Oh, Marcel!

I Promise

~Ember~

The smell of burnt toast floated up my nose. I sat up in bed rubbing furiously to get the smell out. Oh boy was it horrible. Obviously Dad had tried to make breakfast.

Yanking my quilt off me I snatched my phone from the table and looked for any texts. Oh course there was none.

Marcel hadn't texted or anything since saturday. Today was Monday. School was starting in a few hours which means we had to face Jimmy and Johnny.

In actuality, I was excited to see Jimmy again. I was going to look good today. I set aside my outfit last night and....oh my.

Why am I thinking about Jimmy again? I shouldn't be. I sighed and began to type a message to Marcel.

'Hey do you want a ride to school?' I typed and pressed the send button, gently tossing the phone on my bed.

My arm cracked when I stretched it and got out of bed. The floor creaked as I walked to the stairs to find where the burnt smell was coming from.

Sure enough there is Dad in the kitchen leaning over the toaster. He's got it unplugged and he is taking it apart. A plate of burnt toast sits on the counter next to it.

"Morning, Dad." I scrounge around in the cabinets looking for cereal. It was my go-to breakfast.

"Hey, Em. How's it going?" His face turned to the toaster still. I could see his reflection in the chrome of the toaster. His scruffy beard and his tired blue eyes.

"Eating before I go to school." The bowls clattering as I pull out my favorite. A cup catches on the edge and falls out, bouncing off my chest.

It's my favorite cup. The one with Harry's face on it.

I shoved the blue cup back in and Marcel popped into my head. The similarites between him and Harry were so intense. I've always had a massive crush on Harry, and now that I think about it, maybe that's why I had an instant attraction to Marcel.

Maybe he could be my Harry?

Dad breaks my thoughts with a loud, frustrated sigh.

"I can't get this damn thing to work right!"

"Dad, maybe it's just you."

He turns and looks at me. His eyes burning into mine.

"No." He says, his voice shaking.

"Okaay, Pops." The cereal crunching in my ears.

His laughter rang through the kitchen as he couldn't keep a straight face. I smiled at him, my mouth full of Captain Crunch.

"Okay, ya got me. Now share some of that!" He says reaching over and grabs the box.

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~Ember at School~

No text from Marcel still.

Please don't skip. I need you.

I closed my locker and walked to class with my books against my chest. My head held high as the kids pointed and stared.

All along the hallway, random people I didn't even know ridiculed me.

"Look! It's the retard that invited the nerd and crashed the party!"

"ew, what is she wearing? She looks like a fat cow!"

The whispers got louder and louder.

I just couldn't take it anymore and I bolted out the doors of the school. I ran to the swings and threw my books to the ground and sat on a swing.

My head fell into my hands. I could feel the hot tears pouring out of my eyes, surely ruining my makeup. I sniffled and wiped at my eyes bringing my head back up and looking out towards the fields.

This school was in the country. Small town America as they liked to call in. Close knit community, it was an everybody knows everybody kind of place.

The dry cornstalks rustled in the wind that had just begun to blow. A few loose leaves tumbled across the school's back lawn.

I kicked my feet at the ground and the swing gently moved back and forth, hot tears still rolling down my cheeks. The crunch of leaves made me jump and I buried my face in my hair.

"Ember?" A deep voice came from behind me.

"Wha-ut?" I hiccuped.

"Are you okay? They were really mean in there." He said and sat on the swing next to me. I couldn't tell who it was, so I shifted my blonde hair to hide my face from his view. I peeked at him through a small part in my hair.

His dark hair rumpled and his green eyes looked concerned.

"Jimmy?"  The hair falls away from my face revealing a mess.

"Yeah." He runs his hand through his hair making in stand up.

"What are you doing out here?" I am filled with wonder now.

"Well, I uh, well. I told Johnny that what he had been doing was wrong. That he shouldn't be making fun of you like that. You didn't do anything." His face fell somber. "He told me to fuck off and get over it."

"Why are you standing up for me? Weren't you in on the whole thing anyway?"

"What thing?" His head snapped up and looked confused momentarily. He caught himself before I could answer.

"Oh that. No. He just told me to play along."

"Then why stop playing now?" My words are flowing out, I didn't even care how I looked. I was sure of the black streaks that must have been on my face.

"Because, you made me realize how stupid I have been." His green eyes bore into mine. "You were the first girl I've ever had a real crush on! A real one as in for your personality! All the others are the same, they are all bitches and bimbos!"

I wiped at my cheeks and looked away.

"Ember, I really like you okay? And I know that I messed it up now, but can you please let me make it up in some way, some how? Anyway Ember! I just don't want to be like Johnny anymore!"

Jimmy wiped his sweaty hands on his pants and then put them on the chains of the swing.

"I don't know. I have no idea how to trust you! What if this is just some set up?" My voice shaking.

"It's not and I promise to you! I will make it up to you! I will make sure Johnny doesn't hurt you or Marcel! Just please let me show you." A small tear escapes his eye.

"I'll give you a chance, but if you prove me right, I'll hate you forever. You will have to live with that." I kick at a rock on the ground.

"I promise." His warm hand finds mine and engulfs it. We sit like this until a bell rings. I excuse myself to the bathroom and Jimmy walks off to class.

Sure enough my makeup is a mess, but it's easy to take off now. Might as well got bare, no one here likes me anyway.

Well besides Jimmy and Marcel.

I wonder if Marcel is here. He never texted back.