𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 || 𝟭𝟭
"𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙪𝙞𝙣 𝙪𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝."
𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽
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𝕱rankie walks into history class with a frown. lucas hasn't made it back to new york since his weekend trip to texas. frankie didn't mind him going. why would she stop him from seeing the other people he cared for?
she sat down in her seat, opening her notebook. "is lucas still not back yet?" frankie looks up and sees riley. "obviously not." maya glares at the redhead. "you don't have to be rude."
"i'm not, she asked an obvious question. lucas and i walk into class every morning together. if he's not here, he still hasn't made it back." frankie explains, "but then again, we're all not that bright."
mr. matthews grimaced at the two former best friends.
"democracy. our form of government is where the power lies with the people. so who here can tell me another form of government where the power doesn't lie with the people?" farkle raises his hand, "farkle!"
"thank you, sir. dictators. love 'em. they get to do whatever they want. i wanna be one someday." frankie chuckles.
"mr. friar!" his girlfriend turns around, almost giving herself whiplash. "you're back." lucas looks down at her with a smile. "i'm back." the blonde looks back at their history teacher. "sorry for being late, sir. my flight was delayed."
he sits down. "you went back to texas again this weekend?" frankie sighs.
"visited my friends."
"he misses his old friends."
"aww. cowboy's got the blues." maya teased. suddenly she sings, " ♪campfire for one, my friends are all cows, and i miss 'em, ha-hur, ha-hur-hur♪ "
lucas pulls out his harmonica, going along with maya's bullying. "i will never get to you, will i?"
"no, but i sure do appreciate the effort." lucas says confidently, "ooh!"
"okay, guys, seventh-grade student council elections are coming up." mr. matthews students groan beside farkle, "yay."
"why that?"
"because every year somebody runs, makes promises and nobody does anything." riley tells her father, "yeah. what lunkheads running the elections this year?"
"how ya doing?"
"can't you just make a change?"
"you know what? it's up to you guys to make changes. since we're studying alternate forms of governments this year, why not let the candidates run in any form of government they choose?" the kids groan once again besides farkle.
"so any nominations?" the smartest kid in class raised his hand, "i, farkle, nominate i, farkle, for dictator."
"you can't nominate yourself, farkle."
"i'll nominate him."
"really?"
"yeah. i like ya. i got your back." frankie looks at lucas, then back at the mysterious kid. "i thought you had my back," farkle says.
"i got his back."
"whoa, easy there, harmonica." causing frankie to giggle, lucas turns to his girlfriend with a look of disapproval. "sorry." she whispers.
"who are you? where did you come from?"
"he's the rebel."
"well, what am i?"
"oh, you're the good guy. you're our moral compass." farkle says to his friend. "wow. that sounds hard to pull off."
"yeah, but you're really good at it."
"thanks."
"see?"
"he's right, friar. represent democracy."
"i don't know, mr. matthews. if democracy worked, maybe i'd have gotten a vote on where i get to live." frankie looks at lucas confusingly, she knows how sad he was when he had to move away from everything he's ever known. but he's happy here, right?
"i nominate lucas friar for president." riley voices, causing frankie to get out of her head. "okay. second?" she raises her hand. "no, honey, you nominated him. you can't second the nominati..." his daughter shook her head with her hand still raised.
"all right, fine."
"what are you doing? he's your competition."
"i'm not running for anything."
"yes, you are. i got plans for you. yeah." maya smiles evilly. "you know what? it'd be an honor to run for president. thank you, riley."
"my pleasure, buddy." riley smiles, sticking her thumb out. she looks at her best friend. "i don't know how it happens."
the bell rang. "so lunchtime, are we going to the cafeteria today or to the library?" frankie didn't answer him as she walked out of the classroom. "woah, frankie. is everything okay?" he grabbed her arm gently, pulling her towards him.
"aren't you happy to see me?" frankie looks into his green eyes. maybe what he said meant nothing and she shouldn't let that ruin their time together. "yeah, i'm glad you're back." she pulls him into a tight hug, pushing the thought of him not being happy here with her to the back of her brain.
"now let's see what nasty lunch they have today."
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frankie and lucas make their way towards the thomas' residence. "so this weekend i was wondering if we could go to the new arcade that opens up? i heard it's fun with so many games. the first person with 50,000 tickets wins an ipad." she skips alongside him. "since we can't do it during the weekday because of school and we need to be there for hours." lucas sighs softly, not wanting to ruin her happy mood.
"lucas? you don't seem excited to go." he looks down at her. "no, i am, it's just this week i'm planning on going back to texas to visit."
