𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝙸𝚜 𝚄𝚐𝚕𝚢 (Frerard)

Chapter 4: They Don't Just Want Your Money

[Frank]

Before, when I caught up to Gerard in the halls, it was because I just wanted to be with him. I couldn't have said anything to him because that'd open up a risk of discovery. You see, kids here who don't seem "normal" or "cool" are bullied or at least teased. If you liked "weird" things and dressed "strange" you were definitely a victim. If you were a "nerd" or acted like a "teacher's pet" you were so bullied. And if you showed any sign of being anything lgbtq+ then you were constantly attacked. Oh, and if you had a noticeable mental illness or disorder, you were definitely a victim. In my opinion, you basically couldn't be yourself in public. So, I refrained from talking much. I stuttered a lot anyway.

As I tucked my hands back into my pockets, I looked up. I could see Gerard eyeing at something near the school as well as several other people. At first, I didn't see anything, but when I realized what people were looking at, my heart dropped. It was Ray. He was trying to run to us but was struggling due to a hurt leg. His face was covered in tears and his nose was bleeding. When he found where Gerard was standing, he staggered over to him and collapsed. I ran over to my teacher to ask if I could go, but she knew Ray and I were friends so she nodded her head before I could ask.

"Ray!" I shouted subconsciously as I hurried over. Gerard had kneeled down with him on the ground. When I reached them, I saw that Ray was still conscious, but his face looked pained.

"It hurts everywhere," Ray said when he saw me. I looked to Gerard's teacher who was on the walkie talkie, trying to get a nurse. She was also trying to move her students away from us at the same time, which wasn't working too well. Everyone was looking at Ray. I felt secondhand embarrassment grip at my chest and my ears flushed. Gerard's hand was resting awkwardly on Ray's shoulder, trying to comfort him as much as he could.

"They got him," Gerard said to me darkly.

"Shit," I replied angrily. Before today, he'd never been truly beaten ever before. "Ray what happened? It's never been this bad before."

"Agh!" Ray scrunched his face up. "They came up to me. I was getting a snack from the vending machine! I shouldn't have been so stupid. I had my wallet out and they were in the halls and saw me. One of them said they needed some money and asked if I had five dollars which I did. But I lied and I made the mistake of frowning at them. I mean, of course I didn't just want to hand the money over, but I should have. I was just so hungry! I didn't have lunch or dinner yesterday, and I didn't have any breakfast this morning! Ugh, anyway. They caught me frowning at them and they dragged me outside to the back." Ray flung his hands angrily but this only caused him pain as he winced and gripped his right arm. "And you know what? They were like 'you can do this the easy way or the hard way.' So when they told me to hand it over I meant to say 'ok,' even though I didn't want to. Then my damn instinct made me say 'no.' And they obviously took it anyway and found the only five dollars I had in there and took it. But, then they said something like, 'do you know what happens to liars like you' and smashed my phone."

"I'm sorry," Gerard tried to comfort him. "It's not your fault, Ray. And you know that."

"No, but it kinda is!" Ray exclaimed. "I did everything that could possibly be wrong. When they smashed my phone they were holding me back and I was tryna break away of course. But I shouldn't have kicked that guy in the balls to do so– I know it sounds funny but it isn't. Because then they stopped smashing my phone, but the guy I kicked pushed me to the ground and started beating me and when I was yelling at them to stop I accidentally said they were stupid, I don't know why I said that. Because then they all came at me. When they finally stopped, I ran away as fast as I could but I forgot my phone. Guys, it's still there at the back. I don't know what condition it's in."