Demented

More to Socialize

"Hello," Dr. Eston greeted sitting down at Gerard's table during breakfast.

"Hi," Gerard muttered under his breath.

"I need you to do me a favor." Gerard looked up. "I need you and Frank to socialize more. It would be great for both of you. I already told him this morning. Can you do this for me?"

Gerard nodded and the doctor left. After taking a huge bite of his wheaties, Gerard turned around and saw Frank sitting at that same table near the windows. Frank seemed nice enough, but Gerard wasn't sure he wanted to really talk to anyone. Maybe Frank didn't neither.
______________________________

"Hey Frank," Gerard said after group therapy was over.

"Hi. I'm guessing Dr. Eston told you the same thing."

Yah. So, where are you from?"

"New Haven."

"I'm from Brooklyn."

"Busy place?"

"Pretty busy," Gerard answered.

"Um. Wha-what's it like there?"

"Lots of crimes. Nice coffee shops, every ones pretty tough."

"Oh. Hey, who-whose that?" he said pointing at a picture on Gerard's bedside table.

"That's my little brother, Mikey. He's your age."

"I have a younger sister."

"What's her name?"

"MacKenzie," Frank answered.

"How old?"

"Twelve and a half."

Gerard nodded. "You know how you said you could play the guitar? How long have you been playing?"

"Since I was eleven."

"Cool."

"What were you diagnosed with to get in here?" Frank asked.

"I was diagnosed as a sociopath," Gerard answered in all honestly. "Well, the proper term is Antisocial Personality Disorder. I'm more on the sociopath spectrum."

"Is it like being a psychopath? I barely know anything about it."

"It's a lot like a psychopath honestly. Sociopath means that you have no sympathy or no remorse. And you have bold, confident movements. You tend to stay away from people and actions aren't planned out. You may have a strong attachment to one person or a group. You also talk with a strong sense of intelligence. And you violently lash out. Things irritate you more than they would a regular person."

"What's the difference between a sociopath and a psychopath?" Frank asked, seeming scared.

"Psychopaths tend to be more charismatic and will manipulate you in much bigger ways. They plan things out."

"Oh, I think I understand now."

"I can tell you're afraid of me. Don't be." Frank nodded. "What were you diagnosed with?"

"Depression and Dependent personality disorder," he sighed.

"Depression I can relate to."

"I hate it."

"Me too. I'm also bipolar." Complete lie.

"Geez."

"Lot's of things that relate to the sociopathical behavior," Gerard explained.

"What other things?"

"Anxiety and hallucinations." More lies.

"Do you have panic attacks?" Frank wondered aloud.

"Yes. Do you?"

"Yah. They were scary at
first, but now I'm used to them. How would you describe one?"

"It feels as if someone is gripping my throat and squeezing. And they won't let go."

Frank decided to change the topic. "What's your favorite color?"

"Blue,"Gerard answered,"yours?"

"Blue too."

"Hey, umm, do you wa-wa-ant to play this game?" Frank stumbled with his words.

"Sure. What game is it?"

"Uno™."

"I love Uno™," Gerard smiled sitting on the ground. Frank grabbed the cards out of his duffle bag and sat on the tiled floor with him.

Frank doesn't seem to bad. He's not annoying and doesn't seem scared of me anymore. Which is good, I don't want anyone to be scared of me. It's not like they have a reason.

Frank dealed the cards out. "You can go first." Gerard placed his card down.

This is going well. Pretty fun game. I don't feel the need to kill him or punch him. He's the same age as Mikey. I'll probably never get to see Mikey again. He never comes to visit and I sure as hell don't blame him. Or maybe Mom and Dad won't let him. Hell, I don't even know if he lives with Mom and Dad anymore. Something about Frank reminds me of Mikey. Maybe the age and vulnerability. Frank seems kind of shaky. He has anxiety, I can tell, it's pretty obvious.

"You won," Frank said grinning. "You wanna play again?"

"Sure, why not? Frank, you seem pretty shaky."

"I'm ju-ust pretty nervous."

"Of what?"

"I'm just not in a lot of social situations," Frank told Gerard, still shaking.

"Ah."

Gerard and Frank played until lunch. Gerard sat down at his table with two pieces of pepperoni pizza and apple sauce. Frank sat down at his table with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that always came with a cheese stick and goldfish crackers. Along with that he had apple sauce and chocolate milk.

Dr. Eston sat across from Gerard. "Did you and Frank talk?"

"Yes."

"Tell me what you talked about?"

"I learned he's from New Haven. He knows a little bit about Mikey and I know a little about his sister. We talked about our favorite colors. And we learned what we were diagnosed with. I explained the difference between a sociopath and a psychopath. Then we played Uno™."

Dr. Eston beamed,"That's great! A great start. Pretty nice kid, huh?"

"Yah, he's cool."

"Keep it up, then you might have a new friend," Dr. Eston smiled like an idiot. He had no clue how much this would piss Gerard off.

"I don't want friends!"

"Now don't say that, of course you want friends."

"No, I don't! Don't you ever dare tell me what I want!"

"I think it would really benefit you," Dr. Eston said, patting him on the shoulder. He began to walk away.

Gerard turned around, and spat,"Dumb ass!"

"Language, Gerard." Gerard turned back around and rolled his eyes. Dr. Eston barely ever talked to him, until Frank came.

It was time to go outside, finally. Gerard paced in his regular spot. Thinking about nothing in particular. Topics ranged from Mikey to his miss of eyeliner. He really missed Mikey. Mikey was the only person he loved. Mikey was fourteen when Gerard was taken here.

After a stupid hour of being outside, Gerard found himself back in his room. He began to draw a picture of dead person while leaning up against wall. After ten minutes of drawing, Gerard could tell Frank was staring at him. He ultimately forget about it. But, he noticed he was still doing it. Gerard put his things done and in a cold voice said,"Why are you staring at me?"

Taken aback, Frank scooted more towards the wall. "S-sorry. It's ju-ju-just you have really pr-pretty ey-eyes."

Gerard widened his eyes. "Oh," he said, voice softened. "Thank you." Gerard turned an embarrassing shade of pink. Frank was mentally beating himself up.