We're Just Friends (Frank Iero)

1.

"Been fighting with Jamia again?"

He flopped down on my bed besides me, angrily blowing his fringe out of his hazel coloured eyes. His school shirt was untucked and his tie wasn't straight, his top button undone. He looked scruffy, as he always did. Based on his angry fringe-blowing and sulking face I could tell that he was in a bad mood. He's been my best friend for ten years- I can always tell when Frankie's in a bad mood.

"It's your fault," he sulked, crossing his arms and pouting like a small toddler who wasn't getting their own way. "It's always your fault."

"It's not my fault," I said, rolling my eyes impatiently. "It's your fault! Get your girlfriend's to trust you."

See here's the thing- Frank Iero always has a different girlfriend. His current girlfriend, Jamia, is his longest running girlfriend yet at a total of six months. However, they argued every week and Frankie always blames me. But it isn't just Jamia- it's all of his girlfriends. 

"Look let's face it Pops, girls just can't stand a guy with a female best friend."

"Don't call me Pops," I said, scrunching up my face to indicate my disapproval. "It sounds like I'm your Dad."

"Sorry Poppy," he said, correcting himself. "I might just never mention you to any of my future girlfriends."

"They're gonna wonder where the hell you go every night," I responded sarcastically. "Maybe when you find a girl who appreciates that I take up 90% of your time, you'll know that she's the one."

We both stared at each other for a couple of seconds, trying to keep a straight face, before bursting into fits of laughter. 

"The one...you're so funny Pops."

"Poppy!" I whined. 

"Poppy needs to help Frankie do his Biology homework," he grinned, throwing his Science notebook at my face. "Poppy's smarter than Frankie."

"Stop talking like an idiot," I said, pulling a pen out of my pocket so that I could do Frank's homework for him. Oh- when Frank says he needs 'help' doing homework, what he actually means is that he needs somebody to do his homework for him because he wants to take a nap in their bed.

"Poppy!" 

I heard my older brother coming up the stairs and knocking on my bedroom door.

"Come in!" I called. He walked in and saw the familiar sight of Frank napping on my bed while I did two loads of homework. My brother was tall and blonde, with a beard-in-progress and a lip ring. "You still doing that clown's homework?" he said, gesturing towards Frank. My brother wasn't a huge fan of Frank- mainly because he was in my bedroom every single night and despite the fact that I insisted we weren't involved, it was hard for him to believe.

"Chill out Bobby," I joked. "He repays me with Starbucks coffee and guitar lessons."

"Well jokes on him," he sulked. "He's gonna fail his exams. Anyway, dinner's ready."

I finished off the homework I was writing out for Frank and ran downstairs to eat. My parent's were away on business for the week so it was just myself and Bob at home. Bob was in college but he was home to look after me for the week. I admired Bob's cooking abilities as I looked at the plate of scrambled egg covered in ketchup.

"Thanks Bob," I laughed, shovelling the food into my mouth as if I hadn't eaten in weeks.

"So how is school?" he asked.

"Good," I said through a mouthful of egg. "I think this guy Gerard might fancy me. He's been checking me out at lunch."

"Poppy I don't ever want to know about any guy checking you out," Bob repsonded, looking repulsed. "You're my little sister, it's disgusting."

"I'm sixteen," I laughed. "Get used to it."

"Won't Frankie get mad if you start dating some other guy?" he asked.

"We're just friends!" I exclaimed. I probably said this sentence about five times a day to various different people, but nobody ever seemed to accept it. Nobody understood the relationship that I had with Frank. He had been my friend for a decade- he lived in the house behind mine and I had probably spent every day with him since he had moved there. We were completely comfortable around one another, which included acting disgusting, talking about our love lives, or just casually walking around naked in front of one other- it didn't matter because we were just friends. I wasn't into him in that way.

I headed back upstairs to find Frankie was awake and looking over his completed homework.

"You're so smart Pops," he said. "I haven't got a clue what you wrote down."

"Good luck in your midterms," I laughed. "So what do you wanna do tonight?"

"Well," he said. "Your parents are away...we could throw a huge party, get blind drunk and fuck each other's brains out all night long?"

We both stared at each other for a few seconds, before the hysterical laughing kicked in again.

"You pick the movie," I said, jumping on the bed next to him and throwing him the TV remote. "I'll make the popcorn." 

Like I said, Frank Iero and I are just really, really good friends.