Frankly, I Don't Love You.

Considering my tragic history with A.J, having a simple conversation made me feel at ease. She didn’t even flinch when I mentioned we could be friends. She actually nodded, and it seemed like she had forgotten the quarrel that had been between us for so long. We finally seemed to put the past behind us and hopefully nothing would come to those horrible fights again. English ended all too soon and by the time A.J. had finished, we couldn’t say goodbye. I smiled at her then, left the classroom heading off to guitar. Class seemed to drone on and on. I couldn’t shake off the feeling of needing to talk to A.J. and to see her. It was more than making up for all the time we didn’t like each other, it felt like I was infatuated. I gasped at the thought.

“No Frank” I thought to myself “You can’t like your best friend’s sister, it’s not right. She can barely even become friends with you after a decade! Don’t do it Frank! She just broke up with her long term boyfriend!”

My mind was at constant battle with my heart. This tug of war was a new species of feeling to my body. Had I honestly caught a cold, hard crush like a 4 year old on the neighbor? I couldn’t believe this.

Immediately as school ended I was immersed in my thoughts about her, that when she tapped me on the shoulder as I walked slowly towards my house.

“Hi” she breathed

“Hello” I chirped

“Would you like to come over so we can work on the project? We need to discuss the poems and we should start writing.” she trailed off.

“Sounds good to me” I grinned

“Then let’s go! We’re off to see the Wizard of Oz” She giggled.

“I prefer Jack Skellington” I countered

“I love that movie, but The Wizard of Oz is just hilarious. You know, you remind me a bit of the cowardly lion” she said as she skipped around. I wondered if I should have taken that as a compliment “Don’t think I’m all girly though, I’m as much of a guy as Mikey or my brother are.” I laughed slightly since Mikey seemed a bit too girly for a guy.

“You have a point Ms. Watson, but really, I did not need the images of a girly Mikey, that’s not right”

We both laughed once more and realized we were at her house.

“You’re welcome Mr. Iero and really, it was my pleasure” she smiled. This girl was seriously something else that I did not expect.

“Of course Ms. Watson, thank you, you’re so very nice” I noticed we were standing on her front porch therefore I opened the front door for her and she stepped through the threshold.

“Thank you good sir” she giggled “Before we get writing let’s get a snack though”

“Sounds good to me, I’m hungry”

The Watson’s kitchen was very old fashioned and it reflected A.J. in every way. A.J. opened the refrigerator and got out lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, and some other vegetables and began making a salad. I watched her as she chopped with ease. Less than ten minutes later our salads were topped with croutons and dressing and we sat on her couch eating.

“I’m glad you don’t mind salads” she commented

“What’s not to love about salads? They’re tasty and healthy. A vegetarians’ best friend” I grinned as I took a big bite.

“You’re a vegetarian too? Well that’s something we have in common besides the whole writing thing” A.J. said, “Remember that time when we met?”

“Mhmm. Oh yes, I remember we tried eating flowers and Jeremy tried eating a grasshopper. That was disgusting.” I laughed “I always wondered why there were so many veggies here when I would come over though. I just thought you were health freaks.”

“Well, not really, it’s just me who’s the vegetarian.”

“Same here.” I agreed.

“Now, let’s get working! We only have a month to come up with something great.” she clapped her hands and soon a storm of ideas erupted.