"again? can't say that i'm not upset, but i know how much you missed them. i guess we'll win the next big prize." they make their way down to the subway, "frankie!" she turns to see nick and her eyes lit up. "nick, hey haven't seen you in a while."
"i moved closer to work. which means no more taking the train, it's walking distance."
"which means more money to save for a car." nick nodded, nudging her. "you got that right redhead." lucas cleared his throat, "oh right, nick you remember lucas. lucas, nick"
"hey dude." nick sticks his fist out, which lucas doesn't accept. "tough crowd." frankie glares at her boyfriend for being rude. "don't mind him, just tired from school you know?" the older boy nodded. "trust me, i do. tenth grade is kicking my butt. speaking of kicking someone's butt, did you hear about the free ipad at the new arcade?"
frankie jumps back into excitement, "yes, i need someone to go with. i cannot win 50,000 tickets alone. and lucas over here can't make it."
"if he doesn't mind, i would love to help you win the ipad." lucas rolls his eyes, wondering why the train was taking so long. "he won't. i already have a plan set."
"let me guess, meet there at six pm until your curfew, which is...?"
"eleven pm on friday and saturday and nine pm on sunday." frankie helps.
"yeah, that. and on saturday and sunday, we start as soon as they open, which is...?"
"eleven am." she helps again.
the train finally comes. "okay, it's time to go now." lucas pulls her. "i'll see you later, red."
"friday at six pm!" frankie's smile was wide as she sat down next to lucas, who had a frown. "why'd you do that?"
frankie looks over at him, her smile falling once again, "what do you mean?"
"you can't go with him, frankie." the redhead girl chuckles, brushing it off as a joke. "you're kidding, right? please tell me you are."
"i'm not. i don't want you to go with him. i'm your boyfriend and i should go with you." lucas says sternly, obviously not kidding. "you will not be here for you to make it with me."
"are you doing this because you don't want me to go to texas?" lucas asked seriously. "lucas, what are you doing right now? of course, i want you to go to texas. i'm not excited that you will not be with me at the arcade, but i would never want to put my feelings above yours in this situation. you have a right to want to see your friends and i would never not want you to go." frankie moved away from him slightly, she looked out the train windows and saw it's about to stop. she needed to get off this train. frankie could not be next to him anymore.
the train stopped, and the doors opened. frankie got up, but lucas quickly grabbed her hand. "what are you doing?"
"i need to leave. i can't be near you right now. for you to think i would keep you from seeing your friends purposely when you know the person i am hurts." frankie rips her hand from his hold, walking off the train. lucas close behind her, "frankie, wait."
she ran up the subway stairs, ignoring lucas' presence behind her. "frankie, i'm sorry." he says running in front of her, "i was just upset."
"so? whenever you get upset, you're just going to lash out and say things you know aren't true? you think saying you're sorry is going to fix it?!" frankie exclaims. "all i wanted to do was to go to the arcade to win that ipad. i would have loved it if it was with you, but it's not and that's okay. you want to see your friends and i want you to."
"i know." lucas sighed, trying to reach for her, but she backed away. "don't." he listened and kept his hands to his side. "then why'd you say that to me? hmm?" he couldn't find the words. lucas didn't know what to say. he just stared at her apologetically. "that's what i thought."
frankie gives him one last look before turning and walking away, not before yelling something over her shoulder.
"don't follow me!"
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frankie hasn't been in school in two days. she didn't want to see lucas. she didn't care about the stupid election. "mom says you have to go to school today." frankie groans, pulling her covers over her head. "i can't. you guys know this. plus, school already started. and if i get to school in the next hour, i will have to go to my history class."
"go. i think it would be good for you and lucas to talk it out." abby told his little sister, "no more hiding from him. i know he wants to apologize and make things right. he misses his girl." frankie groans once again as she walks over to her bathroom to get ready for school.
"you sure this can't wait another day?" the older sister glared at her younger sister. "frankie, go get ready. i will take you so you won't sneak off when you leave the house."
"so annoying," abby smirks. "oh, and mom made breakfast. you can eat it in the car." frankie closed the bathroom door, grabbing her toothbrush. her phone rang. she saw lucas' picture pop up. he's been calling nonstop since that day. he needed her to know he was wrong. he was jealous of her going out with another guy. frankie declined his call and put on music to ease her nerves.
there was a knock on the bathroom door, "and don't take forever. you have a twenty-minute window to be downstairs. thank you." frankie rolled her eyes and set a different alarm to fifteen minutes. she spent ten of those minutes in the shower. frankie walked out of the bathroom in her blue rope towards her closet to get her matching skirt and turtleneck set.
the timer went off as she put the laptop in her backpack. frankie ran downstairs, at the bottom of the stairs. abby was holding her bowl of food. "you're amazing"
"i know."
the two sisters walk towards their father's car. "so have you thought of what you were going to say to lucas?" abby starts the car as frankie shoves food in her mouth, not wanting to talk about her boyfriend. "i'm not talking about this."
