"Jeez, what took you so long?" Angie Carson said as Franklin approached. "I'm pretty sure that snail over there managed to cross the parking lot on your way here. Twice."
"Well, that's two more times than you've done a full cartwheel, so hat's off to the snail."
"Tell you what, I'll do a full cartwheel…when you manage to do a handstand."
"Oh, you did a handstand? A handcrouch maybe. A handsquat, if I'm being generous."
"Wow," Travis said, his head swiveling between them. "You know, whenever I read about arguments being compared to ping-pong matches, I didn't get it until I met you two."
Angie stared at him for a full five seconds before turning to Franklin. "Who's this guy?"
"This is my new friend, Travis. Travis, this is my little sister Angie. Emphasis on the little."
"Oh shut up," Angie glared. "We can't all inherit dad's hei…" she suddenly stopped and Franklin felt his heart clench. They both stayed silent, unable to process after 'dad.'
"Uh…" Travis said, looking at them both. "What say we go now? You know, I know a great falafel place right down the street from here. Some of the best food to hit your taste buds, I promise."
"Yeah, yeah," Franklin nodded automatically. He shook his head, driving that word to the back of his mind. "Yeah, that sounds good, thanks."
Ten minutes later, they left Babur's Fabulous Wraps each with a falafel wrap in hand. As he bit into it, Franklin had to admit that it was pretty great. Plus, it helped him focus again and he could tell it was doing the same for his sister.
"So how long you guys been here anyway?" Travis asked.
"Just a few days," Franklin replied.
"Huh. So why'd you move?"
Franklin repressed the wince. "Um…our Uncle, he lives here. Actually, that's where we're going now. He has a Deli and I agreed to work a shift there."
"Oh cool," Travis nodded.
Franklin breathed out. While he liked his new friend, he wasn't ready for that conversation.
"You know, I'm surprised at you Franklin," his sister said. "You said you'd never make another friend after the last ones turned out to be that word you said I was never allowed to say."
Travis gave Franklin a wide-eyed look. "Long story," he said. "They started acting like Andrew."
"Ah."
"Besides, Travis is cool. He likes the things that I do."
"But you don't like anything other than working out and…oh. You mean comic books, don't you?" When Franklin didn't answer, she smiled widely. "Aw, look at that. You found a nerdbrother."
"Oh please don't call us that."
"Why not? I like it," Travis said. "Nerdbrothers. Has a cool ring to it."
"No it doesn't. It has nothing even close to a cool ring. And why are we nerdbrothers? Why not nerdfriends? We've known each other like five hours max."
"True. Alright, tell you what. When this friendship blossoms into a full-on bromance, we'll change from nerdfriends into true nerdbrothers."
Franklin glowered at him but Travis kept smiling smugly. "You're kind of weird, you know that?"
"Yeah, I'm aware." He leaned in close. "And I own it."
Franklin snorted, unable to help himself. Then, before they knew it, both of them were laughing hard, Travis wheezing a little.
"Wow, you guys really are nerdbrothers," Angie muttered. "Well, if you're done making fools of yourself, can we go already?"
"Right," Franklin nodded. He checked the time and winced. He told his mom he'd be there at 3:30 and it was already 3:28. "Ok, let me just check the map…and no signal. Great." He cursed, shaking his phone even though he knew it would do no good.
"Moron," Angie shook her head.
"You've never been to your uncle's place before?" Travis asked.
"Uh, no," Franklin replied. Their uncle had always visited them.
"Huh. What's it called?"
"Oh, um, Locklan's," he told Travis who then nodded.
"Yeah, I know where that is. Not too far actually. Come on, I'll show you."
He led them through a few suburban streets back into the main town and around the corner to a complex of buildings and a mega-mall.
"Seriously?" Franklin asked.
"Trust me, I come here all the time so I know where everything is. Locklan's is just over there."
"Didn't really peg you for a mall kind of person," Franklin commented, looking at the different shops and stalls. He saw an arcade, a few coffee shops, a bookstore, several shopping malls, a cinema, and a few boutiques. Travis pointed to one particular store called Wally's Wonderful Comics.
"For future reference," he said.
