Pay Attention, Mr. Iero (Frerard)

10 - As It Turns Out

I woke up the next morning to Ray shaking me awake. Still half asleep, I wave him off and rubbed my eyes. Of course, he persisted. 

"Frank, you've practically been asleep all day! You literally missed like half of your classes!"

I sat up, squinting my eyes, trying to wake up only to realize I had a terrible headache. Ray was already fully dressed, crossing his arms, and staring down at me sternly.

"What happened?" I asked sleepily. 

Ray shook his head, "You drank too much last night, that's what!" Pointing at the clock on my nightstand he added, "I've literally already gotten up and gone to all my classes for the day and you're just now waking up".

"Why didn't you wake me sooner?" I asked.

"I had to go to class early this morning, and I didn't think you needed someone to help get you up. You've been attending college for weeks now. Haven't you heard of an alarm clock before this?"

"Alright, alright I get it," I groaned, holding my head. "I didn't think to set an alarm before I started drinking last night".

"Well it's your grades that are going to suffer... is your head okay?"

I groaned again, "No, it hurts 'cause I'm hungover. Doesn't yours?"

Ray chuckled, taking a seat on his bed across from mine, "I only had that one beer. You're the one who tried to drink the whole pack. You should thank me by the way. You got really annoying after awhile, but I kept you in line and eventually managed to get you into bed before you passed out. I suppose you deserved to have a little fun though. You broke down crying after a while from everything that happened".

"Sorry I was such a mess. I'm feeling less heartbroken today though. Still not perfect though."

"Good," Ray replied as he reached into a nearby drawer. Pulling out a bottle of Advil and pushing over my water bottle on the nightstand, he said, "I'm sure your art class won't be so bad then today."

I raised my eyebrows at him, "You really expect me to go to my art class after all that? At this point I never want to see Professor Way again. I don't think I could stand to sit through his class".

"Frank, you can't let this get in the way of your classes and schoolwork. You're going to his class."

"Yeah okay, Mom," I replied sarcastically before reaching for the Advil bottle. Ray took it away immediately. 

"Not going to class? No need for Advil."

I rolled my eyes, "Oh come on man. Skipping it one day won't change anything. You said it yourself- I already basically missed all my other ones today".

"One day will turned into another," he replied seriously. "Then another and another until you end up skipping the class all together. Besides, I'm not having you sitting around crying all day in our dorm while I'm trying to study." 

"That's harsh, dude".

Ray just gave me a judgmental look until I finally gave in.

"Fine. I'll go. But I'm not saying a word to that asshole."

...

After attending the remainder of the classes I hadn't managed to miss by sleeping in, it was almost time for Professor Way's class. I really didn't want to go. I could think of a million other things I'd rather do then sit in on his art class trying to copy down the notes he was writing on the board with his ass unintentionally in my face. But I knew Ray was right. I had to toughen up. Even though I really only liked the class in the first place because of the teacher, I was actually doing well in school for once. I guess I could try to at least keep up my grades for a bit more. Dropping out and never coming back was sounding more appealing now though...