Stereotype

Chapter 2

Frank got to school very early that day, since his dad was expected to show up at work for an out-of-schedule meeting by the time when they'd usually be leaving the house. His mom was busy, and he'd tried to no avail to convince her of letting him walk or take the bus. Ray always got rides from a friend, so going with him wasn't an option.

Therefore he had been basically pushed out of the house and into his dad's car forty five minutes earlier than usual, half-asleep and without any breakfast. He had been lucky to have packed his make-up the night before, although he would have forgotten to apply it if his dad hadn't asked five blocks before arriving. The man knew him very well and had an infinite patience.

What Frank did forget -much to his dismay- was his iPod. It had been boring enough to sit on a bench of the school field in silence for more than half an hour until anyone appeared. Now it was either waiting for near the same amount of time for the bell to ring, or put his classic plan into action. It was a no-brainer.

He considered that the guys from his class had had enough the previous week and needed a break; so he walked towards the spot where his brother's friends hanged out. Only three of them had arrived. While two sat against the old oak tree laughing at something on a magazine, the third leaned on the filthy gym wall smoking.

"Hi, Bob!" Frank greeted him cheerily, imitating the blond boy's pose.

"Fuck off," Bob mumbled around his cigarette. Always so charming. But that's precisely why Frank found him funnier to approach.

"Did you hear that the Souls will be playing somewhere downtown next month? Dude, I want to see them so bad. If only my mom wasn't constantly fearing that I'm gonna get beaten up..."

"She's right to think so, just look at you."

"But, you know?" Frank went on, ignoring the other's remarks. "I think I'm going to go anyway, behind their backs, just...come up with some excuse. Are you going, Bob? Because, if you are, you could do me a favor and get a ticket for me? Pretty please, Bobby?"

"You're such a faggot, Iero," was all Bob had to say.

Frank stopped batting his eyelashes, but his sweet smile didn't yield. "Well yeah, I am, we all know! You already said that last time, though. And the time before, and I think the one before that one too, right? Yeah, pretty sure. Clear. Now, let's stay on topic here, please. Are you gonna see the Souls or not?"

Bob threw his consumed cigarette to the ground, not caring about extinguishing it. His head turned towards Frank and his right hand closed and tensed. Frank glanced down at the menacing fist and smirked, knowing Bob wouldn't hit him. They never did.

"Oh come on, Bobbert! My question wasn't so hard..."

Just when Bob's mouth opened up -most probably to let out some other unfriendly remark, his blue eyes shifted from Frank to something else behind him.

"Oh, fuck. Ray. What took you so long, man?" He rudely walked past Frank, almost making him lose balance as he went to greet the boy's older brother.

"Matt had to stop at the gas station, what's the rush? The bell's not rung yet, has it?" Ray looked at his clock, then gave his kid brother a very quick side glance as to make sure he was alright. "It's not late at all..."

"Fucker," Frank mouthed at him.

"I guess time runs slower when you gotta put up with your sister's stupid babbling." Bob's thumb pointed back at Frank, who smiled to himself as he picked up blue polish off his nails. "Can you make him...her...whatever, understand that I'm not its friend and I'm not going to?

"Bob..." Ray paused, maybe taken aback by his friend calling his brother an 'it'. However, although his look was apologetic, whatever he was feeling didn't reach his lips. "...you know he's a lost cause. Come on, gotta show you something."

"Pretty dense for someone who's supposedly a brainiac," Bob commented as both boys walked away.

"See you later, dear brother!" Frank screamed louder than necessary. "And don't worry, Bobby darling, maybe next time Ray won't interrupt us!"

After texting Marina to report how Ray had ruined his socialization again, Frank collected his customized black backpack and skipped towards the school building. Although he certainly did that in part to show confidence -which he had, it was also true that he enjoyed school. He loved learning and it came easy to him.

"Lighten up, guys, the soul of the party is here!" he announced as he did every Monday, walking down the hall towards the lockers. Most students ignored him, and the rest responded with some irony or simply insulted him. Frank just giggled amusedly while he gathered his books for the day.

******

"Let's say I think of this as a...social experiment."

"A social experiment," Mikey repeated. Gerard knew that frown. His younger brother was still trying to figure out what he meant. He'd asked Gerard for some help to understand why he accepted to go to the school their dad had attended. His answer hadn't been of much help.

"Yep, a social experiment," Gerard insisted. He was slumped on the leathered computer chair, head dropped back and eyelids heavy with sleep. It was too early to talk, but Mikey wouldn't leave him alone until he got a satisfying answer.

"Could you, maybe, elaborate? I mean...kids are going to annoy you so much there. They're gonna want to be your friends without even knowing you, 'cause of what they'll think you may be." Mikey shook his head, frustrated. "Borrowed fame sucks, Gee."

"It does," Gerard agreed. "But...what's the difference between that, and being ignored because of what they think you are, what you look like or what they heard about you?"

"That never happened to you, though."

"I know, Mikey, but it happens to many. And then, one day, someone looks past all those preconceptions and finds an awesome person and friend -or not, but they gave them a chance which is important. The same way, some of those kids will eventually get to know me and realize I'm not as cool as they thought. Others will maybe find out that I can be cool even if I'm not what they expected," Gerard explained animatedly -fully awake now, getting his brother's attention but not his agreement. The worry in his eyes told him so.

"You could come to the same school as me and make friends the usual way. Real friends, for what you are?" the younger suggested.

"That would be too normal, I've done it before. The long, typical way. But this... Social experiment, remember?"

"Yeah, you said it one hundred times already, and I still don't know what you mean."

"Well, you know I like to observe people..." Gerard thought over his worlds carefully as he spun on his chair, not sure himself how to explicate his idea.

"Creeper," Mikey mumbled.

His brother chuckled. "I'm not a creeper, I don't...follow them around. I just pay attention, real attention to what everybody says, the tone of their voice, their facial expressions. How different people react to a same situation."

"Still sounds slightly creepy to me."

"Whatever," the older shrugged. "It's going to be a lot of fun watching those guys act according to what they expect me to be, based on what they know. I bet I'll soon be able to recognize the disinterested ones, then we'll see what the rest will do when I disappoint them."

"You're not gonna tell them right away?" Mikey questioned.

"Only if they proved me wrong and didn't jump on me like flies to shit, which I doubt," the other replied, sighing when he saw the concern still present on the young boy's face. "Stop worrying, Mikes. For once I won't have to put any effort into making friends, I'll have some fun and on top of that...dad's happy that one of us is going to that school!"

"You're just a weirdo," Mikey concluded, walking away. "Good luck, though."

"Same for you, bro!" Gerard shouted. Walking to the mirror he stared for a moment, pondering whether he should do something about his bed hair. "Nah, I like it."