Status: Updates Every Three Days
My Medical Romance
Two
“So you’re in Mikey’s grade?”
“Yeah. He’s not in any of my classes, though.”
“I think you have lunch at the same time as me,” Mikey added. “Me and Gerard. We sit with Toro and Iero.”
I knew Frank Iero because he was in my gym class. He was short and incredibly friendly. With my ailments and his seemingly endless injuries, we sat out together sometimes. I didn’t know Ray Toro personally, but I had heard his name on the announcements for the jazz band. He was a guitar player.
“Why don’t you start sitting with us? You and Mikey can compare inhalers,” Gerard joked. Simultaneously we scowled at him before realizing how ridiculous it was.
“Yeah, us asthmatics need to stick together.”
I liked how he didn’t ask about my allergies. Everyone else did, and then I had to prattle off the different medications and animals and plants. Sometimes I’d throw in something silly, like hippo sweat, just to see if they’d notice.
They never did.
“Maybe. I think you’ve waited twenty minutes, you don’t have to stay anymore.”
“What’s ten more minutes? Like Pokémon?” The brothers pulled out little containers with their cards and I fumbled around for my bag. Before they’d moved, I babysat twin boys who played the game more than I thought possible, and as a Christmas gift they’d provided me with my own little collection in a charizard tin. I was surprisingly well prepared for this.
That, however, didn’t mean I was at all good. Gerard won, and from how Mikey reacted I guessed that was how it usually went.
“Alright, Iris, no reaction?” My mom asked, having finally detached herself from conversation with the secretary.
“Nope.” I smiled slightly at the brothers and they grinned back, and we set out to our cars.
“They seemed like such nice boys, why don’t you ever have them over?”
“Ma, this is the first time I ever even talked to them,” I reminded her. “I might sit with them tomorrow at lunch though. They sit with the boy from gym that I talk to when I have to sit out and a kid from the jazz band.”
“That’s nice, sweetie.”
It was nice. I had school friends, but nobody that I talked to outside of it. That was different, now, because I was talking to Mikey and Gerard and maybe I could invite them over eventually. It would be nice.
Probably the first time I’d used nice in such quick succession since first grade English lessons.
The first five periods of school went by quickly for me. I tried to focus on academics because athleticism definitely wasn’t going to get me anywhere, but a social aspect, I decided, would be nice too.
“Hey, Iris!” Gerard called, waving me to his table. I sat across from him. “Mikey’s at the nurse because his inhaler ran out, but he’ll be back.” I nodded. It was a bright day out.
“Whoa! It’s my gym buddy!” Frank yelled, sprinting across the courtyard leaving behind Ray, who was shaking his head. Already, he had grass stains on the pants of his uniform and his tie was wildly askew.
“Yeah. Nice to see you too, Frank.” I smoothed my skirt out self consciously. I didn’t usually sit in the courtyard, let alone with anyone else.
“You know Iris, Gee?” He asked.
“I met her yesterday when I took Mikey to get his allergy shots.”
“Ray Toro,” Ray said, extending a hand for me to shake when he finally reached the table.
“Iris Addie.” They were a strange bunch, I decided. Nice, but strange. When Mikey got back they started talking about comic books and then before I knew it the conversation had switched to music and came to a screeching halt at a prank they intended to pull. My head snapped up from the chemistry work I was trying to finish and they all looked at me.
“Relax, Iris,” Gerard said. He was using his ‘charming’ voice. He’d used it on my mother too. It was unfortunately working. “No one’s going to get hurt or anything, it’s just a little bit of rebellion.”
“Whatever you say,” I sighed.
“You can help, if you want,” Mikey added shyly. In this boisterous atmosphere, his voice got shoved into an even smaller box.
I thought about it. My mother would most likely send me to an even stricter school, or even to live with my father and step mother across the country in the middle of nowhere. On the other hand, she might be happy that I was actually doing things and interacting with people, and if I didn’t get caught she’d never have to know.
“I’m in.”
“Perfect, you can come over Friday after school and we’ll start getting everything together. Me and Frank have detention again today and tomorrow because he drank his chemistry lab and I wouldn’t swim at gym,” Gerard agreed and then cringed as flying lunch debris smacked into the back of Frank’s head.
