Frankie Fever

I sighed and took another drag of my cigarette, flicking the ash off the end with an expert tap of my finger. My cigarette glowed softly as I inhaled another drag. The smoke wafted off in a meaningless haze of grey, curling and uncurling itself softly as it did so.

Mikey had had a headache and when he came downstairs to ask me for some painkillers, he'd seen mount pill on the kitchen table and taken some. He had no idea which ones he needed to take though so he'd taken them up to his room and inspected each one carefully until he decided which ones he should take. The dose must have been a little bit too high for a twelve year old.

"You okay?" A voice questioned.

"Yeah," I sighed, taking another drag from my cigarette and turning to face Frank.

He shifted awkwardly from foot to foot, nibbling on his lip ring. He wasn't too sure what to say. He hadn't said much the previous evening, either. But what was there to say?

"How is he?"

"He's fine," I replied, exhaling my lungful of smoke "They uh. . . pumped his stomach."

Frank nodded slowly. I hadn't told him the full-story. He was under the impression that Mikey was attempting some form of twisted suicide. I guess I should have told him. . . But then I wouldn't have gotten the privilege of feeling his arm around me, squeezing tight while my head rested in the crook of his neck. It's a good thing we were sitting because I'd always been slightly taller than him.

I pulled a cigarette from the pack in my pocket and offered him one. He took it with a grateful incline of the head and leant forwards towards my hand as I flicked my lighter on for him. His hand cupped around the orange flame and his cheeks hollowed as he inhaled on the cigarette.

"It's not right, y'know," Frank said softly, inspecting his cigarette like it had suddenly become fascinating "It's. . . it's just not! It's twisted-wrong, even."

I didn't say anything. I gave a long heaving sigh instead.

Frank took it as a sign of misery and rubbed my arm supportively. I smiled gratefully and took a drag of my cigarette, exhaling the smoke slowly.

"At least he's okay," Frank offered, leaning forward so he could see my face properly "He is. . . okay, right?"

"Yeah," I nodded "Mom and Dad think he was trying to O.D. They took him to a paediatric yesterday to have a talk and try and work out what's going on with him. But you know Mikey."

"Uh. . . he's your brother and he likes Star Trek?" Frank offered.

Okay, maybe he didn't know Mikey all that well. But why should he? It's not like anyone expected Mikey to be his friend. They were polite to each other as they didn't really know each other.

"Well, when he's nervous or upset or whatever he'll either stop talking or start talking in clingan."

Frank crossed his eyebrows at the latter of my statement. I managed a smile and a little laugh.

"I told you he really likes Star Trek. I meant he really likes it. I wasn't kidding."

He laughed lightly himself and stood up, offering me his hand. I took it and let him help me up. Then he flung his arm back round my shoulders and pulled me into him, trying to noogie me. This failed as I realised what he was doing and pulled away with a cry of protest, sticking my tongue out playfully.

Frankie wasn't having any of it and tried to jump up and get hold of me properly again. This plan backfired and he lost his balance, almost falling over, but I caught his shoulder to stop him.

"Thanks," He smiled, brushing himself down "Right, let's go to Starbucks! I'm dying for one of those toffee nut lattes!"

"Amen," I agreed.

And with that, he linked his arm through mine and proceeded to lead me over towards Starbucks. I smiled and followed willingly. Frankie had managed to cheer me up by miles. I still felt pretty bad for what had happened but I vowed to treat Mikey to an ice cream or something to show I was sorry.

Soon we were sitting in Starbucks with a big mug each, sipping happily and munching through walnut muffins and chocolate cookies. Frankie was a lover of squirty cream and had insisted that they give him a mountain of the stuff. He was now happily dipping his finger in and sucking the cream slowly off the tip of his finger slowly. I bit my lip.

"Tell your parents you're staying at mine!" He suddenly said, lifting his head up "It'd do them good to get rid of you for a night!"

I smiled and nodded, pulling my phone out of my pocket. I wasn't about to turn down an offer to stay at Frank Iero's for one whole night. One. Whole. Night with Frank Iero. The thought gave me shivers.

I text Mom, telling her I was planning to stay at Frank's and that I'd come home later to get some clean clothes for the next day. Then I turned my attention back to my toffee nut latte with a smile to myself.

One whole night.