Chapter Text
Ever since Teresa had come to the Murphy Academy, Fran's life had just kept getting better. Was it fine when they were MySpace and Geocities mutuals? Yes, but it was glorious to know her as a person, face-to-face. She was like a light that had turned on, and he could see all the best things he couldn't before with her source of light. Life was good.
Today was Monday, October 16, 2006. He found himself tasked with the mission of finding a Yankees hat for Teresa to wear when they went to the Halloween dance dressed as Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase from the PJO series. He pictured the plan as if it were on a to-do list.
How To Find A Yankees Cap
- Finish my homework first- I'll probably forget otherwise!
- Ask my dorm roomies. If one of them has a Yankees cap, I won't have to search other places.
- Ask the people in my classes. I'll either have to send emails, or find everyone. I'll probably do email first, then look for them.
- ???
Fran thought the plan was pretty good. It was thorough too. He didn't have step 4 yet, of course, but he'd work that out as he went. Perhaps he'd ask his teachers. He walked into his dorm, set his bag down, and pulled out that night's homework. In about 30 minutes, he was done. He put his homework away and spun around to face his roommate, Charlie. He attempted a whistle to get Charlie's attention.
"Oh, hey Fran? Anything ya need, my Gouda buddy? Haha!" Charlie slapped his knee and climbed down from his bed.
"Would you happen to have a Yankees hat or know anyone who does? My friend Teresa and I are going to the Halloween dance as Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase from PJO, and we need one to represent Annabeth's."
Charlie shook his head, his short curly hair swaying along with it. "No, sorry. Troy might, but you'll have to wait until he's back from football practice."
"K then. Thanks anyway." Fran grabbed his copy of Percy Jackson and the Sea Of Monsters, then climbed up and into bed. He snuggled up under the blanket and opened to where he'd left off. He'd begun reading it that summer, but hadn't made much progress since July when he found out that he was going to be a tour guide to one of his most admired online mutuals. Since then, most of his summer had been trying to plan, blogging on LiveJournal, and writing fanfic in his notebook. He'd hid said notebook under his mattress, but there was still a chance his mom might find it. She was a nit-picky, uptight woman who would certainly find fanfic unnatural and weird, especially the kind Fran had been writing. She also found many of his core characteristics unnatural. While he tried not to let it get him down, it was upsetting how she struggled to accept many of the things that made him him. That was why he'd been so ecstatic to come here in the first place: any opportunity to get away from her was priceless.
Fran was almost done reading the book when Troy walked in. He was wearing his signature letterman jacket with a pair of jeans. He waved a hello to Charlie, then sat at his desk staring off into the distance. Fran decided that he would ask right then.
"Hi Troy."
"What do you want?" Troy was rather brash, and Fran found this off-putting. He persisted, nevertheless.
"Would you happen to have a Yankees hat or know someone who does? My friend Teresa and I are going to the Halloween Dance together, and the character she's dressing as wears one a lot."
"Do I look like a Yankee to you?"
"Uh, no?"
"Yeah, so I don't have one. Why do you need one anyway? Will your precious girlfriend die if she doesn't wear one?"
Fran sighed. "For one, Teresa isn't my girlfriend. For two, Annabeth's Yankees hat is mentioned very often in the books, and I daresay it's iconic. So, yes, finding a Yankees hat will improve our costume substantially."
"Puh. Live in denial, I guess." Troy left the dorm.
"Denial!? Of what!?" Fran shouted. Then he realized that Troy must've been insinuating that he had a crush on Teresa. The nerve! Not once in his life had Fran felt much romantic attraction, and he didn't think this year would be any different. But then again, he did invite Teresa to the dance. And he gave her a water bottle. It was plastic, but still! Well, friends could go to the dance together and share water, actually. Right? Right?? Fran wasn't sure. Teresa probably would be. She was always so logical, so smart, so.... so dreamy. Her eyes were like the emeralds on his mom's birthstone necklace. Somehow they managed to be striking and bold as well as generous and friendly. Teresa was all of those things. Could... Could it be? Could he be developing a crush on Teresa? Like with many questions in his life, the answer was 'I don't know.' He wished he'd know more. Teresa probably did, as with many things. She could probably cure cancer if she wanted to. She was an enigma, yet Fran felt like he understood her wonderfully. Sometimes, he wondered if she was actually a goddess, testing him. If she was, he wanted to impress her. Not just because she was a goddess, but because she was wonderful. Everything about her made Fran smile naturally, and that meant he was ecstatic. He put on fake smiles so much at home just so his mom wouldn't criticize him, but he'd rarely smile on his own unless he was joyous. And with Teresa, he was.
Fran climbed down and decided to write Teresa an email.
Dear Teresa,
Hi there! I was wondering if you've had any luck finding a Yankees hat so far. I tried with my dormmates, but none of them have one. I figured I'd ask you if you'd found one before continuing my search, since I wouldn't want us to end up with two. Have a wonderful day!
Your friend, Fran
Fran hit send, and awaited Teresa's response.