Diary of a Jersey Misfit (Frerard)

Three- Pretty Boy

Clo had had time to run back to her dorm to change into leggings, so she was much less cold. She ended up borrowing Frank's jacket, too, because apparently she didn't know how to dress. It was okay though, because Frank wasn't that cold.

They were in the back of their group. Most of the tours were being given by year, but the group of foreign kids got thrown together, so they got to stick together.

They were looking at the science classrooms right now. Clo poked a stuffed frog, which fell off the desk. Frank discreetly picked it up.

Their tour guide was this girl who couldn't have been more than five feet tall wearing big round glasses and braids. She said everything really professionally, like, "If you'll follow me to the library, you can see one of our best students playing violin."

It was Pretty Boy playing violin. He immediately went bright red and waited until they passed to continue playing.

He was really good. The sweet music filled the room as they walked around the library exploring.

Frank might have been a bit in love with the guy.

They eventually left the library and came to a gigantic gym. It was brightly lit, and there were some students playing basketball. Their tour guide let them explore their respective locker rooms.

"Jesus Christ, if I have to smell one more perfume I'm going to kill someone," Clo muttered when she emerged from the bathroom. Her accent made it all the better, because she sounded so elegant and pretty talking about murder.

"Please don't, that would be bad."

"Have you ever smelled a girl's locker room, Frank?"

"Have you ever smelled a boy's? Axe, sweat, and fragile masculinity."

Clo giggled.

Their tour guide had them leave the building and walk to the next one. "This is all offices and administration buildings. The door to go in leads to receptionists, so if you need to find someone, you can ask them. Students usually aren't allowed in there, so we'll skip that. The next building houses all the rest of the classrooms, so let's go see those."

The group walked to the last building, which was, as their tour guide promised, all classrooms.

"Now the English classrooms are on the first floor, history on the second, languages on the third, and maths on the fourth. The fifth floor is teacher's offices, and students are prohibited there unless otherwise invited."

Great, so Frank would have to walk up four floors for math.

After going to explore the sports field (Frank wasn't sure what sport), they were set free. Clo and Frank strolled through the commons, occasionally stopping by koi ponds- koi ponds!- to feed the fish.

"Hey, Clo," Frank said. "How do you feel about the LGBT community?"

He figured it was time to come out to his new best friend.

"I'm bisexual, it doesn't bother me at all." She smiled. "Why?"

"I'm bi too!" Frank smiled back. "That's awesome!"

"Yeah! Oh, what language are you taking?"

She sure knew how to change a subject. "I think French, I'm not sure. They just put me in a random one."

"How good are you at Italian?"

"Uh, pretty good. My mom speaks it, and I can speak it, but I'm not very good at writing in it."

"Perfect. Can we trade? I'll do your French work, and you can do my Italian?"

Frank stuck his hand out. "It's a deal."

She shook his hand.

"Hey, Frank!"

Frank looked around. He wasn't sure why anyone would be calling his name, but Ray was running from the direction of their dorms. "Hey, we got our schedules, but I just wanted to let you know now before I forget."

"Oh, rad, thanks." Frank examined his schedule. "Math first period? Ew."

Clo scowled. "Good luck walking up that many floors."

"I'm gonna have a heart attack before I even finish the week." Frank sighed.

xXx

Frank was letting Ray give him a quick tour of where specifically his classes would be, but Frank stopped him when he saw Pretty Boy leaving the library.

"Wait, that's Pretty Boy!" Frank grabbed the shoulder of Ray's jacket and pulled him behind a wall.

"Who?" Ray peeked out. "Oh. Oh. Oh no, Frank, trust me, you do not want to get tangled up in that."

"What? Why not?"

"His family is horrible, they're all so egotistical. They're the kind of people who only donate to charity for publicity, you know?"

Frank bit his lip. "But...he's nice...I think I met his dick of a brother."

"Tall, skinny, brown hair? Yeah, that's Mikey. Grade A jerk. Gerard is different, though."

"Gerard," Frank said softly, testing the name out. "Gerard."

He liked the name.

"Gerard Way. He's super sweet and apologetic, it took him three months for him to stop apologizing to me when we first met and he kept bumping into me when we walked together. Poor dude has no sense of depth perception. Amazing violinist, though, I'd kill for his skills. But like I said. Stay far away from him and all of the Ways. They won't like you."

Frank scowled. "I bet Gerard would."

"You know? He probably would, but it's not a great idea to test that theory. Come on, let's go back to the dorm and take your lip ring out before you forget again."

"You really think I forgot? Hell no, I'm leaving it in on purpose. Can't take it out during school if I don't have the right equipment."

"I think that's the reason you got expelled from your other schools."

"I hate rules." Frank shrugged and followed Ray back in the direction of their dorms. "That makes sense, actually."

Ray smiled. "I imagine you weren't doing so good academically, either."

"Hey, it's not my fault the teachers don't know how to teach, at least in a way I learn."

"You know what? This place has a really great tutoring program. You should sign up. They randomly assign you a tutor, and if they don't conform to your learning style well enough, you can request someone else. It really saved my ass in Spanish in year eleven."

"Year-" Frank squinted. "Year what?"

"It's like the grades. You're in year thirteen, 'cause you'd be a senior in high school back home. I am too, and so are most of my friends. This school goes from year ten to thirteen."

"Jesus, okay." Frank scrubbed his hand over his face. "What the fuck."

"You get used to it, I promise." Ray opened the door to the dorms for Frank. "It's not that bad. God, wait until you learn about the grading system."

Frank didn't want to question it. He just wanted to lay down in his bed and take a nice long nap for the rest of his life.

That sounded good.