Absolution
Chapter Two, Part One
The Next Week…
I saw Frank bright and early that Monday morning. He was dressed in blue jeans, a Pixies shirt, and he had on a small jacket. He threw his bag down next to mine on the dirty tile floor in the math classroom. T he tiles were a disgusting puke green and the walls bricks were peeling white paint.
“I’m going to be so behind in this class.” Frank said miserably, sitting down.
It was never a good thing to miss five Calculus classes. I struggled enough when I was at the class every single time.
“You’ll get caught up.” I reassured him.
“I hope so.” He yawned. “Can I see your notes?”
“Yeah.” I bent down to get them, handing them carefully to him. I noticed my hand was shaking slightly, causing me to blush.
“Thanks.” He didn’t seem to have noticed. “I’ll make a copy and give it to you later, okay?”
I nodded as the teacher stood to begin his lecture. Frank watched the teacher the entire time, taking very careful notes. He probably knew ten times as much about Calculus than I did, even missing so many classes. It just made me admire him more.
I laid my head on my arm, watching the teacher, until I felt someone shaking me. I was suddenly much colder than before and I groaned.
“Hey, you feel asleep.” Frank whispered.
My eyes snapped open and I looked at him with big eyes. “Shit.”
“It’s okay. I’ll make you a copy of my notes. I actually remember how to do this! It’s really simple.” He smiled at me and I felt myself smiling back, although I wasn’t really happy. “You do look pretty tired, you know? Did you go out last night?”
I never went out anymore, but I wasn’t about to make myself sound lame by saying that. Instead I shrugged and stood, not even answering his question. Our next class was Art 2 so we usually walked together.
“How are you doing?” I quietly asked as we stepped out of one of the many buildings. Our school was large, and there were four buildings. Of course the Art Department was farthest away from us. It was bright and sunny out as well, making the walk even more painful.
“I’m okay.” He shrugged, his voice quieting down a bit. He sounded sadder than he had previously, and I felt bad for bringing it up.
I sighed inwardly and looked around me. The sun was shining brightly, making me squint my eyes. The trees were all bright reds and oranges and there were leaves all over the ground. Every step we took resulted in several crunches and I listened to them for a while silently, grateful they were making so much noise so I didn’t have to make any myself.
“My parents are going out of town for two weeks. Actually, they’re going out of the country. To Rome.” Frank said, trying to sound happy but failing miserably.
“Where are you going?” I asked curiously. “With them… with an uncle or something?”
“I’m staying home alone.” He shrugged.
I instantly felt sympathetic towards him. It felt cruel, knowing he had just lost someone in his family and that his parents were still leaving him alone for two whole weeks. He was obviously still upset after his grandfather’s death and I could tell, just by the sad tone of his voice, that he did not want to be left alone for two weeks.
I was silent for a few seconds before coughing slightly and saying, “Alone? For two weeks?” I watched him nod and then I said quietly, “I’m sorry.”
“You are way too sorry.” He suddenly laughed, nudging me. “Everything isn’t your fault, Gee.”
“What is ‘Gee’?” I asked, laughing myself.
“It’s my nickname for you because sometimes Gerard is just too hard to get out.” We had finally reached the Art building and I pulled the door open, and held it that way so Frank could walk through.
He smiled happily, holding it open for me to walk through behind him. We walked to our classroom together, taking our usual seats in the front of the class. He sat on the stool, one leg tucked under him. “What have we been working on? I hope it isn’t clay, I suck at that more than anything else.” He laughed, looking at me.
“Wire.” I grinned. “I’ll get you some when I get my tray.”
He nodded, setting both of our bags under the table. If they weren’t under there, they would be destroyed by the end of the hour. Anything left out would surely be covered in any medium—whether it be paint, clay, glaze, wood shavings.
I grabbed my tray, which held all of my working mediums and my unfinished projects, and grabbed some extra wire for him. Instead of taking the wire from me, he immediately pulled out the tree I was working on making out of wire.
“This is so cool.” He gasped in awe, turning it around.
I felt myself blushing. I always did this when he had this sort of reaction to anything I made, and to be truthful he did most of the time. Even if I knew it was pure crap, he would act as if he loved it.
“No, it really is. How long did this take? All week, I bet. Wow.” He continued flipping it over, as if looking at it from every angle would make it mysteriously change.
I smiled shyly at him, setting the wire down in front of him. “Now you can have at your own creation.”
He frowned and put my tree carefully down, and then snatched the wire from the table. “It’s not going to be good anyway.” He glared at I for a minute, before remembering he was in public. He smiled at me insecurely.
“Hey, you never know. Maybe wire is your forte.” I shrugged, holding my tree up in front of my face. I was busy trying to decide if I could add anything else to get a better grade and I didn’t even notice Frank begin to try to bend it with his own hands. “Wait! Wait.” I laughed, reaching into my tray. I handed him some small pliers. “I think these might help you.”
For the first time ever, I got to see Frank blush. He didn’t blush too much, but he was clearly embarrassed. “Oh.” He said, grinning at me stupidly. “I knew that. Thanks.”
