Gerard sipped his coffee and looked at me after licking his lips. "So, why are you at a boarding school?" He asks out of the blue - guess he's carrying on 20 questions just like he said. "Well, ever since my dad uh left, my mums been um trying to uh find a way to get rid of me, so once I um finished elementary she shipped me right off to uh here. So she wouldn't have to uh deal with her um fuck up of a son." I rambled, hating to be another sob story. "I'm sorry Frank, and I'm sure you're not a fuck up." He said whilst staring into my eyes, almost like he was searching for something. "Yeah well, at least I don't have to see uh all the guys she brings home." He looks at me sympathetically and I hate it, pity is so humiliating.
"Anyway, why are you uh here?" I begin trying to put the focus on him. "Well I uh," his eyes clouded over for a moment before returning to normal "I got involved with the wrong crowd - so this is a fresh start for me I guess." I nodded understandingly, you never would of guessed it by looking at me now, but I used to be like that. "So, uh. How come you're so into like art and stuff." I remember him talking about his passion for comic illustrations and how be wanted to be a comic book artist when he left school while walking here. "Well, my Grandma taught me how to draw. Actually she was the person who taught me how to sing and play piano too - I owe her everything." He says with soft eyes. "She sounds like a lovely person, maybe I uh could meet her one day." I smiled at the thought of my Gran and how I wished I could have been as close with her like Gerard. "Well I hope so too, I think she'd like you" he smiles, tears starting to form in his eyes "but she's quite ill." He says the last part quietly and I immediately feel bad for him, I mean the two sound so close. "Well she'll get better, I uh know it." I comforted him whilst rubbing his upper arm.
I don't know how long we sat like that, but it was starting to get dark when Gerard spoke up. "We should get going, our first day is tomorrow." I nodded and got up, leaving my cold coffee and heading back to the dorms. The walk back from the cafe is quiet and peaceful, giving us time to soak in the beautiful scenery around us. The trees have started to loose their leaves and every colour is a shade of Autumn. Something about the soft oranges, yellows and browns is comforting to me. I put my arm out and run my fingers through the bushes that line the gates of the school grounds. "I love Autumn too." Gerard comments. "Too?" I ask, he couldn't have possibly read my mind? Shut up Frank, you know that's not possible - right? "Yeah, too. I can tell it's your favourite season by the way you look at the trees." He states. Well at least I know he's not a physic, but it still freaks me out he can tell that by the way I looked at a fucking tree. "Cool." I reply, trying to not sound too creeped out.
Neither one of us says anything until we get back inside our room. By now it's the evening and moonlight casts eerie shadows through out the room. I flick the light on as soon as I can, I hate the dark. I look in the little cupboard and find Cuppa Soup and instant noodles - none of which I want to eat for dinner. Yeah, now that we're in High School we have to cook our own dinners and all that shit. I could make something from scratch with our weekly ingredients, but I can't be bothered.
I turn to Gerard and find him at the desk by his bed, hunched over a drawing. I position myself so I can see exactly what he's sketching - it's the trees from the path home. Even though it's it's just in pencil, I can still see all the swirling burgundies and crimsons. The dashes of gold and apricot. The drips of saffron and copper. Now I know what the office lady meant when she said Gerard was an art student.
I snap out of my daydream and, as much as I hate to do it, pull him out of his own world of colour and imagination. I tap his shoulder lightly and say "I'm going to uh, order pizza, what do you want?" He thinks for a little while before replying "Medium pepperoni, thick crust" I nod my head, but make a face at his choice. "What? There's nothing wrong with that." He says with a slight smile.
I let out a small laugh and confess "You're right, there's uh nothing wrong with that. Except for the fact that I'm um" he looks at my with curious eyes before I finish "I'm uh, a vegetarian". I look at him nervously. God, he probably thinks I'm some freak now. He suddenly starts laughing really loudly and says "You were nervous over telling me that? God, I thought you were going to tell me that you were in some weird cult where the word pepperoni was a sacred word and must never be said" I let out a small laugh and say he can still have the pepperoni if he wants too, but he tells me "Nah, I'll stick with a margarita tonight. I thought about being a vegetarian before, maybe you could be my motivation to finally do it." Me? A motivation to do something... Positive? I've never really been anyone's motivation to do anything but shout crude remarks and use me as punching bag. I know he meant nothing with those careless words, but they hit me hard. Oh god, shut up Frank. You sound like a thirteen year old girl with her first crush. Then again, you're probably the same fucking height as a thirteen year old girl.
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Paperclips and Cigarettes
FanficTRIGGER WARNING Frank spends his time at a boarding school, never being able to escape the bullies and drowning himself in music - the generic sob story. But then a fiery haired boy strolls in to his life and he wishes his life really was like the m...
