1.0 - The First Day of School

Music blared throughout the room. Frances winced and scrambled for the remote to the stereo system. ‘Fuck!’ he groaned as he turned off the stereo. He sat up in bed and rubbed his hands over his face. First day of school. He had been up half the night before, talking to Alexa on the phone. He smiled, thinking of her outrage at his joking suggestion to pick her up in the convertible. Alexa wasn’t one for flaunting wealth around and she preferred to be picked up in his old Volvo.

Frances got out of bed, padding to the bathroom just to the right. He slept in the nude so it was just a matter of him tinkering with the temperature of the water to get the shower going how he liked it. After a moment, he stepped in, grunting as the water sprayed onto his face. Hurrah for school.



As he showered, he thought about Alexa. How could he not? She'd been on his mind a lot lately – more than that, even. She was the reason he'd be sporting the echoes of dark circles under his eyes this morning. He rubbed shampoo through his hair and grinned, remembering how her face would cycle through rage, irritation, and finally settle on amusement every time he showed up at her house in the convertible, dry wind tugging at his hair, his arm resting on the door of the car. It was best, sometimes, to play nice. Whether or not the kids at school would believe it, Frances actually knew and respected boundaries when they really mattered. Thus, today he would be rocking the Volvo. She'd be getting ready now as well, probably stepping into the shower. Green tea body wash. Or maybe something citrus-y. And Miriam, if he knew her, would be holding the bathroom hostage, humming to herself as she tugged at her curls and ignored her sisters' pounding. If there was one thing Frances could appreciate about going back for another year of school it was the chance to see his two beautiful women every day without having to craft an excuse that he'd pretend his mother cared about.

The water ran cold and, yelping, Frances sprang for the shower door.

**

Ah, the comfort and joy of a well-established routine. Frances slowed the Volvo as he neared Alexa's house, recognizing the sight of Mr. Foster's yearly First Day of School photoshoot from down the street. Alexa pulled a face, Mr. Foster crouched and snapped. Frances knew he would be grinning. How could he not? The man had a prize in Alexa, a damned peach, and he, unlike some parents Frances knew, knew it.

Finally hearing his slow approach, Alexa and her father turned their attention away from photography for the moment. Alexa sighed, dropping her shoulders and smiling. He had indeed made the right choice in the Volvo, then. Good. Frances smiled.

“Hi, sweetie!” Alexa said, leaning in on the driver's side to kiss Frances' cheek.

“Hey there, babe. Hey there, Mr. Foster,” said Frances, waving at Alexa's dad who, true to form, had resumed taking photos.

“Alexa! Turn around so I can take a picture of you and Frances together,” he said, waving his hand at her.

‘Daaaaaad,’ she groaned, dragging out his name. ‘You have a million pictures of us already! Enough with the blackmail!’

Frances, always happy to play the role of sneaky traitor, leaned halfway out the window, resting his arms on the windowsill. He tugged at her sleeve, making her yelp in surprise, and as she turned to swat at him, rolling her eyes at his mischievous grin, her father took another photo.

‘Argh! It’s a conspiracy! You guys, stop!’ commanded Alexa, smacking Frances on the arm and shaking her finger at her dad. The camera flashed mid-finger-wag, Frances gingerly rubbing his head, making a face and looking sideways at Alexa with a wary expression.

**

As they drove to school, Frances thought about his mother’s usual lack of interest in his or his sister’s lives. Their housekeeper had breakfast waiting for him when he came downstairs and he had given her a hug. His sister had already eaten and was at school; she was in some extra-curricular thing and their driver had taken her and their mother to their respective places by the time he had woken up that morning. So Frances sat alone in the dining room and ate his breakfast and then carried the dishes to the kitchen where he put them in the sink. He gathered his things together and had pocketed the car keys when Linda, their housekeeper, came to see him. ‘You have a good day, Frances. Is Alexa coming home with you after school?’ she asked.

Frances smiled at her. ‘Not sure. Maybe...it depends on how much homework we get the first day,’ he told her.

‘Well, just in case, I’ll have something to snack on. Otherwise, dinner is at 6. Your mother won’t be here. She has a meeting to attend,’ Linda told him.

Frances just nodded. ‘Thanks for the update. See you later,’ he said.

