Pay Attention, Mr. Iero (Frerard)

8 - Being Sneaky

I thought a lot about what happened when I had my meltdown with Mikey and Ray. I may have been confused and lost about what to do at this roadblock, but I still had hope that Professor Way and I could end up together. Maybe it was stupid. I could ask out any other guy on the campus and probably not have so many problems occur in the process. Yet here I was.

It was too late to turn back now. Mikey had promised me that he'd talk to Professor Way again, but this time he'd throw in some hints that I liked him back. I wasn't sure when that was going to take place in the week, so when I went to my next day of art class, I was quite anxious. I hadn't seen Mikey since we had made the agreement. Maybe he had already talked with Prof. Way? What if things went terrible? What if Prof. Way assumed that I liked him and was disgusted by that fact?

I got to class early that day, just so I wasn't forced to sit in the front near the board. I didn't want to be near Professor Way. Not yet. Not until I confirmed that Mikey hadn't spoken to him yet or that he actually liked me back.

As other students filed in and found seats chatting casually among each other, I sat bouncing my leg up and down and twirling my pencil around nervously. I continuously checked the door for Prof. Way to come in, until finally, he appeared looking as wonderful as ever.

"Hello class," he greeted us as usual. "Please take your seats, so we can get started". I watched him carefully, looking for any apparent signs that he now hated me. After setting down his belongings on his desk, he walked towards the front of the class, immediately glancing at where I usually sat. For a moment, he seemed confused that another student was sitting there, and looked around the room like a lost puppy. That is, until he finally spotted me in the back of the classroom. My heart froze, just waiting for an anticipated grimace, but instead, all I got out of him was a relieved smile...

As Professor Way proceeded to teach the class, I started to calm down. Surely, if he had smiled at me, that meant he either liked whatever Mikey had told him, or he simply had not heard anything from him yet. Either way, I seemed to be on his good side still, which was fine by me.

However, anticipation still resided in me. I really just needed to talk to Prof. Way and see if he said anything worth noting. Because I was sitting in the back, he couldn't give me any of his usual behavior or make any comments, so class really seemed to drag on that day.

Finally though, Prof. Way looked up from the notes he was writing on the board to check the clock, only realizing it was time to dismiss us. Everyone packed up their things and rushed out to enjoy their nights, while as usual, I acted as if I was taking my time. Prof. Way erased the board, paying no mind to us. Although, once everyone was gone, he turned around and looked around, almost as if he was hoping I was still there. 

"Frank..." He began, approaching me as I sat still in my seat. "I almost thought you may have ditched my class. Why did you choose to sit all the way back here today?" Leaning down towards me and resting his elbows on the table, he stared right into my eyes. I felt myself start to become nervous.

"Oh you know, just for a change of scenery, you know?" I made up.

He smiled at me, before continuing to speak, "So you mentioned that you've met my brother the other day. You know, the day you stayed late and he walked in?" I nodded along remembering that was the same day I had eavesdropped on the entire conversation they had had after I left. "What do you think of him?"

"What do I think of Mikey?" I clarified. "He's honestly pretty cool now that I'm getting to know him better. He came over the other day and hung out with me and my roommate. I wasn't so sure of him at first 'cause he seems so shy and all... but I would be happy to hang out with him again".