In 102 Languages I Love You

I sucked in the air around me, letting all of it inflate my lungs before coughing lightly. I stood proud and tall on the floor mat, trying to not show my mother by my side that I was in fact nervous down to my blood cells, and down to the electrons in my molecules. My hand rose to the side of my head, and my knuckles hit against the wooden surface of his door. The sound waves created from the contact bounced off of everything before they passed through my ear drums.

I was kind of excited about the whole situation that was ready to unfold in front of me. I mean mom had some sort of 'epiphany', and things were suddenly going to be okay? I thought it was going to be a lot more complicated than this, but I'm sure it's a lot more complicated to my mom inside of her. I was just nervous about how Frank would take all of this. How many guys honestly put up with all the crap their girlfriends bring up upon them?

Soon the door is open, and in front of me stands Frank dressed in batman boxers, and a wife beater. His hair is a tangled mess and dandruff slightly visible with in the strands. Eyeliner is slightly smeared on his cheek, but he's naked on the whole piercing part. Perfect impression on my mother, oh yes! His eyes are looking heavy with bags imprinted under his slightly red, sickening looking eyelids.

"Ma-" He begins, then I guess notices the person beside me.

"M-mrs. D-dar-"

"It's okay Frank, she's not going to chop off your balls or anything." I smile lightly, looking at Mom who's looking pretty nervous herself.

"Frank, I'm just here to talk." Mom says, trying to force her face muscles to smile. Frank looks relieved a bit, but still confused.

"Oh, okay good. Wow...well this is perfect your mom gets to see me in my batman boxers, and looking like morning shi-...crap. Good first impression, huh?" He says, blushing a bit, and stuttering through his words.

"I guess it shows me the true you, Frank. Can we come in? Or are you going to make us stand here outside in the cold all day?" Mom says, trying to lighten up the mood. Frank nods up and down like a maniac, and opens the door for Mom and I to walk in. I lead Mom over to the couch, and we sit down. My eyes wonder to the clock on the wall. It's 2:04 pm, and Franks still in his jammies?

Frank sits opposite from us on a couch chair. I'm trying not smile this whole time because it's kind of hard to take him seriously with everything he's wearing.

"Frank I want to talk to your mother, too." My own mother states simply, folding her hands in a fancy manor over her crossed legs. Even keeping her cool, I know she's trying to look at all the flaws in Frank. She's trying to find reasons to despise him.

"Oh, right, well she's not here right now. She's doing part time work over at the local hospital. She should be back in three hours or so though if you guys..uhm want to stick around." He mumbles, trying to search for the right words before speaking. It was kind of funny having to witness this all. I mean he's not here to impress me, and I obviously know him well enough he just doesn't want my mother getting the wrong idea. I don't see the point in that, she kind of has the wrong idea already.

"I'm afraid I have to set out for work myself in about an hour. So I guess I'm here just to torture you." She smiles, tilting her to the side in some sweet manor.

Frank laughs nervously trying to avoid any awkward moment. I'm here just in case mom decided to get nasty with anything.

"So Frank, how long have you, and Madison been together?" She asks simply.

"Uhm, we completed our first month two days ago on Valentines Day when you...you know saw us in the kitchen." He says, trying to keep a cool, and confident tone.

"And why didn't you ever ask my permission to even date Madison?" Mom asks now.

"Mom that was my fault, not his. I didn't want you to kn-"

"No Maddy, it's my fault. I know you didn't want anyone to know, but I should have done the right thing, and asked your mom for permission, because well, she is your mom. And even if she might have said no, it would have made me look like a responsible person." Frank says. I don't really understand why I even need my mom's permission. It's my dating life! My eyes look up to meet my mom's dark brown pupils. She looks very satisfied with Franks answer.

"And Frank, what do you do for a living?"

"Mom! We're not getting married or something!" I whine, covering my face from embarrassment for all these types of questions. Is this really necessary?!

Frank smiles widely at my suffering. "I'm a student at my high school. But sometimes, I help my mom out at the hospital where she works, even if I despise that place."

Mom raises her eyebrow intrigued. "And why do you hate it, Frank?"

I have a feeling she's trying to find a bad quality answer. "Well," He begins clearing any mucus caught in his throat. "When I was younger I was always sick in some way or injured. So I spent a lot of my time there. I was just one of those kids in the hospital a lot and stuff. So, every time I set foot there it just brings me back to all those times, and I'd rather not re live all of that because it was a terrible experience. But, I try to work past that, and still help my mom with whatever she needs there."

