FicWad

I'm listening to AFI as I'm writing this. My favorite songs by them are Kill Caustic, Summer Shudder, and Dancing Through Sunday. If you don't know them you should look them up. I kinda think they're one of the only bands that sound even remotely similar to MCR. Panic! At the Disco and Fall Out Boy are good but you can't really compare them with each other - their styles are way too different. But maybe it's just me.



"Hey, you see that new kid back there?"

"Who's that?"

"Do you know him?"

The buzzing in the classroom all seemed to be whispers of the new student sitting silently in the back where there used to be an empty desk. But to Gerard every voice was louder than gunfire and rang in his ears, and all he could do was stare at the scratch marks and scribbles on his desk, hiding his burning cheeks behind his hair. He didn't dare look up for he knew that if he did, he would have to meet one of the many pairs of eyes he knew were staring at him. He felt like if this went on for a little while longer, he would soon be full of holes drilled into him by those eyes that he was so afraid to look at. He went through the entire class period staring blankly at his work or off into space and avoiding eye contact whenever possible. He let out a long sigh of relief when the bell rang. He picked up his bag and joined the hallway traffic, desperately trying to find his next class in time. 

When he got to the classroom, most of the class was already in their seats and talking with their neighbors. But as soon as he walked in, the chatter died down and everybody's eyes were glued to the pale dark-haired boy making his way toward the only empty desk in the room. As usual, that empty seat was in the back corner where most people would have to turn around completely to be able to stare at him. But unlike his last class, these kids just went right back to their gossiping and babbling about God knows what as soon as Gerard sat down. 

"Quiet! Class started four minutes ago. Now get out the homework I assigned you over vacation and pass it up to the front." 

Gerard silently laughed to himself when he saw half the class wearing confused looks, and one boy whispered "What homework?" 

The teacher sighed and shook her head in exasperation. "You know what, I'm going to make that extra credit. If you finished the assignment then you can hand it in for extra points and if you didn't then just stay seated. I'm going to pass out this worksheet and when you're done with it have a partner check your answers. It's due at the end of the period."

There was a clattering and scraping of chairs as people got up to meet with their friends, many of them not even bothering to take their worksheets with them. Only a couple students stayed in their seats, Gerard being one of them. He looked down at the piece of paper on his desk and groaned. Matrices. He read the directions, which said For problems 1-3, find the determinant of each matrix. For problems 4-8, determine whether the matrices can be added or multiplied. Gerard scribbled down a few numbers and thankfully, most of the answers were "undefined" for the second part so he didn't have to do very much work. He was about ready to take a nap on his desk when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see a rather awkward-looking boy with glasses and curly hair. 
I find awkwardness and nerdiness rather attractive. I strongly disagree with the dictionary definition of "nerd" and "awkward"

"Can you check my answers?"

Gerard nodded and took the boy's paper and handed him his own. As he glanced over the answers the boy had written, his eyes passed over the name at the top of the worksheet. Ray Toro. He suddenly remembered something from yesterday and turned to the boy grading his paper. 

"Hey…do you know David Nicholson?"

The boy looked up and nodded with a slightly confused expression on his face. 

"Oh. He talks about you a lot. He says you're really good at guitar."

"Really? I don't think I'm all that good…" Ray muttered. Nevertheless the comment made him smile. "Is this your first day here?" he asked. 

Gerard nodded and automatically blushed. 

"Well, if there's one thing I can say, it's that if you stay quiet then you'll stay out of trouble." Ray glanced at a group of boys laughing hysterically at whatever it was that they found so funny. They reminded Gerard of the boys he had passed on the street yesterday when he was walking home with Mikey and he felt a slight twinge of annoyance. 

"So you like the Misfits, huh?"

Gerard stared at Ray in shock. "How'd you know?"

Ray nodded toward Gerard's chest. Gerard looked down and remembered that he was wearing a Misfits hoodie. 

"Oh. Right." he blushed yet again, his cheeks turning the color of a well-ripened tomato. 

