I'll Show You Pretty

20. A Great Example of Rising Action

I'm fuckin struggling bro, call me a cemetery because I'm about to drive myself off a cliff with the way things are going right now. Anyway, enjoy.

Sometimes I almost forgot that wearing feminine clothes wasn't normal for guys at our school. There's something wrong with that. That should totally be normalized in the near future.

But this morning was a great example of just how oblivious I could be to the obvious signs of people judging me. Someone (probably a junior) walked next to me as I entered the school and confidently said, "nice outfit!" I took it as a genuine complement and said "thank you" in the most genuine voice, but looking back on it, their tone was much more sarcastic than I first thought.

Well that's not embarrassing at all, I thought to myself. Honestly, I didn't care though. I knew what I was signing up for and I damn well intended on going through with it, no matter the price.

I thought I picked a pretty nice outfit for today too. I had a nice pair of patched skinny jeans, and I even picked out the patches myself for them. I loved patching up my jeans. Along with those, I had on a pair of yellow converse high tops, and a t shirt with a red flannel jacket tied around my waist. I also had my nails painted black again, as the paint was chipping off, and I was wearing red eyeshadow and a nice layer of black eyeliner along with it. It was a pretty good day, as far as looks went.

But looks were the least of my concern as I took my same spot in Frank's classroom. He almost looked as if he was about to puke, which wasn't a good thing at all. Honestly though it might've been kind of hot, I'm not even going to lie. (Dear god, PLEASE tell me you guys understand what I'm referring to. I don't want people thinking I'm a maniac).

As he sat at his desk with his head resting on his hands, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He looked so miserable, the reason being unknown to me. That's what really bothered me. I wanted to know what was up with him so that I could be able to make him feel better. I hated seeing him in any state other than okay.

He looked up from his desk for a second, and his gaze fell on mine. I discreetly shot him a concerned glance, and he returned it with one that said "I'm not completely fine, but I will be later." It was also one that indicated we would definitely talk about it later, which was fine with me. As long as we talked about it.

When it was time for class to start, Frank got up and steadied himself against the whiteboard so that he could lecture most likely. He didn't look like he was in the right kind of mindset for a lecture though. If anything, he needed rest, and I was going to make sure he knew that.

"Alright guys, so there's a lesson that the principal told me I had to get done before the e-end of this year, so I'm going to get that over with." His voice was awfully shaky. I'm sure the other students noticed it as well.

Without second thought, I raised my hand. This would make it look as casual as possible.

"Oh- uh- yes, Gerard?" Frank asked from the front of the classroom.

"Are you sure you should be lecturing right now, Mr. Iero? Your voice sounds all jittery, you might just need some rest. I'm sure there are videos online about whatever topic you need to cover." As much as I hated the idea of having to watch a shitty science video for the entire class, I really didn't want Frank to have to suffer for this.

"Oh no I insist- I have to get this done anyway, and you guys might understand better if a familiar voice teaches it to you." I knew he didn't actually believe that, but he probably had to say it to ensure that the principal would be satisfied.