It Wasn't

Chapter 9

Alice shot up, screaming as though she had burst into pieces, the white-hot feeling setting her soul aflame. She opened her eyes. The darkness was gone. He wasn't there. No, why would he be here? He left. Alice looked around again to see her sister's house. Relief and fear swept over her and tears began to trickle down her face.
"Robbie?" Alice looked to her right to see her older sister, "Robbie... " She choked. She couldn't control it anymore. Dry racking sobs escaped Alice's throat and she began to cry.
"Its okay, Allie, its okay," Robyn hugged Alice and held her close. "You'll be fine. It was just a dream. See? I'm here... they can't hurt you."
"Robbie?"
"That's right... Robbie's here, they can't hurt you... " Robyn cradled her little sister in her arms they way she'd done so many times when they were kids. Alice looked up and felt comfort. For some reason, even Tre's presence in the room made her feel better. And they stayed there, just like that. For one hour, Alice cried into Robyn's arms, Robyn held Alice close and comforted her, and Tre sat next to Robyn, whistling an eerie, but calming tune. For one hour, no one spoke.
"Allie, are you okay now?" Robyn broke the silence. Alice broke out of the sisterly embrace and looked up.
"Y-yeah," she said, her voice was barely above a whisper. "I th-think I'll go take a sh-shower now... " She looked at her watch, "I might be able to get to my third class on time... " She moved to get out of bed, but was forced back down by not Robyn, but Tre.
"Oh no you don't" he said, almost sternly, but he was smiling slightly. "You are way too shaken to go anywhere."
"He's right," Robyn said, getting up. "You can take a shower, borrow some of my clothes if you like, but stay here for today. You don't need the stress of classes on top of that freak dream you had."
"You sound like Mom" mumbled Alice. But Robyn was right. A dream, or rather, a nightmare like that wasn't going to slip off her mind anytime soon." Robyn looked at her.
"Well maybe its time I became a mom," Robyn said, casting a look at Tre, whose eyes seemed to go wide. "Don't worry Tre. I'm not pressuring you." She kissed his cheek and left him alone with Alice.
"Liar," mumbled Tre. Alice looked amused.
"You know, she really wouldn't pressure you. She hates pressure, and um, I think she knows how it feels." She couldn't quite meet Tre's eyes when she said this. He noticed, but decided to let it go. Fragments of the dream crawled back into her head, making her shudder. Alice pushed off her blanket when she noticed that she was wet.
"Why am I wet?" she asked Tre, casting a look at him.
"Well, you were screaming... "
"Gee, thanks, I had no idea." Sarcasm dripped from her voice. That dream had taken a serious toll on her mood. She shot Tre a look that told him he'd better answer quickly.
"And see, Robyn yelled and shook you and slapped you, but you weren't stopping so... uh... " He trailed off, sensing the warning vibe that Alice was sending off. "I poured water on you" he finished sheepishly and held up a saucepan. For a minute, Alice wanted to get up and kill him, but she didn't have the energy. Tre was right. She was shaken.
"I'll spare you... for now." She got up and went into the bathroom, taking a towel from the hallway closet as she went. She locked the door, turned on the shower, and stepped in without even bothering to check the water temperature. That dream. That dream made her feel disgusting, worthless, and scared. She needed to wash away the guilt, let the searing pain trickle off of her body with the water. Alice found a bath sponge, and putting some body wash on it, began to clean herself. She still felt sticky with sweat. How did she sweat? It was at least 55 degrees last night. She apologized; she hated herself and cursed herself for it. She repented and lamented, so why did she still feel so impure? Despite this constant thinking and worrying, she felt a small tingle of happiness as she felt the bathroom fill up with smoke and steam from the shower and a fleeting image of a burning tree. Her eyes grew wide with fear and shock for a bare second before she came to her senses and realized that she had been in the bathroom for about an hour now. Turning off the water, she stepped out of the tub into a thick cloud of vapour. Groping about for a towel, she wrapped it around herself and left behind the misty bathroom. God, it was cold, and she didn't even have any clothes here. Then again, she and Robyn were almost the same size.

