Music passed uneventfully and I was eager to get out of there. “Five more minutes” I said to myself, “Five more minutes, then it’s lunch time.” The bell rang and I shot up out of my seat, hurdling over chairs that were in my way of getting out the door.

I basically power walked to the library and watched towards the math hall, trying to find black hair and pale skin in the crowd. I saw Gerard and I felt my heart rate pick-up; he was smiling and gave me a half wave as he walked towards me.
“Hey!” I said way too excitedly
“Hey Frank”
“So what class is your brother coming from right now?”
“English, I think. It usually doesn’t take him very long to get here so he should be here soon.”

Right as Gerard had said that, I saw a boy walk up to Gerard and tap him on the shoulder. He had light brown hair that hung around his chiseled jawline; he wore thin-rimmed glasses that were white and black. He was tall and thin like Gerard and they had the same eyes, but those were the only visible similarities.

The two looked nothing alike. If Gerard hadn’t told me he had a brother and that he knew nobody else in the school, I would’ve just assumed he was a friend.
“Mikey! Hey, I want you to meet my new friend. This is Frank Iero.”
“Hey Mikey, it’s nice to meet you” I held my hand out to shake his and he just looked at me for a moment until he realized he needed to shake my hand back.
“H-hi… I-I’m Mikey” the kid seemed mortified to be talking to me and it was obvious that he wanted to get away from this situation.
“Frank has asked if we wanted to go sit with him and a few of his friends for lunch. I told him we would love to.” Gerard gave Mikey a look that said ‘we are sitting with them, I don’t care if you don’t want to’. Mikey just stared at him then looked up at me
“O-ok. Thank you for the invite, Frank”
“Don’t mention it man, lets head to lunch. I’m starving”
The three of us walked together to the cafeteria, Frank and I ending up talking about guitars, Mikey just walking along in silence.
“I guess you could say I know how to play guitar, but I’m not very good at it.” Gerard confessed.
“I don’t consider myself the best, but I know my way around a guitar. I have four of them actually. My grandfather taught me to play growing up and I’ve loved the instrument ever since.”
“Wow, I’d love to hear you play sometime!” Gerard beamed. He looked over to Mikey and realized he was leaving him out of the conversation.
“Ya know Mikey over here is a bass God.” Mikey turned beet red.
“N-no, no no. I am not.” Mikey said defensively
“Oh stop, give yourself some credit kid! You rock out in your room any chance you get and it sounds amazing.” Gerard was smiling and Mikey just looked down to his feet.
“We should jam together sometime, Mikey. I’d love to have someone to play with. It gets kind of boring sometimes just playing guitar by myself or with just Ray.” Mikey looked up at me and gave me the faintest smirk I’d ever seen, but knowing how shy the kid was, it meant something to me that he’d show any interest.

---

We walked into the cafeteria and the Way brothers followed behind me to the back corner table that Ray and Christa were sitting at. We approached the table and Ray looked up at me and smiled when he saw Gerard and Mikey.

“Ray, Christa, this is Gerard and Mikey Way. They’re kind of new here and don’t know anyone yet so I invited them to sit with us.” Ray was the kindest soul I had ever met so when I introduced them, he was very welcoming.
“Awesome! Hey guys, welcome to the table.” He gave them a big smile and a small wave. “I’m Christa. It’s nice to meet you both” Christa was just as kind souled as Ray was, that’s why they were such a perfect match. Ray gestured for us to sit down; I took the seat Next to Ray, Gerard sitting next to me, then Mikey sat beside Gerard.

