Stop Me Going Home (REVAMPED)

Chapter 12

Why do we even go to school?

For one, Frank doesn't think he's ever passed a class in his life, and also, he's never actually used a day of his education in his life outside of school, other than the communication thing that they try to teach you in kindergarten, and he's not even an all star at that. He knows the basic life skills, like how to cook and fold his laundry and clean the house, but when the hell is he ever going to need to know the surface area of a trapezoid if he doesn't even want to go into construction?

Never, he thinks.

So why do we go?

This is the kind of stuff Frank thinks about as he sits in the back of his pre calculus class, doodling in his notebook and not writing down the notes. If he's not going to remember it in two weeks, why bother even trying to learn something he'll never use, or waste paper that he could scribble on instead?

His teacher is going on a big rant about quadratics, which would be funny, but it's about math, and nothing about that is entertaining, nor does is spur up any inspiration to spill artwork onto the paper in front of Frank.

It's Friday, anyway, so it's not like he's going to be doing anything really important, but just because he has free time, he doesn't want to use it in this class. He would much rather skip class and fuck around in the library until the bell rings, and then go back to Gerard's house tonight, but he can't do that. He's going to be taking the bus home today because his mother is supposed to get home a little after he gets off the bus. He kind of wishes his mom would go back out of town because he was really enjoying himself while staying with Gerard and not having to worry about home life.

Around ten minutes pass, and boredom wins Frank over, deciding that he's too disinterested to even doodle in his notebook, so he asks his teacher if he can go to the bathroom. The teacher lets him go, and Frank just takes his backpack with him. A few people stare with questioning eyes, because normally girls are the only ones to do that, but no one makes a move to try and stop him from ditching this class. Most kids in here want to ditch anyway, they just don't.

Frank starts making his way to the graffiti filled bathroom, and he texts Gerard while walking down the halls. There's a bathroom only a few doors down from his pre calculus class, but Frank wants to go on a walk. He starts heading down the the fine arts wing of the school, it takes him only a minute or so to reach his destination.

(2:12pm)+gee

Gerard takes a few minutes to reply, and while Frank waits, he starts decorating the new stall door that the school just installed because someone broke it in a fight a few months ago. He draws a spider crawling out of a web, and by the time he finishes coloring it in, he's got a new message from Gerard.

(2:21pm)-wat

(2:21pm)+wanna ditch n hang in the br w/ me

(2:23pm)-wat 1

(2:24pm)+by mr bulsaras class

(2:26pm)-omw

Frank looks down at his phone screen and smiles at his message, and takes a seat on the floor while he waits for Gerard to show up. He takes a few minutes, but he does show, and he brought his backpack, too.

"Hey Frankie," Gerard says when he sees Frank. He walks over to him and sets his bag down against the wall next to Frank's, and then he sits on the floor next to him.

"Hey," Frank answers.

"Why'd you ditch?" Gerard asks, opening his bad, searching for something. Frank shrugs even though Gerard's attention isn't currently on him.

"I was bored," He replies, and after a moment, he asks, "do you have any cigarettes?" Gerard looks up from his bag and gives Frank a weird look before he returns to digging through his backpack.

"That's what I'm looking for. Since when are you a smoker?" He asks, continuing to search for them.

"I'm not," Frank says, and then Gerard finds what he's looking for, and pulls out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

"How the hell did you get in here without getting caught with those anyway?" Frank asks.

"I'm a ninja, baby," He says, opening the pack and sticking one between his lips, lighting it and taking a puff, before handing it to Frank. He takes a long drag.

"If you're not a smoker, why are you smoking?" Gerard asks as Frank blows the smoke out. Frank hands it back after a few more drags.

"My mom's coming home today," Frank simply says. Gerard turns his head toward him to see what his expression is, trying to read him.

"How are you feeling about that?" Gerard prompts. Frank sighs, and Gerard tries hand the cigarette back to him, letting Frank finish it if he wants to, but Frank lets Gerard keep it.

"Anxious. I don't know what kind of mood she's going to be in, and there's so many different scenarios I can think of, but I have no idea if any will be right," Frank admits. Gerard is about to reply, but a freshman walks into the bathroom, and Gerard gives him a death glare. The kid is about to walk into a stall, but with Gerard staring lasers in the back of his head, he doesn't make it in the stall before he mutters an apology and leaves. Gerard turns his attention back to Frank.

"You, know, you can stay with me if you'd like," Gerard suggests. Frank shakes his head.

"You know I can't, Gee," He replies, as Gerard rubs the cigarette into the floor and tosses it into the trash afterward. Gerard reaches over and takes Frank's hand in his own, lacing their fingers together.

"I wish you would," He muses, lifting Frank's hand so he can kiss his knuckles.

"I can't though, I have responsibilities at home," Frank repeats.

"I know," Gerard says, "but that isn't going to stop me from trying to get you to stay with me. I really wish you would. You're an adult. You could." Frank smiles sadly at him, not responding verbally, and then leans against Gerard's shoulder. Gerard ends up letting go of his hand so he can wrap his arm around his waist. Frank starts messing around with his backpack until he finds his iPod, and he pulls it out, along with a pair of headphones. Frank puts one bud in his ear, and he hands the other to Gerard, and he does the same. He scrolls through his playlist and finds a song and sets it to shuffle afterward, then he leans back against Gerard and closes his eyes, content with spending the rest of the school day like this.

They're only able to get through three songs before the final bell of the day rings, but they both enjoyed every second of it. They both put their backpacks on, but they linger together in the bathroom for a moment, holding hands still.

"See you Monday?" Gerard quires, and Frank is quick to confirm with a nod.

"Monday," He replies, agreeing with him.

Before either of them leave the bathroom, Frank's hands go up to Gerard's face, and he pulls his face towards him, his mouth connecting Gerard's lips, kissing him softly. It lasts only a couple seconds before they have to pull away, because Frank can't miss the bus.

"Love you, Frankie," Gerard says, standing still as Frank turns around to start walking outside and to where the busses pick up the students. The corners of Frank's mouth turn upward, and he turns around, but continues to walk away, backwards.

"I love you, too," He replies, grinning, and then turns away and starts walking in the normal direction again. On the way outside, Frank thinks about ditching his mom and heading to Gerard's place instead, but he decides against it. She's probably going to need him for something the second she arrives, so he's going to need to be there.

As he boards the bus, the smell is awful and rancid. It smells like the freshmen that haven't discovered deodorant yet, or like the football players sweating like pigs before their games even start. He's forced to ignore it though, and he takes a seat near the front of the bus, not caring to be in the back with the people who think it's funny to be racist and homophobic, or really any prefix of a word where the suffix ends in phobic. He puts his headphones back in, and unpauses his playlist, making the ride home consisting of mostly Green Day and some blink-182.