Alice went into her sister's room expecting to find some old jeans and a tee shirt. What she did not expect was her sister's boyfriend to be sitting there and staring at her. Naturally, she blushed.
"Damn... " Said Tre, "This sisterly hotness is just too much. Even for me!" Alice did not expect him to say that and therefore blushed even more. She opened her mouth to ask him to leave when Robyn came from behind her.
"Tre, you're my boyfriend. You're supposed to be ogling me, not my little sister." Robyn stated calmly while emptying a bookshelf and sorting through its contents. Tre pretended to look shocked and then creeping up to Robyn, planted a kiss on her lips.
"What are these anyway? How the hell do you have time to read all this?" he asked.
"They're books. One might think that you would know what books are, considering you spent almost a year in a bookmobile." Robyn answered, still patient. "These particular books are related to my job. You know, that thing that you don't have."
"Hey! I have a job!" he protested, but in vain.
"I'm looking for one in particular, there's a chapter about a certain speech disorder that we're conducting some research on." Alice, who was listening, decided it was time to cut in.
"Hey!" she said from behind the lovebirds, "I have no clothes, and I really, really want to get dressed, so if no one minds...?" she trailed off, knowing that they understood. Tre got up, winked and left the room. Robyn scooped up her books and warning Alice not go anywhere near her new blouse, walked out behind him.

