When the Music Stops (Eminem Fanfic)

Chapter 7- Warnings

Time skip to the day of the party <3

"Yo," a voice said from behind her, making almost jump in the crowded hallways. The ugly grey-ish green color of the lockers and fluorescent lighting made Marshall and his unique blonde hair stand out. "You good?"

"Yeah," Alia said, feeling stupid. "What's up?" She looked up into his beautiful blue eyes.

"Nothin', I was jus wonderin what you were doin after school today?"

"Nothing much..." 

"Cool, so meet me outside by the parking lot at 3:30." Marshall said with a slight smile before heading off in another direction, not letting Alia respond. Alia hated how she always folded so quickly for him, because she knew that she would have agreed even if he asked her.

The rest of the day went by pretty quicky, especially since she had decided not to think too much about her meeting with Marshall later. Kim wasn't in school that day, but Alia understood why-- she actually felt bad for her, no matter how horrible she had been.

 Soon enough, Alia found herself walking with her twenty-pound backpack weighing her shoulders down, towards the parking lot.

"Hi." Alia said simply as Marshall approached her.

"Hey-- I heard that Lexi invited you to the party tonight?" Wow, jumping right in. (why is he nosy though...?!)

"Yeah? How did you you know--" Before Alia could finish, Marshall interupted.

"I jus heard-- look, ion know if you should go to that..."

"What do you mean?"

"I jus haven't heard the best things 'bout it, an I'm not gonna be there, so--"

"Are you saying that you need to protect me or something?" Even though Marshall's obvious concern was definitely touching, (even though it came across as a bit overprotective,) Alia couldn't help but wonder why he wasn't going to the party, as she had assumed he was a boy who liked to party, or so she assumed.

"Nah, it's jus that I would like to be there just in case... y'know something happens..." For once, Marshall seemed to look vulnerable. He averted his eyes away from Alia's, as if he were slightly embarrassed. He started walking towards his car, and Alia ran slightly to catch up to him.

"Marshall, I promise I'll be fine, okay? Besides, Lexi will be there. 

"Ion know, I jus' don't have a good feeling about this." Marshall confessed, looking around the busy lot.

"I'll be vigilant, Marshall. Thanks for looking out for me." She leaned against the car next to him, the late afternoon sun casting long shadows across the pavement. "Besides, why aren't you going anyway?"

"Well," Marshall began, unlocking his car, "this party don't seem too good anyway, and I also got other shit to do."

Alia turned her head to him, confused. "Other shit? Like what?"

"I, uh, I got work," Marshall seemed to scramble around with his words, trying to piece together a lie in time. Alia felt her shoulders droop a bit, as she assumed that he was probably with Kim. She didn't especially care that he was with her, it was just the fact that he constantly lied to her about it.

"You do?"

"Yeah, um," Marshall hesitated. "I told you about my mother, right?" Oh. It made sense. Alia instantly felt guilty, as she had ignorantly assumed that he was going to spend time with Kim.

"Yeah I think so,"

"She don't work, so all that money-makin' shit falls to me," Marshall said all of this so casually, which made Alia feel even more guilty. He sounded so used to being constantly broke, which she knew was the reality for many people, especially in the trailer parks. "And I got a lil brother too, so money's especially tight, you feel me?" Alia was immediately smacked in the face with the revelation that she really didn't know Marshall well-- how did she not know that he had a brother!?