Collide To The Sound Of Our Heartbeat.

Frank’s Point of View
I rolled into school in my piece of shit car on Monday, Sazzy up front with me and Bob in the back. A lot of shit happened in the last four days, it’s unbelievable.
Mrs. Reyes is still in the hospital, in a coma. I’ve said to Sazzy that she could stay with me, as to be honest, I didn’t really want her home alone with her Dad when he’s in a pretty shit state. So she did.
Bob and Ani got together properly, which was cool. They were practically attached at the hip now, and they were happy, everyone else glad for them.
Mikey said that Gee had been hooking up with a chick, and they fell in love. He didn’t tell me what her name was, but he just kept saying ‘you know, that chick with the stud and black hair’. I didn’t know what he was on about.
Mikey, on the other hand, claimed that April and he had something going. He claimed that some stuff happened when I was at the hospital with Sazzy, after Bob and Ani came to meet us. He wouldn’t tell me what exactly happened, though.

“Mikes!” I called, as I slammed my door shut, locking the car seeing that Bob and Sazzy had let themselves out.
“Hey, guys… wait there,” Mikey mumbled as walking over towards us from his car parked opposite mine. Bob wandered off to Ani and April; his arm winding it’s way around Ani as he pecked her on the cheek, joining in on their animated conversation. I interlocked my hand with Sazzy’s, who smiled at me weakly, squeezing at my hand in thanks.
“Fucking hell, dudes, you should see Gee. He’s all fuckin’… loved up, man,” Mikes muttered, his eyes darting to the others behind him, making sure they didn’t overhear.
“Wow, really?” Sazzy said her eyes wide. Mikey nodded with an equally shocked look on his face. He tilted his head to the side after a while, scanning her appearance.
“How are you holding up?” he whispered, his tone worried. Everyone had pretty much found out about Sazzy’s Mom, and there wasn’t any reason for them to not know, so it wasn’t denied. They even knew about the… home life.
“I’m alright,” she mumbled, shrugging. The look on her face said otherwise, and Mikey smiled at her sympathetically as I squeezed her hand.

I hate Algebra 2. It always makes me think, because I never bother with the tasks set by the teacher. I don’t even know his name.
“Frank?” I heard Ani whisper. I was sat forward, leaning on my elbow with a pencil in my hand, doodling aimlessly in my notebook, and thinking.
“…Yeah?”
“Don’t you wish that sometimes… you were out of here?”
I turned to her, dropping my pencil on top of the book, leaning back in my chair.
“Elaborate.”
“Out of Jersey… just to see what it’s like, you know? It can’t be just… this. Can it? Just all this shit?” she mumbled, shrugging carelessly. It made me think even more.
“You wish you were older…” I mumbled to myself, the memory of the conversation I had with Sazzy in the hospital replaying itself in my head.
“Exactly.”

“I dunno, Frank. I feel bad for dumping you with this shit, with everything you’re dealing with now and all… but you’re the guy, you know?” I nodded at his statement, signalling for him to go on. He took a deep breath, and then sighed.
“Well… I don’t wanna say anything to April, because… well, I dunno why. But… don’t you think that this place just gets you down sometimes? Every little thing gets to you, whether it’s your Mom yelling at you for not taking out the trash or if you’re just generally in a bad mood. You know?” Mikey finished, slumping in the sofa. I nodded, biting into my slice of pizza.
“Yeah. Ani was saying that to me in Algebra 2 today. And Sazzy was practically saying the same shit too that day at the hospital.”
“Really?” he sat up, setting his can of coke on the coffee table in front of him.
We were just hanging out in his living room, because we had nothing better to do. Gee had gone out with his chick, who we’ve only met once at Ani and April’s party. Sazzy, Ani, and April went to the mall after school, and I had to pick them up at around 8, so Mikey suggested we get a pizza and some cokes and chill at his until then.
“Yeah,” I said, nodding, “everyone seems to be thinking it. I suppose everything is happening now, you know? Sazzy’s Mom, and everyone’s getting together… then everything is just bringing everyone down.”
“That’s exactly it! I just don’t know why,” Mikes groaned, shaking his head.
“Me neither, man. Maybe just a change of scenery, I dunno. That seems to be it,” I tried, shrugging, finishing the last slice of pizza. I looked over at him, seeing his mind work as his eyes darted around subtly, thinking.
“You’re… right. I think… that that’s what we need… what we all need…” he muttered, his eyebrows creasing together.
“A change of scenery.”