"I like them too." Ray said with a smile. "I don't know if my brothers liked them…I always just assumed they did. I don't see them much anymore - they've moved out. You got any siblings?"

"Um, I have a little brother, Mikey. He's a freshman."

"I think it'd be cool to be an older brother-I've always been the youngest. Do you  play any instruments?"

Gerard shook his head. "I sing a little, if that counts. But I don't play anything. David said he'd teach me the guitar, though."

"You should try it. It's really fun. I learned from my brother Lou-I used to watch him play all the time when I was younger and finally decided to try it myself. I've played with Frank a few times - you know who Frank is, right?"

"I haven't met him but I've heard David talk about him."

"Yeah, well he's pretty cool. He's got more of a punk style, though. You know, like Green Day and stuff. I play more classic rock."

"Hold on, did you meet Frank at Nicholson's? I thought he went to a different school."

Ray nodded. "Yeah. He goes to the Catholic school on the other side of town. Kinda feel bad for him - he's gotta wear a uniform to school, with a tie and all. But whenever I see him he's in jeans and a hoodie, kinda like you." Ray paused and gazed at Gerard for a few seconds, as if he was sizing him up. "You know, I think you'd be really good friends with Frank. Hey…maybe we could meet up at David's after school. You think you could do that? You can bring Mikey, too."

Gerard pondered over the idea, and decided he might as well, seeing that he didn't exactly have anything else to do. He and Ray both jumped at the sound of the bell and the sudden scraping of chairs and desks. Gerard quickly replied "Sure!" as he stuffed his belongings into his bag. 

Ray smiled as he slung his bag over his shoulder and said "I'll see you after school then. It was nice talking to you, Gerard."

Gerard gave him a small smile and a short wave as they parted ways at the hallway. He walked down the rest of the hallway and scurried into the nearest bathroom he could find and quickly slipped into a stall. He dug through his backpack and found the little plastic bag he'd brought with him containing the pill he was supposed to take at midday. He nervously swallowed the capsule and shoved the plastic bag back into the bottom of his backpack. It might have been the small worry of being accused of having drugs on campus or the fear of having a nasty rumor go around about him being a druggie that made him do it, but he felt uncomfortable having to hide in the bathroom to take his medication. Of course, he did have the option of withdrawing from taking any medicine at all, but in exchange he'd have to abandon his current life with his mom and Mikey and a possibility of having friends and instead live a miserable life of solitary confinement in an asylum. He thought the first option sounded better. 

The rest of the day was a blur to Gerard; his classes were all pretty much the same - everyone would stare at him for a few seconds and then go back to what they were doing and the teachers were, well, they were teachers. 

When the bell rang signaling the end of the school day Gerard went outside to wait for Mikey. He looked through the swarm of students, trying to see if one of them was a lanky boy with glasses and mousy brown hair. He finally spotted his brother and motioned for him to hurry up. They walked home quickly to drop off their backpacks and grab a small snack before they went to Nicholson's. This time Gerard remembered to leave his mother a note so she wouldn't panic when she got home from work and saw that they were gone. Gerard left the note on the kitchen table where his mother could find it easily and made sure to lock the front door on his way out. He figured his mother wouldn't be too happy if she came home and found broken chairs and missing appliances. 

When Gerard and Mikey entered the shop Ray was already sitting on a stool by the counter talking with David. He looked up at the sound of the bells and smiled at Gerard. 

"Hi Gerard! Is that your brother?"

Gerard nodded. "Mikey, this is Ray. Ray, Mikey."

"Ah, I see you've met Raymond, Gerard." David said. "I believe he was just about to tell me about how you met at school today."

Gerard, Mikey, Ray, and David were soon in a deep conversation about Glenn Danzig and Michale Graves. The boys agreed that Danzig was better, but David stated that they were both equally as good. 

Suddenly the jingle bells rang happily interrupting their discussion, and Gerard wondered who could be taking the time visit this small shop. When he turned around to see who it was, a sudden thought crossed his mind that caused him to blush scarlet with embarrassment. He told himself that he was lucky he was straight because otherwise he would have gone completely wobbly at the knees at the sight of the boy that had just walked in. He had dark coffee-colored hair hanging across a pale cheek and chocolatey brown eyes that gleamed in the bright lights of the shop. He was also rather short, but it fit his features perfectly. 

