One day Frankie came to school with a pair of new socks, and Joey realized he was crushing big time. Not on the socks, of course, only crazy people had crushes on clothes. Even if they were nice. No, he was crushing on Frankie the Enforcer.
Thinking back, it was probably always there, this thing with Frankie. They'd been friends ever since they were in junior high and Frankie taught him how to steal quarters from the candy machines and then they'd been picked up by Harley.
He'd have thought it'd be Harley he'd be into if he were gonna get into guys. Harley was cool, powerful, everyone did as he said unless they liked knuckle sandwiches. But strangely, Harley did nothing for him except make him scared. Frankie was scary too, but he was nicer about it. At least he didn't threaten to replace Joey if he stepped out of line.
And besides, Frankie was kinda offbeat, kinda kooky. He could shove a 7th grader into a locker and write a poem in his head all in the same few minutes. He was smart, or as smart as he could be for a thug. Yeah, Frankie was...a great guy. Probably the best Joey'd ever known.
And on the day he came to school in those new socks, Joey realized he was crushing. And of course he was gonna tell Frankie, only wusses kept it to themselves! Of course, he'd have to do it in private but Harley had to sleep sometime.
So he waited until Harley was too busy beating the stuffing out of a couple seventh grade chess kids and found Frankie at the lockers. No one was around.
"Boy, that Harley. No one can pound a chess geek like him, eh?" Good way to break the ice. Frankie just nodded.
"Yes. It is good to see our Harley fend for himself, not that I mind lending a hand. Is not that what loyal thugs do?" Man, did Frankie realize what that did to him? Made him all fuzzy in his stomach...or maybe that was the meatloaf.
"Sure is." He tried to look casual. "So, um. Write any new poems?"
"I have one in progress, but I'm reluctant to share it with anyone," Frankie said. "Anything new on your end, Joey the Rat?"
"Eh, nothin' really." Except for the fact that he was totally into his best buddy. Neither of them said anything for a minute, just listened to the sound of chess geeks yelling in pain. That sound never bored him.
After a while, Frankie put his arm around Joey, and Joey decided it was a good time.
"Y'know, I got a confession to make," he said. "I'm into you. I mean, I always thought you were kinda cute in a manly way, y'know?" He didn't know what to expect, but Frankie's warm lips pressing against his had been pretty low on the list. Score!
"And I you, Joey the Rat." He was blushing. "Of course, we gotta make sure Harley don't find out. He's gonna be mad."
"Yeah, he'll probably feel all left out and stuff." Joey grinned. "But hey, keepin' a secret's kinda fun, right? Like we know somethin' he don't!" He had to admit, after being kicked around by Harley it'd be nice to have one up on him.
"Right." Frankie smiled. "Let's go get a burger."
"Sure thing, man!" They joined hands and walked down the hallway to the exit. "By the way, I really love those socks!"