Hello, everyone!
WARNINGS: INCEST, BULLYING, LANGUAGE
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my OCs.
Those three words
Are said too much
They're not enough
If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?
-"Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol
Carter and Frankie did not make a big deal out of Valentine's Day, unlike most couples did. They believed that they should show their love to each other everyday, and they didn't need some special holiday to tell them how much they loved each other.
For Carter and Frankie, Valentine's Day was just like any other day, aside from their gift exchange.
Road Brook Elementary was not big on holidays. Frankie often called it a no nonsense school, which meant all work and no play, but on some of the bigger holidays, they allowed a little wiggle room. For example, the month of December was usually dedicated to learning about the different holidays and cultures whether than the typical lessons. Valentine's Day had a Valentines exchange.
The Valentines exchange was just what the name implied. During lunch, you could write as many Valentines (signed or anonymous) as you wanted and drop them into a box at the front of the cafeteria, and the Cupids (volunteer students, mostly girls with a few boys) would drop them off. If you had a bigger gift, like a box of chocolates or flowers, you simply gave it to one of the Cupids personally, and they would drop it off.
Carter and Frankie never really bothered with the school's exchange, although they did make a few Valentines for their friends and placed them in the box. They always exchanged their gifts personally.
Six am dawned early with the blare of an alarm and a yawn from Carter as he smacked his hand against the alarm clock, trying to muster up the motivation to get out of bed as Frankie rustled in the bed above him (their mother allowed them to share a room, but she was still iffy about them sharing a bed, so she got them bunk beds).
Carter rubbed his eyes as he swung his legs out of bed and headed for the shower, hearing Frankie getting out of her bed as well behind them, the steps that led off of the top bunk creaking as she descended them.
Carter finished up his shower, and by the time he did, he felt much more awake than he had previously. He brushed his teeth, dressed in a simple blue T-shirt and jeans, and brushed his hair into a somewhat decent style before he exited the bathroom at half past six (school didn't start until eight).
"Shower's free," he chirped, walking over to the desk, where Frankie was double checking her math homework, and he pecked his girlfriend on the cheek, causing her to smile giddily. No matter how many times they kissed, every moment of contact always made both of them smile like the lovesick fools they were (at least that was how Carly put it).
"Thanks," Frankie replied, gathering her homework and returning it to the green folder she used for math, which she stuffed into her backpack before disappearing into the bathroom.
As soon as Carter heard the shower turn on, he opened his desk drawer (the two of them shared a desk. The drawers on the left were Carter's, and the drawers on the right were Frankie's), pulling out a simple red box a little smaller than his palm.
The gift was so small but the meaning so great, and Carter hoped Frankie liked it.
He heard the bathroom door open, and he turned, hiding the box behind his back.
Frankie was drying her brown hair with a towel, and she wore a green dress that came to her knees with gray capris leggings under it, ending about halfway down her calves. Her necklace glittered on her chest, and her feet were currently bare, padding across the hard wood floors softly. Her blue eyes twinkled as she spotted her brother standing across the room.
"You look beautiful," Carter told her, truthfully, as he crossed the bedroom to stand in front of his sister, placing his hands on her hips and kissing her lightly on the lips, taking the towel from her hand and throwing it on a random chair without opening his eyes or pulling away from Frankie.
"I have something for you," he murmured, standing only a breath away from his girlfriend, and he pulled the box from behind his back, presenting it to her and opening it to reveal a small silver ring inside with a pink gem, the color of a cherry blossom, settled in the center of the band. Promise was engraved on the bottom of the band.
"It's a promise ring," Carter explained, slipping it onto the ring finger on her left hand. "A promise to always love each other."
"I love it," Frankie whispered as she leaned in for another kiss. "I got you something, too," she told him, pulling back to traverse the room and grab a small box- silver tied with a gray ribbon, roughly the size of her palm. "I noticed how you like to tie my ribbons around your wrist," she stated, opening the box, "So I made you this."
Inside the box was a bracelet. It was a complex braid of various ribbons with what appeared to be three braids braided into one, almost like something you'd do on a loom, but since their family didn't own a loom, Carter knew Frankie had done it by hand. A small metal plate was tied to the front of the bracelet with the word promise etched into it.
Promise had always been their word, like Always for Harry Potter or Never for Percy Jackson. That was why Carter got Frankie a promise ring.
Carter grabbed the bracelet, but Frankie took it from his hand and easily slipped it onto his wrist.
"It's amazing," Carter told her, and the two of them kissed once again, sparks flying as their lips touched in a gesture that truly represented why their word was promise.
School began as it usually did with Carter and Frankie walking into school, hands intertwined and promptly ignoring any dirty looks sent their way. Almost immediately after they walked through the doors, they followed their usual morning routine to meet…
"Carly?" Carter said, incredulously.