"Hey Frank." 

Gerard was brought back to his senses by the sound of Ray's voice. 

"Well, hello Frank! I haven't seen you in a while." David exclaimed. 

So this is Frank… Gerard thought to himself. 

"Hi!" Frank said. He suddenly seemed to notice there were other people in the shop. He stared at Gerard for a moment and abruptly said, "I like your hoodie."

Gerard couldn't help smiling as he blushed and muttered a "thank you" to the random comment. Gerard realized that Frank was wearing a t-shirt that looked almost exactly like the Misfits hoodie he had just been complimented on. 

Ray introduced Frank to Gerard and Mikey. "Frank, this is Gerard and Mikey. They go to my school now."

"Hey." Frank said with a small nod. "So did you guys move in recently?"

Gerard nodded. "Less than two weeks ago."

"Is that your brother?" he said motioning toward Mikey. 

"Yeah." 

"Can he talk?" Frank asked teasingly. 

Mikey blushed and smiled. "Yes, I can talk." he said quietly. 

Frank giggled with amusement. Gerard thought his laugh sounded rather different from what his regular voice sounded like - it was higher pitched and a bit girly. But he liked it anyway. It wasn't annoying like the mocking snickers and obnoxious guffaws of the other boys at school. 

David's voice cut through Gerard's thoughts. "I hope you boys don't mind but I'm closing up early tonight so you should start heading home soon if you don't wanna get locked up in here."

"That's alright." said Ray. "I was about to leave anyway." he got up and pulled his sweatshirt on as he headed toward the door. "Bye guys."

The other boys waved goodbye as they got up themselves. 

"Have a good night David." Gerard said. 

"Good night." Frank and Mikey said simultaneously. 

"You too boys. Stay safe." David smiled and gave them a short wave. 

Gerard and Mikey walked out of the store onto the wet pavement of the parking lot with Frank trailing behind. Mikey shivered violently at the cold breeze that suddenly hit them. 

"We should hurry." Gerard muttered. 

"Gerard, is it okay if I run home ahead of you? I don't feel so good and I don't think the cold is helping."

Gerard glanced at Mikey; he didn't look like he was feeling so good. He was abnormally pale and was shivering uncontrollably. "No, that's fine. You've probably got a cold or something - get home quick and take a hot shower."

Mikey nodded and broke into a jog so that he could get to the warmth of their home faster. 

"Do you guys live near here?"

Gerard jumped - he had completely forgotten that Frank was right behind him. Frank quickened his steps to catch up with Gerard. 

"Um, I guess. We live two blocks away from school and three blocks from here."

"Really? That means I only live three streets ahead of you. So we'll be walking the same way, then."

Gerard wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to respond so he merely nodded. 

"Are you usually quiet?" Frank asked softly. 

"I've never been much of a talker." Gerard muttered. 

"I get you. I don't really have anyone to talk to at school so whenever I'm with Ray or David it's like I won't shut up." Frank laughed his little giggle again. 

Gerard wondered why people wouldn't want to talk to him - he seemed nice and it couldn't be his appearance or anything because everyone would be wearing the same uniform. Gerard hesitantly asked "Why won't anyone talk to you?"

Frank became silent. 

"Oh, uh you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to-"

"No, Gerard, it's fine. It's just, well…I've only told Ray and David, and I don't even think my parents know but, Gerard, I'm gay." Frank said quietly. "And the people at school that figure it out, they start saying shit about me and soon enough everyone knows."

"Oh. Well, I guess I should be honored that you would tell me something like that even though we just met." Gerard said in an attempt to lighten the mood. 

Frank looked up at Gerard and gave him a small smile. "Well, I didn't think you were the type to go around spreading rumors about me." 

Gerard didn't know if there was bitterness in his voice or if he was just imagining it, but he got an impulse to tell him a secret of his own. 

"I have something I never told anyone too." Gerard said softly.