Franny and Factual
In my lifetime I have met very few people who have mastered the art of loudness by making no sound at all. And yet in this regard Frances Tevka was the master of every hidden aspect of the concept of volume, saying more without words than anyone else could with them. The irony that a girl shy and losing a fight against a speech impediment could communicate better than even I could, even though she never herself knew that.
Franny spoke. She did. She wasn't mute or deaf or anything of the like. That being said she was severely introverted and rarely talked to anyone outside her own circle of close friends. In all truth she could be quite boisterous around the few of us who knew her well, particularly myself. But she struggled with putting thoughts into words, but more often than not words were never something she needed. To this day I have never seen anyone say so much with a mere twitch of an eyebrow, or a tick of a finger, or a long and unblinking stare as they try and find the words to say the things they were unconsciously saying already.
She would lose herself in a conversation. Any time the exchange would get into anything deep or emotional she would simply quit talking altogether. Usually she would manage a couple of words after tense, three or five minute pauses. But there was something there, something deep behind that silence and inability to speak, that sparked my curiosity and has left me muddled and confused and utterly wonder-struck by the miracle that she was.
Sometimes your life has to be perfect for you to notice how much someone else's isn't. It wasn't until I had everything I wanted in life, perfect grades, the girl of my dreams on my arm, that I even noticed that not everyone's life was splendid as mine was. And maybe i was being selfish by not thinking about everyone else. But this isn't a story about me. This is the story of my best friend Franny, the loudest and quietest and most intricate woman I would ever meet, and how she eventually changed the volume of everyone around her.
••••••
"Great jump!"
I clapped Franny on the shoulder as she brushed her knees off in recovery from her roll that followed her jump off the ledge.
"You distracted me, pinbrain!" She laughed.
"What? How did I distract you?!" I really didn't know.
"Because you smell foul, Jackson." She replied, grinning. I punched her shoulder.
"I smell perfectly fine!" I protested as she shoved me back. She paused and shrugged.
"Actually, usually you do smell pretty good." She nodded a few times, "But right now you smell like sweat. Go put deodorant on, stinky."
I took a brief whiff of my own armpit to find to my utter dismay that she was right. So I did the sensible thing and went to my box on the shelf wall and pulled it out.
"Dangit, Kelsey!" I shouted, "Did you take my deodorant again?"
Out from the door to the roof poked the fiery red-haired head of my psycho cousin. "Yes." She said.
My forehead met my palm. "Kelsey. That's man deodorant."
Kelsey swung around the door and slid into the splits on the carpet. "It smells good. It smells like good man smell."
"You want to smell like a man?" I asked. I could almost say her answer as she did.
"It's better than smelling like sweat."
Yep. That's what she says. Nailed it.
"Okay, Jack, it's been lovely but I have a jump to make. Bye!" She levered herself up and dashed out the door. I followed onto the roof of the school.
Our school, Nord Stuffman's Academy of Things, is only one story, it's just spread out over a ridiculously large expanse of area. Then again, Someplace is a really small town and really only needs one high school. And this is it. Nord High, awe yeah.
I took a running start, reaching the familiar lip of the roof and using it to push off into the air. That familiar sickening feeling of free-fall twisted my stomach wonderfully, until my feet met the grass and I let them fold beneath me, tipping forward and rolling over my shoulder once and then twice before the momentum brought me back to my feet.
I loved that class. Jumping Off Things 101 was the best class in the whole school. Our sister-class, Throwing Things, had a lot in common with us, people-wise. But Jumping was definitely the most shameless of the two. Jumping kids were the kind who didn't give a hoot about anything, really. We made weird noises in public all the time. It didn't matter what strangers thought. And we all got along with Throwing quite nicely. Most of us were even involved in both.
Nord High ran like this; everyone had English, math and science for an hour every morning, not necessarily in that order, following was lunch, and then two electives for an hour and a half each. Some of us had our Language and History credits done, and could take two Things classes. Not me. I took Climbing Things my sophomore year and I have one Lang credit to make up.
"Hey! Class is almost out!" Came the familiar and loud holler of Mr. Foster, the Jumping teacher, "Have a fantastic weekend, children!"
Kelsey jogged over to me and we exchanged a grin. Foster went on.
"And stop putting things on my roof, I know it's not Climbing that's doing that!"
"Thanks, Foster! Bye!" Franny yelled across the field as she approached me.
"Jack, do you need a ride home?" I heard a friendly voice from behind me.
