Goody, Like Two Shoes

"Rise and shine, lazybones!" Linda cheerily declared the next morning, flinging open the thick, cream-coloured curtains and humming to herself.

I whined, burying my face back into something strangely soft and warm, "Linda!"

Frank, who was lying next to me on the mattress, kicked a leg out aggressively, "Fucks sake, mom! What do I have to do to get some sleep around here?"

"'Language, my precious little pixie." Linda sang, "Breakfast is ready for you."

I opened my eyes, stretching my legs out, and realised that my face had been nuzzled against Frank's bare chest and I stared sleepily at his pale skin before jolting up into a sitting position, glancing, with wide eyes, down at the little patch of drool I'd left on the middle of his hairless chest.
I attempted to wipe it away with my sleeve but Frank pried his left eye open, "What the fuck are you doing? Are you feeling me up, princess? All you had to do was ask..."

"I - urgh - eh - drooled on you." I giggled nervously.

"Christ, I know you're a teenage girl and all, and I know I'm quite hot and irresistible ... but atleast try to control your hormone-doused acts of expressing your love for me, 'kay?" Frank smirked up at me, two rows of teeth coming into view, and he rubbed the sleep from his tired eyes.

"Okay, I'm just going to leave right now..." Linda began, clucking her tongue awkwardly, "...and you can continue your flirty little pillow talk in peace without the prying ears of an overprotective mom. Are you sure you're not dating, Frank?"

"Mo-om!" Frank yelled, whining and thrashing his limbs around haphazardly, "Mnrrrrrgaaah!"

Frank continued his little seizure-like episode until I tapped his shoulder and whispered that Linda had left the room at least five minutes ago.

"Oh," he said, his cheeks flushed and his hair sticking up at odd angles, "Well, as you can tell, being woken unceremoniously is not my strong point."

"Yeah, so I'd noticed..." I laughed, getting a childish little smile in return.

"So, were you really trying to feel me up?" Frank asked cheekily as we both got onto our knees, trying to get up with stiff backs and cricks in most of our muscles.

I slapped his arm lightly and he lost his grip on the coffee table, sprawling back onto the mattress, "No, Frankie, I wasn't."

"Oh, well." he sighed dramatically, scrambling onto his feet, "Your loss, eh?"

A breakfast of pancakes and syrup, leftover birthday cake and orange juice was set out on the table when Frank and I entered the kitchen.

Frank pulled a chair out for me, smiling, before sitting next to me and thanking Linda for the breakfast.

Linda nodded, patting her son's arm, "So, what are you two up to today?"

Frank glanced at me and he shrugged, "Whatever takes our fancy, you know."

"Well, I heard that there's a funfair up in Kearny; the last one before Christmas. I could drive you there if you want to go. I could visit your Aunt Faye while I wait for you, too."

"That sounds fun." I nodded, taking a bite of pancake and getting syrup down my chin.

"Damn, you're worse than a baby." Frank reached my napkin before I could and he wiped my chin, smirking, "But yeah, mom, that funfair sounds cool. Can I call Mikey to see if he and Gerard want to come, too?"

"Sure." Linda replied, "But just remember that only two more will be able to fit in my car."

Frank pounced from the table, taking his bowl of cereal into the hall with him so he could use the phone.

I continued to eat my breakfast; Linda was a really good cook when it came to pancakes.

I could feel Linda's eye on me so I looked up. She smiled widely at me, brushing a brown curl from her face, "I'm really glad that you and my Frankie are friends; he's quietened down a lot since he started hanging out with you."

I grinned, "Frankie and I are more than friends, we're best friends. He's helped me come out of my shell and actually meet new people and have a good time."

Linda nodded, smiling, "He's quite fond of you, you know? Talks about you all the time. It's "Sasha this", "Sasha that", "Sasha said this", "No, Sasha doesn't like that"; gets annoying after a couple hours, no offence of course."

"None taken." I laughed, sipping some orange juice, "But I'm pretty sure I talk about him a lot, too."

"Frank tells me a lot of things, Sasha. He tells me things that most boys his age wouldn't dare think of telling their mothers." Linda began, "He's told me about your parents and their bets, and how you're both "fake-dating". He said that he regrets the way he used to act towards you; he wishes that you'd been friends from the first time he ever laid eyes one you. He's also very open with me about how he feels about you--"

How he feels about me?
Yeah. Right.
As a friend, sure.

