"You should have stayed in your room," Evie said, approaching Frank, who was smoking a cigarette outside the hotel, standing next to an ash pipe near the glass door entrance, "There's a heartless huntress around."
"Yeah, I know," Frank whispered, taking a drag on his cigarette, "You."
"What?" Evie frowned and put her hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off. "No doubt. You do not want to talk to me. Why?"
"Just go away, would you?"
"Okay, what's going on? Why are you so rude to me if you've never been like that? To anyone."
"As if you didn't know the reason," Frank replied, looking down as the wind blew colder, "If you don't want to be with me, that's fine, but just say it to my face, you know? You don't have to hide."
"What was that again?" she asked, walking slowly around him, the sound of her heels clicking. "You think I'm hiding? From what?"
"You hide from me," Frank said with certainty, "You avoid me and I'm sick of it. I'm sick of you not showing up to tell me how you feel. But that's okay. I can't force you to be with me." Frank took another drag, leaning against a column at the entrance. "But is it so hard for you to be brave and tell me 'I'm not interested in you anymore' instead of just playing hide and seek?"
"What are you talking about?" She was very confused, "Aren't you the one who got over us? Aren't you the one who gave me wings and then cut them off? What about the poly relationship?"
"Well, I'll ask you the same thing now," Frank replied, almost breathlessly, "Make up your mind already. Are you willing to be with me and the other guys? Or are you going to keep hiding and breaking our hearts? You plan to hurt us all? Isn't my broken heart enough? Now you want a collection?"
"Frank, I really don't understand what you're saying," Evie said.
"It's nothing," Frank replied exhaustedly, "Just don't bullshit people like you did me tonight, okay? Be honest, say what you feel up front."
"I'm sorry I did whatever you think I did but I didn't do anything," Evie said firmly. "And I would never do anything to hurt you or any of the other guys in the band and you know it."
Frank looked her straight in the eyes.
He felt so stupid, because here he was again, believing her lies once again.
But she sounded and looked so sincere.
No. Evie was a very good actress but...
Something didn't make sense. Something wasn't right here.
"I know you wouldn't hurt us, any of us," Frank said, pursing his lips, "I just don't understand why you decided to send Jade with your stupid message though."
"I didn't send Jade with any message, Frank," Evie said, cocking her head.
"Well she told me that you had already given up on the poly relationship."
"I never said that," Evie frowned, "I just told her to be careful around men, especially Zeth but... Okay, I guess if I said that, my heart hurt."
"Zeth?" Frank raised an eyebrow, "That's weird. Zeth said that you, me and him should talk."
"That's true," Evie looked away, "Before we start our poly relationship, I think it's necessary for the three of us to talk. But I want to ask you something, Frank."
"What's wrong?"
"Why Jade?" Evie asked. "If you're interested in a poly relationship with me, why did you take her to the restaurant for dinner?"
"Courtesy perhaps?" Frank said it like it was obvious.
"Wait, you invited Jade to dinner without any attempt at being romantic?" Evie was shocked.
"I was just trying to be chivalrous," he again said it as if it was clear to see. "I mean, is there anything wrong with having dinner with a friend to talk about heartbreak?"
"Talk about heartbreak?"
"Yes. She literally confronted me about our past," now it was Frank who looked confused.
"What about the romantic room you rented?"
"I just wanted to relive old times with you and Sue said she would take care of that. I was planning to spend the night with you after dinner but you never arrived."
"Wait, that room was for me?!" Evie gasped, "I thought... But Sue told me... Sue made me set up the room with her!"
"That girl always misunderstands what I say," Frank rolled his eyes, laughing, "I thought, I don't know. I thought you had stood me up."
"No, it's just that I had work to do and... I'm so stupid!"
"I think I'm the stupid one because I didn't communicate well," Frank rubbed the back of his neck, "And since you don't have a cell phone, well, I think Jade misunderstood the whole message. This whole thing was a misunderstanding and I... I'm so sorry, Evie."
"It's okay, it's okay," she said, laughing with him a little, both of them blushing, "I misunderstood a lot of things too. I'm sorry I doubted you."
"I'm sorry I doubted you too," Frank sighed, long and hard but smiling, "Wow. It's like starting from scratch. That's good, I guess."
"This reminds me of when you and I first broke up in college," Evie said, "I wanted to be low-key and you wanted to shout our 'love' from the rooftops."
"We were the most popular couple in college, even more so than Chloe and Chad."
"They were the jock and mean girl cliché," Evie laughed, "I don't know how I kept myself from kicking their asses! But at least I beat them at the talent show."
"Oh! It was so hot! When I saw you dressed in that sexy bunny costume dancing on the stage... Holy shit! I thought, that's my girl! Zeth and Draco were sitting with me in the auditorium and wow! They both said that even though they didn't like you, credit where credit is due, you were a master of pole dancing!"
She laughed.
"Yeah. I was trying to forget about that talent show, The Dean lost it," she looked down, "That was the night you and I..."
"It was the night you took me to your 'apartment' because your 'parents and sister' weren't home."
"I remember you asking why the door of my room was made of metal." Evie said, biting her lip.
