Rekindle the Darkness

0.5

Eli was seated on my window ledge, gazing out the transparent pane, clicking his pen at the most irregular of times. I glanced over at him, wondering what it was looking at; it was too dark to see a thing. It had just gone six on Friday night and whereas normal teenagers would be out, partying or whatever it was one did on a Friday night, I sat staring at the blank document which I had opened an hour earlier. The monotone blinking of the cursor stared back and me and I huffed as Eli clicked his pen once again.

"I swear I'll shove it up your arse if you don't stop clicking that pen." I growled, my frustration evident as I bowed my head, both of my hands in my hair.

"A'ight, keep your panties on." Eli held up his palms in surrender, dropping the pen. "..Or don't." He shrugged innocently and received a shoe being thrown at him. He chuckled, picking it up, his gaze returning to the landscape of silhouettes as I turned back to my laptop.

I took a deep breath and held it for a second or two, before starting to exhale slowly. That was when the shoe hit the back of my head and the next thing I knew, Eli was on the floor and I was throwing rather pathetic kicks at his sides. Needless to say, he was in tears, the devil finding the whole scenario to be hilarious.

"I have to finish this by Monday!" I whined bitterly, my kicks becoming half-hearted and finally subsiding.

I slumped down beside him on the floor as he sat up. "Marlow, you're taking this wayy too seriously." He leaned against my bedpost.

"But I've got to-"

"Marlow, it's due Monday."

I huffed, knowing he was right. "Well, what do you want to do then?"

"Let's head out." His words came out even before I could finish my sentence and I sat up, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"I knew you needed me somewhere."

Eli blushed, avoiding eye contact as he swatted my finger away. "Wren invited you to her party and you're going- Take me with you?" His words came out in an alarming speed as I took a moment to scramble after what he was trying to say. It took me a whole minute to put two and two together and erupted into squeals.

"I KNEW IT!" My suspicions were confirmed by his embarrassment as he scratched the back of his neck, reddening. "Joe owes me a tenner! Lemme just text him, hold on-"

"It's not like that..." He tried to cover it up but it was no use.

"Cut the bullshit, I knew it!" My squealing continued until he covered his ears.

"Bloody hell Marlow, keep it to yourself, would you?" He mumbled darkly and I cleared my throat, trying to regain a strand of my composure. "We going then?"

I nodded rapidly.

"Okay."

It was not my kind of scenario. The decorations were pretty though, I must admit, glow sticks and lanterns dotted around the garden and the pool outside appeared to glow from the lights situated beneath. Fairy lights were wrapped around trees and gave the place a very calming aura, if it weren't for the tens of teens getting drunk around the pool, littering with their alcohol cans and yells and music.

After many debates with multiple people which all resulted in refusals to drink or get into the water, Eli caught sight of Wren and after passing me his hoodie in case of a sudden temperature drop, headed over. I stood where I was for a moment, looking around for some sort of solitude and instead locked eyes with Wren's friends, with whom I've initiated small talk with more than once.

Speaking of Wren, she came bouncing over, Eli grinning by her side with a bottle of alcopop. I frowned at this, raising an eyebrow but kept my thoughts to myself.

"I'm so glad you could make it!" She exclaimed, her voice a few octaves too high for my liking. I found myself wincing as I tried to smile for her benefit as she pulled me into a tight hug.

After exchanging pleasantries, I excused myself to an area I'd stumbled across accidentally. It wasn't inhabited and I took to the bench, taking out my book.

That was the first time I laid eyes on Christopher Makley.

We settled into a somewhat semi-comfortable silence, before he nodded towards my book.

"Do you always crease the corners?"

I nodded and he frowned. "Why don't you bookmark it?"

"Bookmarking it is too much effort. And besides, it doesn't show how much you appreciate it."

He nodded, holding out his palm as if he wanted to take a look at it and I passed it over. He flicked through the pages with his thumb, his mouth parted in surprise.

"You highlight too?"

I nod.

He shrugged in response, passing it back over. "You can tell a lot about a person about how they keep their books."

I say nothing.

A while later, he seemed to have regained his composure and spoke.

"Do you want anything to drink?"

My mood turned a little sour. "No. I don't drink at places like this."

He shook his head, his eyes widening a little as he took off his glasses, putting them away.

"Oh no, I meant something warm. Like coffee?"

I scrunched my nose. I absolutely ADORED the smell of coffee, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not bring myself to drink it.

Kit picked up on this. "Or hot chocolate?"

I smiled for the first time. "If it's not too much trouble."

He returned my smile with his own. "I won't be a minute." He got to his feet, heading back to Wren's. I watched him go, my head tilted to one side as if trying to make sense of him. A sigh of content escaped my lips as I drew my legs back up onto the bench, my elbow resting on my book as it had gotten too dark to read anyways.

I could hear shouts of enjoyment and gurgled songs and pretty soon the leaves ruffled, indicating the presence of another. I sat up straighter.

"Well that was awfully quick." I chuckled, turning to face Kit.

But it wasn't Kit. It was Trem.

Trem Verden.

Trem grabbed me roughly by the arm, pulling me to my feet. I let him do so, still in shock.

"T-Trem? What're you doing h-here?" I asked, wanting my voice to come out venomous but worried when it came out defeated instead.

Trem and I used to be together, a long while ago. We were the Three Musketeers; Eli, Trem and I. That was until I noticed his immediate change in attitudes and his short temper. Our two year anniversary ended curtly after I walked in on him doing drugs and some blonde chick. That was two years ago. I had gone to University and hadn't seen him since.

But now he was here.