“I’m just saying,” Frank started, tuning the strings on one of the school’s acoustic guitars and swinging his legs where he was perched on a table. “Batman is obviously a better choice. Put Superman in a cage match with him, take away both of their superpowers, and Superman is just your ordinary idiot loser.”

“Okay, but what about putting Batman against Dogwelder? His power is welding dead dogs to people’s faces, so-“

“Ray, you cannot be serious.” Frank said flatly, one eyebrow quirked.

“Legit! He’s a member of Section 8, DC comics. So anyway, if you took away his powers he could still get a dead dog and weld it to someone’s face, which is pretty useless… So not being born with superpowers doesn’t make you any better than the lucky ones who have been.” Ray nodded earnestly, his hair bobbing along enthusiastically, strumming a D on his own acoustic. Frank tried to mimic the chord, wincing when all that came out was a blast of pain.

“Jesus Christ!” He grunted. “I hate these fucking school guitars, stupid piles of junk. Look! Look at the damage those ratty Freshmen did!” He started patting the beaten-up body, whispering loving sentiments to it.

“May I remind you that you’re only one year above them? You’re practically a baby yourself- height included.” Ray ducked to avoid the incoming guitar plectrum, but it got caught in his hair. Frank poked his tongue out at him, squeezing his eyes shut. It reminded Ray very much of his youngest cousin.

“Oh yeah? Well you’re old so… so you’ll shrivel up before me!” He declared childishly.

“I’m older by a year. Besides, you’re the one who has started smoking so don’t talk to me about shrivelling up!” Ray exclaimed, flinging his arms in the air. This caused momentary panic as his guitar was dislodged from his arms and he shrieked, quite ungracefully, then scrambled to snatch it before it hit the floor. Inevitably, all heads turned to stare.

“Was that noise even human?” Frank murmured jokingly, focusing hard on his very interesting black shoelaces. Ray lowered his head, his mass of curly hair falling into his face. Frank could still see the burning red of embarrassment on his cheeks.

Miss Chafer came gliding over swiftly - like some sort of ghost, Frank thought – and stood in front of the pair.

“Are you two alright? How’s your composition coming along?” She smiled gently, seemingly oblivious to Ray’s earlier squawking, which he was grateful for. Miss Chafer was one of those rare types of teacher that actually honestly cared about you. Even if you were the kid at the back of the class who usually blended into the background and went unnoticed, she’d still find time to come over and sit with you to go through the work or even just chat. She was like this really nice, airy mother that everyone wanted but only existed in stories.
She brushed a stray strand of platinum hair behind her ear. “You two are really good players, I want to hear what you’ve come up with!”

Ray looked up and could see the sympathy in her eyes behind her glasses. She nodded encouragingly, and the colour from his cheeks faded. Then he looked to Frank, who counted them in to play.

---

After double Music was Science, which Frank unfortunately had to suffer without his friend. That was the case in every other class he had, of course, because Ray was only taking Sophomore music to get a better grade than he’d gotten last year (“Ray, a C is good, why did you choose to retake?” “I don’t think you understand how serious I am about music, Frank.”).

Frank was actually really, really terrible at science. He just couldn’t sit still and fidgeted through the entire fifty minutes, much to Mrs Symtax’s distress. The only thing he enjoyed taking part in were the experiments- and Mrs Symtax had a reputation for particularly fiery ones- but he had been banned from doing any sort of work that didn’t involve an exercise book. Ever.

Today was an experiment day, and Frank was stuck at the back of the class with a text book unopened on his desk, rocking back on his chair. The rest of the class were swarmed around the front desk, all babbling excitedly. Suddenly there was a shriek followed by loud hissing - as if Medusa herself had just been set alight in the science lab- and the students all sprung backwards with enthusiastic yells. Through the mass gathering of bodies Frank could see a lilac flame spitting from the test tube.

“And there we have it!” Mrs Symtax hollered over the rowdy class, “The ‘Screaming Jelly Baby’ experiment!” She grinned, lifting the goggles to rest on her head. She rarely removed them from her face completely, and Frank often wondered if the elastic band that held them on was actually superglued to her brittle strawberry blonde hair. The loud ringing of the lunchtime bell shook him from his thoughts and he wasted no time in slinging his rucksack over his shoulder and shooting out the door before the rest of the students.

