One Foot in the Grave

His first three classes rolled along without incident. Gerard's teachers were nice and the other kids pretty much left him alone. Well a few had talked to him a bit in the hallway, but they seemed harmless. The fourteen year old was starting to relax a little in his new surroundings.

That is until he entered his last class before lunch. Speech was really a noise filled room with very little structure in place. The teacher, Ms. Mulhern, sat, scribbling madly at her desk, for the first ten minutes. The students continued to get louder and louder and a few even started flicking around paper footballs.

Gerard sat patiently at his desk, reading a tattered paperback he had pulled from his bag. He could feel the pressure of someone staring at him, but they always looked away when he looked up. He thought it was one of the muscular jockish types that sat grouped together. However, another person close to them drew his eye.

The other guy sat a few seats back from the jocks, staring at a poster about positive spaces with an arched eyebrow. A black leather jacket was folded over his chair. Black hair lightly touched the shoulders of his band t-shirt. Gerard chewed on his lip as he watched his classmate slowly push the hair back out of his face.

He's really cute, Gerard thought, feeling his face blush slightly.

A large guffaw came from the front of the class, causing a shift in his line of sight. One of the jocks was staring right at Gerard, a mean smirk on his face. A familiar feeling of fear settled in his chest, combined with the tight feeling he hadn't been able to shake off all day. He didn't like the way the more muscular boy was looking at him. It was the way students at his old school had looked at him. He sunk low in his chair and returned to his book, trying to shake off the stares he felt drilling into him.

At that moment, Ms. Mulhern cleared her throat and brought attention to the front of the classroom.

"Alright class, it's time to get started. We have a new class member today, so he'll do his introduction speech before we begin class. Gerard, stand up here and introduce yourself to the class." A whole sea of eyes turned to look at him as he stared incredulously at his teacher. She expected him to get up and talk in front everyone? He felt his throat start to close up.

"Do I have to?" He squeaked. Giggles erupted around the classroom, causing his pale skin to turn a dark red.

"Yes. Everyone else had to do an intro speech at the beginning of the year. Just get up here and tell us your name. Give us an interesting fact or something.”

Gerard felt himself shaking as he rose out of his desk and slowly made his up to the front of the classroom. It was the longest walk he had ever taken. All eyes were on him and his feelings of anxiety only got worse as he got in front of the 20 students. Again he was aware of all the insecurities he harbored. His high, whiny voice being one of them.

“Uh..My name is Gerard Way. I just moved here from Rhode Island…..” He paused for a moment to think about what to say, and locked eyes with the Mr. Leather Jacket. In an instant his mind went blank as he stared into a beautiful pair of hazel eyes outlined with smudged eye liner. He arched an eyebrow back at Gerard and smiled. Gerard’s face once again went red.

Whispers had started going around. They broke eye contact, but then Gerard’s eyes landed on the jock who had laughed at him earlier. He had the meanest glint in his eyes and his face had contorted into a cruel smirk. Gerard froze.

“Mr. Way?” called out Ms. Mulhern, moving back to the front of the class. Her hand touched his back and he jumped a mile out of his skin. The teacher looked slightly concerned for her student, so she sent Gerard back to his seat. “I expect you to be more prepared for the next class,” she added sternly.

Gerard managed a nod as he eased himself back at his desk. He zoned out for the rest of class, feeling freaked out of his mind. This couldn’t happen again. This was his new start. But on the first day, it seemed like he had attracted a new enemy. He sunk lower in his chair, wishing the floor would just eat him whole.

Finally the bell rang. He wondered where he could hide during lunch.

Notes

I meant to get further into Gerard's back story, but I feel I had to build up to it. Also needed to introduce the main antagonist. Then I wound up with 800 words and worried I was making this chapter longer than it needed to be.

Anyway, hope you enjoy it. And yes, Mr. Leather Jacket is meant to be Frank. I've been reading too much Frerard for it not to be part of this story.