TEENAGERS (English) #Wattys2016

5.BEING DIFFERENT

  Tuesday. It was already Tuesday. What a drag.

  Gerard got up with difficulty and performed the same morning routine again.

It wasn't raining that day, but that April month was still cold and humid. The Way brothers discovered and had to walk through the soft fog that surrounded them to go to the high school.

  They arrived there sooner than they used to do.

As always, they got to the playground. Gerard looked for Frank but he didn't see him. He decided to go to the library until the bell that announced that classes started would ring.

Once he was there, he sat on the most isolated table and opened his backpack. He saw a group of boys and girls looking at him, whispering and laughing probably at him out of the corner of his eye. He was already used to it. What did really surprise him was seeing them walking up to him some seconds later.

"Well, Gerard, I've heard you finally have a friend, the new one of our class." A skinny boy who's face rang a bell said while his friends who were on his back laughed. He remembered that boy had already messed with him before. Gerard knew that boy was talking about Frank. "I knew he couldn't be that perfect. Because he has such a really bad taste if he's into a fat rat like you..." Gerard didn't understand very well what that boy was talking about but he got offended by the way he had just called him. Even so, he stayed quiet as always, waiting the storm to pass. "At least now you'll have somebody to blow off steam and who you can relax with, let's see if he breaks your ass and takes that embittered face you have from you." he continued while the other ones laughed even louder.

"Come on, let's go, Chris." A boy who was on the left side of Chris said.

"Have a nice day, piece of trash." Chris finished. After saying that he spit on Gerard's face.

Gerard dryed his cheek up with the sleeve of his sweater as the group of boys got out of the library. He already heard one of the girls' voice in the distance saying:

"What a useless one. Have you seen how he just stayed there without saying a word?" she laughed.

But Gerard had other worries. He hadn't understood what Chris had said. Frank had bad taste? 'Let's see if he breaks your ass'? Why did they mess with Frank now?

To distract himself, he continued to do what he was doing before those idiots walked up to him. He pulled his precious notebook out of his backpack and started to draw. That helped him to disconnect and focus on his own world, a world without confusions, without anybody annoying here, without any spitting in the face...

  Some minutes later the bell rang and Gerard went to his class.

  The day ended. Gerard got the bus again, hoping he would find Frank so he could clarify some things for him.

Indeed, Gerard got out of the bus and, behind him, Frank did it too. This time they walked together from the beginning.

"How was your day?" Frank asked.

"Good." Gerard said. He didn't want to give details. "What about you?"

"Maybe you were right." At first, Gerard didn't know what Frank was talking about. "My classmates aren't as friendly as I thought."

Gerard looked at Frank's expression. He didn't look annoyed or offended but there was some concern in his eyes. After building up courage enough he summarized the scene he had experienced that morning in the library.

"That's because I'm bisexual" Frank just said. "Yesterday when I arrived the teacher made me introduce myself to all my classmates and I mentioned my sexual orientation. It's a part of me, of who I am, and I'm used to people to take it as the should, as thr most natural thing in the world. But this time it wasn't like that."

Gerard was already trying to process the information. He had never met somebody who wasn't heterosexual.

"I didn't expected that." Gerard confessed. "You don't look like that".

"What does it mean that 'I don't look like that'? Does people have to look like their sexual orientation? Sure, you're surprised because all men who are attracted to other men are 'effeminate', right?"

"I didn't... I didn't mean to say that" Gerard said completely conscious of his mistake. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, but it's just that you can never know somebody's sexual orientation for sure until that same person affirms it. I understand the fact that you've said that 'I don't look like that' since it's something they don't talk about in the natural way they should and that creates prejudices. I really understand it and I forgive you, Gerard. But don't say something like that never again, please.

"I am sorry" the taller boy said again.

"Anyways, you've taken it better than my classmates" Frank said with a sad smile.

"Fuck them. They're just a bunch of idiots. They don't understand what's different from them."

"They don't understand what's special. And you are, Gerard."

Gerard didn't know what to answer. He just watched Frank as he stood in front of his house, he opened the door and waved him goodbye before closing it.