Roses are Red, Black Eyes are Blue

Monday rolled around and Anna was feeling pretty good. She was able to hang out with Frank for more than 30 minutes during the weekend, she managed to get her father to sit still long enough to unpack, and she was going to attend her first orchestra practice. So far this new school seemed like the best thing that had happened to her in years.

Anna grabbed her violin, making sure she had her music folder for practice, and quickly made her way to the bus stop, eager to start her day.

When she climbed the steps of the bus, she immediately went to Frank and sat next to him. She was happy that all the nervousness was gone, thanks to spending a whole day with Frank, and now she could completely enjoy his company without worrying about looking like a total loser.

“What’s with the instrument case?” Frank asked through his laughter as he watched Anna try to balance her school bag and the violin on her lap.

“Did you forget already?” Anna asked, feigning hurt. “I have practice today with the orchestra. Which, by the way, means I won’t be able to meet you at the gate after school,” Anna explained, quickly catching the violin case before it slipped off her lap.

Frank, taking pity on her, finally grabbed the case from her and held it in his own lap. “That’s fine,” he said with a smile, “I’ll wait for you to finish with practice.”

“But practice is like two hours long. What are you going to do?” Anna asked, trying to ignore the blush that fanned across her face.

“Eh, I’ll think of something. Can’t let my Banana ride the bus home all by herself, that would be too scary, right?” he told her while pinching her cheek.

Anna swatted his hand away as they pulled up to their stop and they stood to leave.

As they were walking to the school, Frank suddenly grabbed the violin case from Anna, declaring, “That looks heavy. Let me carry it for you.”

Anna laughed and shook her head, letting him take it from her. “It’s a violin, Frank, it’s really not that heavy.”

“Hey, I am trying to be a gentleman here, just go with it,” Frank ordered, frowning.

Anna held up her hands defensively and laughed. “Fine, fine. You are a wonderful gentleman and I am so glad you are here to carry my violin,” Anna said, trying to hold back her laughter. “Hey, what’s that?” Anna asked, spotting a little gift bag looking thing in Frank’s other hand.

“Oh, it’s a bag of CDs I’m going to make you borrow. I forgot about your practice, though, so I didn’t think about how much stuff you’d be carrying around.”

Anna smiled and reached over to take the bag from him. “That’s ok, I’ll just stick them in my locker during class. I’ll have to carry my violin around the school, though, cause the lockers are too small,” Anna said, sighing.

The two made their way through the gates and towards their Trig class, talking about random stuff and laughing at each other.

******

“So what are you doing after practice?” Frank asked as he plucked the chip right out of Anna’s grasp.

Anna rolled her eyes and pushed the bag towards Frank, then opened her sandwich and started removing the crusts as she replied simply, “Homework.”

“And after homework?” he asked, picking up her crusts and eating those too.

“I dunno yet. Haven’t thought that far in advanced. Dad’s not going to be home, do you wanna come and hang out?” Anna asked, trying to act like it was no big deal to her that she was inviting him over.

Frank leaned back in his chair and made a face like he was thinking it over. “Nah,” he finally replied, slinging his feet into the chair next to him.

“Oh,” Anna said simply, trying not to look too disappointed. “Well what are your plans for the day?”

“I was actually wanting to go see a movie with you if you had time. How about it? There’s a new horror flick out and it looks promising,” he said with his wide, goofy smile.

Anna couldn’t help but let a smile spread across her face as she nodded. “Ok, cool. So what kind of scary is it? Mind fuck scary or blood and guts scary?” Anna asked, excited to go somewhere with a friend.

Frank contemplated his answer for a moment then replied, “Hm, not sure. It seems like it’s mainly mind fuck scary, but with a little bit of blood and guts.”

“Oooh, that does sound promising.”

“Are you sure you won’t be too scared though? If you don’t think you can take it, than we can go see something about unicorns or rainbows instead,” Frank teased, leaning across the table and giving Anna a challenging look.

Anna returned the look and leaned forward too, replying, “Bring it on, Iero.”

******

After school Anna made her way to the band room, excited to start her first practice. Anna opened the door and stepped in, surprised by the amount of people that filled the room. There were at least thirty chairs set up in front of the podium and the percussion instruments were spaced out behind the last row of chairs.

Suddenly Anna felt very nervous about meeting so many new people. She had grown accustomed to Frank, so socializing with him was easy, but there was over thirty strangers standing in front of her and she wasn’t sure how to deal with the situation.

Just as Anna began fretting, Mr. Andrews walked out of his office behind her and clapped loudly to gain everyone’s attention. “Alright everyone, get in your seats and get set up. We’ll start warm up in a few moments. Also,” he said, clapping Anna on the shoulder, making her jump, “this is our new member, Anna Garner. She’s going to be playing the violin and maybe something else if needed. Be nice and make her feel welcomed. Anna, if you would please take the empty seat in the first row and get set up.”