Carly was known for her professional demeanor, but today, she was anything but professional in a red poufy dress. The dress looked like something the Red Queen or a Broadway actress would wear with the top being white and placed with small traces of red thread in criss cross patterns across the torso before the top morphed into big red ruffles that reached about three quarters of the way down her thighs. She had a woven basket swinging from her arm filled with the fake rose petals, and her purple backpack looked so out of place on her back, it was almost more hilarious than the outfit.
"What are you wearing?" Frankie laughed.
"I'm a Cupid!" Carly exclaimed, throwing a bunch of rose petals over them, allowing the petals to stick in their hair and rest on their shoulders, but neither sibling made a move to brush them off, too stupefied by Carly's outfit to even notice the petals.
"I just… I can't imagine you as a Cupid," Frankie confessed, gesturing to her dress.
Carly shrugged. "What can I say? Valentine's Day is awesome," she stated before handing a white rose to each of them.
"Wait. Don't white roses represent marriage?" Carter questioned, skeptically.
Carly nodded. "We all know you're going to get married someday! You're soulmates," she pointed out. "Anyway, I have to pick up some Valentines from the office and hand them out to all the luck ducks who got one!" she said with a cheerful wave before skipping off into the crowd.
Carter and Frankie blinked before turning to each other and shrugging. Carly was a third grader. It was nice to see her acting like the child she was whether than a mini adult.
"Anyway, I gotta head to math," Carter stated, kissing his sister on the lips.
"Hey, faggots! Get a room!" a boy shouted, and the two reluctantly stopped kissing but didn't pull away from each other.
"And it's begun," Carter sighed in exasperation. "See you after first period," he told his sister before they separated.
"Hey! A faggot is a bundle of sticks! Learn the meaning of the word before using it as an insult. You're embarrassing yourselves!" Carter yelled, and he ran away before the bullies could register what he said. He vaguely heard Frankie laughing as she entered her first period class, which was right next to the spot where they had kissed only moments before.
First period was pretty ordinary. In fact, it might've even been better than usual. A few wads of paper to the back of the head, a few whispers of disgusting and freak and other average insults (seriously? You think the bullies could get more creative than the same slurs repeated over and over again), but that was about it.
Carter and Frankie met up after first period to chat about nothing and everything before they shared a kiss and went their separate ways once again.
Second period is when things went off the rails.
Frankie's second period class was music, which she happened to share with Joanna.
Music class itself wasn't bad, but the passing period that followed was.
The minute Frankie exited the room with Ms. Abraham, the music teacher, going the opposite way and rounding the corner, she was slammed against the wall as soon as the teacher was out of sight and out of hearing range.
"Hey, dyke," Joanna hissed, spit flying onto Frankie's face, and Frankie winced at the disgusting globs of salvia that landed on her skin. "Where's your boyfriend?"
"Actually, I was just going to meet him, so if you wouldn't mind getting out of my way," Frankie snarled, rather boldly.
Joanna's eyes narrowed. "You better watch your mouth, Hideous Hughes."
Frankie raised her eyebrows. "Really? That was the best you could come up with?"
Joanna glared hard enough to make Frankie flinch before she roughly tore one of Frankie's sleeves, and Frankie cried out.
Yep, that was going to leave a bruise.
One of Joanna's friends (if you could even call them that. More like fans) yanked Frankie's hair, wrenching her head back hard enough to make her neck pop, and the other hesitated before punching Frankie's arm and side and shoving her to the ground.
Joanna cruelly stomped on Frankie's legs, mud and dirty water splattering across her leggings from Joanna's sneakers, and Frankie curled up on the ground to protect herself as much as possible.
"We'll see if her boyfriend still wants her when she's no longer beautiful," Joanna sneered before the girls stalked off, laughing.
They left a young girl with a ripped dress and dirty leggings and messy hair lying on the ground, struggling not to cry.
Her necklace cut into her hand from her gripping it so hard.
Meanwhile, just a few yards away from the music room was the gym and the locker room beside it. The bell had rang, and the locker room had rapidly emptied, leaving only Carter. He'd thrown his gym clothes into his locker, pulled his jeans on, and was just reaching for his shirt when a hand yanked him around, tossing him into the lockers behind him. A scrape ran down his back from where a sharp edge bit into his back.
"Hey, Carter," Stanley smirked, his foul breath rolling over Carter's face.
Carter gagged. "Geesh, dude, ever heard of a breath mint?"
Carter immediately wished he hasn't said that when Stanley's eyes filled with anger, and he rammed a fist into Carter's face.
"You are so disgusting, dating your little sister. That's sick and depraved," Stanley hissed.
Carter debated what he was about to say next before he decided why not? He'd already dug his grave, might as well lie in it.
"I'm surprised you know big words like that, Stanley," he quipped.
Stanley snarled. "You are dirty and gross moving in on your little sister like that. I think you need a shower. At least that might wash away some of the dirtiness."
