Hey guys! So I took a little break from writing to finish out the school year without any distractions, and then I just kind of hit a writer's block for two of my stories, but out of that came a new idea for a story that I intend to carry out till the very end! So without further ado: the story!
Disclaimer: I really only own Marnie, the plot, and anything else you don't recognize. Everything else's is part of the DC universe and whatnot.
Marnie Garcia stared at herself in the green room mirror. It had been another successful show; everything went without a glitch- except for the occasional toe-stub or scrape that happened back-stage- but those always happened. She was starting to get used to this routine. It was a nice, simple, predictable routine that had taken her a while to get used to: wake up, get dressed, head down to the theater, relax, get ready, perform, and head home- maybe throwing in a couple of small parties into the mix. Her cast felt like her family now after the countless hours they'd spent together rehearsing and performing. When she was younger, she would've never pictured herself living a simple-or as she used to call it: boring- life and actually enjoying every minute of it. It was weird to think that after so long, it'd all be over in two weeks, and they'd be shoved out to look for another play or musical to audition for.
Of course, however, sometimes it took a tool on sleep. She was tired; she hadn't been sleeping well for the past couple of nights, and the dark circles that appeared as she wiped the stage makeup off just reaffirmed that fact. Something had been keeping her up, though besides being so wired from the performance high she got, she wasn't entirely sure what it was. Marnie sighed and took one last look in the mirror, running her fingers through her long, untidy hair in an attempt to smooth it out.
There was a knock at the door that pulled Marnie from her thoughts and back to reality. "It's open," she yelled over her shoulder as she walked over to the back of the room to get her bag and her hat.
"Someone said I might find you back here."
Marnie turned around, smiling, and dropped her bag in surprise at the sight of her close friend. "Bruce!" she squealed with excitement as she ran over and hugged him. "I can't believe you came! I thought you didn't like going to these types of things."
"I don't," he paused and gave her the flowers he'd been holding, "I had nothing else to do. It was either this or paperwork. And I suppose I wanted to support you," He laughed and ruffled her hair knowing she hated when people did that.
"Oh gee, thanks," Marnie muttered sarcastically as she tried to punch Bruce in the arm, which he easily dodged. She glared at him and put on her hat over her messy hair. Bruce remembered her when she was stuck in her teenage rebellion stage, and would've never thought theater would interest her.
"What's with the fedora? Are you trying to embody Indiana Jones?" He was acting like an older brother would with a younger sibling. Marnie just rolled her eyes and walked away from him to grab her bag. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction he was looking for by her reacting to the comment. She slung her messenger bag over her shoulder and walked out of the green room with Bruce at her side.
"I'm being the bigger person, so I'm not going to say anything."
As they got to the main area where everyone usually met, they found that all the people who had been there were outside, clearly watching something intently. From what Marnie could see, a lot of the people had worried and confused looks on their faces. "What's going on out there?" she asked Bruce. He shrugged, barely taking his attention from what was happening.
"C'mon, there's another way to the street," he said. He began to run towards the hallway to their left with Marnie close behind him. They rounded another corner to another hallway with a door at the end of it that led to the alleyway.
"How'd you know where to go?" Marnie asked, stumbling out the door after him into the cool, fall air. He just shrugged again, still not really paying attention to her. They jogged out to the sidewalk to see what was going on. The sounds of guns going off and sirens in the distance cracked through the night. A couple blocks down the road, an orange glow reflected off some of the buildings and lit up the night sky. The sirens came closer, and the fire trucks raced down the street towards the chaos.
"Marnie!" a familiar voice called out. Marnie saw one of her fellow cast members motioning for her to come over. She looked back at Bruce, whose face was completely void of emotion.
"Marnie, I've got to head off. I'll see you later," Bruce said, finally looking at her. She nodded, and he was gone. By now, she was used to him running off somewhere at night. She never questioned him about it, but she was always curious as to what he was doing.
Marnie sighed and pushed her way through the crowd to get to her cast member. "Jim! Do you know what's going on?" she yelled above the noise as she reached the tall, slightly tanned guy standing closest to the street. His usual Boston Red Socks hat was slightly askew, showing off some of his shaggy brown hair.
"No, I was hoping you would."
"Nope, I just got here, I've been in the green room the whole time."
Jim gave her a suspicious look. "With Bruce?" He didn't really like Bruce Wayne. He thought he was too cocky and full of himself; Jim could never understand why Marnie would be friends with him- besides the fact that her adoptive father was the mayor, which put her in the same crowd with Bruce. She seemed to avoid the "rich" crowd all the time, only interacting with them when her parents made her go to dinner with them; Bruce seemed to be the exception to that, and lately she'd been spending a lot of time with him.
"Geez Jim, it's not what you think. We're just friends!" Jim looked at her with a disapproving look. He'd always suspected there was something more between them, so he kept trying to push her away from Bruce. There was something besides his personality Jim never liked. Marnie rolled her eyes and continued, "Besides, he came in as I was leaving. It just took me awhile to get changed and everything."
"Still not getting much sleep?" he asked.
Marnie nodded and sighed. "Nope. Something's been keeping me up. I have absolutely no clue what it is, but it's seriously getting annoying. I just lay there in bed staring at the ceiling, waiting to fall asleep." Jim was the only one who knew about her sleepless nights for some reason. One day after the first few restless nights, he just knew. He had always been good at reading people.
"Well, take some benadryl or something."
Marnie laughed. "I'm actually considering that at this point." She looked around at everything, becoming uneasy. "Well, I guess I should start headed home, I didn't take my car today so I have to walk-"
"That's real smart to walk around this late at night," he commented.
