Marley Meets Josh

(2)

J O S H • P O V

"Why did you choose to go to boarding school?" I asked Marley, truly surprised. She sighed and ran her fingers through her thick lustrous hair.

"It was a really prestigious school," she said. "See, I want to be journalist and they had the most amazing literature and writing programmes there. But my Mum died two years ago. She was a pilot and made most of the money, my dad owns a local mini mart and we do alright, but it just wasn't enough to cover the boarding school fees anymore. So here I am."

"Marley, I'm so sorry about your mother," I sincerely apologised.

While my parents drove me a little bit crazy at times, I couldn't imagine losing either one of them.

She gave me a puzzled half smile before responding. "Thanks. . . the thing is we weren't that close. I mean I loved her of course. But she was always working and I was at boarding school. I just didn't see her very often," she quietly spoke, a slight look of regret washed over her face.

"Is that how she died? In a plane crash?" I cautiously questioned. She had already shared so much with me. I didn't want to push her; but I was curious.

"No actually. We were up north for the summer, scuba diving. Her regulator was faulty and she drowned. Dad recently won a court case against the rental shop."

"Shit that's horrible."

Marley quickly wiped a tear off her cheek and shrugged, giving me a sad smile. We stood in silence for a moment. It wasn't uncomfortable. She was the sort of girl that made it feel easy. If she had something to say, it was probably going to be intelligent or worth the air in her lungs. I got the feeling that most of her conversations served a purpose that was bigger than just filling the quiet.

"I better get home, but uh i should probably grab those notes," I said after a moment.

She gasped and threw her arms up, her cheeks flushing red as she joined me in present time and left the captivating thoughts that had been keeping her in another mind. "I'm so sorry! Babbling away when you just came to get notes," it sounded more like she was chastising herself than talking to me as she rushed over to a wooden desk and pulled open a drawer full of files. She rummaged through it for a moment before pulling out a binder and walking back towards me as she flicked through the pages before handing it over.

"There you go. That's everything you need."

I dropped my phone down that had been in my hand and took the folder from her, quickly flicking through and glancing at the notes. I tucked it under my arm and smiled with appreciation.

"I was happy to talk by the way. You didn't hold me up or anything," I reassured her.

Honestly, the more that we spoke, the more she held a fascination to me. I couldn't help but want to hear more of whatever she had to say and the temptation to stay and make conversation, was real.

"Oh well, thanks, that's good," she mumbled with a small voice.

I started towards the bedroom door and smiled as I lifted my hand in farewell. "I'll see you at school tomorrow Marley."

I kept thinking about her as I walked home. She was so. . . different. But not in a bad way. She spoke softly and seemed really shy, but occasionally she would find these bursts of confidence and it radiated from her. I found myself wanting to see more of that side of her. There was something about her that I found, intriguing.

I dropped the contents of my bag onto my bed for the seventh time and let out a frustrated groan when I still couldn't find my cellphone. I hadn't noticed it was missing all afternoon but now was usually the time I got in to bed and scrolled social media for an hour or so. Blake appeared in the door way and put his arms above his head holding on to the door jam.