Fast Friends - Frank Iero

Part 10

An alarm blared through the morning air, unforgivingly jerking me awake from my peaceful sleep. I reached over and turned it off, mentally preparing myself to stand up and start to get ready for school.

School...

I sighed, half out of relief and half in frustration, as I realized that it was Sunday. I laid back down and closed my eyes, but no slumber graced my eyelids. With nothing better to do, I got back up and made my way to the kitchen for some breakfast.

After scouring the pantry, fridge, freezer, and every cupboard, I decided on a rather extravagant choice; oatmeal. Cradling the warm bowl in my fingers, I went back up to my room and opened YouTube on my laptop.

I lost track of time watching video after video, but a notification from my phone snapped me out of my trance. Butterflies awoke in my stomach when I saw it was a text from Frank.

"you busy today?"
"not really"
"good. my friend cancelled on me so i have an extra concert ticket. hope you like royal blood"
"i'm sure i will"

I frantically searched up this 'Royal Blood' that he spoke of, and immediately began listening through their most recent album. They were good, and by good I mean absolutely amazing. I spent the following hours stalking the band, memorizing lyrics, and, of course, picking and choosing what to wear.

Frank met me outside the modest, ancient little local concert venue an hour before the doors were set to open. The sun was beginning to set right as the doors were opened and people started pouring into the cramped, stuffy theatre. We stood near the back, as many dedicated fans had camped out before us in line.

The air smelled like dust, sweat, and anticipation. The soft murmurs of the crowd turned to shouts as the two-piece band appeared on the small stage.

"Ey, how's everyone doing tonight?" The lead singer said with his thick British accent. We whooped and yelled in response. "I'm Mike Kerr, and that's Ben Thatcher over there," he signalled to the stern looking guy sitting at the drums. "We're Royal Blood. This song's called Hole." The crowd cheered once again, and a grungy, distorted bass riff began echoing through the speakers.

I lost myself in the music, forgetting Frank was even there with me. The band's physical performance was pretty stationary, but the music was impeccable. I can't really blame them for not moving around though, as they sort of have a lot on their hands. But they sounded pretty much exactly how they did on recording.

I jumped, sang along with the rest of the crowd, and eventually found myself separated from Frank. That didn't bother me much, we would find each other after the concert was finished.

Before I knew it, the band thanked us for coming and walked off stage, leaving the crowd screaming for an encore. I weaved through the wall of people back to the front door, meeting Frank a couple minutes later.

"Was that fun or what?" He asked, his voice hoarse from yelling.
"I think I was hallucinating, unless they actually sound that amazing." I replied. He smiled and tossed me a ball of black fabric. I unravelled it, discovering it was a tour shirt.

"Advertising at its finest. Spread the news."

I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off.

"Don't even try to pay me back."
"But-"
"Nope."
"Frank,"
"Not a chance. If you try to give me money, I'll hide it in your locker and you'll find it again in a few months."

I sighed in defeat, but was partly happy that I didn't actually have to cough up twenty bucks. We walked together until we had to go our separate ways, promising we'd talk tomorrow at school. After Frank was out of sight, I practically skipped home, ecstatic about what had just happened.

Who needs Sarah and Kaitlin? I can have fun on my own, I can make other friends. Frank is my friend now, right? That means I can also maybe be friends with his friends, it'll be like Sarah and Kaitlin never even existed. Maybe I can make a move on Frank, or maybe even Frank will make a move on me!

I held back an audible shriek at the thought, and burst into a huge smile. It's crazy how one weekend can change everything.