This Moment was Held for Me

The next day was Sunday and I had planned to go to Frank’s at midday. I nervously pulled at my shirt before rapping my knuckles against his front door. The door opened immediately to reveal a smiling Frank.
“Hey,” he said and pulled me into a friendly hug. I wasn’t sure whether it would be awkward seeing him today seeing as last time we hung out we kissed. But to my relief, it was perfectly normal and comfortable. He guided me into his room. The walls were plastered with band posters, his bed was messy and his guitar sat proudly in the corner of his room.
Frank spread his arms wide and said, “This is it!”
I nodded, “A typical boys room.”
He gasped in mock offence, “I think I’m a little more special than your average boy!”
I smiled coyly, “You’re very special.”
“Are you being patronizing?”
I put on an innocent face, “No, not at all!”
He gasped again and tackled me onto the bed. I was highly aware of his warm hands around my waist. Frank began tickling my middle and I squealed loudly. I tried to tell him to stop it in between breaths but it was too hard. We were laughing together so hard that eventually we had to sit up and breathe.
“I don’t know why I have so much fun with you,” he said randomly with regaining his normal breath.
I smiled happily in response. I felt the same way about him too.
“Wanna tour of the house?” Frank asked excitedly.
“Sure,” I said indulging his excited little-boy moment.
He grabbed my hand and raced outside into the hallway.
“Okay so bathroom is on the left,” he said like a tour guide. We walked, hand in hand, further down the hallway. Frank continued his tour, “My Mom’s bedroom is in here.”
I interrupted him, “What’s your Mom’s name?”
He smiled, “Linda. We’re really close.”
“And your Dad?” I asked.
He shrugged, “He doesn’t live here anymore. They split up a while ago.”
My voice dropped a bit, “Oh, sorry.”
“It’s cool,” he smiled and dragged me into the living room.
“I’m guessing this is the living room?”
He put on a posh English accent, “We call it the lounge room, darling.”
I laughed, “Oh my mistake.”
He proceeded to show me their kitchen, with a special mention of the big fridge that I was welcome to raid anytime, and also the spare room and the front porch slash entrance room.
“And here we are again,” he said, “Back to my room.”
I looked around again to soak up some more details. Frank sat on the bed, strumming his guitar, while I looked around. I walked over to his messy desk and ran my finger along the edge. I noticed CD’s scattered on the desk as well as cigarettes, an ash tray, a thin laptop computer and some notebooks with writing scrawled over them. One of the notebooks was open, displaying a draft of song lyrics.
I muttered to myself some of the lyrics I could see: “We spark and fade”, “Think happy thoughts”, “This is the Best Day Ever”, “Hand in mine…Icy blues.” There was one line that had been circled in red ink as if Frank had pondered on it a lot. It was in small writing so I had to pick up the notebook to read it properly. It read: I stared as this moment was held for me.
I smiled to myself and wondered if our time at The Cave was the inspiration for this line. For some reason, I didn’t feel the need to ask Frank. I felt like I’d find out or he would tell me; it was just a matter of time.

“What do you wanna do now?” asked Frank.
We had already had lunch, played video games and watched half of A Nightmare before Christmas.
“How about we go for a walk?” I suggested.
Frank smirked at me, “You just want another excuse to hold my hand.”
I resisted the urge to blush because I totally did want to hold his hand again.
Instead I just laughed, “Your rough guitar hands? I don’t think so,” I said.
He smirked again, “You love it.”
I ignored him by tousling his hair before standing up, “Come on, Iero.” Again, I always did practical things to avoid emotional situations. We decided to walk around to the local park which wasn’t too far away.
“So..” Frank started to make conversation, “School tomorrow, hey?”
I sighed, “Yeah but at least I’ve done all my homework.”
“It’s good you are committed,” Frank smiled, “I flunked a lot of my subjects.”
I shrugged, “My mom sort of encourages me to be committed.”
“Your Mom sounds...intense,” said Frank carefully.
I laughed, “It’s okay. You can say she sounds scary.”
“Nah, I’m not scared,” he said, “Parents love me,” he grinned.
“Oh really?” I rolled my eyes sarcastically but pretended to believe him.
He rubbed his knuckles against his chest, “Yeah well..what can I say? It’s all part of my charm.”
I shoved him playfully, “What charm?”
He opened his mouth to respond but I interrupted him by pushing us both behind a bunch of shrubs.
“Shit!” I said as I spotted Elle and her group of cheerleaders.
“What the hell?” Frank said.
I spoke in a hushed tone, “Sorry! It’s just that there’s a girl from my school over there and she’s not exactly the nicest person,” I began to explain.
“So?” he said, “I didn’t think you’d be the ‘I’m-scared-of-cheerleaders’ type.”
I shook my head, “No, I’m not. It’s just best not for anyone to see us. I just don’t want word travelling back to my Mom,” I said. I stood up now that Elle had disappeared around the corner.
“I’m sorry,” I bit my lip and looked at Frank’s confused face, “I’m just being paranoid.”
“But we aren’t hiding anything,” Frank said, “We’re just hanging out.”
I waved my hand, “No! I know. It’s just complicated with my Mom. She sees me with a boy that she hasn’t been introduced to, and she thinks the worse. I don’t want her to get the wrong impression of you.”
He shrugged, “Okay. As long as you’re not embarrassed to be seen with me…”
I laughed, “Are you kidding? Of course not!”
He laughed and returned to him normal and playful self, “Actually I was kidding…of course you want to be seen with me.”