While You Were Sleeping [Frank Iero]

Tell Me All Your Thoughts On God, Cause I'd Really Like To Meet Him

"I-I don't think you would understand." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Try me." I crossed my arms.

"I really don't think I should say." He looked down at his feet.

"Come here." I grabbed his arm and dragged him into my room, pulling him down on the bed to sit with me. "Now, tell me what's going on, why you're here and what you want."

"I was in the neighborhood and I decided to stop by. The door was open and I let myself in, that's all."

"I know you're lying, Frank." I crossed my arms before hugging a pillow, resting my chin on it.

"Why are you being so nice to me? I'm some random guy that you only met today."

He was right. Why the hell did I care so much? It was unexplainable the amount of time I spent thinking about him, like there was something about him that made me worry about his safety, as if something was wrong with his situation.

"I... I don't know... But what I do want to know is why you're here. Did you follow me?"

He shifted awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with me. "I'm here because I need your help with something. And you're the only person that sees me..."

"Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean by 'you're the only one that sees me?'"

Just as Frank opened his mouth to speak, my bedroom door opened reveal my mother, in her scrubs and hospital gear.

"Who are you talking to, honey?" She smiled, slightly confused as she looked around my room.

"Uh..." I looked at Frank, who stayed silent and who my mom didn't see."Frank. On the phone. He just hung up, though. What are you doing home exactly?"

"Oh, I was just dropping off some groceries before going to another hospital."

"Oh. Okay."

"Who's Frank? You've never mentioned him before. Are you two dating?" She said as I heard Frank snicker next to me.

"No! God, mom, just cause I talk to a guy doesn't mean I'm dating him. Sheesh." I felt my face heat up and Frank laugh even harder.

She put her hands up in a defeated position. "Okay, okay. Sorry I asked." She glanced at her watch. "Well, I have to go, but I'll try to call you later. Love you." She said, walking out of the room, closing the door behind her.

"Love you too!" I yelled as I heard her footsteps grow quiet.

Frank was still laughing, arms across his stomach. "The... the look on your face!"

"Shut up!" I pulled out my pillow and tried to hit him with it.

And when I said that I tried, I mean that every time I hit him, the pillow went through his body.

"Explain this! Explain why this same pillow goes through you like you were a ghost!" I exclaimed, growing tired of the failed attempts to hit him.

"It's because I am one! Well, sort of. My body's still alive, but my soul or spirit or whatever it is called, left it. And I can't get back..." He trailed off at the end, a frown on his face.

"No... No, you're not. Ghosts aren't real, they're just a figment of people's imaginations, just a way that people justify unknown situations."

"I didn't say I was a ghost, I just said I was like one. I don't know what I am, I just know that my body is alive and my family is dead."

"What do you mean your body is alive and your family is dead?"

He sighed. "Have you read or seen If I Stay?" I nodded slowly. "It's like that. My body is alive, but my soul or whatever left it too soon. That's what the guy at the hospital told me."

"What about your family? Where are they?" I asked softly, my voice cracking a bit.

"They," he sniffed, tears forming in his eyes. "They died. In a car accident we were in. My mom, dad, my brother and my sister. They all died, all except for me. I don't understand why though. I mean, if anyone should've died, it was me. It's my fault they're all dead. I was the one driving the car."

"Frank..." I placed my hand in his arm. "It's not your fault. Maybe it was just their time, maybe God had a plan for them." I didn't believe a word that came out of my mouth as I said them. It was just a hollow lie a woman told me when my father died in a drowning accident.

"No, it wasn't God. He doesn't care about me, at least, I don't think he does. If God really was there, then where the hell was he when everything was falling apart and all of that day was spent, watching as my body was hooked up to a machine that put life into my lonely existence?" He cried, placing his head in my lap as he sobbed, mourning the death of lives not fully lead.

I ran my fingers through his hair as I shushed him. "Frank, whatever it was you came for, I'll help you with, no matter what. I promise."

I had only met this boy today, and I'm already comforting him and helping him when I know nothing about him and still being unsure about his situation while one question rang in my head.

What happened to him?