Chapter Two.
One year later
"I can't believe you're doing this, again." I tell my mom as I finish braiding my hair sideways.
"Doing what?" She asks from the bathroom, she was putting her make-up on.
"You're forcing me to go to another party for New Year's Eve. I really wanted to go to France with Charley and his family."
"It's not a party, it's just a dinner, Marley. And I wasn't going to let you go to France all by yourself with him, even if he's your best friend. I wouldn't let you go even if he was gay." Now that's exaggerating. "Here, put this on." She threw a dress on my bed and then left the room.
"You're not only making me go to a diner with a bunch of people I don't know, but you're also making me wear a dress? You're pure evil, woman." The dress was too tight for my taste. It was a black lace dress my mother bought for me a few months ago for my anniversary, which never happened. And I'm wearing the dress with a pair of red louboutin high heels my father bought for me recently from his last trip to Europe.
"Oh, I'm the devil." She jokes from her bedroom and I groan. "Come on, Marley, it's not a big deal. Lorraine is a really great woman and she invited us to have dinner with them, what could I say?"
"Uh, a no would've been pretty great." She pokes her head through my door with a really? look on her face. I fake a smile and apologize.
"It's not like we were going to another fancy party, were we?" Ah, those fancy parties that I'm never going to miss. "Come on, you know we had nothing better to do tonight."
"I could be under the Eiffel Tower right now." I sigh.
"Not going to happen, bud." She tells me and I groan, that's followed by her malevolent laughter.
-
The dinner was actually in our same building, hosted by our newest neighbor called Lorraine Humphrey. Her and her family moved just two floors over us a few months ago. I've never met her or any or her family, but her and my mother have grown pretty close. They knew each other since before they moved in, don't know how though.
My phone vibrates inside my little purse, so I took it out and saw I had a message from Charley. I opened it and it was a picture. It was him under the Eiffel Tower and the caption said "wish you were here".
Charley and I became best friends about a year ago. How we met is nearly hilarious. Remember that obnoxious but cute guy who kissed me even when I told him not to? Long story short, we became really good friends after it. I developed certain hate towards the guy at first, but once I got to know the real him, he was okay. He had a huge crush on me, but eventually he got over it and tah-dah, that's our story.
I take a picture at my surroundings, only a lot people standing, talking about who cares what, and the caption I write "because I love you, I don't wish you were here. Have fun for the both of us." And then send it.
"What are you taking a picture of?" A guy takes a sit next to me. He didn't look that bad to be honest.
"Just the surroundings, nothing really interesting." I shrug.
"Then why are you taking a picture of it?" He asks.
"Because I'm sending it to my friend." Why am I even telling this to this guy?
"Your friend friend or your boyfriend?" I laugh.
"Just my friend." I reply. "I'm Marlene Barnett, but you can call me Marley."
