Frank sees Ray in the hallways at school, his nose swollen and the skin around it red. Frank makes a scared squeaking sound and ducks into a nearby restroom.
“Hey, pervert, the sign reads girls’ room,” a female voice barks.
Frank blushes when he turns around and sees a girl in the bathroom, standing in front of one of the mirrors and carefully applying mascara. The girl is almost smaller than him, and she has the same dark locks. She has big eyes that remind Frank of a puppy. Frank thinks she’s pretty damn cute.
“S-sorry, I-I was just,” Frank stutters.
“S-s-s- I-I-I-,” the girl mimics, pushing past Frank. Frank grabs the girl’s arm, and she whips around and kicks him in the crotch.
Frank collapses to the ground, tears blurring his vision.
“Ow!” he squeaks.
“That’s what you get, rapist!” the girl scoffs. She chews her bottom lip. “You are kind of cute though.”
“What?” Frank asks hoarsely. “I’m not a rapist!” He clutches his dick and pushes his face against the cold floor, whimpering in pain.
“Then why’d you grab me, sicko?” the girl demands.
“Oh my God, I was just going to tell you that eyeliner would really pull your eyes together!” Frank whines.
The girl blushes herself. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” she grabs under Frank’s armpits and helps him to his feet. She gives him a hug and then begins to root through her purse. She finally shows him a stick of eyeliner.
“Great,” Frank says breathlessly. He begins to limp out of the bathroom.
“I don’t really know how to use it,” the girl informs.
Frank stops and turns, grabbing the makeup from her hand. He looks her dead in the eye and instructs,
“Look up.”
She does as she’s told, and Frank easily runs the eyeliner under her eye. He does it carefully so as not to jab her. The only reason he could do it himself is because his old friend Pete used to always wear the stuff. Frank finishes and breathes out, satisfied with his work.
“Done.”
The girl blinks and takes it back, slipping it back into her purse. “Thanks.” She’s quiet for a moment, and then she holds out her hands and smiles. “I’m Lindsey.”
Frank shakes it. “Frank.”
The girl twirls her hair between two fingers and then pulls the eyeliner back out. She turns Frank around and lifts up the tail of his shirt.
“What are you doing?!” Frank squeals. He struggles to pull his shirt down, he knows that his camouflage boxer briefs briefs are visible to her, and being a bullying victim, he half expects her to grab his underwear and try to yank it over his head.
But she merely writes down her number on his back, dotting the i in Lindsey with a heart and also making an arrangement of x’s and o’s.
“Call me,” Lindsey orders, and her fingertips brush against Frank’s ass as she pulls his shirt down. He reddens and wonders if it was an accident.
Frank lifts up the back of his shirt and twirls around, trying, but failing, to make out what her message says. Frank points at his back. “How the fuck am I supposed to read this?”
Lindsey pats him on the shoulder. “That’s the fun part.” She then kisses Frank on the cheek and waltzes out.
“I met a cool girl today,” Frank shares. He sticks his tongue out in concentration. No way is Gerard beating him in Mortal Combat again. “Her name’s Lindsey.”
Gerard’s eyes widen in disbelief. “But you’re Frank. You don’t meet people.”
“That’s what I thought,” Frank laughs. He finally kills Gerard’s character.
There was a long silence. The two watch the winning clip flash across the screen.
“Is she pretty?” Gerard whispers.
Frank looks over, and Gerard immediately looks down, pretending to pick at his fingernails. He doesn’t want Frank to know how jealous he is, or how much he’s praying that Frank doesn’t like her.
“Yeah she is, Gerard,” Frank replies. He turns his attention back to the screen.
Frank calls Lindsey that night. The line rings… and rings… and rings. She’s not there. Frank hangs up and tries Jamia instead. She picks up, and they go from having a light conversation about school to talking about bands and movies. It turns out they have a lot in common.
Frank paces around in his room nervously. “Jamia?”
“Yeah, Frank?”
“D-d-do you want to go out with me?” Frank sputters.
Frank can sense Jamia’s smile by her tone. “Yes! Yes! You know… there’s a gig tomorrow. A band called Bony Shoulder is playing, and they’re supposed to be really good.”
“Actually I’m going with Gerard,” Frank responds.
“Well I’ll join you guys!” Jamia suggests.
Frank nods, honestly not seeing the problem with that. “Okay, sounds great! See you tomorrow, bye.”
“Bye!”
Frank hangs up and for the first time in a long time, is able to go straight to sleep.