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Gerard's mind was reeling. Had he heard her incorrectly? Did she really just say she was in love with him? It seemed highly unlikely, especially considering they hadn't been together for that long, or even known each other for that long, with that being said. "I'm sorry, what?" he asked. He knew he felt something that was undoubtably strong when it came to the subject of Courtney, but he wasn't exactly sure they were in love yet. It seemed too far fetched.

"Gerard, please don't make me say it again. I'm horrified as it is," she tried to even force out a simple chuckle, but it didn't work — it wouldn't work, nothing would work. She was afraid he would reject her after this, and it only destroyed her inside, slowly but surely.

"Not to offend, but don't you think that this entire thing is moving a bit too quickly? I mean, we haven't even known each other for that long — we've only been dating for, what, a couple of weeks?" he explained, pacing back and forth. He knew they were becoming far too open. He didn't want to end up being on of 'those' teachers — the teachers that you see on the news, the ones that get put in prison for dating students.

"Gerard, I know what I'm talking about. And if you can't accept that, then why am I still here?" she said, heading for the door. Even if Gerard would attempt to stop her (which she highly doubted would happen), she wouldn't turn around. She wouldn't do anything but leave. She just felt like she could tell him how she felt and it would be fine. She didn't think he would react that way.

It made her think about the past couple of weeks. Had she really been stupid enough to fall for her teacher? She had been such a dolt, and she just couldn't believe it. She had vowed years prior that she would never do anything intensely stupid, or something that could get her in so much trouble — she lied to herself.

She didn't even feel sane anymore. She felt as though she had gone off the deep end, and it destroyed her inside and out.

She rushed to fourth period — not caring that she was late — and sat down in the back.

That alone shocked everyone. She usually wanted to be invested in the lesson and sat in the front. She felt like she would end up just becoming the stereotypical kid wearing all black and sitting in the back of class, not paying attention or even caring. She would carelessly fall into the stereotype, not giving two shits as to what others thought of her anymore, and it was all because she felt hurt — betrayed — by Gerard.

She knew that this would end badly.

She felt like an idiot for doing something like this, and as repetitive as it is, it is quite true, as well. She had fallen for her teacher, and it only realized just how idiotic she was being now, when it blew up in her face like she knew would happen — yes, deep down, she expected this to happen because of her own idiocy. It only made her feel like she needed to fall into the crowd of people who were underachievers, and just stop caring. She wouldn't mind ending her senior year that way, but she actually wanted to graduate.

Maybe there was a way to graduate and do that? Well, she might as well try.

~x~

The next day, Courtney had already transformed herself into a whole other person — she didn't even feel like herself, but she liked it. Just her outfit was enough proof that she had changed. It was a nice feeling, she finally got to be crazy, and it wasn't like her mother cared, considering she is almost eighteen and she just said that that was enough reason, and she really just wouldn't give a shit anymore. It bugged Courtney a bit — she wouldn't have done that usually — but she shook it off, ignored it.

She felt a little like a skank at first, but as she got a little more used to it and she began talking to a whole different branch of people, she settled herself down and got a little more calm.

She knew that it was stupid, but she was confused. She didn't even know if Gerard really understood what she said the day prior, she was quite vague, or she'd like to think she was, she wasn't one-hundred percent sure if she was or not. She just wanted Gerard out of her life in whatever way possible; her mother would bring him over and he would be her teacher, she wanted nothing more from him. Well, yes, she still wanted more from him, and she shunned herself for it, but she didn't care, she ignored her feelings — he hurt her worse than he would ever know. He wouldn't ever understand.

"...and who the fuck said that I cared? I mean, it isn't like he's king of the world or something," Sandra ranted on and on about their teacher who gave her detention for an unknown reason. There was a moment when she felt it was because he 'wanted her,' another when she though he hated her, and the current one where he thought he was on top and was being an asshole for the hell of it. It was typical for her, the 'it's not my fault' behavior. To her, she wasn't at fault for anything she got in trouble for, and she was right a lot of the time, to Courtney's surprise. She used to think the teachers who did that to her were always right, but after hearing her side of the stories, she was indifferent.

