Read Me Like A Book

Chapter 3- Gerard

Thank god, Frank thought, that Mikey's in my new form. Originally, he had thought the boy was annoying, but eventually he stopped showing off, and he was actually really funny. According to the map, this school was like a maze of corridors and extensions where Frank would inevitably get lost, including one Mikey said they had started working on 4 years ago, and continued to promise that it would be done by September. Apparently, the school worked on the building the 3 months of the year they had funding, then after the new budget cuts came in each year, gave up, leaving all the scaffolding still up ("That's where you go if you wanna do some illegal shizz" Mikey had said, and at Frank's raised eyebrow, he added, "Ok, ok, I've never done anything illegal there, but my brother, he's in Year 11, but he's already 16 cause they're making him sit all his GCSEs again, he practically lives there")

During the long bus ride, Mikey went through Frank's timetable, and told him about his teachers, "Right, who've we got for maths? Ah, no! We've got Mr Harris again! Had him last year, total nightmare. Thank god you're a dude, as well, cause he's a complete perv. Last year, he went on this ski trip to Sweden with Year 12, right, and they'd all brought loads of booze, because what's the point of going on a ski trip if you don't, amirite? Anyway, he tried to get Hayley Williams drunk. I mean, she's hot, not gonna lie, but that's disgusting, plus, he's a teacher, which makes it so much weirder. What a creep."

Frank laughed, "Why don't you ask her out, if you think she's so hot?"

Mikey blushed, "Hell no, she's wayyyy out of my league. Total babe. She'd probably just tell me to piss off. Plus, I've got my eye on someone else" As he spoke, Mikey gazed across the bus at a short guy, wearing emo eyeliner and a Metallica hoodie, but before Frank could identify him, Mikey looked away.

*************

Everyone on the bus suddenly began staring out of the windows, pointing and laughing. Mikey looked furious.

"Mikey, prepare yourself. He's doing it again." warned Ray darkly.

Frank looked out of the window curiously, and saw a very unusual sight. A boy was running alongside the bus, alternately waving and flipping off the people pressed against the widows spectating. He was laughing, as was everyone on the bus. Mikey looked as though he were about to kill someone, and Ray seemed concerned that he would do just that.

"Who's that? And why is he running next to the bus, isn't the driver supposed to slow down?" Frank inquired politely.

Ray opened his mouth to reply, but Mikey cut in first, "That's my dumbass older brother Gerard. Everyone thinks he's so cool, but he's just an idiot. He never does any work, and he's probably gonna end up working in the Drive-Thru of a McDonald's, or being a dole dosser for the rest of his life. And the driver knows better than to slow down by now. He's not missing the bus, he just likes to run alongside it to show all his adoring fans how much more athletic he is than everyone else."

Frank looked at the boy again. He could see why people liked him.

"Wait, if he's your brother, how come he didn't get on at your stop?"

"Yeah, he almost never spends the night at home," Mikey explained. "He was staying with his girlfriend."

Frank was disappointed. Damn, this guy was hot. And he always loved a rebel. Frank had known he was gay since he was 11, and he'd had many crushes over those 3 years, including Billie Joe Armstrong, his Year 8 Biology teacher, and Lin-Manuel Miranda (it was a weird time. Super hardcore Hamilton obsession).

Frank continued watching the boy run, Mikey continued glaring at anyone but Gerard. Eventually, he ceased running along with the bus and climbed the steps to the top deck. Ray nudged Mikey, who reluctantly removed one headphone. "Mikes, we got company". And sure enough, there was Gerard, reclining across three seats, with the rows around him full of his various friends and groupies. Right at the forefront of them were 3 girls, all fake blonde and fake tanned, with their skirts rolled up and their shirts unbuttoned to show an almost indecent amount of cleavage. All three were sitting so as to practically thrust their chests into Gerard's face, but he either wasn't interested in the very obvious boobs in his face, or he was a very convincing actor. Every few minutes he would smirk and wink at the girls, and they would giggle and squeal and toss their hair over the shoulders in a motion that had clearly been practised to death in front of the mirror. On the other side of him were 3 boys, who were also trying to impress him, and looking perhaps even more pathetic. Each was trying to boast about how manly and cool they were. It was, Frank mused, like an incredibly sad animal mating ritual. Which would, of course, make Gerard the alpha male.

He took the time to properly examine the boy at a closer proximity. He was sitting across 3 seats, as though he owned the place, and by the adoration he was receiving from most of the school, he might as well. He had shoulder length black hair, which he kept running his fingers through, and it was very shiny and well cared for; as much as Gerard worked to keep up his 'don't care' attitude, he clearly straightened and deep conditioned his hair regularly. Being athletic enough to run with the bus, he obviously worked out, and Frank could see his pronounced arm and chest muscles through his shirt, however, he could also see the soft layer over them. His posture had been cleverly arranged to hide this, but at first glance it just made him look more broody and mysterious. He didn't need to hide it, Frank thought it was very cute. He thought Gerard was very cute. But he already knew that this would not be a good boy to have a crush on.

Come on, dude, Frank tried to tell himself, this guy's popular and hot and he has a girlfriend, for god's sake! He'd never like you. Don't you dare catch feelings. Are you catching those damn feelings? STOP. IT.