Strangers In A Dangerous World (Frikey)

Chapter Nine: Mending Unsmall Problems

I searched for Bob and Ra outside of the school. I still had Ray's charger and my phone. I'd have to charge it during school today. I found Ray and Bob sitting down on a bench outside and they were talking happily about something that didn't involve me. I waited patiently for them to stop talking before I added in my own thoughts, "I'm sorry that I haven't been the best of friend lately. Everything had been changing around me and I want you guys to know that I'm not going back to my house." I paused before I realized why they hadn't even tried to make an attempt at talking to me, "I know that you guys are mad, but if you knew half of the story than you'd understand. Well, anyways. I'm going to go to class. I guess I'll never see you guys again. Goodbye."

I stood up from the bench and just left them sitting there in silence. I entered the school doors and felt the first wave of sadness. They never cared about me. I kept telling myself all of these negative things before I felt someone tug at my arm and spin me around. I swung my fist, but one of the guys caught it seconds before it hit their face. I looked closely and realized that Ray and Bob were standing right there and they looked upset. I let out a frustrated sigh and they both looked down guiltily.

Ray was always the first one to speak. It had been that way since we were children, "How the fuck do you want us to react Frank? You stopped talking to us completely, you never answer the phone, you don't even live at your own house, and no one knows where to find you." Ray ran a shaky hand through his hair, "Then, you decided to actually come to school and expect us to drop everything and talk to you. You've been the world's shittest friend and you tell us exactly nothing. There's a fucking rumor going around saying that your back has scars that disappear into your pants line and that you are abused at home. Bob and I have been in the dark this whole time and you're not doing anything to include us."

"If you're being beat up then you need to tell us. You've been distant and a jerk. Oh, and we went to your house yesterday and your mom told us that she didn't care where you were. We just want answers, Frank. I'm as tired as Ray is and I wasn't even there to see you run out of his house a couple of days ago." Bob finished Ray's speech and I felt like a total asshole.

"I'm sorry." I looked down at my feet and bit my lip, "Times have been really hard and things haven't been right. I've been a horrible friend. I know I have. I just don't know how to explain this to you guys. I don't know how to tell you so you will understand why I never told. I can't explain something this horrible in short sentences. Words sometimes cannot express how I feel."

Ray and Bob seemed to be understanding while being confused. Ray was the confusion while something in Bob's mind clicked. Bob grabbed Ray's hand and then he grabbed mine. He pulled us into the men's bathroom and locked the door after checking the stalls for feet. We stood there awkwardly before Bob raised an eyebrow and tapped his foot impatiently. Ray was looking back and forth between us in confusion and ran a hand through his afro. I looked down at the ground and wished that I had stayed at Mikey's today. I took a deep breath causing Ray and Bob's movements to cease in anticipation.

"What if those rumors are real? What if my life was something so horrible that you two will hate me for not telling you sooner?" Ray's eyes widened while Bob just looked down at his balled up hands. I could tell that Bob already knew and Ray was finally getting where I was going with this. I knew that they would be angry, but I had to tell them. If I expected them to tell the truth then I needed to tell the truth as well. We were silent except for my scared breathing that seemed to echo throughout the bathroom. I slowly took my hoodie off and showed them my arms and wrists. They gasped and Ray looked like he was about to scold me, but I held him off.

"I didn't do this to myself. Someone else did this to me. I've been abused by my mother's boyfriends since I was six years old." I held my breath for the longest time afterwards. I even closed my eyes and just listened to the two guys' silence. Suddenly, I felt someone wrap their arms around me before another pair wrapped around that pair. I opened my eyes to see Ray and Bob hugging me. Ray was crying and Bob was trying to hold himself together. Finally, we sat down on the bathroom floor and I felt their support. I didn't tell them what the boyfriends' had done, but the marks were all over my body. I didn't show them anything more than my wrists, but I could tell that they were curious to know more. I explained to them about my current situation and how I was staying at Mikey's. It was then that they got kind of angry, Bob, and hurt, Ray. They hated the fact that I had told a complete stranger before I had told them, but there was nothing that could be done to stop that. I explained to them about my feelings for Mikey and they just nodded and accepted that as a fact. I hadn't told them that I was gay until now and they just wordlessly accepted it. It wasn't until that moment that I genuinely trusted them and realized how badly I had treated them.