Authoress' note: Another fanfic about Shonda and Frank? Sure is…but I just wanted to explain a little about the title and such before we see what happens. ^^ In this story, it's about what happens during part of the year Shonda and Frank are separated, and why it took me so long to come up with is beyond me…ah well, better late than ever right? Right. Now, with the title: I really couldn't think of a better one. ^^; Besides, that's the title of one of my favorite Beck songs. Also, if you have not read the first story, 'Season of the Sharks,' I suggest you do so before this one, because it won't make too much sense if you don't. ^_^ Well enough of my rambles, on with the show!
Frank caught his breath as he watched the bus, which Shonda fled to, go further and further away. At first he wasn't too sure what had happened, and wondered if he had been dreaming or hallucinating or what-not. But he very soon realized it was real life. And he also realized that Shonda was gone…
"What the…" Frank murmured. "Did she really leave me?"
As soon as he got back to the arcade, the Sharks asked what seemed like a million questions at once. "What happened," "Where were you," "Where's Shonda?"
Finally, Frank sat down at the pavement and slowly began to sob into his hands. Was he doing what the Sharks thought he was??
"Frank!" One of the Sharks with a hula-hoop exclaimed. "Are you all right, man??"
Frank's sobbing soon got worse. "She's gone," he said softly between sobs.
"Who?"
"Shonda, you dingbat!"
"Calm down," another Shark said. "Tell us what happened, dude."
Frank began, "Well, I sort of got mad about something she said, and I…I…yelled at her, and she got on a bus and left…I don't think she's coming back!"
"Woah! Take it easy. She probably won't be gone forever, I'm sure she'll forget about it."
"Not with how I acted." Frank took off his pointed shades and rubbed his eyes. "If you would please excuse me, I—I…" Frank ran off to behind the arcade, and cried the whole night through, mourning over the fateful situation.
The sun was already rising and chasing away the night stars when Shonda woke up and looked out the window of the bus. She couldn't believe the sight of the countless tall buildings of Fourside as the bus crossed the bridge. "Wow," she breathed.
As soon as the driver called, "Okay, young lady! This is the stop!" Shonda hopped off the bus into the soft grass of a park. It was a pretty chilly morning, and all she had on was the yellow terry cloth tank top she very frequently adorned, and some very baggy jeans. She crossed her arms as her teeth chattered slightly. "Brr…I wish I'd brought my jacket!"
Shonda walked up the street and looked around. "Man," she said to herself. "I wonder if I should have done this? I mean, I can't go back to Onett, not after what happened, so I might as well make the best of it…starting with some new clothes." She walked into a small clothing shop.
Shonda spent about an hour going through the racks of clothes and picked out a light blue jacket, a few pairs of pants, some shirts, a new pair of shoes, and some other stuff. Shonda always had quite a bit of money from Frank, but now that she was no longer with him (for now), she decided to take it easy on the cash spending until she could find a job of some kind.
As soon as she came out of the shop with a few bags, she looked around for a hotel. As she walked down the street some more, she heard some desperate, helpless voice.
"BOING…Help! Home no! Lost I am!"
Shonda looked down an alley and found a very small Mr. Saturn curled up in a dirty old towel for warmth. She ran up to him and said, "Are you all right??"
"ZOOM… No home I have…"
"You poor thing! Here, let me give you something to keep you warm and you can come with me." Shonda pulled out a red knit beanie from one of her bags and put it on him. "Something's missing," she said as she reached into the bag once more and pulled out a pair of blue tinted shades and put them just above the brim of the hat. "There! Now you look cute!"
"Oh you thank!" the Mr. Saturn looked up at her happily and hopped onto her shoulder. "What your name?"
"Shonda," she smiled. "I take it you're Mr. Saturn. I've heard about you guys and your little community near Grapefruit Falls…my boyfriend, or should I say ex-boyfriend, used to go up there all the time on dates, and I think I saw one of you before once when we were there."
"Ooh," Mr. Saturn said.
"So how'd you get here in the first place?" Shonda asked as they headed towards a nearby bakery.
"Know I don't. I just was in Saturn Valley with friends…all same…and I feel asleep and was here…ZOOM!"
"I see…" Shonda said incoherently. "Well, my boyfriend and I sort of broke up, and I had to leave."
