Frank couldn't be more excited for prom than he already was. He spent the whole day getting ready, showering and even getting his hair trimmed the night before.
"Hey, man, I need a huge favor," Brendon said over the phone. "I wrote a poem for Ryan in a notebook but I lent the notebook to Jamia and it's in her locker and I need it."
"Okay, I can get it out for you, I know the combination," frank said.
"I owe you so much," Brendon said. "I'll pick you up soon."
Frank laid his suit out on the bed, making sure everything was perfect before he went downstairs to the lobby of the apartment. He got into Brendon's car when he pulled up and they went to the school. The doors were locked, obviously, but the windows in one of the first floor sciences classes were broken so the latch couldn't properly lock. They snuck into the school, making their way down the hallway of the dark, empty school.
"So, what's so important about this poem?" Frank asked.
"Ryan's just been scared about graduation and about me leaving so I wrote this poem for him that I just think will make him feel a lot better," he said.
"Any plans for after the dance?" Frank asked.
"Oh yeah," Brendon snorted. "I'm gonna take Ryan back to my house and do him all night long."
Frank laughed, shaking his head.
"Pete's hoping to get laid tonight," Brendon said. "He's really hoping Jamia will finally put out."
"Hey, she's a lady, show some respect," Frank said.
"Have you two talked about this together?" He asked.
"God no," Frank denied. "We can't talk about this sort of thing, you know that. Do you know how weird that would be?"
"It doesn't have to be weird, not if you don't make it," he said. "The two of you have been best friends since forever, it really doesn't have to be weird if you just make sure that it isn't weird, get comfortable with the topic and with each other, the past is in the past and you two only need to worry about the present now."
"Yeah, it's a little more complicated than it sounds," Frank said. "We're both just so awkward and weird. I don't want to add any other awkwardness or weirdness between us."
"How are things going with you and Gerard?" Brendon asked.
"It's amazing," Frank said. "I really like him and I'm not that happiest that he's moving to New York but we're gonna be able to make it work, I know we will. He's gonna be a comic book artist and I'm gonna try and get into psychology. It's a lot of work but I know that it'll pay off. It makes good money and I want my future kids to have a good life and not be completely struggling over money and everything."
"That's nice but just don't get so focused on the work and the money that it earns," he said. "Make sure that you're doing something that you actually want to do for the rest of your life, something that makes you happy. You can't get stuck with a job you don't like, that'll cause so many problems. Problems with your marriage and problems with your kids. You need to choose a career that you'll actually enjoy or else you will have so many marital problems."
"Yeah, I know that," Frank said. "But I actually do really want to get into psychology, I find the topic extremely interesting and I really like the idea of being able to help people through things. I want to be able to help people. I never really went through a lot of problems but I know my mom did, she suffered with depression when I was younger and I want to be able to help other people like her."
"Your mom suffered from depression?" Brendon asked curiously.
"Yeah, it was after my dad left us and she was struggling being a single mom and trying to support me and raise me all on her own," he said. "It was really, really hard on her when he left her for another woman. And I was a child who was hardly sleeping and far too energetic at absolutely ungodly hours of the night. And maybe I was a little difficult growing up but I just didn't realize as a child how it was all affecting her and how she was feeling and what she was going through."
"I think it's really honorable that she was able to raise you all on her own," he said. "It must've been really tough and lonely. Does your mom have a lot of friends and family? Anyone other than you?"
"Not really," he sighed. "She was an only child and her parents have already passed away. And she doesn't really have any friends because she's always working so often. She's I guess kind of friends with the lady two doors down, she feeds her cat sometimes when she goes to visit her sister in New York. But she's like eighty and isn't actually much of a friend."
"You need to set your mom up on a blind date but with someone who could be a friend," Brendon said. "Maybe all the moms of our friend group could get together for drinks or something, it would be a great way for your mom to possibly make some friends."
"Well, when I have my job as a psychologist I'll be making some better money and I'll be able to support her a little and she won't have to work so much," Frank said. "She always talked about how if she didn't work so much she would probably take up a salsa class or maybe a cooking class."
"Ooh, salsa dance or salsa dip?" He asked.
"Obviously salsa dancing you twat," Frank said. "I really wanna be able to give back to her after every amazing thing that she has done for me. She took care of me for so long and sacrificed a lot, she seriously deserves a lot for all that she does. I bought her a nice pair of earrings and I was thinking that maybe after I graduate I could take her out to a nice dinner, that's kind of what I've been saving up for. Somewhere where you have to wear suits and she gets to wear one of her nice dresses and she gets to use her nice earrings. Is that weird?"
