Three Cheers for Sweethearts [Frerard AU]

PART II: Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 – DELIBERATE LITTLE GAMES

Wednesday came and went, the most abnormal occurrence being Liza/Lindsey/Lisa chewing me out for using "gay" as an insult yesterday after lunch.

"I heard you talkin' to Hunter about being gay. It's not nice to tease people - I mean, like, what if he actually was gay? That'd be pretty rude of ya. Anyway, 'gay' isn't even an insult. Like, that's like sayin' you've got hazel eyes. It's not an insult, it's a fact. And the longer people keep flingin' the word 'gay' around like it's another word for 'pervert' or 'stupid,' society will, like, never change. If we ever wanna get the world to equality..."

By then, I'd tuned her out.

I wouldn't say I didn't agree with her on some levels. She was right about the whole "gay shouldn't be used as an insult" part, definitely. I knew I probably pissed some people off with that, but if I wanted to get Hunter to respect me at all, I should have been able to use some of his own insults against him. If I was the one telling him to never use the word "gay" like that, I'd surely get some sort of nickname like Goody Gee within a matter of minutes. But the fact was, Hunter would never respect me. I didn't know why I was thinking anything I did or didn't do could possibly help that aspect of my social life.

I heard a click from behind me, which chased away the chance my inner monologuing would go any further.

"Cuuuute," Hunter commented on whatever picture he'd just taken of Liza/Lindsey/Lisa looking pissed and me looking bored. "I could put just about any caption under this one and still make it work."

"Lemme see it," Liza/Lindsey/Lisa ordered. Hunter showed it to her. She gasped in disgust. "Is that what I look like? Ew! Delete that picture right now!"

She made a reach for the camera, but cackling, Hunter held it in the air, out of her reach. I shook my head at the scene in front of me and escaped to the cafeteria while they were both distracted.

"Hi," Frank said as I sat on his right at the lunch table. Was this going to become an everyday thing? Not that I minded.

"Hey," I responded. I felt obligated to keep talking. "So how about that pop quiz in Chemistry yesterday? Think you did well?"

"I'm not so sure," he said. "Science has always been one of my worst subjects. What about you?"

"Every subject is my worst subject, so about the same."

He laughed half-heartedly. "Don't say that; I'm sure you're good at at least one."

Immediately Drawing came to mind, but I pushed it aside and shrugged instead. A long pause followed.

Finally Ray appeared to save us from having to find any more conversation starters – he always seemed to have a continuous flow of them going, never leaving room for pauses in conversation. Truly, conversation was a gift of his. It was something I looked up to, in a way.

***

It happened quickly, but it happened all the same – every day Frank and I started talking at lunch.

Every day he greeted me with a "hi," and we had some sort of pointless discussion comfortably. I enjoyed every second of it, and the bell that ordered us to leave became my enemy.

The weird part, though, was that we never – never - talked in class. We were like strangers everywhere except for that half an hour between fourth and fifth period.

The even weirder part, though, was that I was completely okay with that.

Not just because Hunter had more potential to attack us if we started talking to each other. In fact, it really had nothing to do with him. I really hated to rush into relationships of any kind – dating, friendships, they're all the same – especially in this case, where I still was not sure if Frank considered me his friend. I didn't want to assume he did and scare him off by making conversation too often, if really he's secretly hoping we'll grow apart as time goes on. But that's not the kind of thing you can ask and get an honest answer to. Hey, do you consider us friends, or are you just tolerating me because we have no reason to hate each other and I'm so pathetically desperate for friends?

I felt like it was all a huge, strategic game. It had always been like that, at least, in my mind. I always had this idea in my head that any potential friend and I practically have to take turns starting conversation, always strategically placed, just to make sure we're both interested. If one person were always the one to start a conversation, it would look like that one was the only one who wanted to be friends. And if neither talked, clearly, neither wanted to. Compliments were good, but you didn't want to make it sound really creepy, or like you're in love with the person (but apparently that happened anyway, so maybe we could scratch that rule). I'd always tried to lay off the compliments until the friendship was secured. Until two people could get so comfortable around each other that it didn't matter who brought up a conversation first, it's all an incredibly strategic game.

But every lunch period, though it had barely been 48 hours since Frank had shown up at our school, it was like our friendship was secured.

One day, we talked about girls.

"Hi," Frank said as I sat down. They were already in a conversation, so it surprised me that he bothered to interrupt it to greet me.

"I've had this massive, massive crush on Christa," Ray said, pointing across the lunchroom to where Christa was sitting, her brown-black hair helping her stick out. "She is hot."

"Eh, she's alright," Frank said.

Ray feigned offense, which made us all laugh.

"Any ladies for you, Gerard?"

I smiled and shrugged. "Nah. But there is one girl in my Health class who - every day - turns around in her seat and stares at me."

Ray and Frank cracked up. "Totally likes you. What's her name?" Ray asked.

I thought for a second. "It's something like... Liza? Lindsey?"

"Does she wear really bright red lipstick and a dark brown ponytail every day?"

"Sounds right," I confirmed.

"Yeah, her name's Lindsey," Ray said. "A little bit of a flirt, but rumor has it she's never been with a guy."

"Do you like her back, then?" Frank asked.

No hesitation from me. "No way. She was chewing me out this morning for... who-knows-what. She really creeps me out."

After our laughter died out into silence, I tried to think of something else to say. I finally settled on: "So, there's the first basketball game of the season on Friday. Are you guys going to go?"

"I'm not really into sports." Frank immediately shook his head.

Ray stared at him. "But you're the best in the class at everything we do in Phys Ed!"

Frank shrugged that off. "Yeah, I'm okay-"

"You're practically perfect!"

Frank blushed, but said nothing else.

"Anyway," I added, "Basketball games are never really for watching. They're social events - you come to meet up with friends. All kinds of people show up to those things."

Frank dug into his salad. "I'll think about it, then, I guess."

Ray nodded. "Me, too."

As if on cue, the bell for the end of lunch marked the end of the only conversation Frank and I would have that day.