Prom: What Have You Done?

[François Laffont]

Franck was angry. Really. And it was not something you often saw, an angry François Laffont. It wasn’t the fact Erika talked to Felix. It was bothersome but it was more than that. Beyond the fact she had to go and talked to the boy and make everything worse than it already was, it was the fact she did not listen to him. He asked her, as politely as possible, to drop it for tonight. He told her Felix was in no state to have that conversation she seemed eager to have with him. And even more than that, François was angry because it took a lot of effort and convincing to get Felix out of his room and make him come to the prom. Yet in one moment she managed to destroy all that work. Franck didn’t need to hear all that had been said or be close to Felix to know how the boy felt. At first, Franck didn’t want to believe that, unhappy to simply turn his love down, Erika would also change of attitude and end their friendship. Whatever Felix told him, he was certain it came from a misunderstanding. Now, he wasn’t so sure.

Alright, somewhere inside, he still believed there was a big piece of the puzzle missing. But tonight definitely was not the time to get that piece and it was what annoyed Franck the most, the fact she could not accept that. Add to that the alcohol he took without his knowledge and Franck was ready to fight and defend Felix’s honor against her. Even if Erika was also his friend. She had Trevor and no doubt everyone backed her up after what she went through. She was getting over it. Not Felix. And instead of helping, she just made things worse.

Franck meant to talk to her but then they announced the king, queen, prince and princess and, shocker, he was named the Prom Prince. Normally, he’d be honored. To pick the French gay boy here in America, it meant something to him. But he kind of lost all interest in it now. He just wanted to get to Erika and confront her. Luckily, people were more interested, if they were at all, about the king and queen. Not to add Luxanna wasn’t much into dancing so it was easy for him to sneak out of it. He had to push his way through to find Erika again. When he laid eyes on her, the anger he felt after seeing Felix running out of the gymnasium came back and it was with determination that he walked to her. “I told you to drop it for tonight. Why couldn’t you listen to me?” he let out, the frustration clearly showing in his voice despite his best effort to contain it. He didn't mean to lose his temper on Erika but tonight he promised to look after Felix. Even if that meant yelling at another friend.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

After the dispute with Felix, Erika wanted to leave. In one single moment, mixed in with misunderstandings and the sense of betrayal, Erika felt the need to let her ability loose and tear something down. To think that all of this could have been avoided by someone, anyone letting her in on what she had missed while being away, or the simple fact that out of everyone, Felix should have known he hadn't confessed to her. How could he make such a mistake of mistaking Elsa for being her? Out of all the people she had ever claimed to be her friends, Felix was the one person she had expected to see the difference.

And things didn't make her feel any better as Franck decided to play the knight in shining armor either. Of course, just like Felix, the French boy was completely and utterly clueless.

Snapping her eyes to the side, the brunette didn't even bother stopping as Franck approached her, "You're in no position to tell me what to do, Franck," she said, snapping her eyes back to the approaching door in front of her. Biting down on her tongue, Erika let out a sigh as she turned around to face him. She knew it was wrong, and she knew it wasn't his fault, but her mood was far too chaotic for her to hold the venom back, "And please, save me the self-righteousness. For once in your life, back the hell out of my business."

It was obvious that Franck too thought Felix had indeed confessed to her, and not Elsa. But she wasn't even going to point that out. The fact that he hadn't even bothered to ask her beforehand, and rather jumped directly to such conclusions was enough to put her pride and stubbornness in full gear, petty-mode.

Needless to say, the betrayal stung deep. It might have been because of the run-in with Felix, and it might have been because she had counted on the younger boy standing in front of her. She didn't know, and right now, she didn't care. "For someone who's supposed to know how everyone feel, you're doing a shitty job at it."

[François Laffont]

Franck felt the need to throw back at Erika as she told him to back off. It was more than just her business. It was also Felix’s. And right now, Felix’s business was his business. He didn't want to yell at Erika, to fight with her or anything. She was his friend and he resented having to do that. But he felt like she gave him no choice. “I told you, not tonight, any other time but tonight. What was so hard for you to understand in that?” he repeated.

She was right, it was none of his business and he should probably back off. Like he was telling her, they shouldn’t be dealing it right here, right now. But she chose to and made a whole mess out of this night. And just when Franck could tell Felix was starting to enjoy himself for real. He wanted this solved as much as they probably did. But tonight, all he wanted to do was to make his friend feel better, so he could be in shape to deal with the drama hanging right in front of him. Franck even prepared himself to be an emissary of peace or whatever between the two, had this proved necessary. Not that he believed it. Not then. He was certain it was just one big misunderstanding. Besides, Felix would get over the broken heart. It was painful but everyone could get through it.

In his mind, Erika was the culprit. It was unfair, he knew that, somewhere in the back of his mind. But he was so focused on defending Felix that he didn't think he was actually going after another one of his friend. It didn’t matter as much as it should. It probably was because of the alcohol but he knew it was not only because of that. Franck saw Erika dealing with what happened to her and growing from it. It was the other way around with Felix. Since Erika seemed somewhat happy, he had to back the other one.

