Goody, Like Two Shoes

The next morning, I arrived at Frank's house only to have Linda tell me he'd left already. With a friend.
I was a bit perplexed; Frank and I had made arrangements to meet up before school, the night before when Linda had dropped me home.
Maybe Frank had just forgotten,about me.

By the time I got to school, I was in a foul mood.
Frank was always asleep when I'd turn up at his house, so why did he make this exception for another friend?
Well, he does have a life of his own, I guess. But what about me?
I'd just been so used to doing everything together.
Maybe he didn't want to be my friend anymore? Maybe he was getting sick of me.
Maybe I was overreacting.

As I made my way through the school parking lot, huffing quietly to myself, a car horn brought me to my senses and I glanced around, catching sight of Ray pulling into the drop-off area and letting Julie out of the car.
Julie gave Ray a quick hug before making her way over to me.

"Hey." She smiled, pulling me into a hug, "Where's your Siamese twin?"

I hugged her back, grunting, "Haven't a clue."

She raised an eyebrow at me, "Anyway, I need some help deciding what to buy people for Christmas. Help me out?"

"Sure." I replied, and we quickly got our books before making our way to the large tree that was beside the football field, on the end of campus.

"What should I get Gerard for Christmas, do you think?" Julie asked, plucking a tiny, blue notepad from her pencil case.

"Anything art-like." I replied unenthusiastically.

"What crawled up your ass and died, Rowlands?" Julie asked, crossing her arms over her knees.

"Oh, nothing. Ignore me."

"No. Come on," she pressed, "What's up?"

I sighed, resting my chin on my knees, "Linda told me Frank left with a friend, this morning. And I remember making him saying "Yeah, meet me at my place" last night."

Julie rubbed her chin, "Maybe he just forgot. Wait, you're jealous, aren't you?"

"I am not jealous.' I grumbled, trying to sound convincing, "I was the one who played nurse last night after he threw up on the Waltzers; so you'd think he'd remember the plans we'd made."

"You totally are jealous!" Julie laughed, "You're jealous of whoever's spending time with Frank, when you're supposed to be hanging out with him."

"I'm not!" I whined, burying my face in my schoolbag.

"Look, I bet Frank has a really good reason for ditching you this morning." Julie patted my shoulder, "What do you want for Christmas, Sashie?"

I thought for a second, my mouth working before my brain was even put into gear, "Frank."

There was silence, and I looked up to see Julie smirking, "You're jealous and lovesick!"

"Ignore that."

She'd already scribbled "Sasha wants Frankie for Christmas" in her notepad.
"I'll see what Santa can do."

Ten minutes before morning bell, we wandered over towards the main entrance.
"What's your first class?" Julie asked.

"Science, with Mikey." I replied, adjusting my bag strap.

"Cool. I have music with Frank. Want me to pass a message to him?"

"Could you?" I asked, and she nodded, "Uhm, tell him that I'll talk to him during English."

"Will do." She smiled, before she was screeching loudly and running across the grass to a tired-looking Mikey who was walking beside Gerard.

I sighed, walking slowly over to them, "Morning."

"Hey, Sash. How're you today?" Gerard asked, pulling me in for a one armed hug.

"I'm okay. You?" I looked up at him.

"Little tired after that art conference yesterday. It's all good though. Well, I have to make a detour to the home ec. rooms before class starts, so I'll see you guys later."

With that, Gerard hurried away, a huge portfolio under one arm and a messenger bag over the other.

Next, Mikey greeted me with a hug and the three of us made our way into the school building, "Seen Frankie around? I need to give him something..."

"No." Was my simple reply.

"Whoa, what's with the hostile tone?" Mikey sniggered.

I glanced at him, rolled my eyes and continued walking.

We stopped at Mikey's locker seconds later, and he hurriedly shoved some books in his bag, "Anyone see Frank at his locker from here?"

I ignored the request, watching, with little interest, as Mikey zipped his bag shut.

"Yep, I see him." Julie replied, her mouth falling open, "And - my god - who is she?"

"Who's who?" Mikey asked, joining Julie with the gawping, "Whoa, dude."

A little bit interested, I waddled over to them, attempting to see over the heads of the sea of people.
Instead, I just jumped on Mikey's back to get a good view.

It took me atleast a minute to register what I could see.
Frank.
Sucking.
Face.
With.
Another.
Girl.
Who.
Is.
Not.
Me.

"That must be the girl he was telling us about, Julie." Mikey said, nudging Julie.

"The Sarah one?"

"Yeah, most definitely. He said she had good legs; look at them! Dude!" Mikey stared at the girl.

Julie nudged him, "Stop staring at her legs!"

With one quick intake of breath, I felt sick. My head was pounding, my eyes were stinging, and there was a sharp pain in my chest as if I were having a heart attack.
What my heart was experiencing was worse than a cardiac arrest - it was breaking.

My arms lost their grip around Mikey's shoulders and I ended up, on my back, on the floor.

Seconds later, Julie and Mikey were helping me up.

"He never told me about liking a girl." I said, my voice cracking.

"No? That's Sarah. She moved into the house two doors down from Frank's." Mikey informed me.

"I don't feel too good." I whispered after a few minutes silence, "I think I need to go home."

Mikey gave me a hug, "Alright. Hope you feel better soon."

Julie hugged me tightly, and whispered, "I'm so sorry, Sasha."

"It's okay. I'm fine. I just don't feel very well. It's probably a bug." I murmured.

But she knew for a fact that I wasn't fine.

She knew that I was going to go home and cry.

She knew that I was heartbroken.

On my walk home, I remembered about last night when Frank and I had been on the Ferris wheel; how I'd decided I was going to tell him I loved him.

None of those plans and romantic phrases meant anything now, though.
Frank liked someone else.
And that person was definitely not me.

I was just the useless best friend, and nothing more.