I Can Transform You

POV: Frank

“So… we’ve been bullying the kid for years, and now suddenly he just buys you a present… Am I missing something?” Matty frowned at me, taking a drag on his cigarette.

Yes... Yes you are.

He was sitting next to me with one leg propped up on the wall and the other hanging down to the floor, leaning casually back against the bike shed. I was sat up straight on the wall, both feet on the floor, but looking sideways at him while he questioned me.

Gerard was the main topic of our conversation after what had just happened. I still felt bad about it, but I didn’t let my guilt show. I played it cool.

“Well, he broke my photo frame the other day and I got angry with him. He probably bought me a new one ‘cause he was scared that I was going to beat him up or something,” I shrugged nonchalantly, drinking the last of my can of beer that Matty had supplied me with.

“Or because he secretly fancies you,” James interjected.

I snapped my head in his direction. He was standing up, leaning with his back against the bike shed and facing Matty and I.

“Dude, shut up saying that,” I groaned, wrinkling my nose and furrowing my eyebrows.

Seriously, what is the deal with that?

“I think it’s funny,” James grinned.

“Well, you’re freaking me out,” I muttered, glaring at him.

“That’s why it’s funny!”

I didn’t reply; I just rolled my eyes and threw my empty beer can at him, which he hit out of the way ninja-style.

“You know… James has a point,” Matty suddenly piped up, exhaling smoke from his cigarette and polluting the air around us.

“Oh, not you too,” I groaned, wishing I had another beer can to throw at Matty too.

“Well, there must be some reason why he is kissing your ass,” he shrugged, narrowing his eyes at me.

The way Matty was saying this was like he literally believed it, unlike James, who I know was only saying it to wind me up. I didn’t know how to react to Matty’s confidence.

“I bet he wants to be popular,” James smirked jokingly.

“Gerard… popular?” I scoffed.

Neeeever gonna happen.

“Do you know what would be fucking funny?” Matty piped up, his lips curling into a smile.

“If you fell off that wall,” James responded like the witty joker that he is.

I just arched an eyebrow at Matty questioningly.

He flipped James the finger without looking at him and sat up straighter, facing me with a smirk fit for the devil across his face.

“We should make him popular,” he revealed after a dramatic build-up.

My eyebrows dropped into a deep frown as I failed to see the logic or hilarity behind Matty’s great idea.

“Uh… why?” I asked flatly.

Like I said before, 'Gerard… popular?' Nah, I don’t see it happening. People have to like you for you to be popular, and well, no one likes him.

“Well, not like, for real… We’ll just make him think he’s one of us for a few weeks, and in that time we’ll get all the dirt on him… Then, when he starts thinking we’re actually his friends, we’ll drop him on his ass and reveal his secrets to the whole school!” Matty exclaimed, clearly excited about his cunning plan.

Still, I failed to see anything good about it. James, on the other hand, was all for it. (That's because he's Matty's bitch... He'll do whatever Matty wants.)

"That's a great plan!" he gasped, looking at Matty in admiring awe.

Uh, how exactly is it great?

“Gerard would never trust us or wanna hang out with us after all the times we’ve beaten him up,” I retorted realistically, pointing out a rather big flaw in 'the plan'.

But seriously, we're enemies. Gerard's hardly going to be like "oh yeah, you've been beating me up for all these years, but sure, why not? Yay, let's be bff's!"

Matty and James are deluded.

“Well, I’m sure you could find a way to gain his trust, Frank. He obviously likes you, since he goes around buying you presents,” James mentioned, and I just glared at him.

After what just happened, I doubt that Gerard is my biggest fan... Yeah, I think I blew my chance of gaining his trust when I shoved his present back in his face and let my friends beat him up.

“Well, I don’t want his trust,” I folded my arms stubbornly, adding silently in my head 'I don’t want to do this.'

I mean, sure, we’ve beaten Gerard up in the past... But making him believe we’re his friends JUST to throw it all back in his face? That is a whole new level of harsh... Even for us.

I’m not into this plan at all.

“What’s the matter, Frank? You worried about breaking your boyfriend’s heart or something?” Matty smirked, making me tut and punch in the arm.

Unfortunately, his arm is made of rock hard muscle, so all I managed to do was hurt my own hand.

“No, I just don’t particularly want to hang around with Gerard,” I retorted smoothly, shaking out my hand that had just been owned by Matty’s arm.

“But you live with him, so you see him every day anyway. All you have to do is start being nice to him from now on, until I say stop,” Matty shrugged, still looking proud of himself for his lame plan.

Pfft, I don’t have to do anything Matty tells me.

“Sounds like a waste of time to me,” I voiced my disapproving thoughts.

Seriously, what do we have to gain from this? We humiliate Gerard on a daily basis anyway… This seems like too much effort just to humiliate him some more.

“It’s not. It’ll be funny. Why are you being such a pussy?” Matty frowned, staring at me like I was the foreign exchange kid that always cries in Spanish class.

Why are YOU being such a dick right now?

I glared at him, resisting the urge to punch him in the arm again, for my own sake.

“He’s going soft on us, because he’s getting hard for Gerard!” James spoke up, cackling with laughter at his own oh-so-clever rhyme.

Matty snorted, but I was not so amused.

“Fuck off am I!”

Prick.

Matty and James exchanged glances at my defensive outburst, smirking even more.

“So, you’re in?” Matty turned to me, still grinning at my expense.

Well, if I say no now they’ll just keep ripping the shit out of me since they’re both in one of those annoying, piss-taking moods...

“Alright, fine, whatever,” I gave in finally, rolling my eyes.

This plan would never work in a million years anyway.