17
It had been years since Autumn had gone to the park where their friends used to hang out. It had held too many memories for them to even look in its direction. Still, the dead trees, little lamplight that worked, and the crumbling playground gave Autumn that strange sense of nostalgia that they honestly did realize how much they'd missed until they had returned. They just wished things hadn't changed so much that Grace and Chet could have been with them to relive their childhood.
Autumn led Frank down the broken, concrete walk of the park, relying on both the flickering lights of the working street lamps and memory. The park still had that strange smell that Autumn couldn't pinpoint and the oddly placed rocks and broken memorials remained where Autumn had last seen them all those years ago. Whoever laid claim over the area had never bothered to fix the place up and Autumn was sure that people who came here to do drugs or have sex didn't care.
Finally, Autumn led Frank to a lake that shone under the dim lights. There were few people scattered about the edge, most lying in the grass pretending to stargaze under the cloudy night. Some people were sitting around campfires drinking and shooting the breeze quiet enough that Autumn couldn't hear them. Others were on dates themselves talking quietly to one another or playing near the edge of the lake by splashing one another despite the cold.
"Woah," Frank looked around, "quite the romantic spot you've picked out, DuPond."
Autumn's face burned again. "It's not all that romantic!" they blurted. "It's just... Where my high school used to have parties..."
"Never would have taken you for a party person in high school," Frank smiled as he leaned against a nearby tree with one hand, "though I suppose it's the quiet ones you have to look out for."
"I wasn't," Autumn admitted with a sigh as they leaned their back against the same tree, putting their hands behind their back, "but Chet and Grace liked to go out and have fun and I liked spending time with them, so I joined them to crash parties that we weren't invited to. People hated it when we did it, but that just made us do it more." they couldn't help but let a chuckle out at the memories of being picked up with Chet by the jocks of their old school and be thrown into the freezing cold waters, Grace trying to save them by hitting wimply at their arms.
"Who's Grace?" Frank asked, making Autumn stop their giggling.
"She... She used to be a friend of ours," Autumn explained, "Chet had the biggest crush on her back then... But when he told her how he felt and rejected him with the lame excuse that she didn't want to marry rich and become some man's trophy wife, only to turn around and marry a man with just as much money to his name as Chet's, we stopped being friends with her. For the longest time I actually thought she was different from all the other beautiful girls we went to school with, then she goes and does something like that."
What the hell am I saying? Autumn thought once they had finished telling their tale. It wasn't like they cared anymore and why would Frank of all people care? Those days were long gone now. So, why did they still make Autumn's heart hurt when they thought about them?
"Such a shame we never went to the same school," Frank sighed, "because if we did and Grace was a man, I'd kick her ass."
Autumn scoffed. "Yeah, right, she'd take you down easily with little to no effort. She took a lot of self-defense classes."
"I'm not afraid of some cheesy fighting movie wannabe," Frank flexed as he spun to stand in front of Autumn, putting up his fisted hands and taking a fighting pose, "I've seen plenty of boxing and wrestling shows to get a pretty good idea of how to give someone a good what for! I'd make sure she'd get a nice taste of Mother and Fucker!" he named his fists as he held one up after the other. "First, I'd go WHACHA!" he then swung a blow in mid-air. "Then a WHACHU!" he threw another in mid-air. "Oh, what's that Grace, you want some more?" he threw another. "Yeah, you like screwing with people's hearts, well how do you like- HIYA!"
He began hopping around like the people who boxed did on TV, throwing fake blow after fake blow. Autumn couldn't help but laugh at how lame his punches looked after having seen Mr. Brighten's guards beat the living shit out of people many times. Still, watching Frank, for some reason, was entertaining.
They then tried stopping him, while still laughing, when they realized he was talking very loudly about how he'd beat up a woman. The people around them were far away, but with how loud Frank was talking Autumn was almost sure they'd all hear him. Of course, it seemed Frank didn't care if people heard him or not as he kept going on with his fake punches, talking down to the fake Grace in front of him.