“Anytime.” I said, getting out my sketchbook. I sat it on the table and began drawing random shapes. I really just wanted to look like I was doing something, but I secretly kept watching Frank. He didn’t look up nearly the entire time, which was extremely odd for him. Usually he couldn’t concentrate on a project for more than five minutes at a time, but today he just sat there, twisting the wire each and every way not really making it into any specific shape. Halfway through this process, he sighed in frustration, put his headphones on, and turned them up loudly.
I bit my lip, drawing random lines on my paper. If I wasn’t such bad company, I would have been able to cheer him up. If I wasn’t too shy and afraid he’d snap at me, I would have asked him if he was alright. Not that I could picture him snapping at me, but I had never pictured him acting like this either.
“Alright, students! Class is over!” Mrs. Howell, our short and gray haired teacher, exclaimed excitedly as the clock finally turned to 2:30. “You all have a good weekend and be careful. I’m going on that trip, so I won’t be here Wednesday and Friday. I’ll see you bright and early on Monday, though.”
Frank stood and looked at me patiently. He had caught me off guard and I bent down to pick my bag up, well aware my cheeks were turning red. Why in the hell did he do this to me? For one, he’s sixteen years old. And he’s probably not even gay. Here it is again, the ‘gay’ talk. About how I’m not gay but maybe I am because of one boy. I really hate that talk, though it technically isn’t a talk if I’m having it with myself.
It’s almost like I’m sixteen years old again myself. You would think at the age of twenty one I would know whether or not I was attracted to guys or girls. Then again, I’ve never had sex with a guy to tell which I like better. I’ve had sex with tons of girls. Girls whom I no longer talk too. The sex wasn’t that amazing anyway. At all.
Frank removes his headphones and picked up his own bag, smiling at me.
“Frank, after your—.” I began, but trailed off looking down and blushing a gain. Damnit. This has to stop. “Never mind.”
“What?” he asked, now grinning from ear to ear.
“Your shoelace is untied.” Was all I said, and then walked towards the door.
He just stood there, looking slightly shocked and frustrated. He then looked down and bent to tie his shoe, muttering something like, “I know that wasn’t what you were going to say or you wouldn’t have blushed.”
“See you tomorrow in Psych, Frank. Have a good day.” I said, and then left from the art building as quickly as possible. I still had English 104 left for today, and then I was free to go. Frank had Biology 02 or something in another wing of the school anyway, so I didn’t feel too bad just leaving him like that. We wouldn’t have gotten to walk together anyway.
I saw Frank bright and early that Monday morning. He was dressed in blue jeans, a Pixies shirt, and he had on a small jacket. He threw his bag down next to mine on the dirty tile floor in the math classroom. T he tiles were a disgusting puke green and the walls bricks were peeling white paint.
“I’m going to be so behind in this class.” Frank said miserably, sitting down.
It was never a good thing to miss five Calculus classes. I struggled enough when I was at the class every single time.
“You’ll get caught up.” I reassured him.
“I hope so.” He yawned. “Can I see your notes?”
“Yeah.” I bent down to get them, handing them carefully to him. I noticed my hand was shaking slightly, causing me to blush.
“Thanks.” He didn’t seem to have noticed. “I’ll make a copy and give it to you later, okay?”
I nodded as the teacher stood to begin his lecture. Frank watched the teacher the entire time, taking very careful notes. He probably knew ten times as much about Calculus than I did, even missing so many classes. It just made me admire him more.
I laid my head on my arm, watching the teacher, until I felt someone shaking me. I was suddenly much colder than before and I groaned.
“Hey, you feel asleep.” Frank whispered.
My eyes snapped open and I looked at him with big eyes. “Shit.”
“It’s okay. I’ll make you a copy of my notes. I actually remember how to do this! It’s really simple.” He smiled at me and I felt myself smiling back, although I wasn’t really happy. “You do look pretty tired, you know? Did you go out last night?”
I never went out anymore, but I wasn’t about to make myself sound lame by saying that. Instead I shrugged and stood, not even answering his question. Our next class was Art 2 so we usually walked together.
“How are you doing?” I quietly asked as we stepped out of one of the many buildings. Our school was large, and there were four buildings. Of course the Art Department was farthest away from us. It was bright and sunny out as well, making the walk even more painful.
“I’m okay.” He shrugged, his voice quieting down a bit. He sounded sadder than he had previously, and I felt bad for bringing it up.
I sighed inwardly and looked around me. The sun was shining brightly, making me squint my eyes. The trees were all bright reds and oranges and there were leaves all over the ground. Every step we took resulted in several crunches and I listened to them for a while silently, grateful they were making so much noise so I didn’t have to make any myself.
“My parents are going out of town for two weeks. Actually, they’re going out of the country. To Rome.” Frank said, trying to sound happy but failing miserably.
“Where are you going?” I asked curiously. “With them… with an uncle or something?”
“I’m staying home alone.” He shrugged.
