Chapter Text
Gerard's POV
I stir to the sharp, annoying beeps on my alarm clock. Grumbling, I toss over and try to drown out the noise. My bed is warm and cozy and I have no intention to leave it. Stuffing my face into my pillow to try and block out the buzzing even more, I hear pounding footsteps approaching my door.
God please no.
"GERARD!" I hear my younger brother scream in frustration as he opens my bedroom door. And without my permission, too. How rude. Teenagers these days. So disrespectful. Wait what am I talking about I'm still a teenager. Obviously I'm mature for my age, though. Obviously.
Mikey jumps onto my bed, once again done without my permission, and in the process lands very uncomfortably on my legs. Which are tucked up halfway to my torso.
Mikey reaches over to my bedside table and shuts off the alarm, with a lot less anger than I thought he would; I was afraid he was going to break it and I'd be forced to buy a new one because Mikey would suck up to our mom saying he didn't do anything.
"Get up already, will you?" Mikey says with a sigh, obviously cooling down a great deal. I mumble something about it being my life and me being the eldest of the two, therefore he having no say in what I do.
"It's the first day of the school year, Gerard. Did you already forget?" Mikey sighs, again, knowing how much I'm not fond of school. Well, it's not school I'm not fond of, it's the students I'm not fond of.
News flash! I'm not exactly popular. I mean, yeah, I've got friends who I know for sure care about me, and vice versa. Jocks and girls that I like to so nicely call, well, bitches, take relish in bullying me. Whether it's physically beating the shit out of me or calling me names or just giving me death glares.
I groan. "Fine, fine. I'm getting up."
"Good. I'm gonna make sure you enjoy this year, okay? I want you to stop the sullen emo crap."
Wait, wasn't that a quote from Supernatural? Did Mikey seriously just quote Supernatural? He totally did. I remember Dean saying it. Wow I didn't know Mikey was capable of doing such a thing.
Mikey got up and left my room while I managed to stay laying in bed for another 5 minutes. When I get up, I go and take a quick 5 minute shower. After that I comb through my long, shaggy, dyed black hair then head back into my room to decide what to wear. Like it even matters. I decide on black skinny jeans that aren't tight, but aren't insanely baggy, either. To go along with it I put on a pale green Smashing Pumpkins t-shirt that has a heart made out of "S.P", the initials for Smashing Pumpkins. Duh. I would throw on my hoodie or something but since it's the middle of August, yes, I start school in August, I decide against it. I don't really want to become a sweating mess throughout the day. Our school isn't exactly air conditioned. Except for in the cafeteria and the science wings.
"Morning, Gee, sugar!" I hear my mom say as I come into the kitchen. I kinda cringe on the inside when she says that. I'm not fond of nicknames, even if they're harmless.
"Morning." I force a small smile to my mom as I sit down at the counter, cereal bowl, spoon, milk, and Lucky Charms already awaiting me.
"You excited for starting your big senior year of high school?!" My mom is way too excited for this. What's the big deal? It's just another year of learning and having to put up with stereotypical teenagers.
"It's just another year, Mom." I say, starting to eat my cereal.
"Just another year?! No, Gerard, it's your final year of high school! Please enjoy every last drop. You're growing up."
Ugh.
Growing up.
I don't like that.
"Okay fine I'll try." I sigh as I finish my cereal.
"I'll make sure he's happy, Mom. So will Ray and Lindsey and all the rest of our friends." This is the first thing Mikey has said since I got downstairs. He was too busy eating like, three bowls of cereal. Mikey may not look like it, but he eats a lot.
"It's 7:40, Gerard. We've gotta get to school." Mikey takes my empty bowl and puts our dishes into the sink as mom puts away the milk and cereal. I get up and put on my black high top converse. Mikey and I's backpacks are already prepared and sitting by the front door. I grab my backpack and keys off our key hooks then give Mom a quick hug before heading out the door, Mikey following right behind.