Frances went to the garage and got into the dark blue Volvo. He backed out of the garage after he’d opened the door and then pushed the garage opener to close it again. He sighed before he drove away from the house. It was too much to hope that his mother would have breakfast with him and his sister, Farah. She hadn’t eaten with them since he’d started middle school. He figured it was because she thought he was too old to have her sit with them. If he ever had the chance, he’d tell her that it would be nice for her to show some genuine interest in him or Farah but he knew she’d never listen to him. He received a large check every month and he kept it in his savings account. He only spent a little of it and preferred to keep the bulk of it in that account or else working in stocks and bonds. Money was what was spoken around his house; he learnt that when he was small. As long as he let things be, he’d have the money he’d need to someday walk out of the house and not come back. It wasn’t like his mother would notice anyway; the money was from a trust fund set up for him by his father.

He pushed away the ache inside like he always did and hitched a smile on his face, looking into the rearview mirror as he did so. He had to practice it a couple of times to make sure it spread to his eyes. Alexa would know if his eyes looked as dead as his heart during times like these. Satisfied, he drove away with a flourish of the wheel, the music blasting.

Alexa nudged him, snapping him back to the present. She was studying him, that frown on her face that meant he must have been really zoned out. He sighed. ‘Frances...you ok?’ she asked softly, touching his hand.

He laced his fingers with hers, squeezing reassuringly. ‘I’m fine. Just the usual, you know. Farah was off to school early today with her flag practice, I think. And mother...well, she had a meeting this morning.’

Alexa nodded her head, her face carefully blank. ‘Oh. Well, I’m happy for Farah!’ she said, shifting the conversation. ‘She really wanted to be part of the team and she worked really hard. I hope it’s worth it, getting up that early.’

Frances snorted. ‘Yeah, up at the buttcrack of dawn. No thanks. I like my beauty sleep. Have to keep myself fresh for my fans,’ he said, airily.

Alexa snickered. ‘Do you think Julie is going to be after you this year? She was pretty persistent last year.’

Frances shuddered. ‘Oh, please. I told her last year that she was a nice person and all but my heart belonged to another.’

‘You didn’t!’

‘I did! I said that my heart has been taken by another and will forever be entwined, that our destiny was meant to be,’ insisted Frances, sneaking a look at Alexa as she gazed out the window, the corner of her mouth twitching.

‘You’re awful,’ she murmured, giving their clasped hands a reproving shake.

‘Yes...and that’s why you love me so. I don’t think Julie will be a problem this year. I hear she’s latched onto that guy from Norway. The one I call Thor,’ said Frances.

Alexa hung her head. ‘You’re hopeless.’

Frances grinned. ‘Yes...yes, I am.’ He turned the car into the school parking lot and parked alongside another car that had just pulled into its space. His grin widened as he saw who it was.
‘Hey...hey, Sexyback!’ he yelled, watching with delight as Miriam’s face flushed, her cheeks pinking to an attractive dark red.

Miriam was Alexa’s best friend. She’d known her since elementary school and knew Miriam’s entire family as well. Miriam was a bit taller than Alexa, with voluptuous curves and a small belly she proudly referred to as her ‘love pooch.’ Miriam had eyes that were a mahogany brown and her lashes were long and thick. Her hair was a riot of curls that never behaved and tumbled down her back to her waist, the colour of oak bark. She was the oldest of four girls, two of which were in the car with her.

Frances hadn’t noticed, as he was busy teasing Miriam but Alexa did.

He yelped as Alexa pinched him. ‘Stop that! Her sisters are with her!’ hissed Alexa, pointing covertly.

‘Oops,’ murmured Frances. ‘Sorry, Miriam. How ya doing? Hey there, Miriam’s sisters!’ he waved genially.

One of them sniffed at him, her dark green eyes, dark red-brown hair, and pointed face giving him the impression of a fox in human form. ‘Honestly, we do have names,’ she pointed out.

Another got out of the back of Miriam’s car and graced him with a shy smile, her eyes cast down.

‘Hi there, Ruth,’ said Frances gently, his voice pitched low. He liked the younger of the twins; her gentleness and shyness appealed to a protective side in him.

‘Frances,’ she said, softly in return, quickly meeting his eyes with long lashed doe eyes and then looking at her other sister with mute appeal.

‘Oh, fine. Hi there, Frances. In case you forgot, I’m Anna,’ she said, her green eyes sparkling at him, her mobile mouth quirked up in a reluctant smile.

