Butterfly Kisses
Chapter 10
“So, you can use A through G as letters by themselves,” Gerard explained, showing Frank where each note lay on the neck of the guitar, “then we can make up chords for the rest of the letters.”
“W-w-why?” Frank asked, though he looked excited about the idea.
Gerard shrugged. “It seems like you remember music pretty well…and Lyn said this would be a good way for you to learn how to spell words and stuff. It’s like writing a song instead of studying.”
“Lyn…y-your girlf-fr-friend?”
“What?!” Gerard asked suddenly, startled by the statement. Frank giggled hysterically at his reaction as he started to blush furiously. “She’s not my girlfriend…”
“Yet,” Frank added with a smile. Gerard sighed and picked up a pencil, writing out a few simple chords for the rest of the alphabet. Frank watched, practically bouncing in place from excitement. He had to wait several minutes as Gerard scribbled, erased, and rewrote chords and melody lines.
“Okay, I don’t know how it’s going to sound,” he finally said, handing over the guitar and turning the paper around so his friend could read it. Frank excitedly picked up the instrument and began playing parts of the song, smiling as they fell into a rhythm and created beautiful colors before his eyes. He hummed each note of the chords after playing them and let them sink into his mind, feeling like he had control of the very world he had never been able to connect with before.
-
Gerard took his time on the way to his second class of the day. He had seen Lyn pass by every now and then when he was running late, and he hoped he could catch her this time. He saw her briskly walking towards him, slowing down once their eyes met.
“Hey, Lyn,” he said once she was close enough that he didn’t have to shout over the roar of the hallway.
“So, did my idea work?” she asked.
Gerard nodded. “Yeah. You should’ve seen how happy he was…” He smiled. “You’re really smart.”
She blushed a little. “Thanks.”
He tried to think of something else to say, but nothing jumped into his mind as he hoped it would. “…I, uh…I have to get to class now,” he said sheepishly. She smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before she took off down the nearest hallway. He smiled to himself as he briskly walked to his next class.
“Watch it,” a senior growled, purposely running him into the wall. He cast a glare at the older teen, recognizing him as one of the football players. He grew considerably less surprised when he realized it was Matt’s older brother.
“Nice job losing the game last week, Paul,” Gerard answered, speaking just loud enough for him to hear. He wasn’t usually one for confrontation, but the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. One of the senior’s oversized friends roughly shoved his shoulder into the wall and nearly punched him, but one of the drumline members walked by holding crash cymbals, so he reluctantly gave Gerard one last push before hurrying off to follow Paul.
“You okay, Gee?” Bob asked, twirling a drumstick in one hand.
“Yeah, fine,” Gerard muttered. “Just dealing with idiots.”
-
“Good luck, class,” the teacher said as she passed out the tests. Frank felt a familiar flutter of fear in his heart as the packet of papers landed on his desk. He looked to his right and saw Matt smirking at him, and he quickly redirected his gaze to his own desk as he took out a few pencils and an eraser.
Normally, the large block of words would have nearly frightened him, but as he slowly began circling one answer after another, a flicker of a smile came to his face. Whenever he was unsure of a word’s spelling, he hummed the now-familiar notes to himself. The colors reminded him of what the words looked like to him. It made everything so much easier.
“Shut up,” Matt hissed at him. Frank pretended not to hear him and kept humming.
A pencil struck him in the side of the head, leaving a small, stinging scratch. He still ignored it, though he glanced up to see if the teacher had noticed. She was watching them carefully, and he lowered his voice to be as inconspicuous as possible.
He came to another word he wasn’t sure about, so he quietly sang the letters one by one.
“A…D…E…”
“I said shut up!” Matt stood up and roughly shoved Frank’s desk over. He hit the floor with a painful crack and sprawled out limply, not wanting to move.
“Matthew!” the teacher said sharply, appalled. “Principal’s office. Now.”
“But-”
“Now.” She pointed to the door. He leered at Frank one last time before storming out of the room.