“Ray, wait till you hear this guys music interest. His taste in music is just as great as ours” I chuckled.
“Oh is that so? Lets hear about it and test this theory,” said Ray with a smirk
“Well, I’m really into misfits, I’ve been listening to Black Flag a lot lately. I’m way into David Bowie, too. He’s probably my favorite artist of all time.”
“Bowie? I respect that. I like a bit of Bowie myself. Well, you live up to your ‘kick-ass music taste’ hype like Frank said”
Ray and Gerard got into a conversation about Bowie that I didn’t pay much attention to. I noticed Mikey looking down at his hands, visibly uncomfortable with his surroundings and I felt bad for the kid.
“Hey-“ I interrupted Ray mid-sentence.
“Gerard was just telling me how badass Mikey is at bass. I told him we should totally play together sometime. Maybe all three of us could, soon.” Mikey looked up at us and just stared, not really knowing what to say.
“Oh, no way? That’s awesome. We should definitely all get together sometime and play. I’d love the chance to play with some bass. Frank and I write songs together sometimes and we always feel like something’s missing. Having a bass player around would fix that.” Mikey gave an actual genuine smile when Ray said that and you could see him relax some in his seat.
“Hey dudes what’s going on!” Pete walked up to the table and took the seat next to Mikey.
“Who are these two?” Pete said, pointing between Mikey and Gerard.
“This Is Gerard and this is Mikey. They’re new here and they’re going to start sitting with us at lunch… well, if they want to that is.” I looked over at Gerard hoping for some kind of answer even though I hadn’t really asked a question. He gave me a smile and a small nod and that’s all I needed to feel those strange butterflies in my stomach again.
“Well hey guys, I’m Pete.” He shook Gerard’s hand, then Mikey’s. Pete wasn’t shy, at all, but he was kind of strange sometimes. He talked about nonsense often and he didn’t always make sense. He was friends with Bob though and he wasn’t a bad guy, so we all accepted him.
“Is… is that a unicorn? On your keychain?” Pete asked, pointing to mikeys keys that were hanging half way out of his jean pocket. Mikey tucked his keys further into his jeans as quickly as possible and looked at Pete with pure embarrassment all over his face.
“Y-yeah, it... It is.” Mikey looked down at his hands and squirmed a little in is chair.
“That is the coolest keychain I’ve ever seen! I fucking love unicorns dude. They’re so much more than just a mythical creature. Well, in my opinion at least.” Pete was smiling and looking at Mikey who had a really confused look on his face.
“W-what? You like unicorns?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, I guess its kind of weird but whatever. I’m weird so it goes hand in hand” Pete smiled.
“Can I look at your keychain?”
“Oh, uh yeah sure” Mikey slowly pulled his keys out of his pocket and handed them over to Pete. Before I knew it, the two of them were talking about unicorns which turned into them talking about movies and it just went from there. The two of them talked the entire lunch period and it seemed like Mikey was enjoying himself.

Gerard leaned over to me and the sense of his body being so close caused my heart rate to pick-up. I could feel his hot breath near my ear and it sent my heart into overdrive. “Frank, I haven’t seen my brother talk this much to someone since he saw the newest star wars movie and he needed to vent about how much he loved it. Thank you for inviting us to sit with you today.” Gerard put his hand on my shoulder and sat back in his chair, sending me a soft smile.
“I’m glad y’all came to sit with us. You’re both really cool.” I told Gerard.

Hell, this guy was amazing. He was sweet and had the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen; his personality was a lot like mine but calmer and sensitive. His music taste made me so happy because it was rare for me to connect with anyone but Ray on music. Most people didn’t listen to the bands I did. They were hooked on the shitty teen pop that plays on the radio. Gerard was the coolest person I had met in a long time and I was enjoying every second of getting to know him.

I spent the rest of lunch talking to Ray and Gerard about music and movies. We joined in with Mikey and Pete when we over heard them talk about Dracula and we all got into a conversation. “Where the hell is bob?” I thought to myself. He hadn’t been here the whole lunch period and Pete said he was in first period. Bob was a junior and Pete was a sophomore, but they got put into the same art class and that’s how they became friends. As I looked around the cafeteria, thinking I may see him somewhere else, I was interrupted by the bell ringing and everyone standing up to flood out to the main hallway.

“What class are you headed to Frank?” Gerard asked as he was standing up to leave
“I’m off to Math now”
“Oh man, I was hoping we’d get to walk together. I’m going to art now so I’m headed the opposite way.”
Dammit. I had just come from the arts hall before lunch period and Gerard had come from the math hall. I wished so badly in that moment that our schedules weren’t flipped. It drove me crazy; our schedules were so similar but so different at the same time. I had English first, History second, Science third, Music fourth, then lunch for fifth, Math sixth then gym was last. Gerard’s schedule mocked mine almost. He went to History first, then English second, Science third, Math fourth, we had lunch together thankfully, then he headed to art sixth period and he had gym last, too. We had Science the same time and gym but we had different teachers… Just my luck, of course.

