FicWad

I watched Gerard hyperventilate for the longest time. It was like my mouth had somehow managed to find superglue to glue my lips together. I left my body backed up against my tree, not moving towards him. My mind was racing. We could probably bust Mikey out of jail right now, but what good would that do? I realized that even if we did manage to prove Nesbit responsible for this whole thing, we’d both still go to jail. For breaking into Old Man Jenkins’s house, for ditching school, for assaulting a police officer, for getting rid of the evidence, for hiding from the police...and who knows what else? I wasn’t just being pessimistic by admitting this; I was just being honest. I stared at Gerard who was muttering to himself about how bad of a brother he was. Once again, I needed to attempt to get him out of this.

“Look, it’s not gonna work out if we just go drag him out” I began, “We’d all end up going to jail if we did that...so here’s the plan—”

He interrupted with a glare, “Plan? I don’t need your fucking plan. I’m sticking with my plan. I’m gonna go break my brother out and I don’t care what the hell happens to me because of it,” He pulled himself up shakily.

I had half a mind to throw a rock at his head, “Well I do care what happens to you. You said since the very beginning that you don’t wanna be arrested, and what you said first goes,” he pursed his lips but let me continue, “So we walk to the police station, you grab my hands; pretend that you caught me or something. You gotta tell the police a good story...uh...tell them that I dragged you into Old Man Jenkins’s house because I needed someone to guard the door. Tell them I threatened to kill you if you didn’t. And after the deed was done, I made you swear to secrecy. I threatened you...again...so you had to do it. It was out of fear, so they’ll cut you some slack. Okay and then Mikey found out and I threatened to kill him too, okay? And tonight, I made you help me break out since I couldn’t do it alone. But then you manage to grab me and get me into a headlock. Make yourself look like a hero, Gee. Tell ‘em we fought and you finally got me. I couldn’t threaten to kill you today ‘cause I didn’t have a gun. So you dragged me all the way to the police station, like the good little citizen you are. All you have to do is act convincingly and there! Voila! You look like a good person, and Mikey gets out free. I doubt either of you will have more than a couple of weeks in juvie,” I smiled, proud of myself for being such a genius.

He gave me an are-you-fucking-kidding-me look, “Okay...you threatened to kill me way too much. I sound like a total wimp! Never gonna happen. And you seem to forget my promise? I’m not letting you go to jail.”

I scrunched my eyebrows together, “Well, that was before the cops got Mikey.”

“No, it’s now too. I don’t break promises. We’re going to break my brother out, we’re gonna find that Nesbit guy, and yeah, we’re all gonna go to jail. But not for long, right? Because it won’t be for murder. Now let’s go before Mikey tells them anything.”

I sighed, giving up quicker than last time. He was a very persuasive person. A very hot, persuasive person.

“Okay Gerard,” I agreed, “But can you just do one thing for me before Prison Break: Teenage Edition?”

He smiled a bit and nodded, “You name it.”

“Go to your little shack thing and let me take care of Mikey. I promise you, he’ll be back in one piece.”

“No way!” he protested, “Why would I let you do this alone?!”

I knew I needed a better reason than ‘Because I like you.’ “Gerard...you are one hot dude, but lying is not one of your talents, okay? We’d just end up caught if you came along. I’m sorry. Just go.”

That convinced him. It was good that he knew his one tiny flaw. We parted ways after a few minutes, during which he told me the way to leave the woods. I took quiet footsteps, but the leaves crunched down loudly. The hooting owls set a really cliché scary scene. It was not like I was scared or anything. They were just birds... I shuddered slightly as I continued. The trees that loomed over me had crooked branches and dark hollows in which I could spy little eyes. I pulled my hood over my head, feeling suddenly cold. I stared down at my shoes, watching the rhythm like I usually did. The creepy noises and sights died down after awhile, and I felt much better. I was not very sure if I was going the right way anymore, though. I stopped in my tracks and looked around. That tree over there looked awfully familiar. Goddamnit, I was lost! Mikey probably told the cops the whole thing by now. I groaned. Gerard was going to kill me...if I found my way back to him that is.

I started walking again, just because it made me feel more useful. The crunching beneath my feet seemed deafening compared to the silence which surrounded me. But through it all, I could feel something. A rustle of leaves met my ears yet, I felt no wind blowing against my cheek. I froze in place once more. There was someone here, near me. My eyes scanned the darkness, not really helping me. Dry leaves on the ground were being crushed and I wasn’t moving. My body tensed as footsteps grew closer to me. What if it was the police? What if it was Nesbit? To clear my uncertainties, a hooded figure stepped out from behind a tree. The moonlight was not peeking between the trees so I couldn’t see his face. All I knew was that he looked scary enough. I stumbled backwards as he took a step closer to me. I screamed at the top of my lungs, seeing that he had something in his hand. He too, started to scream although I didn’t know the reason.

After a few seconds of this scream-a-thon, he stopped, “Why are we screaming again?”

I ceased as well because I recognized the voice. I squinted my eyes to make sure. My face soon broke into a grin. I should’ve known who it was by the short stature!

“Frankie!” I took a few steps forward.

“Hey,” he said through a sip from his beer can, “Whatcha up to?”

I clamped up. I couldn’t tell him, couldn’t get him involved too. However, there was no way I’d get out of here without his help.

I compromised, “Oh I went for a walk and being the idiot I am, got lost...could you help me?” I batted my eyelashes like a damsel in distress.

He laughed and nodded. I trailed behind him as he led the way. I struggled to keep up. For someone so short, he sure took large strides. To block out quiet and other thoughts, I asked him why he was in the woods.

He gave me a hesitant look before answering, “My mom and dad split a long time ago...it really sucks because my dad’s awesome. But anyway, my mom has tons of boyfriends over on weekends. I just can’t handle them, you know? They all hate me. And when they first see me, they think I’m a sixth grader! I hate ‘em all straight back. They're disgusting. It makes me sick, the way they slobber all over my mother. So I usually hang out with Gerard. He’s really great. But no one was at his house tonight, for some reason. Maybe they went out for a late dinner or something...so here I am. Gerard, me, and Ray built this little house thing around here somewhere. I was gonna hang out there for a while...drink beer...smoke...I don’t know why, really. I need...just...” he waved his hand about in a dramatic gesture, as if that would complete his sentence.

“Oh,” was what the amazing Roxanna said in response. I just had a way with words.

Thankfully, there wasn’t much of an awkward silence because we reached the edge of the woods. I identified the location as about five minutes away from the police station. I turned to Frankie and told him that I’d just go home now.

“Okay,” he smiled, “It’s kinda dark, isn’t it? I’ll walk you home.”

“Uh...no...I’ll be fine,” I forced myself to grin back.

“You sure?” he asked.

I nodded and started walking before he could question me further.

“Hey wait,” he stopped me with a hand on my shoulder to spin me around, “Your house is that way.” He pointed in the opposite direction.

I opened my mouth but no perfectly woven lie would slip out. I probably looked like a total idiot, just staring like that.

He frowned, appearing to be worried, “Roxanna, is something going on?”