Guyyyys I'm baccckk! This one took me so long because we are putting together some of my favorite friendship chemistry; Leo and Frank! And because they're here, we're gonna have a par-teh! The roof is not my son but I will raise it! Les ge starded homeez.
"I don't get it," a small boy with calculating eyes and a goofy grin drawled, observing his disproportionate companion. "Why is your face so fat, but your body all body builder-esque?"
"Leo, I swear to God, I've told you this a million times." Previously mentioned body builder hissed at his irritating friend. "I'm just growing into myself."
"More like your face is waiting for your body to finally develop those curves you should've gotten when you hit puberty long ago, sweetheart. Cutie. Frank, darling dear." Leo winked at him, managing to piss him off to ground-breaking levels, just like every other day.
"Valdez I'm going to kill you!" Frank growled launching himself at the scrawny Leo. Sensing his immediate death, Leo rolled out-of-the-way and tsked him.
"For shame, young Frank. Canada would be very disappointed to find that one of its own is trying to strangle defenseless Latinos." Leo cackled, zipping down the carpeted stairs of the homey four-bedroom two-bathroom, house as Frank furiously hounded after him.
"Emily," Leo sang, bouncing into the kitchen and clinging to Frank's mother, "your son is trying to kill me again!"
"Leo, que pasa?" his mother, Esperanza, sighed, shaking her head, "Que hiciste?" (Leo, what's up? What did you do?)
"I didn't do anything, mamá!" Leo barely managed a straight face to try and convince the adults in the room as Frank finally thundered in.
"Aw, Esperanza, he has to be telling the truth!" Emily laughed gesturing to Leo's expression. "Just look at his little face!"
Leo winked at Frank, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Esperanza. She rolled her butterscotch colored eyes and gave Leo a light and playful smack on top of the head. "No, my son is a little liar. Pobre Frank, is Leo framing you again?"
"What else does he do in his free time?" Frank muttered under his breath, before smiling at his favorite 'aunt'. "Yes, he definitely is."
"Let's just let it go," Emily ruffled her son's inky black hair and pushed him down into a seat. He grumbled a little, but smiled slightly and sat down nonetheless. "I just finished preparing dinner."
"Thank Dios you can cook," Esperanza grinned, pulling her hair back into a messy bun which her dark hair continued to spill out of. "I have a feeling Leo and I would starve if not for you."
"Hey, anything for my best friend and favorite nephew." Emily's fluid movements made it seem like she was dancing as she set down steaming bowls of spaghetti and meatballs on the sturdy oak table.
Once everyone was seated and Leo and Frank were fighting for first servings, the conversation started flowing effortlessly – per usual – between the Valdez and Zhang family. "So," Esperanza knew it was useless to try to get a bite to eat before their ravenous boys. "When are you going back to Afghanistan?"
"I'm supposed to be deployed again in two weeks." At first glance, Emily wouldn't seem like a soldier because of her nimble movements and small frame, but after a second look, her chiseled muscles and weary but determined and strong eyes became more apparent. "Is it fine for Frank to stay at your house?"
"Of course," Esperanza waved off the request, "Frank is always welcome here—"
"Only on Thursdays, Sundays, and Tuesdays, actually," Leo interrupted, passing the bowl of pasta over to the mothers.
"— and you know that. He and Leo work really well together in the shop."
"She uses the word 'well' extremely loosely," Frank shoveled food into his mouth as Leo nodded his head rapidly in agreement; his mouth too occupied chewing to speak.
"You know," Emily mused, placing her head on top of her folded hands, "I bet that you two wouldn't be able to last a week without each other."
Though both boys loved betting, they didn't even consider taking this one. Despite their attitudes, their only real source of entertainment came from each other. They both claimed that was their mothers' fault; if Leo's mom had never moved in next door to Frank's, they probably wouldn't have this issue.
After all the food Emily had prepared was demolished and any dessert-like item in the house was eaten, the time arrived for Emily and Esperanza's favorite conversation topic. Their boys' love lives. "So," they grinned and spoke in unison, "how are your girlfriends?"
"Well," Leo smirked cockily, "I broke up with my other girlfriend last—"
"We were talking to Frank," they cut him off, hurting his self-esteem.
"You wound me, you middle-aged blunt and incredibly harsh women," Leo admonished, dark brown eyes wide, clutching his chest.
"You know I don't have a girlfriend," Frank ducked his head, embarrassed.
"Yeah, so why don't we talk about my newer girlfriend, her name is Khion—"
"You used her as your girlfriend two weeks ago," Emily reminded him absent mindedly before re-focusing back on her son.
"Why not?" Esperanza frowned as she reached across the table and squeezed Frank's cheeks. "You are so cute! And very nice and smart!"
"Oh, thanks," he scratched the back of his neck that was turning a dusty red. "I don't know. None of the girls at our school interest me."
"He just means none of them would go out with him!" Leo whisper-yelled, now set on getting the attention of the dinner table.