“Oh. ok, well I guess I’ll see you later then.” I could hear the defeat in my own voice, so I’m sure it was obvious to everyone around me.
“Well don’t you have gym last period?” said Gerard
“Yeah I do.”
“Want to meet in front of the library again and we can walk to gym together?”
Hell yes… God, yes! I wanted to run to him and give him a hug when he said that but I settled for a smile and a “Yeah dude, sounds good. Meet you out front of the library when class ends.” And with that, Gerard turned away and walked towards his Art class. I was smiling on the inside and the outside. I thought I would have to wait till tomorrow to see Gerard again and that bummed me out real bad. I hadn’t thought about the fact we could walk to gym together, but he had and that made it even more exciting. He wanted to see me too… I didn’t feel so weird anymore feeling this excited about a new friend. Maybe the feeling was mutual. I hadn’t gained a new friend in so long, so maybe the crazy butterflies and the sped up heart rate were just part of getting to know a new person that you had a lot in common with.

---

Ray and I had math class together too, so we always walked from lunch with each other. “I really liked Gerard and his brother Mikey.” Ray smiled.
“Yeah, they’re really cool, aren’t they?”
“Definitely. I can’t wait to shred some chords with Mikey soon. I love playing guitar with a bass.”
“Yeah that will be kick-ass”
“So, uh, Gerard. He’s a handsome guy” Ray looked at me from the corner of his eyes and had a smirk on his lips.
“Uh, sure, I guess?” Why was Ray saying Gerard was handsome? Ray’s never called another guy handsome… Actually, Ray’s never commented on anyone’s appearance, except for Christa’s and he would just gush about how beautiful he thought she was.
“Yeah. I think he’s a handsome guy. You both seem to get along real well.” Why was Ray being so weird?
“Ok Ray, what’s going on? You never talk like this…”
Ray was quiet for a second and I could tell he was trying to figure out how to say what he wanted to say.
“I’m just gonna come right out and say this, and I don’t mean to piss you off by any means. You’re my best friend and I love you no matter what. But, I couldn’t help… well nobody could help but notice the way you look at Gerard…”
“What do you mean the ‘way I look at Gerard’?” What the hell was ray trying to say…
“Well, I mean, you look at him with these puppy dog eyes. I don’t know, like he hung the moon or something.”
“No I don’t. I’m just excited to get a new friend that’s so cool, seeing as how you’re never around anymore.” I was getting defensive and the only way I knew how to cope with it was to be an asshole.
“Look, I’m not trying to make you mad Frank. You’re my best friend. Always have been and always will be. But, do you… do… I don’t know how to ask this without pissing you off.”
“Then just say it Ray!” I was getting annoyed
“Frank, are you gay? Do you like guys, because if you do I would support you-“
“Are you kidding me right now?” I interrupted
“Just, just hear me out Frank. You’ve never had a girlfriend, and every time Christa has tried hooking you up with one of her friends, you’re completely uninterested.”
“That’s because Christa’s friends aren’t my type”
“My point, Frank. I mean, have you ever thought maybe you prefer men over women?”
I honestly hadn’t thought much about it… I hadn’t had a girlfriend before, but I thought girls were pretty. I liked girls; I just never met one that I liked enough to call my girlfriend. I was silent. Did Ray have a point? I didn’t have a problem with gay people. I always believed that love is love, and just because you have different body parts, doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to fall in love with someone’s soul.
“Look, I’ll drop it ok. I don’t want you mad at me. But just for the record, if you are, I’m always going to support you. Nothing will change that. And Gerard is pretty badass so I wouldn’t be opposed to him sticking around for a while.” Ray smiled at me and I just looked at him until I forced a small smirk on my face. We walked into class, sat down, and didn’t say anything till class was over.

When the bell rang, I was so zoned out that I barely heard it.
“Frank… hello? Earth to fucking Frank” Ray was shaking me.
“Wha- what?”
“Class is over… and you’re suppose to be meeting Gerard outside the library”
I spent the entire time in math class just thinking about what Ray had said. Was I gay? No way. How can you be a seventeen year old guy and not know if you're gay? That’s absurd. But why did everything Ray said make sense? I really wasn’t that interested in girls. I always thought it was just because I was so focused on playing music and staying to myself, I just never really paid attention to them. But I did look at Gerard like he hung the moon, because to me, he seemed as though he did. I was amazed by Gerard, both physically and mentally. I stood up and headed out the door, beginning to make my way towards the library.
“I’ll see you after school Frank. Later.” Ray said as he walked off.
“Later man” I wasn’t mad at Ray, I mean, I guess it shocked me when he said it because nobody had ever mentioned me being gay before, but I wasn’t mad.

