Friday, I Love You

Chapter three

Marlon and I talked the whole way to school. Although the blush on my cheeks was long gone, I found myself laughing and joking more than I thought possible on a Monday morning. As the conversation went on, I examined Marlon more closely. He had longish, straight jet black hair that he constantly had to brush out of his face, and vibrant blue eyes the color of the sky on a sunny day. I noticed a small metal ring on his lip, unusually plump for a boy, which he took off, telling me it was fake. His parents wouldn't let him get real snakebites.
"So, why did you move?" I asked.
Marlon smirked and let out a giggle.
"You don't wanna know."
I raised my eyebrow.
"Fine. I warned you. I, uh... accidentally burned down the science lab at school."
"You what?!" I gasped in astonishment. "No way!"
"Yes way. We were doing an experiment, and, well, I was to busy trying to get this one girl's attention to watch the Bunsen burner. The curtains caught fire..."
I was now trying to hold in my laughter.
"Were you successful?"
Marlon gave me a confused look.
"With that girl," I explained teasingly.
"Eh, turned out she wasn't into vandals."
"Aw, bummer."
"No, not really. Now that I think about it, I'm happy it didn't work out. Someone told me she once dumped a guy because he didn't like Beyoncé. Anyway, that damned science room pretty much turned to ashes before the firemen came, and next thing I know, I'm excluded. Hey, it isn't my fault that the teacher has a shitty taste! Seriously, those curtains were fucking ugly."
Marlon suddenly gasped and covered his mouth.
"Sorry for the swearing! Someone needs to hand me a bar of soap for that mouth."
"You clearly don't know me well enough. I curse like a drunken sailor sometimes. Well, all the time."
We both laughed. My hand accidentally brushed against Marlon's, and I felt an electric trickling of goosebumps resonate through my arm.
As I attempted to understand the sensation, the bus screeched and came to a stop. I slowly stood up, stretching and grunting.
"That's where we get off. It's a three minute walk to school."
"You're excited, aren't you?" Marlon smirked.
"Ugh," I sighed. "You see, I like learning. I usually get straight A's. But high school is fucking torture. It's the habitat of arguably the most uptight teachers in the world and the most self-absorbed, dickheaded idiots whom I consider my classmates. To top that off, my best friend of three years left to another city." I spoke with annoyance, but my voice got a bit shaky when I mentioned Kyle. Marlon must've noticed, tensing up as I got to the last sentence.
"Hey, I also hate school. The one I got excluded from was filled with people who shop exclusively at A&F and consider Clueless an example of good cinematography."
We were both silent for a second. Then, Marlon added, in a low voice, "I know what it's like to lose your friends."
His words froze in the air, rapidly falling to the ground like a snowflake. Something told me that when he said "lose", he didn't mean "move away". I didn't say anything.
After some time, we reached the school. I approached the small, old brick building with a flat roof, and gestured Marlon to follow me.
"That's the school. It's probably smaller than you imagined."
Marlon nodded.
"There's six lessons a day, and it's divided into A-J blocks. Do you have your schedule yet?"
"Uh, no. But I know my electives -- Italian and drama." He chuckled, mumbling, "Marlon taking a drama course. Wow."
I chuckled. "Cool! They're my electives, too. Come on, let's go."
We pushed through the door, me in front, maneuvering our way through the stream of people. I walked up to the front desk and greeted the receptionist.
"G'morning! How was your holiday?" I said, smiling as Mrs. Paige grinned at me.
"Hello, sweetheart! It was great, thanks. Is there anyway I can help you?"
"My friend, Marlon..." What's your last name? I mouthed to the boy, who was standing behind me, playing with his lip ring.
"Marlon Curtis. Hi."
"I'm assuming you're new?" Mrs. Paige asked.
"Yep. I, uh, need my schedule."
"One second..." she said, logging into the computer. "I'll print it out."
She trotted to the grey, brick-like printer, tapping her long, red fingernails on it as it ejected a sheet of paper. She grabbed it and handed it to Marlon.
"Here you go. Oh, and by the way, there's a whole school meeting instead of first block today. It's in the cafeteria. Show him around, will you, Vanessa?"
"Sure thing. Have a nice day, Mrs. Paige."
Marlon and I hurried away from the front desk, careful not to bump into anyone. I found a free space in the corner, gesturing for him to come up.
