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The Legion rarely waited for anyone or anything. There were buildings to tag, people and businesses to rob and general mischief to be had. No one member was ever late and they all kept a tight schedule. Today, though, they were waiting on just one member.
“Fuck! I fucking hate this place!” Julie was stomping and kicking things out of her way as she made her way to the rest of the Legion. They were about to call it quits… but something interesting might yet happen.
“Shit, Jules… what was it this time? Start your period? Or did mommy dearest want to spend quality time with you?” Frank asked sarcastically. Joey chucked and giggled with him while Susie huffed and rolled her eyes. Julie pushed the boys aside and sat between them, simply seething and grinding her teeth in rage. She was on the verge of tears.
Oh shit…
“O-kay… uh, seriously though, what’s up babe? What’s got you so pissed?” Frank dropped the teasing with a frown. It was rare when Julie got this upset. It must be something serious… “My fucking mother and her sister thought it was a GREAT fucking idea to have my shitty cousin move here for the remainder of their time at high school! Can you believe this shit?!” Julie drew in a breath as she scoffed. Her smile was more of a grimace as she sucked on her teeth in annoyance.
“Huh? A cousin?! Is he cute?!” Susie squealed and wiggled at the possibilities. What if he is cute?! What if she ended up marrying him?! Then she and Julie would practically be sisters and-!
“No, she isn’t cute! She’s a bitch and I hate her!” Susie visibly deflated, pouting as her shoulders dropped. Joey and Frank looked at one another.
“‘She’, huh?” What, was Julie afraid of some ‘competition’? Frank smirked, then curled his lip as Julie elbowed him in the ribs.
“She’s not your type. And even if she were, I’d cut your fucking dick off.” Frank gave his girlfriend a sideways glare.
“‘Course, babe… whatever…” He rolled his eyes. As if she even knew what his type was.
Julie took her time ranting about her cousin.
“She’s living next door to my house!”
“I don’t even know her!”
“Mom’s acting like we fucking know each other!”
“I have to ‘pretend’ to like her ‘else I’m grounded!”
“This is so fucking unfair!”
Blah, blah, bitch, whine and moan- Frank was already sick of it. Julie can be fun more often than not, but right now she was just fucking bitching for the sake of bitching. It was annoying. So what if some goody-two-shoes in shacked up in your house? Like that fucking matters. Just show her who’s boss and move on.
Julie’s acting like she’s got actual competition here… It was enough to make Frank laugh. If the drama is good, then he just might try to stick around longer to see the shit hit the fan. It’ll probably be funny. Entertaining, even. Maybe he could get something else out of it…?
Ormond was… fine. Just fine. Not terrible or heaven on Earth. Just… mediocre. Average. Plain and like Anytown, Canada could be. You weren’t happy, but you weren’t hysterical either. It was supposed to be a ‘clean slate’.
“A fresh start! Just for us!”
A fresh start for your mother, yes, but you? No, just a break in your routine. Bridges were burnt and now you had to start over. You were almost bitter. Maybe angry. Just a little upset.
And high school is shit, no matter where you go, new or old…
Not that your cousin does you any favours.
Julie seemed to be okay. Not rich by any means, but not struggling, either. Unlike you, she had a car, she had a phone, she had friends… You weren’t mad about those things in particular. Yeah, you just moved in, but she made your life hell from the moment you moved in across the street from her.
What are you? Five?
This mean girls’ shit got old from day one.
You didn’t want help unpacking. Julie didn’t want to help you to unpack. But your mothers thought it would be a wonderful bonding activity.
“Jesus, what are you, five years old? Does mommy still pick out your outfits for you?” Julie was ‘helpfully’ throwing your clothing onto the floor, but not before she would wrinkle her nose in disgust as she picked apart your entire wardrobe. You rolled your eyes.
“You can just leave you know? It’s not like you’re helping me anyway…” You muttered the last sentence under your breath. Julie ‘accidentally’ knocks a few boxes over before she shoulders past you with a huff.
You kick the clothes out of your way as you take a seat on your bed. No covers or sheets, just a bare mattress. You’re not going to cry but your throat tightens. The room is more of a wreck now than it was when you first hauled all the boxes up here. Before Julie charged in… Already you’re exhausted and wanted to go home.
“Honey, could you go to the hardware store and get some things for me?”
Sure… whatever. As long as it gets you away from Julie for five fucking minutes.
You open the door to the store, not paying attention to the two guys around your age standing around the register. Talking. They pause for a moment but then resume speaking once you make your way around the store quietly.
“-that her?”
“Dunno, maybe?”
“-say hi.”
“Uh, bro? That might not be-”
You didn’t pick up on their conversation. Nails, tape… shit, what else did your mother ask for? Crap, what did you do with your list? Pockets- uh…?
“Sup?”
“Ack-?! What the fu-?!”
