The Company We Keep

Ch. 3

Marleigh was immersed in the divorce papers that now covered the entirety of her bed. She finally looked at the time after realizing that her phone had been ringing for the past few minutes. It was 12:14. She had four missed calls, and three text messages from Hadley. Crap, Marleigh thought. She called Hadley back, apologized, promised that her being late was for good reason, and said that she will explain everything once she gets there. Marleigh grabbed her coat off the chair and rushed out of her bedroom. She leapt off the wooden staircase and plunged toward the front door. All of a sudden, her older brother stepped in front of her with his arms folded before she could reach for the knob.

"What?" Marleigh asked as she tried to squeeze past him. "I'm in a hurry."

Marc stood his ground. "I have to talk to you," he said.

"Marc, seriously, I'm already like fifteen minutes late and it's a ten minute walk to get downtown. Whatever it is, we can talk about it later."

Marc didn't budge. She contemplated shoving him aside even though she knew he would resist and she wouldn't be able to get past him.

"I know about you and Brinson."

"Oh..."

"I don't really care what you do with guys, Marleigh, it's your life, but if you think I'm going to just sit around and watch my best friend who comes over all the time start ditching me to make out with my little sister, then you're insane. He's twenty-one, Marleigh! You're seventeen!" Marc raised his voice, which began to echo across the house.

"Shhhh!" Marleigh tried to quiet him. She was worried her parents would hear.

Marc seemed flustered and began turning red. He looked both betrayed and disgusted.

"He's a good guy, Marc," Marleigh lowered her voice.

"Yeah well, I thought so too until I found out he was trying to get into my underage sister's pants."

"It's not like that! All we did was kiss. It was a mistake, I know. I'm sorry. I'll stop talking to him, but I really need to go," she said.

Marc paused. "Are you on your way to see him right now?"

"No I'm going to meet with Hadley. Now let me go."

"Don't make me get involved in this Marleigh, I'm serious. I will intervene if I have to. I'm not okay with this and I want both of you to know that. I already talked to Brin. If he starts calling or texting you, let me know," Marc said as he stepped to the side and let Marleigh pass him.

She rolled her eyes and walked out before slamming the door behind her.

Outside, orange, yellow, brown, and red leaves covered the dark pavement throughout the neighborhood, which was shaded by towering, balding, trees. The neighbors had already started to hang up fall wreaths and set out pumpkins on their front porches.

Marleigh needed to take her car now that she had kept Hadley waiting for even longer, but she realized that she had left her keys in her room when she ran out so suddenly. She didn't want to go back inside and face another potential lecture or deal with any lingering awkwardness from her conversation with Marc, so Marleigh began walking at an almost jogging-like pace.

As she passed Lenny Briar's house – the guy that tried to kill himself during freshman year because Emma wouldn't go to homecoming with him – she heard a car driving slowly on the street next to her. Marleigh turned to glance at it and saw a person in the passenger's seat duck suddenly. The driver, wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, quickly sped off.

Halloween was definitely approaching, Marleigh thought. As she continued to walk, she couldn't help but notice things seemed a little off during the past few days. Or, perhaps, it just seemed that way since the new school year was starting and especially since her and Hadley knew that Emma was back in town. There was always something happening if Emma was near, she thought to herself. She was like a magnet for weird occurrences.