Born and Broken Every Single Time.

“Ah Mr. Iero you decided to grace us with your presence.” I’d never see the funny side to my registration tutors remarks. I’d practically forced myself to come today to sort out this fiasco with Mrs. Clarkson and I could tell it wouldn’t go well. My walk to school was hellish. It may only have taken ten minutes but I felt myself leaning on any railing or wall as I walked, feeling I could collapse any moment.

“Oh my god,” I heard Becky exclaim as she strolled into class. “Am I seeing right? Franks.. here?!”

I sighed as another comment was thrown at me. I wasn’t friends with her, but I didn’t not like her – we were kind of casual friends as in we would talk if we were together but we’d never hang out, ever. I’d like to say I took the comment on the chin but I didn’t. I slammed my fist into the table as I walked boldly out the class, hearing the mild laughter and shocked whispers behind me.

I heard a few shouts after me but chose to ignore them as I stormed through the corridors towards Mrs. Clarksons office, however she found me on my way.

“Ah, Frank,” she smiled patronisingly. “Here to give yet another fake doctors note?”

”Excuse me?” I snapped at her audacity. “Those weren’t fake!”

“Of course not,” she smiled. “Why are you here Frank?”

“Leave my parents alone.”

“Excuse me?”

“Stop sending them letters and phoning them about things that aren’t even true. Stop telling me I’m bringing in fake letters, because I’m not.”

“Okay Frank,” she continued slowly. “If there is actually something wrong, then I’d like you to tell me about your problems now and prove it”

“Uh sorry,” I replied immediately. “I don’t tell my life story to anyone who asks.”

“Then looks like it’s not all that true then, huh?” she gave me another patronising smirk, I swear I wanted to smash her face.

“Look, what gives you the right to know everything about my life?”

“Because I’m your teacher, Frank. Maybe you ought to get that into your thick skull yeah?”

“Take your head out your ass,” I snapped as I watched the shock take over her face. “How you got this promotion I’ll never know! No one gets it; just everyone else sucks up your ass! You have no right to know about my life and look at you – standing there as if you’re something special and talking to me like I’m shit! You’ve got some cheek.”

“How dare you!” I heard her call after me as I stormed off in the opposite direction.

“Hey, why don’t you call and tell my parents?! At least this time I’ve actually done something, jackass!” I shouted back without looking around. I was sick of her always talking to me as if I was something she’d trodden in. I don’t let anyone talk down to me in life, and just because she’s a teacher meant nothing. I got told often enough my cheek with teachers was disgraceful, but everyone overlooked how she spoke to me. It was disgusting.

As soon as I got out of the school grounds, having decided I was not putting up with a day of this, I ran to the shop just further along the road. I picked up as many packets of crisps and chocolate as I could manage and silently handed over a fiver, which should easily cover it.

“Someone’s a bit hungry today!” the girl behind the counter remarked cheerily.

I glared silently at her as she realised I was not in the mood for her cheery manner. She gave me my change and my bagful of snacks and I left without so much as a goodbye.
I hastily walked to the park nearby, deserted as all children or ‘youngsters’ were in school – where I should be. I sat down on the swing and placed the bag on my knees.

This happened roughly once a week, maybe once every ten days. I’d become conscious of how little I ate and I’d just scoff as much as I could that was unhealthy – anything to raise my calorie intake. I felt myself slamming handfuls of crisps into my mouth, gagging as I tried to swallow it down before forcing more down my throat.

As I reached the last snack in the bag, only a mere fifteen minutes later I felt myself gag worse than before. I found myself throwing the rubbish to the ground and running over to a bin, violently throwing up my guts as everything I’d just forced resurfaced.

I stumbled back to the swing where I’d previously sat and just swung gently as I felt myself becoming seriously weakened.

“Fr-Frank?” I looked around to be met with Gerard standing a few yards away, his jacket hood up even though it wasn’t raining.

“Uh… why are you here? How?”

“Mikey text me and said he heard you’d walked out and asked me to try find out if you’re okay,” he replied calmly as he sat on the swing beside me, using his legs to gently rock it back and forth as his hands remained in his pocket, his gaze catching mine and voicing its concern. “You look terrible.”

“Gee thanks,” I laughed weakly as I curled over; my eyes focussing on the ground as I willed a growing pain to pass. “I’m fine.”

“Fine as you can be when you puke your guts up, huh?” I looked round slightly as he alerted me to the fact he’d seen, half cursing myself for this, half cursing him.

“Why are you here?” I returned my gaze to the ground.

“Fine if you’ll be like that I’ll just go.” He stood up and walked back along the path leaving the park, ignoring my concessions asking him not to leave.

I forced myself off the swing and ran to catch up with him, feeling my energy flailing as I caught up with him, tugging his arm and pulling him around to face me.

“I knew you couldn’t resist,” he smirked, forcing me to giggle even though it hurt. “Come back to mine,” he continued. “You’ll get your ass kicked if you go home, and you’re in no fit state to be alone.”

Before I could respond I was cut off as his lips smacked into mine, throwing my mind back to the powercut.

”Now you have even more incentive to come back to mine,” he laughed gently as he whispered in my ear before tugging on my arm, half dragging me back to his.