Chapter 3 Part 2

All he could see was black.

Then out of the black came a shining, beautiful angel.  She touched him gently on the cheek and guided him out of the darkness.  He stared into her beautiful, pale blue eyes, slowly realizing who was standing over him.  Then her features began to blur and morph . . .

Into the face of Jermaine.

Franc's brother stood over him, slapping him repeatedly in the face.  "'Bout time you woke up," said Jermaine in his disgustingly smug voice.  "You had us worried there for a second."  A hope sprung up in Franc as he considered all of the possible meanings of the word 'us'.  He took a deep breath, the overwhelming smell in his nose confirming his deepest hopes.  "Oh don't worry.  Mom and dad are here.  I called them as soon as I found you like this."

Crash.

The smell of Penny's perfume clung to Jermaine as he stood over Franc, but she was nowhere near them.  Us.  Franc was certain he had never been so disappointed to realize his parents were home.

After a frantic shake-down from his mother and quick glance from his father, Franc returned to his bedroom followed closely by his brother.  "So what really happened?"  The question was not casual or concerned.  It was conniving.  He knew something and was looking for more.

"I don't know," Franc said, only half honest.  "One second I was fine, the next you were slapping me in the face."

"Uh huh," said Jermaine skeptically.  "So then what's this?"  He held up a small, round object.  Its red exterior shone with a familiar glow, but Franc couldn't place it.  That made it easy to deny any knowledge of it with a casual shrug.  "Oh don't worry," Jermaine continued as Franc cringed at the catch phrase.  "Mom and dad don't know about it.  I found it in the microwave and noticed you had some popcorn.  I'm just curious about what it is."

"I don't know what it is," said Franc frustratedly.  "Can't you just drop it and go to bed?"

Jermaine offered a half-smile that suggested he knew more than he was showing.  Franc knew that it actually meant he thought he knew more than he actually did.  "Ok, then.  Don't worry.  Your secret's safe with me."

And with that, Jermaine went to his bed and slept.

Franc, on the other hand, laid in his bed just until he could hear Jermaine's unnecessarily heavy breathing that always accompanied sleep.  He then snuck over to Jermaine's side of the room, picked up the strange object from the microwave, and took it to his desk.