Anna nodded and quickly took her seat, wanting everyone to look anywhere but at her. She set up her music stand and began to take out her violin as the girl next to her spoke.

“Hi, I’m Alana, first chair flute,” she introduced herself and smiled.

Anna smiled back shyly and replied, “Oh, nice to meet you, Alana.” Anna started to stick her hand out to shake with Alana, but the flute player quickly turned back to her music stand and began to warm up on her own. She shrugged to herself and took out her violin to tune it.

******

After practice ended, Anna began to gather her stuff to leave. She wasn’t exactly sure where Frank was going to meet her, so she figured she would try the gate first. Anna pushed her way through the door and nearly tripped over a person sitting in the doorway.

“Ow, jeez Banana, watch where you’re going,” Frank said with his goofy smile as he stood up.

“What the hell are you doing sitting in the doorway?” Anna asked through her laughter as they made their way through the empty school.

“I was waiting on you. Your practice took forever. Do you have to do that every Monday?”

“Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And I told you that you didn’t have to wait on me. We could have met up later at the theatre or something,” Anna reminded him as she stopped by her locker to grab the bag of CDs. They made their way out of the school and towards the school bus as Frank once again grabbed her violin and carried it for her.

“Nah, that would have been boring. And besides, if I don’t go with you, I won’t be able to make sure you finish your homework before the movie. I know how you nerds get when you’re doing homework,” Frank accused and nudged Anna with his elbow.

Anna rolled her eyes and climbed the stairs to the bus. “I’m pretty sure you’re not going to let me do any homework if you come home with me, so how about I just go change and then we head to the movie? I can do my homework later.”

“Ok. I brought a change of clothes with me, so I’ll just change at your house. Oh, and make sure you wear something cute,” Frank ordered as he wiggled his eyebrows.

Anna felt her face turn red and she quickly punched Frank in the shoulder. “What’s that supposed to mean? Do I usually look like crap or something? And what gives you the right to tell me how to dress?” Anna demanded as she hit Frank with each question, face still beet red.

“Hey! Chill out! I was just kidding!” Frank shouted as he cringed away from Anna’s flying fists. “I’m just joking around. You’re always cute, ok? You’re fucking adorable, now give it a rest. Jeez, don’t kill me,” he said as he rubbed his sore arm and looked at Anna like she was crazy.

Anna blushed even more for her over-reaction and quickly rushed off the bus once they pulled up to her stop with Frank close behind her. She walked a few steps ahead of Frank, keeping her head down and trying not to look back at him. Frank watched her with amusement, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth. He remembered the look on her face and how red she had turned and couldn’t help but laugh.

Anna wheeled around and shot him a glare, still blushing from the incident. “And what do you find so funny?” Anna grumbled as she turned away from the laughing boy and back towards the direction of her house.

“You. You’re always so nervous and jumpy, it’s cute. I remember when you always stuttered when we first met. You were such a cute little Banana then,” Frank said using a baby voice.

“Frank, that was a week ago. And it’s not my fault that your weirdness made me nervous. Anyone would be nervous meeting you for the first time,” Anna grumbled as she unlocked her front door. The two walked in and Anna set her stuff on the bench by the door, kicking her shoes off. “There’s a bathroom over there, you can change in there if you want,” Anna said as she pointed down the hall connected to the entry. “I’m going up to my room to change real quick. Just wait in the living room when you’re done.”

Anna jogged up the stairs and opened her door, immediately removing her uniform. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to wear. Because of Frank’s joke, the word “cute” kept bouncing around in her head. “But what’s a guy’s opinion of cute?” she thought as she dug around in her dresser. Anna went to her closet and quickly dug through the few dresses she owned. She pulled out a purple and black dress and stared at it. Suddenly she blushed and put the dress away, going back to her dresser and pulling out the first thing she saw. “Why the hell am I acting like this? It’s not like this is a date or anything,” she mumbled as she pulled a loose fitting purple tank top on over a black cami followed by a pair of black jeans. The tank top was one of her favorites; it was soft and thin and had a black yin yang symbol on the front. Anna dug through her closet again, ignoring the dress she had been considering moments before, and pulled out her purple slip-ons.

Once Anna was finished getting dressed, she looked herself over in the mirror. Biting her lip, she pulled her ribbon out of her hair and let the brown curls fall over her shoulders. After a few moments of debate Anna threw her hands up in the air and grabbed a black hair band, throwing her hair up into a messy bun and making her way down the stairs.

“Ready to go?” Anna asked once she spotted Frank in the living room. He was lounging on the couch, feet kicked up onto the coffee table. He no longer wore his uniform, but had replaced it with a simple outfit consisting of a pair of jeans and one of his random black band shirts.

