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Arcadian Empire | Not Listed | Not In Yet | Not Listed

When Franky Met PB
By
Arcadian Empire

I was often teased by the boys at school. The school was a public one in the Arcadian Empire – which didn’t get much attention from the Government, as the Arcadian Government, then under Emperor Power (the Bulbasaur) devoted his attention to improving the environment. However, it must be said that the Empire did have nice parks.

The Arcadian System of Schooling (ASOS or ASS, as the boys used to call it) consists of twelve years of education. The first six years are elementary or primary school, and the next six years are high school. Anyways, the boys teased me about being skinny and being called ‘cute’ by the girls, because I could sing. Very well. They called me a ‘girl’, teased me about if I wore cosmetics and on my birthday, they gave me a Cindy Doll (a popular girl toy which you could dress up) much to the amusement of the teacher, who was fired for defaming me after I told my parents. Shame they didn’t sue the boys who teased me.

The teasing continued, even as we grew up. Teacher after teacher tried to discipline those who teased me, but to no avail. I couldn’t go to the teacher to tell them, as they’d call me a ‘wimp’ and ‘loser’ and ‘teacher’s pet’. I didn’t need anymore teasing. My only joy? To sing. I am still today a great writer, I love to write prose on every topic, and to write songs and sing them myself.

My only friends? Girls. You can liken me to someone who figured out why there were girls and there were boys, too early. But it wasn't in that way, I just enjoyed keeping company with women because they gave me something special only girls can give. But you can figure that out. The boys just teased me, while the girls accepted me.

The teasing generally subsided as time went on, as the teachers became more alert and the boys getting bored – asking themselves “What are we doing this for?” but to no real answer. In fact, I should’ve teased them as I look back on it now, as they had names like “Blazer” and “Tazer” and “Mazer” and “Glazer” and “Fazer” and “Dazer” and “Lazer” and “Razer” – which led to me and the girls calling them the “’Errr errr’ Club” (with “Errr” being pronounced like you would do if you didn’t know the answer to something), which was appropriate because the boys were incredibly dumb. Even the leader, Blazer, had one of his spelling words as “cat” in the fifth-grade (God only knows how he bludged his way up that high), and still spelling it “kat”. Good times.

When I was in my eighth year, still friends with ParkerBaby, Ayrrie and Aberdeen (Elly had left and Wain had moved, although we still kept in touch), the boys miraculously just stopped teasing me. No joke, I lie to you not. They just, all eight of them, just stopped.

I was delighted! I slept well that night, dreaming not of their faces being impaled in a wall and blood oozing out of their mouths (the image coming from mandatory seventh-grade literature in History Class, a book entitled “Great War I”), but of me being able to walk around the school – finally, free. No more teasing, no more embarrassment, and well, perhaps now I could be friends with the other boys – not the “Errr errr Club”, but the other boys (who were always too afraid to make friends with me under Lazer’s policy of ‘If you make friends with Girly Girl, you’re a girly girl!’) which I should say, had much effect at that time.

It was amazing the next few weeks. The girls, who were always concerned about me, were also delighted. They were ecstatic! When I told them, we all stood up and jumped around – well, they did at least, I just stood there smiling like an idiot, but smiling because I did something good that made my friends laugh. True joy for the first time. I watched PB jump around, she was the one who befriended me in the first place.

It was the middle of eighth grade, about July (as Arcadian school years go from January to December) when I discovered the real purpose of the boys in not teasing me anymore.

Blazer, an anorexic, ugly, pale white-skinned boy with freckles and red hair – the leader of the “Errr errr Club”, he even looks dumb, I thought. He came up to me one day, and taps me on the shoulder while carrying me lunch. I turn around.
“Frank,” Blazer says. He called me Frank. That’s a first! I thought. “I need you to help me.”
I put my ham and cheese sandwich in my pocket. I would not fall for these tricks, distracting me and then taking my sandwich, which is a delicacy in Arcadia. “With…?” I reply, still looking around for the other seven goons, but they are nowhere in sight – I didn’t look behind me.
“I can’t tell you here,” Blazer says looking to his left and right, nervous. The great and terrifying Blazer…nervous? That’s also a first, at the same while, Blasphemy! I thought. “I need to tell you around the corner, so no one can hear.”
At this time, I knew, I knew out of all the goddamn rotten things he had done, he was going to take me around the corner, bash me up, take my sandwich and run away. But I only think that after I say one word that I probably shouldn’t have said. “Okay.”

I follow Blazer, who is slightly taller than me, to his designated ‘corner’. Meanwhile, I pass ParkerBaby who passes by carrying her pink lunchbox. We meet up.
“Hey, Franky (that was my nickname)!” she says in her normal voice. High, girly and oh so sweet – I liked it.
“Hi”, I say as Blazer disappears behind the corner, waiting.
“Are you gonna come sit with us?”
I look at Blazer around the corner. I can’t see him, and then I see his ugly face poking from behind the place. I look back at ParkerBaby, who has a nicer looking face, guaranteed. “Yeah PB, I just forgot to get my lunch from my bag! Silly me, I’ll just go get it and catch up with you later, yeah?” I say with a weak smile on my face.
ParkerBaby must’ve thought it was cute or funny, or something, because she smiled, her nice smile. “Sure, okay.” Then she walks off.

