Mr. Iero (Chapter 3 FRERARD)

~The next few days went rather smoothly; I began teaching kids the basics, mainly reviewing how to read music and things like that. ~

* * *

On Friday, I decided it would be a good idea to bring in my old Les Paul and give myself and the kids a chance to show off. I also took in a stereo, all my CD’s that weren’t already at the school, and my two old microphones. I lugged these items in tough, black cases out to my trunk in my robe, pajama bottoms, and grungy bunny slippers with a bit of difficulty, shaking off the small shiver that crept up my back as I rushed back inside to prepare for my day.

Looking in the mirror thirty minutes before I was to leave, I figured Friday was as good a day as any to dress up a little more than usual. Instead of the usual tee shirt and dark, worn skinny jeans, I threw on some lighter, looser cut jeans, a white button up, and a bright red tie. I then curled the ends of my bangs inwards towards my eye and carefully penciled on a thin line of eyeliner. I glanced at the unopened bottle of cologne my mom had given me when I got my teacher's diploma and finally sighed, “Why not,” after a moment of deliberation, spritzing a couple times onto my shirt and once on the insides of my elbows.

I took hold of my keys on the way out the door; I slung my bag over my shoulder, and actually thought highly of myself for once. “Today’s gonna be a good day!” I practically sang down the hallway. In my car, I gave in and literally sang, sliding a Smashing Pumpkins album into the slot and skipping to “Today”, blaring it the whole way to the school.

I parked in the usual spot and pulled my guitar and microphone cases out of the trunk, lugging them back to my room and continuing to quietly sing the lyrics to “Disarm” I wedged the microphones under my arm and searched for my keys, finally unlocking the door when I had at last found them. I breathed in the slightly improved, yet still musty scent and set my things next to the podium, carrying on the song as I straightened back up to go and get the rest of it, “Disarm you with a smile, and leave you like they left me here, to wither in denial, the bitterness of-”

“Y-You’re a good singer, Mr. Iero!”

I shrieked like a third grader at the sight of my aide leaning tiredly against the doorway and putting his hand over his mouth to yawn. “Jesus Gerard, you scared the shit out of me!”

He chuckled nervously and rubbed at his dark eyes, stopping to examine an eyelash or something on the tip of his finger before mocking quietly, “Ooh, teacher said a naughty word, I’m telling the principal on you!” My face flushed, certain surprising and honestly confusing thoughts flashing across my mind at the word “naughty”.

“You shush,” I replied, straightening my tie and shooing him away with a flailing hand motion. I tossed him my keys and commanded, “Go get the stuff in my trunk, slave!”

He nodded and dropped the keys into his pocket, pulling his hood up on his way out the door; I noticed his footsteps quicken a bit as he drew closer to the outdoors. I turned around to start setting up the room for the day, but couldn’t quite bring myself to actually do anything until I couldn’t hear his heavy footfalls scuffling along the cracks of the pavement anymore. It was a strange feeling, like having the urge to go and make sure it wasn’t a bad idea to send him out there by himself, what with the things I‘d seen happening around campus in the past week alone. After a few minutes of absentmindedly putting together the wrong parts of microphone stands, I tiptoed towards the doorway, curling my fingers over the edge and peeking outside to see- Gerard clutching my belongings and running towards me. Oh, and with three kids trailing close behind him.

“Mr. Ieeeerrrroo!!!” He exclaimed as he sprinted, prompting me to bound outside and let him pass me into the building. The kids didn’t seem too intent upon stopping, charging straight for me like a pack of wolves after a cat who had pissed on their cubs.

I’d seen this gang around campus before, shoving and teasing and honestly, being nothing but a fucking nuisance to everyone. I glared at the trio, holding up my hand and commanding, “STOP. RIGHT. THERE.”

The tallest of the three (whom I assumed was the leader) stood over me on his toes, snarling and retorting in that dumb, apelike tone usually reserved for only the douchiest which society has to offer. “The fuck do you want, freshman?”

Oh FUCK no. I am NOT going through that shit again! “ACTUALLY,” I began, stepping uncomfortably close to intimidate him as I dug for the laminated staff ID in my back pocket. “I’m a teacher. So you need to back off and watch your tone, boy!” I pushed the card into his line of sight and watched the surprise rip into his eyes.

He gawked at me wordlessly for a moment before grunting and turning back and beckoning his friends to do the same, spouting in a low tone, “C’mon we’ll do this shit later, that fuckass isn’t worth it.”

I balled my fists and bore my pupils into the back of his head, deciding after all that HE wasn’t much worth it either and going in to check on Gerard. When I entered the doorway, I heard a stumbling sound accompanied by hushed curses, easily pairing with the image of him attempting to put my broken stand together and smashing his finger on the bolt. “Hey, you need help with that?” He sniffled and nodded without facing me, bringing his jacket sleeve up to rub at his eyes.

I crouched down next to him and loosened the adjuster, sliding the rusted piece into place and making the rest easier. “There it is,” I said, trying to falsify an optimistic tone. I glanced in his direction, my face fading as I noticed the shiny dampness of his cheeks; the grey smears running down from his eyes. I pulled a pack of tissues out of my pocket and wiped away the smears as I asked him, “Gerard? Do you want to talk about it?” He shook his head as a shudder interrupted his breath, prompting more tears to come. “Well…Okay,” I started, sighing as my gaze went towards the compilation of drum bolts and tuning utensils on the carpet, ashamed of my own uselessness at the moment. “But if you ever want to, I’m he-”

My back hit the floor, neck craning upwards at the odd angle the wall hand propped me up with as a weight hit my chest and knocked the air out of me. Not that I could get that air back anyways, because Gerard’s lips had overtaken mine. My eyes snapped open and I instinctively pushed him off of me. “WHAT,” was all I could seem to say to his disappointed and rather confused-looking face. He was pitifully holding himself up, his knees drawn together and holding up his elbows, which did the same to his forehead, his face hidden.

“I- I’m sorry, Mr. Iero I didn’t m-mean to-” His shoulders shook and any other words he may have said after that were indecipherable.

I reluctantly reached out to him, drawing back and apologetically forcing myself to respond. “It’s okay Gerard I just- You really caught me off guard, y’know?” After a few minutes of nothing I continued. “You know you can’t do stuff like that, right? I‘m your teacher, Gerard.”

He nodded and lunged towards me again, luckily only to hug me this time. The bell rang and I made him face me, wiping away his tears again. “Now,” I cleared my throat and stood up, holding my hand down to help him. I placed my hands on his shoulders and gave a tight nod, ruffling his hair to persuade a small hint of a nervous smile. “You are going to go to class, and pass whatever test or puzzle or I don’t give a shit but you will concentrate on that and you will like it! And then you will sing for us today and we will all be super amazed with your skills! Understand?” He blushed and gave a quick “Okay,” before grabbing his things and rushing out the doorway.