I'm Never Okay

"Iero!"

Oh shit, Frank thought, shoving his books into his locker and slamming the door. Before he could lock the door, he was shoved against the wall, hard.

"Fuck you!" he blurted on reaction, then cringed, realising what he had said.

"Excuse me?" Tall, handsome, blonde, and very jock-like, Nick Turner had him pinned against the wall. Not the best time for an undersized, dark-haired boy to swear at him.

"Get off me," Frank said, struggling to get loose. "What did I do?"

"I'll tell you," Nick said in his ear. "You were talking to my girlfriend, weren't you?" The last word was accompanied by a sharp punch to Frank's stomach, causing a yelp of pain to escape him.

"So? Lauren's a nice person," he said, breathing hard. "Anyway, she just lent me some-fuck!" This time the punch had been aimed at his face. Nick dropped Frank onto the ground, kicking him in the stomach for good measure.

"Don't ever go near her again." He knelt down and grasped Frank's blazer collar. "You hear me?" Frank struggled to get up, using his locker as support.

"You-You don't own her," he said grimly. A tiny voice in his head was saying drop it, you don't even really care about this. But he plowed on. "Does she even mean anything to you? A pretty trophy? A-"

Nick threw him against the locker, and a flurry of punches left Frank with a rapidly darkening eye and bruises on his jaw, shoulders and torso. "I said, did you hear me?" When there was no reply, he lifted the smaller boy up and opened the nearest locker, shoving him into it and locking the lock.

----------

"So you're from L.A.?" Gerard asked.

The dark-haired, almond-eyed girl simply nodded affirmative. Her shyness was almost radiating out of her. "My family had to move..."

"Ahh," Gerard replied, flicking his hair out of his eyes. It was against regulations, but that didn't stop him. "Well, you'll like it here. I guess." He paused briefly. "As long as you're good at sport and you're not into comics or Iron Maiden or Misfits or horror movies..."

"You're into Misfits?" she asked, a flicker of interest in her eyes.

"Hell yeah!" Gerard replied, sensing her loosening up. Music is always the key. "You too?"

"Yeah, I love them...are you serious no one here likes them?"

"Well, I don't know many people that do. Oh, but Frank does!" Noticing her blank look, Gerard elaborated. "Frank's pretty much my best friend here. He's into all the same stuff as me, so that's sort of how we met...and we're both sort of outcasts too. But I actually haven't seen him today. Oh look, this is your locker!"

She smiled. Gerard talked a lot. Then her smile faded. "Oh. Uh...I don't know my combination."

"No problem," Gerard said. "It's 7-9-2-6, Frank figured it out because his locker's right next to it." Spinning the appropriate dials, he opened the door and a body tumbled out of the locker.

"Shit!"

At first he didn't recognise the figure, and then it muttered, "Owwww..."

"Frankie? Oh man, not again! Who was it this time?" Gerard turned Frank over and winced. His face was sporting a few impressive bruises.

"Turner...ohh shit..." He gingerly lifted up his school shirt. "Damnit, that jock punches hard." He touched the raw, red marks on his stomach and snatched his hand away. He looked up and noticed the girl silently watching them.

"Oh, Frank, this is uh, Hayley Johnson. She's a transfer from L.A." Gerard introduced. "Hayley, this is Frank Iero, my best friend."

Frank smiled through his tears. "Hey Hayles," Hayley stiffened at the casual nickname. "Do you know any first aid?"

"I know a bit," Hayley offered quietly, kneeling down next to Frank. "D'you mind..." She gestured towards Frank's bruises.

"Oh no, go ahead...fuck Turner and his girlfriend," Frank grumbled.

"Well, if you didn't flirt so damn much," Gerard told him, exasperated, "then the jocks wouldn't be after you so much."

Frank didn't reply. Hayley touched his ribs gently, then told him, "I'm pretty sure you don't have any broken bones. Your bruises look pretty severe, but they'll go away in a few weeks. But if they hurt real bad, you should take some painkillers. Oh, do you remember everything?"

"Uhh...yeah, I guess?"

"Name?"

"Frank Anthony Iero."

"Birthday?"

"31st October."

"What happened to you?"

"Nick Turner beat me up coz he thought I was hitting on his girlfriend before."

She leant back. "I'm pretty sure you're fine. No concussion."

Gerard was watching the whole exchange. Suddenly Frank looked up. "I don't flirt that much! It's just that I'm small enough to fit in a locker."

Gerard smiled. Just try to keep Frank Iero down, he thought.

"Alright, alright. What were you doing out of class anyway?"

"Well..." Frank glanced around shiftily. Hayley decided this was purely for show though, as the hallways were completely empty and silent.

"Well?" Gerard prompted.

Frank grinned. "I got bored of math."

Gerard groaned. "Big surprise!"

"And...you told me you were skipping period 5 because you were taking around a new student," Frank nodded at Hayley in acknowledgment, "So I decided to see if I could find you."

"Yeah, Hayley's pretty damn cool." He smiled at her.

She smiled in return. "Thanks. You guys seem pretty cool as well."

Frank spluttered. "Oh trust me, you don't know Gerard yet. He played Peter Pan in a musical in fourth grade, and he had these green-"

Gerard elbowed him. "Shut up Frank!"

Hayley smiled. "I love music," she stated simply, and her whole face seemed to light up.

"Oh, awesome! Do you wanna hang out with us for lunch and stuff? We usually have this spot under the trees, it's really cool, and not too hot, but being from LA, you might prefer the sun..."

Frank drifted off, his face turning light pink. Gerard smiled inwardly. He could tell when his best friend was smitten.

Hayley didn't seem to have noticed anything though, besides thinking that Frank and Gerard both talked an awful lot. "Sure, that'd be great."

----------

"Hey Mikes! Over here!" Gerard yelled.

Mikes? Another friend? Hayley wondered. The question was answered as a skinny, bespectacled boy walked over, who bore a remarkable resemblance to Gerard.

"Brothers, right?" she asked. While Gerard's hair was dark, and his brother's hair tawny, and Gerard a lot stockier, it was pretty obvious they were related.

"Yep, Hayley, meet Michael Way, my brother. Mostly everyone calls him Mikey. He's about as shy as you though, so you'll get on well together."

Mikey blushed and sat down next to Frank.

"Hayles saved my life!" Frank declared, and Hayley blushed a similar shade of red.

"So, you guys all live in Belleville?" she asked, trying to detract attention from herself.

"Yeah, me and Mikey and Gerard live like, three streets away from each other. Where's your house?"

"We got it at an auction, the street name is-"

"Oh no way!" Frank interrupted, eyes wide. "I know where you live! You live like, a block away from me! That big house, yeah?"

"Yeah," Hayley smiled. "You live close? That's really cool!"

"Oh crap it's the bell," Gerard jumped up, followed by Mikey and then Frank and Hayley.

"Damnit, my tie!" Frank mumbled, trying to straighten it.

"Give it here," Hayley said. Surprised, Frank allowed her to redo his tie.

"Damn, you're good. A girl of many talents."

"Yeah, I went to a private school before this. Chicks had to wear ties in winter, it was bizarre."

Gerard paused for a second. "Oh wait. I can take Hayley around the school some more. No sport for me!"

Frank pouted. "But I'll have to run stupid laps all alone!" He brightened up. "I'll come with you guys!"

Gerard shrugged, then laughed. "Why not?"