Unexpected (MxM)

Chapter Seventeen- Motives

Chapter Seventeen-

Frankie

Moth left over the weekend. We did our goodbyes the night before, but he texted me when he was leaving. Everything feels different now. I don’t want to be here. I hate walking through these hallways without him following after me and making flirty comments. I hate feeling like I have to brave the world on my own without my partner in crime.

I didn’t want this. I wish I would’ve just tried harder to follow Sawyer’s rules. I hate what he did, but I do understand why. I know he thinks he’s doing the right thing, but it feels like he’s stealing away the things that make me happy.

I miss Moth because I love him, but being at school makes me realize that I miss having someone to protect me too. He never let anyone treat me badly while he was around, but he’s gone now. I guess that makes me easy prey.

“Watch where you’re going, Princess. You might bump into somebody.” Mason teases, slamming his shoulder into mine which makes me stumble backward.

His friend smacks the books out of my hands, making me sigh. I’m so tired of this. They’re so immature. I ignore their actions and crouch down, reaching out to pick up one of the textbooks. When another friend of his kicks it down the hallway, I huff and stand up again.

They all highfive, laughing with each other which makes my blood boil. I glare and shout after them. “What is your problem?”

Mason turns around and raises a brow, challenging me. He walks closer and puts his hand on my chest to shove me against the lockers. This is the same position we were in the first time he kissed me. I’m sure he can tell that’s what I’m thinking about because his eyes narrow threateningly.

“You got something to say to me, Barbie?”

Hearing that name come from his lips in such a malicious way makes me want to punch him. I won’t let him taint it or turn it into an insult. “Don’t call me that. There’s a lot I could say, so maybe you should lay off. Just leave me alone.”

He moves his hand up to wrap around my neck loosely. He’s not choking me but the position alone is enough to make the fear flood my body. He leans in close, pressing his lips against my ear.

“I’d hold my tongue if I were you. If you even think of talking about what happened between us, I’ll cut it out of your head and mail it to your little boyfriend as a Christmas gift. Don’t act tough, Frankie. I could kill you.” He pulls away and brushes a piece of my hair off of my shoulder, looking at me with the most hateful expression I’ve seen on someone before.

I don’t know what I did to him to make him hate me so much, but I feel paralyzed when he looks at me like that. It’s not just that he could kill me. It’s that I think he would if he wanted to.

I stand still, my back still against the lockers as he smirks at me and walks away, his friends laughing with him again. Once they’re down the hall, I release the breath I was holding and crouch down to pick up the books I dropped.

When a hand reaches out to give me the one that was kicked down the hall, I look up and smile.

“They’re giving you a hard time again?” Sebastian asks, grinning down at me. I get to my feet and take the book from him.

“Yeah. I wish they’d just leave me alone, but thanks for getting it for me. Those guys are assholes.” I mutter, making Bash’s eyes widen.

“I think this is the first time I’ve heard you say a curse word,” He informs me, starting to walk with me down the hallway. “And I’ve been talking with the student council and the principal about having more strict rules and repercussions for bullying. I know a lot of people in this school feel like there’s nothing they can do to prevent themselves from being tormented every day. It sucks.”

I blush and hold my books closer to my chest. That’s another reason I miss Moth. He never had this preconceived notion that I was sweet and innocent. Everyone else does though, so I try my best to live up to the expectations. “I didn’t until a few months ago. I’m getting older though, and life is sucking more so I feel like a curse word or two a day is justified.”

“It is.” Bash agrees, nudging me. “Don’t tell anyone, but my big sister says I curse like a sailor.”

I laugh softly, forcing myself to keep a smile when I notice him looking at my face. He doesn’t look at me like a friend. He looks at me like he’s falling in love. I constantly assure Moth that Bash is just a friend, and it’s true on my side at least. I don’t have a lot of friends. I can’t waste one just because he has a crush on me.

“Oh really? Show me what you got then.” I challenge, waiting as he looks around to make sure nobody is close enough to hear him.

“Fuck.” He whispers to me, causing me to laugh again. He smiles triumphantly.

“That’s it?”

“s**t, b***h, ass, damn.” He continues. Hearing him say curse words sounds foreign to me too. It’s not that I expect him to be proper. I must’ve had a preconception about him too. The student council president isn’t exactly the type to be cursing in the middle of school.

“You’re pretty funny, Bash.”

He stares at me for a moment before reaching out to push my hair behind my ear. “You’re beautiful, Frankie.”

My face gets hotter as I use my hand to gently move his away. I think for a moment about what to say before answering. “Sorry, Moth and I are still dating. I don’t want to give you the wrong idea.”

He pulls his hand away and takes a step back before giving me a friendly smile. “Right, sorry. I thought people said he moved or something.”

“He did. We’re doing the long-distance thing.” I admit, walking with him again.

“Damn, that must be hard on you. I’m here to talk if you ever want to. Sorry about complimenting you by the way. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” He keeps his distance now, seeming more closed off. It’s a difficult situation. I want to be close with him, but not in the way he wants.

I want to be good friends. I want to know more about him and hang out with him. I want to invite him over and do stuff together, but I don’t want to hurt his feelings when I have to turn him down again. It’s not that Bash isn’t someone I’d be interested in. He’s cute and sweet, but what I feel for Moth is so much deeper. I love him. As long as I love Moth, I could never love anyone else.

“Oh, it’s fine. You don’t make me uncomfortable.” I assure him, nudging him slightly. “I was wondering if I could take you up on that offer. Moth was going to take me to the decade dance, but that didn’t work out the way we’d planned. Just a friend date?”

Sebastian smiles at me, stopping at the door to our classroom so we can finish talking before the bell rings. “I’d like that. No corsages, slow dancing, or kisses goodnight. Let him know I’ll keep it strictly G-rated.”