"It was a panic room, you said," Frank laughed and took another drag on his cigarette, "A safe room."
"Sometimes I think you don't talk about that night because it was a mistake." Evie said and Frank scratched his head.
"You were my first time," Frank said blushing, "I don't talk about that night very often because it's not a casual topic."
"You don't need to talk about it. Draco has already showed me 'Animatronic' and..."
"I wrote it a long time ago when I had just received my bionic limbs, Evie. I don't hold any grudges against you anymore," Frank said and she nodded, "I only agreed to record it so that Draco could impress those film producers you helped me contact. He really wants it to be the theme song for the Fright Nights At Teddy's movie."
"I'm sure that will happen," Evie said, "It's a good song about revenge. And the vocals of the chorus sound quite aggressive."
"I don't sing those parts. The choruses are almost always Zeth and Finn."
"Yeah, I know. I'd be surprised if you sang those parts, but Zeth? Not so much. You know we hated each other in college."
"Zeth seems to be on good terms with you now."
"Yeah, he is my boss after all."
"Evie. I know there is something hiding beneath the surface. I mean, I've never asked you but, your relationship with Zeth... Is everything okay?" Frank asked, but Evie shook her head.
"There are some things in the world better off not knowing. This is one of them." She replied.
"And would you like to go out with him now too? With the poly relationship and all that?" Frank bit his lip.
"I love Zeth, Frank. As much as I love you and Draco and Alex and Finn and Everett."
"I knew it," he chuckled, "And I know Zeth loves you too. It was obvious from the way he put your life before the show today."
"Zeth would have done that for any of you, Frank."
"Yeah, sure." Frank laughed, "I'd rather think he did it because he secretly loves you."
"You're too sweet for this world."
Frank stared at her blankly before letting out an angry groan.
"Of course you would say that! That's exactly what everyone says about me. I am too nice, too sweet and not an F Boy like Zeth."
"Frank, That's not a bad thing. Many of us would like to be like you, you know? Innocent and loving. Understanding and brave enough to say no to all the evil in this world."
"Well, I have never felt like a saint to be honest. I'm human too! A Sparkman o whatever! I have feelings and it bothers me that people think I'm too innocent! I have my dark side too! I also like to smoke and drink and watch porn and, you know, stuff."
"And you call that a dark side?" Evie chuckled, "No. That's called living your life, Frank. You are light, not darkness. You are at peace with your shadow and I admire you for that."
"And what is a dark side for you?"
"The opposite of you," she replied, "All the horrors of this world."
"The horrors that people like you and Zeth and Draco have seen?"
"Zeth and Draco? Pl-ease! My life has been a joyride compared to theirs. I only visited Hell. But those two? They were born, raised in it."
"It's not about who suffered more," Frank said, "It's about the pain you've felt. Do you want to talk about it?"
"And there he is again, the sweet boy. See what I'm saying? You're too good for this world, Frank. And I mean that as a compliment." Evie laughed a little, then leaned against the column by his side, "I used to believe that people like you didn't exist when I was a child, and I thought that kindness was just evil or greed in disguise. Going to college with you and meeting you was the best thing that could have happened to me. It reminded me that I was still relatively human."
"When did you stop feeling human?" Frank asked, sounding very concerned.
"Believe it or not, it wasn't until I became an adult. Hunters had been monitoring a Franco's Pharma laboratory in Franken's Town since December 2013, but they got nothing until 2014 when I was assigned an infiltration mission. I was eighteen back then, it was my first solo mission. I applied as an intern and made my way into the company. But I soon developed a romantic relationship with the facility's chief researcher as means of obtaining classified information. He was committed to our relationship, and I fell in love but I had to succeed or die."
"What happened?" Frank really looked worried.
"I killed him with a broken bottle, and I became who I was meant to be: A trained killer." She replied, her eyes lost on the floor.
"How old was the guy?"
"Twenty-eight. He was a genius, graduated from university at the age of thirteen, a brilliant scientist." she replied, looking up at Frank, "If you want to avoid the details do it but... You and Jade... Why did she leave?"
"No idea," Frank turned red and ran his hand over the back of his neck, "She just came, told me that you're not interested in being poly, asked me about you, mistook me for Zeth and left."
"I'll tell you a secret," Evie said with a laugh, taking the cigarette from Frank, taking the last drag before putting it out, "It happened to me a couple times with a guy. I said your name once or twice, Frank. Because there are some things you can't hide, and sometimes the heart wants more than it can handle. I thought there was only one true love. I ended up having more true loves than hands to hold."
"And you are telling me this because?"
"Because I think Jade is a little obsessed with Zeth," Evie said in disgust, "And I have a feeling she thinks you guys are in love with her."
"Wait." Frank said, "That's not the case at all. We're just trying to be nice to her, that's all."
"Tell her that," Evie turned to the left. Zeth was there, beckoning her to come closer, "I'd like to stay, but I have to go. Go to your room and stay there or in the suite and don't go out."
"Evie. Do you think Jade is confused and believes that..." Frank turned around, but Evie was already gone.