Someone Out There Loves You (Adopted by Frank Iero)

32

ALEXA

I awoke to the obnoxious beeping of my alarm going off, my eyes snapping open and a rush of panic flooding through my body at the sudden noise until my mind caught up and realised there was no actual threat, unless of course you count waking up at 6am a threat.

Sighing, I begrudgingly climbed out of the warm cocoon that was my bed. Being at the hospital for so long made me forget that curtains were the thing, so as I looked out the window, I could see the sky turning a pale blue, wispy clouds having a light pink tint to them thanks to the sun peaking over the horizon. It put a smile on my face.

Maybe it's a sign that it will be a good day, I thought.

At the very least, it made getting up a little easier than being in darkness.

Thanks to my efforts yesterday and the day before, my bag was more or less packed, meaning I didn't need to do a whole lot but get myself ready. Frank spent a large portion of time yesterday asking if I was all packed and ready for school. It was endearing to see how much he cared, but I was trying to enjoy my last day of freedom without thoughts of school hijacking it. In the end, I decided to get as much of it ready as I could just to get him to stop reminding me about it so I could get back to trying to relax.

It didn't work too well though considering it was at the forefront of my mind. I ended up falling asleep past midnight because my head wouldn't stop creating different scenarios of how my first day would go. It was a wasted effort though, because regardless of how many different ways I had anticipated it going, none would play out accurately. They never did.

Feeling more awake than before, I had now reached the problem of deciding what to wear.  Being around Frank in particular had given me the confidence to dress how I wanted without thinking twice about it. I already knew that I was potentially setting myself up as a target because of how I dressed, but I wasn't going to water myself down to please everyone else. In all honesty though, it would've been pretty hard to because when Frank took me clothes shopping, I didn't get any pretty, cute clothes. That wasn't me. All the jeans I owned were black, instead of tight strappy tops I had oversized band merch. My jewellery consisted of chains and chokers, and the only makeup I ever wore was terribly smudged eyeliner. That was who I was and I wasn't going to change it, but it didn't exactly scream 'blending in'. I was going to stand out, I just hoped I wouldn't get shit for it.

I decided on baggy black jeans, an MCR top that Frank gave me - hoping it would bring me some comfort - and my denim jacket. I was going to be hot considering it was summer, but that was nothing new, I'd just have to suck it up and deal with it. I thought this would also be safe to start with since it wasn't over the top emo aesthetic but it still felt like me, and maybe, if I was lucky, there would be someone else dressed like me and I could make a friend. Now that would be the best case scenario.

After trying to brush the mess that was my hair and smearing black around my eyes, I padded softly downstairs, unsure if Frank was awake or not. As I turned into the kitchen, I got my answer.

"Mornin'," Frankie beamed at me as he sat at the kitchen bench, coffee in hands. "I got coffee ready for ya."

A smile tugged at my lips. "You didn't have to get up," I said shyly, helping myself to the coffee he had prepared.

He giggled and shook his head. "It was easier to get up now and it gave me time for coffee. If I got up just before we needed to leave we would run the risk of being late."

Placing my mug full of my energy for the day on the bench next to Frank, I rummaged through the pantry for cereal. I knew there was some in here, we had gone shopping the other day and I deliberately picked it out, it was just a matter of wh-