Chapter Three
Another pair of feet echoed on the marble floor and Patrick swept into the common room.
"Ah, you're all here. Magical. Everybody find a seat and I'll introduce you to our new student, Frank- would you and Ryan like to come and stand with me please?"
Ryan wouldn't like to, thank you very much, but Frank hauled him upright and dragged him over to Patrick. Ryan watched as all of the boys shoved each other around and collapsed on chairs, many of them on top of each other. Patrick coughed tolerantly and once everyone was settled he began the introductions.
"Right, this is Ryan Farro." He explained, gesturing to the boy beside him. "He's joined us this year because his family moved away from his old school some years ago and have decided that he needed to further his education before he steps out into the big wide world. He's taking Art, Music and English so he has the same timetable as Frank and Gerard which is why Frank was showing him round today. He's taking Electronics as his optional which is a first for the school, it'll look good on the records. Now, Frank probably knows him best already, so I'll pass over, I need a sandwich. Frank?"
Patrick turned around and walked out of the common room and towards the kitchen. Frank stepped forwards and waved at a group of guys who were tangled up on an armchair and part of a sofa. A couple of them that could move their arms waved back.
"Hey guys," He said casually. "This is Ryan, new guy. Nothing very interesting about him. Oh, except the fact he's straight." There were a couple of very girly squeals of delight and several snorts of disbelief.
"With that hair? There is No way." Laughed a skinny, lanky guy from the group that had waved to Frank. Frank walked over to the group and slapped him. Ryan cursed Helena silently. He needed to get to a mirror, and fast.
"Mikey, if he says he's straight- he's straight." Frank frowned at Mikey until a look of realisation broke over his face.
"Oh, of course- straight, right..Boobs and shit." He nodded knowingly.
Ryan who had been watching closely realised that Helena had been right. The looks that all of them were sharing plainly said they were conspiring against him. Just as Ryan was getting ready to run out of there, Patrick came back into the room holding a very large peanut butter sandwich.
"Whadimiss?" He mumbled around a mouthful of heaven. The tension diffused instantly and laughter broke out among the masses.
"Nothing!" was the unanimous reply. Patrick rolled his eyes.
"I'll get it out of one of you, just you wait," He swallowed. "Now, everyone introduce yourselves. Frank go and sit down, stop hitting Mikey. Alex- you start." Frank went and sat down. On top of his friends. A tall slim guy with a hairstyle that clearly needed a lot of hairspray stood up from where he was sharing an armchair with a boy who, Ryan reasoned, must be his boyfriend. Alex was wearing a pink shirt and a green tie, like Frank he was wearing skinny jeans, as were most of the boys. Ryan was starting to notice a theme.
"I'm Alexander Gaskarth, My great Grandfather who was British bought the mansion. I sing and play guitar, I like polo and-." He was cut off by Frank.
"-have more money than sense. Seriously Fagskarth, could you sound more up yourself?" Frank highfived the guy he was sitting on top of. Alex flipped him off and continued. "I expect you'll want to hang out with me and my friends instead of the emos in the corner," A shoe flew though the air from Frank's friend's direction and narrowly missed Alex's head. He frowned but continued. "I'm going out with Jack, so I know I'm irresistible- but hands off, my Optional is Business and like my father- I hope to inherit the rights of ownership of this building."
Alex sat down. Ryan's heart sank, it had become apparent almost immediately that Alex was far too popular, preoccupied and uninterested to know anything about the way the school was run. There would be no point in trying to get him to talk. This meant that his only possible source of information was Brendon- who was probably going to hate him. The person Frank was sitting on pushed him off and stood up. He and Frank were wearing almost identical clothes, only this guy was wearing a blue tie. He was taller than Frank but he was of the same build, slim with elegant limbs. He had black bangs that covered most of his face. He had smudges of charcoal up his arms that seemed to be a permanent part of him. He flicked his hair out of his eyes and shot a look of contempt at Alex.
"Like he'd ever want to go out with you Gaskarth. I'm Gerard Way, we have the same timetable- so you already know what subjects I do. My Optional is Animation and I'm currently working on a cartoon about a Monkey and Breakfast. I listen to real music," He shot another look at Alex. "and I.."
"Am the Sassiest bitch ever and gay as the fourth of July" finished a hench blonde guy from the pile of people Gerard had just left. Gerard put on his best shocked face.
"I am a heterosexual thank you very much!" He flicked out a wrist and cocked his hips to make a point before flouncing back to the sofa. The blonde dude laughed before looking at Ryan.