I unlock my car and Mikey slides into the passenger seat. Luckily, or rather, unluckily, we live only 5 minutes away from school. But that's driving time. Walking would maybe take 15 minutes? Yeah? I'm not sure. Mikey turns on the radio and Foo Fighters starts softly playing throughout the car. No way are we blasting music this early in the morning. It hurts my head.
-
School is starting. Yay. My schedule today, for those who want to know, is College Algebra, Study Hall (yes!), Chemistry, lunch, then that's followed by AP French and Senior Studio. To clarify, Senior Studio is an art class for select seniors and we all get to do awesome art projects. I think there are maybe 10 other students in the class. One of the first things I notice about my schedule is a name of a teacher I don't recognize. I know names of the teachers in our school pretty well.
'Iero, F.' - Chemistry, room 23.
Hm, I guess we've got a new Chemistry teacher. I hope this said teacher actually knows what to teach the students and actually helps us when we're confused. The past teacher, who retired, thank God, never did a good job. The highest grade a student got in that class was only ever a C. Luckily I can say I was one of those C students.
-
College Algebra passed by pretty fast. The teacher, Mr. Nugent, definitely knows what he's doing. Work gets done, things get learned, and the class is actually pretty easy. Mr. Nugent is a lenient teacher. Yay! Now onto Chemistry. Time to meet our new teacher. I'm not gonna lie, I was excited. I was praying to whatever God there may be that he wasn't one, a hardass, and two, maybe even liked the same things I liked. I did that for my French teacher when the one I had freshman year left. The time sophomore year came around and we got a new French teacher, it turns out she was a full out nerd. Just like me. I was so happy.
I'm walking down the hallway and reach the science wing when it hits me.
The air conditioning.
So fucking refreshing. Ah.
My shoulder is bumped from behind and I hear a slurred "Queer." shot in my direction then stifled laughter from a group of a big, giant bag of dicks. It doesn't really bother me. I think I am gay. I'm unsure, though. I feel confused about it a lot of the time.
I reach room 23 then open the door to walk into Chemistry class. That's when I see what I presume to be our new teacher leaning on the desk greeting the students.
Shit.
I'm gay.
His hair was long. Not, like, Axl Rose long. It just reached his shoulders and was slightly unkempt. It looked really good. It was obviously dyed black because his eyebrows were a lighter shade, brown. I haven't even gotten to the best part about his hair, though. He's got fringe. I know for a fact it's fringe because it's parted to the right side of his head and covers part of his forehead, and is shorter than the rest of his hair, indicating they're bangs.
He's noticeably got tattoos. That's another thing about my school. They're pretty lenient. Who cares about tattoos or piercings? It's a way to express yourself. As long as you know the subject you've got a degree in and know how to teach it well, you're hired. I like tattoos. Especially his. Well, the noticeable ones. I can tell there's more under his sleeves by the way some cut off suddenly and parts of hidden ones poke out under his sleeves and shirt collar. They really suit him. Mr. Iero's got on fitting work pants, but with black high top converse. Like me, nice. He's also got a Motorhead shirt on underneath a sportscoat. No way. Motorhead?! Awesome! This guy is so awesome already and I haven't even seen his teaching methods yet!
I raise my eyes to his face.
Our gazes meet.
Wow.
His eyes were gorgeous. They could tell so many stories without him even needing to speak. They light up when they meet with my own.
I feel my face grow hot.
Crap, am I blushing?
What the hell?
Why?
"Hey, nice Smashing Pumpkins shirt!" Obviously he's noticed my shirt.
"Wh- wait- oh, th- thanks." I stutter.
I'm not one for socializing.
"I like your shirt, too, by the way." I add after I recover from my stuttering fit.
"Ah, I approve of your music taste." He smiles at me.
A really genuine goes-to-your-eyes-smile.
That smile burns into my soul because, wow, rarely do people actually smile like that at me.
