Teach Me, Mr Way

Chapter 8

The rest of that day, I was in a fog, totally blindsided by Gerard's actions. My head was spinning with the memory of his hand on my cock, kissing my neck…
I moaned as I lay in bed that night, having jacked off several times already through the evening.
Later, after tossing and turning, I got up and went back to the park, even though curfew had been several hours earlier. 
I laid down on the grass, smoking one of mom's cigarettes and looking up at the stars. I stayed there like that for hours, jumping when I saw someone approach.
“Frankie, what are you doing out here so late?” Gerard sat down on the grass beside me, the pale moonlight shining on his hair and bleaching his already pale skin ghost white. I smiled a little, offering him a drag off of my cigarette. He took it and took a drag off of it before handing it back.
“Mom's not home, and the house is too quiet to sleep.”
“So you're out here listening to the water and the crickets, alone, in the middle of the night?” He chuckled softly. “You remind me of me at your age, but you're much cuter than I was.”
“Whatever.” I grinned at him. “I'm not exactly male model material, I'm just short, skinny Frank. Nothing special.”
“Frankie, you're special…” he kissed my forehead softly. “You're special to me.” With that, he stood, smiling down at me. “It's after midnight… Sunday. Go home and sleep. I'll see you tomorrow at school.”
“Gerard?”
“Yeah Frankie?”
“I… think I…” I felt my face heat up as I blushed, not sure how to say what I was feeling. He knelt back down next to me, leaning down to whisper in my ear.
“I think I do, too.” He kissed me softly, his lips molding to mine. Before I could think, he was gone, his voice drifting back to me. “Go home and sleep, Frankie.”
I chuckled, finally feeling like my bed might be the best place to be.
The next morning… or afternoon, since I woke up at noon, was fairly quiet. I wanted to go to the Way’s house so I could be near Gerard, but I figured that he was busy anyway. I figured I might as well make myself useful and did the dishes and laundry, knowing mom would be too plastered to do it. By the time everything was done, homework included, it was late enough to go to bed.
I must have fallen asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, because the next thing I knew, I was awoken by my phone blowing up. I looked at the time and the caller ID, groaning. It was Tony, the bartender from Mom's favorite bar. Sad that I knew the number by heart…
“Hey, Tony. I need to come get her again?”
“Please, and hurry. I'm not going to be cleaning up puke all night.”
“Ugh, again? Damn it. Thanks, Tony. I'll be there in a few.” Hanging up, I pulled on my jeans and a t-shirt, grabbing the keys to Mom's car. By the time I got there, mom was propped up against the outside wall, a dreamy look on her face as I pulled up.
“Frankie! Such a good boy…” She hiccupped, stumbling over to the car, nearly face-planting into the passenger seat, giggling the whole time.
“Mom, please buckle up. You might not care about your well-being, but your kid does for some stupid reason.” I was angry at her, for always getting drunk, for being the reason I was going to school so late sometimes, for not being able to cope with the fact that my deadbeat father didn't want anything to do with us. I drove in silence as she rambled on about something, her hiccups punctuating her sentences.
After we got home, I ordered her to take a shower. She agreed, after a long bout of her pouting like a little kid. I set her pajamas on the counter, as well as a glass of water and two Tylenol, then went to bed, forgetting to double check the alarm clock.
When I woke up, I realized that something was terribly wrong. It was too light out.
“Shit!” I hadn't reset my alarm, sleeping until almost halfway through second period. By then my cell phone was blowing up with texts from Mikey and Ray, as well as a missed call from a number I didn't know. 
'Hey, man, where are you?’
'Frankie, it's almost second period, wtf?’
'Dude, my brother is pissed off. Get your ass here, man.’ Gerard was pissed off? Great… what a way to start the new week. I hurried out the door, checking to make sure mom was alright. She was sleeping like a baby. Figured. It didn't matter to her that she was fucking up my life.
I made it to the school in record time, checking in at the office to let them know that I hadn't set my alarm, but skirting the issue of my mom. The principal informed me that I had detention for a week, then sent me off to class.
“Hey, fag boy. You're in deep shit with me.” I groaned. My day wasn't going to be getting better.
“What's new? I'm always in deep shit with you, you stupid fuck.” I hadn't meant to say it out loud, but I was so tired and pissed off that I didn't realize that I had, or that he'd heard me.
“The hell did you say?” Brendon growled.
“I said leave me the hell alone.” He grabbed my shirt, pulling back a fist as though he was going to punch me in the face. Suddenly, his face turned paper white and his eyes grew huge. He slowly let go of my shirt and ran, his buddies with him. “Thank you for saving me from my own battles, Mr. Way.” I didn't stay long enough to find out what he had to say, just went through the rest of the day, feeling empty inside. 
When the final bell rang, I headed to his classroom, quietly going to the back corner of the room. I knew he was angry because he didn't say anything, just looked up at me, his jaw twitching like he was grinding his teeth. It was a full 15 minutes before he said anything, but he didn't sound angry, more sad than anything.
“Frank, what happened? Are you trying to lose a chance at a full-ride scholarship? They look at attendance, too, you know.” He sighed. “And for the record, I wasn't trying to save you from anything. I happened to come out of the teachers lounge right as he hauled back to punch you. It was lucky timing.”
“I… I…” It was all I got out before the emotions overwhelmed me. I started to cry, and I hated myself for it. I hated him for making me think about everything. I must have surprised him, because rather than chastising me further, he came over and hugged me close. 
“Frankie, hey, talk to me. What happened?” Sniffling, the whole story poured out of me, mom's drinking and my having to clean her up, about forgetting to check my alarm clock after I brought her home, and everything else. “Frankie, have you told anyone else about this?”
“No… well, Mikey and Ray know, and they've been trying to get me to get her some help, but I'm afraid I'll lose her either way.”
“Tell you what. You're gonna stay at my mom's house, and we can get her the help she needs.”
“But I can stay at home. If I don't have to take care of her, I'll be alright to get to school on time.”
“What about rent? Or food?”
“I… oh.” I hadn't thought about that. I looked down at my hands, worried what would happen to me if they took mom to get her clean.
“Frankie, let me make a few phone calls. You'll have a place to stay, and we'll get her into a good detox program. I might be able to get it all straightened out by the time detention is over. Okay?”
“Okay…” He quickly pecked my forehead, then went and got his cellphone out, making about five different calls in the last 45 minutes of the detention time. As we left the classroom, he directed me to his car.
“Here's what's going to happen…”