The Assistant Teacher

28

Gerard's POV

        I woke up with a start, scared and uneasy. I looked down at my lap to see Frank still fast asleep and curled up into a little ball. "Good kitty." I muttered to myself, wondering how I was going to get him off of me so I could use the bathroom. I gently picked him up and placed him on his bed, without awaking him. I used the bathroom and checked the time on my phone. 7:30. Shit. "Frankie wake up! We need to get going! School starts in 30 minutes!" I shouted, shrugging on my pair of black skinny jeans. I dashed to the bathroom to brush my teeth and ran back into the kitchen to make coffee. Then I relized that I still hadn't put a shirt on. Frank walked out with his cane in a pair of pants and a Iron Maiden t-shirt. "You should walk around without a shirt more often." Frank stated honestly. "Do you mind if I borrow a shirt? I don't rember where I left mine." I dashed to his room without an answer. He had a Misfit shirt that fit me really well. I checked the clock again. 7:45! Frank had put some coffee in a thermos and was waiting by the door. "Come on!" Frank was opening the door. We got to my car,  and were on our way. We arrived right as the students were, so we got some odd looks as we rushed to the classroom together. We unlocked the door, let some of the students that were in front of the class in, and set up the room abruptly. Once the rest of the class was in, I started taking attendance. The class erupted with clapping when Frank walked in. He was so smart to hide until class started. "Look whose back!" I yelled, so the entire class could here over the clapping.  Frank smiled and made a silencing gesture. "Do you guys want to see it?" He asked in a quiet voice. Most of the class yelled yes. The shy kids all looked at us like we were crazy. "All you squeamish kids look away." He said, lifting up his pant leg. The closed gash halfway up his shin was big, ugly, and had a patchwork of yellow, purple, blue and green bruises forming around it. I couldn't help it. I gasped. "Alright everybody, get back to your seats. Mr. Iaro is here, so you are going to be taking the dreaded watercolor quiz, but its not that hard and its only 20 questions. If any of you need help, Mr. Iaro and I will be here. So, get to quizing! Go on! Get!" I made frantic hand gestures. Frank's voice rang clear from my closed off office. "Could I talk to you, Mr. Way?" I started walking to my office and heard a student catcall from behind me. I whipped around as Brendon, one of my students, yelled "Ohhhh! Kissing closet!". The only reason Brendon stands out to me is because I had to give him detention for being caught making out with another student named Ryan. "Do you really think that we would do that at school? We are civilized people. Come on. Be more mature." I walked into my office and closed the door. "Yes, Mr. Iaro? What did you need?" I asked, very curious.  Frank looked at me. "Does it really look that bad? It made you gasp. You, the one who waches horror movies with wounds worse than this!" Frank looked worried. "No honey. I just haven't seen it since it happened. Even then, I didn't get a good look at it. I was focused on trying to not freak out. So I just looked at your face." Frank looked at me with watering eyes. He jumped into my arms crying. "T-thank you Gee. You are the b-best thing t-that ever happened to me." He baried his head into my chest. A student knocked on the door. "Mr.Way? Mr. Iaro? S-sombody?" It sounded like Patrick. He was one of my favourite students. He had alot of talent. His drawings are very good, and his singing voice, although hard to understand, is beautiful. Plus, I think in his old school, he played saxophone. I cleaned off Frank's face and opened the door. "Yes Patrick?" He replied in a shy voice "Where do we put them when we are done and what were you doing in there?" I told him, "Put in the turn-in bin, and I was helping Mr. Iaro grade a paper." He looked at the turn-in bin and sighed. "It's all the way over there." I heard him mutter under his breath.