ʜ ᴏ ʟ ʏ

25.

Saying it was hot was and understandment, no, it was blazing. The small town heat held no mercy to their sunburnt skin, smothering them in the warm glaze of sun. There wasn't much to do about it besides swatting the pellets of sweat that guzzled down her skin in rage and move on. Marceline seemed to be taking it like a champ, occasionally flicking the lonesome beads from her forehead. Bonnie could only smuggle a chuckle at Marceline's hair, fully dampned with sweat from the walk. Marcy pushed the clammy hair from her vision as she walked. "What're you giggling bout' banner?" She flashed a lopsided grin, Bonnibel suppressing a laugh. "Nothing, just glad to be out of school that's all." Most of her words wasn't a lie. Part of the reason she was filled with giddy was due to the fact that school was not upon her shoulders, well not completely. Test scores were still meant to be sent out the following month but everything else seemed well. No more Vivian, no more pressured work, and no more counseling conversion. It was quite the relif to not have someone breathing down your neck every sunday of the week. She felt free. "So." She started. "What are your plans today Marceline?" Marcy pondered ahead of her, purposely avoiding the cracks on the pavement out of bordem and amusement. "Welllll," she dragged on. "Since today is just the start of out summer, I thought we could just hang around the house and save some fun for tomorrow." Bonnie liked that idea. Being able to hangout unsupervised with her closest friend meant more than it sounded. From ahead, she could catch the distant stares and awkward shoulder shrugs of Marceline until she final got the courage to utter the words, "I hope that's cool with you though." Of course, Bonnie applied her fairness to the girl with an eye role and a scoff. "Of course it is Marcy, why wouldn't it be?" Now, it was Marcys turn to comply. She rubbed trickling sweat from her forehead before parting her partched lips to speak. "Well I wasn't sure if you actually wanted to lay low for a day being that I promised you a summer full of fun. I thought you would think I was lame." She chuckled softly, Bonnie easing to her side and laying a playful pat on her shoulder. "Nothing about you is lame, Marceline. All the fun and trouble you showed me at school, your far from lame." She couldn't help but laugh, earning a cheesy grin from Marcy. Their chorus laughter came to margin when their subtle footsteps halted. They had arrived.

Bonnibel could tell her father was a working man just after stepping two feet into the driveway. Marceline's home was more than twice the size of her own, which filled her with curiosity. So much space yet to be explored by fuiling eyes. She was truly intrigued. "Are you gonna just stare at the house all day or come in?" Bonnie, taking her sight into hers, smiled and neared the front door. Bonnie peered as Marceline reached under the welcome mat below and pulled up a silver key, pushing it into the key hole of the door. They entered quietly. Their skin was instantly relieved from the burning sensation in which settled and replaced with the cool of the home. The sight was captivating. Tanned paint streaked up and down the desolate walls, corridors and strip hallways left unexplored, and wooden floors fitting the interior of the home. While Marceline kicked off her shoes at the door, Bonnibel cautiously glanced at the pictures framed behind the glass. Most of them were childhood pictures of Marceline. Playing in the sand, dressed in a school uniform, hovering alongside a tall raven man, and held in the embrace of a woman with similar facial features. She traced her fingers along the photo. "These are your parents?" Bonnie couldn't help but ask, Marceline moving to her side and scanning the photos. She let out a soft sigh followed by a "yeah." She didn't elaborate further. Bonnibel could feel the sadness fit the mood and decided not to question her much. For a minute she stood in silence, admiring the photos. Marceline had other plans. "Enough of that." She played along. "I say lets have some fun." A spark of mischief flickered her face. "What do you got planned Abadeer?" "I dont know, follow me and maybe you'll find out." She flashed a conflicted face of humor and dispersed down the barren hallway. Bonnie trailed behind her. That's one thing her and Marcy had been practicing on, expressing her emotions. Indeed Marcy had the power to shift her sentiment at certain moments, but never grew really fond of communicating her feelings (besides Bonnie, she was the only exception.) Bonnie dismissed her mental dispute and accompanied Marcy alongside her lead. She skipped down the hall in a childish manner, past the living space, past the kitchen, and to the end of the hallway. They ceased their walk at the head of a bulk metal door, which was quite unexpected in the house. Yeah, Bonnibel's uncle had a room for privacy, but he never took it as far as to put up a metal door with a code. It didn't seem to faze Marceline as much as it did Bonnibel though. She pressed against the keypad, entering a code Bonnibel was short of knowing only for the door to open and welcome them into the peculiar room. The room was coated bright red, startling at first sight, but past that the room was nice. It was neat, very far from messy. Containing a clean wooden desk, a shelf racked with books, and a sturdy filing cabinet, Bonnibel was pleased with the state it held. Not only that, a alcohol rack was pushed to the far back. That caught Marceline's attention quick. Bonnibel could only follow Marceline with a smile while she neared the rack. Glass bottles filled to the brim with tart liquid concealed by the hold of the rack. "Welcome to daddy's study, home of the asshole and his work and files." Marcy slipped a snicker with a pause. "Choose your pick, Bon." She motioned the beverages. But Bonnibel couldn't hold her weight. "Wouldn't your father notice they were gone? He could come home anytime an-" "Bonnibel, my dearest." She bobbed her hand on her shoulder. "Peep the calender, over there." And she did. Most of the once blank white boxes held some sort of content within the barrier of the squares. "Papa's booked all week for work. No need to worry." Bonnibel didn't say so but she desperately needed those words. The sentence reduced the anxiety on her shoulders, instead pulling a smile on her face. "I wanna get white girl wasted. I say Jack Daniels." Marceline hooted her applaud. "That's my girl." She clutched the bottle in her hands, the brew swishing around the barrier.

Marceline's room was everything she expected it to be. Dark red walls similar to her fathers study, posters of 80's rock bands and old movies skewed the lining, and long dark drapes sheilded the light of the window. They were watching a movie for the past two hours, or at least trying to. Bonnibel was to intoxicated to focused and had instead engaged in a conversation with Marceline. "Your telling me you never got high before princess?" Marcy teased, Bonnibel rolling a smack off her tounge. "No I haven't." She stated in a matter of fact tone so prissy and prim. "Drinking is as far as I'll go. Anything outside of beer and cigarettes are out of my range" she slung back the bottle and guzzled down the sour juice. Her throat seared with envy. Marceline giggled drunkly. "Oh do share Bonnibel." That only fueled her more, Bonnie sprawling back on the bed and resting her back against the pitch black headboard. "There's no opportunity for a highschool phase of drinking when I have to look ahead for myself for my college future." Bonnie was even surprised she was coherent at the moment with the state of the bottle. Between the two of them, most of the liquid had dissapered. Marceline wallowed with the liquor as Bonnibel continued. "My friends, the ones I told you about, their a different story. I once saw Jake down four bottles of beer in three minutes." She chuckled yet again. "He sounds like fun." "He sure is. You would like him, you would like all of them." Marceline yawned, the night growing wearier every second. "You think they would like me though?" She set the bottle upon the dresser, shifting on the bed and laying her head on the lap of Bonnibel, who was occupied with the smallest of beer hiccups. "Of course they would. You make me happy which makes them happy, not to mention your the coolest gal I know." She laughed softly, stroking strands of Marcelines hair. Marceline maneuvered into the deepths of her embrace with lip corners tugged upwards. This was the best she's felt in a while.