‘Hi there, Anna. Don’t tell me you’re in high school now. You and Ruth together. You’re going to run this school by the end of the year,’ he predicted. ‘The two of you together are a dangerous combination.’ He was delighted to see Anna grin openly at him and to see Ruth gaze at him with shy wonder.

‘Give us six months,’ Anna riposted with a barking laugh. She scooped her backpack up from the front seat and shut the door. ‘We want to make sure the plans are fool proof.’ She winked at him and then turned to her twin. ‘Ruth, let’s see if Cassie and Jen are here already, yeah? We can see if we’re in the same classes.’

Ruth tore her eyes away from Frances and smiled at her twin. ‘Sure! We need minions, you know,’ she said, laughing with delight at Anna’s stunned expression. She hooked up arms with her sister and walked away, her backpack slung over her other shoulder.

Miriam sighed. ‘Oh, be careful, Frances. Her heart is so gentle and she wouldn’t understand that your flirting isn’t real.’

Frances stiffened, his face shutting down. ‘Don’t worry, Miriam. Her innocence is safe with me.’

‘Frances!’ said Alexa, sharply, seeing Miriam’s face fold into lines of hurt. ‘She’s just looking out for Ruth. You can’t get upset at her for that.’

Frances shifted as he saw the hurt on Miriam’s face. ‘Ah, Sexyback, I didn’t...shit. I’m sorry. I fucking hate the first day of school.’

Miriam smiled at him. ‘Just be aware, ok?’ she asked.

‘Yeah....I will be. She’s safe with me. Although, any asshole tries something with her, that’s another story,’ he said, grimly.

‘My hero,’ said Miriam, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

Frances leaned forward to give her a kiss on the cheek. ‘Yes, ma’am,’ he drawled and mimed tipping his invisible hat in her direction.

A derisive laugh had him straightening up and he scowled as Logan came sauntering their way.

Frances couldn’t help but feel defensive around Logan. Logan was handsome in a raw, masculine way that Frances never was. Logan was an athlete and was built like one and he had the face of a handsomer Edward Norton with green eyes and dark brown hair.

‘Oh, look. Someone cleaned up nice for school today,’ Frances said, leaning against his car as he studied the outfit Logan had so carefully chosen for school. Frances felt a little scruffy next to Logan’s crisp dark blue dress shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms. The dark blue
black jeans were a nice touch as well. Frances was wearing a t-shirt and faded blue jeans that had seen better days. His shoes were some old Converses that felt like a second skin on his feet. He hadn’t felt the need to dress up for the first day of school but had second thoughts after seeing Alexa look Logan up and down with an appreciative smile.

‘You look really nice,’ she said to Logan, reaching up to hug him. She didn’t need to reach up too high; it was small, petty comfort but Logan wasn’t very tall. Frances was a hair under six feet, lanky and lean. He towered over Logan and was just fine with that fact.

‘Thanks! I decided since I’d been living in t-shirts and swim trunks all summer, I’d switch it up for the first day, although I’m going to probably be back in t-shirts and sweatpants tomorrow,’ confessed Logan as Miriam hooted in delight.

‘You look great, Logan,’ she said. ‘You should wear dress shirts more often.’

‘Yeah...although, since you have like, three, that’d be a little difficult, wouldn’t it?’ asked Frances with a smirk. Stopping himself from making the hurtful remark would have been easy. He just didn’t want to.

Logan shot him a dirty look. ‘Oh, excuse me, Mr. Moneybags. I don’t have a closet just for dress shirts unlike some people here.’

Alexa laid a hand on Logan’s arm. ‘Stop it. Frances, stop baiting him. And really, Logan. This is Frances. Quit rising to his remarks.’ She put her arms around his waist and leaned into him. ‘Hey. It’s the first day. Let’s play nice.’

Logan gazed down at her and kissed her, gently on the forehead. ‘Fine. Should we get to class?’

Alexa grabbed her backpack out of Frances’ car and Logan snagged it from her, holding it by the strap along with his. He held his other hand out to her and she took it, smiling at him.

‘Come on, Frances. Let’s see if we get Myers,’ she called back as she walked along Logan’s side.

Frances growled low in his throat and Miriam nudged him. ‘Let it be,’ she said to him, and swung her backpack to smack him on the thigh.

Frances jumped, shouting, ‘Oh, it’s ON!’ and chased after her as she ran to catch up to Alexa. She took Frances’ hand and squeezed it. Frances squeezed back in silent appreciation and they entered the school.