Chapter 6~Next Time McDonalds!

 

            “Make up?” Morgan asked.

            “Check,” I replied.

            “Mirror?” Morgan asked.

            “Check,” I replied again.

            “Hair?”

            “Check.”

            Morgan was reviewing my “things to have for a date” list while I was getting ready for dinner with Frankie. It was a routine I usually took before every date I had: Morgan would come over and do my hair, I would do my make up and get dressed, and then we would review my checklist. I always made sure I was prepared for anything that could happen on a date.

            “Pepper spray? What are you going to need pepper spray for!” Morgan panted in astonishment as she read it on my list.

            “You know…if he turns out to be a total loser. I’ve only known him for a couple days. I can’t trust him that easily. I have to be prepared for anything!” I backed up my reasons.

            “You are crazy! I told you to be careful, but not THAT careful,” Morgan giggled.

            As soon as I was done reviewing my list and was done staring at myself in the mirror, I snuck one pill into my mouth. I was wearing dark blue denim jeans with a lavender Aeropostale t-shirt. The lavender eye shadow on my eyes stood out with its sparkles.

I drove off to Frankie’s place. Most guys usually pick me up for dates, so it was a first for me to pick up the guy. This was a so-called “pay-back”, so I guess I had a logical reason to be the one to drive. When I reached his house, I ran to his steps and rang the doorbell. To my amazement, Frankie was dressed in formal clothing. He had these really nice khakis on and collared shirt. His hair was spiked up and his face was cuter than ever. I looked like trash compared to him.

            “Shall we?” Frankie asked in a deep tone as he took my hand.

            Once we got into my beat-up junky old car, I wasn’t sure whether this night was going to be a dream come true or a nightmare come true.

            “So where are you taking me?” Frankie questioned with excitement.

            “Ummm…well, you gotta remember that I’m broke. I already spent most of my money from house-sitting, so we’re not really going to a big place,” I explained uneasily.

            Truth was that I only had about $20 in my pocket that was left from housesitting. I had no choice but to take Frankie out to a stingy place. I felt so cheap, budget, and embarrassed.

            “That’s alright. That just means that I’m going to have to add more to my payback,” Frankie plainly said.

            At least he didn’t freak out when he found out that we were going to Taco Bell! He should have been lucky that I took him out for dinner at all. Frankie ordered a million fajitas while I ordered just one taco.

            “Are you going to tell your parents about how I wrecked your room today?” I asked shyly as I took a bite out of my taco.

            “And get you fired? No way! You actually think I would do that?” Frankie responded immediately. I couldn’t believe my ears. I was so relieved when I heard those words come out of his mouth.

            “Are you the only child?” Frankie started to ask me a bunch of questions.

            “Yep. My mom was supposed to have another baby, but she died in her stomach,” I said easily. I already knew that Frankie was an only child, so I didn’t have to ask him that question.

            “Do you get along with your parents?” I asked.

            “Most of the time,” Frankie shrugged his shoulders, “What about your parents?”

            “Don’t you mean parent? My mom died a couple months ago from cancer,” I explained slowly.

            “I’m sorry.” Frankie responded with sympathy.

            “No, it’s okay. My dad’s the best. He’s a waiter at a small restaurant and he doesn’t get a lot of money, so that’s why I’m housesitting. I need the money,” I started to laugh.         

            “Hey, everybody needs some money. I know I do,” Frankie joined laughing with me.

            “But your parents are like rich!” I cried. How in the world would he need money?

            “My dad owns this computer company and my mom’s a dentist. They have huge salaries, but they sort of make me use my own money. I have no idea why,” Frankie replied.

            And so that was the start of our 3-hour conversation about our lives. The more I learned about Frankie, was the more he learned about me, and was the more I started to give him my trust. I knew that he wasn’t another Josh McWell. I always knew he wasn’t from the start.

            “Ready for some Friendly’s ice cream, yet?” I questioned Frankie after our conversation.

            “Hell yeah!!” Frankie called out with excitement. We piled into my car again, and this time I knew for sure this night was a dream come true.

            Frankie and I shared a banana split at Friendly’s. When I started to shiver from brain freeze, Frankie lent me his warm jacket. The night went by fast, and before I knew it, we were at Frankie’s home. We were sitting on his steps just reviewing the night in our heads. We leaned on each other as we sat.

            “Do I owe you anymore?” I asked to break the silence.

            “Nope, not yet,” Frankie smiled as he looked down on me, “There’s still that carnival you have to take me to.”

            “Right…” I said aloud. We both stood up gradually and Frankie searched around for his house keys in his pocket.

            “Well, ummm…thanks for taco bell!” Frankie started to laugh.

            “Yep,” I started to laugh.

“Maybe next time we could go to McDonalds!” Frankie teased.

I noticed that Frankie seemed a bit shy at his doorstep. I was, too. Hesitantly, we gave each other a tight hug and went off on our own ways. I drove home with Frankie on my mind.

“Robyn, is that you?” My dad called out.

“Yeah, Dad!” I walked into his room to see him lying on the bed and watching the News.

“Mike called for you. He said you better be in science class tomorrow.”

“Oh really?” I started to giggle to myself.

“How come you weren’t in science class today?”

“Umm…I overslept,” I lied for the hundredth time that day.

I walked over to my room, which was right across my Dad’s. I closed and locked the door shut, making sure my Dad couldn’t see what I was doing. Under my bed, I reached for my Nike blue bag. In the tiniest pocket, I took out the Prozac bottle and looked at it in disgust. With confidence, I tossed it in my garbage with the rest of the useless things I didn’t need.