《 A Big Fan of Yours 》 Frerard

one - i'll come up with a better chapter name when i get a cup of coffee

gerard

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The New Jersey wind bitterly pierced his light jacket and skinny jeans, sending daggers of ice into every inch of his skin. For once in his life, he couldn't wait to get into school, even if it was just to escape the cold.

Gerard leaned up against the brick building and surveyed the variety of kids in front of him. There weren't the usual cliques hanging about: definitely no jocks or party animals. Rather, it was a collection of comic book nerds, preppy kids, hardcore goths, and the like. Of course, it was only the "weird" kids that hung out at the school a whole hour before it opened.

He chuckled to himself as he pulled out a cigarette. He had hoped the cool winter air would clear his head and allow him to actually draw something somewhat decent, but he should've known better. All he was left with now was a backpack full of art supplies and a burning desire to get inside. Still, he couldn't smoke in the building without getting caught, so he guessed staying out must have its bonuses. He instinctively drew the lighter to his lips and took a long, satisfying drag, letting the smoke fill his lungs and warm his body. His nicotine hit instantly had him feeling much better. Not good enough to draw yet, but still. Better.

It wasn't until two minutes before the doors opened when he saw something unusual out of the corner of his eye. A bunch of the popular kids were all huddled around something - or someone. He jumped up and down like a fucking rabbit trying to see what the kids were staring at, but all he could glimpse over the letterman jackets and perfectly coiled blonde hairstyles was a small tuft of jet black hair. He was certainly intrigued, but his investigations would have to wait until later. The bell just rang and he didn't want to be late for class on the first day after winter break. The teachers still had their post-vacation glow and had completely forgotten about all their destroyed faith in humanity. This was the perfect time to get on anyone's good side, and considering he needed a grade boost in English, his first period class, he decided it'd be best to hold off his snooping in favor of schmoozing with the English teacher. He hurried into the building.

~

As basic as it sounds, he couldn't help but hate sucking up to the establishment. If it was by his choice, he could live with a D in English, but he was trying to get into art school, a prestigious one at that, and he'd rather not have his GPA drag him down. That led Gerard to the situation he was in now - forcing a smile at the young twenty-something in the desk chair before him, begrudgingly accepting that the man barely older than him was his superior.

"How's it going, Mr. Weekes?"  he asked, pulling the most pleasant smile he could manage.

"Great for me, Gerard. I'd ask the same of you, but if you're talking to me voluntarily I suspect everything isn't peachy for you. Cut the crap, Mr. Way. I know you don't care about my feelings or how my weekend was. I might've fallen for it for the first two times you asked for extra credit, but you haven't changed your approach all semester. Let me remind you. Like I said before, I'm willing to offer extra credit to any student that actually does their assignments like they're supposed to." His teacher flashed him a sarcastic grin.

Gerard's forced smile quickly turned to a pouty scowl. "It's not my fault I had trouble following a writing prompt! It was open-ended anyway," he whined.

"When I assigned a literary analysis on Romeo & Juliet, I didn't mean a paper on why it'd be a better story if it had vampires," his teacher replied, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Look, school is about to start, and I'm not in the mood to argue this further now. Come in after classes are over and we can talk."