Now my eyes wondered to my mothers. She squirmed in her seat a little, and mumbled a low 'Oh.' As of this point, I'm pretty sure Frank was winning this whole thing, and mom was trying to fight on liking him as my boyfriend.

"Frank," My mom begins before she stands up. "I never thought I'd meet a boy that would date my daughter knowing she...knowing she has what she has. I never thought I'd meet a guy that would put himself through all of that, and really like her that much. But I guess you've proved me wrong." Jennifer says, balancing her purse on her shoulder.

Frank stands himself now, and I'm the only one left sitting on the couch. God, I wonder how hard this is for my mother! "I really like your daughter Ms. Darko." Frank says, and I feel his eyes wondering my face. "And I'm not about to hide that to anyone."

Mom sighs, and puts on her best smile. "Well I guess that's that then, hmm? I just want to set one ground rule to both of you!"

I try to sustain a whine, and Frank nods. "Whenever you guys want to spend time together, or you, Frank want to take her somewhere, please run it through me first, okay?"

Un justi-

"Sure, that's fine." Frank smiles softly. I roll my eyes at how polite Frank is trying to be, and stand up myself, following my mom as she begins her walk to the door.

"Ms. Darko, would you mind if Madison, and I spend the afternoon together just here at my house?"

I stop in my tracks, and turn to face Frank. It has been two days since we've actually spent time with each other since all the drama erupting within our relationship. Mom sighs, but I hear the door open.

"Have fun both of you. And Madison, no later than ten. You better give him that gift, it will suit him well." She says, before her feet are heard walking down the steps of Franks house.

We listen to her high heels click and clack against the cement, and even listen when the engine roars from the car. As soon as we hear the wheels skidding down the road, I feel Frank almost jump on me.

"MADDY!" He squeals as my body is falling over back to the couch beside us. His body weight is on top of me, crushing my bones.

"Ow, Frank you fat ass!" I laugh, trying to push him off me. "I can't believe you agreed to everything my mom said!" I whine.

He gets off my body, but ends up lying next to me, turning his own torso to face me. I, however, was still lying on my butt, and staring up at the ceiling. His arm soon snakes around my waist, and he pulls me as close as he can.

"Well, if I didn't than your mom would hate me. I'm going to agree to anything as long as she allows me to see you." He smiles, and digs his nose into my cheek. "And what is my gift anyway?"

I smile remembering what I had bought him, and get up off the couch. He mimics my actions and ruffles his hair. I walk over to my coat, and pull out my little 'gift' for him. I had neatly wrapped it in Valentines Day wrapping paper, and added a bow to top it off. "Trust me Frank, you really need this."

Frank rolls his eyes and begins to rip away the wrapping paper. When the 'present' is now fully visible, he giggles. "You're such a meanie."

I smile, resting my head on his shoulder as he pulls away the plastic around his very new, alarm clock. "Now Frank, that's not nice to say." I pout. "And now, you won't ever open the door to your girlfriend's mother when she comes to visit in your batman boxers!"

"Mom was always begging me to get one of these. I was just too lazy to get my own. She told me she'd buy me one soon, but I guess now she'll love you for doing it."

"Hmm, she sure will." I say, getting off of his shoulder, and lying myself back down on the couch.

"Frank, I actually have to go soon." I mumble.

Frank puts the alarm clock aside before lying back down next to me. He pouts his bottom lip, and makes his big hazel eyes big, glossy, and brighter. "Awe, but why?"

"Dan's taking me to my doctors appointment." I say, trying not to show him that I'm nervous about all of this.

Frank shakes his head, and sits up in his seat. "W-what, why? What's wrong? Are you okay? Did something happen?" He says all in one breathe.

"Whoa, calm yourself Frank. Nothings happened. I-I'm just, well, I've been feeling weaker then usual. I haven't twitched in like a week, which is good. But all my energy just feels like it's being completely sucked out of me. I just want to know what the doctor thinks about all of this, that's all. Don't worry yourself! That's the last thing I want, you going crazy over something like this."

Frank sighs, and kisses my shoulder lightly. His arm wraps around me again, making feel safe and secure in his own arms. He smells like cigarettes, those deadly things! I'm afraid to even kiss him with cigarette breathe. "Hey Frank." I say.

