I Can Transform You

POV: Gerard

I sat next to Ray and Bob in chemistry. Everyone in my class gave me weird looks, like they were wondering why I was hanging out with the ‘losers’ again now, after hanging out with the ‘popular kids’.

But I didn’t care, because Ray and Bob are my friends and I missed the shit out of them now that I hung around with Frank all the time.

“So, what have you found out since hanging around with Frank?” Ray asked with interest.

You wouldn’t know it from looking at him, but Ray is always digging for dirt on people. That’s why his hair is so big… It’s full of secrets.

“Quite a lot actually,” I answered gravely. I’d had quite the insight into Frank’s life recently. “I’ve seen sides to him that I never knew existed.”

Up until a few days ago, the only side of Frank I knew was the bully; the abusive one that intimidates everyone… The one that made my life a living hell.

But over the last few days I’ve seen a more sensitive side to him. He’s proven that he has emotions, like the rest of us, and sometimes they get too much for him. I’ve seen him break down and then rebuild the barrier around himself all too quickly.

I’ve realised these last few days that he is a very insecure person. He gets paranoid and jealous easily, because he’s been fucked over by a lot of people in the past.

He’s also shown me that he can be considerate and nice when he wants to be, and short-tempered and jealous too.

All these things I can use to my advantage…

I still don’t know everything about him yet though. For example, I have no idea about his past. I can tell that he has a dark past… I can just see it in his eyes. They’re haunted. But I don’t know what happened, other than his Dad died.

“Is he nice to you?” Bob questioned, a concentrated look on his face.

I shrugged.

“It varies. Sometimes he snaps at me and he makes a lot of sarcastic comments, but I think that’s just the way he is… I mean, he acts the same around his friends,” I replied thoughtfully. “He and Matty have a strange friendship… It almost seems like they don’t even like eachother that much.”

From what I see, they argue all the time. But then, maybe that’s a result of them being so close and spending too much time together… I don’t know.

“Frank doesn’t seem that close to anyone, actually,” I continued, unable to stop rambling about him. “He barely speaks to his mother, and he doesn’t even see his girlfriend that often… I’m like 98% sure she is sleeping with Matty behind his back anyway… It’s so obvious!”

I see the way they look at eachother and they flirt all the time when Frank’s not around… But he’s so oblivious to what is going on right under his nose.

“Well, that sounds like a good place to start with the plan,” Bob suddenly piped up.

I furrowed my eyebrows, confused.

“What do you mean?”

Bob sighed, exasperated that he had to explain the unobvious thoughts running through his head.

“If you can prove that Matty and Lydia are hooking up behind Frank’s back, then that will destroy his relationship with both of them, along with his inner friendship circle,” he explained in a hushed voice so no one in our class could hear.

Frank would go off the rails if he found out they were deceiving him like that, no doubt about it.

“Then, you can pretend to be there for Frank, and he’ll put his trust in you, and you can turn around and throw it back in his face when he’s least expecting it!” Bob added with an evil smirk. “How’s that for sweet revenge?”

That’s pretty damn sweet.

“Seriously, you are an evil mastermind,” I spoke in awe of my best friend.

“It’s because of all the video games he plays,” Ray interjected, sighing.

“Indeed,” Bob agreed nonchalantly. “So, are you down with that?”

“Oh yeah, I’m down with that.”

I need to stay focused. Even though Frank has kinda started to grow on me, I still intend to make him pay for making my life a living hell the last six years. I haven’t lost sight of my goal here.