He finally stopped when he accidentally sent a blow that hit the tree with a painful thud. Frank released a tiny squeak as he pulled his hand close to his chest and fell to his knees.
"Are you okay?" Autumn asked, sitting down in front of him.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Frank assured, still holding his hand, "I've gotten worse than this."
"Let me see," Autumn demanded as they snatched Frank's hand into theirs, "Chet ran into one of these when we were trying to outrun the jocks at our school. He was able to slow down before bashing his head into the bark, but it still left a gash in his forehead."
There was a silence between the two as Autumn looked over Frank's reddening knuckles. It didn't look like he had broke skin, in fact it didn't look like he'd even get a bruise. His skin was really tough to have not even leave any signs of injury after having punching a tree like the ones in the park. Autumn wasn't sure if it was the ice that seemed to build up on the bark from the rain and snow, but these particular trees were like metal. Still, Frank's hand didn't seem like it had gotten any damage from the blow. Autumn would have thought that he'd at least begin to bruise a little at the knuckles.
"Do you like Chet?"
Autumn jolted at the question and looked up to look at Frank and make sure they had heard him right. He was looking down at them quizzically while Autumn still held his hand.
"W-What?" Autumn asked, though they knew that Frank knew that they had heard him the first time.
Still, Frank repeated his question. "Chet: do you like him?"
Autumn's face burned and they immediately dropped Frank's hand. Where in the world was this coming from? Why or how did he draw that conclusion?
"I... I mean... I... I... He... He's my friend," Autumn stammered, fiddling with their fingers, "so... Of course... Of course I like him."
"That's not what I meant," Frank told them as he crossed his arms over his chest. "So, what is it about him that makes him better than me? Is it because he's taller, muscular? Is it because he's rich? Or do you just get lost in those eyes that take the color of summer's first blueberry? Or maybe it's that firm, tight ass-"
"Stop!" Autumn ordered as they slapped their hands over Frank's mouth, his mumbling beneath their palm telling Autumn that he was still going. "Look... I... Yes, okay! I do... But... There's no way that will ever happen."
Autumn then let go of Frank's mouth when he had stopped mumbling through their hand. They expected him to say something like a smart ass, but when he didn't Autumn could only look away with embarrassment.
"What makes you say that?" Frank asked, his voice showing nothing but seriousness.
"Well for starters just look at me," Autumn began as they looked back to Frank, stretching out their arms so that he could look at their short stature, flat chest, odd rectangular body, and unkempt mess of a failed afro.
"Chet doesn't want something like me, he wants someone like Grace," they went on once they felt Frank had looked at them long enough, "big tits, a pretty face, a smoking body, and beautiful flowing hair that billows in the breeze. He'd never look at me as anything more than a friend. Hell, anyone with his looks would. I'm still confused as to why I thought I could have something real with Heinrich. I'm thoroughly confused as to even why you would go through so much embarrassment just to go on one date with me."
"Well, first of all: it's like I told you, DuPond, it can't be embarrassing when I'm not embarrassed," Frank pointed out, "and, second, I'm not as shallow as you might think I am. Things like looks, gender, orientation; they don't mean shit to me. I've had my share of lovers from many parts of the spectrum and not once, not once I tell you, have their outward appearances told you of their personalities. I've been with some of the world's most beautiful of people with the ugliest attitudes to faces only a mother could love with hearts of angels and sometimes vice versa. You've sparked an interest in me that I've felt twice before, but while those relationships were doomed from the start, time spent with you could be what turns it all around for me.
"So, while people like Chet may not be attracted to someone like sexually," Frank went on, "people like me may find you absolutely intoxicating."
"And if this date proves you wrong?" Autumn crossed their arms over their chest.
"Then I hope we can be friends," Frank smiled as he held out a hand to Autumn for them to shake, "after all, even if Chet doesn't like you as a partner, he likes you as a friend for a pretty good reason." Autumn stared at Frank speechless. "So, if by the end of the night I can't wow you as a date, allow me the honor of working even better as your friend. Deal?"
