Stereotype

Frank was already there when Gerard got to school the next day. He was sitting Indian style on the grass in the middle of a crowd of students, yet immersed in his own little world. Gerard only saw him because he got curious about who was bawling the lyrics to True Believers. It should have been obvious.

As he got closer, Frank didn't stop. He was smiling with his eyes closed and headbanging slightly as he yelled along to the song.

Gerard touched his shoulder. "Frankie?" He jumped when the kid shrieked loudly and ripped his earbuds off.

"Fuck, Gerard...almost killed me!"

Probably not exactly coincidentally, the blond Brian walked by them and turned to Frank. "Saw a mouse, lady?" he said sarcastically. "Although...you'd have probably scared it away first with your awful screaming."

"Nope. I have visions, you know? And I just saw your ugly tiny dick in one." Frank faked a shudder. "Do not want."

"There you got your answer." Gerard snickered. "Now...would you mind, Brian? I was going to talk to Frank here."

Brian rolled his eyes and walked away, looking like he was literally biting his tongue not to retort. Gerard was starting to enjoy the ridiculous power he seemed to have over those boys. He didn't need to be overly nice to them if he didn't feel it. He could even get away with speaking his mind to some extent and pass it as a joke; most of them would still swallow their anger. He wouldn't be usually proud of taking advantage of his borrowed fame -Mikey would scowl at him for it, but some people in that school deserved it.

"Sorry for scaring you," Gerard told Frank, trying not to laugh as he kept thinking of his singing. "I had to get your attention somehow since you weren't gonna hear me..."

The other covered his face and let out a muffled, "Was I too bad?"

"Just a little bit out of tune, happens to everybody when singing with headphones on."

"Oh...okay, then." Frank shrugged. He then got up, placing a hand on Gerard's back. "Let's get out of the gossip area."

"Yeah, good idea, have something to tell you."

"What is- Oh! It's good, judging by that smirk. You met a girl, or boy or...whatever!" The younger kid guessed, bouncing a little as they headed for the school building.

Gerard was a little overwhelmed by Frank's energy, and confused by his assumptions. "What? Nah, I didn't meet anyone. Jeez, how can you be so bouncy at this hour in the morning?"

"I eat lots sugary goods for breakfast," Frank replied happily. "So...what's it that you gotta tell me, then?"

"You know I said I'd talk to the guys 'bout what they do to some kids?"

"Yeah..." Frank's enthusiasm seemed to suddenly fade.

Gerard frowned at that, but continued, "Well, I talked to Matt yesterday after the practice. Can you believe he fucking tried to use the school's honor as an excuse? Then he admitted it's a personal issue of him and he wants to make those kids leave the school..."

"Fucking asshole."

"Yeah. I swear I just wanted to punch him in the face, but then I'd be no better than him, would I? Also, I can't turn into his enemy so soon. But I did tell him what I think, and made sure to mention my dad and how he was against the kind of shit he and his friends do." Gerard smiled proudly, searching for Frank's complicity, but he wasn't looking at him. He couldn't even tell if Frank was listening until he spoke again.

"Uh...and what did he say? I can imagine he didn't like it one bit."

"Oh, no. He was furious! Picture his face when I told him his attitude only made him look like an idiot and no one respected him..."

"You did what? And you're in one piece?" Frank stopped Gerard right before the lockers and appeared to be analyzing his face. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No no, don't worry. I think he was about to, at one moment -even though I said I was just giving him advice. But I didn't show any fear, just told him to think about it and then walked away. I'll tell you something, though: he paid attention to me, I made him think. I have a feeling things will be peaceful for a while at least."

Frank wasn't saying anything, but after Gerard's last sentence he'd started to shake his head slowly, lifting his eyes off the floor and looking at him with certain sadness.

"Sorry to ruin your hopes, but Matt didn't even take one day off. Saw him cornering Alex a while before you arrived," he broke the news. He hadn't wanted to, after seeing Gerard's excitement and hearing about how brave he had been. But he couldn't hide it and let him think his plan had worked so easily. Frank had known it wouldn't be easy from the start.

