Summary:
Frank was always the attention seeker, but will his carefree and cavalier personality get him far in life? Well, he seems to think so.

For as long as Frank Iero could remember, he was always the attention seeker. He was a seeker of the ladies’ attention to be more specific. He’d do anything for a couple laughs, or to catch the eye of the neighbor girl. Even if it meat doing something crazy in the process. It was a habit his mother hoped Frank would grow out of with age, but it seemed like the older Frank got, the crazier and more dangerous his stunts seemed to get. But whoever said that was a bad thing?

Now twenty-seven years old and as crazy as ever, Frank’s still the same. Except now he’s getting paid for the crazy stuff he does. But maybe we should go back a few years to when it all began, all the craziness to be more exact. No not quite so far back to his birth, how about eighteen years? Back to the day Frank first met Gracie.


“Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s—”

“Frank? Are you still out there?”

Nine-year-old Franklin Anthony Iero’s sneaker-clad feet skidded in the dirt as he stopped himself in mid—well, ‘takeoff.’ A large dust cloud came up from around his feet caused by his sudden stop as he had been running around his backyard while reciting his proudly memorized introduction with loud gusto. A frustrated frown pulled at the corners of his mouth at the sound of his mother's calling, which interrupted his playtime. She always seemed to have the worst of timing when it came to calling him for something.

“Mom!” He called back in slight annoyance, turning around to look at his mother standing on the back steps of their large two-story home. “You stopped me right before I said the line!”

Linda Iero rolled her eyes at her son’s theatrics and shook her head before speaking again. “Come on in here for a minute, there’s someone in here I want you to meet.”

Unbeknownst to Frank, whom his mother was calling him to meet would change his life forever from that day forward. But maybe that’s looking too far ahead.

As much as Frank wanted to keep playing, he knew better than to back-sass his mother. He’d learned that one a long time ago. So with a heavy sigh, he trudged back across the backyard towards the house. His father’s large belt hung loosely around his hips as he walked, which were still too small to hold up the accessory. But Superman wasn’t quite Superman without the belt in Frank’s opinion, so he wore it anyway. An even more necessary accessory was the vibrant red cape he had tired around his neck which used to be a piece from his mother’s drapes. Both of which he left on as he tromped grudgingly up the back steps and through the screen door leading into the kitchen.

An unfamiliar voice met his ears as he walked though the door, and he turned his head curiously to see his mother standing with a mixing bowl in her hands as she talked to a tall brown-haired woman he’d never seen before. Like his mother she had dark brown hair, but hers was pulled away from her face in a ponytail. Getting right to the point, and being as blunt about it as only a nine-year-old could, Frank asked the first questions that came to mind.

“Who are you? And what are you doing in our house?”

“Frank!” Linda exclaimed exasperatedly, her eyes widening a bit in horror at her son’s sudden rudeness. “That’s no way to talk to a guest!”

“Well I was only askin’ a question…” He grumbled, not knowing why exactly his mother was so upset about what he’d said. Those questions seemed like reasonable enough ones to ask upon first meeting someone.

“It’s alright,” The tall woman laughed as she looked over at Frank still standing in the backdoor. “I should be used to that by now. That’s a nice cape you got on there, Frank. Or should I say, Superman?”

A proud smile spread its way across Frank’s face at the woman’s words. Not only did she like his cape, but she also knew who he was supposed to be. He immediately liked this woman. “You can call me Frank in here.” He said gesturing around the kitchen before he lowered his voice. “But out there, it’s just Superman.” He finished, jabbing his thumb behind him to the backyard.

The woman held back a laugh and then nodded solemnly. “But of course.” She said. “We don’t want the evil Lex Luthor knowing of your true identity, now do we?”

Frank’s hazel colored eyes widened a bit at the mention of his ‘nemesis’’ name and he nodded rapidly in agreement. This caused the woman to laugh loudly and look over at Linda still mixing cookie batter in the large bowl in her hands.

“He’s adorable, and he likes superheroes.” She said. “I’m sure he and my daughter will get along just fine.”