"No, of course it's not weird to want to take your mom out to a nice dinner," he said. "More guys should be like you, actually, treating your mom with so much respect and love. It's really respectable of you, actually. Seriously, your mom is so lucky to have you and the relationship that the two of you have is so amazing."
"You think so?" Frank asked.
"Frank, any teenage boy would be dying to get out of the house and move away from their moms," he said. "Most guys are all just wanting to leave as fast as they can so they could go to college and just start partying and drinking like crazy. You, however, are still living with your mom by choice while in college and keeping your job so you could help her pay the bills and the rent."
"She deserves it," Frank said. "She's my mom and I love her a lot."
They walked towards the locker, looking around into the empty classrooms.
"You're not gonna come back from California, are you?" Frank asked.
"What are you talking about?" Brendon asked. "Of course I'm going to come back. This is where my family is and where my Ryan is."
"You're going to love it in California and you're not gonna want to come back, just admit it," he said. "Seriously, you should have a conversation with Ryan about what could happen if you decide to come back. I fully support whatever you choose, whatever makes you happiest. Just make sure that you come back and visit."
"How could I find it better there than over here?" He asked. "This is where all my siblings are and where my parents are. And Ryan, I love Ryan so much and I don't wanna leave him. We're gonna get married. He's gonna try and get an apartment sophomore or junior year of college and then once I'm done with my schooling I'm going to go and move in with him and we're planning on getting married soon after that."
"You guys have some pretty big life plans," he said.
"Yeah, of course we do," he said. "What about you? Don't you and Gerard have some pretty serious plans, too?"
"Yeah, we talk about it but we've only been together for about six months," Frank said. "I'm worry that maybe I'll say something that scares him off a little bit. I don't wanna seem, like, too clingy or eager or something. But I do want to spend a long time with him because I really do think that he is the one for me and that we can be really happy together. We haven't really talked about after college, I don't know if he's gonna stay in New York or what but I can't really leave New Jersey, I love it here so much."
"Everyone knows that you love New Jersey, I'm pretty sure if you could figure out how then you would fuck it if you could," he said and Frank hit him on the shoulder. "We all know that you're just proud of your state and your home and the place where you grew up. It's cool the way you care about your home so much. You're dedicated."
"You know, I think that as much as I love New Jersey it was pretty nice to leave when we went down to Florida," he said. "I don't think that I want to move away but I do think that I would like to travel some more. Obviously I'll have to wait a little while until I'm done with school and I actually have some money but I think it would be really nice to do some traveling. I'd like to travel with Gerard, maybe we'd go to Europe, I'd like to go on a plane. Traveling far would be cool but I also get homesick pretty easily so I don't think I would stay gone for long."
They turned down the hall, stopping outside Jamia's locker.
"Hey, can I ask a question?" Frank asked and Brendon nodded. "I know that you and Ryan have a little bit more of an unusual relationship. Not unusual like it's bad or anything, just kind of different. You know..."
"I think the term that you are looking for is kinky," Brendon said.
Frank nodded and blushed. "Yeah, well, Gerard is kind of into that too. I never really have been, maybe that's because I was always so nervous a lot and scared of hurting people. But, like, down in Florida we turned it up a notch and I kind of whipped him with my belt and I was actually into it. But, like, what do I do to...you know...please him more?"
"Just have a conversation with him," Brendon said, rolling his eyes. "You know, you can actually talk to him. I can't just give you advice on how to dominate him by telling you how I dominate Ryan. They are two different people with completely different interests. What Ryan might be into, Gerard might not be. You have to keep that in mind because I can't tell you what to do because I am trained in pleasuring Ryan, not anyone else. You have to talk to Gerard and ask him about what he's into."
Frank sighed and nodded.
"Yeah, I really didn't think it would be that easy," Frank mumbled.
He put in the locker combination, kicking the bottom of it twice when it jammed before he finally managed to pry it open. Brendon grabbed a notebook, searching through it.
"Alright, this is it," he said.
Frank was about to close the locker when something caught his eye.
"Oh, what's this?" He asked.
He pushed the books aside and pulled something out of the locker.
"Oh my god, is that what I think it is?" Brendon asked. "Where's Gerard?"
"He's at Jamia's, getting ready for the dance and doing her hair," he said. "Oh god, I have to call him now."
Frank fumbled for his phone as he looked at the empty can of red spray paint in his hand.