Princess

The next morning I dragged myself to work and made the strongest cup of coffee I could. I’d hardly slept at all, Bob had slept in my bed with me like we used to when we were kids, except now he was a fully grown adult who snored and fidgeted. I’d finally gone downstairs to sleep on the sofa when I found Frankie crying into a hoodie that wasn’t his. I’d comforted him as much as I could but he every time he had stopped crying something would set him off again. It was like someone had died.
I’d only just finished my coffee by the time the store opened, I quickly found some chewing gum and tidied away my cup before any customers could find me.
The stream of customers was steady as the morning went on. No sign of Mikey, I hoped he was ok. I had no idea how serious his feelings were for Frank, I didn’t even know how long things had been going on between them.
“Two cappuccino’s to go and four chocolate muffins.” I recognized the voice but I didn’t look at him. I only turned to make the drinks. The shop was empty, there was only me and him anywhere to be seen.
“Is your brother with you?” I asked him as I got the muffins out of the glass unit and put them in a takeaway box.
“You and your faggot ass cousin stay away from him. I’ve seen the way Frank looks at him and it’s sick. So you can tell him from me that Mikey is not and never would be interested in him.” he took his order from me and pretty much threw his money at me before storming out of the shop. I felt like crying once again, how could he be so mean when his brother had been so nice. The rest of the shift had been quiet and it wasn’t long before I was hanging up my apron and making sure my school uniform looked how it should.
The ride to school was quiet and thankfully I was there on time today. My classes were the same as every other day and soon it was time for me to go to detention.
“You weren’t here yesterday?” Mr Jones said, his watery eyes were full of concern again.
“I had a doctors appointment.” I said, sitting down at one of the desks at the front of the room. I had spotted Gerard out of the corner of my eye, he was watching us with a look of slight curiosity.
“All day?” Mr Jones questioned, raising his eyebrow. I nodded and pulled my sketchbook out of bag, it contained my coursework. It was almost full now, on sleepless nights I’d normally add to it.
“Flashbacks.” I murmured, I could feel them both still watching me as I began to add to the drawing of Superman and Louis Lane. “They’ve been affecting my sleep so I went to get sleeping tablets.” I ran my hand through my hair and he left me alone. I had used the excuse before and it was partially true, I had a drawer full of sleeping tablets I was supposed to take when my flashbacks got too intense. Instead I’d stockpiled them.
About halfway through my detention Mr Jones left the room to do some photocopying. I continued with the picture ignoring Assface, until the point the put a muffin in front of me.
“Good picture.” he muttered before walking away from me and back to his own picture. It kind of threw me, that fact that he had been nice to me. I ignored him though. The rest of the detention went quickly, none of us really spoke, the only sound had been Mr Jones typing and occasionally Assface moving around the room.
“Miss Iero, your free to go, I expect to see you next week though.” I nodded and pushed my sketch book into my bag, I picked up the muffin and walked over to Gerard.
“I don’t need your pity.” I said, putting it down in front of him and leaving the room. I felt a surge of happiness go through me, it felt like I’d finally got one up on him. I walked straight to my car, Frank had text me to say he wasn’t going to go in today. I frowned, someone was leaning against my car.
As I got closer I recognised it was Mikey, he looked kind of like hell.
“Mikey, I have work.” I told him as he stared at me.
“I’m sorry, I just, I’m worried about Frank. He wasn’t in school today and he’s not answering his phone.”
“Mikey, I’m late for work, I’m sorry. Frank was up all night crying, he’s probably sleeping. Look, I spoke to your brother this morning, maybe you and Frank should just stay friends for a while.” I climbed into my car. The look on his face made me want to hit myself. Any colour had drained from his face and he looked terrified. I drove away, unsure of what else to do.
Once I got to work I went straight to the staff toilets and changed out of my school uniform and into a pair of black skinny jeans and a Korn t-shirt. I was put back on the till.