"Naw, Fact, Dad let me borrow his car today." I answered.
Mister Maxwell "Factual" Sarrault must be spoken for. Rarely had I ever met a lankier person; when he walked it looked like his limbs were all too long for him. He read books like a madman, usually found carrying several because he couldn't fit them all in his backpack. His warm and natural friendliness was enviable to say the least, and I knew plenty of girls who found him quite attractive in a strange, cute-nerd sort of way.
One of these girls included Franny.
"Okay. Do you need one tomorrow?" He asked.
"I don't know, I guess I'll tell you if I do." I said as we walked back to the Jumping room to get our stuff.
Franny always gets a ride home with me. She lives down the block from my house. Usually, we talk on the way to the parking lot, but Fact was present, and Franny was speechless. I noticed her alternating from staring at the ground to staring at him.
"I was thinking," Fact pondered, adjusting the book stack in his hands, "Exploding Junk Two came out yesterday, do you want to try and get a group to go tomorrow night?"
"Yeah, sure!" I dug my car keys out of my pocket, "what time?"
"Seven?" He suggested.
I decided to get Franny into the conversation. "Yeah, what do you think, Fran?"
A momentary expression of panic flew across her face before she squeaked out "What? Oh, sure."
Fact grinned his usual wide smile, "Great! See you guys there!"
He left and the weight of the world seemed to drop off my friend's shoulders. She sighed heavily.
"Why can't I.... Ugh." She groaned. I patted her back.
"You're fine."
She didn't say anything until we were almost home.
"So you do still like him, then?" I asked, hoping not to trigger her issue.
"Yeah." She grumbled, "I hate this. He never talks to me, Jack. It's like he doesn't know I'm there!"
"That's because you never talk to him." I said slowly.
Crap. Here we go.
Franny opened her mouth, closed it, blinked several times, opened it again, and closed it. She stared hard at the dashboard of my car, eyes soon flicking everywhere as she searched for anything that could give her speech. Then she stopped.
She just looked at me and shrugged.
"I'm sorry, Franny." I sighed. She raised one hand and I clasped it tightly. That's like our little secret handshake that we usually do whenever she can't talk.
"But you're still going, right?" I changed the subject.
"I... Uh... Of course I'm going, pinbrain." She stuttered.
"Alright. See ya tomorrow."
She got out and jogged up the wet grass to her little blue house, pulling the door open and closing it behind her.
Okay, so I had to help her. There had to be some way to make her feel comfortable around Factual. My brain raced for any way I could, until finally I thought of something. YES.
Oh, I was so ready for that movie. So ready.
••••••
Part Two
"Hello, Mrs. Sarrault, this is Jack Nottingham, is Factual there?"
"He is. Hold on one moment. FACT?!"
Fact's mom continued to yell at him on the other end of the phone. I laughed quietly to myself. That kid had such a comical family.
There was a fumbling sound before his voice came over the other end. "Hello?"
"Fact, it's me, Jack. Hey, I was wondering, do you know what's been up with Franny lately?"
"No, Franny doesn't talk to me very often. Why? Is she alright?"
"Well, she's seemed a little bit down and... Er, you know how she is sometimes. Maybe you should, I don't know, talk to her or something?"
"Talk to her? Shouldn't you talk to her? I mean, you are her best friend,"
"Yeah, but she thinks you're cool and maybe it would help to talk to somebody different," I was beginning to flounder for excuses to make him talk to her.
"Uh, okay." He finally consented after a pause that lasted way too long.
"Thanks! So, see you in an hour?"
"Yup. Bye." The line clicked dead. I stuffed my phone in my pocket.
I would be driving Franny there of course. When I made the call I was actually parked right in front of her house.
The night was dark and warm, and the cherry tree in her front yard was just beginning to lose its tiny pink flowers. The stars were out and lit up like a broken glow stick. The Tevka's house lights gave the curtains in front of the windows a warm, yellow glow.
The bright red front door opened with a creak and out stepped my friend, wearing a casual blue dress, her light brown hair in a braid over her shoulder. She had gotten dressed up for Fact, no doubt.
The weight of my promise to help fell heavily on me. She was such a sweet girl, and I hated seeing her sad. Fortunately, she didn't look at all down at the moment. In fact, a decently wide smile was stuck on her face.
Swinging the door open, she slid into the backseat. "You're picking up Hanna, right?"