Franklin smiled. "Thanks man. So, is that why you come here? Just for the comic book store?"
"Well, that's one reason but there's also the cinema, arcade, bookstore, coffee place. I could go on. It's just a nice place to hang out and avoid going home."
Franklin noticed a slight catch in his friend's voice there. He was tempted to ask but decided not to. He wasn't comfortable talking about his personal life either. Besides, he saw the sign for Locklan's just ahead. He honestly hadn't known what to expect from his uncle's place but from one look at it, he could tell that his aunt had done the designing. The flashy neon sign, the colorful menu placed out front, the vibrant flowers decorating the front. He stepped through and saw a typical Deli seating arrangement with maybe half-a-dozen customers there.
"Hello, how may I help…" the woman at the front desk stopped, her face breaking into a wide grin. "Oh, Franklin you're here!"
"Hey Aunt Janice," he greeted. "Yep, ready for my shift."
"Hold on. Oy, Pete! Aubrey!" she yelled in the back, causing Franklin to flinch back at her volume. "Franklin and Angie are here!"
"No need to yell!" a grumpy voice yelled back and a few seconds later, Franklin's Uncle Pete emerged in a large apron followed by his mom who smiled at him. "I mean, it's not like we're across the street or something."
"With your hearing, you may as well be," Janice said.
"What?"
"Point proven."
"Hi Franklin," his mom said, ignoring the arguing couple. "How was school?"
Franklin shrugged. "It was alright. Not much happened."
Angie let off a loud cough next to him that suspiciously sounded like liar.
"And who's this?" his mom turned to Travis who greeted her with a wide smile.
"Hello, I'm Travis," he said warmly, holding out his hand. "Franklin's nerdfriend."
"Oh dear god, why?" Franklin muttered.
"Nerdfriend, ay?" his mom repeated, smiling back. "Well, it's wonderful to meet you."
"And it is so wonderful to meet Franklin's older sister."
"Oh stop!" his mom laughed.
'Oh my god!' Franklin muttered under his breath.
"Hey, you're blocking up the door!" his Uncle Pete chimed in. "We got customers to feed. Get up here Franklin. You want to work, you gotta work."
"Right, sorry." Franklin dropped his stuff off in empty booth. "Uh," he said, turning to Travis. "You sure you want to stay?"
"Yeah, don't worry about me," he replied. "Gives me a chance to work on my homework. Or my fanfiction. Or just read. I'm good is what I'm trying to say here."
"Right," Franklin nodded before making his way behind the counter.
"I see you took my advice," his mom said as she walked by.
"I…whatever," he replied.
"I'm proud of you. I know it couldn't have been easy after what happened last time, but I'm glad you did. He seems like a good one."
"You're just saying that because he called you my sister."
"Leaving now, can't hear you," she told him, heading back to the kitchen.
"Alright, Franklin," Aunt Janice said. "Let me show you how it's done." She walked him through the ins and outs of the counter, showing him how the cash register worked, having him practice taking orders, working on the coffee machine. He learned pretty fast that the Deli was a pretty popular spot, especially in afterschool hours as many students dropped by for a pick-me-up.
He was thirty minutes in when Travis came up. "Hey man, where's the bathroom?"
"Uh…right over there," Franklin pointed, spotting the symbols on the doors across the room.
"Ah thanks," Travis said, walking over. As he did, Franklin noticed something strange. Travis pulled out two thick black gloves from his jacket pocket as well as a packet of tissues. Franklin frowned, wondering what that was about but he didn't have time to think about it long.
"Yeah, can I have the sausage and bacon combo please?"
"Sure, let me just…ah," Franklin noted that they were out of it in the front. "Hold on, let me get some from the back." He walked off, letting Aunt Janice run the counter for a sec. He walked towards the storage space when he noticed the picture hanging up on the wall of a smiling man with thick-rimmed glasses and balding hair. The second he saw it, he froze.
David Carson, it read. Unbendable, Unbreakable, Unstoppable.
The family motto, he'd told Franklin. That was their family motto. Franklin stared at the picture for another second before he wiped his eyes and moved on, pushing those feelings as far down as he could. He didn't have time for them now.