Smiles Echo In My Memory

“I’m gonna show you around Jersey tomorrow,” Frank said cheerfully. We just had our dinner, and were lounging around in the living room, watching some random film on the TV.
Frank was sat up, leaning on the arm of the sofa, his legs tucked next to him. I was slung across him, his arm around my waist, and my head on his shoulder.
I smiled up at him, my arm around his waist.
“Were we gonna go?” I asked, still smiling.
“All around Jersey. Hoboken, Newark, Belleville... Arlington, everywhere.”
“You don’t have to take me everywhere,”
“I want to. I didn’t bring you all the way here from England so we can sit around,” he said, smirking. I rolled my eyes, and then pecked him on the neck. He smiled, turned, and carried on watching the film flicking across the screen.

The next morning, I was rudely awoken by Frank jumping on me.
“Frank! You fucker!” I groaned, rolling over on my side, away from him. The room was still dark, the curtains drawn, the lights switched off.
“What time is it…?” I grumbled, rubbing my head where Frank’s chin had collided with my head.
“Four-thirty,”
“Wha-!” I was cut off by Frank slamming a hand to my mouth, quieting me.
“Mom’s asleep,” he stated, grinning like an idiot. He removed his hand, sitting up next to me, crossed-legged.
“Why the fuck did you wake me up so early?” I asked in a whisper, sitting up.
“I’m going to show you Jersey, remember?”
“This early in the morning?!” I moaned.
“Well, we gotta capture the beauty of Jersey at sun rise,” Frank explained. He was too cheerful for the morning.
“Get up and shower, we haven’t got long. I’ll be making breakfast,” Frank said, sitting up. It was then that I realized he was fully dressed and ready – even with a little bit of eyeliner lining his hazel orbs. He walked quietly out the door, shutting the door behind him. I got out of bed warily, really wanting to curl up in a ball and go back to sleep. I rooted through my suitcase, pulling out a pair of grey denim three-quarter lengths, along with a plain grey v-neck t-shirt and some dark grey chucks. Might as well match.

After my shower and I had put on my make-up, which consisted of foundation, liquid eyeliner and mascara, I softly made my way down the stairs at exactly four-seventeen.
“You were quick,” Frank commented with raised eyebrows. I rolled my eyes and sat down in front of a plate of toast and a mug of black coffee.
“Be quick, we gotta go,”
“I’m going to kill you, Franklin.”
“You’ll love me in the end.”
“When are we meant to be leaving?”
“Now. So hurry up,” Frank said with a smile. He was being awfully sweet and mushy this morning. It was cute.
I gulped down my coffee, picking up my toast.
“Shall we?”
Frank smiled, grabbing my hand and leading me out of the house. He helped me into the car, shutting the door behind me, and I finished off my piece of toast as he walked around the car, getting in and buckling his seatbelt. Chewing on the last piece of toast, I did the same.
I was really dark out, but not the pitch-black I loved in the winter-time; it was the dusky blue the summer-time night held. The sun was soon to rise.
I felt the car trembling, stating that the engine was running.
“What time is it?” I asked idly, running a hand through my slightly damn hair.
“Four-twenty-seven,” Frank read off the clock on his dashboard. He started mumbling to himself then, pulling out of the driveway.
“Want to go to Starbucks?” Frank asked, turning to me.
“We have a little time to kill,” he added.
“Yeah, sure.”
He sped forward ridiculously fast, pulling up at a drive-through Starbucks in less than 4 minutes. The force of gravity or whatever it was that made you sink back into your chair hit me hard, and when he slowed down, it felt like a weight being lifted off my chest. It felt like I was on a rollercoaster, looping the loop.
He drove fucking fast when he wanted to.
“Frank, what the fuck? I thought I was gonna die!” I joked, but still slightly shocked from the sensation the force of gravity had even me. He smirked.
“Never seen me drive fast, I take it?”
“Yeah, this is the face of me in the know.”
He laughed, moving the car forward so we were up at the order booth. Frank ordered me a caramel frappachino for me and a chocolate frappachino for himself, paying the lady at the booth quickly and driving off hurriedly. I laughed at him.
“What?” he asked a confused look on his face.
“You’re in so much of a rush, it’s funny,” I said, giggling still. He rolled his eyes at me, a smile forming on his lips.
Around half an hour later, it was 5:15am. I couldn’t believe I was up this early, to be honest.
Frank pulled up at a main road, which he told me was Sinatra Drive. It was still quite dark.
“Just in time…” Frank mumbled to himself, while he helped me out. We threw out empty Starbucks cups in a trash can, Frank wrapping his arm around my waist. He led me over to the sidewalk, and I noticed a silver metal barrier on the side. As we walked closer, I noticed a river below, shimmering beautifully.
I looked up at Frank, who smiled down at me.
“The river separates Jersey from New York. You can see the World Trade Center from here… Look,” Frank whispered, pointing towards the right. I saw two tall, identical buildings, standing quite close to each other. They were breath-taking against the sky, which had slowly become a slightly lighter blue.
“Sunrise soon,” Frank mumbled against my ear, pointing back at the towers.
We watched and waited as the sun rose steadily and slowly.
Frank’s watch beeped around 15 minutes later, breaking the comfortable silence. He brought his hand around, pushing a small black button.
“5:34… Sunrise,” he mumbled to himself, pulling me in front of him. I leant my head on his chest, looking up at the rising sun. The sky was clear and blue, a few clouds resting over the two twin towers.
“It’s beautiful…” I whispered. I liked the atmosphere we held, gentle and comforting. The whispering seemed to create that.
“Not more than you,” he said into my hair, kissing wherever his lips found. I smiled at his cute and romantic behavior.
“What’s all this in aid of?” I asked, turning my head to face Frank. He smiled.
“You being here, silly,” he grinned, leaning down. His lips brushed against mine, our eyes fluttering closed. His arms that were resting around my waist tightened, both my hands resting on his forearms. He leant his head down further, his lips massaging my own. He pulled away from me, grinning.
“Fraaaaank!” I moaned, pulling a pout. He chuckled, leaning down over me again, pecking me on the lips.
“I would carry on, but we have to get going,” he said, chuckling slightly. I pouted again, making him sigh. He leant down, placing his lips on mine, his tongue finding its way into my mouth. I lifted my hand, lacing my fingers through his hair to deepen the kiss. He pulled away, stroking my cheek.
“Now we really have to get going,” he murmured, trying to catch his breath. I nodded; trying to get my breathing even so my heart would stop pounding against my rib-cage. He stroked my hair back out of my face, leading me to the car.