I was almost to the library when I saw Gerard standing there looking for me in the crowd. He hadn’t seen me yet, and let me just say, there was nothing more adorable than watching that kid look through a crowded hallway and knowing he was searching for me. When he saw me, a huge smile paved across his face and he waved at me in excitement. I couldn’t help but wonder if Gerard was feeling the same way about me. Was he getting the butterflies too?
“Hey Frankie!” He said it… Oh god, that was the first time he had ever called me Frankie. It sounded so sweet rolling off his tongue and it hit my brain like a wave of nicotine. I wanted him… No, I NEEDED him to call me Frankie again.
“Frankie?” I said with a surprised tone.
“Oh, yeah… Uh, sorry. That just kind of came out. I don’t have to call you Frankie if you don’t go by that nickname”
“No, no I do. I just hadn’t heard you call me that yet. I prefer going by Frankie” That was a lie, I wasn’t a huge fan of the name Frankie, but all the sudden, that’s the only name I ever wanted to go by again.
“Oh alright! Then I’ll keep calling you Frankie” Again, it felt like nicotine hit my nervous system and I was officially hooked.
Gerard and I walked to gym class talking about how much we hated gym and thought it was the most pointless class to ever exist. We both agreed that if we wanted to workout, we would’ve joined one of the schools athletic teams.


We made our way into the locker room and started walking towards our gym lockers.
“We have gym the same period everyday and we change in the same locker room, but we’ve never seen each other before. How is that even possible? Gerard said.
“Right? I don’t get it. I suck at paying attention to people though. Where’s your locker at?”
“It’s over on the other side of the locker room.”
“Oh, that could be why I haven’t seen you either.”
“Yeah, well what if I moved lockers? I could switch to one that’s over by you?”
I loved the way this kids mind worked
“That would be cool. We could see each other some more I guess if our lockers were close together.”
“Ok, well then I’m gonna go get my gym clothes and my lock, then ill meet you at your locker.”
Gerard turned away and went to his locker. I headed over to mine and looked for a locker that was vacant. Fate has a way of working out because Miles, the kid who use to have his gym locker right next to mine, moved to Arkansas a month ago and nobody’s claimed the locker he abandoned.
I saw Gerard making his way over to me and I opened up the locker next to mine.
“You can take this one. The kid who use to have it moved away about a month ago so nobody’s using it.”
“Well that worked out nicely” Gerard smiled and he began putting his things into his new locker.
I guess I hadn’t thought this through when he suggested moving lockers, because I felt an adrenaline rush when he started changing his clothes in front of me. What the hell was wrong with me? Gerard took his shirt off and I had to turn around to calm myself down. Shit, Ray had a point. Ray definitely had a fucking point.
“Dude, if you don’t change, you’re gonna be late”
“Oh. Uh yeah. I should probably get to that” I said nervously
Gerard just looked at me and smiled and went back to changing, not seeming to be phased by this at all, but boy I was. I started to take my shirt off and noticed Gerard glancing over at me several times from the corner of my eye. It made me chuckle and Gerard quit looking. When I finished changing, we walked out of the locker room and headed to the gym. We had a huge gym area so both of our classes were in the same place. As we walked into the gym, my class was to the right and his was to the left.
“Guess I’ll see you after class?” Gerard looked at me as if I needed to answer the question.
“Yeah, I’ll see you after class” I smiled at him and walked towards my side of the hellhole.

---

As I was in gym, I couldn’t help but look over to Gerard’s class and see what he was doing. They were playing tennis, same as us, and he looked just as ridiculous as I did. He looked over at me the same time I looked at him and we both just laughed and put our head in our hands. We were not athletic in any way.
“Alright class, to make this even and to give everyone a fair chance to play, we’re going to join classes with Coach Ashford’s class so everyone will have a partner.”
I instantly looked over to Gerard when I heard the word “partner” and when his coach told their class the same thing, Gerard instantly looked at me. We walked towards each other and claimed we were partners without having to say a word.
“Well at least now we can look like dumbasses together” Gerard laughed
“Yeah, seriously. Why the hell are they teaching us to play tennis? I swear this is the most pointless shit.” I said annoyed. We began to play but instead of trying, we just hit the ball as hard as we could with our tennis rackets in attempt to see who could hit the other hardest with the ball. Gerard won.

