Frankly, I Don't Love You.

I felt something lurch in my gut telling me that there was bad news coming. It was the same feeling I got when Jeremy told me his parents were getting a divorce and the same feeling I had before A.J. slapped me that day in advisory with the substitute. My gut was still bothering me by the time I felt my pocket vibrating loudly. I groaned preparing myself for whatever was coming next. I flipped my phone open not bothering to check who it was.

“Hello?” I answered

“Frank! Oh thank god! Finally someone who answers their phone” Mikey said loudly into the phone almost puncturing my ear drum.

“Mikey” I said calmly in to the phone. “Why are you freaking out?” What happened, please tell me so I can try to help”

“It’s A.J. she left about 3 hours ago and Jeremy just called me saying that she’s not home yet. She and Gerard had some… problems, and now she’s nowhere to be found!”

“What do you want me to do Mikey? You know A.J. and I don’t get along very well! The fact that she and Gerard have had some problems isn’t going to help much either, don’t you think?”

“Ugh, fine, you’re right. But just find her, please? I need to stay with Gerard to make sure he doesn’t drink anymore. Be polite Frank, please? Oh shoot, I have to go, thanks!”. The line went dead before I got to say bye. I sighed and got off my bed. I pulled my Smashing Pumpkins hoodie on and slipped on my beat up converse. I looked through the window outside, and noticed that it was already twilight. Finding A.J. at this time of day would be tedious.

I told my mom that I had to find Jeremy’s sister since she had gone missing. Of course since A.J. was perfect in my mom’s eyes she let me stay out as long as I needed to find her. I groaned as I anticipated the task ahead of me. Walking in the cold wasn’t going to be good for me tomorrow, nevertheless as soon as I could find A.J. the better. I did not need to be around her with all hormones and emotional drama. It was bad enough that was the only thing she would write about in English class.

There weren’t many places a person could get to on foot, besides the local park and school. I highly doubted she would be at school because according to Jeremy, she had all of her writing supplies at home. The park seemed more appealing for someone who was having a hard time. There was a sense of serenity surrounding it along with seclusion. Five minutes was all it took for me to get to the park. I spotted her instantly slumped against an old Chinese maple tree. Besides us, there was no one else in the park considering the sun was long gone. Meekly, I walked over to her, noticing the black smudges along her eyes and down her cheeks.

Guilt swept through me like a fire spreading through dry thistle. Without realizing it, my feet took me to where she was sitting. I tried to stop myself halfway, although my brain was not corresponding. As I stopped in front of her, she continued with her tears rolling down her cheeks, not bothering to look up either. I took a lung full of air and spoke as sympathetically as I could.

“A.J?”

Her head whipped up with such sudden movement I was afraid that if I hadn’t been looking she would have popped up out of nowhere.

“What do you want Frank? I’m not exactly in the best mood to have a skirmish with you” she trailed off and didn’t meet my gaze.

“I came to take you home; everyone’s been very worried about you. And believe me, I can’t say anything mean, under Mikey’s orders of course.” I muttered the end.

Cautiously, I took her hand, ignoring how ice cold they were, and brought her to her feet. A.J. hesitated a bit with walking; instead I supported her on the way home. The trek home was all too quiet, exactly the way we both preferred it. Neither of us would want to speak of this again considering our history of quarrels. Time ticked very slowly when at last the familiar two story house of the twins I grew up with came into view. She let herself in and murmured a ‘thank you, good night’I sighed as I walked home.

Sure, I had done a good thing, but when you do a good thing there isn’t supposed to be a warm, fuzzy feeling in your stomach…