My eyebrows, I'm sure, disappeared into my hairline anyway, and I was waiting for Linda to continue our conversation but Frank pranced back into the kitchen, setting his empty bowl in the sink before dropping back into his chair.

"Guess what?!" he said, excited.

"What?"

"Mikey and Julie; they're officially dating! Julie was the one who answered Mikey's cell phone, so I talked to her for a while."

"Oooh." I wrung my hands together, eager for a bit of gossip, "So she stayed over at Mikey's?"

"No. He stayed over at her's. Mikey was taking a shower, so I didn't talk to him, but Julie says that they'll come with us. Gerard, apparently, has gone on some art course to Paterson for the day, with some of the other art teachers from school, so he won't be able to make it."

"Oh, okay." I nodded, helping myself to some of the leftover birthday cake.

"So what time does Mikey want to be picked up at?" Linda asked, getting up and opening the backdoor to let Buster in for his breakfast.

"Julie says they'll get the bus here; saves you driving to Newark." Frank replied.

"Heeey, Buster!" I grinned, picking up the excited puppy and sitting him on my lap, "You've grown a full two inches."

Frank smiled proudly, giving the dog a corner of a pancake, "He has. My boy's getting big! Look at the face; what a cutie!"

I laughed and set Buster on the floor, watching him scamper over to his food bowl, "Anyway, I better be getting home. I need to wash my hair and finish up on some history homework."

Frank nodded and stood up, "I'll escort you to the sidewalk, fair lady."

"Bye Linda, see you later" I smiled.

She gave me a quick hug and pecked my cheek, handing me an extra piece of birthday cake "for the road".
"Pick you up at around six-ish?"

I nodded and then Frank linked his arm in mine, leading me through the house and into the garden, then we stopped at the curb.

"See you later, Miss. Rowlands."Frank smiled, leaning forward to give me a hug.

"I look forward to it, kind sir." I replied, hugging him back before moving out of his grasp, "Later, duuuuude.."

"C'mere. One more hug." Frank laughed, "Toodles, chum."

I eventually pried his arms from around me, "I'm really going now, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Frank grinned, tucking his hands into his pockets, "Later."

Frank stayed at the bottom of his garden, watching me walk until I reached the corner where we waved at each other one last time, "Bye, Frank! Love you!"

"See ya, princess! Love you, too!"

The day went by slowly without having Frank or the others around, but I guessed that I needed some "me" time every once in a while.

Once I'd washed, dried and straightened my hair, I sprawled out on my bed with Muffin and attempted to get the rest of my history homework done. The "Plantations in Ireland" chapter was incredibly boring, but I guessed that some people found them interesting since quite a lot of Americans were of Irish descent and vice versa; but, damn, I really couldn't concentrate.
This is what Franklin Anthony Thomas Iero Jr. had done to me.
He made me have fun, not care about the meaningless things in life, he made me live everyday like it was my last.
He'd changed me into a person who wanted to be daring and take risks, a person that didn't care what others thought, somebody who had a life outside of school and studying.
This was the person I was meant to be; not some dork with their head constantly stuck in a book.

I had friends - amazing friends - and that's how I wanted everything to stay.

I couldn't be bothered with my homework anymore, so I just got up in an attempt to find some clothes to wear for later on.

I rummaged through my closet, flinging random clothes behind me before I came across a plain black tank-top, a black skirt, with purple ribbons on the side, that I'd bought on a random trip into Newark with Julie and I'd never worn it, and a blue jacket that had different coloured stars on it.

I don't know why but, by wearing a skirt, I was hoping I'd catch Frank's attention.
Because boys like legs, don't they?
They also like the whole chest region - or so I've heard - but I wasn't necessarily going to give him an eyeful any time soon.
On the other hand, he has, unfortunately, seen me naked.
And now I really wished that I'd lost all my puppy fat, and maybe shaved, or even worked-out once in a while.
Damn, that boy was messing with my head - and my hormones, especially.

Just glancing at the framed photo of Frank and I on my desk made my heart skip a beat, made me weak at the knees, made my mouth dry with anticipation of being in his presence again.

"Oh, Muffin," I sighed, slumping onto my bed next to the dog, "Is this what love feels like?'

Muffin raised her head off her paws, cocking her head to the side.
That look - if she knew what I was talking about - probably meant something along the lines of, "How should I know? I mean, I'm the one who sniffs people's butts"

"Well, Muffin, it feels like a big, rainbow-coloured hole, filled with butterflies and cherubs ..." I sighed dreamily, "And I feel like I'm falling in deeper. If only I had the guts to actually tell Frank this."