"You're joking." With my face clean of any form of amusement, I stared down at the two juvenile boys seated on the couch before me. I had grown up with those familiar faces, yet it amazed me how I still found myself being dumbfounded by their recurring stupidity. We had known each other since the good ol' diaper days, and the fact that they had flown me all the way across the country to tell me that they wanted me to meet their best friend proved just how little they understood me. I was just as much of a mystery to them as they were to me.
The last time I had even seen Sammy or Nate in person was during the summer after graduation. It was no surprise that we all had different paths we wanted to follow once high school ended; they had their music careers, and I– well, I had more school. Our lifestyles were polar opposites, but somehow we made it work. To this day, it blows my mind that this friendship continued on for so long, yet here I was, standing in front of the two nincompoops I met almost nineteen years ago.
Surprised would be an understatement when the two of them offered to fly me out to Los Angeles to have a little reunion. Knowing them and their secretive tendencies, though, I should have suspected that there would be some sort of catch. Lo and behold, as soon as I stepped foot into their luxurious LA apartment, they revealed that they had forgotten one tiny detail. They so graciously informed me that we'd be flying over to Hawaii to meet up with their other best friend from high school, Jack Gilinsky – assuming that I would agree.
I remember Jack rather well, actually. It'd be hard to forget a guy like him, and I wish I meant that in a good way. We hadn't spoken a word to each other through the four years spent at Westside, and I wasn't planning on changing that any time soon. He would always roam the halls with a certain hostile exuberance, like he owned the entire place. I doubt he had ever noticed me, but if there was a slight chance that he did, he'd probably rule me out to be the ugly chick that always had her hair up and hid behind her freakishly large glasses.
I suppose a lot has changed about my physical appearance since high school ended, considering all the jokes about me being a 'stranger' to Sammy and Nate when they picked me up from the airport. My brown eyes were no longer shielded by those saucers called glasses, and although putting my hair up is still a routine, I no longer resemble a character from a horrible 90's sitcom. I guess I started caring about my appearance after I left Omaha. The whole 'new city, new me' thing really got to me.
"Earth to dork..." Sam's voice pulled me from my inner monologue. I fluttered my eyes and glanced around, realizing that I had drifted off again.
"You good, cuz?" Nate snickered. We all knew of my tendency to get lost in my head, though unlike them, I was able to do it without drugs. "We need an answer, Mar." He quirked his eyebrows with an expectation that they both knew would be difficult for me to oppose. I cringed at his use of my nickname, pressing my lips together in order to resist the urge to correct him. Hearing it brought back high school memories that really should be left in the past.
My name is Marley Santana. It's a rather misleading name, but I like to leave it up to first impressions. When people hear it, they somehow receive the notion that I am some quirky, vibrant girl with creative or artistic parents. I never really have the heart to tell them that the reality of it all is that my parents named me after a street sign they saw in one of my old neighborhoods.
"Why in the world would I ever agree to this?" I chided. I refused to let them think that they could persuade me just because they're my best friends. "I came here to spend time with you guys, not him." Dictating my words with a huff, I crossed my arms and sat myself on the couch opposite of them.
"It's not like we're sending you off to be alone with the guy." Sam reasoned. Nate was quick to agree, offering an enthusiastic nod.
"Yeah! We're still gonna be chillin' together. Just– with an extra person." He added. Despite their pleading smiles, I gave them an incredulous look to emphasize that they weren't understanding my point. I didn't want an extra person. I wanted it to be just us.
"No." I answered, simple and not-so-sweet. Of course the stoner stooges had to complain, their mouths firing off excuses and reasons for me to agree. The thing about the three of us is that we were each equally stubborn, and when two stubborn people are up against one stubborn person, the odds aren't too favorable for the lone wolf.
"Alright, alright," Nate ceased the blabbering with his hands up, "What do you want us to do then? Cancel on G and have him waste all that money? You know that's not cool, Mar."
