Roses are Red, Black Eyes are Blue

Over the next couple of days, Anna noticed that Frank had been acting funny. She would catch him looking at her during their Trig class, which usually meant that he wanted to make funny faces at her, but instead when she glanced over at him he would quickly look in any other direction. Anna also noticed that he wouldn’t sit quite as close to her as he usually did and that he would sometimes seem very nervous around her. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she felt like he was hiding something from her and she was almost positively sure that it was her fault. She wasn’t very good at socializing or relationships of any kind, so she had been expecting something to go wrong now that they had been friends for a little over a month.

So while Anna was worried that she was ruining her friendship with Frank, he was worried that he was going to slip up and let on about how he really felt about Anna. He was sure that if she knew how he felt she would instantly shut him out from fear of ending up like her parents. So he kept his distance and tried to take things back to the first week or so that the two had met, back before he realized how amazing he thought she was. It was hard for him, though; he wanted to pull her into another hug like he did when she was leaving for her mom’s house. The side hugs just didn’t feel right anymore. Frank wanted more than their friendship and he found himself constantly thinking about how he could fix things; he had never wanted to be with someone so badly but been so afraid of messing it up.

Thursday arrived and Anna was feeling a little better about the conversations she had with her parents. Both her mom and her dad were pretending like the subject had never been mentioned, which was fine for Anna because she didn’t want to think about it anymore.

The school day was passing like normal. Anna was on her way to lunch to meet up with Frank like she usually did, until a somewhat familiar voice stopped her in the hallway.

“Hey Anna!” he called, causing Anna to turn around quickly to identify the voice. It was the boy who sat next to her in her honors English class. Lately he had been starting small conversations with her where Anna would stumble through her replies and he would smile patiently until she managed to finish her short sentences.

“Oh, uh, h-hey Kevin,” she stuttered, trying to keep the confusion from showing on her face. No one ever approached her outside of class, except for Frank.

Kevin smiled sweetly at Anna as if he didn’t notice her nervous stuttering. “Hey, sorry to bother you, but there was something I wanted to ask you during class but I kind of chickened out.” Anna’s eyes widened a little but Kevin either ignored it or didn’t notice. “I was wondering if you would let me take you out for dinner sometime this weekend. We could go get a pizza maybe?” he asked, suddenly looking very nervous.

Anna wasn’t sure what to say. She remembered how Frank had acted last time, but he was acting odd this week, and she was sure it was because he was getting bored with her. “I-I don’t know. I’m sorry, I just don’t…really know you very well…” she trialed off, not sure if that was really a rejection or not.

Kevin’s eyes widened and he put his hands up as if he were trying not to frighten her away and he quickly replied, “If it’s the idea of it being a date, then it doesn’t have to be. I totally understand how weird that would be since we haven’t really talked very much. I just think it would be really cool to get to know you better. You’re really smart and nice, Anna, and I think how shy you are is kind of adorable. So if you want we don’t have to call it a date, we can just say it’s two people hanging out and becoming friends.”

Anna looked skeptical; Kevin definitely seemed nicer than Brandon, but she wasn’t sure if it would turn out the same way or not.

“If it’ll make you feel more at ease about it, we can each bring a friend. Then it’ll be just a group of people hanging out,” Kevin suggested, looking hopeful.

Anna could tell that Kevin really wanted her to say yes, and he looked almost as nervous as she felt. After what happened last time, she wanted to say no, but Kevin just seemed so different, and there was a part of her that was worried that Frank was about to ditch her; she didn’t want to go back to being friendless. So Anna quietly answered yes, and Kevin released the biggest smile Anna had ever seen him make.

“Awesome! I’ll meet you at that pizza place across from the park on Saturday then. What time would be good for you?” Kevin asked, almost bouncing with excitement.

“A-Any time before four is fine with me.”

“Then we’ll meet at three. And bring whoever you want along. The more, the merrier!” he shouted as he started to walk backwards and away from Anna, bumping into people on his way.

Anna couldn’t help but smile as she watched him turn around and slam right into someone’s back. She had to admit, he was amusing, and something told her that hanging out with him was going to be better than it was with Brandon, but she was also worried about how Frank would react. So Anna reluctantly turned towards the cafeteria again and began thinking of ways to convince Frank to go with her.

******

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Anna. Didn’t you learn your lesson last time? This Kevin guy is probably just another sleaze ball,” Frank accused, staring down at Anna as she avoided his gaze.

Anna picked apart her sandwich, trying to think of a way to calm him down and get him to agree. “He’s not like Brandon. We talk during class frequently and he says he just wants to get to know me, so we can become friends. He even told me to bring a friend along because I didn’t want it to be a date,” Anna spoke quietly.

“Then why haven’t you told me about him before? If you guys talk so often, why haven’t you mentioned him?” Frank asked, suddenly feeling like Anna had been hiding things from him.

“Because he’s just a classmate, Frank. Today was the first time that we’ve ever spoken outside of class. I didn’t think you wanted to hear about every single person that I come into contact with,” Anna replied, beginning to get a little annoyed with her best friend.

Frank glared at the table as he tried to think of a response. This wasn’t how he wanted the conversation to go, they were both getting angry and that wasn’t something he was used to. Finally he said, “I’m just trying to watch out for you, but you make it so fucking hard when you agree to go out with any guy that walks by.” As soon as it left his mouth, he wanted to take it back. That didn’t sound at all like it did in his head.

Anna’s lips drew into a tight line as she tried to ignore the ache in her chest. She watched the regret flash across Frank’s face and then asked, “Are you calling me a whore?”

All anger drained from Frank and was replaced with panic. “No Anna, that’s not what I meant at all. I shouldn’t have said that, I was just angry,” Frank rambled as he reached for her hand.

Anna quickly pulled away, pushing her chair back in the process to put herself even further from him. “It doesn’t matter if you were angry or if you shouldn’t have said it, you still did, which means there’s a part of you that believes it.”

“Anna, no. I didn’t mean it at all. Please, can we just start over from the beginning?” Frank begged.

Anna just stared at Frank as she felt the tears prick her eyes and the ache in her chest. Suddenly the bell rang and she grabbed her bag, leaving the table and Frank as quickly as she could.
Frank watched her go, eyes wide, and the same aching feeling in his own chest.

Anna was still upset when the last bell rang. Though she didn’t think she was mad anymore; now she just felt like curling up into a ball in a dark hole and never coming out. She also wasn’t sure what she was going to do. She was supposed to go to the guys’ band practice, but now she wasn’t sure if she was invited anymore. She hated it whenever Frank was upset with her, it was always so lonely without him.

Stepping out onto the front lawn, Anna wasn’t expecting Frank to be waiting for her; she honestly thought that he would never want to talk to her again. But he was there, right where he always waited when she didn’t have practice. He was looking around nervously and a part of Anna hoped that he was looking for her.

He looked over at her when she came closer to him. He smiled nervously, but Anna didn’t smile back. Taking a deep breath, Frank began to speak, “Anna, I’m really sorry for what I said. I promise you that I didn’t mean it. I was just angry, and I guess a little worried that you were going to replace me with that Kevin guy. You’re really important to me Anna, more than you know, and I can’t believe I said something so hurtful to you. I swear I’ll make it up to you if you’ll let me.”

Anna waited a few seconds to reply, almost as if she were debating with herself, which had Frank absolutely terrified. Finally Anna cracked a small smile and replied, “Ok, but you’ve gotta work on that temper, Mr. Iero.”

Frank’s smile widened and he quickly pulled Anna into a hug, holding her tightly. “I swear I’ll never say anything hurtful to you again, Anna.”