It was fucking perfect, I tell you!
Wow okay, Gerard, you're definitely gay.
But, come on, a teacher?!
Stop, Gerard!
"I'm Mr. Iero, as I guess you probably already know. My first name is Frank, fun fact. I decided that I'm gonna let students I really get along with call me by my first name. I dunno why- it's my first teaching job. I guess I'm trying to be lenient? 'Cool', even?" He says 'cool' with a lot of uncertainty in his voice and makes air quotes with those tattoo-covered hands- wait, okay, I sound like a teenage girl fantasizing about her favorite band member she'll never have a chance with, let alone ever meet. Okay, then.
I smile at his uncertainty, because I can relate completely in feeling awkward like that.
"I'm Gerard- I guess you can go ahead and call me Gerard though because, well, 'Mr. Way', that's my last name by the way, is really weird? Yeah don't do that. OKAY I think I'm gonna shut up now, I ramble when I'm nervous-"
"Hey, I'm exactly like that! We've got something else in common." Mr. Iero steps towards me, wow he's shorter than me, only by an inch or two, but still shorter, and pats my shoulder with one of those friendly pats then smiles at me, no teeth smile this time. I smile back, obviously. It's the appropriate thing to do.
"I don't have any seating chart so you can go ahead and choose wherever, kay?"
"Sounds good, cool."
I semi-awkwardly leave his side as he greets more students when I see my friend Andy sitting in the front row. Of course he's got a comic book out and reading it, X-Men in fact. Nice choice, Andy. I join him in the front row, the only other empty desk by him, which happens to be directly in front of Mr. Iero's desk. I'm perfectly fine with that. I concentrate better being in front.
"Hey, Andy." I say, feeling guilty in interrupting his comic book reading. I hate it when people interrupt my reading and I know he feels the same. He obviously looks slightly annoyed but he doesn't mind much because I'm his friend.
"Hey!" is all he gets to reply before the classroom is filled and class starts.
-
Class went by pretty fast again and I can say Mr. Iero did a perfect job teaching, even though we didn't do much due to it being the first day of school and all. I realized I kept losing focus in his class, though. I got too preoccupied in Mr. Iero's mannerisms and his slightly raspy voice. He probably smokes, that would be a good cause to why his voice sounds the way it does. We made eye contact a lot. At one point I could've sworn his cheeks turned a slight shade of pink. At the end of class he gave us all goodbyes and he smiled another one of those genuine smiles at me before shooting me a "see ya later, dude." I gave a slight awkward wave and he reciprocated, then my first Chemistry class with Mr. Iero was over. I gotta say, I could tell there was a lot of chemistry between us.
Wow.
What a pun. Heh.
-
The rest of the school day ended in a blur of hugging and chatting with friends I haven't seen in a couple weeks and receiving homework. Mikey and I drove home after stopping at a Starbucks to get some frappuccinos. How stereotypical white girl of us. Mom didn't get home till six, so I was able to get all my homework for the day done.
Mom noticed my happiness as soon as she walked in. Happiness? Me? I'm confusing myself. She made dinner within half an hour and that was that. Just typical "how was your day?" conversations throughout all of dinner. After that I went up to my room to listen to music while I drew some comic characters I was working on.
Oh yeah, I never mentioned I draw. Well, now you know.
I started a new sketch when I realized I wasn't sketching any comic book character.
I subconsciously drew my Chemistry teacher.
Oh God, Gerard, you've got a problem now don't you?
I decided I liked how it was turning out and finished up the drawing. Once I finished it I held it up for further scrutinization. Yep, I decided I did in fact like it. I put it away safely in my top right drawer of my desk then turned off my desk light.
It was 9:30 already. Wow. I was tired from the sudden change of sleeping in to getting up at 6:30 in the morning and decided now was a good time to go to bed.
To say I went to bed without thinking about Mr. Iero would be an outright lie on my part.