“I’ll tell him.”

We walk into the classroom, but as I make my way to my seat, I notice that Mason doesn’t even attempt to trip me like he does every day. I glance at him and walk past easily, realizing why he didn’t feel the need to humiliate me by trying to make me fall. I look at the paper taped to my desk and quickly tear it off, stuffing it into my bag.

He got someone to draw caricatures of Moth and me having s*x. It doesn’t help that they drew me in girl clothes. I blush, shyly looking around to see the people in surrounding desks snickering. Everyone saw it. I bite my lip and keep my head down, trying my hardest not to cry.

Moth and I have been working on my emotions being so intense. He always tells me that these people aren’t worth crying over. I won’t change anything by letting their actions take control over my feelings. I’m in control of my own emotions. I hate him so much, but I don’t want to cry over some stupid prank Mason pulled. I take a deep breath and wipe my face of any reaction as the class begins.

Mason turns around and pouts dramatically when he notices the drawing is gone. “Tearing it wasn’t very nice. I thought the art was pretty good. I probably should’ve got him to draw you and your new boyfriend though. You get around, don’t you? How many people are you planning to spread your legs for before you turn sixteen? Bash is sweet. He probably won’t go for you when he realizes you’re a slut.”

“I’m not a slut.” I insist. Who cares if I’ve had s*x with two people? My s*x life has absolutely nothing to do with my character and I resent that people are so quick to act like it does.

“Could’ve fooled me. You walk around with boys falling all over you like you’re something special.” He comments, lowering his voice before continuing. “Coming from someone with experience, you’re not that great. You’re clingy, and you whine like a girl about it hurting. I should’ve just banged a chick. At least she’d know her place.”

My body feels warmer as I blush. It’s embarrassing that I ever did anything with him. I feel so stupid, and every time he mentions it it makes me feel disgusting. “Shut up. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Franklin, since you think it’s appropriate to interrupt my class, why don’t you summarize last night’s reading?” Ms. Baker asks. Of course, she conveniently didn’t hear Mason talking to me first.

After processing her words, my face pales. Last night’s reading? We weren’t supposed to read last night. We’re we? No. No, I’ve never forgotten to do my homework before in my life. This can’t be happening. “I uh… sorry, I don’t remember it.”

I dig in my bag for a moment before pulling out the book. Into The Wild. I’ve read it before, but I don’t remember it all that well. I don’t even know what chapter we were on.

“You don’t remember what you read, or you never did the reading?” She asks, narrowing her eyes at me as if she could sniff out my lie like a bloodhound.

“He did the reading, Ma’am. We were studying at my house after the student council meeting yesterday.” Bash interrupts, smiling at her.

She sighs, and spares me one more glance, trusting his lie which was way better executed than mine. I’ve always been a terrible liar, so there’s something slightly unsettling about the way he can do it with such a genuine tone.

“Alright. Why don’t you summarize it then, since Franklin can’t remember?”

Bash doesn’t miss a beat, going into the summary of the eighth chapter like he’s read it a million times before. Mason smirks at me, whispering one last comment before turning around. “He must want to get in your pants.”

I hate that sentiment, but his words do make me question Sebastian’s motives. I know he’s kind to me. He makes me feel good about myself and he always tries to talk to me in the halls. He sticks up for me the best he can and covers for me. Mason and Moth seem to think the same thing though. He’s only being this way because he wants to f**k me. Maybe it’s fake. Maybe he doesn’t care at all.

I roll my eyes and cross my arms over my chest as I listen to Bash give his summary, jogging my memory of where we are in the book. Hearing about it makes me remember the last time I read it. I remember curling up under Moth’s blankets as he slept. He steals the books he’s forced to read at school. He read this one, so it was one of the ones on his bookshelf. I remember reading it then.

I was hardly paying attention because I couldn’t stop staring at him. The way he drooled on his pillow and how his nose twitched. The soft breaths he let out in a rhythm that was impossible to predict. Even his soft snores captivated me and kept me from being able to focus. I’ve never had that issue before. Even now in the middle of class, he’s consuming my every thought.

Once the bell rings, I gather my things and make my way out of the door and down the hall. I didn’t want to wait for Bash. Maybe I should distance myself until I get a better idea of his character. I believe that some people can be kind without bad intentions, but I know that some people aren’t. I’m not naive. I know how he feels about me, but I don’t know if he’s doing this nice stuff to get something in return.

Maybe he’s just nice, but if he isn’t, I don’t want to be the one who looks like an i***t in the end.

“Frankie! We and the boys are practicing at Moth’s later. You should join us.” Gwen puts her hand on my shoulder, pulling me to a halt as she and Laila walk up.

“Laila (she/her).” She announces with a little smile.

I smile back but shake my head slightly. I don’t think I can be anywhere near there without sobbing. It’s crazy how easily all of them are getting over it.

“I’d rather not. I don’t want to be around his things just yet. Have you guys talked to him?”

Gwen walks on one side of me as Laila walks on the other. I don’t know why I’ve only seen them as Moth’s friends and not mine, but if they want me there, maybe they like me regardless of if Moth wants me there.

“He wants us to keep practicing and writing songs. I’ll be lead for now with Cas singing some of the more masculine songs. Also, Laila has been playing lead guitar since a lot of our songs don’t need a keyboard anyway. We’re practicing until 6 tonight. If you change your mind you should come over.” She informs me before she and Laila walk into their next class.

I sigh softly and continue down the hall. It makes me sad thinking about how much I wish he were here, but he isn’t. It’s something I have to deal with, but I should give myself time before going back to his house. He said he’d call me tonight. I can look forward to that.