Sing It for the World

Frank had been arrested before, but he’d never had to stay the night in a jail cell before. He had to admit that, as brave and as strong as he’d tried to be for Aurelia when he was being led out of her house in handcuffs, he was scared. The light seemed almost haunting, casting creepy shadows on the stained cement walls and the grungy, dirty tile floor that looked to have been a putrid orange and forest green once upon a time. There was a bunk bed situated in the corner of the room, along with a sink and a small toilet in the corner with no privacy at all. It wasn’t the best jail cell in the building, but he knew that he had to be arraigned before being taken to a real jail. Hopefully, the person he’d made his one phone call to would come through for him and bail him out before it came to that.

He hadn’t been charged with anything that would get him serious time, and for that he was thankful. Aurelia’s mother had tried to pin him with statutory rape, but both he and Aurelia had adamantly denied sleeping together, because they had not had sex, as a matter of fact. She had then tried to get him charged with sexual assault for kissing Aurelia, but since the police had no photographic evidence and Aurelia denied that having ever happened—even if they had kissed in front of her mother—they had to let that charge slide as well. And though he wasn’t looking at real jail time—the cops had only arrested him as a play of show for Aurelia’s mother, because they hadn’t believed he’d done anything wrong—he knew that he could be facing probation and community service. Those would seriously mess with everything he had planned for him and Aurelia, and he didn’t want it to come to that.

He heard footsteps coming closer to his cell, and he looked up from his spot on the bottom bunk to see a guard standing outside of his cell. He grinned when he saw his friend standing beside him, and then sat up. “Is this just a visit, or am I being sprung?”

“Your friend here managed to find the bail money,” the guard said, looking suspiciously at Gerard. “You’re out of here for now, but don’t even think of skipping the county line, Iero. You’ve still got court, and you miss that, next time there won’t be a bail your friend can pay,” he warned Frank before opening the cell door. Frank had never heard such a relieving sound. He walked over to his friend and gave him a grin.

“I owe you one, Gerard,” he said, fist-bumping the man with vibrant red hair before going in for a man-hug. The guard led them back down the hallway towards the door that would get them to the main lobby of the police station, and Frank watched as Gerard signed his name on the checkout list before they walked out into the parking lot. The second they were out, Gee grinned at him.

“I always told you that you were gonna get arrested over her someday,” he shook his head with a smile before clapping Frank on the shoulder. “She’s worth it, though. You really think she’ll be able to go through with the plan?”

Frank nodded at his friend as he thought about the plan the two of them and some of their other friends had come up with. And while he knew he shouldn’t even be considering bringing Aurelia with, he needed to let her make the decision for herself. He wasn’t going to be like everyone else in her life. Not only did he love her, he respected her. She was more than just a sixteen-year-old. She was a young adult with a bright mind and a lot of dreams, and he wanted more than anything for the world to know that. And that was why he’d suggested to his friends that they pull her into the loop. They all knew how much he loved her, and they had agreed, if she wanted to come with them.

Frank wasn’t kidding himself. He knew that by bringing Aurelia with him, there could potentially be a lot of consequences. For one, he was leaving the county. Hell, he was leaving the state. That right there was illegal for him to do right now. He was breaking the law by leaving, and there would be no turning back once they crossed that county line. And then there was the fact that if Aurelia decided to come with them, he could be charged with kidnapping. And this time, the police wouldn’t see things somewhat in his favor. They wouldn’t hesitate to charge him with something like that just so they could put him away for awhile.

“Yeah,” Frank told Gerard as they walked over to the black Trans Am that he’d driven to the police station. Frank got into the passenger seat as Gerard turned the car on, and then he turned to look at Frank.

“We’re gonna have to go through with it tonight,” he said quietly. “Are you sure she’ll be ready to leave this place on that short of notice?”

Frank thought about it for a minute and then nodded again. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure that Aurelia would be ready to take the leap. Frank hadn’t even let her in on their plan yet. He hadn’t told her anything of what they were going to do, and she had no idea that he and his group of friends were planning on leaving. But he had known that she would want to go with him. He knew that she deserved the right to make that choice, and he had no doubts that she would go with him. He just wasn’t sure if she was ready yet. But he could hope, and that was what he was going to do.

“Yeah. Let’s swing by her house. Her mom still thinks I’m in jail,” Frank told Gerard. Gerard nodded and started making his way towards Aurelia’s house. He’d never gone there before, but Frank talked about her enough that he knew where she lived. He parked a block away from the house, keeping the black Trans Am in a shady area of the parking lot so it wouldn’t draw attention, before Gerard looked over at Gerard.

“I’ll wait here so that we can drive fast if we have to; you go see if she’s in or not.”

Frank nodded and gave his friend another fistbump before climbing out of the car and making his way towards Aurelia’s house. He texted her with his cell phone so she’d have a heads up; he wasn’t risking getting caught by her parents again, no matter how much he wanted to climb up to her bedroom and kiss her softly.

She came to her window and looked outside like his text had said, and he grinned when she let out an audible gasp when she saw him. “How did…I thought the cops arrested you,” she whispered to him. He saw tears forming in the corners of her eyes, and he nodded, licking over his bottom lip.

“They did, but my friend bailed me out. Listen, we’re leaving tonight,” he told her, looking back in the direction of the parking lot before he looked up at Aurelia’s window once again. “We’re going to sing it out like we’ve always said we were going to. We’re gonna show them what we’re made of, but we can’t do that here.”

Aurelia felt her heart sink in her stomach, and she looked at him. “Frank, please don—” she started before he cut her off, a smile on his face. He could tell that she thought he meant that he was leaving her behind, but that really wasn’t the case at all. He wanted her with him. He wanted her to be right there by his side when everyone knew who they were, and he was going to do everything he could to bring her with.

“Aurelia, I want you to come with us. I want you there with me when we do this. I can’t say where we’re going, because I don’t know where. We’re just gonna go. You’ve always wanted your shot to show everyone what you’re made of. You’ve always wanted to show them what you can do. So come with us.”

Aurelia thought about it for a minute, and then nodded. Leaving would be hard. She had spent her entire life in a small, confined box, trying to live up to the expectations that her parents and everyone else set for her. It had only been when she met Frank that things had started to change; that she saw the potential she had, and she knew that this was finally her chance.

“I’ll come with you,” she told him with a nod of her head. Frank grinned up at her, and then watched as she went about packing a duffel bag. He knew that she was a little apprehensive, but he didn’t blame her. He knew he would be in her position, as well. All he knew now was that they were going to make an impact. Somehow, someway, everyone would know their names, and then, they’d sing it out.