"BOING!" Mr. Saturn said as they headed inside the bakery.
Meanwhile, back in Onett, Frank had just woken up, and wondered if he had dreamt of what happened last night, but found out he wasn't when Shonda was nowhere to be found nearby. He hadn't gotten much sleep that night, and sighed as he wondered what to do.
That's when a Pogo Shark came up and said, "You okay?"
"Whaddya think?" Frank scowled roughly.
"I take that as a no…still hung up about that chick?"
"That chick happens to be MY Shonda, who's gone…" he began to sob all over again. "I wonder where she is?"
"Now don't drown in the waterworks," another Shark said. "There's plenty of fish in the sea."
"Oh no," Frank said. "Don't even think about finding me another girl! Cause I don't want any but Shonda! I loved her more than my own life… Now just leave me alone, okay?" He tossed them a twenty-dollar bill. "Go to the mall in Twoson or something, just let me be."
As soon as the two Sharks left, Frank sat down and thought out loud. "Frank, get a hold of yourself. This is the first time you've cried in years, now put your mind to work and do something!"
As he looked around the back of the arcade, he noticed a heap of random parts and junk and thought, "Hmmm….maybe I could make a robot or something…" He kneeled down to examine the parts, as his hurt feelings temporarily subsided.
"So where have you been staying?" Shonda asked Mr. Saturn as they ate at a table in the bakery.
Mr. Saturn slurped some more on his Piggy Jelly, and said, "Home no…alley I sleep in…ZOOM!"
"Poor thing," Shonda said between bites of croissant. "I really have no place to go either…say, you want to be my pet and live with me? For now we could stay in a hotel or something."
"OH YOU THANK!" Mr. Saturn hopped up.
"Oh don't mention it," Shonda smiled. "Come on, let's find a hotel."
Meanwhile, back to the backyard of the arcade, Frank had out a toolbox and decided to make a robot. He wasn't sure yet on what kind of robot it would be, but he needed to do something to get his mind off Shonda. Before he dropped out of high school a couple years ago during his senior year, he had taken a mechanics course, so he knew a little on construction.
"It's worse than we thought," one Shark member whispered to the other as they watched Frank sorting through the pile of random junk and spare parts.
"Ahem," Frank said when he noticed them watching. "I'm a little busy." With that, the Sharks went inside the arcade, and he continued to ponder at what seemed like half a wooden barrel with a large hole in one side. "I wonder…" he said, and went to work.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"One room?" the hotel maintainer asked Shonda later that day. "That'll be fifty dollars."
As Shonda paid him, and headed towards her room she told Mr. Saturn, "I won't have money that much longer. I'd better do a job search tomorrow. Also, we can't stay in a hotel forever…"
Shonda walked into the perfectly clean room and looked out the window. She could see the whole city. Back in Onett, she used to love watching the sunset by the cliff near the ocean. By now, the sun was setting and the stars began to come out. The sight made her feel more secure about all this.
Snapping back to reality, Shonda turned to Mr. Saturn, sitting on the large bed. "You hungry?" Shonda smiled.
"BOING!" Mr. Saturn hopped up gleefully.
"Want some pizza?" Shonda picked up the phone and called Mach Pizza. "Hello? Yes, I'd like a large extra cheese pizza! …I don't care how fattening it is, just bring it over to the Fourside hotel, Room 217. Thanks!"
"Oh you thank!" Mr. Saturn exclaimed.
"Don't mention it." Shonda smiled.
About half an hour later, the pizza arrived. "That'll be twenty bucks."
Shonda opened the pizza box, wolfed down a slice, and said, "Tomorrow I'd better do some job hunting. Won't be fun, but I've gotta do it."
"Maybe if I make this piece a little tighter…" Frank was still working on the robot, which he decided to name Frankeystien once it was finished. By now he was tired, hot and irritable, but continued to work anyway.
"Hey Frank," a Skate Punk came up to him. "Why don't you take a break already? Ever since Shonda left you've been working on that weird thing whatever it's gonna be."
"Don't bring it up," Frank sighed pitifully. "I've gotta get my mind off her somehow, I can't think of another way."
As the Shark left, Frank wiped some sweat off his forehead, and continued to work.