I'll Show You Pretty

5. Bathroom Stalls

Physical Contact™

I had been crying for at least fifteen minutes now, and I was still going strong. None of my sobs were getting any quieter, and none of my tears were slowing down.

I halted my crying for a split second when I heard the door open to the bathroom, but I couldn't hold it back much longer. I ended up accidentally sniffling in attempt to mute my cries, but the person on the outside definitely noticed.

"Woah, are you okay?" I heard a voice that I recognized as Mr. Iero's outside of the stall. I sniffed a little more before replying.

"Y-yeah." I continued crying silently into my arms. I didn't really want to talk about much right now, but I knew I would end up having to. He surely wouldn't just leave it behind.

"Oh my god, Gerard is that you?" Even though I had only said one word to him, he still managed to recognize my voice. I nodded even though he couldn't see me, and waited for him to say something else. "Gerard, can you please open the door? I don't want you in there alone."

"C-can you make sure that- that no one else gets in?" I didn't want anyone I didn't know walking in on me crying, because that would add to my embarrassment. Soon enough, I heard a 'click' sound coming from the outside of the stall, and assumed that he locked the main door.

"Okay, the doors locked. Can you please open the stall now, Gee?" I was too distracted to be able to enjoy the nickname he was using for me. Any time other than now, I certainly would've blushed at it. Slowly, I blindly reached up and felt for the lock, sliding it open when I found it. I heard the door creak, and footsteps as he got closer to me.

"Oh no Gee, what's wrong?" I looked up and saw that he sat down next to me on the bathroom floor. "Oh my god... you've been crying... a lot. Please tell me what's wrong." I struggled to form any sentences to explain how I was feeling, being the choked up person I was.

"I- they- th- I- they-" I started sobbing even more and continued crying when I felt him wrap his arms around me and pull me close to his chest. Having a more comfortable place to position myself, I nuzzled my head on his shoulder and let the tears flow.

"Shhh, it's going to be okay, Gee. It'll all be over eventually." He kept whispering reassuring things into my ear which made me feel just a little bit better.

Eventually, I was able to calm myself down, and I wiped stray tears away before sitting back up and facing him. "I- I accidentally bumped into a f-freshman this morning and we fell over. S-someone took a picture of us and they m-made it look like I was doing some-something sexual a-and they said I harassed him. I-it was an accident b-but now the whole school has the pictures." Realizing what I just said made more tears fall down my eyes, and I just clung onto Mr. Iero even more after that.

"Gee... I'm so so sorry. That should never have to happen to you. I can't even describe how unfair that is."

"Everyone thinks I'm a slut now," I choked out. "Everyone thinks I'm trying to manipulate people into having sex with me. That's not what I want to do! I j-just want this all to end..."

"Hey hey, listen to me." He lifted my chin up to where I could see eye to eye with him. "You are in no way a slut, and neither are you any of the other things they call you, okay? You're beautiful, talented, and worth so much. Don't let them get to you, Gee, you're better than that."

"You r-really think that?" I asked with tears still brimming my eyes. He nodded and squeezed me even tighter, and I smiled and hugged him back just as tight.

I wiped a few stray tears off my face before he stood up and offered his hand out to me. I took it, but didn't take a step further when I stood up.