"Yeah, well, I can handle myself." Marnie rolled her eyes. She hated when people assumed she was the stereotypical woman who couldn't defend herself. She held her own in a fight when she was younger and was actually the one who would initiate them.
Jim laughed, not really believing her. "I can give you a ride," he offered. "It'll get you back home faster."
Marnie thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. "I suppose. I'm feeling kind of lazy tonight." She finally gave him a genuine smile for the first time since they'd started their conversation. They walked side-by-side into the nearby parking garage where Jim kept his car. It was almost empty since most of the places around the theater had been closed for over an hour, and a lot of the people outside still watching the accident had parked somewhere else.
They came up to Jim's old, beat up Toyota that he was always so proud of since it was the first car he'd actually paid for. Still, Marnie couldn't see why he was proud of it when the car looked like it was going to fall apart at any minute. There were a couple of minor dents on the side of the car, and one major one on the back bumper; also, from what it looked like, there were a couple of holes that appeared to be from bullets, but Jim always assured her those were from the previous owner and that she'd be safe riding with him.
"Well, you can get in you know. But if you want to just stand there, that's fine too," Jim commented as he climbed into the driver's seat. Marnie rolled her eyes and tried to open the door, only to find that it was locked.
"Ha-ha, you're so funny. Open up the door!" she yelled. "C'mon Jim…" She could hear Jim laughing as he leaned over and unlocked her door. "Thanks." Marnie climbed in and smiled. "I have absolutely no clue why I'm still friends with you."
"Because you'd feel so lost without my friendly abuse."
They pulled out of the parking garage and drove in the opposite direction of the confusion that was still going on. The streets had cleared and were virtually empty now- since the people around were still off the roads, paying attention to the burning building-, which always made Jim happy since he didn't have to wait.
Marnie smiled as they sped down the road, feeling that old, familiar rush and excitement that could only be brought on by speeding- a feeling she'd almost forgotten.
"Where's your apartment?" Jim asked, smiling.
"It's right before the main bridge that leads into the Narrows. It's going to be the first housing complex to the right of the bridge."
He nodded, knowing exactly where that was, even though he couldn't believe she lived in a relatively dangerous area. He turned on his CD player- which blasted the Smiths. Marnie was a bit taken aback that he actually listened to that kind of music; she'd always imagined that he'd like classic rock or something, not indie- but she didn't complain. The Smiths had grown on her over the past couple of years.
All the way to the apartment, Jim tapped his fingers along with the drums on the steering wheel, and Marnie hummed along with the songs she was somewhat familiar with as she stared out the window at the city passing by.
Jim put the car in park when they arrived at Marnie's apartment complex, and she slid out of the car. She waved to him as she shut the door behind her. He waved back and then sped off over the bridge and into the narrows. Marnie sighed and headed inside the somewhat clean complex, climbing up several flights of stairs before actually reaching her floor. Almost out of habit, she grabbed the key from her bag, kicked the door twice, turned the key into the hole, and stepped into her apartment, closing and locking the door behind her.
The apartment was an average sized one: one bedroom, one bathroom, and a kitchen/living area. It was the perfect size for just one person, and it was Marnie's sanctuary. Pictures from the past and present were all around, as well as posters from her favorite movies and bands. It was a little untidy, which was typical for Marnie, seeing as she was never one to organize things. It was too much of a hassle, and she figured if she needed something, she'd find it eventually.
An old upright piano was up against the wall of the living room with sheet music scattered all around it. The television was on the opposite side of the room with a fluffy, green chair a couple feet away from it.
Marnie hung up her keys and her bag on the door handle and walked into the kitchen to get something to eat since she hadn't eaten since lunch. There was no eating in costume, so she wasn't able to sneak a few bites of food during the show; needless to say, she was starving. She pulled out some fruit and left over pizza from the refrigerator and put everything on a plate. She, then, turned on the television as she began to eat on the counter that looked out into the living room.
"Arkham Asylum has just confirmed that the Joker has, indeed, broken out, which confirms the police's suspicion that the explosion at a local bank was the work of the infamous criminal who'd caused so much destruction two years ago. Chief Commissioner Gordon urges anyone who may have spotted him or seen any suspicious activity to report it, and he urges everyone to stay safe and take any safety precautions they feel necessary… In other news, super model Tyra Banks has decided to launch-"
Typical. Marnie thought. Leave it to the news to report something important for once but then drop it for a celebrity. She changed the channel to Nickelodeon, which was playing Jimmy Neutron. Marnie always thought that when in doubt, turn to cartoons- they're always entertaining. The news about the Joker didn't really surprise her or make her anxious. It was only a matter of time before he escaped- it was bound to happen sooner or later. The last time he was supposedly causing chaos, she'd been out of the country, studying music; so she'd never really experienced that feeling of fear he caused.
Of course, she'd heard of him while she was away, but she had her doubts on how destructive one man could be and just figured people were exaggerating like they always did. Of course, she could just be naïve, and she didn't rule that out, but she figured she'd be safe. She was, at this point, not of any importance. Sure, she was the mayor's adopted daughter, but besides that, she was a nobody- just a stage actress whom nobody really paid attention to anymore. She couldn't possibly be any use whatsoever.
Marnie finished eating and put the remainders back in the refrigerator. After she rinsed off her plate, she did her normal routine of getting ready for bed, but this time she threw benadryl into the mix. Before she knew it, she was out like a light.
So that's where I'm going to leave it for now. I know it wasn't super eventful, but it gives you an idea about the main character. I've already started on the next chapter, so I'm hoping it'll be out super soon, but I'm not going to promise anything since I'm working on a whole bunch of college stuff. Anyways, let me know what you think, I like hearing peoples' two cents on things. Just no flames please.