You jumped out of your skin as some guy peeked around one of the shelves directly to your left. He scared the shit out of you!
There was a cocky smirk on his face that pissed you off. You roll your eyes and keep looking blanking at the hardware shit in front of you. His eyes never leave your face as he leans a little closer.
“Ain’t seen you here before.” You suck on your teeth and nod. You begin to sweat a little. You were anxious. Julie has a “bad boy” for a boyfriend… Was this him?
There’s just something about him that just screamed: “fuck authority”. Maybe it was the tattoos. Or the piercings. Or his entire demeanor. Or his stupid fucking expression…
“Nope. Not from here.” There was no point in lying to him. Julie probably already filled him in. And probably set him up to do something fucked up…
“Shit, who the fuck moves to Ormond of all places? Ain’t nothing here.” Now he was standing beside you, looking at the same shelves as you. You shrugged.
“Dunno… Not me. Not willingly, anyway.” He gives you a sideways glance.
“Yeah, I feel that…”
The tone in his voice didn’t match the outward appearance he had carefully crafted, nor did his facial expression. He was subdued. Quiet. Thoughtful. Maybe even a little tired. Yeah… you were tired too…
“Frank” lingered around you chatting about nothing in particular. You reciprocated without much thought behind it. It was nothing personal and he was chill… so you thought “Why not.” The cashier, “Joey” reluctantly cashed you out. He didn’t want to be there and you didn't want to stay out any longer than you had to. God forbid Julie finds you hanging out with her friend and boyfriend...
You would see them again when you went back to school the following week. Joey wasn’t in any of your classes. But Frank?
Every single one of them.
It felt like a joke almost. It was beyond relieving that Julie didn’t share any classes with you, but this was certain to cause even more friction between the two of you…
Frank was a fucking disaster at school. Slacking off, not paying attention… No wonder he has failed in school. It’s expected of him like this is simply how it is and there is no point in trying to save him anymore. It was fucking sad… Everyone had simply given up on Frank. Even Julie…
You don’t need to be experienced in relationships to see that she was encouraging all his worse traits. And he was doing the very same with her. It was worrying, to say the least. You don’t know either of them well, but if they stay on this course, someone’s gonna get hurt…
Shit, what if it’ll be you, in the end…?
If it’s not your grade, then it will be you, personally. Frank has been assigned to be your partner for some big-ass science project that’s due at the end of the year. Oh boy… it just had to fucking be you, didn’t it? Frank smirked when it was announced in class. Julie nearly kicked down your door and started to scream at you a few hours after you returned home.
“I fucking KNEW IT! You just want to fuck up EVERYTHING up! DON’T YOU?! ” She screamed as she shoved you onto your bed. You didn’t know how to react. It all happened so fast-
It was a nonstop onslaught of screaming and crying, accusing you of “butting into” her life and trying to “steal” her friends and boyfriend. You didn’t immediately realize that Joey was one of Julie’s closest friends. You could hardly understand her, she was so hysterical. The brief fear and simmering anger you felt began to transform into pity and awkwardness.
She’s totally out of control…
It felt… wrong. Like there was something else she was upset over, but blaming you was easier. Safer. When she started to giggle and laugh in the midst of her breakdown, you began to feel fear again.
You suggest that maybe she should sit down… lie down or maybe go home and chill out… Julie had a look in her eyes that sent a chill down your spine. It was a stare-down. Neither of you spoke and neither looked away from the other. It was only when a door opened and your mother called out did Julie broke the eye contact, looking… somewhere else. Something was seriously wrong, but she did nothing other than stumbled off, seemingly drained and almost confused.
She- What?
You watched from your window as she made her way back home. There was a twinge of relief inside of you.
What the fuck was that?
“Dude, your girlfriend scares the shit out of me.”
“Don’t see why. What d'ya do to her?”
You looked up from your paper. Frank wasn’t accusing you of anything, but he wasn’t working- of course- either, he was leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head. You could kick his chair-
“I didn’t do shit! She flipped the fuck out when she learned we were partners for school!” A chill ran down your spine when you remembered how she looked at you.
Like- Like she wanted to-
“Like…. That’s it?” He straightened up, his chair falling forward with a thunk. Frank had scrunched up his nose as he examined your features.
“Yeah, that’s it. Julie lost her shit in a bad way. Like… she wanted to hurt me or something.” You drummed your pencil on your paper.
Tap, tap, tap. Fast and with no rhythm. Your leg bounced and you dared to glance up at Frank, who was frowning.
“Well… shit, that don’t sound like Jules…” He mumbled under his breath as he leaned back again. Usually, he didn’t give a shit about things like this. Julie was jealous and stubborn and fun, but this was… weird. You were clearly a goody-two-shoes, but you kept to yourself and didn’t bother anyone. Polite but not an ass kisser. Kinda a wallflower… He could see Julie wanting to rough you up, maybe pull some mean shit on you, but-
She’s acting like you two fucked or something.