"Fuck! But...isn't Alex Brian's friend?" Gerard asked confused. He still had trouble with names, so maybe he had gotten that one wrong. The Alex he was thinking of wasn't part of the football team, but still hanged out with them all the time. He was also taller and stronger looking than Matt.

"Oh...no, not that Alex. That one could probably kick the shit outta Matt's ass. I mean the one in my year. Small eyes, messy black hair, almost as short as me?" Frank explicated with venom in his voice at the thought of how tiny Alex had looked next to Matt and his bodyguards. How scared.

"Ahh, yeah, I think I know."

"He's such a quiet kid, barely speaks in class. From what I heard, they caught him smiling a lot while texting a boy, so they added him to the 'list'. Thankfully, Mrs. Gomez appeared right away today, so they didn't get to hurt him. Matt came up with some excuse, though, and Alex went along with the lie out of fear."

"Did you tell Gomez the truth afterwards?" Gerard hated the teachers' usual lack of commitment when those kind of things happened. To think they actually believed all the lies the students told was unrealistic, and it seemed to be the same in all schools.

"I was going to, but my brother saw me and figured out what I was about to do. He ordered me to stay away from trouble, then escorted me out where he could watch me. That's when I gave all those fuckers the show you saw -or heard- as punishment." Frank grinned, back to his usual self. Seeing that Gerard look confused by his change of mood, he added, "Don't worry, I'll talk to Gomez as soon as I can escape Ray's vigilance. It never helps much, though."

Gerard got a glimpse of Ray keeping an eye on Frank from afar, and nodded knowingly. "We gotta keep trying to stop those guys. If teachers won't do much, then we will. Let's insist."

"How...what do you mean? We...?"

"You need to join in with me, Frankie. Just...hang out with us. If we're both inside their group we can work together."

Frank sighed, unrolling and twisting the too-long sleeves of his denim jacket nervously. "Gerard...you know they don't want me there."

"So? You'll be with me, you're my friend and they kiss my ass all the time. It's safe. Aren't you always trying to get some of them to know you?" Gerard pointed out.

"I...in some cases I just want to annoy them, but a few of those guys are actually pretty cool."

"Yeah, I know."

"I'd like to be their friend, if they only let me," Frank said tiredly.

Gerard took notice of how the tone of Frank's voice got much lower when he was tired or sad. While that happened to most people, it was a bigger contrast in Frank's case compared to his usual higher pitch, which was very close to that of girls. It got even higher when he was excited and, while stupid kids mocked Frank for it, it made him more captivating to Gerard. He was so...uplifting.

"I mean," the younger one resumed, interrupting Gerard's thoughts, "that's why I don't give up, I want them to give me a fucking chance at least."

"Well, this is your chance! Have lunch with me and the football team? I'm pretty sure they'll behave while I'm there and will pay attention to you. They'll discover you're awesome."

"You think I am?"

"Of course! So, what do you say?"

"I don't know. All of them together is a little..."

"Pretty please, Frankie? Infiltrate with me?" Gerard insisted, hands together as if he was praying. The bell rang, but he stayed there waiting for an answer, ignoring all the kids that pushed past them.

Frank laughed, the sound drowned by the rushed chatting around them. He raised his voice over the noise. "Okay I'm in, but just because you suddenly made it sound so much cooler. Like a movie."

"You're awesome, told you. See you at lunch!" Gerard waved childishly and disappeared.

Frank needed a moment to take conscience of what he had just agreed to. As scary as the idea was to him, more than one good thing could come out of it. Although he hadn't known Gerard for long, he already trusted him. Way may be kind of an idealist, but had the best intentions. For once, someone was on Frank's side in that place; someone who wanted to fight for the same things as him. A friend, and he wouldn't let him down.

Not wanting to be late to his first class, Frank raced towards the classroom, thanking his modern-jazz dance lessons for keeping him in shape.