Alice emerged from the room ten minutes later, daisy fresh and hungry as hell. "I want breakfast... " She whined. Robyn, who was still poring over her books, looked up. "I'm hungry." She clarified, even though Robyn was still staring at her as though she'd gone nuts. Tre, hearing the proclamation of hunger, decided that it would be a good time to start singing.
"Hungry hungry hippos! Hungry hungry hippos! We're in an eating race!" He sang, jumping on the table and dancing.
"You lose." Alice remarked dryly and pushed him off the table. Robyn continued to stare, caught between shock and amusement. Finally she seemed to gain her composure.
"Alice," she started, marking her page, "It's lunchtime. You were screaming for four hours. It's a surprise you can talk at all." Alice was taken aback. So that was why her throat hurt so much. It also might have been why her voice was so hoarse. Again, the dream floated its way back into her head, causing her to go pale. She nearly fainted but for the sound of her cell phone. Alice hurried to the guest room to get it.
"Hello." She answered, hoping the caller would recognize her, despite the crackle in her voice. "Hello?" she said again. She got an answer this time.
"Yeah, hi!" the caller said. Alice knew the voice in an instant. "Its me, Frank. From Taco Bell. And last night."
"I realized," she replied, trying to clear her throat. "What's up?"
"I just wanted to see if you had plans for lunch. I... " He paused for a minute, "I wanted to see you again. You did say we would be going out. Hello? Are you okay? Do you have a sore throat or something?"
"Yeah, kind of. I can't really go anywhere right now. I was at my sister's last night. She won't let me go anywhere." Alice rolled her eyes. "Why don't you come over? Can you?"
"Sure. I'll be there as soon as I can." Frank said. Alice gave him the address and went back to bother Robyn.
"Hey Robbie!" she said. "We're having someone over for lunch." Robyn looked up from her books.
"Yeah, I know," Robyn looked down again. "I know you like Billie, but you don't have to blush about it."
"What?!" Alice was taken aback. Did she know? No, she couldn't possibly know! Tre swore he wouldn't tell! He promised! She told herself to calm down. "Who said anything about Billie? Frank's eating lunch here. Its kind of, like a home-date."
"Ooh. I get to meet Frank. You usually don't let me meet anyone for at least a month." Robyn smiled. Tre walked into the room, dancing for some reason.
"What's this I hear?" he asked as he took a seat next to Robyn. "Frank is coming over? The Frank? The-Ultimate-Sex-God-That-Wore-Out-Alice Frank?" Alice rolled her eyes. His girlfriend turned around to look at him.
"I thought you were The Frank." She laughed, "I also distinctly remember you telling me that you were the Ultimate Sex God. Passing on your title?"
"No, no! He's one of the lesser Frank-Gods." Tre declared.
"Right. Okay. Alice, could you look up the asylum's number in the Yellow Pages?" Alice rolled her eyes and got up when the doorbell rang. Thinking it must be Frank; she smoothed her hair and ran to the door.
"Hey Fra—" she cut herself off, after seeing that it wasn't Frank after all. "Oh. Hi Mike."
"Gee, don't sound so happy to see me." Mike remarked, letting himself in followed by Billie. Alice glanced at him, but they didn't look each other in the eye. They couldn't. Mike wandered into the kitchen. "So, what's for lunch?" he asked
"YOU!!!!!!!" Tre screamed. Calming down after a moment, he told them he was just about to order pizza.
"Order extra." Alice called from the kitchen.
"Yeah, we know, we know. Frank's coming, blah, blah, blah." Tre called back. He took the phone and dialled the pizza place. 15 minutes later, the doorbell rang.
"Damn, that was fast," said Billie, fishing for his wallet as he opened the door. With his hand half in his wallet; he realized this wasn't the pizza guy. "Hi!" he greeted the stranger cheerfully, "I'm Billie! Who are you?" The stranger looked mildly surprised.
"I know who you are." The stranger said hesitantly. "Um, is the right address" he looked at the paper in his hand.
"I don't know. Who do you think lives here?"
"Alice James' sister?"
"Good guess." Billie gave him a pat on the back. "You must be Frank. Alice!! Your date's here!" he yelled into the hall. Alice came running to the door, looking flushed and flustered.
"Hi Frank." She said shyly. She grabbed his hand to lead him inside, and faintly blushed when she heard him gasp. "Are my hands cold?" she asked. Now he blushed.
"No," he said in a shaking, dying whisper. "They're soft." They went into the kitchen in the middle of what seemed like a heated debate.
"You cannot be serious!" Mike exclaimed. "There is no way on Earth, heaven, or hell that anyone could prefer Dunkin' Donuts to Starbucks."
"Face it, Mike," Robyn teased, "Starbucks has class, but the Donuts have taste." Alice cleared her throat to get some attention. The coffee argument stopped and the participants all turned around.
"Everyone," Alice started, "This my new boyfriend Frank. Frank, this is my sister Robyn, her boyfriend Tre, you already met his friend Mike, and," she turned around to face Billie, "their friend Billie," she finished with her voice slightly cracking even more. Roughly a half an hour later, the pizza was delivered. Somehow, through the strange, awkward air, they began to eat. As they ate, they began to talk. The more the talked, the easier it came. And somehow, they all managed to get a little bit closer. The exception being, of course, Alice and Billie Joe who shied away from each other the more everyone got pushed together during that strange lunch.
Alice looked up to grab a slice of pizza, accidentally meeting Billie's eyes, and in a blink of shame, grabbed her slice and looked away. Billie Joe looked around to ask for a tissue, and without meaning to, locked himself on Alice. He turned away as fast as he could. Eventually, through the jokes, the awkward moments of Frank and Alice, the arguments and spilled soda, lunchtime ended with a spectacular heap of paper, plastic, and cardboard. Every stomach was stuffed so full that the owners of said stomachs could barely talk. Frank managed to find his voice first.
"Hey Alice, do you want to go somewhere with me?" he said, trying to keep his voice low despite the cheese and sugar invading his system. "Like a walk?"
"Ooooh," oohed Tre, "A lover's walk. Some," he wiggled his eyebrows, "alone time. Are you going to have sex on a park bench?" Alice looked at him with a strange sort of disgust.
"No, Tre, we are not going to have sex on a park bench. Frank is not you!" she said indignantly.
"Well, technically, Tre is Frank and Frank is Tre." Mike threw in
"No one asked you!" Alice and Tre spoke in unison.
"Okay guys, break it up." Billie entered the, uh, conversation (if you can call it that), with his most patient fatherly voice, as though expecting a fight. "Tre is Frank Wright and Frank Wright is Tre. Neither of them are Alice's boyfriend, who is Frank, uh, Frank?"
"Longbottom." said Frank, "Frank Longbottom."
"Ok, then," Billie continued, "Neither Frank Wright nor Tre are Alice's boyfriend Frank Longbottom and Frank Longbottom and Alice will not have sex on a park bench. IS everyone happy?" he all but wheezed. He seemed to be exhausted.
"Bill, are you sure you're okay?" Mike's voice was full of concern.
"Yeah," he answered, "Its just, its been pretty hectic and Adie and the kids are coming home next week. I'm just tired. Y'know?" he looked at Mike, who nodded his head in understanding. Frank and Alice got up and left.

