Snapshots

A week passed, and it was Friday night, Frank feeling relieved for the weekend after a long school week of homework and catching up. Between now and when he fell off his bike the other day, he had yet to see that rose kid...Gee or whatever his name was.

Frank was out with his friends, having no newspaper photos to take, so the weekend was all his. Mikey had invited him to a movie with him and Ray, and of course, Frank agreed. It's been a while since he's seen a movie at an actual theater compared to him usually pirating movies off of his laptop, so this would be a good change.

They met up at a shop in town at dusk, all conversing together and trying to figure out what movie to watch. They decided finally, after twenty minutes of arguing, to go with a movie titled “Vamp Money.” A good horror, the reviews say, and Frank was all into it already by seeing the previews on commercials the other day. Ray was iffy, but agreed after coaxing him with a few free snacks.

They rode their bikes to the theater, which wasn't too far, but their legs were still sore by the time they reached it, eager to get in their seats and relax.

Ray and Frank put their money together and split the cost of the tickets if Mikey agreed to buy snacks, which he did, not expecting the cost of popcorn, sodas, and Skittles to be over ten dollars. Snickering, they found their way to the theater, finding seats in the middle in the surprisingly almost-empty house. There was a young couple and a few lone people scattered about. Ten total, if even that. That sat in height order, Frank, Mikey, Ray.

Commercials, not previews yet, played, and the group of teens mocked them for a short while due to the fact that their movie didn't start for another fifteen minutes.

“So it's a vampire movie?” Ray whispered over with a giggle, reading his ticket.

“No no, it's not just a vampire movie! It's about modern business men vampires...” Mikey would correct, explaining what he had heard of it. Frank sat by, nodding, listening, as he slurped down half of his coke. Then, after a short talk from Mikey, they decided to play on their phones until the movie started.

Frank hadn't been paying too much attention, and sucked down almost all his coke. He frowned, shaking around the small pieces of ice inside before sitting up.

“Hey- It's five minutes before the movie starts!” Ray called out to him.

Frank shook his empty cup at him once, “Be right back.” He said before easing his way out from the seats and down the ramp to the door. The other two boys sighed, and relaxed as the lights began to dim and the previews began playing.

Frank dragged his feet across the theatre's carpet, looking at the posters of newer movies coming out soon as he made his way to the dimly-lit concession stand. He got in one of the three short lines, thinking he should grab something else to snack on before the movie.

He hummed, getting out his wallet as he checked over the options again. Refill on his coke and some nachos sounded good. After a few minutes, he got to the front of the line, and he ordered, waiting another minute to get his food.

He thanked the cashier, paying five dollars, and turning back around with his food, only to come face to face with Gee.

“Oh!” He chimed, “It's you, Frank!”

It wasn't enough time, Frank had ran straight into him, knocking his nachos not only onto the guy's shirt, but also onto the floor. Frank let out a groan as he bent over to pick up the mess, scooting out of the way for other people while Gee stared him down.

“I'm so sorry--” Frank apologized, stopping short when he forgot his name.

The boy chuckled, wiping the cheese off of his Misfits shirt with a napkin he grabbed. “It's okay.”

Frank rolled his eyes, this guy was too cheerful. He thought of playing it off as apologizing to his nachos and not him, but figured that would be too rude, and Frank just wasn't a super mean guy.

Once all the mess was cleaned, theater staff trudged their way into the scene to seal the deal and finish the rest with some cleaners.

Frank sighed, looking down at his half-empty nachos, thinking he should've probably saved some from the floor. Five minute rule after all...or five second.

Goddamnit, what did it matter? There were good nachos gone to waste on the floor! Frank let out another loud groan, looking back at the pale kid who stood there stiffly looking at him.
“You want em?” Frank asked, “Your shirt ate most of them already. I hope that doesn't stain. S'good shirt.” He chewed the inside of his cheek.

Gee shook his head, “No no! It's alright!” He dug into the pockets of his jeans, pulling out a twenty and handing it over to him. “I'm sorry about your nachos. Here.”

Frank took it, looking up at him again in disbelief. “Dude. Twenty? Shouldn't I be paying you-?”

“It's just money Frank.” Gee giggled, “It was my fault I was in your way anyway.”

It was so hard to see his face. The theater must've made some budget cuts and turned off most of the lights, but Frank could still make out his pearly whites.

“Uhh...” Frank thought about the money, shoving it into his pocket before any last minute decisions. Cash was good anyway.

“If you feel so bad about it, you can always owe me something.” The boy winked, throwing himself into a fit of giggles.

