Roses are Red, Black Eyes are Blue

The weekend flew by much too quickly for Anna and before she knew it, she was climbing into her dad’s car and watching her mother’s house retreat from view. Anna sighed heavily and turned back around in her seat, staring out the windshield forlornly.

Mr. Garner glanced over at his daughter briefly before directing his attention back towards the road, frowning also. “I take it you had fun this weekend?” he asked her, knowing the answer already.

Anna turned to look out the window at the passing buildings and replied in a quiet, bored voice, “Of course I had fun. I always have fun at Mom’s.”

Mr. Garner’s frown deepened but he kept his eyes directed on the road. “Well I hope that you remembered to do your homework between all the fun activities you had.”

Anna rolled her eyes and shook her head as a response. “Can’t you at least wait until we’re home to start this? You haven’t seen me since Friday morning, briefly, and the first thing you want to talk about is my homework? Why don’t you at least ask me about what I did with Mom over the weekend first and pretend to care about it?” Anna asked angrily, fed up with her father.

Mr. Garner’s mouth hung open and he tore his eyes away from the road to stare at his daughter. “What has gotten into you?” he shouted, looking back and forth between the road and his daughter, not sure which one deserved his attention more. “How dare you talk to me like that? I know I raised you better than to mouth off like that. Did your mother put you up to this?”

“No, Mom barely talked about you at all, and when she did it was just to ask how you were doing and junk, which is more than you ask about her,” Anna said angrily, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You will not talk to me in that tone, young lady! I don’t know what has gotten into you, but I don’t like it and if you don’t change that attitude, you’re going to be grounded for the next month, and that might even include your visits with your mother,” he threatened as he came to a stop at a red light and turned to glare at Anna.

Anna bit back the urge to reply with a nasty comment and turned to look back out the window, suppressing her anger in order to save her weekend visits.

“I just don’t understand,” her dad continued to rant, “you’ve never acted like this before, and now, all of a sudden, you’re getting an attitude with me. You’re always going to the park and staying out after school even though you know you’re supposed to come home…” he trailed off as the look of realization spread across his face. “Oh my god. It’s a boy, isn’t it?”

Anna’s jaw dropped and she looked at her dad, stunned. “No! Why do you always have to blame it on a ‘boy’, dad? Maybe I’m just in a bad mood; I am a female, you know, we have periods and mood swings and crazy angry hormones,” Anna rambled, trying to make her dad uncomfortable so he would drop the subject and not ask questions that would lead to his discovery of Frank.

“Then why are you acting like this?” he asked, exasperated.

“I’m a teenager, Dad! Did you think that if you forced me to act like an adult I would just easily transition from kid to adult and skip being a teenager? That’s not how it works, Dad. Sometimes you’re just going to have to let me act my age and make mistakes,” Anna finished, calming down and softening her tone. Neither spoke for the rest of the ride, and when they reached their house they both quietly made their way into the house and began to make dinner together, still not speaking.

They sat down to eat and after a few moments, Mr. Garner cleared his throat to speak, “So what did you do with your mother this weekend?”

Anna looked up and smiled softly at him before starting from the beginning.

******

“No way,” Frank said, looking astounded at what Anna had just told him.

“Yes way.”

“And he didn’t try to murder you or anything?”

“Well, I thought he was going to wreck the car at one point, and he threatened to ground me, but there was no threat of bodily harm at any time,” Anna explained, picking at her sandwich.

“Wow,” Frank sighed, leaning back and looking awed. “You actually stood up to your dad. Maybe I am a bad influence. Or would this actually be considered a good influence?”

Anna laughed and shook her head at Frank, pushing him playfully. “I wouldn’t start raising the celebration banners quite yet. I did stand up to him, and he did seem to listen a little bit, but he still demanded to see my homework last night so he could make sure I did it right.”

Frank shrugged and quickly grabbed Anna’s sandwich from her, biting into it and dodging as she reached out to hit him. Anna rolled her eyes and opened her bag of chips, playfully glaring at her friend. “Well,” he said after swallowing his stolen food, “small wins on the battlefield lead to victorious wars, right?”

