My Heart Is The Worst Kind Of Weapon

Four days later I woke up in a hotel room in sunny Orlando. Ever since my awkward talk with Gerard and Mikey on the beach, no one had talked to me about Frank. He and I were still avoiding each other, and if it was absolutely necessary for us to talk to each other, we did so in a forced, polite manner.

I rolled over and remembered it was Frank's 25th birthday. The band had a show today, but it started at 8 in the evening, so for the day they were going to Disney World. Bob and Ray had asked me again if I wanted to come, but my answer was still no.

Suddenly my hotel phone rang and I scrambled to answer it.

“Hello?” I said into the receiver.

“Hi, Ms. Winters, this is the front desk. You have five people down here who say they need you to come down to the lobby as soon as possible. They say it's an emergency.”

“I'll be right there.” I told the receptionist, throwing the blankets off my body and rushing to change into the first clothes I spotted: a tank top and a pair of short shorts.

I threw sandals onto my feet and hurried out of my room towards the elevator. When they dinged and opened I was in the lobby. I stepped out and looked around, trying to find the guys.

“There she is!” I heard a voice call out, “I told you if we said it was an emergency she'd get down here fast.”

I walked over to the band, surveying their smiling faces, “What's going on?” I asked.

“We're taking you to Dinsey World with us.” Bob grinned at me, grabbing my arm and starting to pull me towards the exit of the lobby.

“No way.” I said, “I told you guys I wasn't going. Plus, Frank doesn't want me to come.”

“I never said that.”

I spun around and saw Frank, who was smiling faintly at me, his eyes twinkling. My heart leapt bizarrely.

“Yeah, but we don't like each other.” I said stupidly.

Frank shrugged, “Just because I don't like you doesn't mean I'm going to forget that you're even apart of this tour. It's like what I said when I first met you. You're still an important part of this thing.”

“So...” I struggled to understand what he meant, “You want me to come celebrate your birthday?”

Frank nodded and I continued, “But we're both clear that we dislike each other?”

He nodded again.

“Oh, well... I guess I'll come then.” I said uncomfortably, wondering why Frank still wanted me to be a part of his birthday, “But can I go back upstairs and fix myself up?”

“You look fine.” Frank said coolly, turning away from me and walking out the lobby doors.

“Wait, Bob, let go of me.” I said, referring to the fact that his hand was still around my arm.

He obliged and I jogged after Frank, who was leaning agaisnt the hotel wall and smoking.
“I didn't know you smoked.” I said to him, my eyebrows raised.

He shrugged, exhaling a bunch of smoke from his mouth, “There's a lot you don't know about me.”

“Oh, um.” I licked my lips, feeling awkward, “Yeah, I guess.”

“So, let me get this straight.” I said, after a minute of silence, “We don't like each other.”

“Yeah, I think we've made that pretty clear.” Frank said.

“So, after today we're still going to not like each other?”

Frank looked at me and laughed, “Yeah, I guess.”

“Okay, so... that's settled then.” I said, kneading my hands together.

“Yep.” Frank dropped his cigarette on the ground and stepped on it, “It is.”

He walked past me, his shoulder grazing agaisnt mine as he did. My stomach clenched strangely at this form of contact between the two of us.

Well, I thought as I stepped into the cab that would take us to Disney World five minutes later, at least Frank wouldn't be flirting with me when we got to Odessa, which would make things much easier on me.

But for some reason, I wasn't completely happy with this news as I thought I would have been.