"Yeah?" He replies, his voice slightly muffled because his mouth is pressed against my hair.

"If you know smoking causes so many bad conditions on your body, why do you still do it?" I finish, now turning my face to look up at his.

He blinks a couple of times, and swallows. "Maddy, I-I-"

"It's like digging your own grave. You know it can cause you cancer, you know it shortens down your breathing, and all that stuff. It's putting yourself in danger. It's almost like throwing your life away. God, what wouldn't I give to have a healthy life like yours. And you go off, and intoxicate yourself with smoke."

A short silence follows, and all we listen to is each others breathings. His grip has tightened harder around me, and I feel his lips slightly touch my left ear, sending shock waves down to my nerve cells, making me shiver.

"I'm sorry."

His breathe is cool against my ear. "Frank, you do what you want. You can go off, and smoke as much as you want. I just won't ever understand it. Smoking doesn't make someone a bad person, I just want a reason."

I could feel myself sinking into Franks hazel pools. I loved swimming in there, searching for answers when he refused to give me any. His eyes widened, and I got scared. "W-What?"

He jumped off the couch, falling to the floor. "SPIDER!"

Spider?

"Where?" I ask, nonchalantly as he's crawling away from me while still on the floor.

"R-right behind you, on the head of the couch! Kill it!"

"No!" I argue, searching for the creepy crawler. I spot it lightly walking across the soft material. I reach over for it, it's not even bigger then my thumb nail, and Frank is freaking out about this? I scoop it up in my right hand, and cup it so it won't escape.

"I never knew you were afraid of spiders, my macho man." I smile, getting up from the couch, closer to him.

"Maddy..." He says in a warning tone, taking steps away from me when I try to get closer to him.

"You know Frank, spiders are more afraid of you then you are of it." I state, now turning away from him, heading towards the door. I could feel the tiny little legs tickling my palm, and sweat forming with in the creases. "Frank, open the door!"

His eyes narrow at me. "You're going to stick the spider on me!"

I roll my eyes. "No I'm not! Just open the door so I can set it free!" I say, stomping my right foot. Ow.

Frank sighs, and mumbles a low 'fine.' He gets as far away from me as possible, and leans in, stretching his arm forward to open the door for me. As soon as the wind is rushing through my hair and face I bend down, setting the spider on to the cement.

"Go on, be FREE! Go live!" I yell at the spider below me.

"Maddy, it's a spider." Frank states behind me.

"So?" I question. "It's a living thing, and deserves the chance to live!" I huff, turning around to face him. "I should get going anyway, or Dan will be pissed I'm not home in time to take me to my doctor's appointment."

Frank sighs, leaning against his door. "I want to come. But I have band practice with my friend Hambone, and a couple of other guys."

I smile. "And since when are you in a band?" I ask, excited.

"Three months." He shrugs. "You just never knew." He smiles, poking my nose. "And we decided to call it Pencey Prep! So I'm excited."

"Well that's great, Frank. Can you get me my jacket? It's freezing!"

Frank walks off into his house, and grabs me my jacket. He hands it to me, and I slip both my arms in the arm sockets, and zipper the zipper all the way up to my chin. Soon, I'm feeling warm and secure again. "So I'll see you tomorrow?" He asks.

I shrug. "Maybe, who knows."

He leans in, and kisses me lips lightly before he pulls away. I turn around to take a step down from the steps, when I fall. My ankle felt as if it didn't have any more strength to hold up my leg. My heart accelerated, and my body shakes as I put my hands out forward to stop me from falling on my face.

"Jesus, are you okay? Maybe I should drive you there!" Frank says, bending beside me and helping me back up to my feet.

I shake my head, and swallow. "No, no it's okay. I can walk."

Frank shakes his head, and argues. "No, I'm driving you! Or at least walking you there!"

I pull away from his hand. "Listen Frank, I know you're my boyfriend and everything, but you don't have to drive me everywhere or walk me there too. It's called an independent woman!" I say poking his nose, trying to lighten up his concerned face. "Now bye!" I smile, waving at him as I begin to walk away once more.

I could feel his eyes burning through my jacket, watching me walk down his sidewalk until I was no longer visible. Without looking at him, I could feel the nerves were ripping away at his insides.
I was nervous about all of this, too.