His Smirk ||

16: Connections

“You don’t think it will rain do you?” I asked looking out of the window of Frankie’s sleek car and up at the dark cloud covered sky. The sun had just began to set.

He shrugged. “Dunno.”

I scanned him form the corner of my eye. He was kinda cute in a puppy dog sort of way. Blonde hair. Soft blue eyes, almost grey. If it wasn’t for the fact I wasn’t a big fan of his type of guy I probably would have thought him attractive.

What type is he? I wondered and looked at him more closely. I knew he was carefree and almost bashful when it came to girls. I smiled remembering the first time I’d met him, how he had fumbled over his words so easily. Yet I had seen him with his own fair share of girls.

He must have noticed me watching him for he turned and gave me a small almost embarrassed smile. “Do you come to every one of these parties?” I asked conversationally. He wasn’t very easy to talk to.

“No. Well I used to.” He paused at a stop sign then took a smooth turn. “Last year we went every time. Kinda expected, you know?”

No, I didn’t know. “Expected?”

He nodded. “Well yeah. The football team and cheerleaders are like the soda and chips at a party. You can have one without it but it’s not as big.”

I’d never thought to ask before. Kale had mentioned there was one almost every Friday. That there was always something going on up at the bluffs. Why had I never gone before? “Why haven’t you lately?” I asked. Had Frankie gotten a girlfriend to bide his time?

“Well I usually stick to my own.” He took a turn and glanced over at me. “And we’ve been hanging at Jakeson’s and Brendon’s a lot more than we used to.”

I nodded. Come to think of it Friday night had become a movie night of sorts. We mainly were at Jakeson’s since there were no parents there. Unless… unless Brendon asked me to come over then movie night was held at his house. Wait a second… “Since I came you guys stopped?” I asked. If everyone showed up to hang out that meant they couldn’t be at the parties.

“Yeah. Used to go every time but lately we’ve been hanging out with you.”

Basically he was saying ever since I came they’d stopped doing what was expected of them. Of course it made sense. They were the in crowd. Even I wasn’t niave enough not to realize that. But the fact they’d been putting off their highschool life just because I was a socially awkward outcast with only them as friends wasn’t fair to them.

“Thanks for inviting me.” I said and shoved my hair back once more. I didn’t know what bothered me more; the fact I’d stepped in and messed up their normal life or the fact that they had just assumed I wouldn’t want to try to mold to their lifestyle.

“No problem.” He shrugged again and we approached a long street crowded with cars. “This isn’t like…a date, is it?” he asked nervously. I couldn’t tell if his voice was worried or hopeful.

I hadn’t even thought about that. “No.” I replied as simply as I could. “Just two friends going to a party.” I watched Frankie for his reaction but he didn’t seem upset. I turned my eyes out the window. “You sure you can get a spot?” it looked so crowded.

He chuckled and I looked over to him. “Rein. I’m a football player.”

Like that was an answer? I found out what he meant the second he pulled up. There was literally a section of the worn down grass where everyone had crammed their cars onto roped off with three or four cheerleaders standing around talking to some boys.

Frankie nodded as he pulled up and they parted for him allowing him to park in one of the free spots. “How long are they on car duty?” I asked looking over at the cheerleaders who went back to preserving the saved spots.