The Cloak Guard

12 Hours Earlier, Part 3

"Jeez, what took you so long?" Angie Carson said as Franklin approached. "I'm pretty sure that snail over there managed to cross the parking lot on your way here. Twice."

"Well, that's two more times than you've done a full cartwheel, so hat's off to the snail."

"Tell you what, I'll do a full cartwheel...when you manage to do a handstand."

"Oh, you did a handstand? A handcrouch maybe. A handsquat, if I'm being generous."

"Wow," Travis said, his head swiveling between them. "You know, whenever I read about arguments being compared to ping-pong matches, I didn't get it until I met you two."

Angie stared at him for a full five seconds before turning to Franklin. "Who's this guy?"

"This is my new friend, Travis. Travis, this is my little sister Angie. Emphasis on the little."

"Oh shut up," Angie glared. "We can't all inherit dad's hei..." she suddenly stopped and Franklin felt his heart clench. They both stayed silent, unable to process after 'dad.'

"Uh..." Travis said, looking at them both. "What say we go now? You know, I know a great falafel place right down the street from here. Some of the best food to hit your taste buds, I promise."

"Yeah, yeah," Franklin nodded automatically. He shook his head, driving that word to the back of his mind. "Yeah, that sounds good, thanks."

Ten minutes later, they left Babur's Fabulous Wraps each with a falafel wrap in hand. As he bit into it, Franklin had to admit that it was pretty great. Plus, it helped him focus again and he could tell it was doing the same for his sister.

"So how long you guys been here anyway?" Travis asked.

"Just a few days," Franklin replied.

"Huh. So why'd you move?"

Franklin repressed the wince. "Um...our Uncle, he lives here. Actually, that's where we're going now. He has a Deli and I agreed to work a shift there."

"Oh cool," Travis nodded.

Franklin breathed out. While he liked his new friend, he wasn't ready for that conversation.

"You know, I'm surprised at you Franklin," his sister said. "You said you'd never make another friend after the last ones turned out to be that word you said I was never allowed to say."

Travis gave Franklin a wide-eyed look. "Long story," he said. "They started acting like your brother."

"Ah, apologies."

"Besides, Travis is cool," Franklin told his sister. "He likes the things that I do."

"But you don't like anything other than working out and...oh. You mean comic books, don't you?" When Franklin didn't answer, she smiled widely. "Aw, look at that. You found a nerdbrother."

"Oh please don't call us that."

"Why not? I like it," Travis said. "Nerdbrothers. Has a cool ring to it."

"No it doesn't. It has nothing even close to a cool ring. And why are we nerdbrothers? Why not nerdfriends? We've known each other like five hours max."

"True. Alright, tell you what. When this friendship blossoms into a full-on bromance, we'll change from nerdfriends into true nerdbrothers."

Franklin glowered at him but Travis kept smiling smugly. "You're kind of weird, you know that?"

"Yeah, I'm aware." He leaned in close. "And I own it."

Franklin snorted, unable to help himself. Then, before they knew it, both of them were laughing hard, Travis wheezing a little.