Second Semester

Date: January 3

      "Can you believe it?" Hazel asked Frank. "We're back for one day and Mrs. Dodds springs a pop quiz on us and then tells us we have a test on Friday. She's evil! I wouldn't be surprised if she's a monster."

     Hazel was pacing across his room. She had come over after school and the two of them had been working on homework together. They had just finished their algebra homework and were taking a break.

    "Hazel, you look really upset," Frank said, laying on hand gently on her shoulders. "Is there something else bothering you?"

    Hazel exhaled and nodded. She was chewing her lip and when she met Frank's gaze, her eyes looked so hard that they resembled a blade forged of gold.

    "Octavian told me that Nico and I don't have much common," Hazel said. "He said he was surprised that we were siblings given how different we are."

    "It's not necessarily bad to be different from your brother," Frank said.

    "What are you implying?" Hazel asked sharply.

    Frank backed away.

   "N-nothing," he said. "I just mean that you're like a cinnamon roll and Nico is more—"

   "More what?" Hazel asked sharply.

    "Mo-more l-like licorice," Frank said. 

     "What does that mean?" Hazel asked, nose to nose with Frank.

    "I mean, he's different from you," Frank said. "He's more of an acquired taste."

    "My brother is not an acquired taste!" Hazel said loudly.

    "It's just that people are intimidated by him," Frank said.

    "That's because they're judgmental fools," Hazel said, "and I'm saddened that you are too. You should know that cinnamon rolls are fiercer than they appear and licorice tastes better with an open mind."

    "Hazel!" Frank said, but she was already leaving his room.

     Frank followed her. She ran out of his house and began to walk. Frank jogged to catch up with her. She fixed a glare on him that he had seen many times on Nico's face. 

    "Leave me alone," she spat.

    "Hazel—" Frank said.

   "I don't want to listen to you right now," Hazel said. "Nico is my brother and no one is more important than him to me."

    She glared at Frank and he nodded. He watched as she sped up her pace. He could tell from the way her shoulders were stiffened and her hands were clenched in fists that she was angry. Once she was out of his sight Fran returned home. He texted Hazel a hasty apology and asked her to please text him when she got home.

    When it was time for dinner, Frank barely touched the tofu stir fry that his grandmother had made. She fixed her sharp glare on him and pursed her lips together.

    "What is wrong, Fai?" she asked.

    "Hazel and I got into a fight," Frank admitted. "I insulted her brother; I didn't mean to. She's angry at me."

    "Well of course she is!" his grandmother said sharply. "Be a man, Frank. Apologize to her."

    "I have!" Frank protested.

    "Do more than text her an apology," Frank's grandmother said. "Go talk to her in person tomorrow and apologize for your tongue being as clumsy as your feet."

    "Alright, grandmother," Frank said. "I'll try that. I just hope it works."