Perspective

Part VII

Gerard walked towards the golden piece of grass, holding his stomach in because if he let go, it would fall off  of his body. As he neared the delicated piece of grass a small white rabbit hopped up to it, sniffed it, and ate it. Gerard screamed. He spent his whole life trying to get that damn piece of grass and now it was in smithereens, being piped through the digestive system of a fucking rabbit.

"Gerard... Gerard please wake up," Frank said, shaking Gerard's sweaty body. Gerard's eyes blinked open and he clasped his stomach, afraid it would fall off. He blinked a few times and his heart rate began to steady. "That was the weirdest fucking dream, stupid rabbit." He shook his head and sat up, still frowning at the odd dream.

"Not even gonna ask," Frank said, looking confused. "It's, like, 4:00 AM." He stood up and ran his hand through his hair. "Do you think we can run by my house and pick up my schoolbooks real quick?"

"Yeah sure, no problem." Gerard said and stood up, grabbing some school-appropriate clothes. His school had a dress code, it wasn't too strict but they had their limits. No revealing tops that showed the midriff, as if Gerard would wear that. No holes in jeans. Boys not allowed to have their hair past their ears. Now that, was not gender equality. Gerard was able to persuade his school to let him have longer hair, it took a lot of throwing back and forth federal laws on human rights and a few powerpoint previews but it was worth it. If girls could have long hair, why couldn't boys? That's sexist. Same with jewelry. If Gerard wanted to wear huge diamonds on his fingers and gold chains around his neck, he should be able to.

He ended up picking a Ramones t-shirt and black skinny jeans with whatever black shoes he could find. Frank just stood there, watching him pick out his clothes but ended up looking around Gerard's room. Mostly boring stuff, the sketchbook was an exception though. He wouldn't look through someone's sketchbook or journal without asking, that would be an invasion of privacy. He started stacking books and throwing pieces of trash into the trash can, folding clothes as he went.

"What are you doing?"

"Just cleaning your pigsty of a room." Frank said, throwing a pair of clearly used underwear at Gerard. Gerard was not amused, and ended up chasing Frank around, underwear in hand.

~

"We... Should... Go..." Frank said between giggly breaths as they ran around like little children. 

"Oh right." Gerard replied, laughing. He got his school stuff and sketchbook together and stuffed it into his backpack, grabbing the keys on the counter. He yawned, unlocking the car and tossing his backpack in the backseat. 

"Alright sir, where are we off to on this fine day?" Gerard said sarcastically. Frank gave him they address and they took off. Frank told him when to turn and when to U-turn when he gave the wrong directions and it felt like they were going in circles for a while.

~

"You suck at giving directions," Gerard groaned and U-turned a third time.

"Okay, turn up here. Trust me this is it," Frank said, laughing at Gerard's frustration. Once they turned into the driveway, Frank hopped out.

"You can come in if you want," Frank offered politely but Gerard turned him down.

"We gotta hurry if we don't want to get there late." He replied, eyeing the clock on his car.

~

Once they got to the school, they had to part ways. The only time they would be together during the day would be lunch. 

Gerard ended up having to stay after his first class for no particular reason other than to enlighten his teacher on why he didn't do the class homework for the weekend. The day was still boring, but he thought about his weekend escapades with Frank and that made his classes go by faster. He thought of how beautiful Frank looked in the field, moonlight lighting up his pale skin just barely enough to see, warmth radiating from him like he was a fire. He got called out a few times for not paying attention but didn't care, it was worth it.

~

When the third bell rang, Gerard hopped up quickly and rushed toward the door. He had promised to meet Frank in the library for their lunch period.

"Gerard not so fast, I'm gonna need you to stay after for a bit." The math teacher Mr. Urie said, hand on hip. 

"I'm in a hurry, sir." And with that, Gerard was gone. He was going to regret that the next time he saw Urie, but he wanted to see Frank.

~

"Dude that was close," Gerard sighed, plopping his backpack next to a sitting Frank who was reading something intently.

"What are you reading?" Gerard asked, straining his head to see the title. "God that book is so boring," He said when he managed to read the title. Animal Farm.

"Hmm," Frank hummed out in response, not paying attention as he chewed on an apple slice and read.

Gerard pulled out a granola bar that was settled in the very bottom of his backpack that was god knows how old and bit into it, looking at Frank. Since Frank was obviously not going to answer him, he might as well do something else with his time. He pulled out his sketchbook and opened it to the first page, an unfinished picture of Frank's back jumping out at him. He flipped the page and started working on Frank's facial features when Frank looked up at him and smiled widely, showing all his teeth and scrunching his eyes. 

"I know you're drawing me," Frank said, going back to his book and biting into another apple slice. Gerard rolled his eyes and went back to the drawing, adding details and stylizing it until he thought it was ready. He shut his sketchbook and stuck it back into his backpack.

"I wanna see!" Frank said out of nowhere, putting down his book and spitting an apple seed into a napkin.

"Uh, how about no." Gerard replied, hugging his backpack protectively. Eventually Frank went back to his reading position, but he kept Gerard in his peripherals. When Gerard let his guard down, Frank took the opportunity and attacked, succeeding in grabbing the backpack and pulling out the sketchbook. He looked at Gerard just in case, wanting his consent before he opened it. When Gerard finally sighed and nodded, Frank opened the book carefully as to not tear the thin paper.

"When did you draw this?" Frank asked and Gerard sat up, eyes wide.

"Draw what?" He asked, standing up quickly almost knocking over his chair and walked behind Frank's chair so he could see.

"Is this me?" Frank asked, studying the picture. "It's really good."

"Oh that? It's not done yet."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Uh... I drew that, like, last week?" He replied, his answer raising slightly into a question.

"So it is me. I like it!" Frank said, smiling up at Gerard. Their eyes met and stayed on each other for a second too long before Gerard broke the contact. Frank turned his attention back to the book, flipping the page and landing on the portrait Gerard just finished.

"Wow, this is really good..." Frank said, studying the picture for a few moments before he stood up and wrapped Gerard in a huge bear hug, snuggling into his chest. They both laughed for a second and pulled away. 

"Thanks for drawing me!" Frank waved goodbye. "I'll see you after school." And at that, Frank was gone with the bell, reminding Gerard of the long school day ahead of him. Hopefully he wouldn't run into Mr. Urie. Maybe his life was going to get more interesting. He didn't feel as empty as he did the week before and even before that.

~