Be Careful What You Wish For (Frerard)

7.

A couple minutes later I've gotten Pete out the door and on his way to Patrick's. I helped him fix his hair and Frank was actually really good at calming him down. He seemed really nervous, but Frank was good a reassuring him, even though he didn't even really know him.

"Is this a normal thing for you guys?" Frank asks as soon as Pete is out of ear shot. "Like, getting each other ready for dates and stuff like that? That seemed like second nature for you."

"Well, I help him out a lot, yeah. He's really only ever helped me out once because I never go on dates." I say honestly.

"Oh, well how're you so good at giving advice if you've never been on a date before?" He questions.

"That's what Pete wants to know." I say with a breathy laugh. "He asks me that all the time but I honestly don't have an answer."

"Maybe you were like a match maker in a past life. Or like, the god of dating or something." He says sarcastically.

"Maybe." I say with a smile. "Do you want to watch a movie or something?"

"Sure why not." He smiles. "May I request a horror movie?"

"You may." I respond. "If you'd like me to I could go and make some popcorn, or go buy some boxes of candy from the cafeteria."

"Popcorn is fine."

"Alright" I say, grabbing the bag. "I'll make this while you choose the movie."

He only smiles in response.

I grab the popcorn bag and my room key and head out the door. As soon as I step out of my door into the hallway I lean my head against the door and listen. There was a part of me that still believed Frank was working for someone. I was still convinced that he was maybe hired by someone to come into my life and mess it all up. So, I waited. I thought for sure that the second I left the room he would like, call someone to report back to them about his progress like all the movies. But instead, I heard silence. The silence was more frustrating because that was another theory proven wrong. I'm honestly running out of ideas at this point.

I sigh as I walk down the hallway towards the kitchen. Luckily the only person in there was a guy making Ramen with headphones in, so the microwave was easily accessible. I throw the popcorn in, press the button, and pull out my phone while I wait. I put my headphones in an scroll through a couple songs before I settle on something. As I'm standing there I think of something. While I was writing the story that involved Frank, I remember researching thing about weird mental health conditions. Something I came across was a Folie à deux. Shared madness between two people who are extremely close to each other. Pete and I are the only one's who have seen Frank. Maybe he doesn't exist. But can people who are experiencing a Folie à deux be self aware? Like, people who are for real experiencing this, do they know they are? How could I tell?

My thoughts were interrupted when the microwave beeped, making me remember where I was. I look around to see if anyone saw me intensely staring at the microwave. When I look around all I see is the guy making Ramen over the stove facing away from me. Typical college guy I guess.

I grab the popcorn out of the microwave and the sound of the door opening makes the guy turn around in alarm. He puts his hand over his heart, however, when he see's me.

"You scared the hell out of me dude, I didn't know there was someone else in here. I was listening to music and it stopped and the noise scared me." He says with a nervous laugh.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I was just spacing out a little" I say, laughing slightly.

"Oh no, you're good. It just caught me off guard is all." He says. "I'm Bert."

"Gerard" I say.

He turns back around to his Ramen and continues cooking it as I grab the popcorn.

I walk down the halls and something about them feels...off. I kept feeling like I was being watched. When I make it back to my dorm room I'm quick to unlock my door and basically run inside. Similar to a little kid running up their basement stairs after they turned off the lights.

I take a deep breath and realize Frank was staring at me with a confused look on his face.

"Are you...okay there?" He asks, probably noticing the look of terror on my face.

"No yeah, I'm good. I just, felt like I was being watched so I got a little spooked is all." I tell him, breathing heavily.

"The ghosts were gonna getcha?" He asks sarcastically.

"Something like that." I mutter.

"Well I chose a movie, I don't know if you've seen Sinister before but it's one of my favorites, I figured why not." He says, taking the popcorn from my hands.

This is the first time something he had said surprised me. I never really talked about movies in the book I wrote, so this was something about him that I hadn't decided. He was showing elements of his own character. I smile.

"I haven't seen it, actually. But I trust your judgement, I'm sure it's great."

"Yeah, it's pretty rad. It's kinda fucked up though, in a lot of ways." He says.

I lay down on the bed next to him, adjusting the laptop so that we can both see it.

"this popcorn is good." He says, shoving a bunch of it into his face making me laugh.

"I'm glad you think so. I scared this random dude in the kitchen for it though, he flipped his shit when he saw me. He said he thought he was alone."

"I wish I would've been there, that would've been funny."

"Yeah, his name is Bert apparently. I've never seen him before."

Frank seemed to freeze at that. It caught me off guard.

"Are you okay?" I ask sympathetically.

He smiles, but it's definitely forced. "Let's just watch the movie."