Roses are Red, Black Eyes are Blue

Anna spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with Frank and the guys. She was happy that everything was back to normal, and when Monday rolled around and she had to go to practice, she was also happy that Brandon hadn’t asked her out again. In fact, the only time he had acknowledged her the whole week was to say hi. Things between Anna and Frank had been fixed, and they even seemed to be closer than they were before. And the best part of the week for Anna was knowing that she was going to visit her mom.

On Thursday, Anna walked out of the doors to the school and headed towards the gates to meet Frank like they did every day that she didn’t have practice. From the steps she could see him leaning against the open gate and watching everyone that walked by. Anna couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face when she saw him, and she quickly made her way across the lawn towards him.

When Anna was just a couple feet away Frank caught sight of her and turned to smile at her. Anna’s own smile quickly dropped.

“I didn’t know you smoked, Frank,” she said as she got closer to him but kept some distance from the smoke.

Frank shrugged and took another drag. “I only smoke when I have the money too,” he replied and then frowned. “You don’t mind do you?”

Anna shrugged and started walking towards bus stop. “I don’t mind that you’re a smoker or anything. It’s whatever.”

Frank watched Anna intently as he walked beside her, making sure to hold his cigarette on his left and away from her. “Really? Cause it kind of seems like you mind. Which is ok, there’s lots of people that don’t like smokers.”

Anna grimaced and looked at the ground before replying, “I don’t hate smokers, Frank. I just don’t like the smoke. It smells horrible and all that crap.”

Frank continued to watch his friend. He thought about what she said and made a decision. Quickly, Frank flicked his cigarette out into the road and stuck his hands in his pockets, digging out his lighter and cigarettes and dropped them in a trashcan as they passed by it.

Anna quickly stopped and stared at him. “Frank, why did you do that?”

Frank shrugged and nudged her towards the waiting bus before replying, “You don’t like the smoke.”

“But...I mean, I appreciate you not smoking around me, but you didn’t have to throw them all away. You don’t have to quit smoking for me, Frank,” Anna stated, staring up at him as he gently pushed her into their usual seat.

Frank sat next to her and flashed her favorite smile. “But I’d do anything for you, Anna,” he said, causing Anna’s breath to disappear for an instant and her heart to stop. “Besides,” he continued, not noticing that his friend had become a statue, “I only smoke out of boredom, so I should probably find a cheaper fix for that.”

Anna’s body quickly began working and she smiled back, unable to respond with anything else. Her mind moved about a million miles per second as thoughts whirled around in her head. She found it silly that she was overreacting about one sentence. And it was a rather simple sentence too. But the way he smiled and the way he said it paired with his actions made it seem like a very complicated simple sentence.

While Anna quietly contemplated whether she liked how his simple sentence sounded complicated, Frank watched her from the corner of his eye. She didn’t act like she noticed the hidden meaning to what he said. But then again, she seemed to be deep in thought, and she was only this quiet when she was nervous or embarrassed. Frank kept a grimace from showing on his face. Had he embarrassed her? Did she realize what he had said and was she upset by it? He figured he should probably have kept his mouth shut, but it was driving him crazy. For such a smart girl, she seemed very oblivious to Frank.

The bus pulled up to their stop and Frank nudged Anna out of her thoughts. Gathering their items, they quickly left the city bus and began heading towards Gerard’s house for band practice.

******

The first half of practice went smoothly. Anna was really starting to enjoy their style of music and its energy. She found it a lot different from her usual preference for classical music, but it was a nice change in pace to hear something so different. About an hour and a half into practice, Gerard and Ray got hungry so they called for a break. Everyone began heading up the stairs to the kitchen, including Anna, until she felt someone tug gently on her arm.

Turning around, Anna came face to face with Mikey. She smiled politely and waited for him to say something.

“Hey, Anna, can I talk to you for a sec?” he quietly asked, glancing up the stairs nervously.

Anna turned around to see what he was looking at and found Frank standing in the door way and looking down at his two friends. He watched her for a moment before turning around and disappearing into the kitchen. Anna turned back around answered nervously, “Uh, yeah, sure.”

Mikey let go of her arm and walked back over to the couch and Anna followed. “So,” he said, trailing off slightly. Anna waited anxiously, hoping this wasn’t going to be about what she thought it was about. “Are you and Frank a thing now?” he blurted out and kept his eyes on the carpet.

Anna stared at her own feet for a moment before turning to him and asking, “Why in the world does everyone think that? Did I miss something?”

Mikey shrugged and glanced at her, pushing his glasses up slightly. “Well, you two are always together. And you’re really close with each other; you even share food and drinks. And he always stands really close to you and he almost always has his arm around you,” Mikey rattled off.

Anna blushed and tugged on her uniform skirt. “It’s not like that. We’re just really good friends,” she said quietly.

They sat in silence for a moment, listening to the ruckus coming from the kitchen above them. “You don’t want to date me again, do you?” he blurted out again, looking at the floor again.

Anna bit her lip and shook her head as an answer, unable to think of the words to use.

Mikey nodded as if he was expecting that answer and turned to look at Anna again, smiling and holding out his hand. “Friends?” he asked.

Anna smiled weakly and shook his hand, replying, “Of course, Mikey. We’ll always be friends.” They were quiet again and Anna decided to break the silence this time. “I really did miss you, Mikey. You were the best friend that I had, but I just didn’t feel anything more than friendship. And then I moved and I know we agreed to keep in contact, but I was worried and confused because of mom and dad’s divorce and I was scared that we would end up just falling out anyways, so I decided to just let it go. I’m sorry, Mikey.” Anna ended her rant and clenched her fists, waiting for him to get angry.

Mikey chuckled and shook his head, causing Anna to look up at him quickly. “Is that really the reason? You’re so cute, Anna. I just figured you made a lot of friends that you liked more than me and that you just didn’t need me anymore.”

“Of course not, Mikey. I can’t give you the title of best friend back; Frank has claimed that and declared that no one else can have it; but you’ll always be my oldest friend, ok?”

Mikey nodded and smiled at her. “You know, he’s a really good guy.”

“Who? Frank?” Anna asked, caught off guard.

Mikey nodded again and stood. “Yeah. He has a bit of a short fuse sometimes, but he’s always looking out for everyone around him. He’s a really great guy.”

Anna laughed and tilted her head to the side slightly. “Why are you telling me all this, Mikey?”

Mikey shrugged and looked towards the stairs, hearing the guys begin to make their way down.

“Well, I guess I’m telling you that it wouldn’t really bother me if you two did end up together,” he said, giving Anna another smile before heading towards his bass.

Anna sat stunned for a moment before looking over towards Frank who was looking over at Mikey curiously. He looked over towards Anna and smiled and waved at her before throwing the strap of his guitar on and getting into position. As the guys started to play again, Anna began to wonder if there was something everyone else was seeing that she just seemed to ignore.