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Fionn's friend Marcus pulls up a couple of blocks from my street. Fionn didn't like the thought of Marcus knowing where I lived, so he asked him to meet us a distant from my house. As Fionn was on the phone with Marcus, I couldn't help but laugh when he grew frustrated with the boy on the other end. "Why do you keep asking questions?. . . Okay, Marcus, sorry. . . Marcus, my mum doesn't know, don't tell her anything."
Fionn doesn't consider Marcus his friend, still annoyed at the thought of him being our last resort for a ride. I couldn't let my friends know, it's no secret really, but they would bombard Fionn with questions and it's much too early for that.
Marcus has a red pick-up truck that he calls "Chevy baby". When we hopped in, Fionn sat in the front and I sat in the back, Marcus says, "Sorry I took a while, had to gas Chevy baby." Fionn doesn't respond and only glances at me with an eye roll. I laugh.
Marcus' raven hair is in a neat quiff. He's wearing a gray shirt and light brown cargo pants. Very different from Fionn, very different. "You're not going to introduce me to your friend here?" Asks Marcus.
"This is Lola, Lola this is Marcus. The annoying one I told you about."
"Heyy," Marcus says jokingly, nudging Fionn with his elbow. "Nice meeting you Lola. Met this guy when he moved to my neighborhood, where his parents live now. I hardly see him anymore because he decided to be an independent boy and move into his own apartment."
"When he moved?" I remember Fionn telling me he moved here when he was 12. "So you've known each other since you were kids?"
"Pretty much."
"What do you study?" I ask Marcus. Later, we engage in a friendly conversation while Fionn sits back in silence.
.
The bar is three miles from Wingston. As we're about to get out of the truck, Fionn turns to us and tells us to stay inside and that he'll make it quick. Before Marcus and I could respond, he shuts the door.
Marcus shrugs. "He's so weird. How long have you known him, Lola?"
"A couple of weeks."
"Mmm," he hums, now engaged to his phone. "Do you know what happened to him last night?"
"He got into some fight," I say cautiously, making sure not to say anything else because it's not my story to tell anyway.
Marcus pauses as he diverts himself from his phone. He looks at me from his seat, his big brown eyes beaming in curiosity. "Fight?"
I shrug.
"Did he mention the name Will?"
I shake my head. Will?
"Who's Will?"
"His ex-girlfriend's—"
Marcus pauses when we see Fionn come out. He really was quick, I thought. Fionn is running his fingers through his dark waves and he looks a bit bothered. He makes it to Marcus' truck and opens the door. "I owe you lunch," he tells me.
"Can I come?" Marcus questions innocently.
"Whatever," he mumbled and he nods over at me, I can see his car from across the almost-empty parking lot.
"Can we get Denny's?" Marcus asked from behind as we made our way to the car.
"I swear to—"
"I don't mind Denny's," I shrug and Fionn softens his furrowed eyebrows.
"Okay."
. Fionn seemed stressed during the ride to the restaurant, he couldn't seem to keep one hand still. It was either combing his hair or rubbing against his knee as he steered with his free hand. Whatever or whomever he spoke to at that bar, probably left something on him.
"You can smoke," I say as I stare outside the window.
"What?" He chuckled. "Have you forgotten you have asthma?"
Did I just forget? And he remembered?
"You can blow out the window?"
"Crazy girl. I'm not smoking around you, Lola."
"It didn't stop you the first time," I joke. I remember the day he sat beside me and smoked a cigarette nonchalantly. Then him telling me to move to another bench.
Fionn responds, "I didn't care about you then."
I sit and absorb Fionn's words. His words struck me like lighting and I don't know what to think of it. The night we met was not too long ago and there's so much I don't know about him.
