Stereotype

Convincing his parents to let him go to the party wasn't as easy as Frank had expected. Even his dad sounded very doubtful and exposed his fears. His biggest worry was that the party would be full of older boys, and it was a given that there would be alcohol. Frank tried telling him that James' mom would never allow that, but his dad just laughed and said, "I was seventeen once, Frankie, there will be alcohol, trust me." Linda looked very pleased to have her husband on her side for once. She assented to everything he said, adding her usual rants about the dangers for a boy like Frank.

After Frank sent an emergency text, Marina rushed to his house and joined the pleading. The girl's mother had already given her the okay, so Frank kept Beth in mind as next resort in case they failed. 

Together, Frank and Marina went over all the positive points again. They mentioned that Gerard and Mikey would be there too, and that several other boys from the football team were actually pretty nice and Frank's friends. They didn't forget to bring back the fact that James was simply awesome, and as the final touch they lied that his mom would be there supervising. Frank could only pray that his parents wouldn't ask for the woman's phone number.

Anthony and Linda seemed less closed-minded towards the idea now; or at least Tony did. He kept asking whether Ray would go to the party, though. Frank didn't know what to answer. "No," could mean hearing the same from his parents, but the "I still don't know" his brother had given him didn't sound too promising. He could be lying if he said "Yes," and it would be a short-lived lie. Why couldn't Ray just say he would go, like Frank had counted on? Sure, he hated to dress up, but he rarely missed a party and the team usually moved together like a pack.

There was only one thing left to do. Raising his voice as much as possible, Frank called for his brother. It wasn't until after the forth try that Ray came down the stairs with sleepy eyes and massive bed hair. His study plans had gone wrong, evidently.

"Are you going to the party or are you not?" Frank asked with pointed urgency.

Most probably guessing what it was all about, Ray let out a groan and said, "Yeah, I am. Let the midget go, I'll watch over him. And he won't touch alcohol, I promise you. Can I go back to sl- study now?"

Of course, Ray wasn't that lucky. He and Frank had to sit through a list of conditions to which they nodded numbly or, as much, mumbled a "Yes, mom," in reply. Frank was sure Ray abhorred him by the end of it, but he was too busy celebrating his triumph to worry about it.

When Ray finally went back to pretending to study, Frank found himself in more trouble while trying to escape the scene. His parents wanted to know what he would go as to the costume party. Frank couldn't tell the truth, but the problems wouldn't end with a simple lie. There would be several obstacles to sort in order to maintain it -before and after the party.

Nevertheless, there was no other way to start. Marina luckily sorted the first obstacles for him. "I have lots of old clothes in my basement. We'll probably go as zombies or something else depending on what we find." 

"It's more fun to improvise on the go!" Frank helped.

"My mom will drive us, by the way," Marina completed.

Frank's parents bought the lie, although not without demanding pictures. A minor stone in the path that they would have to jump over when the moment came.

******

Frank and Marina's reality was, in all honesty, quite different from their initial expectations. In their minds, they were going to have a meticulous, error-proof plan ideated by Saturday. However, they spent most of their time dreaming about the party instead, and forgot that it was only two days away. Saturday caught them off guard, still with important loose ends.

Frank could have gotten dressed in his Tinkerbell's costume at Marina's, but what about leaving? Even if he jumped in the car while it was still in the garage, he was sure his mom would be watching through their window, waiting to intercept them. Linda hadn't seemed happy with the way Frank ran out of the house with a "See you at midnight," not giving her any time for more recommendations. Neither had she been exactly a fan of the answer Frank gave her earlier, when she asked for pictures again. "I'm too old for you to hang photos of me in costumes around the living room, so you'll get none," he had told her. After being such an asshole, Frank needed no crystal ball to know that Linda would at least want to see their outfits.

Suddenly aware of that problem, Frank went back to his first plan. He called James and told him they would be there one or two hours earlier so he could get changed. The only problem was that seeing Frank with no costume would disappoint Linda. Or make her suspicious.

"You need a temp disguise," Marina thought aloud. "Something easy to change out of...wait! I told your mom we'd probably go as zombies. That's it!"

"That's not easy. It'd be a lot of make-up and blood to get rid of. I'm not putting my skin through that just to fool my mom..."

"If you'd only let me finish, Frankie..." The girl sighed. "We'll get no fucking make-up on you. Or fake blood. If your mom appears and asks, we tell her we didn't want to make a mess in my mom's car, so we'll do the rest at James'. It will probably also save your ass from one of Linda's surprise pictures."

Frank grinned, hugging his friend. "You're a genius."

"No, you are. I've told you I'm just a practical thinker."

"Whatever. We're awesome together."