"Hi, I'm Gerard," I said when the new kid sat beside me.
"Frank," he said quietly, not looking up.
"This is Jamia," I said. "We were wondering if maybe you wanted to sit with us at lunch."
"We usually need a third party to settle disputes," Jamia said.
"She's joking, we just wanna hang out with you," I said.
Frank was quiet and it seemed like he was debating what to say. Why would he choose to just not talk to anyone?
"Okay," he finally said.
Frank looked up at me and I felt my heart skip a beat when I saw his pretty green eyes again.
"You're new here, right?" Jamia asked. "You live down the street from us."
Frank nodded, biting his lip. The bell rang, interrupting our conversation. Not that I really minded, it was just awkward.
But that awkwardness was still settled in later at lunch. I ate quietly, sitting in between both Frank and Jamia.
"Where'd you move from?" I asked.
"Nowhere," Frank said.
I looked at him curiously and he shrugged.
"Like, you know, the middle of nowhere," he said. "Middle of Kansas from a farm."
"You don't look like you're from a farm," I said, glancing over his piercings and tattoos.
"Moved around a lot," he said. "Not originally from a farm."
We waited for him to explain but he didn't say anything.
"We should hang out after school," I said. "Jamia and I usually just hang out at my house and eat food."
"I like food," he said.
"Well then, looks like we're gonna get along really well," Jamia said.
I saw a small smile spread over Frank's lips and I couldn't help but grin.
"It's settled then," I declared. "We're gonna go back to my house and hang out."
Frank nodded and I smiled.
"You have such cool tattoos," I said. "Your parents let your get them?"
"Yeah, my mom does," he said.
"Do you have divorced parents?" Jamia asked and he nodded. "My parents are divorced too, I know what it's like to have to split christmas' and birthdays."
"I-I don't really see my dad anymore at all," he mumbled. "He left when I was young."
"Awe, I'm sorry," Jamia said.
He just shrugged, brushing it off.
"Not a big deal," he mumbled. "I hardly remember him. All I remember is the one time he took me to the zoo and I dropped my ice cream and cried."
I snorted and I saw the way a soft blush spread over his face. Lunch ended and I walked back to class. The day went by pretty fast, it usually does at the beginning of the year.
"So," I mumbled as I walked into my house.
We grabbed some food and went up to my room.
"So, Frank, What are your deepest and darkest secrets?" Jamia asked.
Frank looked panicked and she chuckled.
"I'm joking," she said.
I held the bag of chips out to him and he looked down at his gloved hands. He seemed to be debating before finally eating chips with his gloves on,getting dust on the cloth.
"Why do you have those?" I asked.
Frank shrugged and I sat on my bed, eating my chips.
"Fuck, wait, I have to drive my brother to practice," Jamia said. "I have to go but I'll be back later."
She left and I sighed as I looked at Frank. He looked around and picked up a CD off my shelf.
"Misfits, I love misfits!" He cheered.
"Really?" I asked. "I don't meet too many people that are into them."
"They're my favorite," he said.
"Mine too," I said, walking over.
I stumbled and fell against the bookshelf. Frank jumped back in shock and I felt some things fall on my head as I realized that the shelf was tipping over onto me. I waited for the crushing weight to shatter my body but it never came.
I looked up and saw the shelf floating above me. I looked at Frank and saw his hand out a few inches from his body with the palm up, only at the height of his waist. He tipped his hand up so his fingers pointed to the ceiling and the shelf magically moved back up into its normal spot.
I stared at Frank with wide eyes. He looked panicked.
"Holy fuck," I breathed.
Frank let out a small whimper. He looked terrified. He hurried out of the room and—after a moment to come out of shock—I chased after him.
"Wait! Stop!" I called as we ran down the street.
I grabbed his arm but ended up tripping, falling and scraping my knee. Frank stopped and looked back, guilt spreading over his face as he looked at the blood on my knee.
"Fuck," I muttered, touching it lightly as I felt he stinging pain erupt over my leg.