Frank calmly picked up his desk, placed the test back on top of it, and continued filling in his answers. As hard as he tried to focus only on the test, he couldn’t keep a triumphant smile off of his face.
“W-w-why?” Frank asked, though he looked excited about the idea.
Gerard shrugged. “It seems like you remember music pretty well…and Lyn said this would be a good way for you to learn how to spell words and stuff. It’s like writing a song instead of studying.”
“Lyn…y-your girlf-fr-friend?”
“What?!” Gerard asked suddenly, startled by the statement. Frank giggled hysterically at his reaction as he started to blush furiously. “She’s not my girlfriend…”
“Yet,” Frank added with a smile. Gerard sighed and picked up a pencil, writing out a few simple chords for the rest of the alphabet. Frank watched, practically bouncing in place from excitement. He had to wait several minutes as Gerard scribbled, erased, and rewrote chords and melody lines.
“Okay, I don’t know how it’s going to sound,” he finally said, handing over the guitar and turning the paper around so his friend could read it. Frank excitedly picked up the instrument and began playing parts of the song, smiling as they fell into a rhythm and created beautiful colors before his eyes. He hummed each note of the chords after playing them and let them sink into his mind, feeling like he had control of the very world he had never been able to connect with before.
-
Gerard took his time on the way to his second class of the day. He had seen Lyn pass by every now and then when he was running late, and he hoped he could catch her this time. He saw her briskly walking towards him, slowing down once their eyes met.
“Hey, Lyn,” he said once she was close enough that he didn’t have to shout over the roar of the hallway.
“So, did my idea work?” she asked.
Gerard nodded. “Yeah. You should’ve seen how happy he was…” He smiled. “You’re really smart.”
She blushed a little. “Thanks.”
He tried to think of something else to say, but nothing jumped into his mind as he hoped it would. “…I, uh…I have to get to class now,” he said sheepishly. She smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before she took off down the nearest hallway. He smiled to himself as he briskly walked to his next class.
“Watch it,” a senior growled, purposely running him into the wall. He cast a glare at the older teen, recognizing him as one of the football players. He grew considerably less surprised when he realized it was Matt’s older brother.
“Nice job losing the game last week, Paul,” Gerard answered, speaking just loud enough for him to hear. He wasn’t usually one for confrontation, but the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. One of the senior’s oversized friends roughly shoved his shoulder into the wall and nearly punched him, but one of the drumline members walked by holding crash cymbals, so he reluctantly gave Gerard one last push before hurrying off to follow Paul.
“You okay, Gee?” Bob asked, twirling a drumstick in one hand.
“Yeah, fine,” Gerard muttered. “Just dealing with idiots.”
-
“Good luck, class,” the teacher said as she passed out the tests. Frank felt a familiar flutter of fear in his heart as the packet of papers landed on his desk. He looked to his right and saw Matt smirking at him, and he quickly redirected his gaze to his own desk as he took out a few pencils and an eraser.
Normally, the large block of words would have nearly frightened him, but as he slowly began circling one answer after another, a flicker of a smile came to his face. Whenever he was unsure of a word’s spelling, he hummed the now-familiar notes to himself. The colors reminded him of what the words looked like to him. It made everything so much easier.
“Shut up,” Matt hissed at him. Frank pretended not to hear him and kept humming.
A pencil struck him in the side of the head, leaving a small, stinging scratch. He still ignored it, though he glanced up to see if the teacher had noticed. She was watching them carefully, and he lowered his voice to be as inconspicuous as possible.
He came to another word he wasn’t sure about, so he quietly sang the letters one by one.
“A…D…E…”
“I said shut up!” Matt stood up and roughly shoved Frank’s desk over. He hit the floor with a painful crack and sprawled out limply, not wanting to move.
“Matthew!” the teacher said sharply, appalled. “Principal’s office. Now.”
“But-”
“Now.” She pointed to the door. He leered at Frank one last time before storming out of the room.
Frank calmly picked up his desk, placed the test back on top of it, and continued filling in his answers. As hard as he tried to focus only on the test, he couldn’t keep a triumphant smile off of his face.