~one~

gerard sat down empty handed, leaning back against the wall. the lunchroom was chaotic as usual. yet he ignored that, pulling out his notebook.

his notebook consisted of angsty letters, illegible poems soaked from tears, and some sketches. the letters were to people from his past that he would think of late at night. the poems were his only way to vent. yet they usually made no sense because, he was gerard. only he could understand the pure pain.

gerard's head shot up from his notebook, seeing an unfamiliar face. if he wasn't new, he must've been invisible for the past four years.

he was oddly short for a senior, wearing a sweatshirt and skinny jeans that suited his figure just right. his black hair was swooped over the left side of his face, yet still seeing the glare of his hazel eyes. along with black gauges, he had a nose piercing and a lip piercing, opposite to each other. his hands rested awkwardly in his lap which were covered by skeleton gloves with the finger tips cut out.

gerard smirked at the sight. resting his head in his hand, he observed this new kid. he sat at a distance alone, staring at everyone. though gerard was sitting all across the lunchroom, he could see the pure fear in his eyes and his lips filled with melancholy.

gerard chuckled to himself, already realizing how innocent this boy must've been. he just had that innocent touch to him. all with his expressions and his posture. his mind must've been a wreck.

he snapped out of trance, noticing the boy was staring right at him. thoughts sparked in his head, knowing what all he could possibly do to this boy.  purity lingered in his eyes.

he had no idea what was coming for him.

———

"mr. way, please come here." the teacher announced, not taking his eyes off the paper. his glasses were hung low on his nose which bothered gerard. he was just wanting to shove them back up and impale him right in the eyes.

gerard watched all the kids leave the class and grew furious. he groaned and dropped his bag back down, heading towards the teacher.

"now, i see your grades have really been improving this semester." the middle aged man broke into a smile, disgusting gerard.

"and?" gerard snapped back, folding his arms across his chest.

"i just wanted to congratulate you. finally getting those grades up, aye?" the teacher placed a hand onto gerard's shoulder, making him flinch and smack his hand away. he shot back a dirty glare and left, slamming the door back.

as gerard roamed the halls, people nearly pressed themselves against lockers to keep a distance. they think he would snap and slit their throats right there. but he wouldn't, unless something really did tick him off.

but, while gerard was walking, the new kid was standing at his locker. he noticed how everyone was avoiding him but he didn't seem to do anything, just staring. that innocence was still there, stinging gerard.

he simply ignored the boy and got to his locker, putting his books away. scattered conversations filled the narrow halls and gerard lost his train of thought.

"hey new kid, you know that gerard guy? i bet he'd like if you went to talk with him. he's really good at maintaining conversations."

"ok then."

gerard's eyes went wide. that distinct conversation somehow stood out. he closed his eyes for a second to recollect his thoughts. opening them back up, his eyes met with the boy again.

"h-h-hey.. i'm frank...." he spoke with fear, as gerard had imagined. it wasn't fear of gerard, it seemed to just have a conversation with anyone made him nervous.

"i was just wondering if-"

"look, frank- or whatever the fuck your name is- everyone here is shit. this isn't a place for the sane. i know you're new or whatever, but don't trust anyone. especially, not me."

gerard slammed his locker, storming off before he could've seen frank's reaction.

*****

"good evening gerard, take a seat."

he did as so, crossing one leg over the other and leaning against his hand. his eyes wandered towards the name tag resting on the desk. doctor verne. it stood out too much to gerard.

"now, how was your day?" the doctor's voice was hesitant as usual.

"fine." gerard snarled.

"did you take your medication this morning?" he asked, which gerard only nodded to. he didn't.

"now, i hear you acted out on michael again?" the doctor questioned.

"that was last week. why are you bringing it up now?" gerard retorted.

"such manners need to be discussed." doctor verne sighed. "now, tell me what all happened."

"he had a friend over. his name.. pete. he's at the house constantly, fooling around with my brother. once the guy left, i told mikey how i felt about it. he thought it was ridiculous and... y'know."

"ahh, i see." the doctor nodded, taking notes in the notepad labeled 'gerard arthur way'

gerard kept quiet while the doctor wrote. he began thinking about frank. now that gerard really thought of it, there wasn't a single flaw about frank. he thought it over and over, trying to pick out something that gave him a purpose to hate his guts even more. but he couldn't. there was nothing.

he was perfect and gerard hated it.

"what are you thinking about?" the doctor interrupted, making gerard's head shoot up.

"frank." he blurted out accidentally, swearing under his breath. the doctor shot him a confused look as he sighed.

"frank's just some.. new kid. i was watching him a lot today. he's confused. i'm surprised nobody has told him who i really am. but i kinda went off on him, and i don't know what he thinks now." gerard elaborated.

"what's he like?" doctor verne asked.

"... amiable. i hate it. he's too.. considerate." gerard gazed off, looking at a painting on the wall.

"gerard.. you need to understand that just because a person cares about something doesn't make them a horrible figure. those are the kind of people you need. and saying that frank didn't avoid you like the other kids do, you should give him a-"

"he's sane. those kind of people piss me off. why would he care for the mentally ill kid?"

"how do you know if he is sane?"

gerard stopped, looking back up at doctor verne. he thought back to lunch, seeing the fear. he might've seen innocent, but he wasn't happy. he was scared. completely terrified.

what if he isn't sane?