Diary of a Jersey Misfit (Frerard)

Eight- Gerard's Tutoring Session Really Makes an Impact in Frank's Thick Skull

Miss Allen. That was her name.

The math teacher walked down the hall with Frank while her other students took a quiz. "After school today, you're gonna meet your tutor in the library. Do you know Gerard Way?"

"Yeah," Frank said slowly, not quite catching on.

"Great. He's going to be working with you. His learning style really matches yours, and he excels in all subjects, so he should be able to teach you not only the primary concepts of maths, but also tips and tricks to remember and to study better. You'll like him, I promise."

She had no idea.

Frank joined the rest of the class for the quiz. He handed it in at the end, sure he had failed, and made his way to his next class.

Gerard caught him at the end of science class. "Hey, are we set to meet in the library today? Your maths teacher arranged for me to help you out."

"Yeah, that's good." Frank turned to see Gerard's brother stomping toward them. "Ugh."

Gerard poorly masked his giggle. "Fuck off, Michael. I'm talking to him about tutoring."

"That better be it," Mikey threatened.

Gerard rolled his eyes. "I usually set up behind the bookshelves on the far left. You know where those are?"

"Yeah. You'll be there?"

"At the table on the far right, as soon as I can. If you get there before me, just grab a table and get some maths work started. You have Miss Allen, right?"

Frank nodded, glancing at Mikey, who was still hovering next to them.

"I'll talk to her during maths and get some work for us to do. See you soon." Gerard smiled at him and turned away.

"Listen up, punk." Mikey grabbed the front of Frank's jacket. His arms pinwheeled as he felt himself falling. "I don't want you talking to any part of my family. You're nothing but pathetic, useless dirt that we walk on. Do you understand?"

Frank spit in his face. While he was distracted being disgusted, Frank ran like hell, and was absorbed by the crowd moving to their next class.

xXx

Gerard was already there at three fifteen, when Frank finally made it. He sat down heavily across from him. "Sorry. I got stuck behind some girls who can't walk."

Gerard smiled. "It's alright. Miss Allen said that you're working on algebra, so I thought we could start with some equations. I wrote a few down for you. They're quite simple. They all have the same operations..."

Gerard's voice was so pretty. Frank could tell he was American, but he also had a soft British lilt to it that made his r's and h's softer.

"Frank? Are you listening?"

"Oh, no. Sorry."

"It's alright. Where did you tune out?"

"Um, you made equations?"

"Right. Here they are." Gerard tapped a piece of paper. "They're pretty simple to solve. The objective is to isolate the variable, so what do you think you do?"

"Um...get rid of the number with the X?"

"Not quite. Get rid of the number without it first. And that's a positive five, so you're going to do what?"

"Subtract five."

"Good! And then you subtract the five from the twelve on the other side. What does that get you?"