Fast Friends - Frank Iero

Part 11

The lunch bell rang out into the air, bringing sense of relief to everyone in the classroom.

"Homework is questions one to seventeen on page two forty-five in the textbook. Remember, the unit test is scheduled for Wednesday, covering everything from the biostratographic method to polyalkaline immune functions."

I shoved my notes back into my binder, mumbling about my nonexistent appreciation for science. I weaved my way through the crowded hallways to my locker. Seeing as Kaitlin had arrived before me, I loitered in the sea of people until she left, hoping she wouldn't notice me. Only then did I realize;
I had nobody to eat with.

As I put my things away in my locker, irrational thoughts began pouring into my mind.

Nobody to eat with? Might as well switch schools right now. You're gonna have to sit alone in the corner of the parking lot, everyone's going to stare at you and laugh. Your only two friends don't even want to be associated with you anymore. Congratulations; you've finally worked your way down to the lowest social class. Like, even the weird outcast kids have other weird outcast friends. It's time to cry now. See? Feel that lump in your throat? Yep, try to hold those tears in. Now everyone is going to see you crying. Your eyes are going to get all puffy and your mascara will run and-

My phone buzzed, bringing me back to reality. I quickly blinked away the few tears that had been forming in my eyes, and checked the message.

"you can come sit with us if you want"

Frank to the rescue, as if he was reading my mind.

"where are you?"
"don't pretend you don't know"

I rolled my eyes and smiled. Someday I will sass him back, just not yet.

I walked outside, spotted Frank's usual table, and started to make my way over to it. It was a small picnic bench, overcrowded with a bunch loud, rowdy guys. You could hear them from a mile away.

"Dude, that's fucking disgusting," half-yelled one of them.
"It's clearing my sinuses," replied another.
"Who in their right mind should shove a fucking french fry up their nose?"
"You just did that last week!"

The table erupted into more barely decipherable yelling as I approached. Frank signalled me over beside him, squishing people over to make more room for me to sit. A lanky guy with green hair quickly pulled a french fry out of each nostril when I sat down, and his cheeks began to turn red. The conversation at the table died down almost immediately, and many confused faces stared at me from all sides of the table.

"What, you've never seen a girl before?" Frank asked the group. I almost snorted trying to hold in a laugh. "This is Autumn, I invited her. Don't be a fucking creep. That means you, Zack," Frank continued, staring at a greasy white boy across from him. Some laughs erupted from around the table, and conversation amongst the guys grew to life again.

"Okay, so who is who?" I whispered to Frank once the background noise was loud enough to drown out what I was saying.
"Directly in front of you is Alex," He replied. I glanced up, and my eyes were met immediately with said Alex. He was racially ambiguous and very attractive. "Tough guy persona, but actually a huge nerd. Sucker for chemistry jokes. If you need a tutor, he's your guy."

"Green hair beside Alex is Jacob. Obviously a ladies' man, as you can tell by the french fry incident. Just sort of smile and nod if he tries to talk to you. You'll get used to the voice cracks eventually. Beside him is Lucas." I accidentally made eye contact with Lucas, and he smiled at me. Daaaamn. He had red hair, a lip and nose ring, and looked both friendly and intimidating at the same time. "He's a drummer. Has a thing for cats. Bring him some Red Bull and he'll love you forever." I made a mental note to stock up on Red Bull if this Frank thing doesn't work out.

Frank continued to silently explain who everyone was. I tuned out and focused on Frank's breath on my ear as he spoke quietly, enjoying it a little bit more than I probably should have.

Time flew, and before I knew it, the bell rang again. I sighed. It was time for PE class.

"Ready to run some laps, Iero?" I asked.
"Don't even start," he replied.

"I fucking hate running," we said in unison, and laughed our way off to the gymnasium.