"yes, you are now telling me."
"i was thinking of telling him we should go back to being friends." abby's eyes widened, but her eyes didn't leave the road. "are you crazy, no you can't do that. it's okay to argue or say things we don't mean in relationships. it happens a lot, it's all about how you guys resolve it together. leaving and giving up is not the first option. talk to him to set boundaries so that are never crossed again. learn from the mistakes don't let it break you."
frankie sighs as she hands abby the empty bowl that was once full. "i will take that into consideration." she gets out of the car. "i'll let you know how everything goes when i get home. bye."
"i love you."
"i love you."
she walks up the steps and turns around to see if her sister drove off yet and she didn't. abby waved at frankie, making her roll her eyes as she walked into school going straight to the office.
"haven't seen you in a while. have you and lucas made up yet?" frankie furrowed her eyebrows, accepting the late pink slip ms. ruby handed her. "you know about that."
"yep, he's come by the last two days to see if you came into school late. stop by every period," ms. ruby chuckles. "go talk to him, please. seems like whatever he did, he's sorry." frankie nodded, "i will once i see him."
the redhead walks out of the office but stops once she sees maya and riley listening in on lucas' conversation. she quietly walks closer. "i don't understand why i can't go back this weekend, sir." there was a pause. "no, i'm not trying to argue, but this isn't my home. texas is my home." frankie's heart dropped.
"but, dad, you told me i'd be able to see my friends on weekends if i wanted and i want to see my friends. yes, i have friends here. right now, we're all trying to destroy each other. and the closest one to me won't even talk to me." frankie's head fell.
"i'm sorry too, sir, but i was the one who didn't want to come to this school in the first place." lucas turns to see frankie staring at him sadly. "so when you said that you're glad you came to this school because you met me, was a lie?"
"i have to go." the blonde ended the call with his dad. "frankie." he reached out, but she pulled away. "i let what you said yesterday in class go because i just thought you were upset, but hearing it again just made it feel really real. you're not happy you're here, not even with me."
"that's not true. it's just that i miss my childhood friend, frankie. i don't get to talk or see them as much now that you and me..." he looks over at riley and maya, "close friends." the redhead furrowed her eyebrows in disbelief. "so, this is my fault now?"
"that's not what i am saying. last weekend was the first time i had seen them in months since i moved up here. i've been so caught up with you and your life i forgot to live my own." lucas says truthfully.
"i gave you that option, remember? when i told you i needed space, when we didn't speak, or hang out. i gave you the time to live your own life, but you always came back to me. to make sure i was okay after losing one of my best friends. i never asked you to be there for me when danny died you decided to be my right hand, and i appreciate that more than you think. but you have no right to put that one on me." frankie shook her head, "feel like i'm living this nightmare all over again."
"what?" lucas was confused. frankie pulls him over to a private spot for what she's about to say, "i'm sorry being with me took your time away from your friends. i won't let that get in the way anymore."
"what, no! this is not what i meant." lucas exclaims, riley and maya look over at the two. "i wonder what's going on."
"it is. you may not see that now but you will eventually and i don't want you to end up hating me. maybe this time we keep it permanent." frankie grabs his hands with a sad smile. "i know we haven't been together long, and i wish we had more time, but what you said was the hard truth." lucas cut her off. "frankie, just listen to what i have to say before you make a decision that will ruin us both. please."
frankie nodded, signaling to him she was listening. "i meant nothing i said towards you. i'm upset with my dad and how everything went down. no, i didn't want to move here. texas is my home and will always be because that is where i grew up. i've learned so much over there and i miss it." lucas let go of her hands, placing them on her face.
"that all changed the minute i saw you. you made living here more bearable. you help love this city than resent it. you helped me believe i can make this my home, too. i have wonderful friends here as well, with the help of you. you're the reason living here is easier than i thought. and i am so sorry for what i said on the train, it wasn't right of me to do that. i never meant to hurt you. i was jealous."
frankie laughs, "yes, okay, i get jealous. you're special to me, frankie." she sighed. she did not want to break up with him. there are too many real feelings that neither of them can let go of. lucas pulled her into a tight hug which she gladly embraced with a smile.
"you're not getting rid of me that easy."
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