After class we were headed towards the gym doors so we could go to the locker room and change before the bell rang. As much as I hated having a gym class in general, I was thankful it was my last class of the day so I didn’t feel disgusting or smell bad all day at school. “Iero, come back here please. I need to speak with you” I had Coach Fowler for gym, which really sucked because he was a hard ass. He expected every guy in the school to enjoy sports and try hard at them, so if you didn’t, he was an asshole. I wished more than anything that I could’ve been in Coach Ashford’s class. Not only was Gerard in there, but Coach Ashford was really cool and she completely understood that not everyone has the same athletic capabilities or desires.
“I’ll see you in the locker room. Good luck” Frank said as he left the gym

I made my way towards Coach Fowler, hoping whatever it was he needed to say wouldn’t take long.
“Yes coach?”
“Iero, I noticed today that you made a joke out of our tennis lesson. I’m very disappointed and I want you to know that I take this class very seriously, as should you.” …Ok he had to be fucking joking. He was the head football coach and the only reason he taught P.E. is because he had to actually teach something during the school day to work here. He honestly did not give a shit about his P.E. classes or tennis. He just hated me because I was the loner kid that was too skinny and had no muscles, unlike the meatheads he’d brainwashed on the football team.
“I’m sorry, sir. I’m just really bad at sports and I’m embarrassed about it.” I was bullshitting him so maybe he’d leave me alone.
“Well making a joke out of sports won’t make you any better. I’m giving you a warning this time, but I better see you trying from now on.”
“Yes sir. I apologize.”
“Get out of here Iero” thank god. That didn’t take long and he wasn’t as bad as I figured he would be. I left the gym and tried to hurry to the locker room. When I got there, Gerard wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Shit, did he already change and leave school? I felt my heart sink and I slowly started changing back into my regular clothes. Why did Gerard leave without saying bye? I thought things were going well with us. He made an effort to walk with me to class, didn’t he want to say bye at least before we headed home for the weekend? I was almost done changing when I heard Gerard’s voice behind me.
“The showers here seriously suck. I will say that’s one thing I miss about my private school.” I turned around and instantly wished I hadn’t. Gerard was walking towards me with a towel wrapped around his hips and the rest of his body was still somewhat wet and glistening in the shitty lighting of the locker room. His hair was tucked back behind his ears and still pretty damp. Holy shit, I was definitely attracted to this guy. There was no denying that at all and in this moment, I didn’t care if I was gay or straight or bi or whatever. This man was beautiful in every way.
“Oh, Gerard, I thought you had already changed and left.”
“Why would I have done that and not said bye to you? I just took a quick shower real fast because I felt like I smelled bad.” It made me feel better knowing he wouldn’t have just left without saying anything to me.
“Ok cool. Well I’m finished changing and I was going to go see Ray. I usually meet up with him after school before we go our separate ways. Want me to wait for you or…?” I paused and let Gerard answer from there.
“Yeah wait up for me. I’d actually like to see Ray again before we head out for the weekend.” I smiled knowing he actually liked Ray and wanted to be friends with him. I sat down on the bench and tried to distract myself in any way I could think of so I wouldn’t stare down Gerard as he put clothes back on. Once he was changed and he locked his locker back, we left and walked to the student parking lot where Ray and I met up. We had student-parking spots so of course, Ray and I got ours next to each other.