Frank was now only half listening to what the woman was saying while his attention was set on the large bowl of cookie dough in his mother’s hands. He was quickly running over possible ways of how to get said cookie dough when his ears picked up on a word from the woman’s sentence.

“Daughter?” He asked, tearing his attention from the cookie dough bowl to the woman again.

“Frank this is Mrs. Michaels,” Linda said, finally introducing the woman standing beside her. “She and her husband just bought the old Jeffers’ place down the road and they have a daughter, Grace, who’s your age.”

“Which reminds me…” Kim Michaels said while snapping her fingers. She turned her head to she look around the large kitchen and a small frown took the place of her smile. “Where did that girl get off to? She was in here just a minute ago. Grace? Gracie!”

“Coming mama!” A light female voice called from a room towards the front of the house. Frank turned his head just in time to see the owner of that voice walk right through the other doorway of his kitchen and come to stand beside her mother.

For the first time in Frank’s nine-year-old life, he was completely speechless. Now Frank wasn’t what one would describe as a religious child by any means, nor would he ever know anything from the Bible had his parents not forced him to go to church every Sunday—an act he absolutely despised as much as the stuffy suit he was forced to wear. But if he ever had to give a description of one of God’s angels for whatever reason, Gracie would be that description.

Gracie was the most beautiful thing he’d ever laid eyes on with her long brown hair hanging in loose curls down past her shoulders, her yellow sundress that was incidentally covered in various splotches of dirt, and her high-topped sneakers which were the same brand as Frank’s only in white instead of black. Or rather, what used to be white. Now it was a little hard to say for sure that they were originally white due to the dirt and grass stains covering them. She was a girl that wasn’t afraid of getting dirty. Frank liked that. Most of the other neighborhood girls cringed at the thought of getting the slightest bit of mud on themselves whilst playing, a reason why Frank didn’t generally associate himself with them. But for this girl he believed he could make an exception.

“What is it mama?” She asked as she looked up at her mother.

“Gracie honey, this is Mrs. Iero’s son, Frank.” Kim said, motioning over to him still standing by the back door. “He’s nine, just like you.”

Gracie looked over to where her mother was gesturing and eyed Frank up and down, taking in his appearance just as he had hers. He was a bit taller than she was, dark scruffy hair, a rounded sort of nose, and hazel colored eyes. His current apparel she took in next. Dirty jeans, sneakers, and white t-shirt covered with a large brown belt and a red cape tied round his neck. She was about to remind him that Superman’s belt was yellow, not brown, but thought better of it seen as her mother had instructed her to be nice to new people. She gave him credit for trying though.

After deciding for herself that Frank was indeed an acceptable new playmate in this new town she’d just moved to, she stepped forward and stretched out a hand confidently. “Gracie Louise Michaels, pleased to meet you, Frank.”

The two adult women in the kitchen stifled their laughter the best that they could while Frank stepped forward confidently to return Gracie’s handshake. “Frank Anthony Iero.” He replied with an air of cockiness. “Pleased to meet you, miss Gracie.”

“Why don’t you two go and run around outside for a bit while the cookies are baking, alright?” Linda said as she started spooning globs of dough onto large metal sheets. “I’ll call you back in when they’re done.”

“Okay,” Frank said cheerfully before looking back over to Gracie again. “Hey, you wanna see something cool?” He asked while nodding out the back door.

“Yeah okay.” She agreed and followed him as he led the way back outside, jumping the two back steps as she did so. The screen door smacked shut behind them and the mothers both laughed loudly at their children’s eagerness.

Frank led the way to the far end of the back yard over to where a large shed stood surrounded by trees on either side. A wicked grin spread across his face as he suddenly got an idea and he whirled on his feet to face Gracie. She saw him turning and skidded to a halt right in front of him so as to not crash straight into him.

“What if I told you I could fly?” Frank asked with his ever-present grin.

A boy showing off for her was nothing new for Gracie and she folded her arms across her chest making her look instantly older especially with the skeptical expression on her face. “You can not.” She said with an eye roll.

