He didn’t give me a reason as to why he didn’t show up at the diner but to be fair I wasn’t all that bothered. Tommy headed inside while Frank stood finishing his smoke.
“Your shift go alright?”. He asked.
I shrugged. “It wasn’t that busy”. He had yet to tell me why he was here and the only reason I let Tommy go inside was, so it wasn’t awkward.
“I didn’t show cause I was busy princess”.
“I didn’t ask”. I made a face.
“Ouch”. He smirked. “You wanna come out?”.
“Not really”. I crossed my arms over my chest. “And it’s getting late”.
“Oh, come on princess live a little. I’ll have you back by midnight”.
“Out where?”. I asked.
“Let me take you to the party I told you about earlier. You don’t like it then I’ll take you for some food and we can hang out”.
“I’ve got pizza inside and I’m not exactly dressed to go out”.
“Babe I just wanna spend time with you and you keep shutting me down”. He sighed.
I shrugged. “I guess I’m just not in the mood to go out. I have been working for the last 4 hours”. It was an excuse; every time I gave him an excuse. I was afraid that if he took me to a party, I would actually like it.
And I didn’t want to mix with his other friends because they clearly didn’t like me very much.
“Thought you said it wasn’t busy?”. He asked.
“It wasn’t”. I frowned.
“The get your ass in there and get changed. I ain’t taking no for an answer”.
I chewed the inside of my cheek. It was just a party, right? And he did say if I didn’t like it, he would take me somewhere else. What did I have to lose by saying yes?
“Fine”. I sighed.
….
“Can I borrow this?”. Alice asked holding up my new leather jacket. I’m quite sure it still had the tags attached.
“Sorry”. I shook my head. “I’m wearing that one”.
“I can’t go to a party in sweats”. She groaned. “Can I please raid your closet?”.
I nodded. I had no idea what to wear since I’d never been to a party before, but it was outside, so I decided on a pair of jeans, a jumper and my black flat boots. Slipping my arms into my leather jacket and I was good to go.
“You don’t even need to try, and you look amazing”. She sighed.
“Thanks”. I frowned.
“You look good Aubrey, just like you always do”.
I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t in the mood to go down that road of conversation again. She was fine just the way she was and if she couldn’t see that then that was her problem.
Why did she feel the need to always try and impress the guy she’s already with? If he didn’t like her the way she was then he wasn’t the right person for her.
“I’m going back downstairs please don’t make a mess”. I left her to it. When I reached the living room it was only Franko that was there, and he was eating my pizza.
“Damn darling”. He smirked. “I like the leather”.
I rolled my eyes. “Is Tommy still here?”.
“Outside for a smoke”.
“Okay”. I nodded.
“She alright?”. He nodded towards the ceiling.
“Yeah”. I made a face. “I think so”.
“She ended it with him yet?”.
I shook my head. “I don’t think she’s going to but it’s her decision and it’s none of my business”.
“Aye darling but she is your friend”.
“You don’t even like her”. I frowned.
“I don’t like her cause she treats you like shit”.
“Hey”.
“Fuckers lucky your still her friend after the way she’s acted”.
“Okay Franko I get it”. I sighed. “But I’m not going to bail on her when she’s going through a rough patch”.
“See”. He grinned. “Too good for her”.
I rolled my eyes and got to my feet. I was going to take the emergency money my parents left me. I wasn’t sure if I would need it, but it was better to have it just in case.
“You mind if I go check on her?”. Tommy asked as he came back inside.
I shrugged taking a slice of pizza before sitting back down. I just wanted to go before I changed my mind. Like I said it was getting late, and I could already feel myself getting tired.
“Getting antsy?”. He smirked.
“No”. I frowned. “It’s just a party, right?”.
“Aye darling, just a party”.
I wasn’t sure if I was nervous or excited. Maybe I was curious as to what happened at these parties. Maybe it was more than just getting drunk. Surely, they had to be fun, right?
“You wanna head out now?”. He asked.
“And leave them in my house alone?”. I laughed. “Eh no”.
“They won’t do nothing princess. Come on I wanna talk to you anyway”.
“Talk to me about what?”. I frowned.
“You’ll find out”. He held out his hand for me to take. “They’ll catch up”.
I don’t know why but I agreed. I slipped my hand into his and before I knew it, he was driving my car down the street.
“So”. He spoke.
“What?”. I frowned.
“You wanna come to dinner tomorrow night?”.
“Dinner?”. He wanted to take me out?
“My mom really likes you”. He scratched the back of his head his eyes focused on the road. “She wanted me to ask if you’ll come to dinner tomorrow night”.
My parents were back tomorrow but I could always say I was working a shift at the diner. They would never know the difference. But would they make a big deal out of it because they hadn’t seen me the full weekend?
“At the clubhouse?”. I asked.
“Nah darling my house”.
“Okay”. I nodded.
“Aye?”.
“Yeah”. I smiled.
I liked his mom; I liked his family a lot. I liked how comfortable I felt around them.
“That was easier than I thought”. He laughed.
“It’s just dinner, friends have dinner together all the time”. I shrugged.
“Is that what we are, friends?”.
“Yeah, I mean-…”. I paused.
I didn’t know what else to say. Were we more than friends? We tried and look what happened. He got jealous and ruined it and not to mention he was still seeing other girls.
Franko wasn’t a one girl kind of guy, and I’ve always known that. I wasn’t one to judge anyone, but I also wouldn’t put myself in a position where he could hurt me.
It terrified me. Getting hurt, being hurt by him because I liked him, and it was getting harder to hide my feelings. It was getting harder to say no because I didn’t want to. I wanted to spend time with him because when I was with him nothing else seemed to matter.
“I wanna be more than friend’s darling. I want you to be my girl, my old lady”.
“Franko we’re-…”.
“I can’t stop fucking thinking about you”.
“And you think I can?”. I fired back.
“Then why the fuck ain’t we together?”.
“Stop swearing at me”. I yelled.
“You frustrate the life out of me Aubrey. Just when I think I’m getting somewhere with you, you push me away and we’re back to square one. I just want a chance to-…”.
“You don’t date one girl Franko, and I won’t let myself get hurt by you”. I hated the feeling that rose in the pit of my stomach, but I kept going. “I won’t do it”. I whispered.
“Don’t believe everything you hear princess”.
“So, Cass was lying?”. I frowned.
“The fuck has she got to do with us?”. He made a face.
A sigh fell from my lips. “Can you turn the car around I want to go home”. Not that I was ever in the mood to go to this party but now I just wanted to go home and avoid this conversation.
Being with Franko sounded good in my head but deep down we would never work. I was sixteen so why did I feel like a married woman fighting for her marriage.
“Aye darling”. He grunted slowing the car and doing a turn in the road.
It was quiet and awkward, and I had no idea what to say to him. I didn’t want to trigger an argument, so I sat staring out the window until he was pulling into my driveway.
I threw off my seatbelt as soon as he cut the engine.
“I wouldn’t fuck you around Aubrey, I’d never fucking hurt you”.
He would never intentionally hurt me that I know but, I refuse to be the girl that turns the other cheek, and he was well aware of that.
“I better get inside”. I spoke.
“Right”.
A sigh fell from my lips, but I made no attempt to get out of the car. Why was I giving myself such a hard time about this. Dating was supposed to be fun, why couldn’t I let it be fun?
Why was I always trying to ruin something that could possibly be the best thing to happen to me? Franko had flipped my world upside down and it’s the most fun I’ve had in a long time.
“You want me to come inside?”. He asked.
I nodded.