Normally, he’d be walking away right now. He always hated conflict. He felt the urge to get away. The door wasn’t that far, it would be so easy to just leave her hanging there. But something forced him to stay. Call it newly found stubbornness or whatever but he had to stay and confront Erika. At least tell her what she did to Felix as he had the feeling she didn't seem aware of it and he found it hard to believe. How could she not see in what state he was, mostly due to her? How could it not affect her?

He never thought he was one with much pride but as she attacked his judgement he did feel some coming over. Was that indignation he was feeling right now? “I know Felix had been feeling terrible for a long time already and that is because of you. I don’t know what happened between you two and I don’t care. You might not think of him as your friend anymore but you should have known better than to turn the knife into the wound,” he replied to her, his emotions making it hard for him to watch out for his accent and so letting it out more than he normally did.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

"And what part about 'you can't tell me what to do' is so hard for you to understand?" Erika fired back, sounding a lot more hostile than what she had wanted to, but this entire ordeal was hammering on her last nerve, and she couldn't help herself. "This has nothing to do with you, regardless of how you see it; It's between me and Felix, but if you want to go play his damn knight in shining armor, go do so. You're wasting your time here," she added.

Frank's next words however had Erika scoffing. Of course, there it was. "Oh right," Erika nodded, "Do you mean that part where he confessed to Elsa, and not me, yet no one even bothered to ask 'Oh why, Erika, why have you been acting so strange'? Or that part where I've been with SPECTRE for the past month and a half and no one even noticed? Oh right, I forgot; Because apparently no one gives a shit about my feelings in this. Don't worry, Franck; Message received. Duly noted."

She knew that it was a low blow, since Franck obviously didn't know, but was it really that weird of her to be so mad about it? Because, when all was said and done, neither Felix nor Franck had even bothered to ask. They had instantly decided that her strange behavior, since duh, it wasn't even her, was not important at all, and that because Felix got his pretty little heart broken, her side of the story didn't matter. She was so sick of the drama and the whining she was about to explode right there and then.

"So yes, Franck. You're completely right. You don't know what happened, and neither do I. So the next time you want to jump into someone's throat for something they haven't done, please check your god damn facts first." With that, Erika turned around and started walking towards the door, "Or hey--" turning around while walking, Erika spread her arms to the side, "--Continue believing the worst about people. We all see how well that worked out for the two of you." With that, Erika bowed down, "The knife is all yours."

She couldn't believe the two people that were supposed to be her friends, the closest she had, truly believed she would have told Felix she didn't want to be his friends anymore. No, this wasn't Elsa's fault. Not at all. Erika's sister had tried her best to balance an already messy situation. It was Felix and Franck's fault for not realizing something was up. Didn't they know her better than that?

Well, joke's on her; Apparently not.

[François Laffont]

Franck had to admit, he startled when she said Felix did not confess to her but to Elsa. Well, he supposed it explained a lot. Franck didn’t want to believe his friend to be the kind of calling off a friendship just because she could not love the guy like he did. Especially since Felix was ready to bury those feelings deep within himself and never bring them out, ever. But that didn’t change anything. His problem with her was not the fact she acted differently with Felix which ended to the state he was in. No, what he didn’t like in all of this was that she had to settle it down now, when he was obviously too fragile to deal with it.

Franck was able to see the difference between Elsa and Erika. Mostly because he recognized them through their feelings. No matter how well Elsa could portray her sister, she could not mimic her emotions. Still, he didn’t realize she had been gone for so long. He simply thought he ended up on Elsa when wanting to talk to Erika. All of this was kind of a blow and left him speechless for a moment, almost ready to give up the fight here. Almost. “Erika, I know it was just one big mess but why did you have to try and solve it now? I told you, he was not ready for it. Why couldn’t you accept that, give him just one night where he isn’t locked up in his room thinking his best friend turned him down for good?” he replied. His tone wasn’t as aggressive as earlier but there was still a hint of it.

“You think I like being here and arguing with you? You’re my friend and I didn’t want it to go this far. But Felix is my friend too and right now, he is in a worst state than you. You got over it, you’ve found someone and that’s great. But Felix is a good person, perhaps the best around here and when all I asked of you was to give him the time to be strong enough to face this shit and sort it out with you, you ran right into him and made it worse,” he said. He was truly sorry things took this turn. That would just make it even harder to fix. Felix must be even more certain Erika hated him and now Erika probably hated him. And probably hated Franck too at this point. “Do me a favor, leave him alone from now on,” he added before walking passed her to exit the room.

He was in no mood to deal with prom anymore. Somehow, he doubted he fixed anything. He probably made it worse than it already was. Just great. Somewhere in his mind, he wanted to apologize to Erika already. But there was something far more urgent for him to do. He had to find Felix and make sure he was alright. Franck was a little fidgety, something he rarely was. He really had to find him. Because he might just be the only friend he had after tonight.