A Way Back Home | Adopted by Gerard Way (Book Two)

Zero Zero (63)

"Fucking Hell," I say, tightening the straps of my backpack and walking towards Ryder. He looks half asleep as he sits against the wall on the tile floor of the school hallway, but looks up when he hears me, wide awake.

A teacher walking by heard me too, "Hey, language," he says sharply.

"Sorry," I tell him, then turn back to Ryder, "Fucking heck."

The teacher gives me a stern look, raising a finger in my direction, but then falters. He must decide it's not worth it because it's the last day of school. Punishing me today would be pointless, and it's not like I've given him any trouble in the past.

"What?" Ryder asks, standing up.

"Give me a hug," I say and collapse into his arms, almost like a trust fall.

"What, Way?" he asks, confused, but hugging me back.

"That exam was the worst thing I've ever sat through and I'm so glad it's over."

We pull away from the hug that, somehow, actually helped. I guess I'm just starved for human contact of any kind after being shut up in my room alone for so long, studying. Ryder asks, "Your French one? Was it that hard?"

"No, it wasn't super hard, it was just tedious as fuck and I'm being dramatic."

"Wish I could say mine weren't hard..." he mumbles.

"Whatever, as long as you passed, does it even matter?" I take him by the wrist and drag him toward the front doors. "C'mon, let's get out of here. Laura pretty much told me I can do whatever I want as long as I'm back home tonight, and I don't want to look at anything school-related anymore."

We head outside and walk in silence towards the apartment. It's a nice day. I want to do something crazy that I wouldn't normally do. Something impulsive and a perfect archetype of teenagers on TV or in certain music videos. I feel energized by the warm weather, the light breeze through my hair, and the fact that I've written five exams in the past three days that I really need to take my mind off of before I overthink everything I wrote down and convince myself it was all trash.

Luckily, I have some ideas in mind and two friends that are pretty much down for anything. Ryder never says no, and Raven can't as long as I suggest it with enough excitement in my voice. Is that taking advantage of their kind nature? Perhaps, but they never regret my ideas once we've gone through with them.

When we arrive at the apartment, I immediately drop my backpack by the door and collapse onto the couch. Jersey hops up onto my lap just as quickly and starts purring when I scratch her behind the ears.

"Rough day?" Raven asks.

"The math exam was—" I start, but I'm cut off by shouts from the kitchen.

Ryder, his head in the fridge rummaging for a snack, interjects, "The math exam was hell! Don't even get me fucking started. What the fuck even is a vertex?"

I rattle off the textbook definition I ingrained into my brain, "In geometry, a vertex is a point where two or more curves, lines, or edges meet."

"Yeah, well, I didn't study that shit so I drew a picture of a vortex instead." He slams the fridge door shut, takes a bite of an apple, then drops onto the couch next to me and keeps talking, "One of those swirly water whirlpool things? Right over the question in blue pen."

I put a hand on his shoulder. "I hope that worked out for you, bud."

"Maybe you'll get pity points?" Raven suggests.

"Or creativity points?" I add hopefully.

"Or negative points for being a dumbass," he deadpans.