The Only Hope For Me Is You

Chapter 29

Frannie's POV

Today was Monday morning. I think that's rather self-explanatory in itself. Meaning, this day so far has been just like all other wonderful Mondays. Completely and Utterly boring. I anxiously tapped my pencil on my notebook and stared at the clock. 11:42. Three more minutes to go and we were out of here.

I looked around me. Almost half the students in the classroom were falling asleep. Some were practically between the floor and their chairs. Others, like Mikey and Frank, both sitting next to me, were drooling on last night's homework assignment. The rest, like me, at least tried, despite the fact that it cost us, to pay attention. But you can't really blame us. American History is as fun as licking envelopes.

You gotta give Mr. Young some credit, though. He kept lecturing us on the importance of some guy called Betsy Ross when most of his students' thoughts were in La La Land with Demi Lovato.

A chuckle escaped my lips as I thought of Mikey taking LSD's with Demi Lovato. He would enjoy that very much. Frank heard me quietly laughing to myself because he looked up from his drowzing position and gave me a "Wtf" look. "What's wrong with you?" he asked just a little too loudly.

"Mr. Iero, do you have something to say?" Mr. Young asked, looking rather put off. Frank pursed his mouth and flattened the dark hairs sticking up the back of his head.

"Uhh..no." Our teacher smiled grimly as if confirming some unspoken theory. He adjusted the glasses on his nose and continued his neverending speech.

Frank rolled his eyes at me and I smirked. I have no idea what just happened, though so I kept daydreaming.

Suddenly I saw Frank trying to catch my attention at the edge of my vision. I looked up to see him slip a note cautiously on my desk, making sure Mr, Young was too preoccupied to notice.

I opened it feeling strangely excited. Finally, some action!

"Whatcha doin'?" Frank had scribbled in his edgy handwriting. I thought on my answer long and hard and then wrote,

"Nothin...just imagining Mikey taking LSD's ontop a unicorn with Demi Lovato. Epic, huh?" I sneaked back the note discreetly. When Frank opened it and read it, he muffled a giggle in his jacket sleeve. Then he wrote back taking his time,

"That's hot. The unicorn,  I mean. So what did'ya do yesterday?"

For a moment I was worried. Frank didn't know we had gone to the mall yesterday as a group. I'm guessing it's because Gerard didn't want to invite him. In order not to hurt his feelings I generalized my outing yesterday for what it was, a trip to the mall. "I bought my Halloween costume yesterday. I'm gonna be a vampire! Original, huh?"

"Very...did you know it's my birthday on the 31st?"

"Yeah. Gee told me. You lucky son of a gun. What are you going to be?" At this note, his face was unreadable and it took him a while to answer back. He then scribbled fiercely on the note,

"Me: Frankenstein. Hey, can we talk at the end of class?" He looked at me nervously, twiddling his thumbs together. I replied with a confirmation and then waited when the class finished.

When it was over, I grabbed my stuff, being one of the first to stand up. Everybody else had to take a few minutes to wake up from the trance Mr. Young placed them in. I headed out the door and found myself face to face with Frank while he was waiting for me in front of the lockers.

"Could that class get any more boring?" I quipped, eager to small talk. I leaned on the lockers next to him.

"Can we hang out sometime, Frannie? Just you and me?" he asked, surprising me and my wish to small talk about the weather or class or any other easy subject. Not this! I stared at him and wished I hadn't made the mistake of waking him up from his sleep with my stupid laughter. But then I mentally kicked myself once I realized, looking into Frank's face, he was serious. His eyes wouldn't meet my own, his hands were tied back, and he was biting the bottom of his lip. This request was probably costing him a lot. I know the feeling.

And then I thought about Gerard. What would he think if I said yes to Frank yet again? Would he feel like I betrayed his trust once more? I didn't want to lose him or his affection. I don't want Gerard feeling like he has any need to be jealous of his very best friend. There's no way of deciding this without hurting someone's feelings.

But Frank is my friend, too. I can't just reject him without any sort of explanation. But it would be worse if I did explain. Sorry Frank, but I like Gerard. Not you. That would be inhumanly cruel. But I don't want to lead him on.

Get a grip, Frannie! He's just asking you to hang out! Not get married! Not go snorkeling in the bahamas! Besides, we both know deep down you really want to hang out with him. That's the real reason you're feeling guilty, because you want to hang out with Frank. Just the two of you. That's the real reason why you didn't want to ditch him for Gerard for the dance, too-Shut up, mental me!!!

"Sure, just say when." I replied. His face lit up in hope and I couldn't help smiling.

"Great! Now I can really get to know you. How bout my place after school?" he asked enthusiastically.

"Sure. No problem. It's not like I'm going home to do homework." At that moment, Mikey came out f the classroom and stood with us. Frank and I both remained silent.

"Stupid class. I already know about Washington and his battle with extra-terrestrials-what? what's wrong?" Mikey asked after seeing us both quiet.

Frank and I then said at the same time, "Nothing." Because of that, Mikey gave me a look that said all too clear, "I'll get you later." Gulp.