Anna stared at him for a moment and blinked before replying, “Wow, Frank, that was really…deep and…smart?”

Frank frowned at her reaction and made his pouty face. “Should I feel offended?”

Anna smiled innocently in reply. Suddenly she was saved by the bell and she rushed from her seat, grabbing her bag and violin. “See you after practice!” she shouted over her shoulder at Frank, who was still pouting.

******

After practice, Anna began packing her things to leave. She figured that since it was five o’clock she still had about two hours until her dad would leave the office and she didn’t have very much homework, so she was excited to hang out with Frank for the first time in three days. Turning to leave, she slammed into someone and stumbled back, almost falling to the ground. Anna looked up to find one of the saxophone players standing in front of her.

“Are you ok?” he asked, reaching down to pick up the music folder that Anna had dropped. Feeling her nervousness return, Anna just simply nodded and took the folder once he had picked it up. “I’m Brandon, by the way,” he introduced himself and held out his hand to shake hers.

Anna gently shook his hand and replied softly, “Anna.”

Brandon smiled and shifted his bag on his shoulder before asking, “So are you dating Frank Iero?”

Anna’s eyes widened and she began to shake her head quickly. “No! We’re just really good friends.”

His smile widened and he nodded. “Oh, I just thought that since you’re always hanging out with just him you two were dating. My mistake. But I’m kinda glad that you aren’t.”

“Why?” Anna asked cautiously, feeling like she was making a mistake herself.

“Well, now I can ask you out on a date without him getting angry, right? So how about it? Wanna go see a movie this weekend or something?” He asked, taking a step closer to her.

Anna tried her hardest not to take a step back, worried that it would offend him, but she couldn’t help but lean away from him slightly. “Why would you wanna go to a movie with me?” she asked, wide eyed.

Brandon laughed lightly before replying, “Because you’re cute, and talented, and I wanna get to know you.”

Anna tried to think of a way to turn him down, but her mind was drawing a blank. “I- I don’t know…”

“Well, do you have plans this weekend?”

“N-No, not really,” she answered hesitantly, realizing she should have lied at the last second.

“Then it’s settled! We’ll go to the theatre after practice on Friday. See you later!” he said and made his way out the door.

Anna stood in the now empty room trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened. Slowly, she made her way out the door and towards the front of the school.

Frank walked beside her, observing her odd behavior. “You ok?” he finally asked as they left the school gates and headed towards the bus stop.

Anna shook her head a little and smiled up at him. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she lied, still trying to make sense of the conversation.

Frank frowned, seeing through her lie, and continued to dig. “You don’t seem fine. Did something happen during practice?”

“Nope. It was a completely normal practice. Nothing out of the ordinary at all,” Anna said, trying to look anywhere but at Frank.

Frank decided to drop it for the moment, sure he would eventually find out, and changed the subject. “So you still wanna come to one of our practices this week?”

Anna quickly perked up and pushed all thoughts of Brandon from her mind. “Of course! Are you sure it’s ok?”

Smiling again, Frank nodded before replying, “Yeah, I already talked to Gerard about it. He says you’re welcome anytime.”

Anna jumped excitedly, making her friend laugh and shake his head. “I can’t wait!” she shouted, “When is you’re next practice?”

“Tomorrow, do you think you can make it?” Frank asked as the bus pulled up and they climbed the stairs.

“Yeah, can I just go with you after school? I don’t know if I remember how to get there.”

“Sure. But I think I should probably warn you about something,” Frank trailed off, looking kind of hesitant.

“If it’s about how insane your friends are, I’m pretty sure I’ve already figured it out,” Anna laughed.

Frank laughed slightly too and shook his head, “No, it’s not about that. Um… Mikey kind of seems to have a little crush on you still, maybe…probably…” he finished and bit his lip, watching Anna closely.

Anna sighed heavily in response and leaned her head against the seat in front of her. “How bad of a crush is it?” she mumbled.

Frank bit his lip, trying to think of how to answer. “Well, he got upset with me for spending so much time with you alone. Really, I think it’s just left over feelings from before.”