---

Ray saw me before I reached our cars and he gave me a smirk that said ‘hey, I see you’re still with Gerard’.
“Hey guys! What’s going on?” Ray beamed
“Just living the dream man. You know how that goes.” I said sarcastically. Gerard and Ray laughed.
“Cool. So do y’all have any big weekend plans?” I was thankful Ray brought up weekend plans because I didn’t have any and I was curious as to what Gerard was doing.
“I never have weekend plans,” said Gerard. “I usually just spend time with Mikey doing whatever the hell it is we decide to do”
“Yeah I have no real plans either. I work till 6:45 tonight then I’m gonna bum out all weekend and study for that test I got out of taking today”
“What the hell, how did you get out of that test Frank?” Ray said with curiosity
“I went to the nurses office and complained I was feeling bad. She let me lay down the whole period and sent Mr. Grim a message saying I was sick. That’s where I ended up meeting Gerard, actually.”
“You sly mother fucker. You got so lucky with that one!” Ray laughed and gave me a fist bump.
“Yeah, you could say that again.”
“I didn’t know you had a job Frankie” God, I still wasn’t use to Gerard calling me Frankie. I don’t think I’d ever get use to it.
“Yeah I do part time at a music store downtown. I usually only work a few days out of the week after school. It’s nothing glamorous, but it pays for my gas and I’ve been saving everything else. My boss is cool and I get to listen to music so, it could be worse.”
“That’s really cool actually. Which music store downtown?” Gerard looked intrigued.
“It’s called Willows.”
“I use to love that store. I haven’t been there in forever. How long have you worked there?”
“Only about seven months. James and Kate Willow who own the store are family friends. They needed someone in the afternoons to come in and I was a perfect candidate.”
“That’s so awesome. I guess I’ll have to start going there again.” Gerard shot me a smile and I felt like my insides were melting. Ray looked back and fourth between us, smiling like an idiot, and it started making me uncomfortable.
“Well speaking of work, I need to get there. That’s one thing I can’t be late to.”
I didn’t want to leave knowing I wouldn’t see or talk to Gerard the entire weekend. I needed to do something so I wouldn’t have to wait till Monday to talk to him again.
“Hey, put your number in my phone so I can text you sometime to hangout and listen to some music or something.” Why was I nervous asking Gerard for his number… It was no big deal, just two new friends getting each other’s number so they could hangout sometime.
“Yeah for sure!” Gerard took my phone and entered his number.
“I texted myself off your phone so I’d have your number too.”
“Ok cool. Well just text me or call me anytime!”
“Ok, I may just take you up on that.” Gerard smiled and I couldn’t help but blush and smile back.
“Have any of you seen my brother? He usually waits for me outside so we can walk home together but I don’t see him anywhere.”
“Isn’t that him over there with Pete by the school garden?”
Yep, that was Mikey alright and he was with Pete.
“Oh my gosh, that is Mikey. This is a big deal. Mikey never talks to anyone besides me and he’s obviously been talking to Pete since they met at lunch.”
I couldn’t help but feel a little proud of myself. When this day started, the Way brothers knew no one at this school and were eating lunch in the Library. Now Gerard and I had started a new friendship, as well as him and Ray, Mikey who was apparently very anti-social was willingly talking to Pete and we had talked about all getting together soon to play some music. These two no longer had to be alone at this school and that thought made me smile.
“What’s got you so happy, Iero?” Ray nudged me and smiled then looked over at Gerard as if he were suggesting Gerard was my reason for smiling. Well, he was but I wasn’t going to tell anyone that.
“I’m just glad that Mikey has made a new friend and that him and Gerard are going to start being around now.” Gerard looked at me with a huge grin on his face and looked back over at Mikey.
“Thanks again for inviting us to sit with y’all today. Being in the library so much was getting old and I’m really glad that we’ve all started a new friendship.”
“I’m glad you didn’t flip me off in the nurses office and tell me to leave you alone when I commented on your T-shirt so I guess it’s been a good day for everyone.” Gerard laughed and rolled his eyes. I noticed throughout the day that Gerard was kind of sassy. I liked it.
“Ok well I’ve really got to go you guys or I’m going to be late to work. I actually enjoy my job so I’d like to keep it. I’ll se you guys later and Gerard, text me anytime!”
“Sounds good Frankie, I’ll text you later!” He called me Frankie and he said he would text me later… That entire sentence was perfection.
I got in my car and headed to work. I looked at my phone and saw a text message from an unknown number. I opened it up to see what it said

3:10PM From: (812)-534-6431
“Hey Frankie, Its Gee (:”

Gee was such a cute nickname for him. I made a mental note so start using it.

3:25PM To: Gee (:

“Hey Gee!”

I knew I didn’t have to reply but I was hoping it would strike up a conversation if I did. I plugged my iPod in and put it on shuffle. The first song to come on was “Teenagers from mars” by The Misfits and I sang the whole way to work.

---

Work passed uneventfully and I was ready to go home. It had been a long day and I was honestly exhausted. I also wanted to check my phone that was in the back to see if Gerard had texted me since I’d been at work. 6:45 rolled around and I clocked out and got my stuff from the back.
“Bye Mrs. Kate, see ya Tuesday”
“Bye Frank! Enjoy your weekend”
“You too!”
Once I got in my car, I checked my phone and was disappointed when there were no new texts from Gerard. Well, this sucks. I wanted to text him but I didn’t want him to be annoyed with me either. I headed home remembering what my mom had said about my dad coming home tonight. I was excited to see my dad and to have a nice family dinner with my parents.

