I Drew You Once in Art Class

Two

Frank Iero was pretty sure he was the loneliest boy in the world.

He didn't have any friends, not at school, not at home. He had his mom, who was practically a saint among adults, but definitely wasn't the same at home. At home, she was just a lady whose space he was occupying. She saw him as his grades and nothing more.
She loved him, but it was hard to tell sometimes. I mean, she had to love her kid, right?

Frank sometimes wished he could crawl out of his skin for a little bit and be anyone else, he wished he could feel the company and the warmth of other humans, to hear their voices and see someone else's eyes but his own. He went to public school, but that didn't mean he liked anyone there.
Lakeside wasn't a bad school, honestly, perched on the edge of a shining glass lake, as so subtly stated in its name. It was a nice place to think if you stayed away from the jocks and stoners.

The lake, it seemed, was Frank Iero's only friend.