Frank; (I'll make sure to keep you guys updated with Frank's home life)
What's so interesting about me? I mean really. All Gerard seems to want to talk about is my life. It's nothing special. I'm poor kid who never sees his dad. That's it. But what about him, huh? While he sits there and tries to get into my head, he doesn't think about the fact that I want to know a thing or two about him. His journal for one. Why can't he spare one detail about that?
I climb off the bus and walk over to the end of my driveway. Alex goes to a different school than I do, his bus gets here about five minutes after mine. We haven't talked at all since he broke down that night and I've seriously been worrying about him. Every time I would go to his house, he'd refuse to let me in. I just want to know that he's okay..
Soon enough, a school bus with the name of Alex's school plastered on the side of it pulls up in front of his house. He slowly walks off and towards his house. I take advantage of his slow pace and jog over to him, stopping him before he makes it to his front porch. "Hey," I say when he stops and looks at me.
"Hi," he mutters, attempting to side-step around me afterwards.
"Wait, Alex, why won't you talk to me? You're my best friend, I'm yours, why won't you just take a few minutes and talk to me? I'm really worried about you," I say, successfully stopping him in his tracks as he places his right foot on the first step of the wooden porch.
"Frank.. I know you're my best friend. It's just weird trying to talk to you after you've seen me at my lowest. I'm scared that now you just see me as some weak person," he admits, turning around to face me. "I mean, I was pretty much crying on your shoulder all night whining about how hard my life is."
"Everyone gets weak at some point, Alex," I explain quietly. "You aren't weak if you're standing here today through all the shit you've been through. I think you're strong and no amount of tears or 'whining' is going to change that."
He looks down after that, not wanting to make eye contact. "Okay.."
"Can I come in? I just want to hang out."
"I'm sorry, I need to take care of my mom, then I have to go to work at five," he explains, which sucks. It really makes me feel bad that he has to juggle taking care of his sick mom and then working a shitty job.
"Oh, that's fine. I just really want to spend some time with you," I say, sadness evident in my voice.
"I'm sorry, Frank," he apologizes before stepping forward and pulling me into a hug. It doesn't last long but it's nice while it lasts. Then, he ascends the steps of the wooden porch and enters his house.
With boredom in my mind, I decide to walk into town and go to the comic store. I don't live very far from it, maybe a mile, a little less more. Either way, it's a nice walk every time I go, even when it's cold as fuck.
I turn away from Alex's house and make my way down the driveway and onto the main road. There aren't sidewalks on this road, which I hate, but there will be eventually. When I get further down and turn right to get into town, sidewalks are more common and I walk on them every chance I get.
After about twenty minutes, I make it into town. Not exactly the busiest part, thankfully, but the slightly more rundown part that has, in my opinion, the better stores. The rundown side of town has an entire street full of music shops that may not get many sales, but sure as hell see me at least three times a week. There's other entertainment stores scattered around: comic book stores, video game stores, and even a little pet shop on a corner that I end up visiting every time I come over here. It's called NJ Pets and they have so many animals that there's almost not enough room for them all.