“Yeah. He’s not in any of my classes, though.”
“I think you have lunch at the same time as me,” Mikey added. “Me and Gerard. We sit with Toro and Iero.”
I knew Frank Iero because he was in my gym class. He was short and incredibly friendly. With my ailments and his seemingly endless injuries, we sat out together sometimes. I didn’t know Ray Toro personally, but I had heard his name on the announcements for the jazz band. He was a guitar player.
“Why don’t you start sitting with us? You and Mikey can compare inhalers,” Gerard joked. Simultaneously we scowled at him before realizing how ridiculous it was.
“Yeah, us asthmatics need to stick together.”
I liked how he didn’t ask about my allergies. Everyone else did, and then I had to prattle off the different medications and animals and plants. Sometimes I’d throw in something silly, like hippo sweat, just to see if they’d notice.
They never did.
“Maybe. I think you’ve waited twenty minutes, you don’t have to stay anymore.”
“What’s ten more minutes? Like Pokémon?” The brothers pulled out little containers with their cards and I fumbled around for my bag. Before they’d moved, I babysat twin boys who played the game more than I thought possible, and as a Christmas gift they’d provided me with my own little collection in a charizard tin. I was surprisingly well prepared for this.
That, however, didn’t mean I was at all good. Gerard won, and from how Mikey reacted I guessed that was how it usually went.
“Alright, Iris, no reaction?” My mom asked, having finally detached herself from conversation with the secretary.
“Nope.” I smiled slightly at the brothers and they grinned back, and we set out to our cars.
“They seemed like such nice boys, why don’t you ever have them over?”
“Ma, this is the first time I ever even talked to them,” I reminded her. “I might sit with them tomorrow at lunch though. They sit with the boy from gym that I talk to when I have to sit out and a kid from the jazz band.”
“That’s nice, sweetie.”
It was nice. I had school friends, but nobody that I talked to outside of it. That was different, now, because I was talking to Mikey and Gerard and maybe I could invite them over eventually. It would be nice.
Probably the first time I’d used nice in such quick succession since first grade English lessons.
The first five periods of school went by quickly for me. I tried to focus on academics because athleticism definitely wasn’t going to get me anywhere, but a social aspect, I decided, would be nice too.
“Hey, Iris!” Gerard called, waving me to his table. I sat across from him. “Mikey’s at the nurse because his inhaler ran out, but he’ll be back.” I nodded. It was a bright day out.
“Whoa! It’s my gym buddy!” Frank yelled, sprinting across the courtyard leaving behind Ray, who was shaking his head. Already, he had grass stains on the pants of his uniform and his tie was wildly askew.
“Yeah. Nice to see you too, Frank.” I smoothed my skirt out self consciously. I didn’t usually sit in the courtyard, let alone with anyone else.
“You know Iris, Gee?” He asked.
“I met her yesterday when I took Mikey to get his allergy shots.”
“Ray Toro,” Ray said, extending a hand for me to shake when he finally reached the table.
“Iris Addie.” They were a strange bunch, I decided. Nice, but strange. When Mikey got back they started talking about comic books and then before I knew it the conversation had switched to music and came to a screeching halt at a prank they intended to pull. My head snapped up from the chemistry work I was trying to finish and they all looked at me.
“Relax, Iris,” Gerard said. He was using his ‘charming’ voice. He’d used it on my mother too. It was unfortunately working. “No one’s going to get hurt or anything, it’s just a little bit of rebellion.”
“Whatever you say,” I sighed.
“You can help, if you want,” Mikey added shyly. In this boisterous atmosphere, his voice got shoved into an even smaller box.
I thought about it. My mother would most likely send me to an even stricter school, or even to live with my father and step mother across the country in the middle of nowhere. On the other hand, she might be happy that I was actually doing things and interacting with people, and if I didn’t get caught she’d never have to know.
“I’m in.”
“Perfect, you can come over Friday after school and we’ll start getting everything together. Me and Frank have detention again today and tomorrow because he drank his chemistry lab and I wouldn’t swim at gym,” Gerard agreed and then cringed as flying lunch debris smacked into the back of Frank’s head.