Taking a moment to think it over and analyzing the fact that their friendship with Chet meant more than their feelings for him, Autumn took a deep inhale of breath and reached out their hand to Frank's. "Deal."
Frank then pulled Autumn closer to him, gripping their hand gently in his after they shook on their deal. Their very strange deal.
"Now, I believe we came here to dance originally, yes?" Frank asked huskily.
Autumn felt their face burn and they immediately looked away from Frank's face to hide their embarrassment. "Uh... I-I mean we used to come here to party and that was when we as high schoolers would go out to make bad choices with alcohol and music... W-We can't exactly d-dance without music, y'know!"
As if on cue, someone nearby turned on some cheesy, romantic song on their phone on full blast. Both Autumn and Frank turned to see a man standing within earshot a couple feet away with a woman standing next to him. The man was holding up his phone with a blank stare on his face, the woman watching with the same unreadable expression. Though, Autumn could tell they were both dying of laughter inside based on the shine in their eyes.
"Thank you!" Autumn shouted angrily at them.
"You're welcome." the man called back as he hid his phone in a hole on a tree before he and the woman made their way to the edge of the lake.
"Shall we then?" Frank asked as he moved his hands with Autumn's until they were in a dancing position.
Being one against who knew how many, Autumn conceded and moved their free hand to Frank's shoulder as he wrapped his other around Autumn's non-existent waist. Frank then began to lead, moving to the beat of the song with Autumn trying their best to follow and not scuff Frank's expensive looking shoes.
Autumn could feel people watching them as Frank twirled they both of them around their little part of the park. They kept their head down, not wanting anyone to remember what they looked like despite the darkness of the lampless night. They hadn't danced with anyone like this even in high school, normally just dancing like an idiot with Chet and Grace so that they could piss all the popular kids off. This however was a slow dance with Frank holding Autumn's hand, his other hand wrapped around their waist and Autumn's other hand on his shoulder. Their bodies were close- too close- and the song was one of the cheesiest love songs Autumn had ever heard. It all felt like one of those lame ass rom-coms that Autumn despised and felt the male lead was either a creepy insecure poet or a pathetic excuse for a man while the woman fell for every sweet gaslit speech or an abusic hoe. Autumn wished they hadn't told Frank about this place as an alternative place to dance.
The final straw was when they had pulled apart from one another before Frank carefully pulled Autumn back, close enough to where their faces nearly touched. A seductive smile was on Frank's face while Autumn felt their body burn like fire.
"Food!" Autumn cried out as they pushed away from Frank. "You said something about food!"
////////
This is no better! Autumn thought as they sat across from Frank at a table covered by a red cloth and decorated with a vase filled with flowers two candles on either side of it and a line-up of utensils placed perfectly before them. The entire place was dimly lit as classical music played over a hidden speaker. Autumn could feel the people around them shoot looks their way as they and Frank stood out like a sore thumb in this well-dressed nightmare war zone.
Autumn kept their head down and gripped their pants tightly, trying to keep themself from shaking with nerves. They had felt underdressed several times before in their past, Mrs. Brighten dragging them out to dinner with her family as they were "part of the family" and wanted them to enjoy a nice meal on Mr. Brighten. It didn't make it any easier to be surrounded by dolled up people while they were dressed like the dirty pauper they were.
"You doing okay over there, DuPond?" Frank asked from where he sat completely calmed and uncaring of how he looked in a place this fancy.
Autumn didn't look up. They didn't want him to see them all flustered. "I... I'm... F-Fine..." they responded, unable to hide the shake in their voice, "j-just f-feel like we may be... Don't you think... J-Just a t-tad but underdressed... F-For a pl-place like... Th-this?"
"Oh, are you worried about getting kicked out?" Frank smiled nonchalantly with a shrug. "Don't worry about that, I know the manager here and to keep his dirty little secrets secret he's offered me free drinks here. We could be dressed in rags and the workers here wouldn't dare kick us out."
Frank then turned to a waiter who was taking an order from a couple a couple tables away and waved to him with a devilish smile on his face. The waiter jolted before running off in fear, confusing his customers as they shared a look with one another.