He looked around before he pulled me into his house. He was crying as he sat me down on the couch.
"I-I'm sorry," he cried. "I-I didn't mean to hurt you."
He held out his hand and a blue ball of flame erupted over his hand. He moved it closed and I backed up.
"It won't hurt," he promised.
He gently pressed the flame to my knee and I felt what almost felt like lotion soothing over my leg. He pulled his hand away and I wiped the blood to find my knee completely healed.
"Frank!" Someone shouted.
"I-I didn't mean to hurt him," Frank cried. "Mama, I didn't mean to!"
A lady walked in, concern on her face. She was small, like Frank, with brown hair and light brown eyes.
"Frank, we've only been here for two months," she said.
Frank cried quietly as he nodded.
"What the fuck," I muttered.
"I'm sorry," Frank whimpered. "I-I didn't mean to let him know. He was gonna be crushed, I couldn't let him be hurt, he's so nice."
"C-can I please have some sort of explanation?" I asked. "What the fuck is going on?"
His mom sighed, she looked scared and upset.
"You should go home," she said.
I shook my head and looked at Frank, who was sniffling and whimpering quietly.
"Go home," his mom repeated.
She looked angry but I couldn't tell if that anger was directed at me or Frank.
"I-I just want an explanation, I wanna know what happened," I said. "Y-you picked up the bookshelf without touching it. You had--you had fire hands."
"You need to leave," she stated.
I looked at her nervously, before I stood up. I walked out of house and went down to my own house. Shock was still flowing through me and I couldn't even think straight. My legs felt numb, my whole body was beginning to go still with complete shock.
I looked at the mess in my bedroom, the contents from my shelf cluttered on the floor. I laid down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. My heart was racing, I thought that I might actually have a heart attack because what the fuck. What the absolute fuck.
Frank now had an explanation for being so fucking weird. Because he can make things float and has blue fire that comes out of his hands. He...he healed me. I sat up and looked at my knee and saw that it was good as new, besides the drying blood. I glanced at the bookshelf and frowned. It had to weigh at least a hundred pounds.
"Woah, what the fuck happened?" Jamia asked when she walked in.
I looked at her with wide eyes and she frowned in confusion.
"Gee?" She asked.
I only shrugged looking down.
"What's happening down the street?" She asked.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"Frank and some other lady we packing things into a car, they were rushed and it looked like they were fleeing almost," she said.
My eyes widened as I sat up.
"Hey, Mia, I'll call you later," I said.
She didn't even get a chance to say anything before I ran downstairs and to Frank's house, where him and his mom were in the open garage packing things in.
"Please don't leave," I begged. "You don't need to leave. I won't tell anyone, I promise I would never do something like that. You don't have to run away."
"We don't have a choice," Frank whimpered. "You know what I am now, we can't stay here."
"No, you don't have to leave," I said. "Ms. Iero, your son saved me, I would've been crushed if it wasn't for him. I owe him my life, I wouldn't tell anyone about him. You don't have to leave. Please don't leave."
"We can't stay," she stated.
"Please, mom," Frank begged. "I-I don't wanna move again."
"We can't stay," she stated.
"Please, you don't have to leave, you shouldn't have to leave and run away just because he saved me," I said.
"Please, Mama," Frank whimpered. "I-I don't wanna move again."
"Fine, we can stay," she said. "But if I even think that you've told someone then we are out of here instantly."
"I wouldn't, he saved my life," I said.
She grabbed a box and went inside. Frank sniffled, wiping his eyes.
"Sorry for crying," he mumbled. "I probably look fucking dumb."
"You don't," I denied. "I would be too if I had to up and leave all the time."
"I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to hurt you, I don't like hurting people," he said.
"It was just a scraped knee," I said. "It isn't your fault that I tripped."
Frank wiped his eyes and I held his hand to try and comfort him.
"Thank you," he whispered.
"C-can I get an explanation now?" I asked.
Frank nodded, pulling me up to his room.