In the end, Frank could only shrug, which you returned. It was weird she was flipping out on you and not doing shit to him.
Well, he ain’t heard from her since yesterday-
A lot was weird. He was the designated high school fuck up bad boy, yet you treated him… normally? “Do it, I’m not doing it for you.” “I’m not letting you tank both of our grades.” “Dude… come on, you’re not stupid.” Yeah? What if he was stupid, though? You were insistent and he did what you asked just to shut you up.
Frank assumed Julie was avoiding him. He didn’t see her at school for several days after you told him about her little freak-out, and she wouldn’t answer not only his calls but Joey and Susie’s as well. Her mother told Susie that she’s “just a bit under the weather.” Yeah, that was BS code for “she wants to be left the hell alone.”
You had no choice but to follow Frank around while he engaged in his usual shenanigans. Well… you did have a choice, but it was easier to get Frank to work with you if you tried to be “less uptight”. Whatever that’s supposed to mean. At first, it seemed like you would do ninety-nine percent of the work and the only contribution Frank would provide would be his name on the paper, but in the following days, you must say that you were surprised.
He wasn’t stupid. Stubborn? Yes. Hated school? Very much. But stupid? No. Simply talking to Frank and communicating with him got him more involved, though he was damn good at procrastinating. And making you procrastinate as well.
“I’m bored let’s take a break.”
“I’m hungry…”
“Let’s go somewhere else.”
“Ugh, can we go for a walk? My ass is killing me from sitting around too long.”
Frank was good at being a distraction. He sucked at starting the work, but he could do it when pushed enough. It made you look at him differently. All the time that you had to spend with him make you see him differently. A delinquent? Yes. On the wrong path? Yeah, definitely. A shit person? No, not really.
“Frank, we are not going to tag the science teacher’s house! OR his car!” Frank slouched in the driver’s seat of his shitty, beat-up car. It would have concerned you the first time you rode with him. Now it’s usual Frank behavior.
He never made you feel unsafe, though…
“Ugh, fiiiine…” He straightened up and continued to pout as he focused on the road. You didn’t bother to hide the rolling of your eyes.
You’ve gotten to know Joey during the first few weeks of your return to school. He, in turn, introduced you to Susie, who you have an… interesting relationship with.
Susie seemed like she wanted to like you but because Julie didn’t she, in turn, didn’t either. It didn’t stop her or Joey from getting to know you. And you all got along perfectly well.
Until Julie returned, of course.
“What the fuck is your problem?!” Julie’s voice was shrill but Frank merely rolled his eyes.
“The fuck’s wrong with you? Why are you flipping out for?” He could guess why. The exact reason why Julie was so fucking sensitive to your being in Ormond not only didn’t matter but was really starting to piss him off. Frank didn’t care about the crowd that was gawking at them both. Unlike Julie, Frank has no reputation to uphold.
“Why are you chatting up my fucking cousin?! What, is she fucking pretty or something? Did she offer you a fucking quickie behind the school?! Am I not fucking good enough for you anymore? Or- OR-”
“What the fuck are you even talking about, Julie?!” Was she talking about you? The goody-two-shoes, totally fucking vanilla and mild you? She’s not even fucking been here! How would she even know what’s going on, with her fucking ignoring everyone’s calls, texts and visits?
“I fucking told you that I fucking hate her! Why are you fucking “buddy-buddy” with her, you dick?!”
“Uh, school?” Frank gave a ‘what the fuck do you want me to say’ kind of face and shrug. Julie gripped her lunch tray until her knuckles turned white.
“Why HER?! Don’t you fucking love me?!”
Everyone was watching them. Any other time, Frank wouldn’t have given a shit. Julie was losing her shit over fucking nothing. He seriously didn’t do anything. Neither did you. Julie was acting like she actually caught the two of you fucking or something. He was starting to feel second hand embarrassment on her behalf. Huh. Has that happened before…?
Frank crammed his shitty school sandwich into his mouth and tossed the rest of his food into the trash, tray and all. Julie screamed something like “YOU ASSHOLE!” Frank only threw his hands up in a “I give up” gesture. Some people shouted, and a tray nearly clips his shoulder, food and shit going everywhere, even landing on some people that scream in disgust and frustration. Frank does not turn around and he does not stick around for the aftermath.
Julie does corner him after school, though.
“Fucking what-” Frank couldn’t hide his annoyance and disgust. Julie presses on.
“If you want to stay with me- and the Legion- you gotta fucking hurt her.” Her face is straight and she’s fucking serious. He’s heard enough and tries to push past her. Julie stops him.
“Yeah, no. Fuck that. Get outta my way, Julie!” Frank grabs her shoulder and pushes her out of his way.
