PICS and IT DIDN'T HAPPEN

41. The Crossing

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Frank says, smiling.

His smile confuses me. Didn't he call me a bitch last time? Are we past that now?

Unsure, I smile back. "Just looking at the houses. What are you doing here?"

"You got in FRK?"

"Yeah."

"Wow, congratulations. So you're going to move in here?" he says, grinning.

The cheery mood is killing me. "What are you doing here?" I ask him, reminding him of my unanswered question.

"Chris got into FRK as well. He got a place here last week. Me and a couple other guys helped him relocate today. Which apartment you'll be in?"

"I-uh, I don't know. What about your admission?" I say.

"Got into Herthorn."

That was his first choice. "That's great," I say.

"Yeah, just twenty miles from here," he says smiling.

Hmmm... Something is off. "Well, I gotta get ba-"

"Ellie, I'm sorry," Frank says, making me pause in surprise.

He continues, "I found out what happened."

"What do you mean?"

"About what Raylan did behind Tony's back, and why he kept listening to you. You had those photos," Frank says.

Gossip sure crosses even the schools' boundaries, but then again Lincoln is not that far from Heabrow.

I scratch my head, thinking about how to respond to that. But he has more to say. "I wish you'd told me the truth. But I know I also should've trusted you. Look, Ellie, Bianca was at my place, and a bunch of my other friends were there as well with their girlfriends. I really don't know whose hair tie it was, but it must've been one of theirs. I didn't tell you this that day because I was upset that you'd doubt me when I was the one feeling jealous of your closeness to Raylan and Tony. Now I realize there was nothing for me to worry about. You always told me they bothered you a lot, and you were just getting back at them. And I'm okay with that."

Well... he did get all the facts right, then why does it feel like he got everything wrong as well. "Frank, it's not just that. They are also my friends."

"I'm fine with that," he says with a smile.

"Frank, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying we should start fresh. Give me another chance."

"That's not happening," Raylan's voice says from behind, "I told you stay the fuck away from her."

I turn around to tell Raylan not to start Drama 2.0, but Tony gets to him before me. He grabs Raylan and drags him down the stairs.

After the duo had disappeared, I point at the stairs and say to Frank, "See? Friends. We're all going to stay here together."

Frank bites his lips thinking. "I still trust you," he says.

"Frank, I'm gonna be honest with you, I don't feel that way about you anymore, and..." I look at the stairs where Raylan and Tony had gone down to. I think I like someone else, is what I want to say to Frank when I see Raylan, Tony and Sydney come up.

"Frank, I-"

He looks at them, then nods at me. "You're busy now. I'll catch you later," he says and leaves.

"What did he want?" Raylan says stepping in front of me.

"Nothing we were just saying hi."

"That was a long hi. What's he doing here?"