"Frank!" his mother whined dropping her head on the table as Leo danced in the background. "I have to assume that Leo's told the truth about at least one of his girlfriends, meaning he has found girls interesting enough. Why not you?"
"Frank, you two are finishing ninth grade! You'll be tenth graders next year! You need to have at least gone on a date!" Esperanza dramatically sighed flopping beside Emily, Leo now threatening to throw fine china out a window.
"Okay, people, I will light a match with just my fingers," Leo deadpanned in a last-ditch attempt. A tiny flame burst out from the tip of his finger tip and he gently tapped it to the candle on the end of the table, setting it on fire. He looked expectantly at everyone; the mothers still had their heads on the table and Frank was shaking his head furiously at Leo.
"U-Um, may we please be excused?" Frank asked, not really waiting for a reply as he pressed the pressure points in Leo's neck to drag him out of the kitchen. Once they were safely stationed in Frank's orange room and on top of Frank's bunk bed, he threw Leo an exasperated look.
"Leo, we're not supposed to let them know! We swore!"
"Yeah, sorry about that. It all just slipped my mind. Kind of."
"Well, don't do it again," Frank glared at his comforters, not really feel like engaging in a glowering contest with Leo.
"Yeah, yeah, I won't." Leo waved him off tiredly, already falling down on Frank's insanely comfortable bed and ready to fall asleep.
"Like heck you won't," Frank muttered turning on his side and quickly drifting off to sleep next to his current and biggest pain in the butt.
Leo was pretty much done with school. There was only two and a half more weeks left; clearly the teachers had nothing left to teach them and were just acting as Satan's helpers by keeping them in that God forsaken jail. Every day only meant walking up the dusty hill to his house again with Frank as his only company.
"Leo! Frank!" Leo heard his mom holler from the garage attached to their house. "Necesito mis herramientas!" (I need my tools!)
"We're coming, mamá!" Leo shouted back as he wiped the sweat that continued to stubbornly trickle down the side of his face. Though he loved living in Arizona, sometimes the heat made him want to smack somebody. He was so lucky that Frank was always around.
"What kind of car is she working on, again?" Frank sent silent thanks up to whatever omnipotent presence allowed him to reach the summit.
"Lamborghini Gallardo," Leo didn't bother to conceal the longing in his face as he approached the completely gorgeous machine. Its 5.2-liter V-10 and its modular aluminum space frame never failed to send delighted shivers down his spine. He looked down at his mom – lucky little mechanic – who had the privilege to be rolled underneath the frame tinkering at the little bugs. "Mamá, can I have one? Pretty please? For your beautiful little boy?"
"Absolutely not, my wonderful little mistake," she laughed from underneath the car, reaching her tan and calloused hand out expectantly. "Torque wrench, please! And grab me my PB Blaster Frank!"
"Yeah, yeah," Leo rolled his eyes, heading towards the side of the garage where she hung all of her wrenches as Frank passed her the blaster. "Mamá, when am I allowed to fix one of the cars on my own?"
She rolled out from underneath the beauty, grease swiped across her face and a proud smile stretching across her lips. "Soon, baby. Maybe the next one?"
Leo held in a squeal of excitement. What if the next car was a Porsche? He bit his fist and hid his smile as his mother slid back under the vehicle.
"Esperanza, there are a few men outside! Say they want to talk to you about a big repair!" Frank grinned at the guys. He knew Esperanza deserved as much money as she could make, being one of kindest people he knew.
Esperanza quickly got out from underneath the car and wiped her hands with a less-than-clean rag and beamed at the men, holding out her hand. "Good afternoon, gentleman. My name is Esperanza Valdez. What can I do for you?"
"Luke Castellan," the man in front with blonde hair and a pretty smile shook her hand. "These are my associates, Charles and Chris. Is it possible for us to talk inside?"
"Sure," she swept her hair out of her face and opened up the door to her air-conditioned home. "Come inside." Once they were all ushered into the living room she stuck her head out of the door, "You two stay out of trouble, and hands off the car." She gave them a playful wink before disappearing inside.
Leo and Frank remained outside playing one of their favorite past times. Who will say uncle first when assorted screws and tools are thrown at each other, while Leo secretly slipped some of his mother's favorite tools in the baggy pockets of his jeans. The conversation in the house rose in pitch for a few moments, but Leo dismissed it when it went back to its original tone.
Finally, when Leo was about to concede after a particularly well-aimed hammer thrown by Frank, everybody came out. Leo examined his mom to make sure everything was alright, but all she gave him in response was a tight-lipped smile. "Leo, Mr. Castellan said that you and Frank were accepted to a boarding school. Frank, Emily already gave her permission for you to attend, and they snuck your stuff out to the car." Esperanza gave a laugh that seemed to sear her throat. "You're going to go with them in a few minutes."
"W-What?!" Frank exclaimed, completely bewildered. "Mom?"
