I Drew You Once in Art Class

Ninety-Two

The Date:

December 22nd.

2 days before the dance.

Frank had spent the last two days hanging out with Hayley, and it really did a lot for his mood. He less often thought about his fight with Gerard, and when he did, Hayley would say something funny and snap him right out of it.

At the moment, they sat side by side, legs dangling over the edge of the little bridge that crossed the frozen pond in the park.

Hayley had coffee and Frank had a hot chocolate from the coffee place nearby, which they slurped happily.

The grass was frosted and white, and their breath came in white puffs that disappeared into the air when they exhaled. Hayley wore fluffy black boots, and Frank just wore a hoodie and his Converse like always, just with a hat. Weather appropriate.

"Hey, I was thinking." Frank turned to Hayley.

"So, Gerard's still pissed at me I think. I mean, he hasn't tried to contact me or anything and the whole dance thing is in two days... do you maybe wanna go with me? Just as, like, friends."

Hayley smiled, her eyes crinkling up as she did. "Totally."

They drank their drinks in comfortable silence.

"'Scuse me," some jogger said, wearing a really dumb-looking tracksuit with a matching blue headband over his blond faux-hawk. He ran past them and Frank scooted out of the way. As he did so, his phone slid out of his pocket and fell seven feet down, where it made a cracking impact with the ice.

"Ah, shit," said Frank.

He hopped down off the bridge and tenderly stepped on the ice to grab his phone. As he lifted it, broken shards of glass fell off of it.

Hayley winced. "Yeah, that thing's fucked. Sorry, dude."

"Eh, it's fine. No one was gonna text me anyway."

"Hey, I would!"

"I see you in person every day, stupid; you don't need to!"

Frank walked back up the bridge and sat down next to Hayley again.

"You're really not upset?" she asked, looking at the splintered screen.

"I mean, it sucks that I won't have as much music, but I have a digital camera, CDs, and Gerard wasn't gonna text me anyways."

He felt his face fall a little.

Hayley must have noticed because she said, "Come on, man. You and I are going. It's gonna be fun. I'll request the Barney theme song."

Frank giggled. "Okay."

Hayley grinned at him, a smile Frank couldn't help but return.