Burn Bright (frerard)

Chapter 1

And here we are again

Btw this is I'm not okay!Gee and Frank from that one kerrang magazine in his wedding suit (the cover)

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"And did you all do the reading?" I asked as I stood at the front of the class. "I can assume that most of you did not."

The students snickered and I turned to the board.

"For those of you who did do the reading, can you tell me what the allusion was to in the short story?" I asked.

I turned around and saw Gee raising his hand. I smiled and pointed to him.

"It alludes to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet," he said. "The lovers that can never be together."

"Exactly," I said.

Gerard was a great student. He was kind and obedient. Most of the time, he was rather quiet in class. But I liked him, he was unique. He was the only boy in the school who wore the girls uniforms. Gee was just really special, anyone could tell.

"Mr. Iero, sir, I have a question," Lindsey said and I looked at her. "Why can't they just be together? There's nothing stopping them.

"Well, you see, sometimes there's things that stop love that aren't physical," I said. "For instance, in this story, the two can't be together because of the color of their skin. This story takes place long ago when slavery was still legal. Yes, they may have been able to be together technically but they just couldn't. There are things, boundaries, norms that people can't cross. Such as someone and their boss, that's just not allowed."

"So, like me and you, for instance," Jamia said, winking at me while the other kids snickered.

"Yes," I said, ignoring their laughs. "Okay, c'mon, none of those childish things."

I sat on the edge of my desk, which was in the front corner of the room.

"Now, your essays were due today," I said. "Basket in the front."

The students got up from their desks, putting their papers into the basket. The bell rang and I watched the students grab their things and walk out.

"Have a good day, sir," Gee said as he walked out.

"You too, Gee," I replied.

He was the last to walk out and I sighed. I grabbed my bag and headed to the staff lounge. The other teachers were here for lunch as I sat at my usual spot.

"How was Jamia today?" Joe asked.

"Well, she flirted, again," I said.

"Guess she can't help it," Joe said. "You are one of the best looking teachers here."

I rolled my eyes, opening my lunch.

"Either way it's completely inappropriate," I said.

I sat with him and ate. Joe's been here longer than me. He's one of the history teachers here. I met him on my first day two years ago and he's become my best friend.

"Anyways, what's new with you?" He asked.

"I know you're asking about the date, just say it," I said.

"Okay, how'd the date go?" Joe asked.

"It was a total bust," I said. "The guy was duller than a brick."

Joe laughed, shaking his head in disbelief.

"You're gonna have to find someone at some point," Joe said. "Every person you go on a date with there's just something about them that you decide means you can't date them."