Hidden Feelings and Hesitations

[20] Haylie

In the past month with Frankie, I'd learned so many things about her that I never thought I'd get to. Her favorite color was a rosy pink because it reminded her of spring, which was her favorite season. She wanted to be a sports journalist and minor in Spanish. I knew all of the reasons she loved English and learning different languages. And I'd finally learned her favorite book and movie: The House on Mango Street and Now You See Me. It had been the best month of my life.

My parents had grown used to her being around, touching me, kissing me, whisking me away for hours at a time. Gavin thought she was the coolest person in the world because she promised that he could come with us one of the times that we did something fun. Maya had moved from completely ignoring me to only answering me with one or two words, though she was never around when Frankie was. My girlfriend maintained the belief that she just needed time and that waiting would be hard, but it would be worth it.

I'd also spent a decent amount of time getting to know Frankie's family. Being at her house was strange at first because I'd been so used to hanging out with Jules, but we'd figured out how to differentiate between the two. Still, there were times when it felt like I was the child of divorced parents, but I didn't really mind since I was able to spend time with my girlfriend and my friend without it overlapping too much. Kyle and Cindy—which they insisted I continue to call them, as opposed to Mr. and Mrs. McCann—seemed to love the fact that I was dating their daughter, as did Reed. She'd managed to get on her oldest sister's nerves several times by interrupting us at every conceivable moment. Frankie had finally taken to locking her door, but that only seemed to make matters worse because of the constant assumptions that flew from both Reed and Jules. Admittedly, there were plenty of times where they wouldn't have been wrong, had we not been interfered with.

Quinn was ecstatic about the entire thing from the second I told her we'd gotten together. Of course, her version of ecstasy included saying I told you so. I didn't care, though. She could say whatever she wanted and I would've sworn I was in heaven. Unfortunately, she hadn't had the same luck with her relationship. Her and Levi hadn't lasted past the beginning of April, which kind of sucked, but she didn't seem to let it faze her much. She wasn't really one for long relationships, anyway.

I'd been thinking about all of that, about how lucky I was one Sunday afternoon as I was getting ready to paint my toenails. I'd just managed to pick the color—a pale blue—when I heard someone's voice calling out a hey. I looked up from my nail polish bottle to find Frankie coming into my room. A smile lit up my face instantly as she came over to my bed and put a knee on the mattress, leaning down to kiss me.

"What are you doing here?" I giddily asked. She shifted her legs under her and sat next to me, her expression just as happy as mine.

"Your mom let me in. You said you weren't really doing anything and I wanted to surprise you. Are you painting your nails?" Her head moved back and forth as she tried to look at my hands. I turned my palms to face my bed so it was easier for her to see them.

"Not my fingers, my toes."

"Oh. Well, can I do it?"

"You really want to?"

She nodded and held out her hand for the small bottle. I gave it to her and laid back, propping a pillow beneath my head. She quickly shook it up and unscrewed the cap before she took my foot in one hand and rested the other on the top of it.

"I've never done this before," she confessed, dragging the little brush across my first nail. Her voice had drifted off as her concentration kicked in.

"Really? I would've thought the girls would've forced you into that when they were in their makeup phase," I teased, remembering that she'd told me how they used to give her makeovers when they spent the night at her house.