“Owe you what?” Frank asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Maybe you can take my picture some time!” Gee responded, sounding hopeful. “Or would you need more money to do that? A photoshoot...”

“Uh-- no no! This is fine! Twenty is fine! I can do it.” He felt guilty still for ruining his shirt. This was the least he could do in return.

“Great! When are you free?” Gee asked, grabbing a napkin and a pen from his pocket.

Uh...when are you?” Oh god, this sounded like an awkward date-making-plan in progress.

“Any morning or any night. My schedule is kinda backwards.” He halfway smiled, shrugging.

“Tomorrow night then?” Frank asked, sounding a bit too hopeful for his liking. Gee only nodded eagerly.

“Sounds good!” He chirped, “I guess I'll see you then...” He turned on his heel and was out the door, disappearing from sight into the dark.

Odd, Frank thought, wondering why the hell the kid didn't stay for whatever reason? Maybe he worked there and his shift ended? Or maybe his movie did? Whatever the case, it wasn't his problem.

Frank rubbed the back of his neck, sighing as he ordered some new nachos before returning back to his theater. He found his seat with his friends after some struggle, and plopped back down.

“Dude! What took you so long?” Ray whispered. It was a slow scene about five minutes into the movie.

“Bumped into this weird kid again.” He whispered back, shrugging his shoulders slightly. “He gave me twenty for spilling my nachos on him. Can't complain.”

“Dude! Nice! Fuck those weird nerd kids!” He held up his hand for a high five, frowning when he realized Frank didn't return the gesture.

“We are the nerd kids.” Mikey snorted from in between them. “Just shut up and watch the movie.”

And so they did, all relaxing again to enjoy the shitty horror flick. In the end, the only one who thought it was worth it was Frank, riding his bike home after the other two left. Unlucky for him, it began to rain down hard on the ride back. But he rode the slick roads anyway, trying his best to see through the rain and get home as soon as he could.



It was even later now, almost midnight, when Frank got home soaking wet. His mother wasn't home, and he let out a long sigh. He kicked off his soaked sneakers at the door, peeling off his wet socks a second later. He groaned, grabbing a nearby dirty towel, and wiping his feet before he trekked further into his house.

Into the bathroom he went, tossing the towel in the corner to use again once he got out of his shower. It felt like an every day horror film, maybe. That, or he was still feeling the jump scares from the movie. He shuddered, washing and rinsing his hair rather quickly, singing to himself as he did so.

“Come in~ Come in~ We welcome you all~ Through the eyes of the lion, through the walls we will crawl~”

A song he wrote himself, that'd he'd been working on for a time. He finished the chorus, forgetting the rest he had, and made up a few lines by the time he was finished washing himself.

He wrapped his towel around his waist, using a smaller one to dry his hair as he stepped in front of the mirror to slick his hair back and check out his own features for a short while.
Slimmer face, a few small pimples, but he thought of himself as not too bad looking. He smiled, doing a few expressions with his reflection before he turned around to come face to face with the pale, dark-haired boy. Again.

“Hey, Frank!” He chirped happily, Frank just let out a long scream. He was still ever so jumpy from the movie. Gee began doing his creepy giggles again, causing chills to go down Frank's spine.

“What the fuck are you doing here?!” Frank snapped, “How did you get in?!”

Gee's smile faded slightly, “I followed you home cause it started raining...and uh...my parents weren't home so the door was locked. I figured, that I could trade in that photo shoot for a sleepover thing because I have no where to really go...”

Frank stared at him, “Okay, fine, but you didn't answer how you got in.” He watched as the boy wiped a wet, dark bang from his face.

“The door.” He hummed, “...It was practically open.”

Frank narrowed his eyes and groaned, “Fine fine, whatever, just...” He pushed him out, “Wait out there until I'm ready.”

Gee opened his mouth to say something right as Frank slammed the door shut again. He heaved an annoyed sigh and looked back into the mirror, fixing his hair again. He grabbed a pair of basketball shorts and a tee shirt, shuffling out of the bathroom again to see Gee cornered by one of his small dogs.

“Hey, Miles, get away from him.” Frank ordered, but the dog kept barking, snarling at the scared boy. Frank walked over and plucked the growling dog up, putting him in the bathroom with the other two he had, and closing the door. Gee's presence seemed to upset them quite a bit.

“Sorry,” Frank apologized, looking back at the slightly-shaking boy, “They're nervous around strangers.”

“I know.” He said quickly, “All dogs are afraid of me.” He giggled at that and looked around the apartment. “It's a nice nest you got going on here..”