"I'm currently being crushed by Mikey- otherwise I'd get up. I'm Bob Bryar, my Optional is Karate. I play the drums. By the way, Gerard neglected to mention the fact he sings. Loudly. You have been warned," Ryan smiled. Bob poked a guy who was sitting nearby with his foot. He looked up. "Toro- introduce ton self si vous plait."
'Toro' put down the book he'd been reading and looked up. "I'm Ray Toro, also known as Poofball and Monsieur le Fro. Due to the hair. My optional is Languages- if anyone ever needs language help they can come to me. "If they give me a cupcake and promise not to touch my hair." Ryan laughed and looked at the hair- it was a fluffy ginger afro and now he'd been told he couldn't, he really wanted to touch it. "Don't even think about it new kid." Said Ray.
"Don't be a dick Ray," said the only person in the room with a half beard of stubble. He was sitting by the fire with his feet on a coffee table, he was giving off an aura of calm, cool and collectedness. "I'm Spencer Smith, I'm in your Art class- I'm the hub of all gossip and I weld. My Optional is Woodwork and I play drums like Bob." He waved briefly.
"You're a dick Spencer" was Ray's articulate and imaginative reply. Mikey who was still sitting on Bob groaned and threw his other shoe, the first was still over by Alex, at Ray's 'Fro.
"Can it guys, seriously. Toro, give me my shoe back before your hair eats it,"
Ryan giggled and Mikey raised a slim eyebrow in his direction. "Yeah, you're totally straight. I'm Mikey Way- Gerard also neglected to mention my existence, I'm his brother. I play Bass. My Optional is Mythology- because unicorns fucking exist." Ryan looked around, no one else find that weird? No? Ok then...
"Mikey, not everyone in here appreciates your weirdness. Take it elsewhere. Like a different state," A tanned, muscular guy who was lounging on a sofa said derisively. "Hey Ryan, I'm Pete- I take English, Maths and Drama. My Optional is my Bass playing, I'm doing my Diploma. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask." Pete grinned showing a brilliant white smile. He was wearing a tight white shirt and a red tie.
"Jesus Pete, he hasn't been here half a day and you're already hitting on him? I knew you lacked standards- but that is ridiculous."
Out of the shadows by the bookcase Ryan watched the silhouette of a slim, well built individual move into the light. He had a confident swagger to his step that accentuated hips that any woman would have been jealous of. He moved further into the room and Ryan's eyes travelled up slim legs that were swathed in tight black denim to a chest that was covered in a loose, white shirt that hung perfectly on his body. The sleeves were rolled up to reveal toned arms with perfect hands and piano player's fingers.
"I'm Brendon Urie, and if you're the owner of the three ridiculously large bags in my room- I don't like you." His voice was beyond sultry, it was velvet soft and the intonation suggested dark nights and smooth skin. Ryan looked up and unwillingly into his eyes; they were hypnotic, a deep coffee with tiny flecks of gold that caused his eyes to flash dangerously in the dimly lit room. His brown hair fell in disorganised perfection around his angular cheekbones and-
Ryan mentally slapped himself. It was the gay atmosphere he decided, messing with his head.
"Um...hi." Replied Ryan once he thought he could trust his voice not to crack. Brendon just rolled his eyes and sashayed over to the staircase. He walked slowly and it took all of Ryan's will power not to watch him go. After he'd disappeared out of sight Ryan became aware of the heavy silence in the room. Spencer coughed before standing up and turning to the remaining occupants of the room. Ryan became vaguely aware of Alex mouthing 'Awkward' to the rest of the students.
"Jack, Gabe and Bill- I'm sure you can introduce yourselves later, right?" Spencer said pointedly. The remaining boys got up, Jack took Alex with him and they disappeared upstairs. The casually dressed figure with shutter shades that could only be Gabe mentioned that he and Pete had to do some work for Drama and they exited the building. William got slowly to his feet and untangled his long limbs. He was wearing a tight green v-neck over a white shirt and his brown mousy hair almost passed his shoulders. He nodded to Ryan before walking out of the doors after them.
"Bob, Ray- you couldn't get me some coffee could you? Actually I'll come with you" said Mikey hurriedly and they too disappeared. Mikey gave a bob of his head to Spencer before walking through the double doors. That left Ryan, Gerard, Frank and Spencer. Gerard looked at Spencer for a couple of seconds before nodding slightly; Gerard got to his feet and dragged Spencer out of the door muttering about a couple of sketches he wanted him to see. Ryan realised he was still standing facing the stairs when Frank pulled him into an armchair by the fire.
