I Know Places | Marcanne

1

"You want me to do what?!" Marcy exclaimed, her voice filled with disbelief and uncertainty. She was still unsure if she was even hearing correctly, or if her parents were just playing a horrible joke on her.

Mrs. Wu let out a tired sighed, and closed her eyes, massaging her temple before responding, "I believe you heard me clearly, Marcy."

Before Marcy could even attempt to reason with her parents, her father chimed in, "That's right, don't make your mother repeat herself."

Marcy's mouth snapped shut and her jaw tensed up ever so slightly, but she didn't dare disobey her parents. She knew better than that, but it didn't mean she was happy about it.

"Alright, now that we've settled that, we'll need to make arrangements with the Waybrights. They want you and Sasha to go on a date as soon as possible."

"And we told them you were available tomorrow." Mr. Wu finished, causing Marcy's eyebrows to furrow in confusion.

"But... I'm not available tomorrow." She reminded, causing the older couple to look at one another.

"We understand that you had plans with your friend Anne, but those can be rescheduled. Your girlfriend takes priority here." Her mother insisted.

"What, girlfriend? Sasha is not my..."

Her words died at the tip of her tongue once she saw the sharp look both her mother and father were giving her. She felt trapped and knew she couldn't complain, it was clear that they expected her to comply with their wishes, no matter how much she disagreed or didn't want to.

As Marcy processed the situation, her mind raced with thoughts and emotions. She couldn't believe her parents were trying to set her up on a date without even considering her feelings. And to label Sasha as her girlfriend? That was a whole other level of something she just didn't want.

The silence lingered on for too long, and it seemed her parents knew that because Mrs. Wu gently nudged her husband, who took a slight step forward to his daughter.

"Marcy, we can see that you don't seem entirely thrilled about this, but trust us when we say this'll be good for not only the family but for you, we just want you to be happy. We thought this could be a good opportunity for you to get to know Sasha better too."

Marcy had the urge to scream and tell them that Sasha was one of her best friends so of course she already knew her well enough to know she'd never see her romantically, especially not when Anne was in the picture, but she decided to bite her tongue and just nod, she didn't need further drama and conflict in her life than she already had.

"Great, you can head over to your friend's place now, Marcy. But be here before nine o'clock, alright." Mr. Wu said, his tone making it more of a demand than a question.

"Sure thing." Marcy replied, not needing to be told twice, as soon as her parents went back in their room, she wasted no time to leave the house, and went straight to Anne's. She had to let go of her previous plans, but being anywhere but her own house was a priority for her at the moment. And she knew Anne would be there for her, ready to lend a listening ear and caring embrace.

-

The moment Marcy stepped inside Anne's room, she threw herself onto the girl's bed and let out a heavy sigh. It was clear to the brunette that something was bothering her usually cheery friend, and she'd be lying if she said it didn't concern her.

"You doing alright there, Marcy?"

Marcy took a sharp breath in as she laid still, her eyes closed, while Anne stood hovering over her.

"I guess, I'm just feeling a little off today." She muttered, knowing she wouldn't be able to explain the situation, even though she so badly wanted to.

But Anne could read her pretty well, so she didn't need to fully.

"Is it your parents?"

The silence was loud.

"I'm assuming that's a yes, then."

Marcy groaned loudly, making Anne laugh and lay down next to her.

"Hey, it's all good, man. Parents can be like that sometimes." Anne reassured, but Marcy didn't exactly feel better by that.

How to explain to your crush and best friend that you were going to ask them out, but ended up not doing so because your parents set you up with your other best friend?

Yeah, that's not regular parent behavior.

Anne still was gazing at Marcy, who was spaced off. She only was brought back to Earth when she felt a hand resting on top of hers.

She turned and was met with warm blue eyes, the ones that reminded her of the ocean.

"At least you have a friend like me whose doors are always open for you, Mar-Mar."

Marcy couldn't help the way her heart felt like it shattered a little, the friendzone was never a good feeling, but she forced a smile.

"Yeah, a good friend."

Anne hadn't noticed the way Marcy's voice shook, so she smiled gently at her best friend and stared back at the ceiling, which made Marcy do the same.

She could never confess now.

But maybe this was how it was always supposed to be, her and Anne staying platonic best friends while she ended up with Sasha, and Anne with some other person.

Was it bad a tiny part of her wished it wasn't like that?

To be continued...