I sat just staring at Frank for what felt like another hour or so, until I managed to find my voice and speak to the still grinning face in front of me.

“I’m a [i]what[/i]?” I asked the obviously overly-happy teen, making him giggle and jump up off his bed.
“You’re an Element, Gerard!” He repeated, suddenly leaving the room in a hurry with no warning and darting downstairs, leaving me sat confused for a minute or two on his bed before cautiously getting up and following.
“I don’t understand,” I started, nervously wringing my hands in front of myself as I gingerly walked into the living room, where Frank was pacing as he flicked through pages of a newspaper and causing small tears, the sound echoing within the room until he stops at one page and starts to desperately read at the small print on one of the pages. “What is-”
“Shh, just come here!” He exclaimed, almost literally hopping in his spot as he grins up at me.

I only raise my eyebrows at him for a moment before he gives me a more desperate look; his eyes purposely trying to look larger with a pout on his face. It really should look a little worrying, but there are exceptions to everything at some point or other, right?

“Okay,” I sigh as I approach him, glancing over his shoulder to look at the inked pages in front of us. “What does it say?” I then ask, though my eyes have already started to go through a couple of words at a time, trying to process all of this new information about these so called ‘Elements’.
“It’s been all over the news, non-stop for days!” The dark-haired boy shook his head, and I could practically hear the smile in his voice as he went on. “They all broke out, and now the government’s going mad to catch them again... You’re like an outlaw or something, huh?” He giggles a little as I just continue to read the paper, letting Frank continue as I try to process everything.

...[i]Five experiments break out of New Jersey’s Laboratory in New Brunswick on the morning of the 5th of February, 2012[/i]...

...[i]They should not be approached, as each are known to be extremely dangerous[/i]...

...[i]If you have any suspicions on anybody you see that may match the following descriptions, please contact either the local police department, or the laboratory itself[/i]...

“I think that’s a load of bullshit, that you shouldn’t be approached...” Frank suddenly speaks, making me lift my gaze to meet his growing but soft smile. “I mean, you haven’t ripped my skin from my bones yet.”
I could only roll my eyes at Frank’s attempt of reassurance and lightly shove his shoulder, which only made him giggle. He stopped when I sighed and folded up the newspaper and dropped it onto the sofa, walking past him with my head in my hands.
“Gerard-”
“What do I do now, Frank?” I quickly interrupt as I spin on my heels and hold my hands up slightly, hopelessly gazing at the boy stood confused in front of me. I was just about to speak once more, before catching a glimpse of blue in front of my eyes, blended in with my hair.
“You could start by getting changed...” I heard Frank murmur, as if he hadn’t noticed what I was now trying desperately to look at by pulling at different strands of my hair. “What are you-”
“What the heck is [i]this[/i]?!” I suddenly shriek, letting go of my hair to frantically look around the room for a mirror, before remembering the one upstairs in the bathroom, and darting up the stairs two or three at a time.
“Your hair? What’s wrong with it?” Frank calls after me, and he soon follows me up the stairs in a much calmer pace. I would have turned to give him any sort of ridiculous look, but my eyes were focused on the bright blue highlights at the roots of my hair, that blend into my black locks.

How did this happen? What else did the scientists do to my body?!

“I have to admit, it did look pretty awesome when it kind of shone in the rain.” Frank grinned behind me into the mirror, and I dropped my hands to my sides before spinning to face him.
“It [i]shines[/i] in the [i]rain[/i]? Oh, well that’s just [i]great[/i], now I’m going to be walking around like a lighthouse on a stormy day!” I all but screeched, only erupting a small giggle from Frank.
“Gee, calm down, okay? This isn’t that bad, especially since you’re going to be practically living in my room for a while...” Frank tries, a small smile sporting his face. I only turn back to sadly gaze at the mirror again, hearing a soft sigh from behind me before feeling Frank’s hesitant hand on my shoulder.

I start to think things over for a little while as we both just stood like that in silence; Frank’s fingers curling over my left shoulder blade as just our soft breaths fill the silence.

I thought about how lucky I was to have Frank, a place to stay, and safety from the government and crazy scientists; even though I hadn’t done anything at all to deserve any of this.

I don’t even consider Frank as being a friend of mine. I mean, sure; he has provided shelter for me and is currently trying to keep me from being locked up and tested on again, but we don’t spend time doing what [i]friends[/i] do.

That fact alone then makes me question how long this is all going to last... The protection, I mean. If Frank suddenly doesn’t want to commit what could be considered as a crime for secretly keeping me here, then he certainly has enough authority to kick me out of here, which I would be fine with.

Of course I’m scared for when that day would come since I would probably be found out about rather quickly, but after all that Frank is doing for me at the moment, I would only want to repay him nicely, and that would be to follow his rules.

