First Light

6 pretty silver beads

Tuesday 12th of October 2021 (the following week)

Marlo:

"Earth to Marlo, come in Marlo."

I blink, hard, looking up at Jonah who is staring at me across the table.

"Yeah?"

"I said 'don't you have a lecture now?'"

"I - what?" I check the time on my phone. "Oh, shit."

Scrambling up, I shoulder my backpack and push my plate of toast over to Jonah. "Finish that, will you, mate?"

He shrugs, taking a bite. "Bit cold."

"Sorry."

I press the button on the elevator multiple times, switching between watching what floor it's on and what time it is on my phone. As soon as it reaches the ground floor I run out, yelling apologies as I bump into multiple people coming back from classes.

I reach the university building, taking the stairs two at a time until I get to the floor I need to be on. I then round the corner and nearly plow into two girls, muttering a sorry as I go to sidestep around them. But I don't, because one of them's Faye, and she's smiling at me.

"Faye."

"Hi, are you okay?" She's frowning slightly, clearly confused on why I nearly knocked her over. Georgina is the other girl, and she's giving me the same look.

"Yeah, I'm just late to class."

"Oh, alright," She laughs. "Well, don't want to keep you from that."

Pretty silver beads decorate tiny plaits in her curls. I hadn't noticed them until now. Had they been there before?

"Marlo?"

I'm aware I'm staring again, and I shake my head. "Sorry, zoned out for a sec. I've been doing that a lot today."

She smiles again. "Your class?"

"Oh, fuck, yeah. Sorry, I -" I turn away from her, then turn back quickly, giving her a one-armed hug and nodding at Georgina. "See you."

Faye:

I watch him run off again, probably going to knock into someone else on the way to his lecture. I can feel Gia looking at me.

"Don't," I warn her, seeing a smirk formed on her face out of the corner of my eye.

"What. I wasn't going to say anything."

"Sure you weren't."

A couple seconds pass and she lets out a squeal, covering her mouth to muffle the sound. "I'm sorry, I have to say it."

I sigh, grinning when I feel her shake my arm. "Go on then."

"He hugged you!" She squeals again, causing the people seated that we walk past to look up.

I laugh, nudging her gently. "Be quiet."

"I'm sorry," She whispers. I can practically feel the excitement channelling from her arm into mine.

"It was just a hug, Gia. And I don't even like him like that."

She scoffs, loudly. " 'Just a hug'. He's practically in love with you."

I can't contain my laugh at her joke, pushing her away playfully. "Sure, sure. I'm gonna go for a cigarette, so I'll see you back at the flat?"

Gia looks down at the pack now in my hands, and I can see her face fall slightly. "I thought you said you were giving those up, love."

I tap the pack with my finger absentmindedly. "Yeah, I am. It's just, I haven't had one for like two weeks now, so..."

I avert my eyes, looking out of the doorway, knowing that if I make eye-contact with her she'll know I'm lying.

She sighs softly, then pulls me in for a hug so my head is on her chest. At times like this, I'm fully aware of how tall she is. She holds me for longer than usual, allowing me to breathe in the apple-cinnamon perfume I'm so familiar with.

When she pulls back she squeezes my shoulder, gently, seemingly attempting to get me to look her in the eye. I don't.

"See you in a few minutes." She says to me, glancing at the pack once more before walking in the direction of the accommodation.

It's not that I don't want to tell her, because I do, I really do. But I don't want to worry her even more than she already does.