"Leo, baby, come here, let me give you a big hug goodbye," Esperanza held out her arms, tears shining in her eyes.
He didn't really understand what was going on, but he had a bad feeling about it. He ignored his inner-manly protests and ran into her arms, taking comfort in her firm embrace that always smelled of metal and oil. The perfect combination. She leaned back, tucking a lock of his curly dark hair behind his ear before leaning next to his cheek, as if to give him a kiss. "Leo, don't let them ever break you. You're my son and we never lose because we're Valdez's. And we kick ass." She smiled through her tears that were now freely falling down her cheeks. "I love you so, so much."
Leo didn't understand, but he numbly nodded. Esperanza turned to Frank and pulled him into her hug. "I'm so sorry Emilia didn't get to say goodbye to you. But she and I both love you a ton, 'kay Frank?"
"Yeah," he sounded a little choked and Leo couldn't blame him. He didn't know when he was going to see his mom again once he was at this boarding school – he never even applied, how did he get accepted? – Frank didn't even get to say goodbye.
"Lettuce get in the car, guys," the bigger guy, Charles, Leo was pretty sure, grinned and opened the door and ushered them inside. "Sorry about the pun. Some kids appreciate them more than others." No one noticed Luke whisper something in Esperanza's ear, as he subtly hand-cuffed her wrist to one of her work tables.
"Hey, we love puns as much as the next kids getting spontaneously ripped away from their homes for boarding school," Leo gave Charles a thumbs-up as he clambered into the back seat, behind Leo and Frank.
"Perfect," Luke smiled at them as he slipped into the driver's seat. "We love senses of humor."
"Some kids we got a few years ago couldn't take a joke," Frank hadn't even seen Chris get in the passenger seat. "They were brother and sister; black hair and a little too old-fashioned Italian. They didn't understand the meaning of the word laugh, I don't think."
The group continued to laugh and talk, not even noticing the smell of flames coming from the direction of Leo's garage and house.
"Now, Frank, you're going to be staying in this room. We trust you kids so the rooming is co-ed. Don't have sex. Please." Luke snickered; his young face and immature jokes lead Frank to believe he was only a few years older than Leo and himself. "Your roommates are Hazel and Nico DiAngelo. They're interesting kids, but I think you'll get along well with them. Plus, Hazel is kind of cute." Luke nudged Frank's shoulder as he opened the door to the room and allowed him to meander inside.
"Leo," Luke walked down the hallway and opened another door. Leo whistled at the room. "This is your room. Your roommates are Percy and Annabeth."
He hadn't gotten a very good look when they let Frank in. There were three queen-sized beds with incredibly soft looking comforters and blankets; though he would've slept on the plush, rich red carpet it was so soft. One of the beds was covered in owls and quotes from different intellects through the years – Leo had a feeling the person who slept there was definitely smarter than he was. The other bed was a deep blue with lines drawn across, casting the appearance of an ocean. He almost didn't notice the boy sitting on top of them.
"Luke," the boy had messy black hair and cautious green eyes, almost as if he was constantly expecting something bad to happen. "When will Annabeth be back?"
"Not sure," Luke nudged his head towards Percy. "Leo, that's Percy. If you need anything, my number is on the door and you can call me on the phone beside your bed."
Luke slammed the door shut. Leo didn't hear the sound of it locking as he sat on the bed with amber and scarlet flames dancing across the fabric. He smiled at the Percy kid. "Hey, the name's Leo. How's it going?"
Percy looked confused. "Um, yeah. My name's Percy. You seem oddly at ease."
"I guess," he shrugged still fascinated by the big and luxurious room. "When do classes start?"
"Classes?" realization dawned on Percy's face and his earlier guarded expression was replaced with a sympathetic one. "Classes won't be starting. We're here as human guinea pigs because we're "special"."
"W-What?"
"Yeah, I've heard they've used boarding school as an excuse before." Percy studied Leo with more interest than before, a small, sad smile on his lips. "What's your skill? I have a thing for water. Our roommate Annabeth - I think you'll like her – can read minds."
Leo didn't know how he responded. Everything was blurry and his mind was racing, mostly screaming, 'What about his mom?' Suddenly, the door was slowly opened, a limping blonde figure making her way in, dressed in a gray sports bra and sweatpants. Blood dripped through her fingers where they held the side of her exposed stomach. On her entrance, Percy rushed to her side and scooped her up in his arms and placed her delicately on his bed.
He brushed her blonde princess curls away from her forehead and murmured something Leo couldn't hear in her ears. Leo flushed a bit, feeling as though he was intruding on an intimate moment.
"This is Annabeth, Leo," Percy's face was a combination between fury, affection, and despair. "And this is what they do to us."
I finished this story off on a note completely opposing my current mood. I was eating a klondike bar listening to comedy radio on pandora, otherwise known as pure bliss.
My word that everybody should know for the rest of the year is:
Defenstrate (De-fen-eh-strate); verb - the act of throwing something out a window