“C’mon,” Frank’s voice managed to flick away my once current thoughts into a black and gaping hole to be forgotten about for the time being. I wondered how he had the ability to do that, since other people normally had to work rather hard to snap me out of my infamous daydreaming states. I guessed that it had something to do with the drastic changes in our separate world’s times. “You should get dressed and then eat something before my parents come home; I bet you’re hungry...”

[i]I suppose I should better start with following his simple requests[/i]; was what I then thought, before silently slipping out of the bathroom to follow Frank into his bedroom. Nothing was said about my newfound goal to keep my mouth shut as thoughts started piling into my head like no tomorrow, frightening me after each silently voiced question. I suppose that for now, the quote ‘silent but deadly’ could describe the current situation.

That was, until the silence was broken.

“These should fit; the jeans are ripped and frayed at the ends from being dragged across the floor and the shirt looks like it’s ancient from being in my dresser for years, but it’ll do, right?”

I lifted my gaze that I hadn’t even noticed was dropped – to meet Frank’s proud yet small smile, concern obviously showing in his features. I guessed that this meant he could tell that something seemed to be wrong on my behalf, which told me loud and clear that I had to cover up my emotions a lot better. I was now relieved that I was good at reading other people’s expressions, despite not being around many people at all in my lifetime... Maybe I could learn a few things from Frank, so that I could have a better chance at being successfully avoided whenever I get kicked out.

I hadn’t really wanted to use the term ‘kicked out’ since it probably would not even result in any negative attitudes between myself and Frank, but what other term could I have possibly used? Being ‘let go’ seems as if me and Frank are as close as two best friends or even [i]lovers[/i], and that sure as hell is [i]not[/i] the case.

It’s not that I have any negative feelings towards Frank – because I most definitely do not – but I just do not think that we click in [i]that way[/i]. Besides, from my original point in time, gay people certainly were not treated in this best of ways, as the act was [i]illegal[/i]. Men had been [i]jailed[/i] for participating in sexual activities with another man, as well as being at the unfortunate end of threats. And I may not know much about the current year and people within it, but I know that the hatred towards homosexual people was pure and fucking [i]strong[/i], which only makes me wonder if they would have ever grown out of the habit and stopped trying to ‘cure’ what was considered an ‘illness’.

Of course I thought it was all an unsteady stack of lies, hatred, and just plain [i]shit[/i].

However; I was one of those people who had kept my opinions to myself, for they weren’t as nearly as harsh, and I would have been looked down on even more than I probably already had been, considering that I had no real ‘friends’; just a group of young men who had fun going out to beach parties with girls, which didn’t appeal to me much at all. Of course this was considered weird, and so I kept quiet and locked myself up in my room for the majority of my time spent outside of school.

It just then dawned on me that I had been staring at Frank for this whole period of time, making me just nod and stutter as if I were stupid. Great job with trying to cover up your emotions, Gerard.

“O-Oh, right, thank you, Frank.” I ran a quick hand through my – now partially blue – hair and closed my eyes with an almost – [i]almost[/i] – frustrated way; wishing that my distracting thoughts would just disappear much like everything else seemed to have... This only made think even [i]more[/i] about what I have lost, and what I supposedly had left... Frank.

“Just come down to the kitchen once you’re done, alright? I’ll get you something to eat with a drink.” Frank smiles politely at me when I only nod before passing to walk out of his room, shutting the door behind him on his path to the kitchen.

I changed into the clothes that Frank had laid out for me on the edge of his bed rather quickly, finding that the supposedly long leg length of the trousers fit perfectly with my own legs. I smiled at the satisfaction of the nicely fitting shirt that went with them too, before following Frank’s lead to the kitchen.

The hallways didn’t smell any different than before, so I guessed that whatever I was going to eat was going to be something quick; especially if Frank’s parents were to return soon... Though I hoped that whatever I would be eating would be at least partially filling.

“I hope this’ll do,” Frank looked up from where he was putting together a number of simple cheese sandwiches when I walked in, earning a smile and nod of approval from myself. “I’m making a few, since this’ll probably be all you’re going to eat tonight unless I can something else into my room for you, and you haven’t eaten all day...”

“No, this should be enough for me tonight, Frank.” I assure him as I approach the teenager cutting the two ready-made sandwiches into halves, and then send him a smile when he pushes the plate my way across the counter. “Thank you.” I then tell him, though he just waves the comment off with a hand and a slight curl at the corner of his mouth.
“Just eat the sandwich, fucking diva.” Frank joked as he nudged my arm, making me chuckle a little as he then got out two glasses to be filled with water.

“It’s all we have for now... My parents believe that it’s better than juice, or some shit.” Frank had explained when I only just sent him a small smile.

I knew it was a bad idea to pick up the glass, as soon as it was scattered with the transparent liquid all over to floor and counter.

Again, great job, Gerard.