Living in a Frog World (Male OC x Anne Boonchuy)

Part 1: Chapter 11: Lily Pad Thai

On this day, Frank and Anne were doing what they promised to do for each other. They were going to have a pizza together. It wasn't just them that was going to have it. The Plantars were helping in the baking of Amphibia's first pizza.

Covered in bruises from battling yet another tomato monster, Frank sat at the table with Polly. Stirring a bowl of freshly made tomato sauce. Even though he was hurting, he never stopped smiling, even when he looked up at Anne, who was teaching Sprig how to toss the pizza dough.

"There you go. Now you're getting it," Anne said, before the dough landed on Sprig's face.

"Anne, wanna chop us some veggies for me?" Hop Pop asked while stirring a pot.

"You got it, HP." Anne walked over to a cutting board and grabbed an onion and cleaver. With masterful skill, she sliced the onion up into multiple slices. Using the face of the cleaver's blade, she scooped them up and placed the slices into a bowl.

"Wow! Nice job, Anne!" Frank said with wide eyes and a big smile.

"Where'd you learn to cut like that?" Hop Pop said with Polly on his head.

"You know, my parents actually owned a Thai restaurant back home," Anne said, bringing out her phone and turning it on. Opening her photos app, her cat domino was the first thing to pop up. "Ah, whoops. Hold on." She kept swiping until it showed her family's restaurant, Thai Go. "I used to work there all the time and help out. I hope they're doing okay without me."

Frank paused what he was doing when he heard that. Thinking about how his family was doing. No doubt they would have been devastated when he disappeared. Especially his grandma. But what about his parents? They weren't perfect, but they did their best for him, even with all their flaws. So why? Why did things go so wrong between him and his parents? After his release, things were never really the same. His mom grounded him for a year, and they became stricter with him. They treated him like a prisoner again in his own home. It was one of the reasons why he left to stay with his grandma.

However, even after what they did, he'd be lying if he said he wished that his parents were okay. After all, he still loved them. But as he thought about them, Frank wondered if they knew about his disappearance. Were they sad? Did they care?

"Frank?"

"Huh?" Frank looked up and saw the others looking at him. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said, what about you, Frank?" Hop Pop asked. "Does your parents own a restaurant?"

"Ha! Sorry, but no," Frank laughed, shaking his head. "The only one of my family that owns a local business is my Abuelita Rachel. She's the one that owns the Thrift Shop."

Anne had to pause for a moment to think. Then she remembered. "You mean that..."

"The sweet little old lady you, Sasha, and Marcy stole from? Yeah." Frank nodded with a knowing frown. He still wasn't happy about what they did, even if Anne was peer pressured into doing it. "Grandma was the best cook of the family. When I was staying with her...after Grandpa Teddy died, I started learning how to cook from her."

All of a sudden, there was an explosion. The two humans, Hop Pop, and Polly turned around and saw that Sprig caused it, having blown up the oven with the pizza still in it.

"Of course, that never happened," Frank said, picking up Sprig and setting him on his feet.

Sprig coughed up some smoke as he was covered in ashes. "Yep, I blew up the pizza."

"Oh, dang it, Sprig!" Hop Pop yelled. "Well, looks like this meal's a bust. Who wants to eat out?"