Chapter 2
FRANKIE
Present Day
Frankie looked out the window as she watched people in their costumes walk down the street. Everything in her wanted to go out and trick or treat with some of the other Littles, but she didn’t know any of them, and she didn’t want anyone to see her.
She promised herself she would never go out again.
And she hadn’t.
For three years.
Three long years of being inside this house, and she was barely holding on. Frankie wanted to go out, but all she could do was replay the words of the little kids in her head. Them pointing and mocking her. And everyone else staring at them as it happened.
No.
She wouldn’t allow that to happen again. She was perfectly fine in this house. She was safe, happy, and not stressed at all. Daddy and the doctors had managed to get her to be calm a lot of the times and her shaking had reduced a lot.
“Frankie?” Daddy gently said as he walked up by her. “Do you want to go out and get some candy? Some of the other Littles have arrived.”
Frankie briefly looked at Daddy before shaking her head. “I’m okay in here,” she whispered.
Daddy knelt in front of her, grabbing hold of her right hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. “Can you look at me again?”
Sighing, she tore her eyes away from the people walking down the street and looked at him. “Yes?”
“I know what happened three years ago was traumatic, but you can’t let that dictate your life.” Daddy gave her a small smile. “I know it was scary, and you were embarrassed, but I can promise you that you don’t look like that. What they did was wrong, and it should never have happened.”
Frankie didn’t respond and just looked at him. They had this conversation at least twice a week since the event. At first, Daddy gave her space and let her stay inside without saying anything, but after a month, he started talking to her about going outside.
But she didn’t have any desire to go outside then. And now, while the urge was there, she didn’t want to go out and have the possibility of people ridiculing her. If she didn’t go out, no one could make fun of her.
“Baby.” Daddy gave her a look that told her he meant what he was saying. “At some point, you are going to have to go out again.”
“No,” she whispered. “I can live my life in here. I don’t need to go out. I don’t work anymore.”
After the incident, Frankie had left her job at the club. Even though she was around people she knew and was okay with, she didn’t want to shake in front of them. If the little kids thought she looked like someone was electrocuting her, Dominic, John, and the other owners would think that as well.
“And you never have to work again. I told you from the very beginning that I would take care of you, but this isn’t healthy. You need to go outside and get some fresh air.” He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand.
“I open the window and get fresh air,” she told him.
“You need to hang out with friends and be outside, getting the sun on your skin. Not in the backyard like you have been. You need to socialize and be around people your age. I don’t want you to get depressed in here,” Daddy explained.
“I want you to thrive. It hurts me that you aren’t right now.
I want you to have some friends to can go out with and be yourself.
I want you not to have to worry about anything. ”
“I’m not worried about anything while I’m in here,” Frankie replied. “I’m fine in here.”
Fine.
Frankie had been fine for three years now. Sure, she wanted to go out, but she didn’t want to risk some kid making her the butt of their joke.
The doorbell rang, and Daddy sighed, getting up and grabbing the bowl of candy.
Frankie walked to the end of the hallway, not paying any attention to what Daddy was saying.
But curiosity got the best of her as Daddy continued to talk, so Frankie walked into the hallway and looked at the front door.
Several women were standing there, dressed up and holding baskets.
They all stared at her, making her shrink in on herself and walk into a different room.
She headed back to the window she was sitting at before and watched the women and men leave their front porch.
Who were they? Daddy talked to them for a long time.
“Maybe next week, we could walk out and around the neighborhood?” Daddy suggested. “The neighborhood is full of people from work, and they love and adore you. They would never make fun of you.”
“Who were those people?” she asked, completely ignoring his suggestion.
Frankie didn’t know how Daddy had managed to buy a house in the same neighborhood as people he worked with, but he had.
Or maybe it was this way before she came, since they were all friends.
But even with the temptation of knowing everyone, Frankie wasn’t going to do it.
She had made it three years, and she could do it for the rest of her life.
“They were some of the BTS owners and their Littles. They wanted to stop by and say hi to us.” Daddy sighed.
Her eyebrows bunched together. The other owners had been at the door? How did Frankie not recognize them?
“They all found their Littles?” She looked up at Daddy.
“All but Asher have found their Little.” Daddy sat down next to her. “They asked about you. Wanted to meet you, but I told them it wasn’t a good time. Charlotte and Monroe are determined to meet you at some point.”
Frankie shook her head. “I don’t want to meet any of them,” she lied.
Daddy gave her a disapproving look. “I think you do, but I think you are scared. I think you don’t want them to judge you, but you don’t have to worry about that.”
She stayed silent. They all looked normal to her, and Frankie would be the odd one out. They had known each other for a while now, she assumed, and she would be the new one in the group.
“I’m okay,” she whispered, sadness filling her voice.
“Rainey wasn’t here tonight, but she is Marco’s Little girl.
She has to have things in even numbers and likes soft clothes.
Monroe was abused by her ex-fiancé and still flinches when people walk up to her.
There is another Little whose Daddy isn’t a club owner, but Echo doesn’t like people touching her,” Daddy continued.
“All of them have something they were insecure about, but when they met each other, they realized everyone does. You don’t need to hide it from them. ”
“Really?” Frankie asked.
“I wouldn’t lie to you. All of them were worried that someone would make fun of them for what they thought was wrong with them.
But nothing is wrong with them. Echo used to let people touch her, not telling them her skin crawled when someone did because she didn’t want to be labeled as different.
You don’t need to be afraid to get to know them,” Daddy tried to soothe her concerns.
Frankie looked at him, unsure. It sounded wonderful that all of them had something else going on, like she did, but she still wasn’t sure about it.
“Just think about it. They are all lovely girls who would love to be your friends.” Daddy grabbed her hand. “They would love to accept you with open arms.”
Everything Daddy was saying sounded amazing. She wanted friends who wouldn’t judge her for having Essential Tremors.
“Maybe sometime soon you can meet them. It can be in the house, so you don’t have to meet new people somewhere new for the first time,” Daddy suggested. “Just think about it. They would love to get to know you.”
“Okay, I will,” Frankie finally responded.
Was she really going to think about it? Maybe for a couple of minutes, but Frankie figured she wasn’t actually going to go through with them. They would soon forget about her and go on with their lives. Frankie was fine with that.
“Let’s go snuggle up on the couch and watch a movie.” Daddy stood and helped her up.
“Can we watch How to Train Your Dragon?” Frankie looked up at Daddy, hope written on her face.
Daddy chuckled. “Of course we can.”
Frankie squealed and ran to the couch, plopping herself down and waiting for Daddy.