School of the Damned

--Andy's POV--

Unfortunately, I didn’t have Sandra, Braden, Ronnie, or Ashley in my next class, which happened to be English. Sister Hartzler stood at the front of the room, going over plans for the school year and classroom expectations while I zoned out and doodled at the bottom of the introduction paper. Suddenly, I was struck with worry about what I was drawing. For me, doodles were a way to know what was really on my mind, whatever I denied I was thinking about was what shot out of the pencil tip. Usually, I ended up with a band symbol or something reminding me of my old boyfriend, Matt. God, I missed him. I missed holding his hand as we walked down the street back home, ignoring the disapproving stares boring holes into us from every direction. I missed his bright smile that brushed off all concerns and doubts with a promise to never leave. I missed the warm touch of his lips against mine, how he’d gently wipe away my tears, how he held me close when I was afraid. I was already bullied before I met Matt and fell in love with him, and he made all the pain fade out. Until the day he moved and purposely lost contact with me. I still remember the letter he wrote, the letter he wrote to say goodbye, because how could I forget? Tears sprung to my eyes at the memory, and I immediately cast off thoughts of Matt, focusing instead of whatever I had doodled, expecting it to be him. Shock ran through me for a moment when I saw what I had drawn, yet there was another part of me, whispering in the back of my mind, that I shouldn’t be surprised. I frowned as I ripped off the corner of the page, studying it as if in a dream. They were eyes, a pair of eyes that I’d seen before, with shaggy hair half-covering one of them, and softly curved eyebrows. These features belonged to Ashley.
“Andrew Biersack? Going once, going twice-”
“I’m here,” I responded automatically, tearing my thoughts of both boys to shreds, like the picture of Ashley when Sister Hartzler marked me present and was about to start again with attendance when I interrupted. “Oh, and I prefer to be called Andy.”
“Andy? Ok then, let me write a little side note of that, and keep reminding me until I get it.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled, sinking down into my chair and stretching out my legs underneath the desk in front of me. First period with Frank was way more entertaining.

Although math was next, at least I had it with Sandra, and we made sure to sit across from each other. After Father Gontier--wow that guy’s hair was spiky--took attendance, partner work was handed out, and we paired up.
“So, um, what are we doing?” I yawned, still half asleep.
“Well, we need to complete this entire worksheet together.” That certainly woke me up. I sucked at math.
“Wait, what?” I said in a hushed voice. “All of it?” Sandra nodded.
“Shouldn’t be too difficult. You wanna get that half and I’ll get this half?”
“Uh…” I began, too embarrassed to admit that, in fact, I had no clue how to solve these. “Sure,” I finished weakly. Sandra smirked.
“Or I can teach you, if you want.”
“Yeah, can you please?” It took me a while to get it, but I eventually completed a few on my own, and we were the first group done. Sandra took out her science homework and I again doodled absentmindedly.
“Hey, that’s a really good drawing of Ashley,” Sandra interrupted my mental wandering.
“Huh?” I stopped to examine what I had done. What?! It was him again! How? Why? “Oh, thanks,” I stated awkwardly as I stared at it. I met him yesterday, he wasn’t anything special and if he was I wouldn’t know. No, a small part of my mind insisted. He’s different. You’re happy around him. Actually happy, for the first time since Matt. Shut up,I snapped back at it, though I knew it was true. So what if I felt better around him? It didn’t mean anything and never would.