"Well shit. Sorry bro. Brendon...ummm...everyone else seemed to..." Frank bit his lip when he saw Ryan's expression. "Seriously man, don't beat yourself up about it. You can ask Patrick to move you but he probably won't...he has this thing about us all working together in harmony or some such shit." He snorted and stood up. "I'm always here and Spencer seems to be fighting your corner. I know Gee likes you and Bob will defend anyone who laughs at his jokes so I think you'll be ok. Give it a week- you'll fit in fine."
Ryan looked at him disbelievingly and Frank rolled his eyes.
"Trust me, I'm a great judge of character. Now- Brendon's probably burning all your clothes, let's go and help." Frank dragged him upright and over to the stairs. They stopped at the first step and Frank turned to him with a serious expression, "I'm in the dorm opposite you- so just run over if Brendon tries to stab you in the night." Ryan laughed nervously and Frank rolled his eyes.
"Come on pretty boy- let's go and see if Brendon's melted your laptop yet."
Ryan was getting seriously pissed off with all the comments about his appearance and he wanted to get to a mirror as fast as possible. He followed Frank up the winding staircase and into a wide corridor. There were four doors on either side and a set of double doors at the far end.
"The library and computer suite are through those doors," commented Frank- gesturing to the back of the long passage. They walked about half way down the corridor before Frank stopped and turned to face one of the doors at the left side. Ryan noticed that each door had two plaques in the middle and a lock, each plaque had the name of one of the occupants of the room. The door in front of them held the names Brendon Urie and Ryan Farro. Frank, who had brought the plastic bag with them, dug around to find a key. He passed it to Ryan with a flourish.
"Your door, you open it. I'll stand back."
Ryan tensed up briefly, and wondered if Brendon really did have the resources to burn his stuff. He doubted it and turned the key. The door swung open to reveal a good sized and thankfully empty room with twin beds, one of which was unmade and covered in sheets of music. There were bedside tables next to each bed and a small desk in one corner. The walls on Brendon's side of the room were already covered in posters of a lot of artists Ryan recognised. In all fairness, that could have been his side of the room. Ryan noticed that the mess stopped abruptly half way over to the other bed. Brendon clearly had a thing about boundaries. The other bed had Ryan's huge cases on it, they seemed to be untouched.
Frank let out a low whistle. "Daaammmn, what is in those?" He walked over to the nearest case and unzipped it. His eyes widened as he pulled out a suit jacket and five black shirts. "Armani? Seriously? Is that- Oh my god it is." Frank dropped everything he was holding and plunged a hand into the bag. He pulled out an iPad and laughed. "Duuude, they told us you got in on a scholarship, we thought you'd be some trailer trash that dropped out of schools every week."
Ryan frowned, Farro had got him in on a scholarship? For what subject? He was distracted when Frank pulled out a bag and emptied the contents of a small beauty parlour and hair salon onto the bed. Bloody Helena. Frank was laughing hysterically as he went through the products, chucking them at Ryan
"Hairspray, Hair gel, Hair clips, cleanser, moisturiser, toner, eyeliner- are you sure you're not gay?" Frank turned round with one hand on his hip and a smirk on his face. "Well, that hairstyle does look pretty high maintenance."
Ryan swore. "What the fuck has Helena done to me?" he moaned, and collapsed on the bed. Frank jumped on top of him, his eyes as large as the tub of body lotion next to him.
"You mean you haven't looked in a mirror today?" he asked incredulously.
"Not since my supposed best friend attacked my face and hair with girl." Ryan replied. Frank leapt off him and grabbed his hand for the fifth time that day.
"Ray has a mirror covering one wall, come on." Frank dragged him out of the room muttering. Ryan caught things like 'clearly doesn't know' and 'oblivious to his hotness'. Frank knocked loudly on a door near the library. Ray Toro opened it with a smile.
"Need the mirror already?" he asked as Frank swept past him. "I've only just finished unpacking..." Ryan looked at the 'Fro apologetically before a bundle of hyper midget jumped on him.
"Ray shut the door, Ryan close your eyes. Oooh you're so much fun already!" He covered Ryan's eyes with his hands and Ryan stumbled blindly further into the room. After a bit of steering Frank sighed. "You're going to realise how hot you are and stop hanging out with me, you'll start to use your powers for evil, like Pete." Ryan kicked some air where Frank's leg might have been and Frank giggled. "I take it back, but dude, if you don't want every single guy in this place to be clamouring for a space in your bed- you need to get ugly."
Frank slowly let his hands fall from Ryan's face and Ryan saw, for the first time, what Helena had done to him.
"Oh," He said, touching his hair and face. "This is different."
Couldn't name this chapter anything other. Gotta love Mikey. :') NOW PRESS THAT SEXY REVIEW BUTTON.