I'm Never Okay

"Hey Hayley, can you help me with this?" Blonde Guy asked, tapping his book.

"Uh yeah, sure," she said, leaning over.

Frank glowered. How come he'd never noticed Blonde Guy in his math class? Oh that's right, because he'd never been flirting with Hayley before. He sighed, looking down at his maths book. It meant absolutely nothing to him, so he set about decorating it.

First he drew a perfect love heart. Then he carefully drew barbed wire around it, and added drops of blood sliding down it, and stenciled 'FRANK' underneath the barbed wire. He inspected it. Not bad, considering Gerard was the artist in his friendship circle.

He began doodling more hearts and crosses onto his book. One for each hour since he'd met Hayley, he told himself. But soon he'd drawn over sixty perfect love hearts and felt no inclination to stop.

"Mr Iero, I trust you've finished the pages that were set for this period? No, I see."

Frank looked up, trying to cover the hearts with his arms and failing. The teacher sighed.

"And please refrain from graffitying your textbook. I don't even want to know why your page is covered in hearts."

Frank turned pink as murmurs and giggles spread through the room. Someone muttered the word 'pansy'. Hayley scrunched up her face in sympathy as Frank glanced her way, before returning to her 'math' conversation with Blonde Guy. What was his name anyway?

He silently pleaded for the bell to go. He had to escape.

----------

"Hey Frank," Hayley smiled as she saw him. "How was last period?"

He sighed. "Shit."

"Really? Why?" Hayley sounded genuinely concerned.

He leaned back against his locker. "Well, I'm just about failing math, I don't get it at all. I just got a whole bunch of dirty looks, got called a fag, a pansy...want me to go on?"

"Who called you that? Why" Hayley asked, shocked.

Frank raised an eyebrow.

"Not that there's anything wrong with being gay...but I mean, calling you-you aren't g-there's..." Her cheeks flamed red. "Oh god, I'm sorry. I don't blame you for not wanting to talk to me."

"Mm," he said. He couldn't work up the energy to be nice right now.

"What are you going to do about your math?"

Frank shrugged. "What about it? I'm resigned to failing it."

"I'm not letting you fail," Hayley told him, making him look up in surprise. "I'm gonna tutor you or something, but I'm not letting you fail."

"Do I have any choice in the matter?" Frank asked.

"No," she said firmly, opening his locker door wider. "Take this," she grabbed his textbook and threw it in his bag. "And this," she finished, throwing in his calculator for good measure.

Frank sighed. "So when are we doing this?" he inquired, trying to look bored.

"Umm, we have math tomorrow again, right?"

Frank shrugged. "Don't ask me." Then, "Shouldn't you be helping Blonde Guy out instead?"

She gave him a look. "Blonde Guy as in Tom?"

"Uh, yeah?" he said. "Isn't like, tutoring sessions a major way to get it on? Why don't you tutor Blonde Guy instead of a pansy like me?"

Her cheeks once again turned bright red. "Okay Frank, first off, I don't care if you're gay, straight or bisexual, you are - or were - my friend. Second, you don't seem to think I'm your friend, so I don't even know why I'm trying to help you here. And third, his name's Tom." She finished the tirade and slammed her locker door shut, locking it.

Frank knew he should stop right there. What was he doing, jeopardising his relationship - i.e. friendship - with Hayley? But the thought of Hayley and Blonde Guy laughing and talking made him see red. "Well, first off," he said, mimicking Hayley's voice, "I wasn't the one flirting with a stupid-ass jock."

As soon as he said that he regretted it. Too late. Hayley threw her bag over her shoulder and stormed off. Frank stared after her, slightly regretful but still angry. Who exactly was she? She liked Skittles. And she flirted with jocks. He slowly took the math textbook and calculator from his bag and placed them back in his locker.