Once in the park, neither could think of a single word to say. Alice looked at Frank and admired his hair, his eyes, and his profile. Everything about him was as perfect as perfect could possibly be. The way he looked away from everything, his shuffled posture, and once or twice, Alice aught him looking at her, but keeping his eyes shifted away. The moon was out. There was no one in the park except for a few children and their scattered, talking parents. Alice couldn't take the silence, and finally, she spoke.
"So... " She trailed off and looked at Frank. Frank looked back at her.
"Do you go to school?"
"Yeah." He replied, finally allowing himself to look at her fully. "I used to go to UCLA until the start of this semester. I'm taking a year off to work, so I'll start again when I'm 21."
"Hm." Alice nodded. Then she looked at him again, studied him for a moment before speaking. "You're twenty?"
"Yeah. How old did you think I was?"
"Seventeen. Eighteen at the most." She blushed a little. He laughed.
"I can see that. I'm not exactly a giant. So, I guess you're in your last year of high school?"
"No, I am not!" she said almost indignantly, "I am in my second year of college at UC Berkeley. I am twenty years old." Now, it was Frank's turn to be a little embarrassed.
"Oh. You're, uh, pretty tiny."
"You're not exactly a giant."
"What?" he looked taken aback.
"You said it, I didn't!" she smirked. They spent the rest of the night, just like that. They talked and teased each other, and they found out a little about each other. Frank, whose curiosity kept growing and growing finally burst and asked her about Green Day.
"How do you know the guys?" he wondered.
" I told you. Tre's my sister's boyfriend. The other two are just along for the ride." She rolled her eyes.
"But Billie Joe's not exactly on a joyride right now is he? I don't know if you noticed, but he looked like he was about to faint right then and there!"
"Well," Alice began, wary of the direction of the conversation, "he's just kind of tired. His family is out of town and he's had to take care of everything. Besides that, they have a mini-tour week after next and that's probably stressing him out too." She avoided telling Frank about one other thing that was also probably on Billie Joe's mind. The incident.
"But his family's coming home next week, right?" Frank asked. Alice was snapped to her senses. I can't keep something like this from Adrienne. I have to tell her and I will, the moment she comes back. Adrienne was coming back next week. Seven days until she found what happened between her husband and a random fan. Seven days would be all Alice had to figure out a way to keep this behind them. She would have to do it. Her rational self was arguing that it would be stupid to bring it up with him, but she had to. Alice turned to Frank.
"Listen, Frank? It's getting late and I'm really tired. Would it be okay if we went back?" Frank nodded and they started to go back to Robyn's apartment. Alice had something important to do and she would have to do it as soon as possible. Tomorrow morning. No, she would do it now if she could. She would have to repent. She would have to apologize. Alice was going to have to talk to Billie.

***

I was looking at the names and wondering where I'd seen a couple called Frank and Alice. Then I realized. Harry Potter. So, Frank became Frank Longbottom in my story. Props to JK Rowling though.