First Light

14 converses and necklaces

Marlo falls into step beside me, scuffing through the light carpet of fallen leaves as the others walk in front of us. "How was that?" He asks quietly.

I smile up at him. "Yeah, it was fine. Didn't make me want to die from anxiety."

He laughs, nudging my arm with his. "Good, good."

I can see Becca staring at me from the corner of my eye once we all get to the bus stop. She immediately turns her head away once I make eye-contact.

Hmm.

"How far is it? The restaurant I mean." I ask Marlo.

"Like 20 mins? It isn't too bad."

"Yeah, the bus usually goes quite quick." Jonah adds.

I smile at him. "Alright."

"Don't worry, we wouldn't have dragged you along if it was far."

"You didn't 'drag me'. I wanted to come."

Jonah not-so-discreetly elbows Marlo in the ribs. "See, she wanted to come."

Marlo elbows him back. "Yes, J, I heard."

"Okay, just making sure. Would you have been upset if you hadn't come?" Jonah directs the question to me.

What is going on?

I stop myself from laughing. "Well, I wouldn't have known if you hadn't asked. So there'd be nothing to be upset about, you know?"

Jonah nods deeply. "Oh, true, true."

Marlo elbows him again. "Idiot."

"Is everything okay with you two?" Emily asks, laughing.

"I had to force him to call Faye. It was his idea though, bringing her along. He'd convinced himself it was stupid to ask," Jonah turns to face Marlo. "But was it? No, it wasn't. You'd be the idiot for not asking her."

The look of betrayal on Marlo's face is too funny not to laugh at. "You're just going to expose me? Okay."

"Oh, shut up."

There is next to no-one on the bus, and Jonah immediately takes the stairs to the upper deck.

Becca and Emily somehow manage to get in front of me, stepping between me and Marlo. I could be completely imagining it, but I'm nearly completely sure that they've done it on purpose.

I'm the last one in the group to reach the top deck, and I realise quickly that there's an odd number of people with me being here.

Marlo's turned to me just as he's sitting down, nodding his head at the window seat next to him, but before I even reach him, Becca's taken it. As in, she practically had to climb over his lap to get that seat.

I suddenly feel very, very out of place.

I don't look at her as I sit down in the seat behind them. I can already imagine what her facial expression is.

Marlo stands up almost as soon as my jeans touch the seat, and Becca grabs his arm.

Her hand is on his arm.

"I don't want Faye to sit by herself." He explains to her.

"Oh, she'll be okay! She's still with us. You're okay, aren't you, Faye?" She's smiling at me, but her eyes aren't.

I don't like how she says my name.

"Yeah, of course. It's just for a bit, Marlo, don't worry." I force myself to say it in the most light-hearted tone I can muster.