Diary of a Jersey Misfit (Frerard)

Five- Pow!

TW for violence

Frank called his mom over Skype at lunch. He stood outside the building, pulling his blazer tighter around his body. "Hey, mom."

"Hey, honey! Aren't you in class?"

"Not right now. We're at lunch. Um...Mom, I don't think I can do this."

"What do you mean?"

"I had a panic attack in math today. My first class."

"Oh, honey, are you alright? What triggered it?"

"I'm okay. It was icebreakers. We had to pair up, and everyone went to a friend, and there was an odd number and I was all alone. The teacher didn't even do anything about it!"

"Frank, icebreakers are always bad. You know that. I understand that you were scared and that your teacher didn't do anything, but that doesn't mean that no one else will. Have you made any friends?"

"Yeah."

"Tell me about them."

"Okay...there's Clo. She's French, and she comes from a super rich family. Her last name is Aubert-"

"Aubert? Like the fashion designer?"

"I guess, maybe. She's super sweet, and she has a rad French accent. She's always worried that I can't understand her, but it's fine. We like talking about memes, and we made a TikTok together yesterday where she accidentally punched me in the face." Frank giggled a little bit.

His mom laughed too. "She sounds super sweet! Who else?"

"Ray, my roommate. He's really nice, too. He explained how the school works and everything. He offered to tie my tie every morning, too. I think he's been here for at least three years. He's really rich too."

"How so?"

"Toro company."

"Oh damn. Who else?"

"That's kinda it." Frank shrugged. "There's these two other guys who sat with us this morning, Ray's friend Gerard and his roommate Ryan. Ryan walked me to class, and he's pretty nice. He's not from a rich family. Gerard is, though, but his family is super elitist, so I'm not sure how close to him I'll be able to get."

"That's too bad. You mentioned it was lunch, right?"

"Yeah."

"So why are you keeping your friends waiting? Go eat lunch! Your friends care about you, and I know you can make it through. Alright? If you really feel like you can't do it by the end of the semester, we can unenroll you and you can come home and we'll find an alternative for you. Okay?"

"Okay." Frank smiled. "How about by Christmas?"

"The end of the semester. I know you're coming home for Christmas."

"Fine, fine."

"Go eat lunch, Frank. Goodbye."

"Bye, Mama," he said quietly. He hung up, then walked into the cafeteria.

"Hey, where have you been?" Clo asked when he sat down.

"Oh, I was talking to my mom." Frank shrugged. "Have we gotten food yet?"

"Yeah, and they closed the kitchen. Sorry, bud." Ray frowned.

"No, it's okay." Frank sighed. His stomach growled.

"Hey." Gerard handed him a sandwich. "This doesn't have any meat in it...I hope that's okay. You can have it."

"Really?" Frank smiled. "Thank you!"