We're Just Friends (Frank Iero)

2.

"Get in Popsicle!"

"I'm not being seen dead in that!"

Frank was driving at about 2mph alongside me trying to convince me to ride home in his car. Frank bought his car for $200 from another guy in our school who said it was no use. It was the biggest pile of rusty metal I had ever seen and I didn't wanna be seen dead in it. Frank and I were not popular in high school, but we weren't picked on, and I intended to keep it that way by not driving around in Frank's crap-car.

"Alright, see you at home!" he shouted, waving at me from the car window before speeding off into the distance. I laughed to myself, thinking about how Frankie and I basically lived together.

"H-hey."

I turned around to see the guy I had told Bob about- what was his name? Gerard? 

"Hey...." I said, deciding not to say his name in case I had remembered it wrongly. "How's it going?"

"G-good," he stuttered. This guy was pale, incredibly nerdy looking and incredibly shy. Just my type. "I-I didn't know that Frank was your boyfriend."

"We're just friends!" I exclaimed, rolling my eyes and laughing to myself. Third time today.

"O-oh!" he mumbled. "C-cool, I was gonna ask if you wanted to hang out sometime....after school? Tonight?"

"Sure," I said casually. I took a piece of paper from my pocket and scribbled my cellphone number onto it. "Give me a call!"

I casually strolled away, keeping my cool. I wasn't the most confident girl when it came to relationships, but I sure could act that way when I wanted to. I had never really had a proper boyfriend, but I'd had short term romances that never amounted to anything special. Frankie was the one who always had girlfriends, be it long or short term, he always had a girl on the go. I was the complete opposite, averaging around one short romance every other year or something like that. Frankie mocked me continously for being unlucky in love, but I constantly told him that I'd rather be unlucky in love than have loads of girlfriends like him. I warned him that one day he would get a bad reputation, but somehow he managed to maintain a good one whilst still dating loads of girls. I guess he never cheated- when he had a girlfriend he would treat them like royalty, but for some reason, they never lasted. Frankie blamed me because a lot of his girlfriends got jealous of our friendship.

I walked the ten minute journey from school to my house where Frank's crap-car was pulled up outside, signalling that he was in my house and not his own, as usual. I'm pretty sure that his own parents have forgotten what he looks like. I threw my backpack onto the floor, waved hello to Bob and made my way upstairs to find Frankie sat on my bed, Chemistry book in hand.

"Homework time," he grinned cheekily. "Please! I really don't understand this class."

"No can do, Frankie," I grinned back. "I got myself a date tonight!"

"Oh my God," he joked. "Poppy's annual date has come around fast this year! Doesn't seem like a year ago that you went on a date with that creep from our class."

"It was over a year ago," I muttered quietly. "Shut up Frankie, I never mock you for your love life!"

He threw his Chemistry book at me and I threw it back with twice as much force, hitting him in the side of the head, causing him to shout out in pain.

"Sorry," I smiled. "You wanna help me decide what to wear?"

"No," he pouted. "I'm gonna go home and do my homework."

I found myself incredibly surprised that Frankie was actually going to go back to his own house. I mean, he stayed there most weeknights, but at the weekend he slept over at my place and he spent every waking hour here, usually just running back over there to sleep, only to come back first thing in the morning.

"Alright," I sighed, before turning and staring at him with sadness in my eyes. "I'm gonna miss you so much Frankie. I'll be thinking about you later tonight, whilst I'm in bed."

He looked back with the same expression on his face.

"I always think about you when I'm in bed," he replied, stroking his crotch theatrically, making it too difficult for me to keep a straight face. I burst into a fit of laughter, with Frank doing the same. "Just to make sure we're on the same page...I do not think about you when I'm in bed," he added, before picking up his Chemistry book and walking out of my room. 

***

My night with Gerard was nice, but I wasn't entirely sure whether or not it was a date or if it was just two friends hanging out. He took me to his favourite comic book store when I told him I was a huge Spiderman fan, which showed off how much of a nerd this guy actually was. We then picked up an ice-cream and walked around our neighbourhood for a couple of hours before he walked me back to my house. There was no kiss goodbye, just an awkward wave and a weak smile. But it was nice to hang out with somebody new for a while. 

When I arrived home, I climbed the stairs in my house and walked into my bedroom, throwing myself down onto the bed exhausted. I looked up at the ceiling, admiring the band posters I had plastered up there. All of a sudden, the cheeky face of Frank Iero was staring back at me, his weight on my body.

"Ouch Frankie, you're heavy!" I shouted as he straddled me. He pinned my arms down onto the bed and grinned mischiveously down at me.

"How was your date?" he mocked. "I just watched your goodbye...so awkward!"

"Shut up," I said, pushing him off me and sitting upright in bed. He climbed under my duvet and pulled off his jeans and t-shirt, leaving just his boxers. "It was nice! Gerard is cute."

"Good for you," he said, resting his head on the pillow and closing his eyes. "I'm sleeping here tonight, my mom is being a bit of an ass."

"Fine," I said, slipping off my own jeans and t-shirt and climbing into bed beside Frank in just my bra and panties. Like I said before, there was nothing awkward about it. As I got into bed, Frank pulled me in for a hug so that he was spooning me. 

"Your new boyfriend is not gonna be happy when he's in the middle of this," Frank joked. 

"If my new boyfriend ends up spending the night at my house, you are definitely not invited," I laughed. "You'll have to live at home like any normal boy."

"This is my home," he mumbled quietly before drifting off to sleep.