Teach Me How to Love Again (Sequel to Dirty Little Secret)

Chapter 33: I Never Saw it Coming

*~(The title of this chapter is from When it Rains by Paramore.)~*

Frank walked me to school the next day. It's always nice to have some time with just the two of us. I unlocked my phone on the way to school and saw that I had a text from Gerard. I hadn't checked my phone since I woke up this morning.

"Good morning, beautiful! :) Do you need a ride today?" the text said. I giggled. He's so sweet. I guess this means I'm forgiven.

I responded quickly. "No thanks, baby. Love you!"

"Alright. If you have extra time before school, can you stop by my classroom? I have something for you."

I put my phone back into my pocket because Frank and I were almost at school. I gave Frank a quick hug goodbye as he went off to find Jamia and I went to find Gerard.

I got to Gerard's classroom and tapped on the door, which was closed for some reason.

The principal opened the door, which surprised me.

"Skylar?" she asked. "Did you need something?"

"Oh, um... I just wanted to ask Mr. Way about an overdue assignment I have. I didn't get yesterday's assignment done, so I did it as homework. I wanted to turn that in now," I lied.

"Oh, alright. I was just leaving anyway. I'll leave you to that," she said. She stepped aside to let me enter the classroom, then she left.

When I was sure she was finally gone, I turned to Gerard. "What was that about?" I asked.

He gulped slightly and shook his head. "Nothing much, really," he said. "Anyway, I still have something I wanna give you."

"What is it?" I asked. He handed me a small box wrapped in birthday wrapping paper.

"I told you I'd make up for missing your birthday. Now open it!" he exclaimed happily.

I excitedly tore off the wrapping paper and threw it into the trashcan by his desk. I opened the tiny box that was under the paper, and inside was a silver heart charm for my bracelet. The heart had an arrow through it. On one side, it said "S + G" and on the other side it said "Forever."

I smiled widely and threw my arms around his neck to hug him. He placed a quick kiss to my neck.

"Thank you so much, baby," I giggled as I added the charm to one of the empty spots on my bracelet. Gerard smiled as he saw how it looked. Now this bracelet incorporated everybody I love. Frank, Linda, Denise, Katie, Ray and Kristin had bought it for me, and now I had a special charm just for Gerard. It's everybody I love on one bracelet.

"I hope that made it a little better that I missed your birthday," he said.

"I just realized I missed yours too. I'm totally buying you something."

He shook his head. "Nah, you don't have to. Eighteen is a big deal because it's the birthday where our relationship became mostly legal. Twenty-six isn't a big deal. It's just a step closer to thirty. Gross," he joked.

"Shut up, I'm still buying you something," I retorted. He chuckled and pecked my lips.

"You really don't have to."

"But I am. What do you even want for your birthday?"

He shrugged. "You'll figure it out."

I pouted and turned away from him, which made him laugh.

"You're cute," he said, then he poked my nose.

The bell rang and his eyes widened. It was almost like today he was extra scared of getting caught. We said a super fast goodbye and I rushed out of his class before any students arrived. I ran into Frank in the hallway so we walked to class together.

Classes went by pretty well, which left me to art class. I walked in and Gerard flashed me a small smile but then focused his attention away from me again. I hesitantly took my seat next to Pete again.

About halfway through the class, Gerard got a phone call and had to leave the class.

"Okay, class. I need to go to the office for a second. Don't trash the place while I'm gone," he joked. He left the classroom and everybody started talking loudly. It was always like a party when the teacher left the room.

I started to worry as ten minutes passed and Gerard still hadn't returned.

He didn't return until almost the end of class. He looked pale and frightened when he dismissed the class. I waited behind once more to see what was wrong.

When everybody was out of his classroom, I turned to him. "Babe, what's wrong?"

Then he said something I definitely did not see coming.

"I don't think we should see each other until after graduation," he blurted.