Tell Me I'm A Bad Man [Teacher/Student Frerard]

Thirty-five - Give Me All You've Got

I don't think I'd ever walked so fast in my entire life.

I'd been to art and then skipped the rest of my lessons, power-walking home. There was to be an open house thing at school in two days, and the Principal, guessing that ninety percent of the student population would either forget or not bother to tell their parents about it, had decided to send letters out. Only he posted them on Friday, without telling us.

There was no way my mom could come to any of these things, not while Gerard was working there. It would completely expose us to her, and she'd kill me. So my plan was to rush home, find the letter - if it had arrived - and then pretend that nothing had happened. That way, I could keep Gerard, and my mom wouldn't have to see how much of a shithole Belleville High is.

When I got home, I heard my mom call out for Arnie. "It's me." I replied, and she huffed.

"You're supposed to be at school. And what's this open house thing I'm supposed to be going to?"

My heart sank, and I went into the living room. She was holding a piece of paper, frowning at it. "Oh, they're just putting all our work from this semester on display. I wouldn't bother going."

And then she was frowning at me. "Why is that?"

"Because I've done no work this semester." I lied - however, it was sort of half-true. "You can't come and see work I haven't done."

"I'm sure you've done something, Frank."

"Really, Mom? You think I ever do any work at all?"

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You're trying too hard to keep me away. What are you hiding?"

A secret love-affair with my art teaching boyfriend that is becoming less of a secret now that more people are finding out.

"Nothing! I just think that your Wednesday evening would be better spent elsewhere, instead of at some shitty high school."

"Well I'm going. Any decent mother would. It can be just you and me, and we'll get pizza afterwards."

"Mom, you can't go -"

"Why can't I?"

"Because there's no point! I've only been there for two months, I haven't done anything!"

"That's exactly why I want to go. I want to see how you're getting on. If you're not going back to school today, I suggest you find something to do. I have work in an hour."

I groaned, knowing that there was no getting past her. I would just have to avoid the art classrooms at all costs - she wasn't going to find out about Gerard. Ever.

~

"You wanted to talk to me?"

"Mm-hm." I flopped onto my bed, holding the phone to my right ear. "Y'know what's happening on Wednesday?"

"Uh-huh...?" Gerard sounded worried, as if he knew something bad was going to happen.

"My mom wants to go. No, scratch that - she is going, whether we like it or not."

He paused. "Shit."

"I told her there was no point, but she wouldn't listen."

"You'll just have to keep her away from my classroom, okay?"

"I will, don't worry." I sighed. "This isn't going our way anymore, Gerard, is it?"

There was a long pause, and I didn't know if he'd answer. But when he did, he sounded almost regretful. "No, it's not."