Silence and Sadness

Breaking the Ice

{Frank's POV}

It had been a few days since Gerard's breakdown in the bathroom, and nothing bad had seemed to happen to any of us. Well, nothing really bad. None of us had been beaten up or anything like that. People of course said mean things, but we mostly just ignored them. Gerard still was silent around me, and I guess I didn't expect anything less. I mean, it has only been a few days. He'll talk to me eventually. Like Bob said, I just have to show him I can trust him.

Mikey and Gerard had picked me up for school this morning like they always did, and we drove to school with the radio blasting, like we always did. Now, we were hanging out in the courtyard. It was lunchtime, and most kids ate at the tables outside if the weather was nice. Very few kids ate in the cafeteria. Our table was far off to the side of the courtyard, just how we like it. Bob and Ray were talking about what bands were better again, like they always did. Gee was drawing something in his sketchpad. Mikey was on his cellphone. Same as always. We really didn't change anything up, do anything different at school. That was just how we did it. "So, hey. What are we doing later?" Mikey spoke up. Ray and Bob stopped their discussion and turned to him. Gee looked up for a moment, then looked back down and continued his drawing. Or that's what we thought he was doing, until he held up his sketchpad for all of us to read. It said, "We can go to our house and hang out downstairs in my room." We all read his suggestion and seemed to agree on that. Then Bob said, "I can't hang out later. My mom wants me to help her clean out the garage." The rest of us laughed at the lame job he got stuck with. We were laughing really hard, even Gerard. His laugh was magical, and it made me smile. "I am sorry, man. You want us to come by and help you?" Ray asked after we had all gained control of our laughter. Bob smirked and said, "Nah, it's fine. Go on and have fun without me, you bunch of losers. Maybe if we clean it out fast enough, I can go over." he said. We all agreed and continued on with what we were doing in silence, except for Ray and Bob's band discussion. I inched over to Gerard and tried to look at his sketchbook, but he quickly pressed it tight to his chest and looked over at me. The others stopped and looked at us.

"What's wrong, Gee?" Mikey asked, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder. Gerard looked at me, then down at his sketchpad, and shook his head. Mikey looked at me and said, "I don't think he wants you to see what he's drawing." Gerard got Mikey's attention and nodded. "Ok, sorry, Gee." I said, a bit disappointed as I scooted back away from him. He frowned at me and continued working on his drawing. "Frank, can I talk to you for a second?" Mikey asked. I nodded, curious and a bit afraid of what he was going to say, and followed him until we were standing a few feet away from the table, out of earshot of the others. "I didn't mean to upset him. I just wanted to see." I said quickly, before he could say anything. "I know, Frank. I just wanted to tell you to not let it get to you. Gerard doesn't let any of us look in his sketchbook. You seemed a bit upset when he told you no." he said. "I wasn't really upset, a little hurt I guess. I mean, I didn't know he didn't like people looking at his art. You guys should really let me know what Gerard does and does not like people to do, because otherwise I'm going to end up upsetting him every time i do something as simple as get near him or try to see his artwork, and he'll never learn to trust me!" Mikey's eyes were wide, but I noticed he wasn't looking at me. I turned my gaze to see Gerard, Ray, and Bob, all staring at the two of us with sort of shocked expressions. Except for Gerard. His expression looked a bit hurt. He closed his sketchbook, stood from his seat, and rushed off somewhere. "Crap. Really, Frank? That's fantastic. I got to go find him and make sure he's okay." Mikey said, but he was stopped by Ray as he went to go look. "You need to calm down, Mikey. You can't go and try to calm Gee down if you're just as upset. Frank is right, though. He needs us to teach him how to behave around Gee, or else he'll keep making unintentional mistakes. Frank, you go find Gee and apologize. Try and make him understand you weren't trying to hurt him. Mikey, you are going to sit down at that table and calm yourself down. Once Bob and I agree you're okay, we'll go find Gee and Frank. Okay?" Ray said. Mikey gave me a furious look, but sighed and allowed Ray to lead him over and sit him at the table. Bob put a hand on my shoulder. "I know you didn't mean to hurt him, so does Ray, and somewhere inside Mikey knows, too. He's just really protective of Gee, Frank, you've gotta understand that. Go find Gee, and apologize. We'll handle Mikey." he said, then turned and went to sit down beside Mikey, his hand rubbing the boy's back as he vented his frustration.