Three Cheers for Sweethearts [Frerard AU]

PART II: Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 – WELCOME TO THE BASKETBALL COURT

A/N: Idk if this is considered a "trigger" but still it's a warning – we're gonna slam some conservative thinking in this chapter. There's also some hinting at physical abuse at one point but it's nothing huge. Other than that, enjoy...

I was one hundred percent comfortable bringing up what had happened at the end of the day Thursday to Frank during science on Friday.

"What was that?" I asked the minute I walked in the door. He knew exactly what I was talking about, and just tried to stifle laughter in place of a response.

***

The end of the day approached, and I met Frank and Mikey at the door that lead to the outdoor basketball court. Ray wasn't far behind. Our school had made the decision to have basketball outside because it was – how did they put it – "healthier for the young body's development and freedom of soul" or some weird crap like that which they most likely made up to cover for their budget cuts on the gym. We never asked questions. In any case, at least it had heating if you sat in the right spots on the bleachers.

"Shall we?" Ray held out his arm like he was Prince Charming.

Frank took his arm dramatically. "We shall."

They walked all the way to the bleachers like that.

Mikey and I were secretly laughing at them, but not in a mean way. In any case, we climbed to the back row of the bleachers to watch the game, though we didn't really watch the game. We just talked.

The easiest place to start a light conversation was the one thing we all knew we had in common, and that was being a student at Three Cheers High. I shared that my best subject was Drawing, of course, even though I don't usually participate in class. Ray and Frank envied me, because they both had low Bs in their art classes. I told them not to complain, because I had a solid F in math and a D in science. Frank said his science grade wasn't too different from mine, though he was glad he got relatively high grades everywhere else.

We all knew our Chem teacher was ridiculously strict, the kind of person who has fits over a dropped pencil, and that could have been the reason for our low grades. Ray and I told Frank about our psychotic Study Hall teacher with her duct tape on the windows and random off-limits seats. Frank, apparently, had her husband for AP Lang. (The fact that she had a husband meant that there must be hope for all of us in our love lives. That made Frank laugh genuinely, something I hadn't really seen before.)

This led to the conversation about extracurricular activities, as Ray had cooking club with a Precalc teacher and asked Frank if it was the one he had; apparently it was. I admitted that extracurricular anything was a waste of time, but Ray argued vigorously that cooking club was the purpose of his existence. Frank was the geek – I shouldn't call him a geek – he was the guy in Latin club and Mathletes. He looked sort of ashamed to admit them.

"What do you do in Latin club?" I asked, genuinely curious. "Seems like there's only so much you can learn about a language."

Frank explained how it was more of a cultural study, and that in Latin club they studied Greek myths and Roman customs. It sounded dull to me, but whatever floats his boat.

I asked if either of them met cool people in clubs. I knew Hunter was going to spend as little time as possible in the school building, so I wouldn't find him at any after-school activity. Frank said there was a huge variety of people in Latin club – from scholars to perverts only there to see the naked statues.