I nodded and she reached up and messed up my hair, "Aw, you two are so precious. I'm so glad you happened finally."
I could actually feel my cheeks heating up. I hate it when she teases me. I had liked Hanna for quite a while, and Kelsey was really the one who made it happen, because I am absolutely terrible with girls. But by that point we had been together two months, and Franny still hadn't gotten over her phase of squealing every time she saw us holding hands in the hallway.
Five minutes later we pulled up to Hanna's house and she hopped into the front seat. "Hey, boo." She said, "Ready for another crappy action movie?"
"Yes. Yes I am." I laughed, disregarding the speed limit on the way to the movie theater.
"Hi, Franny. How ya doin'?" Hanna asked.
"I am ready to watch cars explode after flipping over six times." Was her answer. Hanna laughed.
The crew, as we often called ourselves among ourselves, was meeting in the lobby of Movie Co theater, which really was the only theater in Someplace. On the positive side, nobody ever went to see Exploding Junk 2 because the first installment of the series was absolutely dreadful, and the theater was entirely empty except for that old man that went and saw every movie ever because he was loaded and had no idea what to do with all his money.
A giant bucket of butter-encrusted popcorn in my lap, I sat through the whole show, not really paying a whole lot of attention to the actual movie for several reasons. One, it was my turn to fill up the paper cups of anyone who wanted more popcorn, two, I was cuddling with Hanna, three, I kept kicking Kelsey in the back of the head because she kept turning around and making sexy-faces at me and my girlfriend, and four, I was trying to stealthily watch the goings-on between Franny and Fact.
Franny had sat on my right, and Fact had come and sat beside her. For obvious reasons I couldn't sit there and watch them, so I got as much of a view as I could out of the corner of my eye.
The first half hour of the movie seemed incredibly awkward. Franny sat bolt-upright and didn't move for the entire half hour. And then something rather interesting happened. Fact, cautiously and hesitantly, put his skinny arm over her shoulders.
My mind did a silent victory dance. And after several awkward minutes in which her only reaction was widened eyes, she finally leaned into his shoulder. I don't think I could adequately describe the expression frozen on her face for about another thirty minutes. She looked happy, shocked, confused, and utterly horrified all at the same time. Eventually, that all dissolved to a little constant smile.
"Atta girl." I thought, laughing quietly.
The movie ended, we laughed about it, I kissed Hanna goodby because her dad was driving her home, and I did notice the abnormally long hug between Franny and Fact. I was so happy for her.
The entire car ride home she sang to herself, the grin of a crazy person plastered on her face, incessantly talking about how beautiful the stars were and how great the movie was and how much she loved May and trees and flowers and grass. I could only sit and grin with her. It seemed happiness negated her little problem. It worked out, and maybe this was her first step to being able to talk normally.
I didn't worry about it at all, until one Thursday afternoon the doorbell rang and on my porch stood Franny, eyes red from tears and a half-eaten bar of dark chocolate in one hand.
Part Three
"Oh my god, Franny, what happened? Are you okay?!"
She staggered into the door wordlessly. A few minutes later we were sitting at my kitchen counter with a sizable plate of strawberries and chocolate in between us.
"Okay, so what happened?" I asked. She wiped her eyes and swallowed her strawberry.
"Well, Fact took me out to Cream Ice and it was so awkward because I couldn't talk, ya know? But he didn't say anything either, and it was just so weird and now he hasn't talked to me for the whole week. He hasn't even so much as looked at me at school and... and....."
That's where she ended.
"Um, he's probably just unsure of what to do. You know Fact, he's only ever had one girlfriend and I'm pretty sure it didn't end well at all."
She nodded and I went on. "Don't worry about it. Just keep trying to talk to him and I'm sure he'll get more comfortable around you. He's just oblivious. Don't worry over it."
She smiled a little at this. Probably because everybody knows that kid is oblivious to everything. It's rather strange, especially given how unnervingly intelligent he is. That's how he received his nickname; I've never met a smarter person. His other block class is Know Things, and he's one of two Jumping kids to be in that class.
"I... Hmm. Uh, Jack?" Franny stammered. She was trying very hard. "He makes me so nervous."
"Why? Because he's smart?" She had mentioned it to me before.
"Yeah. He... I feel so.... not smart... around him." She said.
"Shut up, Franny, you're perfectly smart. You should stop comparing yourself to other people." I sighed.
Franny gave a sort of half-laugh and muttered "Smart people can speak."
