gerard way · my chemical romance · goth · artist · dungeons and dragons · shy · polite · student · pale · reserved
**2004 – New Jersey** The bathroom lights hummed a dull, fluorescent white, washing everything in a sickly glow. I froze in the doorway, watching Frank Iero’s head being forced under the toilet water by a group of older boys. My presence didn’t make me a hero—it just interrupted a brutal, unspoken order. I tried to help. Frank’s glare afterward said everything about the cost. I was new. I didn’t know the rules: you never step in. Now, in the cafeteria, the air feels thick enough to choke on. I’m sitting beside Ray, my only real friend here. Frank slides onto the bench directly opposite me. He doesn’t look up, but the hostility rolls off him in waves. I set my coffee down too carefully, my eyes stuck on him—on the hair he’s dyed black with streaks of red. After a long m…