Kissing You Goodbye.

I was kicked in the stomach, punched in the face, etcetera, and etcetera. Same old, same old. Absolutely nothing new about this schedule. Except for him. He was so unexpected.

“Knock it the fuck off, David!” he shouted, pushing one of the guys into the lockers. It was his cousin, I soon learned. They never really got along. David dismissed his clique of jocks after shooting me a look of hate, and a slightly worried look at my savior, leaving us alone. Why was David worried about someone who he wasn’t fond of? It made no sense at the time.

“What’s your name, kid?” the guy asked. I looked at him in dismay. He was a little out of breath. He shouldn’t have been that tired after that little effort. I just coughed, then spluttered out a weak,

“Frank Iero.”

“I’m, umm, Gerard. Gerard Way. Let’s get you to the nurse. I’ll take you home afterward. Alright?” Gerard asked, getting out of his slightly slumped position and extending a hand to help me up. I took it and let him lead me to the nurse’s office.

He drove me home, staying until my mom came home from work. Then he left me with a small piece of paper with his address and home phone number written on them. I was surprised. He looked like the type of guy who’d have a cell phone at least. I did, and my family certainly wasn’t very rich.

I let Mom cook me dinner, then I went to take a shower and go to bed. But no matter what I did, during all of that, I could not get Gerard out of my head. Especially how he’d slumped and looked so sick after he’d gotten rid of David. It was troubling.

I finally fell asleep, wondering how tomorrow would be.

*******

I woke up at six-forty-five. I hurried to get ready, and then went to find food. On the fridge was a post-it note the color of a green apple. I read it carefully.

Frank, Gerard called while I was on my way out. He said he’d give you a ride to school if you wanted it. If not, call him before he arrives. -Mom.

I grabbed an apple from the fridge, took a bite, and then waited for Gerard to come get me. He showed up at seven-fifteen. I climbed into the back of his blue car. I was kind of disappointed I had to sit in the back, but there was another guy already in the front seat. The other guy had caramel colored hair, and hard facial features. He wore thick-rimmed glasses and an Anthrax t-shirt.

We were in the school parking lot soon, and I waited to get out of the car and thanked Gerard for the ride, then hurried over to my friends. I had the unfortunate notion that this was my best friend Ray’s last year in high school. Bob would leave after him. And I was only fourteen and smart enough to get advanced a year. But I wouldn’t make it up to three years of class advancement. I wasn’t that smart.

It was almost summer, anyways, and Ray would be gone soon. There was a chance I’d never see him again after the summer. I frowned. That would suck.

The bell rang before long, and I rushed to my locker. Gerard caught up with me and we talked for awhile before classes. I found out that the boy in the front seat was his brother, and that he was in my grade. Gerard started to say something about hanging out over the weekend, but Mikey, his brother, came up and grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Gerard, Mom just called the office. You have tests to take and treatment today at the hospital,” Mikey said. I’m sure I must’ve looked confused. Gerard waved Mikey away, and then turned to me.

“What’re you sick from? It’s not mono, is it?” I asked, making a face. Gerard laughed, somewhat grimly.

“No, it’s not mono. Gotta go, Frank. Duty calls. I’ll see you tomorrow. Maybe,” he said, slapping me lightly on the back and walking back towards the parking lot. I walked away as the tardy bell rang towards first hour. I caught up with Mikey second hour, asking him why Gerard had to go to the hospital. He winced, and I took this as a bad topic for him.

“He has a…what’s the word…condition. Don’t worry about it. He’ll be back tomorrow or the next day,” Mikey said, directing his attention back to the teacher.

I didn’t know what to make of Gerard’s so called “condition”, so I didn’t worry about it. I turned my attention back the class, filling out answers on my Algebra worksheet.

************************************

Gerard

I headed for the bathroom, leaning over the toilet as I emptied my stomach of its contents. Mikey held back my hair tenderly. I hated this. This was the worst part of it all. And the sunburn-like reactions of my skin from the therapy made it worse. I hated this thing inside of me.

Mikey got me a glass of water, and I shakily held the cool cup to my lips to get a drink. My lips hurt really bad. It was hard to talk too. My tongue felt swollen. I slept for probably seventeen hours a day. This continued for several days.

I worried about Frank, getting beaten up by David and his lackey losers. Frank seemed like the type that would just give in and let the others beat the shit out of him. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was.

I slept for about two whole days adding to the four I’d already missed of school, before I had to convince myself to go back. I was helped out by a phone call.