Chapter Text
“What! How did i fail again?!” Gerard tossed paper onto his desk, this was the 3rd test hed failed in the last few weeks, he got most of the answers right!.. He just had a habit of not putting the right names on the paper, and also covering everything in drawings.
Mikey glanced over to the paper on the desk, he looked at the name written on the paper
“..Well maybe if you put your actual name instead of ‘master of the whickett’ you wouldve **gotten** a passing grade. You know how Ms. Bickett hates when people fool around.” He pressed his glasses further up on his nose.
“but thats like- shes walking on my artistic expression basically!” he crossed his arms and frowned .
“Artistic expression doesn’t matter when you can’t graduate, Gerard,” Mikey quipped, smirking slightly as he flipped a page in his notebook. Gerard groaned and flopped back dramatically in his chair. “You don’t get it, Mikey. School’s a prison for the creatively inclined. One day, they’ll recognize my genius.” He sat straight up again. “I need your help.”
Mikey raised a brow. “With.. what? Actually *doing* the work or just putting your real name on it?”
“Both,” Gerard shrugged. “But mostly the name thing. You’re good with like.. boring stuff. Make it sound official.”
“‘Gerard Arthur Way’. “ Mikey deadpanned. “Problem solved.”
Gerard waved a hand. “No, no, that’s too…plain. I need something cool. Like a pseudonym.”
Mikey snorted, but before he could respond, the sound of his phone buzzing on the desk caught his attention. He picked it up and read a message from Ray, who was probably already in the library with Frank, doing something.. stupid, probably.
“What’s up?” Gerard asked, peering over.
“It’s Ray. He says Frank’s stuck in the air ducts again,” Mikey replied flatly.
Gerard blinked. “…Again?”
Mikey nodded, already grabbing his backpack. “We should probably go make sure they don’t get expelled.”
As Mikey left the room, Gerard trailed after him, wondering aloud how Frank always managed to make everyday feel like a fever dream of some sort.
Neither of them noticed Pete Wentz glaring at them from across the hall, leaning against the lockers. His stare lingered on Mikey longer than it should have. When Mikey glanced his way, Pete immediately turned, muttering something under his breath about “weirdos” before stalking off.
“What’s his problem?” Mikey asked, adjusting his glasses.
“Pete Wentz? Who knows,” Gerard said with a shrug. “He’s probably jealous because you’re cooler than him.”
Mikey didn’t laugh. Cool was never a word anyone ever used to describe him—but he couldn’t help noticing that Pete’s sneers always seemed to be aimed in his direction.
As they walked through the hall, Mikey couldn’t shake the image of Pete glaring. It wasn’t the first time he’d caught Pete staring him down with the look of absolute hatred he had, and it was starting to mess with his head. He doesnt even think hed ever really talked to the dude?
“Do you think he actually has a problem with me?” Mikey asked Gerard, his voice quieter.
Gerard glanced sideways at him, “huh- who?, Pete? Nah, he’s probably just mad at the world in general. Hes probably just a angsty teen. Don’t sweat it.”
Mikey let out a small laugh, but the knot in his stomach didn’t untangle. Pete’s insults weren’t direct, but they were consistent—snide comments under his breath in class, pointed looks whenever Mikey answered a question, and that one time he loudly joked about Mikey being “too fragile for the real world” when he’d dropped his books in the hallway.
“Maybe he’s just one of those guys who thinks he’s too cool for anyone else,” Gerard continued as they reached the library. “Or.. maybe he’s got a crush on you.”
Mikey nearly tripped over his own feet. “What?! No. That’s—no. He hates me.”
Gerard shrugged, pushing open the library door. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, Mikey.”
Inside, frank was wedged halfway out of a vent near the ceiling, his legs flailing wildly while ray stood below him, attempting to pull him out without bringing out the entire duct system with him.
“I told you not to crawl in there, man!” ray shouted, half under his breath, arms around franks legs. “What were you even doing?!”
“A shortcut!” Frank shouted back, his voice echoing weirdly in the metal duct. “I thought it’d save time!”
“Time for what?!” ray pulled on him harder
Gerard and Mikey approached just as Frank managed to wriggle free, taking ray with him as they land on the floor in a heap.
“Nice of you to join us,” Gerard said, smirking.
Frank grinned up at him. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
Mikey rolled his eyes, helping Frank up. “One of these days, you’re going to break something important.”
“Like my spirit?” Frank asked, brushing dust off his hoodie.
“Like the school property,” Mikey shot back. “And then we’ll all get detention.”
the group settled into a table to “study” (which really meant Gerard doodling, Ray explaining odd concepts to anyone who’d listen, and Frank finding increasingly strange ways to distract everyone), Mikey’s mind wandered back to Pete. He didn’t know why he cared so much about what Pete thought of him, but it was starting to bother him more than he wanted to admit.
And, unfortunately, he had a sinking feeling he’d be seeing Pete again sooner rather than later.