love bites » marcelee.

16: Alter Ego

Chapter Sixteen: Alter Ego

"Hey, quick. The show's about to start." Marceline urged.

Marshall Lee eagerly trailed behind the raven-haired girl to the cafeteria. The gossips and dirty looks had reduced over time, and they (especially Marceline) were grateful for that. They sat at a vacant table, about to witness the unfolding of her premeditated practical joke. She pointed toward a short blonde haired boy holding something in each of his hands.

Upon further observation, the boy happened to be Finn, and there was what looked like a stick of caramel coated apple in each of his hands. Marshall confirmed this with Marceline.

Finn looked so out of place among the horde of teenagers. Most of them were ostensibly taller than him, and he looked even more out of place when he approached Becka, and her group of cheerleader girl-friends. The prissy girls casted a contemptuous look at him whilst he mentioned something to Becka and her best friend.

"What'd you tell that kid to do?" Marshall asked.

"I just told him to deliver something to them from their "secret admirers"." Marceline air quoted with a wink.

Becka and her best friend's face lit up when Finn handed them a stick of caramel apple each before going off. They giggled at each other like two lovestruck little schoolgirls before taking a bite each and chewed.

A few seconds later, they spat out the contents, their faces contorted with disgust and let out a whine loud enough for most of the people in the cafeteria to hear. They gulped down the nearest drink they could find but still, they got super antsy in their seats and started frantically fanning their mouths with their hands. When they felt that it was no use, they abruptly stood up and ran off clumsily in their high heels, most likely to the nearest bathroom. That scene left Marceline and Marshall, and everyone else, cracking up.

"I knew there's something up your sleeve. And you said they're just caramel apples."

"Here's the twist, though. Instead of apples, I used onions. As for the caramel, just add chili and voila!" Marceline revealed.

Marshall grinned. "Classic."

"Of course." she said with a smug expression.

"What made you do that, anyway?" he asked.

"Oh, they humiliated Bonnibel in gym class, so I'm just returning the favor."

Marshall sensed the lack of enthusiasm in her tone. "Seems like you care about her."

"What? No!" Marceline denied, kind of exploding a little behind her fake chuckle. "Those girls deserve it."

He could tell that she was trying to avoid Bonnibel as a subject of their conversation, but he knew she somehow still thought about her but she was just too prideful to admit it, and that's alright. "I'm gonna top your little prank, by the way."

Marceline peered at Marshall challengingly. "I'd like to see you try."

This had been a little game between them for weeks. They would prank their deserving targets in anonymity as a way of punishment, for whatever misdeed they had committed. At first, it was a form of partnership where they'd do it together. But recently, they've been devising their own plans, and it turned out to become a little competition between them on who's the master prankster. Whoever got caught first would lose.

There was even one time when Marceline had pranked her Math teacher because he reprimanded - and blatantly discriminated - her for getting a whole sleeve tattoo, and there were a few protests here and there by other students who also had tats, and he ended up giving them all detention for being rude. Without being seen, she had successfully slipped - surprise, surprise - laxatives into his coffee and, let's just say that they got a substitute teacher for the rest of the week.

Sometimes, out of plain mischief, Marshall would prank Marceline and vice versa. There were mostly laughs here and there but there were also violent outbursts which were then quickly subdued so they could carry on their pact. All's good between those two, leading to a fruitful bond.

They didn't care what people think or say about them. All they knew was that life's short, and there's no fun in being told what to do. They were both similar in thoughts and feelings. They were partners in mischief. A duo. A pair of roguish-looking teenagers with sleeve tattoos and piercings walking around like they meant business. Marceline had never felt a strong connection with someone else in her life before. Marshall felt the same way too. They were each other's alter ego.

But most of all, they were two lonely kids who had found a friend.