Death Is Strange

SIXTEEN

Friday morning, Gerard was jolted awake by someone jumping onto his bed. He groaned, rubbing his eyes before squinting at the intruder. Frank was grinning from ear to ear, bouncing up and down like a little kid. "Good morning, beautiful," he said, flopping down beside Gerard.

"Frank, what... why are you in here?"

"We're not going to class today," Frank said. "And, by the way, Danny Whore-snop got suspended. Can you fucking believe it?"

"Wait, school's cancelled because of Danny?"

Frank giggled. "No. I figured out something else I can do. I was bored last night. If I focus really hard on a picture, I can travel back to when it was taken. We're going to do something pretty big, if you're interested." His face grew sober. "How would you like to have your dad back?"

A chill raced through Gerard's veins. "What?" he breathed.

"Do you have a picture from the day he died?"

"I mean, yes, actually... I..." Gerard shuddered. "I took a selfie with him before he left."

"Do you have it?"

"Yeah. It's a Polaroid." Gerard grabbed his wallet off the nightstand, pulling out the faded piece of plastic. "Does this work?"

"Yeah." Frank took a deep breath. "I hope this works." He took the picture from Gerard and fixed his fierce gaze on it.

Frank felt Gerard's eyes on him until suddenly, he was alone. He looked down and almost shrieked. His tattoos were gone. His phone was gone from his pocket. Actually, his pocket was gone, too. He was wearing paint-splattered green shorts.

He was twelve years old again.

"I didn't plan for this part," he grunted, shoving the Polaroid in the pocket of his old Spongebob hoodie.

He looked around. He was on the sidewalk, and could see Gerard's house at the end of the block. The house looked the same as it did when he'd gone as a teenager. Damn, this was going to get confusing real fast.

When he reached the door, he haltingly rang the doorbell. Would Gerard know who he was? Probably not, but..."

Frank caught a glimpse of his reflection in the glass of the storm door. He winced. His hair was short and gelled back, two cowlicks worsening an already shitty look. He flinched when the door opened. A kind-looking man stood there, smiling down at him. "Hello," he said. "Are you selling something, son?"

"No, I... I'm Frank. I have a class with Gerard, at... at school and I thought I'd stop by. He's a cool kid." Well, the last part was true.

Gerard's father nodded. "Thanks for stopping by. Gerard sure needs friends. Come on in, Gee and I were just making some pancakes."

Gerard was standing at the counter, stirring the batter in a red mixing bowl. He looked up at Frank, and for a split second, Frank thought he recognized him. But then his forehead creased with confusion. "Hi," he said.

"Hi," Frank said, waving awkwardly, blinking several times, almost unable to believe that Gerard was this chubby, awkward kid, with a haircut even worse than his own. Not to mention the fact that Frank felt like he was three feet shorter than Gerard. He sighed. "I'm in your... your school. I saw you the other day and then I was going for the walk and saw you lived here. I thought I'd come say hello."

Chubby Gerard looked confused. "Okay," he said. "Do you want a pancake?"

Frank laughed, relieved. "Sure."