I watch her as she walks off and then a bad thought comes over me. Idiot! (I was referring to myself) Why didn’t I tell PB that she should supervise my meeting with Blazer? I contemplate running up to her and telling. But Blazer was waiting, I was sure of that. If I turned around, I’d see his ugly head and then his uglier eyebrows arching towards his nose – getting angry, impatient. I look around, and then walk to Blazer.

Blazer looks annoyed as I walk around the corner, his arms are folded.
“What is it? I have to eat you know.” I say.
Blazer looks nervous. This is not normal. If anything, I should be nervous. I don’t know what’s behind me, and if I look around to see the other seven goons crawling up on me, Blazer would just get me from behind. My hands are tied.
Blazer looks around, and then he looks at me straight in the eye. “I like ParkerBaby.”
I’m stunned. I stare at him for a few seconds to make sure I didn’t hear wrong. The thing is, I didn’t.
“What do you want me to do about that?” I ask, inquisitively, employing a ‘What does that have to do with me?’ look on my face. I lean against the wall, and I find at least there is no one behind me on my right side, but about the goons hiding on my left behind the corner – I am uncertain. Blazer probably hid his signal for his goons to move behind the corner. There was no teacher in sight. I was sure “I like ParkerBaby” was the signal.

Blazer nods. I’m dead, I thought. He probably saw and interpreted the look on my face. He punched me, again and again on the face, then in the stomach. Pain rippled through my body, it pained, I felt blood...or sweat. My thin self was pushed up off the ground with Blazer's strong left hands, and then he smashed my head into the wall and I was left crying on the ground...

No that didn't happen.

Blazer nods. I’m dead, I thought. He mutters what I said while shaking his head. “I want you”, he says as he pokes me in the chest, “To get me”, then he grabs my shirt and drags me until my head is poking from the corner. There are no goons here, I'm surprised. Genuinely.

“Her.” Blazer points to the brunette-haired schoolgirl sitting about sixty-feet away from us, in the shade, with a few girls. It would’ve been more bearable if Frank didn’t know them. The fact was, he knew all of them. And the one Blazer was pointing at was named ParkerBaby.

. . .

The next day, I did not look at ParkerBaby the same. She had always been one of my closest friends; in fact, she was the one that ‘took me in’ when no one else would when the “Errr Errr Club” teased me. The other’s simply, obliged, although Frank did maintain a plausible relationship with them.

Even just the thought that I had to pair up such a…”skid mark on the underpants of society” with someone as lovely, caring and dare I say, perfect as ParkerBaby was horrible. Its not gonna happen, he had repeated to himself when he woke up that morning. But Frank had his doubts; after all, Blazer could actually force him by bashing him. But then of course, Frank could just spill all to PB – for now, Frank had a choice.

But every day that went by, Blazer didn’t talk to Frank. But just gave him glances that said to Frank “Why aren’t you doing what I said? ‘Cause your dead if you don’t do it”, however, to Blazer, they probably tried to communicate “Have you done it?”

Frank was nervous. ParkerBaby knew it. “Are you okay?” she said one lunchtime while eating.
“Yeah, PB” he replied. But she knew he was lying, PB had that talent. She was amazingly intelligent, and this memory-reading she had made her quite fetching and very, very desirable.
She leaned closer to him. ParkerBaby was staring right at Frank who had half a bite of a peanut-butter sandwich in his mouth.
She gave him that look. Frank hated that look. It was a look that says, “Really? I know you’re lying.” Her brown eyes stared directly into Frank's. It was but a few seconds before Frank would spill all. ParkerBaby loved eating, although she wasn’t fat at all – it was a remarkable metabolism she had, she was not skinny, but not fat, but kinda in between. She had stopped eating her sandwich. Frank knew now, it was serious.

“Okay PB,” he said while dropping his head so he could see the ground, “I’ll tell.” PB sat back up; leaning against the wall, legs crossed and continued eating, with a smile, a slight one. She loved it when she got her way. This was her sign that said “Okay, talk to me.” Frank spilled all.

For two-and-a-half minutes, Frank talked. ParkerBaby displayed a range of emotions on her face, to which Frank didn’t see because he was still looking at the ground, until he finished. Then he looked up.