Everything made Courtney confused. She had been in the circle of good people, good students, and she didn't know that they really were a little too over the top in some aspects. Brendon, though, was still seen in the same light to her. He was something of what she was trying to be the mirror image of, and it only made her respect for him just one-thousand fold.

The bell rang, and Courtney sighed. "I'll see you guys later," she waved to them, walking to her third period class, Mr. Way's classroom. She wanted to be late — she really wanted to be late — but the class was too close, and someone would have shoved her inside anyway. It wasn't like she had to run from building to building.

Everyone looked at her, mortified, when she walked into the room. Others had heard she had tried to 'turn emo,' but they expected that she would be wearing a black t-shirt and dyed her hair platinum, but not this. There was something about the way she looked now. Everyone knew she wasn't the same as she was just two days before. Hell, this frightened Gerard.

She just brushed off the stares and sat at a desk in the back, staring at the blackboard with an unamused, uninterested expression. She wanted this class to be over more than anything in the world, but it wasn't to say she couldn't ignore it to the bitter end, which seemed like the best idea at the moment.

She was a bit bittersweet, that was for sure (though, more bitter than people would believe), and she really didn't give a shit anymore. She wanted to let a freak flag fly above her head, or one that said, "Leave me be," one or the other would be nice. She just wanted people to look at her and say, "Stay away from that freak." At least she would be giving people a fair warning, too.

Gerard, though Courtney didn't know it, was spacing out over and over again with Courtney's odd behavior. It was slightly interesting for the students to keep having their teacher go into another universe and flip out because of an initial shock that they knew other teachers would through, too (though not as badly as Mr. Way, that much they knew).

The fourth period bell rang, and Courtney was practically sprinting out of the class, trying her hardest to get away from Gerard. He called her back, but she ignored him, running to Mrs. S's class. She didn't need Gerard bossing her around for the way she was acting — for what she had molded into. It was unethical.

She ignored all surroundings until lunch, when she sat with the "goths" and "emos." She hated the titles, that was the one disadvantage about this entire predicament. The titles were horrendous. They caused the old bullying to restart, though not as horribly as before, and it wasn't unexpected, either.

They were just normal people that liked different music and different clothes, she didn't see what the big deal was. Maybe it was that one of them — just one — cut their wrists. Alexandra has a lot of trouble at home, especially since her parents separated and were trying to file divorce papers ASAP. She was upset, and took it out on herself, and that was apparently enough reason to criticize her.

"Fucking freaks," Jared, the football quarterback, walked by, mumbling not so quietly.

Courtney was offended. Not for herself, but for the others. She didn't mind being called a freak, but when it came to them, she was far too defensive. She stood up, tapping Jared on the shoulder. He turned around, staring at her in shock. "So the rumors are true. Little miss goody goody's gone bad, 'uh?" he asked with a smirk. Oh, this won't end up well, Courtney thought.

"Who gives a fuck? You're just a dick anyway. What the hell do you have against them? They never did anything to you," she spat, occasionally pushing Jared backward. She knew this wouldn't intimidate him, but it was a good start.

"Ooh, I'm so scared!" he said sarcastically. "The goody goody's gonna push me!" he began laughing, his friends following suit.

The fire that was already brewing inside Courtney went full blaze. Her anger enveloped her in a sweet oblivion as she clenched her fist tightly, lifting it high and planting it straight into Jared's face with immense force.

Jared flew backward slightly, a bit of blood coming out of his nose. He wiped it without a care, waking back up to her. "You know, if I were convinced you were a girl like everyone else seems to believe, I wouldn't do this," he said, repeating her action. This wasn't all, it wasn't the nose he hit. He hit a bone, he knew it when he heard a crack come from her jaw.

"Fuck," she mumbled, "you're really good at that, aren't you?" she asked. That made Jared forget about their current 'activity,' letting her boost his ego.