"Can I see your schedule?" I asked, already reaching for the paper. It slid out of his hands with ease. "P. E., Science, English... we have the same schedule!"
"Awesome! I'm gonna have someone to annoy!" Marlon said, smiling. For some reason, I got worried that it wasn't a genuine smile. Why would I care?..
"Ha. Very funny. Come on, there's a meeting," I sighed. "Well, at least we're missing P. E."
"What? You don't like P. E.?"
"Of-fucking-course I don't. P. E. is torture."
He raised his eyebrows. "Doesn't require any effort, though."
"You must be good at sports, then," I assumed bitterly.
"Woah there. I'm not a jock." He practically spat out that last word.
Met a guy half an hour ago and he's already mad at you. Way to go, Vanessa.
"I didn't say you are," I mumbled.
He opened his mouth as if to say something, but changed his mind and pursed his lips.
"Where's the cafeteria?"
"Down the hall. I'll show you."
As we pushed on through the crowd, I realized that I haven't seen Jamie yet. What was even worse is the mere occurrence that, perhaps, I didn't want to see him.
I shook the thought away with a bite of my lip. Of course I wanted to see him. He's my best friend, goddamit. Your best friend except for Kyle, a nagging voice in my head told me. I huffed at it, snapping out of my pensiveness.
"I'm gonna try to find my friends. Wanna tag along?"
Marlon shrugged. "Sure."
I extended my neck, looking around the crowded cafeteria in an attempt to spot any familiar faces. At the back of the room, I saw Sarah -- one of Kyle's other friends. We'd never been close, but I knew her well enough and would willingly spend time with her.
"Hey, Sarah," I greeted, making my way to the girl.
"Hi, Vanessa," she said, dimples forming in her cheeks as she smiled. "How was your holiday?"
"Eh, it was fine. You?"
"You're gonna hate me for this," she grinned, confusing me. "So, I was at the airport a couple days after break started -- we flew to America to visit my cousins. Anyway, here I am, standing at the gate with my Mom and Dad and my little brother and I see this really cool-looking dude in line next to us. I couldn't see his face, but he seemed kinda familiar. So I look at the guy, bored out of my MIND, and then he turns around and guess what? It's fucking Frank Iero! The Frank Iero!"
My jaw dropped to the floor. "No. Fucking. Way. You did NOT meet the Frank Iero. Holy shit."
"Yep," Sarah said, popping the p. "I did."
"Sarah... you better tell me you got yourself an autograph or a selfie or something."
"I did. He signed my sketchbook. And I asked about a reunion..."
Marlon cut me off before I could say anything. Frankly, I kind of forgot he was still standing next to me, probably uncomfortable in the presence of people he didn't know.
"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about," he admitted. "So I guess I'll leav-"
"No, no, no, no, wait. Sorry, we're just having a fangirl moment over here. I'll explain later. Umm," I realized I haven't introduced them yet. "Sarah, this is Marlon. He's new."
Sarah smiled awkwardly, blushing as she glanced at the boy, quick to look away.
"Marlon, this is Sarah, my friend."
They exchanged hellos.
Sarah gasped, looking at her watch."Sorry, Vanessa, I gotta go. I have to help set up for the meeting."
"I'll see you around," I promised.
The girl gave me a short nod before turning around and disappearing in the crowd.
Marlon was still by my side, shifting awkwardly side to side as he observed the room. I tugged at his sleeve, pulling him out of his daydream.
"That girl your best friend?" he asked.
"Oh, no," I said, suddenly realizing how rude that sounded. "I mean, no. She used to be Kyle's friend."
Marlon furrowed his eyebrows at the mention of Kyle.
"Kyle's my best friend, along with Jamie. Well... Kyle moved this winter," I clarified.
"Oh. She seems nice."
"She is. Just..."
"Just what?"
"Try not to get a crush on her. Half the school's already chasing her around."
"Wasn't planning on it," Marlon chuckled. I felt embarrassed for bringing it up.
"Wanna take a seat? The meeting's about to start."
We sat down in the far end of the cafeteria, grunting as we took of our heavy backpacks. The room buzzed with sound as more and more kids took their seats. Neither of us dropped a word, careful not to ruin the last minutes of peace before a whole day of school.