I was looking for my end of year English results today (our teacher still hasn't emailed them to us, but YAY 8 weeks of serenity. No homework, no school, just non-stop Disney movies, Broadway singalongs, and chilling with friends)

So yeah apparently my teacher liked this.

It was our formative exam so..

(Oh yeah it was supposed to be "sci-fi" or "futuristic". Also the octopus thing is an inside joke I have with my sister)

I stared out at the glass of the dome that kept human civilization from being swallowed by seawater as Frank and I raced down the road. Ever since the octopi had won the war and taken over every continent, we were confined to what was once their home. The depths of the ocean. My eyes wandered out into the vast expanse of blue – every so often the silver flash of a fish's scales broke through the endless, admittedly boring monochrome. Even after five years, I still hadn't adjusted to living under the sea, cloaked in dull, blueish light. I stumbled slightly, Frank was dragging me along at a pace faster than I would usually run. I was getting the hell out of this dome if it was the last thing I did. Just 10 minutes – anything to feel free.

Frank stopped abruptly, and I subsequently tumbled over and landed on the concrete in front of us.

"Ow!" I winced, getting up and brushing my knees off.

"Ha! You should've seen your face when you fell! Anyway," Frank said, "meet my team."

I looked around, and slowly realized that the entirety of Frank's dive team had seen my embarrassing fall. They must've seen the sudden look of horror on my face because they looked sympathetic.

"Yo guys, this is Benny." Frank snickered, introducing me to the five faces staring at me and ruffling my unbrushed hair. Despite me being two years older, I was at least 3 centimetres shorter than Frank. I hated that.

"Um, yeah, hi." I mumbled. Did I mention I was absolutely killer at first impressions? Yeah, it comes from being surrounded by computer geeks and scores of data your entire life.

There was a moment of silence.

"So I take it you're the kid Frank was telling us about who really wanted to go up to the surface with us, eh?" Said a girl with shoulder-length brown hair and freckles dotted over her face. "Well, I'm Tilly."

I nodded. She seemed nice enough, "I take it you're the girl Frank tells me about who basically runs the place, eh?" I responded with a sudden flair of out-of-character confidence. She laughed a little. The rest of the team introduced themselves as Jem, Isobel, and Hudson.

Next thing I know we're pulling dive masks over our faces and Tilly is telling me for the hundredth time about certain safety precautions I needed to take. Such as those to avoid the venomous octopi. I don't think Frank told them I worked with a research crew to find a cure for their fatal bites, so I knew all about that.

"I know." I sighed irritably as Tilly peppered me with questions.

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm just making sure you don't die out there. Frank said he'd slaughter us if anything happened to you," she said in an annoyed tone.

I turned to Frank, giving him a questioning stare. He just shrugged and grinned, "What?"

I raised my eyebrows, "So are we gonna go outside or nah?" I said. I was itching to get outside the dome, and my dive mask was fogging up.

Frank took my hand and dragged me over to the door. My heart quickened. It had been five years since I had felt truly free from this confining dome. Our eyes met – I couldn't stop grinning, which made Frank smile.

As we stepped outside the dome, I was cloaked in the endless blue that had captivated my imagination for so long. All my wildest dreams collided in that split second we entered the blue abyss. I let go of Frank's hand and stared, wide-eyed into the blue.

I really wanna write some more of Frank and Benny over the holidays, but my sister and I have big plans to turn her assessment into a full-length, ridiculous novel, and my mum wants to sell art with me soooo

hey look I'll post something when we whack up a website I'll be fun.

I might make a new book for some Frank and Benny shorts.

(I regret turning Grammarly on for Chrome because it won't shut up like seriously bitch fuck off I know I suck)

FYI we had 2 weeks to write up a formative assessment piece and me being the dumb fuck I am I "forgot" about it until the night before, had a complete breakdown, and ended up sending this EXACT email to my teacher:

Hey Mr [surname],

I have terrible writer's block and no ideas for my story, so I might turn it in a little late (around lunch)

- TJ

by "lunch" I meant in two days..