"Well you shouldn't have agreed without checking with me first!" My tone almost resembled a whining toddler as I stomped my foot in frustration. How could they ever think this would be okay with me? The least they could have done was tell me before I left New Jersey.
Although, Nate did have a point. It didn't feel right to make them cancel on Jack just to be with me. He was their friend too. "Fine," I blurted out, unraveling my arms from my chest, "You two can go." Instead of receiving the childish celebration I expected from them, they just looked at each other before collectively shaking their heads.
"And what are you gonna do? Sit your ass back on that plane for another six hours? C'mon now, Mar. We know you don't wanna go home." Sammy showcased a knowing look, pursing his lips and arching an eyebrow. I guess I hadn't thought of that. My face scrunched into an expression of aversion, and I could see a flash of hope sparkling in the boys' eyes. They were so close to getting what they wanted, and they knew it. I tried to look past it, but as much as I hated letting them win, and as reluctant as I was to meet Jack, I couldn't stand the idea of going back home without the fulfillment of hanging out with my boys.
"God, okay, fine I'll go." I sighed, whereas they let out the hollers I had expected earlier. Being quick to shut them up, I got back on my feet and established that I was dead serious about the following: "We need to set some ground rules, boys!" With my hands stationed at my hips, I tapped my foot and waited for them to settle down. Amusement filled their puerile faces as they sat up with mock formality. "I hate you guys." I grumbled, my eyebrows knitting together to illustrate my impatience. Sammy was the first to crack, giggles bubbling from his lips as he shook his head.
"This isn't a fuckin' school field trip, Marley." His words provoked the same reaction out of Nate, and even my most lethal glare couldn't strike their hilarity. This was hopeless. They were hopeless.
"Well if you won't listen to me, I'll just fly back home–" A smirk curled onto my lips once the realization settled in to their faces, and they stood up in protest. It would seem that they valued my presence much more than I valued theirs at the moment. "Then there will be rules whether you like it or not." I stated. Like the obedient dogs they were, they nodded and sat back down. "Rule number one," I raised a pointer finger in front of my face, "You will not ditch me for anybody. Not girls, not boys, and especially not for Jack." I waited for any form of objection and was pleasantly surprised to see that they had none for once. "Rule number two. No embarrassing me, okay?" My tone contained a softer resonance as I looked at them for confirmation, silently pleading that they'd understand my desire to pass off as a normal teenager rather than the boring bookworm they knew me to be. "It's bad enough that I have to be seen in public with you two." My lips twisted into a goofy smile as I looked at them. Hey, I could be fun too, and Sammy and Nate sure were a hoot when they wanted to be.
"Aw, come here, baby Mar. You love us." Sammy cooed. I watched as his large figure stood up and ambled towards me, his arms spread wide. Nate was close behind, and soon I was engulfed in a hug sandwich.
"I'm serious!" I objected, hoping my potent tone of voice would override the embarrassingly large height difference between us. "If either of you break a rule, I'm killing both of you."
"We hear you, lil' mama. Just shut up and love us back." Nate teased, his body swiveling side to side as a tactic for me to reciprocate this crowded embrace. I rolled my eyes, although I couldn't refrain from smiling as I wrapped my short arms around their torsos.
"One more question though." I piped, shimmying between their bodies to look up at them. "When are we leaving?" Sam shot Nate a look, and judging from the way they unraveled their arms from my body and stood at a guilty distance away from me, I knew they had forgotten yet another "tiny" detail.
"In like two hours?" Sammy answered, rubbing his hand against the side of his neck. A sigh pushed through my lips as I shook my head, disapproval lining my eyes but laughter tugging at my mouth, such that they began to laugh along with me.
"How do you guys even function on your own?"
YOU ARE READING
Twenty-Nine // J.G.
Fanfiction"You're a player, you flirt with every girl you can get your hands on, and I bet you can't date a girl for two days, let alone thirty!" "Deal." All throughout high school, Jack Gilinsky and Marley Santana lived in polar opposite worlds, and because...
