Rejects

Chapter Twenty One - Anytime You Want

Frank locks the door behind us when we enter his house.  "Stay right here," he commands, "I'll be right back."  He leaves the room before anything else can be said.

I look around, I've never actually been to Frank's house before.  He always comes to mine.  It's a nice looking house, most of the lower floor is open so that the kitchen, dining room, and living room are all connected.  The walls are off white and the floors are wood except in the kitchen, where they're tile.  The living room has a couch and a lamp and a tv and a coffee table, but it all looks really well kept. 

Honestly, this isn't what I expected Frank's house to look like.  This just doesn't look like a place Frank's clumsy ass would ever be able to set foot in.  It's too nice.

I see some pictures lined up along the fireplace mantle and walk over to them, curious about what Frank looked like when he was younger.  There are five pictures in total, most with Frank and a woman I'm assuming is his mom.  A few of them have a dog in addition to Frank and his mom, but there's also one with just Frank, surrounded by two puppies. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a frame faced down.  Curious, I pick it up.  The glass is cracked and it's so dusty you can barely see the picture, which is a little torn behind the frame.  I use my sleeve to wipe off the dust.  Frank and his mom are in the picture again, but there's also a man.  He has grayish hair and a small beard and looks not much taller than Frank now. I think the man is Frank's dad. It's funny, I don't think Frank has ever mentioned his dad before. I wonder what happened to him.

"Sometimes I miss him, but I don't think he misses me. I try not to think about it too much," Frank's voice causes me to drop the frame. It falls forward but thankfully doesn't fall off the mantle. I decide not to touch it again and turn around to face Frank. His backpack is hung over his shoulder, but it looks almost empty.  He's holding his guitar case by his side.  

"Was that your dad? In the picture?" I ask quietly. Frank opens the refrigerator and without turning to face me replies, "yeah, it was. I used to beg my mom to take that picture down. She always refused though."

"Where is your mom, by the way? It's pretty late, she should be home from work by now or whatever." I get the feeling Frank doesn't wanna talk about this, but I'm curious. I'll stop soon.

"Visiting family in Florida.  She's supposed to come home in a few days."

After stuffing some things into his backpack he closes the fridge and grabs various snacks from the pantry, throwing those into his backpack as well.  I stare down at the floor and frown, thinking.

"Frank," I say quietly, looking up, "you can't come with me.  You can't run away with me."

Frank freezes and looks over at me.  "I'm coming with, whether you want me to or not."

I shake my head, "no, you need to stay here.  I'd be selfish to bring you with me.  Your mom needs you, she'd be heartbroken if you went missing."

"I'd still call her, and after awhile I'll come visit-"

"I'm not coming back, ever.  Once we're out of here, we're out.  No turning back.  And what about Mikey?  We're his only friends, he knows why I have to leave but if you go too..."

"Gee-"

"And my parents!  They're losing their son.  You can help them through that.  There are too many people that need your help Frank, too many people I'm hurting, and I won't let you get hurt because of me, and-"

"Gee!" Frank yells and I finally go quiet.  "I'm going with you.  We can call, let our families know we're okay, even if we don't come back.  And who knows, we'll probably run into them later on in life even if it's not here."

I sigh.  I know he's right, even though I don't want him to be.  I don't want Frank to run away with me and waste any chance he has at a good life.  But at the same time, I know I need him to come with me if I want to last longer than a day.

"We can't take too much food or it'll spoil," Frank says, "But I got some money so we can buy food along the way.  I think I've got everything worth bringing now, ready to go?"

I look down.  I'll never be ready, I don't want to do this.  I don't want to leave.  But I know I have no choice, so I nod silently.  Frank walks over to me and hugs me tightly.  I quickly hug back, squeezing my eyes shut so that I don't cry again. 

"Come on," Frank whispers, "Let's go."

We walk out of his house together, and Frank locks the door behind us and slips the key into the mailbox.  

We walk down the dark, abandoned road, hand in hand, trying to act ready to face the world.  Frank has been the one convincing me of everything, but when I look over at him I know he's just as scared as I am.  I feel bad again, he really is throwing away everything for me.  

We walk together until we reach the nearest bus stop, and sit on a bench and wait.  I lean my head against Frank's shoulder, shutting my eyes and taking his hand in mine.  Frank rubs his thumb against my index finger.  

When the bus finally arrives, we board and Frank pays $10 for both of us.  After paying, we find two seats next to each other and sit down.  Only three other people are on the bus, which makes sense considering the time.

I look over at Frank and whisper, "where are we going?"

"I don't know," He whispers back, "it doesn't really matter I guess, as long as it's out of this town.  We can get off at the next town over and figure everything out from there."

I nod and snuggle up to him, tired.  I hope he doesn't mind if I take a quick nap.

I feel Frank's hand run through my hair, soothing me.  I suppress a yawn and soon I'm drifting off, momentarily forgetting all my struggles.