Frank tried so hard to get to the table where he and Ray usually sat, but Science just happened to be on the other side of the school. Sure enough, hordes of teenagers came bumbling into the hallways. Oh shit, oh shit, was Frank’s reoccurring thought as he struggled to elbow his small self through the throng.

Usually, Frank was very good at not being noticed. He kept to himself, not wanting to lure out the little imp known as trouble. This week though, it had come scurrying Frank’s way to jam itself up his ass and be a fucking pain. First the detention from Mr Barron, and now some 6-ft-terrifying guy yelling; “Watch where you’re going, dyke!” and then elbowing Frank in the neck- which hello? Fucking hurt- and Frank was shoved into another student, and then another, and everyone kept pushing and knocking into him like dominoes until he was finally ejected from the crowd and straight into the chest of not just any teacher- but the principle. The student horde fell silent. Mrs Forrest coughed, stepped around Frank, and stood by his side with her arms crossed.

“Joshua, I will not- under any circumstances- tolerate that sort of language or behaviour in my school! See me in my office tomorrow lunch else I’ll be phoning home.” She boomed, then looked to Frank and murmured “Come on.” And he followed obediently behind her. He could feel the eyes of the students on his back, probably burning holes in his blazer with their glare.
Frank tried to focus on something else, determined not to let his anxiety take over. He took to staring at the back of Mrs Forrest’s ghastly green and beige (why beige?) floral dress. It clashed horribly with her tan, he thought, and the constant clack clack of her beige (again, why?) heels were really getting on his nerves. He was thankful that she had stepped in however, because the last thing he needed was a pack of angry teenagers stalking and ravaging him for the next week.

As they walked, the bustling hallways cleared. Students split down the middle and parted, like Mrs Forrest was Moses or something, and finally they reached the main reception. Frank didn't understand why everyone was so fearful of the principle. She was actually a really nice person. Back when Frank first joined the school- before he met Ray- she was the one to welcome him and show him the shortest ways to get to class and to the cafeteria. She was always looking out for him too, especially since he came out. That's why he wasn't worried when Mrs Forrest held the heavy door to her office open for him, and he smiled at her even.

"Good afternoon, Frank. Do sit down." Mrs Forrest gestured to a chair, and she took the one in front of him. That was another thing he liked about Mrs Forrest- there was never a bulky desk between the two. Instead it was pushed to the side. It made the room warmer, made Frank feel like he could trust her more. "I'm sorry you had to run into that spot of trouble back there. I was looking for you, actually." She smiled warmly, mottled brown-rimmed glasses slightly wonky on her face.

Frank absently wondered if Ray would be concerned of his whereabouts by now. As if Ray had suddenly gained mind-reading powers, his phone vibrated with a text. Frank knew it was Ray, because no one else bothered messaging him. Returning to the task at hand, Frank nodded, prompting her to continue.

"When we last spoke, a few weeks ago, I told you I'd do some research into LGBT-specific help groups around here. Do you remember?"

"Of course." Frank remembered alright. He recalled bursting through the front door and bowling into his mom in his excitement, who'd been chopping bell peppers for Frank's favourite veggie lasagne. The peppers scattered all over the floor, so she had to put carrots in instead. It tasted it even better than usual. "Did you manage to find anything?" He couldn't hide the hopefulness in his voice.

Mrs Forrest didn't reply. Instead she leaned over to her desk, grabbed a slip of paper, and handed it to Frank with a smile. Frank looked at the glossy paper in his hands. It was a leaflet. Across the front was the word 'TOPAZ' in bold blue writing.

"TOPAZ is an lgbt youth group for thirteen to twenty-five year olds. They meet every fortnight, and you can bring a friend or family member for the first few sessions if you're nervous about going alone. Their website said it's a place to make new friends and get support. It sounds like something you need." Mrs Forrest explained as Frank flicked through the booklet. His face was glowing and he fumbled when he pulled out his mobile. The principle overlooked it, choosing instead to scoot over to her desk and busy herself with some papers.

As suspected, Frank had one new text from Ray:

Where r u? Gone to music room btw.

Frank quickly typed a reply:

with Forrest. Come over to mine tonight, got good news!!

Notes

I'm so, so sorry for the lack of updates! I thought I'd get a lot done over the holiday but I got caught up and busy with family life. I hope you enjoy this chapter, though!

Another note: I live in Britain, so I'm still adjusting to writing about the American school system. Also, if any of my spelling is different to the American way, that's why.