rolls her eyes.
Gabe grins and winks at her. She looks extremely offended and storms off down the hall. “French now, you too?” I nod. “Great!”
I follow Gabe around a corner and up a staircase where Gerard is standing in the middle with earphones in. People push past him on both sides running to class but Gee just stands there, muttering along to his music. He takes an earbud out when we walk toward him.
“Gabe go on to class I want to talk to Frank,” He says walking in pace with us.
Gabe grins and bounds off on his gangly legs.
“Yea?” I say following after Gabe. The hall is emptying very fast now. Gerard grabs my hand and starts running the opposite direction to Gabe. “Gee what-” I begin to protest.
He smiles and whispers “trust me.”
Hand in hand we run through halls past doors with windows and classes on inside. We’re the only ones left not in a class room. Gerard turns a corner and makes a sudden stop throwing open a door.
“What the fuck Gerard,” I say between gulps of air. Gee is gesturing me into the small room containing mops and buckets and shelves of dusty random items like light bulbs and catalogues.
My brain is still cloudy from the fact that its morning and that I’ve just run for the first time in forever. Gerard grins and pulls me in to the room and shuts the door.
Before my eyes can adjust to the dark Gerard pushes me backwards into a shelf. “I missed you Frankie,” he whispers.
“I missed you too Gee.” A hand reaches under my chin and lifts my mouth up to his. All the tension leaves me as his tongue moves into my mouth. I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him back.
I forget that I’m in school. I forget that I was ever in another school. I forget that this could end really badly. I forget that I should be in a classroom reciting the verb passer in the future tense. I forget that I just spent a month with my dad. I forget that I have to go home and give my mom a full account on the new woman. I forget everything except how much I like the guy who’s grinding into me and pushing me into a box of crayons.
We stay locked together for a while. Every few minutes we’d break apart and I’d kiss Gerard’s neck as he tells me how much he likes me and how much he missed me.
I’ve slid my fingers into his hair and am pulling him closer still when light fills the small room. I gasp into Gerard’s mouth and my eyes fly open. A man in a lab coat was whistling a tune that turned into one long note. Gerard lets go of me and stands up straight, blushing. I stumble into the boxes and have to steady myself on Gerard’s shoulder.
The man bursts out laughing. I was pale in shock but I can feel every bit of blood in my body rush to face and dye me red.
“Afraid to come out of the closet boys?” the man laughs even harder at his own pun.
“Mr. Jordon,” Gee mumbles looking at his feet.
“It’s okay boys, I won’t tell,” the teacher laughs again. When he regains a sense of calm he wipes his eyes and grins, “Teenagers can be awfully homophobic so I get this. I’ll let this one slide but don’t be making a habit of it. Now I hope it wasn’t a science or maths class you missed or I may give you detention.” He laughs again and reaches into a box next to us and grabs a light bulb. He then closes the door and walks off whistling.
Gerard sighs in relief. “What the fuck,” I hiss, “Seriously are all your teachers like this?”
“No, just mister Jordon.” My eyes adjust and I see he’s grinning at me.
“Oh god what?” I moan.
“He’s your chemistry teacher, and he’s definitely going to make gay puns to you all semester.”
I groan and Gerard laughs, pulling me into him. We kiss, keeping our hands to ourselves in fear, until the bell rings. At which point Gerard shoves me out the door and down the hall, yelling directions to my religion class at me.

Notes

Sorry it took so long! I had to think of an idea and plan it out and then write it... So here we are, don't worry I'll bring Bob and Ray into this one too. I hope you enjoyed this and let me know what you think! :)))