Oops.

Ray

Phys Ed was awful.

It was physical testing day, and boy, did it blow.

Frankie couldn't throw the basketball very far, and was laughed at by the more fit guys.

He couldn't reach far from his legs, and he certainly couldn't do the Beep Test well.

It wasn't that he was unfit - he was able to run quite fast, in fact - it was just that he was too tired and too stressed.

And too distracted. He couldn't help but think of the guy from before - did that mean they were friends? Could he talk to this guy without being rejected or ignored like last time round? He was pretty cool - longish dark hair, brown-hazel eyes, slight marks below his eyelids due to an obvious lack of sleep, a layer of eyeliner across.

He was pretty awesome. Then, there was himself - he looked down at his scrawny body in the PE uniform, a white singlet with navy-blue-black shorts.

He was short, shorter than everybody else, and felt out of place - these boys had muscles on their muscles and short cut sporty hair, all quite tall. They were in general, well-toned and well trained.

Then there was him, thin as a rake when it came to the muscular side of things, short, long-as-hell fringe, and just generally peasanty.

After all these tests, they went back into the changerooms to get ready for lunch.

He quickly showered off the unearned sweat, then gently towelled off his hair, beads of water still caught in little strands of hair in his fringe.

He walked out into the hallway, then down towards the cafeteria as the bell rang for lunch-time.

Frank looked around, holding a sandwich in one hand, his books in the other.

There was no sign of the boy from before, Gerard. He felt a little let down by this, and he wondered why he wasn't there until he overheard something.

A conversation amongst a group of guys.

'I heard that mascot knocked him out, yeah?'

'Yeah, real hard blow to the head. Dickwad had it coming.'

Who were they talking about? He silently hoped that it wasn't the boy...

'Yeah, what a weak little fuck. Little emo shit, doesn't deserve to even live.'

'"Oh! Look at me with my eyeliner and my black-dyed hair! Oh! I'm so cool, cause I get F's on my papers!"' imitated one guy, as the others laughed.

'Hey, don't forget the real badass here; the only reason that guy was able to knock him out was because I'd beaten him up before, remember? I gave him a nosebleed in the hallway and he collapsed like the little pussy he is!'

Frank's chest twisted a little, and he felt really sick. Oh no...

‘Hey!’

He, along with the group of males, turned, to see a kid with long, curly brown hair, his bag slung over his back, and a glare in his eyes.

‘Yeah?’ grunted one of the older males, as the younger boy dropped his bag beside a chair. ‘You think it’s funny, that Gerard’s passed out on the football field?’

Gerard... Frank thought, He’s talking about my Gerard, right? Gerard isn’t just a common name that’s thrown about... Gerald is, but Gerard’s unique... Wait... Did I just call him mine? What the hell!?

‘Yeah, sure we do. What you gon’ do about it, Princess Fro Fro?’

He gritted his teeth, his hands clenching into fists. ‘My name,’ he said, angrily, ‘is Ray.’

‘Pfft, like that’s any better.’

‘It is, actually. And I suggest,’ he said, obviously holding back from attacking the older guy, ‘that you use it, before you regret not using it.’

‘Whatever,’ laughed the guy, as he turned back to his friends and went back to laughing about some weird-ass lad thing.

Frank took a deep breath, and then walked over to the curly-haired boy, who was a fair bit taller than him. Then again, everyone was.

Ray, was taking deep enraged breaths, counting under his breath to calm himself down, his hands pressed up into his pockets.

‘Uhm...’ whispered Frank, shyly tapping the boy on the shoulder. Maybe now was not the best time to—

‘Huh?!’ yelled the guy, turning sharply, a furious look on his face. When he looked down to see Frank, his expression softened and he smiled. ‘Oh, hey,’ he said, ‘Who are you?’

‘I’m,’ he choked on his words a little. Social anxiety was a bitch. ‘.... Frank.’ he burst out eventually, feeling as if he were about to have a panic attack. This guy honestly scared him a fair bit.

‘Frank? Nice name. I’m—’

‘Ray?’

Both Frank and Ray turned to see who had called out, Ray obviously recognising the voice, as he waved at the boy who walked over.

He was tall, and thin, though he stood quite awkwardly, his knees bent in a little. He shifted between feet, pushing his glasses up his nose as he asked, ‘Ray? Where’s Gerard?’

‘He got knocked out by those jerks,’ growled Ray, pointing at the table of older guys.

The tall boy frowned, a worried look crossing his face as he turned and left, muttering a thanks to Ray.

Who was...?

‘That was Mikey,’ said Ray, almost as if reading Frank’s mind, pointing at the boy who had awkwardly run out of the cafeteria.

‘M-Mikey...’ nodded Frank, thinking to himself that he would probably have to remember the boy’s name. From the way he acted, Gerard must be very close to him... They couldn’t be dating, could they?

‘Hey, are you doing alright working your way around this school?’

Frank shook his head, and Ray smiled sympathetically. ‘You poor little guy... What grade are you in?’

‘E-eleven...’ he muttered, and Ray looked a little surprised. ‘You sure? You’re so little and tiny, oh my god, you poor baby.’

Frank felt a flush go across his face. Was he really that small? Oh god, how embarrassing.

‘I’m in twelfth year, so I’m no help, but you know Mikey? Well, he’s in your year.’

Frank’s eyes widened. ‘Really? He’s so tall...’

‘Yeah, but he’s only little and innocent, the poor thing. He still sleeps with a unicorn plush, y’know?’

‘Oh...’ Frank held back from laughing, a slight giggle escaping as he covered his mouth, Ray grinning. ‘He’s such a child, that kid. He’ll probably be in some of your classes, I assume. I’ll get him to show you around later.’

Frank smiled. ‘I-I’d like that...’

Ray laughed a little, ruffling Frank’s hair. ‘You’re so little and tiny, oh my god, I swear, if I was gay you’d be the guy I’d be most likely to date.’

Frank smiled. ‘Thanks, you’re being so kind to me...’

‘It’s okay, you calmed me down. Speaking of which,’ he said, a stern look reappearing on his face. ‘I have to go... Do something.’

‘Can I come with?’

Ray looked a little hesitant, before saying, ‘Are you good with your fists?’

‘I’m okay...’ he muttered, looking away.

‘Good. We’re getting a little sweet revenge...’

Frank looked a bit concerned as Ray grinned wildly, turning around and walking towards the cafeteria door, turning only to gesture for Frank to come along.

‘We can’t delay!’ he yelled, ‘come on!’

Oh dear god, what have I gotten myself into?!