“Hell yeah I’m ready,” he said as he stood and stretched. “What took you so long? I mean, I know you’re a girl and all, but I didn’t think you were that girly,” he teased, wearing his goofy smile.

Anna blushed and kicked his butt once to make him walk faster out the door. “Shut up before I start punching you again, you jerk.”

“Hey, I’m just kidding around. You’re so cute when you’re embarrassed, whittle Banana,” Frank continued to tease her.

Anna rolled her eyes and walked with her best friend to the bus stop.

******

“Now Anna, if you get scared, just grab hold of my arm, I’ll keep you safe,” Frank told Anna as they took their seats, trying to keep a straight face.

“Frank, maybe you should be worrying about yourself. I think it’s gonna be fun to hear you scream like a little girl,” Anna teased back, smiling confidently.

“Not gonna happen. I am a pro when it comes to scary movies. I bet the scariest movie you’ve ever seen was The Wizard of Oz,” Frank challenged, stealing the bag of twizzlers from Anna.

The lights in the room dimmed and the curtain moved to reveal the rest of the screen. Anna chuckled at Frank’s confidence and shook her head, replying, “Well, we’ll find out soon, now won’t we?”

Soon, the previews started and then finally the movie began. Anna and Frank watched as a pretty young girl ran quickly through a dark forest, looking behind her every now and then. Suddenly there was a loud noise and the girl crumpled backwards, a metal rod sticking through her chest. Everyone in the room jumped and a few people cried out in surprise. Frank glanced over at Anna to see if she noticed that he jumped, only to find her covering her face and shaking.

“Hey, come on, it hasn’t even been ten minutes into the movie. You really can hold onto me if you need to,” Frank whispered to her as her shoulders shook. Anna finally removed her hands and Frank was surprised to see not tears but a smile. Anna directed her attention back to the screen, Frank doing the same a few moments later, trying not to be too confused.

Five minutes later and there was an ear piercing scream and a splatter of blood on a wall, causing the room to jump again. Frank looked over at Anna, determined to see her scared, only to hear her laughing softly while she bit down on her thumb, trying to be quiet.

“Are you laughing?” Frank asked a little louder than he meant to, receiving shushes from the people around him. He stared at her in confusion as she ignored him and continued to watch the screen. Something else gruesome must have happened, he figured, because suddenly she was laughing uncontrollably, earning glares and shushes from the same people Frank had gotten them from.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Frank whispered to her. “People don’t laugh when they watch horror movies, they scream. Are you broken or something?” he asked, eyes wide.

“I can’t help it. I used to watch scary movies with my mom all the time, and she would always make jokes about what was going on. I guess I got desensitized to it after a while. Mikey had the same reaction as you when I watched a scary movie with him,” Anna explained, trying to hold back her laughter.

Frank pouted and turned back to the movie, crossing his arms. “Well this didn’t work out exactly as I planned,” he thought, watching the movie but no longer really interested.

******

After the movie, the two began making their way back toward the bus stop. “So what now?” Frank asked, sticking his hands into his jeans pockets.

“I’m going home. My dad will probably be home soon, so I probably shouldn’t stay out much longer,” Anna answered as she kicked a stray rock down the sidewalk. They were silent for a few moments until Anna broke it with a question.

“Frank, can I ask you something?” she asked, biting her lip.

Frank chuckled and replied, “You just did, Banana,” quoting her from that weekend when he asked her the same thing.

Anna smiled and rolled her eyes before continuing with her question. “Why did you ask me about if I was going to get back together with Mikey?”

Frank faltered in his walking for a moment but it was unnoticed by Anna who was staring at the sidewalk in front of her. He was quiet for a bit, thinking over his answer before finally replying with his own question, “What do you think the reason was?”

“I dunno, I guess I thought that Mikey had asked you to talk to me or something. I’m afraid he’s going to want to get back together or something now that I’m back in town.”

Frank smiled slightly and shook his head. “No, he didn’t ask me to talk to you. I was just curious, that’s all. I guess I was worried I was gonna lose my new best friend to one of my other best friends.”

Anna turned back and smiled sweetly at Frank, causing him to stop walking completely. “Of course not. You were the only one who tried to get to know me. And I haven’t been able to be myself so freely in front of someone in a long time. We’ll always be best friends, or at least until you get tired of me,” Anna said, trailing off at the end.

Frank stared at the girl in front of him, trying to get his brain running again so he could respond. Finally he smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a side hug. “I could never get tired of you Anna,” he said as he watched her face flush. He laughed quietly and continued walking, keeping his arm wrapped around his friend’s shoulders. “Now let’s get you home before your dad finds out that his little princess is off with a boy.”