Anna nodded and sat up, gathering her things as they approached her stop. “Well, I have to deal with this at some point. And I really do want to try and be friends with him again. We used to have a really awesome friendship; he was so good at listening and making me forget my family issues. I do kinda miss it,” Anna explained as they left the bus and made their way to her house.

Frank frowned and nudged her with his elbow. “I’m a good listener too,” he said in almost a whine and pouted before continuing, “and I’m a damn sexy distraction, much sexier than Mikey.”

Anna laughed at his childish reaction and nudged him back. “Don’t worry, Frankie, you’ll always be my best friend. I’ll always come to you first about anything and everything.”

Frank frowned and shot her a sideways look as she unlocked her front door and pushed it open. “I guess ‘anything and everything’ doesn’t include what happened to you during practice, huh?”

Anna stiffened as she remembered the saxophone player and their strange conversation. “Nothing happened during practice,” she brushed him off and kicked her shoes off, walking towards her studio where they usually hung out.

“That is bull shit Anna. You looked completely out of it and weirded out when you left practice,” he accused as he followed her closely.

Anna chewed on her bottom lip and walked over to her piano, sitting down and staring at the keys. “I’m telling you, nothing happened during practice,” she mumbled and began to play a soft melody.

Frank watched her for a moment before it dawned on him and he came over to her, leaning on the piano so he could see her face.

“Ok, nothing happened during practice. I believe you,” he said as a relieved look spread across his friends face. “What happened after practice?”

Anna stiffened again and stopped playing before begging, “Frank, please just drop it.”

“No,” he replied stubbornly, “you said you would come to me about anything and everything because I’m your best friend. Are you telling me now that that was a lie?” he asked, trying to guilt trip her.

“No,” she said quietly, defeated.

“Then tell me, please?” Frank softened his tone, knowing he had won.

Anna took a deep breath and finally made eye contact with him. “I really don’t think you wanna hear about this. I’m not even really sure about what happened.”

“Well then tell me and maybe we can figure it out together.”

Anna nodded and decided it would just be best to blurt it all out. “A guy in the band asked me out on a date and before I even had a chance to turn him down, he just decided that it was agreed upon and then ran off.”

Frank stayed quiet for a moment longer until he was sure that she had said it all. “Easy solution, Anna, just go up to him on Wednesday and tell him you don’t want to go,” Frank explained with a shrug.

Anna bit her lip and shook her head, “I can’t do that, it would be rude.”

Frank rolled his eyes and shook his head too. “But you don’t want to go, right?” he asked and she nodded, “Then you don’t have to. Just tell him.”

“But I’m not that good at socializing, Frank. You know that.”

Frank’s frown deepened and he felt himself becoming impatient. “Then I’ll tell him for you.”

“No!” Anna shouted, jumping from her seat and grabbing onto his arm as if he was about to leave at that moment to fulfill the deed. “I know you; you’ll get angry and get into a fight. I don’t think you can afford any more suspensions this semester.”

Frank pulled his arm out of her grasp and gave her a hard look. “Then do it yourself. You can’t keep letting others decide everything for you, Anna. What the hell kind of life is that?! You need to speak up for yourself when you want or don’t want to do something!” he told her, his voice rising with each sentence.

Anna flinched at his volume and looked away, feeling guilty and ashamed because she knew he was right; she did let everyone make her decisions for her.

Frank sighed heavily and ran a hand over his face, trying to calm down. “Look, do whatever you want, Anna. But if you do go on the date with him, just be careful, ok? You’re way too fucking innocent for your own good. I don’t want to have to kill this kid for trying to take advantage of you or something,” he told her and grabbed his bag, starting towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Anna asked in her small, quiet voice.

Frank glanced over his shoulder at her as he grasped the door handle and pulled it open. “I’m gonna go over to Gerard’s. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said and left.

