Please Don't Take My Sunshine Away, chapter 4
It's suppertime and Frank has left. It still hasn't sunken in that I'm fifteen years old. Next year I could drive. I have trouble understanding my real age, my body has been here for 15 years but I have only lived for twelve. I wish someone would explain to me everything I've missed and I could catch up, like when you miss a day of school, but I could never ask someone to recall the last three years of their life. I don't want it. I want my life.
The phone rings and my mother picks it up, then hands it to me.
"It's Frank, honey."
I take the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey Mia. Listen, I'm sorry about today. I know it's confusing for you to just wake up and all and I'm sure I just made it a whole lot more complicated. I can understand if you hate me, but please forgive me. I need you for you to forgive me. I can't live with hurting you again."
"Alright, alright, forgiven. Let's go out tonight and have some fun. Okay?"
"Okay" he says. "I'll walk to your place at seven then we can go over to my friend Billie's place and you can meet them all. It'll be fun, I promise."
He hangs up the phone and I sit back down for supper. Ten minutes later the doorbell rings and it's Frank.
"You really need to learn to use a clock, it's 6:15" I say. He grins.
"Yes, but my watch broke and I didn't want to be late." he says.
"You don't own a watch. You used to always say, "Time is money, and don't spend your money buying the time because it's a rip off.""
"You know me too well."
"I Knew. There's a lot more to learn. I'll go grab a sweater and we'll go."
I run upstairs to grab my favorite green sweater. I start to pull it over my head, which proves to be more difficult than it looked. I hear a large rip and the sweater is ruined. I guess I must have grown.
I grab one of my mom's jackets and Frank and I head out the door. We go for about three blocks before stopping at a small white house on the corner of Steel Ave. and Eastview Street. Music is blasting throughout the house and people are drinking and making out all over the place. Frank pulls me close to him when he sees a creepy guy staring at me.
"I thought you said this would be fun." I say.
"It will be, we just have to find Billie."
He drags me through the entire house before eventually finding 'Billie' passed out on a couch. Well, I guess that ends our search. Frank grabs Billie's shoulder and gently shakes him.
"Bill... Bill, wake up man, you gotta meet someone.."
The passed out boy does not respond.
"He's not gonna wake up, he had a lot to drink, Tre, it's just as bad as last time."
I look up at Frank.
"Why Tre?"
"Huh?
"I mean, what's wrong with your real name?"
"You can still call me Frank if you want, Mia. I like it when you call me Frank."
The guy is giving us a weird look. Frank seems to have forgotten him.
"Uh.. hello? I'm still here.."
"Oh. Mike, this is Mia, Mia, this is Mike. Mike, I'm gonna go get Kain to get his drunken ass over here, could you make sure no drunk guys try to rape Mia when I'm gone? Thanks" he says, running off. I feel out of place, left with some guy I don't even know. I'm scared. I want to go home. At least there I don't need anyone to watch and make sure I don't get raped or beaten up.
"So you're the famous Mia," 'Mike' says to me.
"I'm not famous.." I say. What the hell was I famous for?
"Are you sure? Frank has talked about you nonstop ever since we met him. At first we thought he had an imaginary friend or something, but now it turns out it was real, you really do exist. Wow."
Frank comes back and I am a bit angry at him. He's brought three or four guys to see me.
"Mia, this is-"
"Frank, I don't care who they are! You only brought me here to show me off to your friends. I'm not a fucking fashion accessory Frank, I need you to talk to me, not just drag me to parties and tell everyone, "This is Mia and she's been lying in a bed with machines hooked up to her for three years! If that's all you know me as, the girl who was hooked up to the machines, then I'm not sure you know me at all!" I scream. Tears roll down my cheeks as I run home.
It will never be the same again.
The phone rings and my mother picks it up, then hands it to me.
"It's Frank, honey."
I take the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey Mia. Listen, I'm sorry about today. I know it's confusing for you to just wake up and all and I'm sure I just made it a whole lot more complicated. I can understand if you hate me, but please forgive me. I need you for you to forgive me. I can't live with hurting you again."
"Alright, alright, forgiven. Let's go out tonight and have some fun. Okay?"
"Okay" he says. "I'll walk to your place at seven then we can go over to my friend Billie's place and you can meet them all. It'll be fun, I promise."
He hangs up the phone and I sit back down for supper. Ten minutes later the doorbell rings and it's Frank.
"You really need to learn to use a clock, it's 6:15" I say. He grins.
"Yes, but my watch broke and I didn't want to be late." he says.
"You don't own a watch. You used to always say, "Time is money, and don't spend your money buying the time because it's a rip off.""
"You know me too well."
"I Knew. There's a lot more to learn. I'll go grab a sweater and we'll go."
I run upstairs to grab my favorite green sweater. I start to pull it over my head, which proves to be more difficult than it looked. I hear a large rip and the sweater is ruined. I guess I must have grown.
I grab one of my mom's jackets and Frank and I head out the door. We go for about three blocks before stopping at a small white house on the corner of Steel Ave. and Eastview Street. Music is blasting throughout the house and people are drinking and making out all over the place. Frank pulls me close to him when he sees a creepy guy staring at me.
"I thought you said this would be fun." I say.
"It will be, we just have to find Billie."
He drags me through the entire house before eventually finding 'Billie' passed out on a couch. Well, I guess that ends our search. Frank grabs Billie's shoulder and gently shakes him.
"Bill... Bill, wake up man, you gotta meet someone.."
The passed out boy does not respond.
"He's not gonna wake up, he had a lot to drink, Tre, it's just as bad as last time."
I look up at Frank.
"Why Tre?"
"Huh?
"I mean, what's wrong with your real name?"
"You can still call me Frank if you want, Mia. I like it when you call me Frank."
The guy is giving us a weird look. Frank seems to have forgotten him.
"Uh.. hello? I'm still here.."
"Oh. Mike, this is Mia, Mia, this is Mike. Mike, I'm gonna go get Kain to get his drunken ass over here, could you make sure no drunk guys try to rape Mia when I'm gone? Thanks" he says, running off. I feel out of place, left with some guy I don't even know. I'm scared. I want to go home. At least there I don't need anyone to watch and make sure I don't get raped or beaten up.
"So you're the famous Mia," 'Mike' says to me.
"I'm not famous.." I say. What the hell was I famous for?
"Are you sure? Frank has talked about you nonstop ever since we met him. At first we thought he had an imaginary friend or something, but now it turns out it was real, you really do exist. Wow."
Frank comes back and I am a bit angry at him. He's brought three or four guys to see me.
"Mia, this is-"
"Frank, I don't care who they are! You only brought me here to show me off to your friends. I'm not a fucking fashion accessory Frank, I need you to talk to me, not just drag me to parties and tell everyone, "This is Mia and she's been lying in a bed with machines hooked up to her for three years! If that's all you know me as, the girl who was hooked up to the machines, then I'm not sure you know me at all!" I scream. Tears roll down my cheeks as I run home.
It will never be the same again.
