I'm Not Okay (I Promise)

Nothing You Could Say Can Stop Me Going Home

Gerard's POV:

Ray was already on the stairway when I got there. We greeted each other with a smile. Our song was playing on the speakers! Our plan worked!

Seconds later, Frank came, running and gasping. He could barely talk, but I understood that he was so happy he wanted to scream to every single person passing by.

When Mikey showed up, about a minute later, we finally got to talk.

"I can't believe it worked!" Frank screamed.

"You won't believe what I had to do to get the principal out of his office..." I said.

"We can talk about it later. Right now, let's just look around and appreciate our work." Mikey finished.

We were in the middle of the principal corridor, where most people were. During lunchtime, everybody was out of their classrooms, and since the song was being played in every speaker, literally everybody in school could hear us.

People's reactions were funny. Some seemed confused. Some couldn't care less. Some seemed angry, as if the song was a crime and had to be taken out immediately. Others... Seemed happy. Excited. They were enjoying the song, relating, and some even seemed to associate it with us. They gave us glances of pride.

These were the reactions I was looking for.

It didn't last long, though.

"You four!" screamed someone from behind me. I turned around. The principal was coming towards us. He seemed. So. Angry. "Mr. Way! Mr. Toro, Mr. Iero, Mr. Way! Come with me! Right now!"

He was screaming right in the middle of the corridor. Everybody else went silent. If some people didn't know that the song was our thing, now they knew. Well, thanks, principal Edwards. Free publicity.

The four of us exchanged a look and then followed him. With a smile. We all knew the consequences, yet we did it anyway. It was worth it.

"What were you thinking?" he said, sitting on his chair at his office. By the time we got there, the song was already over. Whatever happened to us later, was fine. Our plan had already succeeded.

"We wanted to show people our song." Frank said, frankly and calmly.

"And you really thought the best way to do it was by invading my office and putting the song on the speakers?"

"No, we thought the best way to do it was by playing at the Winter Ball. But the Jocks ruined it for us, and didn't even got punished." Mikey answered, even more calm. The principal seemed shocked, like he had no arguments left.

"Still" he continued, after a few seconds. "It's no way to do it. Invading a private office, pretending to faint, singing to the secretaries ... This is unacceptable! I demand respect from my students. There are rules in this school, rules that must be followed. And if one go against them, one must bear the consequences."

"Unless one's a Jock." Frank said, looking into the principal's eyes. "In that case, one can do whatever they please, bullying and ruining shows included, and there'll be no consequences..."

"ENOUGH!" the man screamed, hitting his fist on the table. "We're not here to talk about the athletes or the Ball, we're here to talk about your little prank."

"No, we're here exactly to talk about that. And how unfair it is." I said, firmly. "Have you seen the name of this tape?" the principal took the tape and looked at it. "Yeah, exactly. It's called I'm Not Okay. You know why? Because this is how I feel. This is how they feel." I pointed to my friends sat next to me. "This is how so many other students feel, but they'll never tell you, because they know that they won't be heard. If you're not a Jock or a cheerleader, you won't be heard."

"Mr. Way..." he tried to say, but I kept going.

"The thing we did today? An innocent prank. We wanted to show people that they are not alone, even if this fucking school doesn't listen to them."

"Language, Mr. Way..."

"And still, we're here. About to be punished for trying to give people voice and hope. While those Jocks who beat students up every fucking day just for the sake of it get away with that. Just because they know how to use a hockey stick, does that makes them better than us?"

"Mr. Way, you know very well that..."

"No, you know very well that this is all true. And yet, you decide to do nothing about it. If only you knew how it feels... If only you could be one of us for at least one single day. We're people, you know? We can do stuff, we have feelings, we have talents, we talk, we see, we hear, we feel. But does it matter? Because at the end of the day, we're still the weirdos and outcasts."

"I SAID IT'S ENOUGH!" he stood up. "I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU TELL ME RIGHT IN MY FACE THAT I DON'T KNOW HOW TO EXERCISE MY JOB." He took a deep breath, sat down and continued. "We're not here to talk about the athletes. We're here to talk about you. You are all suspended. For three days. Don't show up until Thursday."

I sighed and got up, leaving the office. I didn't want to hear his bullshit anymore. He had already punished us. I had nothing more to do there.

About a minute later, my friends caught me up.

"So... Three days with no class? That's gonna be a long weekend." Ray said, laughing.

"I honestly thought it would be a much worse punishment. I'm okay with that." Mikey smiled.

"I think speech man over here managed to cause a bit of empathy in Edwards' black heart." Frank said, pointing to me. "But whatever, fuck this guy. What did he say, anyway? Pretending to faint? Singing to the secretaries? Oh man, you got to do the coolest parts!" we all laughed. Frank put his arms around Ray's shoulders and mines. "C'mon, tell me everything."

And just like that, the four of us left the school after receiving a suspension, laughing so hard that our bellies hurt.