Anna watched him disappear through the door. She sat back onto the bench in front of the piano and watched the door way, hoping he would come back through it and say that he wasn’t mad, that he forgave her. But thirty minutes passed and he didn’t come back, so Anna finally turned back towards her piano. For once, she didn’t feel like playing anything, though. She didn’t feel like doing anything at all, so she just stared at the keys in front of her until she finally heard her father come home from work

******

The next day, Anna nervously walked up the stairs to the bus and looked towards the section that Frank usually sat in, only to find it empty. She felt her chest tighten as she took a seat and stared out the window. He didn’t show up for Trig class either, and for once Anna ate lunch alone, picking at the food that she didn’t really want to eat anyways. The tightening in her chest grew each time she didn’t see her friend when she usually did, and she came to realize that she truly missed Frank when he wasn’t around. He was her only friend, and as lonely as that sounded, she realized that the thought of him being her only friend didn’t make her feel lonely, but just made her want him to suddenly appear even more than before.

By the time school ended, Anna gave up on the idea that she would see Frank. She had taken out her phone so many times between classes, intending to text him, only to chicken out at the last minute. She figured that he skipped cause he wanted to be alone, not be bothered by her texts.

Stepping out the front door of the school, Anna glanced over at the gates where they usually met after school and her chest tightened again, but this time for a different reason. Frank was leaning against the open gate door, arms crossed over one his favorite t-shirts, looking at the people around him with a bored expression.

Anna took a deep breath and started towards him slowly. He saw her approaching out of the corner of his eye and looked over at her. He stood straight and shot her a weak smile as she stopped in front of him, also smiling weakly.

“Hey Anna, how was class and stuff?” he asked, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

“It was ok,” Anna replied quietly. “W- What are you doing here? You weren’t in class, so I thought you were sick or something,” Anna lied, knowing that she never once thought he had been out sick.

Frank grimaced for a second before quickly changing to a weak smile again. “I just over slept and then decided to just skip altogether. But you asked if I would take you to Gerard’s for practice, so I am here to be your escort,” he explained, finishing with flashing his goofy smile at her.

Anna smiled too and nodded. “Thanks.”

******

Neither of them spoke very much on the way to Gerard’s except for the occasional polite chit chat. By the time Anna reached Gerard’s, she was a nervous wreck because of the tension she felt between them. She just wanted him to playfully shove her and shout, “Gotcha!” or something so she knew everything was ok. But instead, he simply opened the front door and began to ignore her as soon as he stepped into the house.

Anna stood awkwardly in the door way of the living room as Frank and Ray chatted on the couch. Suddenly, Anna felt like it was a mistake for her to come. Frank was the only person there that she really knew, besides Mikey (but that was still an awkward situation for her), and now she didn’t even have him for moral support. She felt like she was completely on her own, so she did the one thing she was good at in a situation like this, she turned to leave.

As she reached for the handle on the front door, it suddenly opened and she came face to face with Gerard. “Oh hey, Anna. You weren’t leaving, were you?” he asked, furrowing his brows as he stepped through the door, another guy stepping in behind him.

“Uh, yeah. There was, um, I forgot there was something I was supposed to do today, so I’m gonna have to take a rain check and come over some other time,” she stuttered out a lie.

Gerard frowned, but continued to block the doorway. “Don’t leave yet. We were really looking forward to having an unbiased opinion at practice. Besides, I think you’re lying,” he accused, giving Anna a look that dared her to prove him wrong.

Anna sighed and put her bag back down before replying in her timid voice, “I guess I could stay a while longer.”

“Awesome!” Gerard responded and smiled widely. “This is Bob, by the way, he’s our drummer.”

Anna smiled politely and shook his outstretched hand.

“Ok, let me just get these losers rounded up and then we’ll start, ok?” Gerard asked and Anna nodded slightly, ready to get it over with. She just wanted to go home and pretend that nothing weird happened between her and Frank.

About twenty minutes later, everyone was assembled in the basement and Anna was sitting uncomfortably on the old, worn out couch in front of them, watching them tune their instruments. She stared at her feet most of the time, trying to keep herself from looking over at Frank and also trying to avoid Mikey’s gaze. The whole atmosphere was just so uncomfortable for her, but none of the guys seemed to notice as they decided on a song and jumped into it.

