MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE ONESHOTS

counselor

(trigger warning for ADHD)

(i really hope this helps someone cuz i completely relate to frank in this situation and this is sort of the talk i had with myself when i realized that there's always a choice to make)

Gerard took a deep inhale.

"Frank."

Frank looked up from where he was picking at his nails. Although he attempted to look moderately focused, his leg still jiggled and tapped, raising up and down on his toes from the floor. Everything seemed to be a blur, and he was lost in his own thoughts — but Gerard needed him to pay attention.

"The world doesn't revolve around you. Okay?"

Frank sighed out and put a hand over his face as if it physically pained him to speak about his problems. Maybe it did. He could've sworn his stomach was starting to ache, his head beginning to pulse angrily.

"I know that, dude, but... I don't understand," Frank finally managed, clawing his hands up as he gestured and then plopped them down onto the wooden desk in between himself and Gerard.

Gerard cocked an eyebrow slightly downwards and folded his hands over the table, right behind Frank's limp ones.

"What don't you understand?"

Frank lifted a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose, a painful shock serving as a reminder to retain eye contact instead of zoning out.

The clock was ticking so loudly. It went every other beat after Frank's foot tapped. Now that he noticed the noises together, he wanted to create rhythm. Music. How many beats per measure was this? The clock was probably sixty beats, but with his foot tapping, too, it might be one hundred beats. He wondered how many more hours were left in the day. He'd write a little more of his song at home when he was home from school. If only he could get out of here.

Here. He could do that later, but for now, he was right here, and he had to answer Gerard, who was awaiting his response with a mask of patience displayed across his features despite his internal agony.

"It's just... that saying is fed down my throat ten times a day and I still don't quite... click with it," Frank claimed. "What does it mean? Go into detail."

Gerard smiled lightly. "Will you listen if I go into detail?"

Frank shrugged. "I'll try."

Gerard thought for a moment, staring up at the ceiling, before deciding on the words he wanted to stay. "You seem like somebody who has tons of ideas floating about their head."

Frank folded over in his chair, hunching his back and looking confused. "I suppose so." He'd never thought about his endless stream of thoughts that way.

"Well, I'm the same. The only difference between me and you is that you have ADHD and I do not," Gerard stated. "So I can only imagine how much worse it would be for you, since your mind is probably constantly reminding you of your ideas when you're trying to focus on schoolwork."

Frank started to tap his foot, but immediately stopped so he could continue to listen. He was partially intrigued, now. "What do you mean, you're the same?"

Gerard displayed his small, shining grin warmly. "Well, I have lots of ideas, too. I also like to think that I'm smart, and test grades and averages don't lie, Frank."

Frank scoffed. He didn't like the school system. "I think tests are dumb. I don't think anything that schools have to offer present an accurate level of intellect in a student."

Now Gerard shrugged, just as Frank had moments ago. "That's fair, and I agree," he nonchalantly said. "But they're giving us scores the only way they know how, and although it may be difficult for both of us to pay attention with so many ideas flooding us, we're both very smart. Geniuses, maybe. Would you agree?"

Frank frowned. "No, I don't think I'm a genius. You, maybe, but not me."

Gerard chuckled shortly. It was a boyish, blaring noise, but it was soft at the same time. An example of his unorthodox behavior that didn't quite match with the whole school counselor assistant/teacher's pet trope. That made Frank wonder if this kid really did act a bit like him. Maybe he was right... but it was easier to believe his own brain.

"There's only two things you have wrong," Gerard decided. "Only two things that don't make you as smart as me."

Frank's frown deepened. Okay, no need to rub it in, he thought.

"One," he continued, crossing one calf over his knee under the desk, creating a box shape, "being that you don't feel confident in your academic ability."

He disentangled his fingers from the desk and placed an elbow onto the desk, then rested his chin onto his fist before continuing, "the second thing being that you think the world revolves around you, which I'll explain."

"When you're young, you firmly believe that everybody serves you. Averages and studies and numbers don't apply to you. You're told all kids go insane after having just a little bit of soda, but when you're young, you firmly believe that that rule won't apply to you. Of course, it does anyway, and you're bouncing off walls before your parents know what's happening," Gerard described.

"Every human is born with that belief, because humans are, contrary to popular belief, animals, too. It sticks with us forever, and it's only until you have a spiritual epiphany explode inside yourself that you realize that it's your choice to sympathize with others and understand that everyone is struggling," Gerard finished. "You're not the only kid in this school with ADHD, Frank."

"Now, I'm naturally pretty empathetic, which is why I've decided to help out the counselor. I don't do it just for brownie points — I want to make a difference," he added. "I'm trying to make a difference in you by explaining that you have to study and pay attention like everyone else, no matter how difficult. That's how equality works. The school system doesn't deal with the premise of equity like it should. You can either grin and bear it for now and then become incredibly successful and even more genius later, or you can allow yourself to wallow in your misery."

Gerard stood up from his seat and began to walk out the door of the counselor's office, but turned around to say one more thing before he left.

"But it is your choice, of course."

And then shut the door, leaving Frank to think to himself.

(slurp)