Waiting

That Night

(Twyla) May 26th

Back at Frankie's house, she insisted on watching 101 Dalmatians. Something about the adorable little puppies just fascinated her young mind.

I climbed onto a stool and retrieved the hot cocoa mix from the cabinet. I never understood why Frankie and Holt liked to drink hot cocoa in May, but I wouldn't say anything about it. I poured the mix into two cups of hot water I'd microwaved, mixed them and then brought them back into the den where Frankie sat watching the movie.

"How are you doing?" I asked her, handing her a mug.

"Cruella DeVil is so mean to those poor puppies," she mumbled in response, continuing to pit all her attention towards the movie.

"Frankie."

"Twyla, I'm trying to watch a movie! Pay attention!"

"Frankie..."

"Fine, Twyla, I'm fine. Now will you please just watch the movie with me?"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Didn't we watch this a few months ago when I came over?"

"Yes. You can never watch a movie too many times. It's just like what Holt says- you can never listen to a good song too many times. That's how you know it's a good song."

"Or movie."

"Right, or movie." Frankie paused the DVD player and then turned to me. "So... Are you and Billy a thing yet?"

"What?" I laughed, taken off guard.

"You and Billy. You're together, right?" Now, this could surprise you because Frankie is usually one to try to soak up every little detail she can, like an info-hungry sponge or vacuum, but Frankie doesn't usually like to dig into people's personal lives. Not unless she has a reeeeeaaaalll good reason to. I think her reason today was that she needed a distraction.

"Well, no. We're not. Billy has a girlfriend. You remember, right? Scarah?" I said. It was the honest truth, even if I didn't like to hear it repeated.

"Oh. I didn't think they were still dating. I never see them together. Sarah is usually hanging out with Operetta," Frankie exclaimed, her fragile voice not much more than a whisper.

"Actually, he told me they'd been fighting a lot recently," I admitted, hugging one of the couch pillows to my chest.

"Yikes. Well, seems like you've got a pretty good chance then. I ship it- Twilly!" Frankie nodded, satisfied with her accomplishment.

"Frankie... I wouldn't get your hopes up. I'm pretty sure he doesn't see me as anything more than a friend." I shook my head slightly, the words hurting just a little. I definitely had a crush on him... But a crush is all it'll ever be. He just doesn't think of me that way. If he did, wouldn't things be different already?

"Let's ask him." Frankie reached for her phone and began scrolling through her contacts.

"What?"

She found his number, pressed call, and put the phone to her ear.

"Frankie, what are you doing?!"

I could hear the ringing, and she was still waiting for him to pick up.

I lunged for the phone, but missed. I tried again, and Frankie ducked out of the way. Then she stood on her tippy toes and held the phone in her outstretched hand, and she knew I was too short to reach it. I tried jumping for it a few times before Billy picked up.

"Hello?" His familiar voice called out.

I went immediately silent, disappearing into the shadow of the coffee table in Frankie's den. If he knew I was in on this, he'd know I had a crush on him in seconds. I try so hard to hide it around him, but my heart skips beats now and then and I smile uncontrollably. It's good to be able to hide in shadows when the crush symptoms are obvious.

"Hi?" Frankie said into the phone, sounding like more of a shocked question than a greeting.

"Frankie? Is everything okay?" He asked. He'd only been gone about 20 minutes from when he'd dropped us off here.

"Do you like Twyla?"

"What?"

"Twyla, do you like Twyla?"

"Sure, Twyla's my friend."

"No, do you like like Twyla?"

"Frankie-"

"So that means yes, doesn't it."

"N-"

"You're not denying it."

"W-"

"I ship it."

"Wha-"

"TWILLY!" Frankie shouted, hanging up the phone. She laid it on the table next to her hot cocoa mug. "You can come out now, Twyla."

I reappeared from the shadow, taking a seat on the couch and giving Frankie a very, very unimpressed look. It's so hard to stay mad at Frankie. She's just a happy burst of electric energy most of the time. Especially after what happened today... I reevaluated what had just happened, and suddenly I wasn't mad anymore.

"What? He likes you! I just solved all your problems," Frankie smiled, satisfied with herself.

Frankie's iCoffin bursted with the ringtone "Hearbreak Ghoul" by 5 Scares of Summer, her favorite song, and she answered it.

"What do you want, Billy?" Frankie said in a tone that made me want to keel over in laughter. She sounded so mock-annoyed suddenly, like she had already totally forgotten she's just called to ask him a question and didn't even let him get a word in.

"Is Twyla still with you?" He asked.

Frankie looked at me like she was asking me what to say. Say no, I mouthed.

"Okay. Twyla's not here," Frankie's so freaky oblivious, but that's what makes her so likable.

And somehow he bought it. "Okay... Well, don't tell her but... I really do like Twyla. I can't ask her out right now though. Scarah and I haven't broken up yet, and I don't think Twyla likes me that way anyway. I don't want to scare her."

My heart did a few flip-flop somersaults and then buzzed like I'd had too much soda or sugar.

"I'm pretty sure Twyla does, she's just really shy- you already know that. She's extra careful about what she shows most of the time, that's all," Frankie replied, giving me a bit of confidence suddenly. She's a great friend. It's beautiful that she'd help me with something like this when she's got so much on her mind.

"Oh, okay..." Billy answered.

"I gotta go, Twyla's back. I sent her to get mini marshmallows at the store down the street. Bye!" Frankie chirped, lying. She hung up and turned to me, grabbing my hands and yelling a piecing "EEEEEEEEEE!" And I joined it.

There you have it, folks. Twilly is born.