“Can too.” Frank insisted proudly. “I’ll bet you a kiss I can.”

This was something Gracie hadn’t heard before. “A kiss?” She asked, turning her head to the side a little in confusion. “How do you bet a kiss?”

Frank laughed a little at his seemingly superior knowledge of the situation and matched her stance by folding his arms across his chest. “Well you see Gracie, if I bet you a kiss, that means that if I lose, I have to kiss you.”

“And if you win?” She prodded questioningly.

“You have to kiss me.” He replied with a devilish smirk on his handsome face. This plan was foolproof in his opinion. Either way he’d end up with what he wanted. But Frank never understood the consequences of what his actions might lead to until later.

For the meantime though, his answer seemed to pacify Gracie because she shrugged and stepped back a little from him. “Alright then,” She said, waving her hand in the air. “Let’s see if you can really fly, Superman.”

Frank grinned and quickly ran over to the nearest tree beside the garden shed. In a maneuver he must have done a hundred times by now, he pulled himself up onto the lowest branch of the tree and started climbing. Once he was at the right height, he kept one hand on the tree branch while lowering himself down onto the sharp planes of the shed’s roof. He wobbled slightly, but managed to retain his confident smirk as he walked along the edge to the front of the roof where Gracie was watching below.

“Superman can take off from the ground you know.” She said, shielding her eyes from the sun as she looked up at Frank on the roof.

“Hey, Superman’s a lot taller than I am.” He defended while placing his hands on his hips. “Now move off to the side a bit, you’re in my landing zone.”

Gracie rolled her eyes again, but did as she was told. Once she was completely out of the way, she looked up at him again expectantly. Now that he had her full attention Frank smiled confidently. Not that he would say it out loud, but he was mentally running over Superman’s introduction in his mind as he readied himself for the jump he had all but mastered in all his years of dangerous stunts.

Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No it’s—

Right as he was finishing the opening, Frank jumped as far as he could, catapulting himself off the shed roof and into the air. He meant to add in a somersault still in mid-flight, a move he’d never attempted before, but thought it would impress Gracie even more, but at the last second he thought better of it. Unfortunately for Frank, this didn’t leave him enough time to land on his feet as he had planned. He clenched his eyes shut and braced himself for his soon to be rough landing.

Gracie stepped back another foot and winced as she watched Frank hit the ground hard, landing not on his feet, but on his right arm. There was an unpleasant cracking noise and Frank groaned loudly, now face down in the dirt. He knew he had broken his arm for sure this time, but his pride wasn’t going to let him cry. Especially now that he was in the presence of a girl.

So instead of crying out in pain like his instincts told him to, he smirked and turned his head to look up at Gracie now standing over him. “See?” He laughed proudly as he sat up holding his now throbbing right arm. “Told’ya I could fly.”

Gracie scoffed and rolled her eyes. For a moment there she was almost worried about Frank. “Boys.” She muttered, shaking here head as she started walking back in the direction of the house.

“Hey where’re you going?” Frank called after her from his seat on the ground. “You still owe me a kiss!”

His last statement caused her to stop in her tracks. He was right, she had agreed to the deal. Granted he didn’t actually fly, but falling a few feet farther than she thought he seemed to make up for that in her opinion. So it was with her head held high that she turned around and marched back over to Frank. She was equally if not more prideful than he was, and was never one to back out of a deal.


An hour later Frank sat in the emergency room waiting area with his arm wrapped in gauze tape and a makeshift sling, courtesy of his mother, and a wide smile on his face, courtesy of Gracie. His father Frank Iero senior looked over at his son sitting beside him. He knew that boys would be boys and that sometimes they did the unexplainable, but that didn’t stop him from asking the question that had been on his mind since Gracie had come back into the house saying Frank needed a hospital.

“Why’d you do it, son?” He asked after letting out a heavy sigh.

Frank looked up at his father with the same permanent smile and answered in the most honest and simplest way that he knew how.

“ ‘Cause the chicks dig it.”

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