Jellyfish

10. Welcome

Wrapped up in my jacket and a scarf my coworker had forced around my neck, I waited on the curb for my chauffeurs to appear. Surprisingly, the car that pulled up didn't look much better than ours and Frankie sat smiling in its front seat. Miles, in all his enthusiastic glory, was leaning out the passenger side window as if I would ever be able to miss him. "Hi Auggie!" He greeted. "Did you miss us?"

"It's only been like half a week," I retorted smiling regardless.

"Half a week too long," Miles sighed, turning up the heat the second I got in. Frankie pulled away almost immediately, starting in the right direction as if he already knew where to go. I placed myself in the middle seat, leaning forward so I could pop my head between the front seats and properly speak to the pair.

We didn't talk about anything important, just the weather and how Christmas had gone. Normal things people discussed to pass the time were distracting enough that I forgot to give Frankie any directions. He didn't need them, of course, because he'd never planned to take me home in the first place. Instead of my house, we pulled to a stop in front of a tan two story that edged into a wealthy gated community. It didn't take long for me to understand that I had been tricked and kidnapped and was likely to be forced into a New Years party with some people who may actually hate me.

"I'm never getting in a car with you two ever again," I shook my head. "Which one of you lives here?"

"That would be me," Frankie smiled sheepishly. "We promise it'll be a fun experience, just go along with it."

I don't know why I let it happen, or at least, I didn't know why then. I followed them to the doors of Frankie's house with an unwarranted nervousness floating in my gut. It was certainly a nice place, both inside and out. We ditched our shoes and coats at the front door, and I marveled at the interior as we walked to the kitchen. The house was basically spotless, something I would later learn was the fault of the maid, and it very clearly screamed upper middle class. Though I never wanted to admit it, I felt unreasonably jealous walking into Frankie's house for the first time. Once upon a time, I'd lived the same way if not better, but there had never been a home in our house. Here, pictures of Frankie and family littered the walls. I could hear people talking and the TV blaring, and when we finally reached the kitchen his mother was there reading over a cookbook. She didn't notice us at first, too wrapped up in her lunch plans, but when she did she boasted a brilliant smile.

Frankie's mother and he shared the same smile, that was the first thing I'd noticed. She was shorter than her son by about an inch, but it was clear as day that they were related. Her black hair was pulled into a lose bun and the wrinkles around her eyes told me that Mrs. Leroy had lived a long, happy life. I instantly loved her, and I like to think she instantly loved me too because she greeted me like a new friend of Frankie's was a new friend of hers. "Hey boys. Are you staying in tonight or going ou- oh! Hello, I didn't know we met someone new. Frankie hardly brings anyone else home."

"Mom," Frankie whined. "Don't make it sound like I have no friends."

Mrs. Leroy tutted her reply. "I'm not saying you have no friends, honey, I'm saying you have one. No offense to Miles or anything, but you could both use a little outside contact."

"I agree with you Mama," Miles wrapped his arms around Frankie's back with a sit-eating grin. He pinched Frankie's cheek and cooed into his neck, "Our Frankie needs more friends. He's going to end up living like a hermit in the woods."

Frankie shoved him off with a pout, "why is it make fun of Frankie day?"

I bit back a laugh thinking it would only make Frankie pout further and that pout was already going to be the death of me. "It's alright Frankie, my only friends are the people I live with."

Mrs. Leroy laughed lightly. "Nothing wrong with your parents being your best friends."

I smiled but something in me automatically tensed at the mention of my parents. As always, there was a feeling of panic that tagged along with their memory, especially when I was talking to an adult. In an effort to prevent either Miles or Frankie from correcting her, I replied, "Can't make fun of me like you do Frankie?"

Sensing the message to keep their mouths shut, Frankie resumed his whining. "Yeah, mom that's not fair. If it's okay for him it should be fine for me."

Sticking his tongue out, Frankie latched onto both of our wrists and promptly pulled us out of the kitchen. The sudden contact was startling for me, but once he realized the staircase would not fit all three of us across, Frankie dropped my wrist and just led the way to his room. It was obvious that Miles had been here a thousand times before by the comfortable absence he walked in. It was mindless, the way he wandered into Frankie's bedroom and plopped down on his queen-sized mattress with a contented sigh. It was moments like this that reminded me what I was infringing on. Frankie was quick to fall down beside him and Miles cling to him like a koala to its tree. Though he whined some more, Frankie did nothing to push him away, instead pulling him closer and making room for myself on the bed. The friendship they had together was something special, something I didn't have, I knew that as I sat tentatively on the edge.

"Hey, uh," Frankie's soft eyes peered up at me through a reddish face. "I'm sorry if that was, like, awkward or anything. Miles kind of said not to mention your parents and I didn't know whether to tell my mom that or not an-"

"It's fine Frankie," I cut him off not knowing if the rambling would end had I let him continue. "It's better if you don't mention it to her at all." I could feel the curiosity radiating off them both, but it was not a topic I felt comfortable enough to elaborate on. I was glad Miles had picked up on that and moved us along.

"So," he rolled onto his stomach, excitedly grinning at me. "About that party."

I groaned. "You're not giving me a choice are you?"

"Well if you really don't-" Miles cut Frankie off with a very firm, "No."

"Miles, if he doesn't want to go-"

"You're the one who planned to kidnap him."

"Well yeah," Frankie was red again, "but I'm not gonna force him to party with us. Half the time I don't even want to go."

"But you do today and so does August," Miles dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "We've got approximately two hours and it'll take me at least one for myself so we start right now."

I looked to Frankie only to see he was just as confused as I was. "Start what now?"

The sly smile that fell over Miles's face was something I remembered perfectly though I don't know if that was because it was memorable or because I knew that smile better than myself by now. Whatever the reason, I knew what trouble looked like when it came to Miles and this was a whole world of it. After, I thought it had been a horrible idea. I wished for weeks that I hadn't gone, that I hadn't discovered what I had, but now I wouldn't change it for the world. That night would be an important one in my life for several reasons. It would be the night I realized rich people had way too much sway in the world. It would be the last time I ever had alcohol and the worst possible place for me to be drunk enough to say what I did, but the only thing that really still mattered about it was that New Years was the night of my first kiss and I wouldn't ever wish it away. It might've been enough to make everything that happened after worth it. Maybe.