When I walked through the front door, my dad greeted me with a loud “Frankie!” and a big hug to follow.
“Hey dad! How was your trip?”
“It was work kiddo, but it wasn’t bad. How has school and work been this week?”
Dad and I started walking into the kitchen as we continued talking.
“School is school and work is work. Same thing, different day.”
“Well I guess that’s better than it being bad.”
“Yeah, I guess”
I really did do the same thing almost everyday. It felt like nothing in my life ever changed, that is until today when I met the Way brothers.
Dad and I sat down at the dinner table and mom soon followed, bringing dinner over to the table. She cooked dad’s favorite, chicken spaghetti, and I was so excited to dig in. I was beyond hungry at this point. We all made our plates as dad told us more about his trip and how shitty his flight home was.
“I swear I’m never flying coach again when I’m on a twelve hour flight. It was miserable,” my dad said. He was obviously exhausted and I knew when he was done eating that him and mom would go into their bedroom and fall asleep. Everyone was quiet for a few minutes so I decided to break the silence with my exciting news.
“I met a new friend today, well two actually.” My mom and dad looked up at each other, then to me and smiled.
“You did? What are their names?” Mom seemed just as excited as I was.
“Well I met Gerard first. He’s in the same grade as me. Then I met his younger brother Mikey who’s only a freshman. They’re really cool mom! We have the same music taste and Mikey plays Bass so him, Ray and I are all gonna play together sometime!”
“Honey, that’s wonderful I’m so glad you made new friends! I haven’t heard you talk about anyone besides Ray and Bob for years.”
“Yeah, well I usually just keep to myself so they’re the first new friends I’ve had in years.”
“See what putting yourself out there can do for you? You made two friends today. That’s great” Dad said. He always pushed me to break out of my shell and talk to people. He was a businessman so he knew how to talk to pretty much anyone. I didn’t get that trait. He didn’t understand how I was not a people person and I couldn’t understand how he was.
“Yeah, I was surprised I said anything. I guess I saw his Misfits T-shirt and it made me want to talk to him. I’m glad I did. Him and his brother recently transferred into our school from a private school, so they didn’t really have friends yet.”
“Oh honey, I’m so proud of you. I’m sure you made those boys day by befriending them”
“Yeah, maybe” I hadn’t thought about it that way. I’m sure I did make their day by introducing them to new friendships and getting them out of the library for good.
“Why don’t you invite them over for dinner one day next week? Dad will be out of town again so having the company would be nice!”
My mom was the sweetest woman there was and she always made my friends feel welcome anytime they were over; I loved that about her.
“Really? You wouldn’t mind me having them over?”
“I wouldn’t have offered if I minded, Frankie. Invite them over Wednesday night?”
“Uhh, yeah. That sounds great mom.”
Inviting the Way brothers over for dinner sounded amazing and nerve racking all at the same time. I wanted mom to meet Gerard and Mikey to see how great they were. Like I said, mom was practically my best friend besides Ray. She knew everything about me and we had no secrets, so it was a big deal that she approved of my friends. Mom was the kind of person that would accept anyone though, so it was rare for her to ever disapprove. She was really good about allowing me to express myself and be who I wanted to be. When I got my lip pierced, she drove me to the tattoo shop and held my hand while I got it done. She told me when I turned eighteen that she would go with me to get my first tattoo, which is something I’ve wanted since I was fourteen. I had the mom that everyone wanted and I knew how incredibly blessed I was to have her.

