Hidden From Reality

3

Frank

I scanned the courtyard, looking for Gerard's mess of black hair. I eventually saw him basically falling out of a beat-up pick-up truck, Mikey right behind him. I walked over to him and greeted him. He smiled shyly, his hair covering one side of his face. Mikey seemed to be scanning the courtyard, looking for someone.

"Who're you looking for?"

"No one in particular." I nodded as Gerard looked up, his hair shifting slightly. I saw the edge of a bruise surrounding his eye. He did not have that yesterday.

"Hey, what happened to your eye?" Gerard began to frantically rearrange his hair, covering up the bruise.

"Nothing. It's nothing." Mikey sighed.

"Mom smacked him with a frying pan yesterday."

"Wait, what? Your own mother smacked you with a frying pan?" Gerard stared at the ground before nodding.

"Can I ask why?" Gerard shook his head just as the bell rang. We all made our way inside and to our lockers. I saw Gerard desperately trying to fit all his things in his locker, but before I could go and help, someone walked up to him, blocking my view. Before I could process what happened, I heard banging and Gerard was knocked to the ground. Surprisingly, I watched as Mikey came out of nowhere, knocking the attacker to the ground. I recognized him as Bert, the most well-known bully in the entire school. I ran over and helped a half-conscious Gerard to his feet. He was definitely dazed and uncoordinated as I helped him towards the nurse's office. I heard one of the teachers yelling at Mikey to stop punching Bert, but my only concern at the moment was getting Gerard help. I practically carried him into the nurse's office. Mr.Stump, the nurse, stood up, taking in Gerard's condition. He gestured to one of the open cots and told me to go back to class. As I was leaving, both Mikey and Bert walked in with bloody noses and cut lips, though Bert looked half-dead. I walked back to my locker, picking out my stuff I needed for first hour. I walked into the class and took my seat in the back.

"Mr.Iero. May I ask why you are late?"

"I was up at the front office. One of my friends got beat up and I was taking him to the nurse." Fifteen minutes into class, Gerard came in, holding an ice pack to his head and all his stuff in his other hand. Someone threw a piece of paper at him and yelled something about their cat as he sat down next to me. He tried to get caught up, but it was clear he was lost. I handed him my notebook to let him see the notes as we began our classwork. He shot me a look of gratitude as he looked down at the paper. After class, we started packing up as another person threw paper at Gerard.

"That's for my dog, you freak." Gerard muttered an apology as the kid walked away.

"What'd you do to his dog?"

"No clue." I frowned as we met up with Mikey on the way out. We all had music next, which was on the other side of campus. After music, the day went by pretty quickly. As the brothers left I heard Mikey say something about a full moon tonight and Gerard groaned. I didn't think much of it as I climbed into my mom's car.