Frank chose to ignore his odd vocabulary, “...Uh, yeah. It's nice. I'm an only kid so no other brats to clean up after. I'm fairly clean.” He shrugged, watching Gee wander into his room, then followed after him.

Gee's eyes lit up at the sight of each poster. “Ooooh, Pumpkins and Smiths?” He mused, “I like your style...Oh! And Maiden...” Frank watched him slowly walk around his room, before Gee stopped in the middle. “So, where am I sleeping?”

“I thought you said your schedule was weird.” Frank raised a brow, thinking this kid was going to keep him up all night.

“It is...but I like to sleep too much.” Another giggle, “I won't stay up too late. And I'll be gone by morning.”

Frank nodded, “...My bed pulls out into another mattress. I'd put you on the couch if the couches weren't so small.”

“I'm a small person, I could fit.” He quickly said, considering the spot on the couch.

“Yeah, but my dogs would keep barking through the door. They do that.” He rolled his eyes and went to his bed to begin setting it up for him. “'S'not that big of a deal anyway. I haven't had anyone sleep over since Mikey last did a few years back, so it'll be a nice change.” The mattress unfolded quickly, and Frank tossed a pillow on it.

“Mikey...” Gee pursed his lips together. “That tall boy...Yeah yeah..I know him.”

“Yeah, ya do. You said you got my stuff from his place the other day? A few weeks ago or something.” Frank raised another curious brow to the boy just sitting down.

“Yes, I did. He's nice.” He smiled and laid down, staring up at the ceiling for a short while as Frank got up to turn off the lights and turn on some low music. He plopped down on his own mattress and grabbed his phone to play on, not noticing his guest still staring straight up at the ceiling for a few whole minutes.

“Not gonna lie, Gee, you're really weird, yet oddly familiar.” Frank said out of the blue once the first song ended.

The boy glanced over at him, “That's weird.”

“No, you're weird.”

“Well, you're not too normal yourself, Frank.” Gee countered with a snicker.

Frank rolled his eyes, setting his phone down on the desk next to his bed before curling up in his blankets.

“It's cold down here.” Gee said quietly. “You didn't give me anything to cuddle.”

“Cuddle the damn pillow.” Frank snorted from his own bed, not bothering to look his way.

“But I'm cold-natured.” Gee whined back up at him, “And I'm still a little wet from the rain.”

Frank groaned and sat up, sliding out of bed to turn back on the light and wander around his room as he got a few things. He tossed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt Gee's way turned away.

“Change. Hurry. So I can sleep.” Frank ordered, folding his arms over his chest.

Gee scrambled to change out of his soaking, stinky hoodie and slipped on the dry shirt. He stood to practically tear off his jeans. They were still disgustingly wet, and he tossed them aside, pulling up the shorts that tightly hung around his hips.

“Thank you...” He said softly, laying back down on the still-blanketless bed.

Frank spun back around and stared at the shivering boy on the pull out mattress, sighing. “I don't really have any more blankets...” He said, catching Gee's gaze in his own.

“A-a towel might work...” Gee muttered, shivering.

“You really think seventy two is cold--?”

Frank was interrupted when he noticed Gee's bobbing head, sighing again as he thought over his options.

“We can share my bed then. We can squeeze.” He said, looking away.

“I don't really think--”

“No, Gee, it's fine. Whatever. I'd feel bad if you froze to death because I had no other blankets.” He let out a sarcastic laugh and flipped off the light switch again before he sat back down on his bed. Gee watched as the smaller boy patted his bed.

Gee smiled, hopping up happily with him, curling up at his side like a cat. Frank only laughed.

“Come on, ya weirdo.” Frank smiled, laying down and pulling Gee with him. Frank forced himself to lay on his side, shoved up to his wall to make enough room for the pudgier boy,
who clung to him for warmth.

“You're so warm...” He purred, scooting a little closer to him and get more under the blanket.

“And you're fuckin' freezing!” Frank hissed, laughing a bit. “What did you do? Eat an igloo? Become dead? Live in Antarctica?”


“Only a few times.” Gee whispered with a giggle. Frank only nodded with another laugh.

“Hah, alright. Well, goodnight, Gee.”

“Good night, Frank.”

Notes

I'll have to think of better chapter titles when I finish this. Seeing how it's still ongoing, I hope that it doesn't take too much longer to finish. Reformatting this is a bitch, holy hell. The divider lags so much and I want to cry

Keep an eye out for any and all vampire references. There's smaller details (Hah, the only details I ever write; sorry) that can be easily missed throughout this, but those will be explained later, I suppose.

Rate, comment, and stay rad