At the end of our day out, we stumbled through the front door at 10:37PM. Frank had shown me his old school, all around Belleville, the rest of Hoboken, including a restaurant and bar place called Maxwell’s where he seemed to go often; a lot of people greeted him and brought us drinks, even though we were underage. So, we were pretty hammered when we staggered through the door. Not only did we get served at Maxwell’s, but at numerous other places throughout Jersey - in North Arlington, Newark, Irvington, everywhere else we went. Frank also took me to West Hudson Park, as well as Branch Brook Park. He seemed pretty popular, wherever we went.
“S-Shh!” Frank even managed to slur noises, which was pretty unbelievable.
“Frank?! Sazzy? Where the hell have you two been?! Do you even know what time it is? I phoned both of you so many ti-” Linda cried from the top of the stairs, switching on the lights. We squinted, the bright lights burning our eyes. Linda stopped in front of us, standing on the last step.
“Are you both drunk?!”
Frank and I burst into a round of uncontrollable giggles.
“Yeah, but shh, not al-allowed to tell Li-Linda!” I slurred, placing a finger on my lips, and giggling, Frank laughing too. At me or with me, I don’t know. His arm was draped around my waist, meshing our bodies together.
“You’re both out of it… Frank, get Sazzy upstairs, right this second! How you drove in this state I do not know…” Linda mumbled to herself, shaking her head. Frank giggled, pulling us up the stairs slowly and clumsily.
Frank was quite a weird drunk. He could show how pissed he was, but then he could hide it at the same time, easily pulling himself together. So, if someone stopped him, he could act very sober, quite easily.
He pulled me into his bedroom, closing the door and kissing me softly.
“Get changed. I’ll b-be back in a min-minute,” he stuttered, before stumbling out the door. I did as I was told, pulling on any old clothes I could find. I ended up in one of Frank’s old plain red tees and a pair of my pajama bottoms. Right on queue, Frank slipped in, topless and only in a pair of boxers. Grabbing my hand, he pulled me into the double bed with him, and I buried my head automatically into his head, falling asleep as I felt Frank’s lips against my forehead.