I instantly felt sympathetic towards him. It felt cruel, knowing he had just lost someone in his family and that his parents were still leaving him alone for two whole weeks. He was obviously still upset after his grandfather’s death and I could tell, just by the sad tone of his voice, that he did not want to be left alone for two weeks.
I was silent for a few seconds before coughing slightly and saying, “Alone? For two weeks?” I watched him nod and then I said quietly, “I’m sorry.”
“You are way too sorry.” He suddenly laughed, nudging me. “Everything isn’t your fault, Gee.”
“What is ‘Gee’?” I asked, laughing myself.
“It’s my nickname for you because sometimes Gerard is just too hard to get out.” We had finally reached the Art building and I pulled the door open, and held it that way so Frank could walk through.
He smiled happily, holding it open for me to walk through behind him. We walked to our classroom together, taking our usual seats in the front of the class. He sat on the stool, one leg tucked under him. “What have we been working on? I hope it isn’t clay, I suck at that more than anything else.” He laughed, looking at me.
“Wire.” I grinned. “I’ll get you some when I get my tray.”
He nodded, setting both of our bags under the table. If they weren’t under there, they would be destroyed by the end of the hour. Anything left out would surely be covered in any medium—whether it be paint, clay, glaze, wood shavings.
I grabbed my tray, which held all of my working mediums and my unfinished projects, and grabbed some extra wire for him. Instead of taking the wire from me, he immediately pulled out the tree I was working on making out of wire.
“This is so cool.” He gasped in awe, turning it around.
I felt myself blushing. I always did this when he had this sort of reaction to anything I made, and to be truthful he did most of the time. Even if I knew it was pure crap, he would act as if he loved it.
“No, it really is. How long did this take? All week, I bet. Wow.” He continued flipping it over, as if looking at it from every angle would make it mysteriously change.
I smiled shyly at him, setting the wire down in front of him. “Now you can have at your own creation.”
He frowned and put my tree carefully down, and then snatched the wire from the table. “It’s not going to be good anyway.” He glared at I for a minute, before remembering he was in public. He smiled at me insecurely.
“Hey, you never know. Maybe wire is your forte.” I shrugged, holding my tree up in front of my face. I was busy trying to decide if I could add anything else to get a better grade and I didn’t even notice Frank begin to try to bend it with his own hands. “Wait! Wait.” I laughed, reaching into my tray. I handed him some small pliers. “I think these might help you.”
For the first time ever, I got to see Frank blush. He didn’t blush too much, but he was clearly embarrassed. “Oh.” He said, grinning at me stupidly. “I knew that. Thanks.”
“Anytime.” I said, getting out my sketchbook. I sat it on the table and began drawing random shapes. I really just wanted to look like I was doing something, but I secretly kept watching Frank. He didn’t look up nearly the entire time, which was extremely odd for him. Usually he couldn’t concentrate on a project for more than five minutes at a time, but today he just sat there, twisting the wire each and every way not really making it into any specific shape. Halfway through this process, he sighed in frustration, put his headphones on, and turned them up loudly.
I bit my lip, drawing random lines on my paper. If I wasn’t such bad company, I would have been able to cheer him up. If I wasn’t too shy and afraid he’d snap at me, I would have asked him if he was alright. Not that I could picture him snapping at me, but I had never pictured him acting like this either.
“Alright, students! Class is over!” Mrs. Howell, our short and gray haired teacher, exclaimed excitedly as the clock finally turned to 2:30. “You all have a good weekend and be careful. I’m going on that trip, so I won’t be here Wednesday and Friday. I’ll see you bright and early on Monday, though.”
Frank stood and looked at me patiently. He had caught me off guard and I bent down to pick my bag up, well aware my cheeks were turning red. Why in the hell did he do this to me? For one, he’s sixteen years old. And he’s probably not even gay. Here it is again, the ‘gay’ talk. About how I’m not gay but maybe I am because of one boy. I really hate that talk, though it technically isn’t a talk if I’m having it with myself.
It’s almost like I’m sixteen years old again myself. You would think at the age of twenty one I would know whether or not I was attracted to guys or girls. Then again, I’ve never had sex with a guy to tell which I like better. I’ve had sex with tons of girls. Girls whom I no longer talk too. The sex wasn’t that amazing anyway. At all.
Frank removes his headphones and picked up his own bag, smiling at me.
“Frank, after your—.” I began, but trailed off looking down and blushing a gain. Damnit. This has to stop. “Never mind.”
“What?” he asked, now grinning from ear to ear.
“Your shoelace is untied.” Was all I said, and then walked towards the door.
He just stood there, looking slightly shocked and frustrated. He then looked down and bent to tie his shoe, muttering something like, “I know that wasn’t what you were going to say or you wouldn’t have blushed.”
“See you tomorrow in Psych, Frank. Have a good day.” I said, and then left from the art building as quickly as possible. I still had English 104 left for today, and then I was free to go. Frank had Biology 02 or something in another wing of the school anyway, so I didn’t feel too bad just leaving him like that. We wouldn’t have gotten to walk together anyway.