“What-?! You ARE fucking her, aren’t you?! You son of A-” She shoves him from behind. Now he’s fucking pissed.
“I ain’t fucking NOBODY but YOU. Now, I guess I ain’t fucking nobody at all! Get a fucking grip, you psycho! The fucking world don’t revolve ‘round YOU!” His heart pounded in his ears and his entire body began to shake. Frank felt sick but the rage he felt numbed any hurt feelings he had.
He was pissed, but an odd serenity washed over him. It was like… facing an inevitability, in a way. Julie screamed and cried and pushed and shoved him, but it didn’t really bother Frank.
Maybe he was seeing things clearly, or at least, not through rose-tinted glasses. Was she always like this? Was he just blind to it all? Clingy and jealous and vengeful instead of Loving and headstrong and cheeky. Julie collapsed onto the ground, holding onto his hoodie and attempting to tug him close. Frank pulled away, shaking his head. It was pathetic. Sad. Annoying. It was a long time coming, but now she was fucking aggrivating. Frank pulled away, a pit in his stomach. Not for Julie, who was a crumpled heap on the ground, not even for the people gawking and whispering among themselves. You…
Frank needed to think. Needed to get away from all these people. He was anxious and he was thinking about you. You… didn’t do anything. Nothing was confused. He knew… something. Shit- okay, maybe he doesn’t know. Frank wanted something. Not- not the usual shit. Not mayhem or what-the-fuck-ever else. There was… predictability when you were around. Yeah, that’s it… Frank knew what was up when you were around, and at first he thought he didn’t like that but… he did. He did like that. He liked that… stability. Safety. Frank felt safe around you.
He didn’t want it to be a big deal. You asked about Julie, about the freak out and everything else, and he shrugged. You shrugged back and asked if he was hungry. Frank couldn’t look you in the eye as he said “Y-Yeah…”
Julie hated you but you didn’t care. Yeah, she bothered you occasionally, but it became more and more rare. She no longer harassed you at school, let alone in your own home. Though that might be because that’s where Frank and company like to spend their time, nowadays. She avoided you like the plague just as she did with her (now) ex-boyfriend, Frank.
The two of you didn’t start dating after their breakup. Neither even attempted to do so. It was just… nice being around the other. Frank’s attitude improved (as did his grades), but he remained the town fuck up and bad boy. Only now, he was slightly less inclined to do insane shit that would get himself and others hurt.
But… yeah, you did end up getting closer to Frank, who didn’t bother to hide his growing infatuation towards you. The two of you shared a lot of laughs, did lots of stupid and illegal things together, he stayed at your house until the last possible moment… Once, on the way to lunch, you linked your arm with his. You didn’t even notice until Frank had gone quiet, starting down at you with a smirk. You playfully pushed him away and he pretended to be hurt from such an action.
Did he actually get his shit together? Yeah, as much as Frank could while still being “Frank”. Always a trouble maker, only now he actually put some effort into not being a complete fuck up. Now he’s got C’s and B’s instead of straight F’s. Now he’s not on parole but out on good behavior. Now he’s not fist fighting with the basketball coach but following his example and taking the team to the state championship.
Frank’s lucky, too. He had mostly given up on the dream of going to college. Not because he wouldn’t need it or that he didn’t care- he did care now- but because he thought that he simply would never see the money to ever do so. He’s lucky because you- always you- got to know the new forgien exchange student. David King.
Frank never liked the rich boys but David was different. After they beat the shit out of one another, they understood one another. Laughed, even. He’s a rich boy, but he’s alright. And he’s the one that gifted Frank the chance to go to college. Or a trade school. Whatever worked for him. David was rich and he didn’t need the sports scholarship. Frank, though? David was given excellent recommendations to any school he wanted for such a selfless act. Frank would have cried-
Okay, he did cry…
He wasn’t supposed to ever amount to anything. This? All of this? It was supposed to be out of his reach. Frank was born a fuck up and he was going to live his life accordingly. Then you showed up and changed it all. He wasn’t the “bad boy”, he wasn’t the “soon-to-be dropout”, he was just… Frank, to you. From the very beginning you treated him decently. You didn’t have to help him but you did. And still you are with him and still he is becoming a better person every single day.
Really, he should thank Julie for being related to you! If she wasn’t, then none of this would have happened. It sucks that she ended up dropping out of high school in favour of taking some weird homeschooling thing, but it is what it is. Frank is sorry for that but everything else? Nah, it all worked out just fine. He, Joey and Susie still hang out, and both are starting to get their shit together too, thanks to you.
They ought to have a party, just for you, celebrating all the awesome shit that you’ve done for them. No drugs or alcohol, either! Just something chill… just you four and some shitty deli food from the local grocery store. That would be sick… Maybe Frank needs to talk Joey into pooling their money into this. Good shit like this only happens once in a while, after all! Might as well enjoy hard work that’s paid off.