Anna continued to stare at the floor but listened intently. She was thankful that Frank had loaned her his CDs, because she wouldn’t have known what to think about their style if she hadn’t become familiar with it first. She bobbed her head slightly with the beat, enjoying the music and the lyrics. All around, she thought they were good, and when they stopped and looked at her expectantly, she let them know.

“It was good,” she said shyly, smiling.

All five of the guys in front of her smiled in return and started talking loudly to each other about which song they should play next. About an hour and a half later they decided to take a break and everyone made their way to the kitchen, except for Anna. She wasn’t hungry, and she didn’t feel like attempting to socialize, so she just sat on the couch in the quiet basement and waited.

Gerard flopped down onto the couch next to her, two sodas in hand, and gave her one. Anna smiled weakly in response and took it. She popped it open but didn’t take a sip yet. The two sat there in silence for a few moments, listening to the loud chatter that was coming from the floor above them.

“So, what’s wrong?” Gerard finally asked.

Anna grimaced at how much of an open book she was before lying, “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Bull shit. Last time you came over, you were quiet, but you at least hung out in the same room as everyone else and didn’t try to run until Mikey came into the room. Something’s different this time. What’s wrong?” he demanded this time.

Anna bit her lip and started fiddling with her skirt nervously. “It’s not a big deal, really. Frank and I had a fight yesterday, I guess, and now he’s mad at me or something, I dunno. But it’s really not a big deal. I didn’t really believe that we would stay friends for very long, I’m not good at making friends. So don’t worry about it,” Anna rambled nervously, avoiding eye contact with Gerard.

After Anna finally stopped talking, it was quiet in the basement for a few moments before Gerard finally stood and said, “That idiot. Don’t move.” He disappeared up the stairs and Anna was left alone again, wondering what he was doing. A moment later and he came back down the stairs, dragging a stumbling Frank behind him. Anna’s face turned hot as she began blushing, realizing the mistake she made by telling Gerard.

They came to a stop in front of Anna who was sporting the classic ‘deer in headlights’ look and Gerard pointed at her, shouting at Frank, “Apologize you idiot!”

Frank looked back and forth between his two friends, confusion spread across his face. “Apologize for what?”

“I told you to stop upsetting my brother, not start upsetting Anna. Did you really think that being mean to her would fix things?” Gerard asked, talking to Frank like he was stupid.

“I wasn’t being mean to her! I was trying to give your brother a chance to approach her and work things out with her. You told me to stop being so close to her when Mikey was around!” Frank shouted, poking Gerard in the chest accusingly.

“What about the fight you two had yesterday? Can you blame that on me and Mikey too?” Gerard asked, jabbing him back.

“Oh,” Frank said as all the anger drained out of his body. He looked over to Anna, who had been watching the two guys in front of her uneasily the whole time, and asked, “Is that what you’re upset about?”

Anna bit her lip and looked down at her hands, suddenly wishing he was ignoring her again.

Frank sighed and sat next to her, throwing his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into him for their usual sideways hug. “Look, Anna, I’m sorry about yelling at you yesterday. I was just frustrated. I don’t like the idea that you’re letting people walk all over you.”

“Wait, what were you two fighting about?” Gerard asked, confused.

Frank looked over at his friend as if he forgot he was there to begin with. “Oh, Anna was asked out by some loser in the school band and I got mad cause she wouldn’t just tell him no.”

Gerard frowned and asked, “Well why does she have to tell him no? Because you say so?”

Frank rolled his eyes and answered, “Because she said she didn’t want to go. But of course, she just can’t say it to him.”

“Oh.” Gerard responded, looking back at Anna who blushed and hung her head.

“Can we please stop talking about it?” Anna pleaded, wanting to divert their attention off the subject.

“Yeah, sure. We need to start practice back up anyways,” Gerard replied and went to get the others.

Frank turned to Anna and smiled. “So are we ok again?” he asked, looking shy, which was unusual for Anna to see.

“Are you still mad?” Anna asked quietly.

“Of course not. I stopped being mad as soon as I realized how much of an ass I was being, which was like three seconds after I left. I was just too embarrassed to call or text you and apologize.”

“Well, then I guess we are ok again,” Anna said with a smile, glad to have her friend back.