I saw her emotion first. She was looking at me, but not directly at me, but just in my general direction. “Oh, Franky…” she said softly.
I didn’t know what to do. So it’s a good thing that the next thing I said was, “So what do I do?”
ParkerBaby had finished eating her sandwich. “One sec.” she said, and then got up.
My eyes watched her as she went to her bag, took a pink drink bottle out and drank from it. Then she came back and sat down again. “Well Franky, you can either do what he says, to which I say will always say ‘No’…”
I interrupted. She looked up at me, with a confused look, puzzled as to what was so important to allow her not to complete her revelation.
“Well…PB, I’ve been thinking. He might be a nice guy you know? He’s just ugly.” I said.
Then I knew I said something stupid. My eyes widened…out of all the people in the world I, me, Franky, Frank Albert Sinatra, should’ve known of all people that Blazer was not a nice person. After all, he had been the one to give Frank a Cindy Doll – which Frank had given to PB as a birthday gift.
“Are you serious?” she said, she was now really confused.
“Sorry, PB. I just had a memory slip,” I replied as I looked down again for a few seconds. I looked up. “Continue?”
ParkerBaby got up, which was puzzling to me as she had just gotten up a few seconds before. She patted herself down, the dust flying around, before sitting down again. “Well, you can do what he says…or not.”
I sat there for a few seconds thinking, “That’s it?” but then I realized her brown eyes were scanning around. She was thinking too.
“Your hands are tied, Franky. If you do it, you’ll have to force me to have him. But, you aren’t going to succeed. If you don’t do it, he’ll get you.” She paused, but promptly resumed after a few seconds of more thinking time. “I’m going to go up to him and say ‘No’. That way, it’ll appear you did do it – but ultimately the decision is up to me isn’t it?”
A rhetorical question. Well, it should’ve been – but I answered, unconsciously. “I’d like to think that…but he’ll just force me to increase my attempts…”
ParkerBaby couldn’t believe I had answered a rhetorical question, but not in a bad way, as to be shocked. She smiled, and took my hand and said “Well Franky, he’ll have to deal with being rejected.”
She got up, taking the whole weight of me with her and then she let go of my hand when we were both upright.
“Let’s go.” ParkerBaby said. I followed, dumbly.

It was a hot summer’s day and ParkerBaby was appropriately dressed for the occasion. She was wearing her school uniform, a short-sleeved blue dress that came down to her knee. Frank however, was wearing long grey pants and the shirt was made of a thicker material than the dress and was still short sleeved, but it didn’t seem to help. He was still hot. For the most part of the exchange of words between PB and Frank, they had been in the shade. But now they had to cross the playground to the area where Blazer played, in the field – quite a walk from where they started.

Even as they walked, the blazing sun took its toll, PB in her dress that allowed much aeration, it posed no problem. She strutted as she usually did, a slow controlled walk, which gave impressions of her being just well, a girl, strolling through the beach. Frank however, got hot quickly and as soon as they arrived at the next building, he used the bubbler for at least three minutes, much to the dissatisfaction of the others behind him in the line. ParkerBaby wasn’t too happy either; she was waiting for him to finish his drink and he was taking forever, or so it seemed. PB always wanted things quick, unless she liked the activity – this was one of the activities PB did not like, waiting for her friend to finish using the bubbler.

After gulping down an inhumane amount of water, Frank and PB resumed the second-half of their trek to where Blazer was. PB wasn’t the girl who liked putting make-up on, as Frank and PB both knew that she had natural beauty. She didn’t need to use cosmetics. The same couldn’t be said to the other ladies in Frank’s year that used make-up, especially the girly girls and ugly people who used it to attempt to look better. As Frank had said to PB, “Using cosmetics is useless, you either don’t need it or it won’t help you.” Playing in the noon-day sun, their face’s had spots of pinks and reds and blues, looking like a clown, especially near the eyes. Frank forgot about the sun and instead thought about the humour in the "clown" ladies, a pun on the Crown Ladies – who were the “populars” although they were hardly popular, all of them blonde and dumb in direct contrast to PB, brunette and smart. They ran around screaming “Where’s my make up?!” then all disappearing in the bathroom after retrieving make-up bags from their bags.

PB took no notice of them, she was always very mysterious, and it is probably the reason why Frank was closer to PB than he was with Aberdeen and Ayrrie (who was leaving at the end of the year). She was an interesting character, and Frank had stuck to her ever since the “Errr Errr Club” started teasing him in the first-grade. Frank wouldn’t call his relationship with PB a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, but just good friends, which they were.

Then they arrived. Blazer was still playing football, he was on the football team, and he was the goalkeeper. He pulled a save, a diving save. Impressive, I thought.
“Ugh,” PB said disgusted, “I hate show-offs.”
I was going to argue that his save was only appropriate for the situation, but PB played netball – and even if I told her, she would give me a lecture on why she should care about that. However for me, I was a football fanatic, I followed the early Arcadia FC in the Arcadian Champions League, who came first.

Blazer got up, covered in dust – he spotted me, with PB. He immediately got another one of his goons to replace him. He walked over, sweat on his face, dust everywhere and the overwhelming stench of him reeked the place. I just stared at him. PB screeched forward, a smile on her face, a wide smile showing her gleaming white teeth. Not good.

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