It was August of 2002 when everything began to go downhill for Gerard Way.
He was always such a quiet, shy guy... and as a result, when he met a girl he really, really liked, Melanie, he couldn't go up to talk to her. His guy friends always picked on him and called him a wuss and such because he wasn't like them, he wasn't perverted or overly confident. The only male friends he had who actually supported him and his timid ways were his friends Frank, Ray, and his younger brother Mikey. They were the world to him.
After almost a month of being back to school for their senior year, Frank and Ray finally tried to talk Gerard to go up and ask Melanie out.
"Come on dude... she's totally cool. She's in like all of my classes." Ray insisted, crossing his arms. Ray Toro was only a bit taller than Gerard, only by about an inch. But his big, golden brown afro definitely added to his height. Ray looked extremely friendly and approachable, he always wore a soft smile on his face and his almond-shaped brown eyes were full of nothing but warmth.
"She is sexy as hell too." Frank bit his lip as he watched Melanie walk down the hallway. Frank Iero was sort of scary, despite his short height. He was only about 5'6". He was 17 years old and he was covered in tattoos, who wouldn't be afraid of that? His small, round eyes were the color of emerald gems and his messy, greasy black hair hung in his face. He was definitely handsome, if you were into that sort of rough-looking, bad boy thing.
"I know, I know, but..." Gerard sighed deeply. "I can't work up the courage to go and talk to her." He watched the girl approach her friends with a wide smile on her face, which made Gee smile a little as well. "Then I'll do it." Frank pushed Ray and Gerard aside. "No!" Ray reached out and tried to grab ahold of the smaller man's sleeve, but Frank struggled free of his grasp, for he was a lot stronger. Gerard whined a little as he saw Frank talk to Melanie, who was like two inches taller than him. Gee and Ray didn't hear the conversation, but they were both nervous.
After talking to the girl for a good 5 minutes at least, Frank finally came back with his signature cheeky smirk plastered onto his face. "What did you do?" Ray sighed. "Chill, man. I told her I needed to borrow her notes for French since we're in the same class then. I was just messing around with you guys." Frank laughed and nudged Gerard, who banged his head against his locker and whined again, louder this time. "I was about to die or something." Gee pulled his head back away and rubbed his forehead, where it was already a little pink. "Ouch. Well, class is starting soon. We should get to science now." Ray smiled and he and Gerard began to walk down the hallway toward their science room. On the way, Gee got a glance at Melanie, who was smiling at him sweetly. He already began to feel his pale white cheeks flush with color from his nervousness.
After school, Gerard was in the parking lot of the school, walking down the concrete, about to walk home. He had one hand tightly gripped on the strap of his red and blue backpack. "Hey!" A raspy feminine voice called from behind him. "Gerard!" The boy stopped and turned around. 'Holy shit,' He thought. It was Melanie. She was wearing a bright smile on her face, showing off her perfectly straight and white teeth. The shiny pale pink lipgloss she had painted on her full lips made her mouth look even prettier. She approached him, her hands buried in the front pockets of her ripped up light blue skinny jeans. "U-uh-um, hi...?" Gerard stuttered and looked behind him a couple times, to make sure she wasn't talking to someone behind him. Melanie giggled cutely. "You are Gerard Way, right?" She asked, her impossibly large and round dark brown eyes staring up into his hazel ones. "Uh, yeah. Melanie Fowler?" He asked, cocking his head to the side. "Haha! Yeah, that's me!" She beamed once more, Gee loved how cheerful and bubbly she was. "So, your friend Frank told me that you had a crush on me today." She told him. Gerard's breath caught in his throat. Frank said he didn't! "And, I sorta think you're cute. Wanna come to my house Friday night? I could use some help studying." Her smile dropped and she raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah! Of course I'll come! What time should I be there? What's your address?" Gee grinned widely. "Well, I was thinking you could show up at around 7:30, when it starts to get dark. I'm a night owl, I'm more awake and I pay attention more when it's night time." She explained. The boy nodded. "And I can't remember my address right this second, but if I could get your number I could text you when I get home?" She suggested, which made Gerard quickly nod like crazy. "Yes, that sounds great! Here's my number!" He jotted down his phone number on her arm with a pen she gave him. She said she didn't want it to be written on paper because she always lost it. "Okay... Friday night at 7:30?" Gerard asked. "Yep!" Melanie giggled again and turned around. "Bye, Gerard!" She waved to him. "Bye!" He turned around and walked home, more excited and happy than he had been in a long time.