Chapter 6

Yeah…adults, Frank thought to himself.

“Leave him alone, you nerds!” Melissa was so protective. Frank was sometimes tempted to count her as a friend. She had been once for certain. They were the three musketeers—Renny, Melissa, and Frank—until Melissa had moved away.

Frank had asked Melissa to marry him in Kindergarten. She’d said yes immediately and, come to think of it, they had never officially broken up. That was a hundred years ago, though. Surely she’d had a dozen boyfriends since. Perhaps she was even married. They only spoke two minutes per day since she’d returned to town after college. Anyone else would consider them more like acquaintances. Even Frank knew he had turned it into more in his head, so much more than what it was.

“Do you need a pack of smokes?”

Frank didn’t smoke. Vaughn Hellier did. Sparing Melissa a glance, Frank shook his head.

“No?” she asked.

“No, thank you.”