She was letting the entirety of students surrounding them down, they wanted to see one of them bleed, and this wasn't doing that.

Since she now had him in another dimension, she punched the middle of his jeans until he not only reacted, but he fell to the floor in pain. Everybody watching widened their eyes, there was even a bet going that Courtney would lose, so this was a very obvious shock. Everyone kept chanting, "Fight, fight, fight, fight," but it didn't bring Courtney from her bliss.

The fact that he was on the ground was an added bonus for Courtney. She had already begun kicking his side and stomping on his stomach. Pain wrenched inside him, only being able to let groans come out of his mouth. It was unbelievable, Courtney was beating him in a fight. This is something he wouldn't usually stand for, but he couldn't exactly get up.

After a while, when the blows were becoming weaker and less painful, Jared found the strength to get up, and that's when the brawling match had really started. The constant chants only fueled Jared's energy, and he was fighting until the end of this, he knew.

"Stop it!" someone yelled.

The two looked to the side, placing their hands at their sides when they saw the principal standing before them. "In my office," he said, walking away.

Courtney felt ashamed of herself, and just walked — or sulked — to the principal's office. Her and Jared were undoubtably suspended. There wasn't one question in her mind, she knew it was over for her perfect school career, but in the moment, she could care less, but not that much.

"Courtney," the principal began, "my best student. I never would have expected you to do something like this," he said, taking a deep breath. "And Mr. Dickson," Courtney snickered — Jared hadn't ever disclosed his last name, and she expected anything but one he constantly poked fun at, "it's a… pleasure to see you again."

Jared was a typical asshole quarterback that you see in the movies, it was ironic how those types of things seemed to prove as real life rivals, in Courtney's opinion.

"Mr. Martin, it's not my fault," Jared began his defense, and Courtney knew she was screwed.

"So you expect me to believe you, and think that it's Ms. Johnson's fault? Well, Jared, you are sorely mistaken. I have been thinking about what would happen to you next time you got in a fight," Courtney chuckled, Jared couldn't keep himself from punches even if his life were to depend on it, "and I've decided you will have ten hours community service taken off, and you will be suspended from the next three games."

This was something huge for Jared, he needed to win those games, or so he thought. He didn't know the team could function without him.

"What!? Are you fucking shitting me?" he yelled. "You're fucking shitting me, old man!" he realized what he said, and he knew it would be longer than a few games at this point.

"How about games for the next month?" Jared's eyes widened. He shook his head viciously. "I think that's a fantastic idea, actually. We're just gonna go with that," he said simply.

~x~

Courtney had gotten it easier than Jared due to the fact that she had never been in trouble before and since she had a 4.0 grade point average. She knew it wouldn't be good if that kind of thing were to happen again, but she felt so internally pumped afterward, and it was a provoking offer.

Her mother got a call from the school, and was yelling at her for near a half an hour when the doorbell rang. With the amount of guests they had been getting lately, one, Courtney knew Gerard would be coming in at any moment, but didn't bother to move. This was her house, and she wasn't doing anything just because he was there.

"Hello, Katherine," he greeted her mother as he walked inside.

Since when did Gerard ever call her mother Katherine rather than Mrs. Johnson? Well, Courtney sure didn't get the memo.

"Hello, Gerard, I wasn't expecting you," her mother replied sweetly, her gentle voice going higher, "how are you, is everything all right?" she asked worriedly, patting his shoulder. Gerard was already getting an uneasy feeling from this.

Courtney rolled her eyes, Gerard would be running out the door any second. She stood up, finally making her presence noticeable, and walked into her room.

"I need to talk to Courtney," Gerard said. Katherine flashed him a bewildered look. "It's school stuff," he said, running upstairs.

"Well, I'll be going to the grocery store," Katherine said, and the next thing Gerard heard was the front door slam.

He began banging on Courtney's door. "Come on, Courtney, you can't ignore me forever!" he said, continuing to bang on the door.

