Chapter Text

The park was empty when Frank finally arrived, due to it being a little after two in the afternoon on a weekday. Everyone was at school or work at home in bed, which was where Frank would much rather have been right now. Unfortunately, thanks to his mother's unemployed-ness, that was impossible unless he wanted to be grounded - because: shut up seventeen year olds can still be grounded.

Rather than sit on the bench which is what any normal person would do, Frank chose to seat himself on the grass, laying the eggs out behind him as if to protect them from any stray footballs or hungry wild creatures than could emerge from the undergrowth at any second. He opened the first can of beer and began pouring it down his throat with little regard for the time or the fact that, if there was a patrolling cop around he could not only be suspended for skipping school but also fined for drinking in public.

It was his plan to forget all his worries for a short time. Now, Frank was not a lightweight, and therefore was unable to get wasted from a couple of cans of cheap beer, but if he couldn't get wasted he could at least become pleasantly buzzed so he could ... see things through rose tinted spectacles, so to speak. Because in all honesty, the world was looking distinctly grey to Frank.

He had stupidly, impossibly and ridiculously managed to fall in love - well, maybe, because Frank had never been in love before so he really didn't know how it was supposed to feel - with his teacher of all people. If that wasn't cause for getting wasted - sorry, buzzed - he didn't know what was. Maybe Mikey would have been right, in any other situation but this, but Mikey didn't know the situation and if he did he would almost certainly not have given Frank the advice he did. He even said his brother was a teacher! How would he feel about his brother risking everything for a student, an illegal relationship? No, it wasn't the same knowing it was a stranger who could get arrested, but Mikey would still be able to relate, right? If he had known he would have told Frank that it was a bad idea, that he should stay away, that Frank was sick for getting these kind of feelings.

This was stupid, Frank decided. Mr Way probably doesn't even like him, y'know, like that, and even if he did - which he doesn't! - but even if he did, he wouldn't act on it. He would just find someone more mature to take Frank's place. Or, what if he already had someone to take Frank's place? What if he was married? Or had a girlfriend or a boyfriend who he loved, and by this weird, timid flirting Frank was jeapordizing their relationship?

God. Crushes were so overrated, in Frank's opinion. Here he was, sitting on the floor in a park when he should have been in Advanced Maths class with Mr. Smith, drinking beer and thinking about his dreamy History teacher. God, he was so screwed! How did he even get in this situation again?

Oh yeah, by spending the night at his house. That was probably a bad idea.

Was that really ... It? Before that night, Frank had paid no more attention to Mr Way than he did to his History homework - and no, he wasn't ashamed to admit that - so did it really only take one night of confusing, almost romantic actions to fuel Frank's passionate side and make him care about something other than Ray and the welfare of his mother? This crush had seemingly sprung from nowhere, and Frank couldn't believe that. It must have been burning deep inside him all this time just waiting for the perfect opportunity to present itself. Well, Frank thought, it's view of perfect is a little skewed.

Frank was, regrettably, so far gone he was already stuck in next week, checking out the latest lottery numbers. He opened another can of beer with his teeth, throwing away the empty one and then, deciding against being a litterer, crawled after the discarded bottle and stuffed it in his school bag to deal with later.

Then he felt a little prick on the back of his neck, felt his hairs stand on end, felt as though someone was watching him.

He twisted round in his seat, the amount of alcohol he had consumed already making everything seem slightly off balance. There wasn't anybody he could see, but there was a lot of undergrowth and a few cars with blacked out windows parked along the side of the road leading up to CC's and the school. Maybe there was someone hiding, waiting to jump out of the car and drag him into the boot ... Or perhaps they were in the forest waiting for the perfect moment to knock him out and haul his body into a small, Frank-shaped hole they had dug in the ground, burying him alive.

Frank shivered, getting up slowly and staggering a little - God, how did he get so drunk from only two bottles? - and slinging his bag over his shoulder. Checking the time, he saw that it would now be well into fifth period. He could go home and if his mother asked him anything he could lie and say he had a free period. She wouldn't know any better; she was always dealing with Daniel before now. Hey, maybe he could skip fifth lesson every Monday from now on?

As if sensing his mood had grown worse, there was a loud rumble from above followed by a flood of rain. Grey storm clouds loomed menacingly overhead and Frank sighed in disappointment for the millionth time that he didn't have a car to drive home. Even if driving home a little tipsy wasn't the best idea, it was sure as hell better than the alternative: walking home in the pouring rain and getting drenched. With Frank's shitty immune system, he would probably get pneumonia from that.

God. Frank was so screwed.

Notes

Enjoy. <3