I Hate You, I Love You

Frank's P.O.V

I walked shamefully to what I hoped to be the right classroom. I spend almost half of the period trying to get around this place before I actually found my way to class. My intentions of flying under the radar were immediately crushed once I walked in the door however. As I stepped in with a shy knock on the door I felt a heavy feeling of embarrassment as some students started whispering to themselves. People who got to see the confrontation this morning were filling in the details of what had happened while others couldn't care less of what was happening and resumed to what they were previously doing.
I tried to block the students out by looking at the teacher, she was a middle aged woman, around her 40's, with short, silky brunette hair. She had a smile on her face and seemed cheerful as she ignored the bored expressions of her uninterested students. I handed her my schedule without a word, hoping she would understand the reasoning behind my silence.

"Hello-" she started and looked down and my schedule as she continued on with her introduction
"-Frank, I'm Mrs.Abbot, I'll be your math teacher for this year." She ended cheerfully as she handed me back my schedule, placing my name on the class attendance list

I was surely expecting her to ask me to introduce myself to the entire class, but as soon as she looked up from her desk she saw my face of pure discomfort and she gave me a sympathetic smile.
"You can sit wherever you'd like, sweetie" she said, pointing to the desks in front of me.

I scanned the room, unsure of what territories were off limits. I decided on sitting in the very back of the room where I felt most comfortable. As soon as I was seated Mrs.Abbot resumed to her teaching as she wrote some equations on the board.

Class was silent until the bell rang which signaled the end of first period. I walked out the door, unsure of where I was going until I was stopped by a tall, skinny looking guy with medium brown hair and glasses which were perched up in an oddly fashion on the tip of his nose, giving him a nerdy appearance. I remember seeing him in my first period as the guy that sat across from me. I was confused as to why he stopped me until he seemed to have read my mind.

"Hey, I'm Michael, I saw you in my first period and I can see you're new here, do you need any help ?" He asked as he held his hand up in a way of introducing himself.

I was hesitant at first at the sudden offer but quickly shook his hand.
"I'm Frank, and yes Id really appreciate it." I answered with a look of relief

The boy just smiled and took a look at my schedule, before he glanced up at me with amusement
"Looks like we have morning classes together" he said cheerfully as he handed me back my schedule and he guided me to my next period class.

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The rest of the morning wasn't as bad as I originally thought it would, Mikey was my savior sent from above, I wasn't late for any of my other classes and I was grateful that I actually had someone to talk to considering I was new to the whole Belleville environment. He introduced me to his friend Phil from third period, he told me that since he couldn't be with me in lunch that I could still have Phil there in case I have nobody else to talk to, since He had the same lunch period as me. Mikey also explained all the different floors of the school and showed me where all my afternoon classes were so I wouldn't get lost again.

After a good five minutes arguing with Mikey that I would be fine to go to lunch without him, he hesitated for a while, but surrendered in defeat, knowing that Phil will be there if anything happened.
I was currently putting my things away from this morning and grabbing my afternoon stuff before going to lunch when I felt a tap on the shoulder, when I turned to see who it was I found Phil.

"Hey" he said with a small smile

Phil was pretty cool, he wasn't as nerdy as Mikey but he wasn't an asshole either, he was the type of person that would get along with anybody who got along with him.

"Hey, Phil" I replied, returning the smile with a wave

"Are you ready to go to lunch ? " he asked as he leaned against the lockers waiting for me to put my stuff together

"Yeah, totally, I'm starving" I said closing my locker and waiting for him to lead the way and as if on que my stomach growled, making a weird sound that made us both laugh

We made small talk while strolling through the hallways on the way to the cafeteria, not really caring that the last bell rung considering it was only lunch and there wasn't attendance to worry about.

"So I head about this morning" Phil said after a minute of silence, the sudden comment coming in a bit unexpectedly which made me turn to him questionably.

"With you and Gerard" he spoke up again.
I was confused at first and then realized he was talking about the scene Id made when I knocked those books out of that black haired boy's hands. My mind wandered back to that moment, people were still talking about it and it made me nothing less than uncomfortable to know that it was my first day and I was already in the mouths of almost everybody here.

"Yeah, I didn't mean to get on his bad side, I was just distracted" I responded shyly

Phil gave me a sympathetic smile and nodded his head in understanding.
"I know, I don't think anybody really means getting in Gerard's bad side, it just..happens" he said trying to make me feel better.
"I'm just surprised you didn't get hit" he added.

"What do you mean? " I asked with a puzzled look on my face

Phil looked at me and just shrugged
"Nobody passes through Gerard without getting hurt, I was just surprised to hear you didn't get more than just a warning" he simply explained.

We were a few hallways away from the lunchroom, judging by the loud laughter of people and the aroma of horribly tasting lunch, which surprisingly seemed more and more appetizing as my stomach kept growling.
I was about to ask Phil to tell me more about this Gerard guy when we were stopped by the devil himself.

As we turned the corner to the last hallway to the lunchroom, Gerard was leaning back into a locker seeming fairly interested in his cigarette before he saw us.
Phil shifted uncomfortably but kept walking as though trying to ignore Gerard as best he could. Gerard moved towards us, blocking our path from the safety of the lunchroom.

"Hello, Phil" he stated blankly, ignoring me completely which threw me off considering I pissed him off a couple of hours ago.

"Hey" Phil responded back sourly

"You know, you really shouldn't be talking smack about me to the new kid" he spat, looking over at me for a second and then back at Phil.

"Why shouldn't I ? He'll find out eventually" Phil retorted defensively

Gerard's calm demeanor suddenly snapped before grabbing Phil by the shirt and pulling him closer to him
"DONT TALK ABOUT ME BEHIND MY BACK WITHOUT EXPECTING ME TO FIND OUT" he said through gritted teeth, before dragging Phil and shoving him in a locker.

I just watched in horror as I saw Phil being dragged into the tiny space that was significantly too small for his stature. I couldn't call for help, one reason being I didn't know where the school faculty hung around during lunch and another reason, not wanting to anger Gerard for ratting on him. I wasn't going to let my friend be dragged around like that and I decided to make the boldest move I could do. Right as Gerard was done stuffing Phil sucessfully into the locker, I ran up to him

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING ? GET MY FRIEND OUT ! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU ?" I screamed in his face which wasn't really, since I was beyond shorter than him

Gerard didn't seem phased at all, in fact he leaned against the locker again and lit another cigarette, waiting for me to finish.

"Are you done ?" He asked calmly as he took a drag at his cigarette.

I was taken aback at the question and stared at him in confusion before he spoke again
"You should be thanking me" he stated in a nonchalant manner.

I still couldn't comprehend what this guy was saying, being thankful for shoving my friend in a locker ? He has to be kidding me.

"W-What ?" I stuttered out in confusion and anger

"He's not good for you" he simply stated as he pushed himself away from the lockers and casually strolled away in the direction of the lunchroom.

I was left there, stunned and aggravated at the same time. I quickly ran to the locker where Phil was but I couldn't open it considering I didn't know the locker combination

"Are you okay ?" I asked Phil worriedly

"I'll be fine" he stated in a monotone voice

I looked at the locker with an apologetic smile as if Phil could see through the metal doors, and I sat there waiting for someone to stop and help and as I thought of the black haired asshole once more, I suddenly didn't feel so hungry anymore.