Francine & Earl

Dress

(A/N Sorry for being m.i.a for a while, but hopefully this really long update sort of makes up for it. I would love to get feedback on the chapter, and thank you all for reading!)

She walked down the hall, hands gripping her textbooks and folders. No one was staring at her, which was surprising. They usually had nothing but time to ogle at the circus act they considered Francine Waters.

Yet, as she got to her locker, there was nothing. No jibes about her appearance, no complaints about her quitting the school's football team, a sport that was considered a religion in the small town of Dempsey. She was able to open it, grab her stuff, and almost be on her way. 

She was aiming to leave when she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning her around. 

Francine looked up to meet the eyes of Jordan Crestview, the quarterback of the team. He was looking down at her with a wide smile, and she furrowed her brow. She was taller than Jordan. How was he looking down at her?

He began talking to her, but his words only confused her more. He was asking her out, flirting with her. As if she was pretty enough, as if she was good enough. He was looking at her as if she was the best thing to ever blow through Dempsey High, and she couldn't figure out if that was a good thing.

Jordan reached a hand out to touch her hair, the long blonde strand wrapped around his finger. Her hair wasn't this long. It was never this long. This had to be a dream.

Francine woke up to realize it was.

She hopped out of bed and rushed to her mirror, having to see her face. She knew that it was just a dream, but the idea that maybe something had changed was filling her brain. Her feet led her to the bathroom and she finally was face to face with the reflective surface.

It was safe to say that she was disappointed.

"Babe, what are you doing?" she heard, and turned to see a groggy Jonathon sit up from the floor while rubbing his eyes.

They had one of their usual sleepovers after the movie, a sleepover that he spent trying to pry information from her. She didn't say where she disappeared to when she went to the restroom, mostly because she was worried that he would disapprove. If he knew that Earl was the one to put a scar on her face, there would be more to worry about than people thinking of her as the opposite gender.

Just thought that, I don't know, I got more attractive over night. You know, the usual delusional stuff.

"Nothing."

It was silent for a moment while she rustled in her cabinet for her toothbrush. After putting the toothpaste on she started to brush her teeth, absentmindedly closing the mirrored door of the cabinet back.

She almost choked when she saw Jonathon in the reflection, grinning at her.

Spitting out the paste, she rinsed out her mouth while trying to think of reasons on why not to strangle her best friend with her shower curtain. Out of respect for the curtain, she decided not to. She angrily placed her toothbrush back, prepared to yell at him for scaring her so early in the morning. He could wait until she had her breakfast like a normal person before giving her a heart attack.

Well, at least she was planning on yelling at him until he trapped her against the sink.

His chest pressed into her back as he moved closer, arms on either side of her hips, hands gripping the sink. His head was nuzzled in the crook of her neck and she could see his eyes close in the mirror as if he was content where he was.

This is just Johnny playing his games, as usual.

She tried to convince herself of this, but the speeding up of her pulse was not the reaction she was hoping for. Instead of dwelling on that, she passed it off to her not really liking human interaction and shifted on the cold tile beneath her bare feet.