I could have insisted that it wasn't her fault. I could have said her impediment had nothing to do with her intelligence, but we had already had that discussion. She said it made her feel disabled.
"Franny?" I said hesitantly. She looked expectantly at me for some time until I forced out "How bad is it with other people? I mean people other than me."
She sighed and shut her eyes. "Really bad. I can't say anything at all around Fact. At all. It isn't just sometimes with most people."
Another tense pause followed. I had to do something. So I did the first thing I could think of. I dipped another strawberry in chocolate and poked her bare arm with it.
"Hey!" She exclaimed, wiping off the brown smudge with her finger and licking it off, "You're gross, pinbrain!"
She dipped her finger in the chocolate and wiped it across my forehead. "Simba!"
I grabbed her wrist and shoved her hand away. "You're done, crazy! This isn't going to be a chocolate fight!"
Franny laughed outrageously. Seemed her mood was much better. I reminded her "Don't forget. Just make casual conversation. Talk about things you like. Ask him what he likes. It'll be easy."
"It won't be easy but I'll do it anyway." She snorted, standing up and going to the door. I walked with her onto the porch.
The sky looked just like the night after the movie. A fleeting bit of sadness showed on her features for a moment. But I soon put a stop to that.
"Come here, Franners." I hugged her tightly. I'm not a super tall guy, but she's significantly shorter than me, so her head fit perfectly under my chin.
"Life is hard." I heard her say.
"You're telling me." I replied. She let go of me and punched my arm, thanking me and starting down the street toward her own house.
Part Five
I ran the whole block and a half to her house. Her door was locked and she wouldn't let me in no matter how loudly or how often I knocked.
Throughout the next few weeks everything seemed to clear itself up. Franny didn't talk to Factual. Or about him. All she spoke of on the way home was her new trick she had been working ever so hard on for the Regional Jumping Off Things Competition. I didn't try to bring up the other night for a while. But finally, I caved. I had to know what was going on in her head.
"Franny?"
"Yup?" She answered.
"Are you still into Factual?" I held my breath in wait for her answer. She remained silent for quite some time before she heaved a long sigh.
"Yeah. I do. I've just decided it isn't ever going to happen." She explained. "I-I mean, we don't really have anything in common, really. Uhh..."
Franny stopped talking. I lightly punched her shoulder. "Don't worry about him. You're out of his league anyway. You'll find somebody, I swear."
My friend smiled subtly. Her eyes had a certain sadness to them, like she was looking at a kid she was about to divulge the real explanation of Santa Claus to. She didn't believe me. She didn't believe in herself.
"Franny, look. There's absolutely nothing wrong with you. You are funny and kind and pretty and all that. Maybe you don't actually have to say anything to get somebody." I reached over and messed up her hair. "Besides, why worry when you have better things to do?"
I could easily see she knew I was planning something. So I went on. "I stole a few of traffic cones and Mr. Foster's roof is wiiiiiide open."
Finally, Franny made a sound. She tilted her head back and laughed musically. "Traffic cones?! I found a giant creepy baby mannequin lawn ornament thing in the dumpster in my alley!"
I gasped. "No WAY. Franners, you are a MIRACLE."
"Step on it, Jackwagon!" She squealed.
And I did.
Epilogue
Things took a rather strange turn in the four months that followed. Franny and Factual never "happened," so to speak. They never became a couple, but they did become fast friends. Granted, they didn't talk as much as we did, but many I time I saw them sitting back to back, both silent and with open books in their hands.
Several of us got Franny and the entire Jumping department to sign up for sign language lessons over the summer. As it turns out, she's better than all of us at it. And she uses it every time she stops talking now. It really seems to help her.
One certain day this summer, Kelsey brought to a party her friend from Michigan, her friend from Michigan who was tall, attractive, and male.
And completely deaf.
So as Franny's life progressed to its highs, mine began to decline. Hanna told me that at the end of the summer she was moving to the other side of the country due to her father's relocation. It was the summer prior to my senior year, and I applied for the college of my dreams. I was rejected. And I was despondent.
Just like that, it was Franny's turn to help me fix my life. I doubt she had ever overlooked my problems as I had hers, she just knew there was nothing there for her to fix. And suddenly there was. I never asked for Franny's help. She simply offered it and then dumped it in my lap and skipped away. She changed my life in that beautiful way with such silent noise that only she knew how. Because this is what friends like Franny do.
The End
Also like 
Points: 314
Reviews: 267
Donate