Two boring class periods later, Sandra, Braden, Ronnie, Ashley, and I were all seated at a lunch table inside the cafeteria, as the courtyard was apparently only open on sunny weekends. Ronnie was currently challenging Braden to a contest of which both stuffed as many fruit snacks as they could up their nose, while Braden politely declined and Sandra made bets with Ashley as to who would win.
“I dare Sandra and Ronnie to compete,” I suddenly said with a devilish grin. Ronnie laughed.
“No offence, Sandra, but you don’t stand a chance.” Sandra’s eyes narrowed.
“It’s on.” And so it began. At first, Braden watched from the sidelines, horrified, as I chanted for Ronnie and Ashley cheered for Sandra. Once it was clear that the two were professionals, Braden and I joined Ashley in encouraging Sandra.
“San-dra, San-dra, San-dra, San-dra, AYYY!” We finished when she won. Ronnie appeared very impressed.
“Well, congratulations,” he admitted to her. “You’re the first person to beat me at that.”
“I’m undefeated.”
“You don’t need to rub it in! Beginners luck,” he muttered. I took a bite of my cafeteria Catholic school sandwich. Peanut butter and jelly. Wait a minute…
“Ashley, don’t-” Too late, Ashley had already tasted it a couple minutes ago when the competition began. All of a sudden, he began coughing harshly, hacking away red-faced as we stared at him, wondering what to do.
“Peanuts,” he choked out,” a-aller-aller--ACHOO--allergic reaction, I n-need--ACHOO--epipen now before I-” A coughing fit interrupted him. “I pass out.” What?! This was way more serious than he originally told me!
“I thought you had an hour!” I gasped, standing up. He shook his head fast.
“That’s if I sm-smell--ACHOO--peanuts, if I taste them, I have half the time,” his voice was fading to a whisper. “Throat...closing...up…” he fell unconscious, and would have hit the floor if I hadn’t managed to catch him.
“I’m taking him to Sister May, the nurse,” I told the others as they all sat there in shock. “Tell some adult what happened.” Ronnie was the first to snap back to reality.
“Will do,” he replied, and I gave them all a nod before shifting my carrying method a little bit, so that I was now balancing Ashley bridal-style in my arms.
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” A priest, I didn’t know who, called after me as I dashed out the door and down the hall towards Sister May’s office. Oh god, please let him be ok, please let him get what he needs and be fine, I thought.
“What happened?!” Sister May gasped as I burst through the door with Ashley in my arms. I laid him down on one of the cots gently, as the adrenaline had begun to wear off and he started to feel heavy.
“His name is Ashley Purdy, he’s having an allergic reaction to peanuts, surely his parents left him an emergency epipen, right?” I rambled aloud to her, opening up the cabinets to see if there were any there, though I was very sure I wasn’t supposed to be.
“Excuse you, but you are not permitted to be-”
“I don’t care! He’s got half an hour and could die!” I cried. “Just tell me if he has an emergency epipen!”
“Ah, um, third drawer to the left,” she answered, taking a look at Ashley and making note of all his symptoms, while I rummaged around through all the prescriptions and medical tools for his epipen.
“Is this it?” I held up a clear pen with a needle in it, and she nodded.
“Yeah, that’s it. Here hand it to me, I’ll inject him.” I did as she instructed, watching as she jabbed the needle into his arm.
“How long till he wakes up?” I asked anxiously, starting to pace. I didn’t know why I was quite so panicked, but seeing Ashley in danger just brought out this protective side of me; I had to know he was going to be ok. The nurse shook her head.
“I don’t know. He’s going to be alright, though, the redness in his face is starting to fade already. Do you want me to call you down when he fully recovers?”
“No,” I replied immediately, looking up from the white-tile floor that I’d been staring it. “Can I please stay here with him until then? So he’ll have someone there and stuff?”
“Well…” she trailed off.
“Please?” I repeated softly. Sister May sighed.
“I guess you can,” she gave in.
“Thank you!” I gushed with a grin.
“Just while I take my lunch break, though,” she added before leaving.
“Ok,” I nodded, sitting down on the cot next to Ashley’s. Absentmindedly, I found myself taking his hand in mine and tracing the lines on his palms, thinking about him. I wanted to know why he came here, or was sent here unwillingly, like me. And, for just a second, I wondered if he was gay, too, before shoving that thought aside. I shouldn’t be wondering that, and there was a reason, what was his name? Matt. A pang shot through my chest at the memory, but how could I have forgotten him? Every day, something would remind me of him, but with Ashley, I seemed to be at peace, happy once again. Maybe I should be wondering. At that moment, Ashley’s eyes suddenly opened, and he gasped for breath, sitting up quickly, and I let go of his hand.

Notes

I have no idea if th real Ashley is actually allergic to anything, or if this scene is even realistic, I just thought it would add a lot to build up their relationship. Sorry it's been forever since the last update! Also, idk if I wrote this down in the notes for the last chapter, but yes, I am fully aware that Gerard Way's first name is not Frank. This story includes Frerard later on, and you will find out why Father Way prefers to be called Frank. Andy's previous boyfriend in the story, Matt, is meant to be Matt Good. Updates should be a bit more frequent when I get out of school (just four more days left, ahh!!) and I hope you all are liking the story!