Chapter 9~ The Promise

 

- - - - -Frankie- - - - -

 

            “Robyn! Wait!” I squealed, “I’m not going to forget about you!” I fiercely ran after Robyn out of the auditorium.

            Robyn dashed outside the building and down Main Street. Her long blonde hair blew in the wind. I kept on screaming out Robyn’s name, but she didn’t stop. She ran off into a corner where I couldn’t find her. I stopped dead in my tracks and looked behind me, beside me, and in front of me. I completely lost Robyn. After searching for a good 5 minutes, I headed over to Robyn’s house. I didn’t feel like going back to the auditorium. I had to get to Robyn as quickly as possible to explain that I would never ever forget her, never in a million years.

I arrived at Robyn’s house while catching my breath. I pressed hard on the doorbell. Robyn’s tall, blonde-haired dad rushed to open the front door.

“Is Robyn here?” I asked looking past him to see if Robyn was there.

“No, she told me she was going to a Singing Contest with Morgan. It’s at the New York Theater if you want to find her,” Mr. Levinson replied steadily. He was observing me closely. 

“Okay. Thanks,” I replied, not wanting to worry him. I knew she couldn’t be at the New York Theater.

I nervously scratched my head and peered down at my watch. It was already 6:00 PM. I decided to look for Robyn in one last place: Morgan’s house. I didn’t get much luck when it turned out that nobody was home. Not even Morgan was there. I sat down beside the curb and dug my head into my hands. What was I going to do? Where could Robyn possibly be? I got up and dusted myself off. I was tired, stressed, and needed some time to think.

I paced myself back home. I entered through the garage and found myself home alone. I dropped my keys on the key rack. I went to check the answering machine, hoping that Robyn called.

“Hey, Frankie. This is Morgan, Robyn’s friend. I was wondering if you knew where Robyn was. Her dad doesn’t even know. So…umm…if you know where she is, call me back. I hope you two work things out. Umm…yeah…bye.”

That was the only message I had, and it didn’t do me any good. I ran upstairs and planned to drop down on my bed for the rest of the night. I sighed and walked over to my closet to hang up my coat. When I opened the closet, I saw bright blue eyes staring up at me.

“W-w-w-what are you-” I hesitated.

“We need to talk,” Robyn replied shyly. Her legs were scrunched closer to her body as she sat in my closet.

“How’d you get in?” I asked confused.

“I’m the house-sitter…I have an extra key,” Robyn gave me the “no duh” look. She climbed out of my closet and slowly sat on my bed. It was an odd situation for me. The last place that I would ever look for Robyn was in the closet of my own bedroom. I sat myself next to Robyn on my comfy bed.

“Of all the places to come, why did you come here?” I asked curiously. Robyn looked at me with her expressive eyes.

“Because your place is the safest place I know. Your house is where I convinced myself to stop taking pills,” Robyn replied with an unsteady voice.

“You know that I would never ever forget you, Robyn,” I clarified, “Besides, the most we would spend in California is probably two months. That’s not too long.” Robyn stared at me with a weak grin. She gave me the look of distrust.

“Frankie…” Robyn started to say.

“Yeah?”

“My breakdowns weren’t the reasons why Josh broke up with me…I lied when I told you that,” she replied slowly.

“Then what was the reason?” I was scared to hear the answer. There was a long pause before Robyn replied. She fiddled with her hands and looked down at them. Then she looked up at me with fear in her eyes.

“My mom died way after Josh broke up with me. You see, Josh went away to Aspen for winter vacation, and he called me when he was there. It turned out that the real reason why his family went to Aspen was because his dad had a business there. His family wasn’t really spending a ‘vacation’ there. It was more like they were spending the rest of their lives there. When Josh told me that, he also told me that we wouldn’t work out,” Robyn stopped explaining and fiddled with her fingers again.

“That was when I started to take the pills. Soon after the pills, my breakdowns started. As bad as it already was, my mom died a month and a half afterwards. That’s when it got worse and I lost a lot of my friends,” Robyn finished her explanation.

It was only then that I understood why Robyn was so scared for me to leave. She thought that I might stay there and forget about her. She thought I might be another “Josh McWell.”

“I had no idea,” I replied with sympathy, “But I’m not going to do that to you…I’m never going to forget about you. I’m not Josh, because if I were, I wouldn’t be saying this to you. You are different than all the other girls I ever liked. No one in the right mind could ever forget a girl like you, not even if they wanted to.”

Robyn forced a weak smile at me. “You promise you will come back?” She asked while wiping her eyes.

“Cross my heart, hope to die,” I assured her with a grin. I hoped that things were worked out now, and that Robyn wouldn’t get depressed again over this. I was convinced that Robyn was relieved.