Is it typical?

I woke up back in bed. I opened my eyes softly and looked up to see I wasn't at my house. I sit up and glance around, my bag is on one of the chairs, clothes I don't remember wearing on the floor. I saw a bathrobe at the end of the bed, and put it on. Sneaking into the living room, I go exploring. I see picture frames, gathering dust in a corner. One of them, looks very familiar. I pick it up and realize, I'm the girl in the picture and Frank is right next to me. That was the day we went to the theme park for our high school graduation. But, this isn't my house. I was sure of that. I hear a cough. I panic and my knees lock. I stay looking straight ahead to the wall. I slowly put down the picture frame and try not to make a noise. I turn around to see the person reading the paper. Their short, dark brown hair covers their head and by the way they are sitting they don't look very tall. I take a gentle step forward and the floorboard creaks. The person turns around and immediately recognizes me. It's Frank. I release of sigh of content and sit down next to him.

“Good afternoon, sunshine,” Frank says cheerfully. I smile back at him.

“What am I doing here?” I asked in confusion.

“Well. We were supposed to hang out today, remember? To talk, like we used to? Well, anyways. I called and texted you this morning but you didn't answer. So, I came over anyway. I found you, in the shower, passed out. And by the looks of the place, somebody slept over last night. So, I cleaned you up and brought over here to relax.” Frank looked at me. He wasn't lying. He has never been a good liar. I remembered G had stayed over last night. I remembered, I was upset. I don't know if I should tell Frank who slept over. Or why I had passed out in the shower.

“I'm sorry, Frank. You shouldn't have to go through all this trouble for me.” I lied.

“No, hun. Believe me. It's perfectly fine. I just want you to know that-” he took my chin in his hands and raised my head up so he could look me in the eyes, “if any thing's wrong, you can talk to me.” I shook my head yes, wanting to believe him. Truth was, Frank and I had grown apart. We were really close in high school, but ever since G came into my life, I've become more distant. Not just with Frank, but with people in general. I just don't trust anyone anymore.

I walked away from Frank into the kitchen to grab a bowl of cereal. I found the Frosted Flakes after a long search of all the cabinets. The milk was easy: the fridge. I then found the spoon and brought my breakfast down to sit next to Frank. I didn't say anything but smiled at him when he glanced my way. I didn't want him to worry because he didn't know what was going on. To tell you the truth, I didn't either. I couldn't even answer my questions, let alone his. But right now I need his friendship. I can't do this alone. I ate in silence, the only sound coming from my crunching cereal and his paper. I finished and put my dishes in the sink and came to sit back down next to Frank.

“Well,” he started, “we were supposed to hang out today.”

“Yes, we were. What do you want to do?” I asked.

“Anywhere but, before we do, we need to talk.” The words hung in the air, making me uncomfortable and sucking the life out of the room. I stared at my feet and waited for him to continue. “I know you changed the subject earlier, but I think you should tell me what's going on.” I bit my lip and he noticed. I sighed and took a deep breath.

“Someone did sleep over last night.” I stated.

“Who?” he asked, wanting to know more.

“Gerard.”

Frank frowned and his pained expression upset me. After a while of him thinking, I asked, “does this upset you?”

“I-” he paused. “I just- I've known him for a while and he never seemed like a good guy. I can only see this ending with you getting hurt.” I thought about his words. At least he cared.

“I know. I can't help that I like him. You're absolutely right, he's not too good for me.” I admitted. This made him smile meekly. I knew it made him happy, and it wasn't entirely false either.

“Why did I find you passed out in the shower this morning?”

I froze. I stared at a floor tile. I couldn't move my lips. And even when I tried, I couldn't form words.

“Were you upset?”

The words couldn't escape my lips, so I nodded yes. He understood. He hugged me close and whispered in my ear “its going to be alright.”

After while, a wiped the tears from my eyes and smiled back at Frank. He smiled back and told me to go get dressed for a fun day with an old friend.

And I believed him.

____________________________________________________________________________

I shrugged and put the eviction notice on the counter. Whatever. It's not like I have anyone to impress. Amanda and I aren't serious. Not really. Mostly because neither of us want to talk. We just want to escape. Talking never did anyone any help. It gets people into more trouble than they're worth. I guess we're “together.” We don't talk, we're mostly just physical. But were nice, we'll see a movie and snuggle most of the time. Maybe even a little more than a kiss her or there. But no serious talking just, “You wanna eat here?” I guess you could say we're in a relationship. As far as I know, neither of us are seeing anyone else. But we're not boyfriend and girlfriend. Things just don't work that way between us. It's too complicated. Not worth the hassle.

I turned on the tv to some mindless reality show. At least it's entertaining. Creating drama and pretending it's “real life” is their specialty. I believe this one is the Real World. A bunch of totally different strangers get to live and work together for 6 months and their lives become a reality show. I wonder what would convince these people to give up their lives into the hands of the public. I don't even trust my life in my hands. The chick with a loving boyfriend back home is caught flirting with another guy in the house. He's trying to claim her for himself, and she's letting him. They're snuggling, holding hands, doing everything together. She says they're just friends and she has a wonderful man back home. The chick is beautiful, I have to admit. She kinda reminds me of Amanda. Maybe, I should call her. I didn't get to say goodbye this morning and she might not have seen the not I left. No. Bad idea. She'll think you're catching up on her and you're trying to let her know you want to become more serious. No, that cannot happen. I can't screw this up. We have something good. Something that almost isn't real.