CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
SHOCK IT TO ME
Frankie had taken the stand. She had been sworn in. It was time to testify.
So what if it was sweltering hot? So what if her makeup was melting and her green skin was exposed? So what if her seams were achingly tight? None of that mattered. Clearing her name in front of the RADs and the normies who were packed inside the courtroom was all that mattered.
She would apologize to her parents for betraying their trust. For putting them in bad standing with the RADs and for not heeding their warnings. She would tell Lala, Blue, Clawdine, and Cleo how much their friendship meant to her and that she never intended to put them in jeopardy. She would tell Ms. J how much she appreciated her guidance. Apologies would go to Brett for losing her head and to Bekka for making out with her boyfriend. She would thank Billy for rescuing her and Claude for driving her home. She would tell them she didn’t deserve a second chance. But if they gave her one, she would never let them down again. Then she would make one final appeal to the normies, begging them to stop fearing RADs; to let her father share his brilliance openly with the world; to appreciate her friends’ unique fashion flair and hair growth; to allow them to come out of the casket and live freely…
But when the time came to speak, no words came out. She gnashed her teeth, sparked, and moaned like a zombie. Each attempt to explain herself became louder and louder. Women and children began wailing. Men jumped up on the benches and began stomping their feet to scare her away. But it didn’t work. Mounting frustration made her moan louder, gnash harder, and spark brighter.
Finally an angry mob rushed the stand and began tearing her limb from limb. Green body parts were being tossed like salad. The pain was so unbearable, she let out a glass-shattering wail and…
“Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
“Wake up! Wake up!” Someone shook her.
“Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
“It’s okay, it’s just a dream, wake up!”
Frankie blinked and slowly opened her eyes. The room was dark and still. “How much?” she managed despite her dry throat.
“How much what?” asked a boy.
“How much… was a dream?” She lowered her eyes. Ew, am I really wearing a hospital gown?
“All of it.”
Frankie shot up, ignoring the dizzying rush. “It was?”
“Yeah, Firecracker,” he whispered tenderly. “It was.”
“D.J.?” Frankie wiped the sweat from her forehead. It was hot under those electromagnetic blankets. “Are any of my friends here? How long have I been sleeping?” She searched the room for clues. Nothing was as she remembered. Her lounge was gone. The makeup brushes and lip glosses had been removed from the beakers. And the Glitterati had been stripped of their glitter. “Where’s all my stuff? What are you doing here?”
“Whoa, one thing at a time,” he said. “First, you’ve been sleeping for nine hours. Second, your friends are not here. They aren’t allowed out of their houses. Maybe they called, but your dad confiscated your phone. Third, your parents boxed up your stuff because—and these are their words, not mine—they have been spoiling you for too long and all that’s about to change. And fourth, I scored a ride with Billy and Claude after that lame dance. When they dropped you off, I kind of stayed and hid and—”
“Wait! The dance happened?” Frankie’s eyes filled with tears. “I thought you said it was all a dream.”
“Not that part.” He chuckled. “Man, when those guys told me what you did to that normie, I almost peed my Jockeys.” He ran a hand through his floppy bangs. They were damp with sweat.
“Ugh!” Frankie lay back down. Instinctively she reached for her neck seams, but they were under a thick layer of gauze. “What am I going to do?”
“About what?” D.J. stroked her hair. She sparked a little. He snickered with delight.
“About what?” she sat up. “About ruining everyone’s life!”
D.J. met her glare with smiling hazel eyes. “You didn’t ruin lives. You jump-started them.”
“It’s true!” D.J. tapped the screen of his iPhone. “You’re the only one with any spark around here.” The song “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon began playing. Like a dog with its head out the car window on a sunny day, D.J. closed his eyes during the sweeping guitar opening, and warmed up with a little air guitar. Once the lyrics began, he took Frankie’s hand and helped her off the table. Then he pulled her toward him, pressed his cheek against hers, and danced her around the sterile, unstylish, un-Fab room.
“I’ve been running around…”
She thought of Lala and wondered how serious her D.J. crush really was. “What are you doing?” She giggled nervously.
“Trying to make you forget about Brett,” he whispered in her ear.
She sparked.
He smiled.
They swayed past the shelf of empty beakers. The glass tubes seemed lonely without Frankie’s colorful products filling them with purpose. She had hurt them too.
“You know that I could use somebody, someone like you…”
“I’m such an idiot!” Frankie cried. “I thought, ‘Oh, he’s into monsters, so he’ll definitely like me.’” She scoffed at her own ignorance. “I didn’t know anything about him. I just wanted to be with someone who didn’t want me to hide.”
“You are now.”
Frankie pulled away from his cheek and searched his eyes. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
“Because I like you, Firecracker. I like that you’re not afraid to go for it.”
“Go for what?” Frankie wiggled her hand free and stepped back. She wanted to see all of him.
“For the things you want.”
Frankie touched the back of her hospital gown to make sure it was still fastened shut. “Yeah, well the things I want, I can’t have.”
“Like what?”
“Like freedom.”
“You can if I help you.” He took a small step toward her.
“Why do you want to help me?”
“Because you make me want to write songs.” He touched her bolt. It zapped his finger. “How cute is that shock thing you do?”
She giggled. “Pretty cute.”
“Frankie?” Viktor whisper-called from the hallway.
“Ye—”
D.J. quickly covered her mouth and turned off the music. “Pretend you’re asleep. I’ll hide.”
Frankie hurried for her bed.
Her bedroom door creaked open. “You awake?”
She held perfectly still.
“It’s a sauna in here,” Viktor mumbled to himself. Seconds later a whoosh of air shot through the vents.
I love you, Daddy, Frankie thought, even if you don’t love me.
They remained silent and still for the next five minutes, just to be safe. But the anticipation of seeing D.J. again made Frankie twitch. He was like a gift she hadn’t opened yet. She wanted to learn more about him. Share her dreams for change. Hear his. Listen to his music. And spark.
“It’s safe,” she whispered into the darkness. “You can come out now.”
“D.J., come out!” she tried again.
Still nothing.
Frankie slid off her bed and crept toward his hiding spot under the microscope table. “You can come out.”
He emerged slowly, scratching his head in confusion.
“Where did you get those glasses?” Frankie giggled.
“LensCrafters,” he mumbled groggily.
Did you accidentally sniff formaldehyde? Frankie offered her hand. “Need help?”
“Oh, man,” he said once they were face-to-face. “You’re that green monster girl from the dance, aren’t you?”
Frankie gripped her stomach as if she’d just been punched. “What?”
“What am I doing here?” He looked around at the glistening surgical instruments. “Did I say anything I’m going to regret? Am I your prisoner or something?”
“Are you serious?” Frankie cried. This was the cruelest joke imaginable. “No, you’re not my prisoner. Feel free to leave whenever you want.” She pointed at the frosted window where her lounge used to be.
“Thanks.” He hurried toward it.
“You’re seriously leaving?” Frankie gasped, desperately wishing for five minutes ago. “I thought you liked me.”
He stopped and turned. “Do you know a girl named Melody Carver?”
Frankie shook her head, even though she kind of did. “Is this some kind of cruel payback for tonight?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, squeezing through the open window.
“Then don’t go,” she begged as the room began to flood with loneliness.
“I have to. I’m really sorry,” he said. “Nice meeting you.”
“Stay,” Frankie begged as he took off running. “Stay,” she tried again, even though it was too late.
He was gone.