Only Frankie Knows

vi. the train tracks

this part dedicated to sieyyyy !!
salamat sa pagbabasa ♡'･ᴗ･'♡

note: thanks for reading everyone !! also i love this song sm (attached above!) i'm so glad i discovered it when i was looking for a song perfect for this story. it matches so much omg. i hope u guys can listen to it after reading :))

also pls leave comments !! i'd love to hear from yaaalllll (づ￣ ³￣)づ

vi
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Frankie once said that I am the nicest person she'd ever met.

It was one night when she slept over at our house, we were side by side, under the blankets, breathings slow and relaxed, feeling each other's body heat. We were both seventeen.

I was surprised at how she's so relaxed while sleeping while I couldn't even lay still because she was beside me. It was dark under my blankets but I tried to see how her face looked like when asleep. I couldn't, so ever so carefully I brought my finger and used it to trace her face. Her forehead, her nose bridge, her cheeks, her chin, her lips. I was holding my breath -- I was astounded by her beautiful face.

I didn't care whether she'd wake up, I wanted to feel her. I wanted to bring my finger lower -- perhaps down her neck. But before I could do that, her hand touched my finger.

I softly gasped and my heart did a little thump.

"Rowan."

A pause. Silence. The crickets, the heat of her hand--

"You're the nicest person I've ever met," she said. I couldn't breathe -- her voice gave me chills and her breath smelled like mint and something else I can't explain. "I love you, Rowan."

It was dark. Frankie pulled down the blankets that covered us and when she did I was able to see her face, lit up by my orange lamp light, and although not clearly, I saw how her face was flushed red. She blinked. Frankie smiled.

"I hope we become friends forever."

I hope we become friends forever.

I shifted my weight to my other leg.

Frankie still hadn't spoken a single thing.

When we stood together in front of the train tracks, it was so quiet; only the sound of the lifeless night and the wind were present. Nobody else was there; the town is small anyway so the train stations are rarely crowded. I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to tell her about my plan, about all the possibilities that lie ahead of us if she just let me lead the way. There is future for the both of us and hers can only become bright if she's with me.

Only 54 seconds were left before the train comes.

54 seconds before she dies.

But what she said next froze me to where I was standing. 53 seconds. I didn't know that 53 seconds later she would be dead.

Only 53 seconds.

"You were the one who spread those rumors about me, right?"

Frankie slowly walked in front of me, her back facing the train tracks.