PETRICHOR ━ pope heyward

- ONE -

Frankie Castillo had his parents to thank for him meeting Pope Heyward.

It was no secret on the island that Bobby Heyward, owner of Heyward's Seafood, ran an unofficial grocery delivery service. He had connections with a corporate manager or something for a large grocery chain on the mainland, one that sold brands and foods that weren't readily available on the Outer Banks. Of course, there were small grocery stores on the island that were ran by locals, but sometimes you just wanted Lay's potato chips and a can of Barq's Root Beer and they weren't locally stocked.

When his parents first began using the delivery service, it was because they were too busy with work to go grocery shopping. Both of his parents worked in business and traveled almost as often as they were home, so it only made sense. They'd make the list, turn it in to Heyward, and the next day Frankie would be in charge of making sure the delivery made it home and was put away.

Being Heyward's son, Pope assisted with deliveries whenever he was available. Frankie had seen him around the island and the boy had delivered to his house before, but he'd never cast him a second glance. That is, not until Frankie's parents had forgotten to place an order before going on an overnight trip to the state capitol and put their son in charge of turning it in.

It was the beginning of March and Frankie was just a few weeks shy of turning 16, but he could still be pretty immature, even for a Kook. He filled the list with junk food and snacks that his mother didn't let him have because sugar stunts your growth or whatever. It was almost twice as large as their usual orders, but he drove their golf cart from the North side to the dock where Heyward's Seafood operated and the owner promised the usual next day delivery.

Frankie was still at home alone when Pope came by with the groceries, his parents not expected back for another three days. There were so many bags that Pope had to make a second trip to his boat to get them all, but as he was carrying the second haul over, the sunshine that had been heating the island all day disappeared and water began pelting to the ground. Pope ran up Frankie's porch steps and took cover under the small awning over the door, his shoes getting soaked by the splash of the sudden downpour.

Grabbing him by the back of his t-shirt sleeve, Frankie tugged Pope backwards, inside his house and away from the rain. The two boys peered at the sky through the window beside the door, the gray clouds moving quickly as it was just a passing shower. Frankie offered to let Pope wait the rain out inside and he accepted, sitting quietly as the Kook got to work putting the food away.

Not long after, Frankie ran past the pack of chocolate Snack Pack pudding he'd ordered, and he ripped open the cardboard packaging in his haste to eat the treat. He grabbed two spoons from the cutlery drawer and dropped one, along with a cup of pudding, in front of his unexpected guest. Frankie ripped his open and dug in, confused when Pope just stared at it.

"You allergic to chocolate or somethin'?" Frankie asked, his mouth half full. Pudding was a treat his mother never let him have, not under any circumstances, and he'd forgotten just how delicious it was.

"Uh, no," Pope responded, reaching forward to grab the cub and peel the foil lid off. "Thank-"

When Pope looked up, Frankie had chocolate pudding smeared just below the right corner of his bottom lip, lightly trailing across his chin. He hadn't noticed yet and was still digging in, and Pope just couldn't help the belly laugh that rolled out of his mouth. His face scrunched up and his eyes watering, and Frankie couldn't help but join in with the contagious howling, even though he didn't know what the other boy was laughing at.

"Y-You've got..." Pope managed as he pointed to his own chin, trying to catch his breath from the laughter.

Frankie swiped a digit under his bottom lip and the fingertip came back smeared with brown. He giggled again, looking back at Pope's crinkling eyes and toothy smile and Frankie's chest felt tight for a second. He felt his cheeks redden, though he couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or something else, and quickly turned away to wet a paper towel in the sink to clean his face.