"On his body anyway. Too bad we can't do anything about his mind," Patrick added.
"Wait! Guys, stop! I-"
But they didn't stop. Stanley and Patrick dragged him into the shower, tossed him onto the flower, and turned on the water.
Carter screamed as the cold water hit his skin, and he screeched as it drenched him to the bone while the boys cackled, filming it on their phones and calling him a hundred horrible names that sliced into Carter's skin like a thousand cuts. Only you couldn't see the scars they left, but they were there. And they always would be.
"What is going on in here?"
Coach Nickelson was a short, stout African American man with a small neck and a sharp chin that seemed to jut out from the rest of his body. His dark eyes always had a look of indifference to them, and his voice boomed like thunder every time he spoke.
"Go! Get out of here!" he growled at the boys, who immediately scampered off, and Coach Nickelson turned off the water, and he sighed, "You should head to third period, Carter."
Carter glanced up and saw the coach looking at him with a mixture of emotions on his face. It was always hard to tell what Coach Nickelson was feeling. He never offered to help Carter, but he did chase off bullies when they went too far, like with the current shower incident. He never punished the bullies, though, but he always seemed to have the smallest traces of pity in his eyes, so it was hard to tell if the coach felt bad for him or if he felt like Carter got what he deserved.
Right now, it was leaning more towards a mix of the two as the coach turned away and headed for his office, not even giving Carter a towel or a change of clothes.
Carter walked to his gym locker and sighed as he noticed his gym clothes missing. Looks like he was wearing wet clothes for the rest of the day.
He grabbed his shirt and nearly burst into tears.
The word Pervert had been written across the front.
Carter and Frankie found each other on the tail end of the passing period, and they decided not to go the third period, opting instead to sit in the custodial hallway. It's not like they could go looking like this.
"You too?" Carter asked.
Frankie nodded, glumly, pulling at her ripped sleeve to cover the bruise on her shoulder.
Carter sat beside her, and he began to redo her hair, knowing it would bring comfort to both of them.
"They said… let's see how much your boyfriend loves when you're no longer beautiful," Frankie muttered.
"Frankie, I love you, and it's not for your looks. You'll always be beautiful to me," Carter told his sister, tying one of the ribbons in her pigtails.
Frankie nodded. "I know. It's just…" She couldn't stop her tears as they streamed from her eyes, and she trailed off.
"It's okay, Frankie. It's just a couple of mean kids, nothing new," Carter pointed out.
Frankie shrugged. "I know," she sniffled. "But what if it's like this for the rest of our lives, Carter? What do we do then? Cry ourselves to sleep every night, nurse bruises every week, their words turning over and over again in our heads? Everything they've called us, everything they've done to us… it hurts, Carter. I try to be strong, but it really hurts," she whimpered.
Carter finished putting her hair back into her pigtails, and he turned her around to face him, wiping away her tears.
"I know." And he did. He knew, and he wished he didn't. "But we're worth it," Carter murmured as he leaned forward to kiss Frankie gently on the lips. "And that has to be enough," Carter added. "I love you, Frankie."
"I love you, too, Carter," Frankie replied.
The moment was interrupted by a dreadfully familiar voice.
"Aw, look at the disgusting little freaks…"
Later that day…
Carter's hands were bloody from scrubbing the shirt so hard in the bathroom sink in their apartment. He didn't know why he bothered. He'd get rid of the shirt whether the word came out or not. He knew every time he wore it, it would feel like it was burning him, branding the word into his flesh, so he would gladly throw that shirt in the nearest dumpster, but… he had to do it. He had to get the word out. He had-
A hand caught his.
"Carter, you know it's not true, right?" Frankie asked as she forced him to drop the shirt and turning off the water, which was so hot, steam had clouded the mirror. She turned him to face her, and he hadn't even realized he was crying until he leaned his forehead against hers and a sob clawed its way out of his throat.
"I know," Carter said, hoarsely. "It's just…" he couldn't find the words.
"I know," Frankie responded, softly, wiping away his tears. "I know."
For a moment, they just stood there before Frankie lifted her head and grabbed his hand.
"Come on," she told him as she led him out of the bathroom and down the hall to the roof access door. Technically, they weren't allowed up here, but their mom and the building manager both knew they came here often and neither tried to stop them.
Benji followed them up the roof, and Frankie and Carter laid side by side on the roof top, far above the pain, the memories, far above it all. It was just them, their loyal dog, and the stars, the stars that would shine, even in the darkest nights.
Up here, they could forget.
"I love you, Carter," Frankie said, her voice breaking the silence as she took his hand.
Those three words. They said them all the time, but it never seemed to be said enough.
"I love you, too, Frankie. I will always love you. Promise." Carter's smile shined brighter than the stars, and Frankie's eyes met his.
"Promise," she agreed.
Thank you for reading! I hope you all have a great day.
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