《The Lies and the Lives of the Taken》Frank 8

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"So that's Gerard, huh?" Cody asks, walking back to my apartment.

"Um, yeah." I can't help but smile. I can't believe I actually ran into him today. Wow, I make it sound like he's some celebrity. He does look like a model though.

Cody glances at me and grins. "He's the guy you like?"

"Well, I mean, I think I like him but I don't know if I'm getting ahead of myself. I don't know him that well, but he's definitely someone I wouldn't mind getting to know and maybe date."

Cody nods along. "I mean, I can see why. He's a good-looking guy, you weren't exaggerating about that. He's older?"

"Yeah, he's 26 but I don't know, I think it's fine. We're like 22 so it shouldn't be that bad."

"I don't think it's bad."

We step into my apartment. As I unlock the door, I realize it's not empty. I glance up and see Jenna and Jakob standing in the living room. They both freeze and turn at us. I let go of the door nob and stop in the threshold. "What are they doing over?" Jakob asks her in Austria. Jenna doesn't say anything, glancing between him and us. Jakob scoffs and walks over to us. "What business do you Yankees have here?" saying in what I'm assuming is his version of a really bad American accent. We're from New York and he's talking to us like we're from Jamaica.

"She's my friend," I say firmly. He's much taller than me but I'm also with Cody, who's about his height. He's never gotten violent before but I'm still wary of his character.

"Friend, ya?" he says in his normal voice. He turns around to Jenna, who's standing with her arms crossed, averting eye contact.

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"Frank lives here," she whispers.

"I actually don't, I-"

"No, he lives with me," Jenna says, cutting me off. I glare her and shake my head but she already said it.

Jakob starts arguing with her in Austrian, too fast for me to pick up. She starts screaming back in him. I hear the word "no" being said a lot. I glance at Cody but he doesn't even understand Austrian. He can barely handle German as is. "Go, leave!" Jenna says in Austrian. "You think I don't care, then walk away and leave me!"

I hold my breath, stepping back into the hallway. Cody glances at me confused so I grab the front of his shirt and move him back.

"Fine, one less...to deal with anyway," he grumbles. I don't know the word he used to call her but I can figure out it was derogatory. He stalks out of the room and walks past us, purposely hitting my shoulder on the way out. I don't care. If he's gone, he's gone. I don't know if that's honestly the last time she'll see him but I do know that was the first time she ever snapped at him.

I step back into the apartment and Cody follows in as I shut the door behind us and lock it. Jenna brushes loose strands of hair out of her face and sits down on the couch. "I'm sorry he was over."

"You're okay," I tell her. "Are you really done with him?" She doesn't say anything and I sigh. "Jen, please, you deserve better than that."

"I don't have anyone else to go to. He was the only-"

"No," I cut her off. She glances at me frustrated. "You don't need anybody to prove you're worth something. You were already worth something."

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She rolls her eyes, leaning back on the couch. She mutters something in German about sausages but I don't think I heard her right if that's the case. "I just...if he comes back-"

"Don't let him in, okay?" She fidgets with her nails. "Give me your phone."

"What?"

"Give me your phone, I'm deleting everything."

She pauses. "Like his number and like social media?"

I shrug. "Well, those I'm blocking him on but I'm deleting pictures." Her eyes widen. "Jenna, you know...you've known for a long time he doesn't feel the way you do. You're just afraid to say it. You don't need him in your life anymore." She stares at the blank screen of the television and reluctantly hands me the phone. "Thank you."

I take it and go to the kitchen with Cody. "Dude, what are you doing?" he whispers.

I go through her gallery and into her camera roll. "If she has something, anything to look back at those 'good times' then she's going to think she misses him." A bunch of selfies with her smiling and him staring bored at the camera. A bunch of pictures with them on dates and some random pictures of him with a half smile and an annoyed look in his eyes. How does she not realize this? Okay, there are a few candid pictures she has where it looks like he's genuinely laughing. But still. This needs to go.

"Okay," he says, watching me selecting her pictures.

"I know what you want to ask," I whisper, scrolling through the months they were on breaks and there are no pictures. "And you should probably wait."

"I wasn't going to ask anything," he mutters.

"Okay, but I know what you're thinking and yeah, she told him off but give a grace period, alright?" That's the last of them. Delete 402 Pictures: Confirm.

"Well, obviously, I know that," he says, leaning against the counter. There are about 20 screenshots of texts they have where he said something generally nice about her that she saved. Delete that. Okay, she doesn't have any playlists of him. Notes. Oh dear. All the places he took her on dates. Well, she doesn't need to associate these things with him anymore.

"Go talk to her now," I say, going on her contacts.

"What," he says, deadpan face.

I crack a smile. "You do know you're still friends, right?" I look at him. "You guys can still talk, have a conversation."

"Um, yeah, right, right." He straights up, running his hand through his hair as if it'll help much.

"Your hair is fine," I say with a smile. I gesture to the hallway. "Go."

Cody shovels his hands into his pocket and awkwardly waltz out of the kitchen. Well, even if he did try to flirt with her, it wouldn't seem like he was anyway. Nothing to worry about. Block this number. Delete this contact.

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