"I can if I try hard enough, now go, Gerard, please," she said, her voice cracking. She sounded as though she had been losing her voice, it sounded gravely, and it was going high and low, swaying between the two mid-word.

He sighed, "I'm not leaving until you let me in there, Courtney, so you might as well give up," he said, banging hard on the door once.

The door unlocked and opened, revealing Courtney, looking like she got jumped. Her hair was going up in every direction, there were bruises along her arms, and there was a long red line along her jaw. Her cheeks were slightly swollen and her arms were nearly glowing red.

"Shit," he said, closing the door and placing his hand on her face. Courtney winced. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

Courtney pulled his hand away, backing up. "Why do you care?" she asked, her voice raising. She folded her arms across her chest, waiting for an answer.

Gerard didn't know what to say, he didn't want her to remain mad at her, but he was afraid to say he loved her, he didn't know if he was ready for that in this relationship, much less if Courtney was ready for that kind of commitment emotionally.

Gerard knew it was his only option. He sighed, "I love you," he said meaningfully.

Courtney didn't know whether to believe him or not. Just the day before, he said this was too quick, and he wouldn't have swayed his opinion so quickly.

"Gerard, you don't need to appease me," she told him, sitting down on her bed. "Did my mom say she was going to the grocery store?" she asked.

Gerard nodded, "Yeah, I think she just left," he said, sitting down next to her.

He was confused as to why she was angry at him just a moment ago, and now she is at least acting more civilized.

She knew her sisters were out, and her brother was... Well, no one ever knew where he went.

Courtney grabbed Gerard's face, pulling him into a kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling them back until she hit the bed.

Gerard was completely confused, he didn't know why she was acting so... sweet all of a sudden.

She had already begun fumbling with the buttons on his shirt, trying effortlessly to get it off of his body. Gerard helped, slipping it from his skin, breaking the kiss to take hers off.

Neither of them knew what it was that was coming over them, they knew only that they wanted each other.

All too suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Courtney groaned, "Who is it?" she asked.

"Alyson. You need to get downstairs, now. Make sure that Gerard guy is as far away from this house as possible," she said, and walked away from the door.

"Shit," Courtney mumbled. "Stay in here," she said to Gerard, getting out from under him and putting her shirt back on, walking out of the room and into the family room, where her father was going nuts. "What's going on?" she asked Alyson.

"Dad found out about Gerard, and how Mom is planning on marrying him or some shit," she explained, walking to her dad. "Dad, you guys were getting divorced anyway — why is this such a big deal?" she asked, trying her hardest to comfort her father. She didn't want to end up living with her mother, still.

Courtney sighed. She knew the reason. Her mother had forced the divorce in her father. He was never home, and she thought that he wasn't a good father, so she just said, "Oh, and I was talking to a divorce lawyer later, and you we're smart with the prenup". Her father was a mess after that. Every time he was home (which wasn't that often), he would be just… crying in the guest room, in which he was forced to sleep in.

Him finding out about Gerard was bad. He would end up on a rampage.

"Dad, calm down," she said, "nothing is gonna happen with that guy, I can assure you," she soothed him, rubbing his back. To Alyson, this seemed like an empty promise, but Courtney knew it was quite true, and helped in the situation a lot, coincidentally.

"How can you be so sure? You're just the daughter," he said, his breathing becoming quicker in pace.

"Dad, he's my teacher. That'd be way too awkward, don't you think? I can talk Mom out of nearly everything," Courtney told him, walking back upstairs when her mother came back inside. She knew she would ask where Gerard was, and she didn't want to see her father's top blow.

"Get out, climb out the window, run down and see if he won't see you, anything, Gerard, but leave," she hastily got it out, pulling him up and toward the window. "It's quite easy to get out, I've learned."

"Wait, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Well, let's just say Daddy's home, and he's not too pleased with our mother having the hots for another guy before they're even officially divorced," she explained.

"Shit!" Gerard said, trying his hardest to climb out the window.