Running Like Forever [Frank Iero][1]

Part 3

*

The middle-aged lady in the main office, who looked like she hated her job, already had my schedule and locker number and combo ready for me when I entered. I was in and out in seconds. I moved quickly down the hallway with my head down, hoping to keep all unwanted attention off of me. I found my locker easily enough and was soon seated in the back left corner of my homeroom. Somehow I neglected to notice the two boys on the other side of the room, one of the being Frank. I sat quietly in my seat, waving a pencil in front my face out of boredom, already lost in my own thoughts. I was so wrapped up in my head that I didn't even see Frank standing in front of me until he spoke.

"Hi." I almost jumped out of my seat.

I looked up at Frank with wide eyes. "H-hey."

"I didn't know you were a junior."

"Oh? Yeah," I laughed a little, realizing I hadn't told him that earlier. "I guess you never asked."

He sat down in the seat next to me. "Yeah I guess so. I can be a little absentminded sometimes."

Now fully conscious of my surroundings, my eyes watched as another much taller, lankier boy approached us.

"Who's this?"

"Hmm?" Frank looked at me weird before he noticed who I had asked about. "Oh shit, sorry! This is Mikey. Mikey, this is my neighbor Lennox."

He smiled a genuine smile and said a quiet 'hey' before he took a seat at the desk in front of me.

Frank and Mikey sat there and talked about random stuff. Sometimes Mikey turned the conversation over to me by asking me a question, but it was mostly just them talking. I didn't really mind though, I was just glad I didn't have to sit here all by myself. The bell rang and I followed after the boys as they stood from their seats.

"Let me see your schedule." Mikey held his hand out to me as we stood between the rows of desks while everyone else exited to classroom.

I fished it from my pocket before I handed it over to him. He held it up close to his face to get a good look, Frank trying to sneak a peek at it, but his stature hindered him greatly.

Mikey pushed his glasses up his nose and smiled down at me. "Sweet! We have like two classes together other than lunch."

I smiled as he handed it to Frank so he could look over it as well.

"We have three classes and lunch. You also have Art with Gerard." Frank handed me back the paper as we finally left the room.

"Who's Gerard?"

"He's Mikey's older brother," Frank informed me.

"Oh."

We all stood there in the busy hallway as students and teachers alike passed by us in a rush to get to their appropriate classrooms. As people's paces picked up and the hallway grew less crowded, it was obvious there wasn't much time before the second bell would ring and we would be late for our classes.

"Lennox, I'll walk you to class cause we're headed the same way." I nodded toward Mikey as he spoke and hiked my bag higher onto my shoulders.

"And I'll see you after class so we can walk to Math and then I'll take you to Art." Frank bounced on his toes in a happy manner.

"Okay."

With that Mikey and I walked one way, while Frank walked the other. Mikey dropped me off at my classroom and said goodbye with a quick, awkward hug before he jogged off down the hall to his own class. I was so ecstatic that they had decided to talk to me, otherwise I would have been left to wander around the school all day like a lost puppy in search of its home. I walked into the room and was greeted by loud students. I ducked my head, hugging the wall so not to be noticed, and quickly took a seat near the back. My first class of the day was history. I loved history.