After dinner, I helped mom clean up then went up to my room to go to sleep. It had been a long week and I was completely exhausted. I started the week fighting off anxiety and trying not to let my depression swallow me whole; it felt like I had done that practically everyday this week, except for today. Today was a good, no, great day. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt so at peace with myself. I caught myself smiling and I knew exactly why. It was Gerard; it was all Gerard. I had a bad anxiety attack this morning and forced myself to get up and function today. I almost told mom I was too sick to go to school, but I decided that I couldn’t let my anxiety control me anymore. I swear to you that fate exists because if I hadn’t gone to school today, I wouldn’t have ended up in the nurses office trying to escape the test I didn’t study for. I wouldn’t have seen the tall skinny boy with the unwashed black hair wearing a Misfits T-shirt. I wouldn’t have conjured up the courage to say something to him. If I would have let my depression consume me today, I wouldn’t have met the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time. I wouldn’t have seen Gerard. I wouldn’t have met Mikey. And now that I’m thinking about it, I wouldn’t be second-guessing my sexuality. Was I gay? I laid down on my bed and really thought about this. I don’t think I’m gay but when I look at the big picture, I don’t think I’m straight either. I’ve never been too interested in any girls but I’ve never been interested in a guy. I thought many girls were beautiful; I had a huge celebrity crush on Lana Del Ray. But in the past, I’ve also thought about how good looking certain guys were. I never thought much about it when I found a guy attractive; I just figured it was human nature to see beauty wherever it was possessed. All I really knew at this point is that Gerard Way hadn’t left my mind since I saw him in the nurse’s office this morning, and I was completely ok with that. He gave me butterflies when he flashed me his smile full of tiny white teeth, he caused my heart rate to pick up when he was near me; Being around him just gave me genuine pleasure. Not to mention how he made me feel when he called me Frankie… Holy shit. The way his voice said my name, the way his mouth moved to the rhythm of each letter, it was toxic to me. The way he said my name was my own personal nicotine, and I didn’t mind being addicted to it because shit, it was probably going to kill me anyway. I sat there thinking of my day with Gerard and how genuinely happy I was all day. I thought about how much I had liked his brother Mikey and how mature he was for only being a freshman. I thought about my day and Gerard until I was just about to doze off, then I heard my phone buzz. Who the hell would be texting me at 10:30 at night? I picked up my phone and I saw his name on the screen. I felt blood rush to my cheeks and I could only imagine how red my face was. I unlocked my phone and went straight to my text messages.

10:30PM From: Gee (:
“Hey Frankie! Hope it’s not too late and that I’m not disturbing you. How was work?”

10:32PM To: Gee (:
“You’re never disturbing me, Gee. Work was good! What have you been up to tonight?

10:37PM From: Gee (:
“Ok, if you say so! I haven’t been doing much. Just spending some time with Mikey and my mom. What about you?”

10:40PM To: Gee (:
“That sounds like a good time. I’ve been spending time with my mom and dad. My dads been on a business trip all week so we had dinner as a family and hung out some”

10:41PM From: Gee (:
“Awh, that’s good! Where was your dad?”

10:43PM To: Gee (:
“He had to go to Beijing this week”

10:46PM From: Gee (:
“Holy shit. Why the hell did he get to go there? That’s badass!”

10:51PM To: Gee (:
“He travels all over the world for work. It’s nothing new. He’s gone most of the time.”

10:55PM From: Gee (:
“Oh, I’m sorry he’s gone a lot. What does he do that allows him to travel the world like that?”

10:59PM To: Gee (:
“Oh I’m use to it. He’s been traveling like this since I was really young so it’s not a big deal to me. My dad and I somehow have managed to stay pretty close. Uh, my dad is a vice president for IBM. I don’t know if you know what that is. It’s a computer company.”

11:03PM From: Gee (:
“Uhhh, yeah I know what IBM is. It’s a huge computer company! Holy shit, that’s so cool that your dad does that! Have you ever traveled with him?”

11:06PM To: Gee (:
“Yeah, somewhat. Sometimes he’ll let my mom and I tag along with him on trips. He’ll go to work and mom and I go sightseeing or something. It’s cool. Last summer we went to London for a week and it was a lot of fun. I actually want to move there after I graduate for a couple of years, just for the experience”

11:11PM From: Gee (:
“That’s more than cool, Frankie. I’ve barely left New Jersey so the fact you’ve been out of this country is incredible. I’m so jealous right now”

Gerard and I texted back and fourth till 3AM that night. I was exhausted but once he started texting me, I completely forgot how sleepy I was. We talked about our families, where we grew up, our favorite things and of course, music. We were getting to know each other and I loved learning about him. The only thing that could’ve made this situation better was if we had the conversation face to face. I didn’t like people, but I craved being around Gerard. We spent the whole weekend texting non-stop and I was extremely thankful for that. I didn’t want to spend a whole weekend not speaking to him; that would’ve been complete torture. Sunday night, he called me and helped me study for the History test that I had to make-up Monday morning during Mr. Grims tutorial hours. Gerard had already taken the test so he knew the material on it and he helped me study for everything I needed to know. I had known this kid 3 days and I already loved his friendship. Monday couldn’t come fast enough; I finally had something to go to school for.

Notes

Sorry if spacing is weird. I'm still trying to get use to this. Let me know any thoughts you have on this! I'm still nervous that this isn't very good.

XoXo