Upside-Down

Thought I'd share the short story that I wrote for my Teaching Writing class. Here it is!

Frowning Frank didn't know what his parents were thinking when they named him. There were many other lovely adjectives they could have chosen to go with his name. He could have been Friendly Frank or Fabulous Frank or Faithful Frank or Funny Frank, but no—they named him Frowning Frank.

            “Its tradition!” they had told him when he asked about it. “You’re father’s name is Cranky Carson, you’re grandfather’s name is Grumpy Greg and your great-grandfather’s name is Moody Mathew. You should be proud to be part of such a great tradition.”

            But he wasn't. Honestly, Frowning Frank did try to be proud to be part of his family tradition, but in Label Town where everyone behaved according to the personality trait their parents had given them, he couldn't help but wish that his family had different traditions. 

            Every day Frowning Frank went to school, envying all the Happy Henrys and Laughing Lauras who got to smile and crack jokes in the hallways and on the bus. Frowning Frank wanted to be a part of all the laughing and smiling and all-around happiness, but he found it a nearly impossible to when he had to keep his mouth down turned at all times. It just wasn't fun to have to always frown. Besides that, no one really wanted to hangout with Frowning Frank. They said he wasn't fun enough. 

            One day during third period math Principle Peaceful Patricia came into class. With her was a tall, lanky girl with curly blonde hair, clean cut clothes and square glasses. Frowning Frank didn't recognize her.

            “This,” said Principle Peaceful Patricia, motioning to the girl next to her, “Is Heather. She’s an exchange student from Boston who will be joining your class for the next several months. Does anyone have any questions for her about herself or where she's from?”

             Frowning Frank stayed quiet. It was one of the benefits of sitting in the back of the classroom: he didn't feel pressured to say thing if he didn't want to. He also wasn't tempted to smile or chortle when he sat away from the rest of the students. Talkative Tessa, though, raised her hand enthusiastically from the front of the room.

            “Yes?” said new girl, acknowledging Talkative Tessa’s hand.

            “What’s your real name?” she asked.

            The new girl looked confused. “What?”

            “I mean,” clarified Talkative Tessa, “what’s your full name? Your whole name?”

            “Oh!” she smiled, seeming to understand now. “Heather Jones. Heather Louise Jones.”

            The class stared at her, every one of them now feeling like the confused ones.

            “Things are different where Heather’s from,” explained Principle Peaceful Patricia. “In Boston, the parents don’t give their kids descriptive names. Instead, the families all have a family name that follows their own name. In Heather’s case, her family’s name is Jones.”

            Huh, thought Frowning Frank to himself. He was almost tempted to raise his eyebrows. A name like ‘Jones?’ Now that was a family tradition he wouldn't mind.

            Another hand shot up. Principle Peaceful Patricia called on the individual. It was Sassy Sally. “But then, like, how do you know how to, like, act?” she asked.

            Heather shrugged her shoulders. “However I want to act,” she said.

            The class let out a collective gasp, which was followed closely by the bickering of chatter. Though Frowning Frank didn't have any neighbors to talk to, his mind was whirling with this new girl’s last statement. Being able to not have to frown all the time? The thought almost set his mouth straigh. Luckily, though, he caught himself before he was able to break his frown, and resumed to scowling at the rest of the class.

            “Students, calm down,” spoke-up Miss. Mature Melissa, the teacher. “I know that having an exchange student in the class is exciting, but it’s no excuse to slip into bad behavior.” She turned towards Principle Peaceful Patricia. “Thank you, Principle, for bringing Heather to our class. I think that’s all the questions we’ll ask her for today. Heather—you may take a seat.”

            The gravity of the situation suddenly hit Frowning Frank and immediately he tensed-up. The only seats left in the classroom were next to him, and no one ever sat next to him. No one. But Heather, being new, didn't know these things. And so, without a moment’s hesitation, she waltzed on back towards the back of the classroom where Frowning Frank was sitting and took the seat right next to him.

            For a moment, it seemed like Disruptive Dave was going to say something about the matter, but Miss. Mature Melissa started teaching before he could throw out any words. Frowning Frank tried to pay attention to the lecture Miss. Mature Melissa was giving, but he just couldn't focus with Heather sitting right next to him. She didn't even seem to notice how at least half the class kept shooting her curious glances. 

            Class zoomed by, and soon the bell rang, signaling that it was lunch time. Students started packing up and leaving the room, leaving in their usual groups of friends. Frowning Frank, who was used to eating his lunch alone, was just about to leave when Heather spoke to him.

            “Do you mind if I eat lunch with you? I don’t really have anyone to sit with yet, obviously, because I’m new.”

            This time, Frowning Frank did forget to frown. His jaw dropped and he gaped at her. That made Heather laugh. “Wow—you look surprised!” she giggled.

            That brought him quickly back to reality, and he quickly readjusted his expression. “People don’t eat lunch with me,” he scowled, walking past her towards the doorway.

            “Why not?” she asked, catching up with him. She didn't even seem put-out.

            “People don’t want to eat with a rain cloud over head. They say I always damper the mood.”

            “Well, it’s probably because you’re always frowning!” she exclaimed. “I didn't see you smile once that whole class period.”

            “That’s because it’s what I’m supposed to do.”

            “What is?”

            “Frowning.”

“What? No it’s not! No one’s supposed to frown.”

“Well I am.”

“And why is that?”

He sighed. “Because my name’s Frowning Frank," he explained. "It’s how things work around here. Bossy Brad is bossy, Shy Shelly is shy and Witty Whitney is witty. Everyone has an adjective with their name and we’re all supposed to act like that adjective.”

She was laughing again. “I don’t believe you! That’s the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!”

“Well I’m not lying,” said Frowning Frank, trying to keep frowning (which was very hard to do with her laughing next to him).

Heather cocked her head and looked curiously at him. “In Boston, where I’m from, you can be as happy or as sad as you choose to be, no matter what your name is.”

At first, Frowning Frank's initial reaction was to scoff at her comment, as he always did. But for some reason, he stalled. Could a place exist where you got to pick how you behaved and felt, regardless of what your parents named you? Could things really be as great in Boston as Heather was making them out to seem?

But suddenly, Frowning Frank looked up and realized that they had made it to the lunch room. He couldn't let everyone else know that the idea of living in Boston sounded better than living in Label Town. So instead of saying what he really wanted to, he frowned and said, “Sounds great, but I live in reality.”

They both stopped walking, and Heather turned to look up at him. “Maybe you could make reality what you want it to be,” she said. “Maybe, you could chance a smile.”

Frowning Frank took a breath to reply, but before he had the chance to, Heather spoke again. “If you insist on not letting me sit by you, I suppose I’ll have to go sit next to all the Silly Sallys and Cocky Craigs to eat my lunch, which is rather unfortunate. I like you a lot better. But let me know when you change your mind and I’ll come over and join you at your table. I promise I won’t even tell anyone if you laugh at one of my jokes.”

With that, Heather made her way over to the table with all the happy kids and sat down, laughing as she did, at something Humorous Hank said. Frowning Frank made his way over to his usual table that was tucked back and out of the way in the corner. He sat down, took out his lunch, but didn't feel much like eating. Instead, he just sat and watched Heather talk, laugh and smile with the other kids. As he watched her, he wondered if she really would come over and sit with him and let him laugh at her jokes if he asked her to.

Just as he was about to dismiss the thought, Heather caught his eye, smiled and winked at him. Before Frowning Frank’s brain could register what was happening, his mouth gave in to the twitch that was constantly pulling at him and his mouth turned upward. For the first time in his life, Frowning Frank was frowning upside-down.