"That doesn't exactly make me feel any better," Autumn growled as they nearly tore their jeans, digging their non-existent nails into the fabric, "these workers here work really hard to make their money and if people see something like me in here they might not want to eat here anymore and then where will they get their money from?"
"You're very concerned for the working class," Frank pointed out as he placed his chin on his hand and his elbow on the table.
"I know how hard it is to work to live," Autumn shot back, "almost everyone comes from the blood, sweat, and tears of their ancestors and a small percentage of the rich is proof we can make them proud."
"And what's your ancestry?"
"I come from a long line of Roma" Autumn answered as they looked up at Frank, "they were an ethnic group of nomads that migrated from India to all over Europe. My line comes France, or what used to be France."
"Wait, really?" Frank perked up in his seat with interest. "Well, I believe fate's pushing us closer: my ancestors were Irish travellers, a nomadic group from what's now known as Rivia!"
Autumn looked to Frank with their full attention on him. There were not that many people who knew or sadly admitted to having ties to those of the Roma or Traveller people. Autumn had always taken an interest in their family's background and how they would migrate from place to place. They would read about the horrible things that their people had to go through and what they continued to go through just before the Great Collision. Stuff like that didn't matter for a long time after the destruction, but nowadays things seemed to be going back to the way they were. Autumn could save up all the money in the world and become one of the rich people, but their heritage and skin color would never change. And they weren't going to change for anyone.
Before they could ask Frank about what he knew about his ancestry, another thought overtook it. While the idea of one upholding the traditions and cultures of one's ancestors was no longer practiced after the Collision, there were still those who lived the nomadic lifestyle. Some who wanted to keep the memories of their people alive through storytelling, practices, and songs. Autumn wondered if Frank could possibly be one of those people.
"Is... Is that why you live in the woods?" Autumn asked, trying to be careful with their words.
The shine in Frank's eyes and the wide smile on his face immediately faded as he stared at Autumn across the table.
"No..." he replied flatly. "That's not why I live in the woods."
Autumn flinched at Frank's sudden attitude shift. They knew better than to expect Frank to tell them the truth, but they weren't expecting him to suddenly become defensive. However, that didn't stop Autumn from becoming even more curious.
"So... Why do you live in the woods?" Autumn pressed.
"Can we please not talk about this?" Frank asked softly.
"But why?" Autumn asked, sitting up in their seat and beginning to lean against the table. "What's going on back there that's so secretive?"
"Autumn..." Frank looked to Autumn with pleasing eyes.
"That man you were with is still scaring me," Autumn admitted, "I've been having nightmares about him, about those woods and I'm tired of being scared of what's in there."
"Autumn-"
"I just want to know, maybe if I know I won't be scared anymore, just-"
"Autumn!" Frank raised his voice enough to let Autumn know they needed to stop, but low enough so only they could hear. He had also placed both his hands on Autumn's. "Please... You don't want to know what's going on in there. I'm not there because I want to be, I'm there... Because I have nowhere else... But trust me when I say that what's in there isn't meant for someone like you... You have a family, friends, a home... That can all vanish if you found out what's in there... Just... Please... Don't ask about it anymore... I'm begging you..."
There was a silence between the two as Frank gripped Autumn's hand tightly. His red eyes stared into their dark, pleading for them to drop the subject. Autumn desperately wanted to keep poking and prodding to get answers. They wanted to know why Frank couldn't tell them. They wanted to know why they were so terrified of that man. They wanted to understand what was happening. But it seemed the more Autumn went about life like normal, more and more questions appeared.
The shaking silence was then interrupted as the waiter for their table arrived and set a basket of bread down between the two. Autumn jumped back in their seat while Frank drew his hands back with a jolt. The waiter absent-mindedly smiled down at them and ask what the two wanted to drink.
Autumn looked across the table to Frank who's face was filled with a pleading melancholy before looking down and answering the waiter. Autumn responded to the waiter as well and another cold silence hung in the air as the waiter set the menus down on the table and walked away.
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