Marlene was lying on the couch with her laptop up to her chin. Her eyes scanned the computer screen wildly; there was a stark contrast between the stinging light illuminating her face and the dark room surrounding her. The noise of the laptop purring was the only thing separating her from complete silence. She sighed as the page reloaded once again revealing that she was 24 pages deep into her favorite forum. She took a sip from her bottle of Pepsi Perfect and wiped her bleary eyes. As her eyes came back into focus, something on the screen caught her attention. On the screen, three large lines of 3D text flashed before her:
REAL EYES
REALIZE
REAL LIES
Marlene read it over several times in her head, mouthing the words slowly. Her mouth hung open lazily. "GRIFF!" she yelled suddenly. "GRIFF, GET IN HERE."
Griff sprinted down the hall, only half dressed in his night shift uniform, and stumbled into the room, gun drawn. In his mind, he pictured some creep standing at the broken down door of their apartment and pointing a gun at his woman. Instead, he saw Marlene laying on the couch with an empty bag of Cheetos and almost empty bottle of Pepsi. She grinned ear to ear and patted the couch, gesturing for him to sit down.
"You scared the hell outta me babe. What is it?" He sat down, putting the gun back in its holster.
"Oh sorry," she said half-heartedly. "LOOK AT THIS, THOUGH." She pointed at the screen excitedly.
Griff reached out and tilted the screen towards himself. He could feel his blood pressure rising as his eyes scanned over the glittery gif.
"I-" he scratched the back of his head, "I don't really get it babe, is this what you called me in here for?"
"Well…" Marlene started. "…yeah."
Griff stared blankly at her.
"You see," Marlene continued. "It's like real eyes," she pointed at her eyes. "Realize, real lies."
Griff grinned. "I don't get it."
"REAL EYES!" She shouted, grabbing him by the shoulders, "Don't you see!?"
"Are you feelin' okay?" Griff put his hand on her forehead.
"Yeah, I feel fantastic, now look!"
"I don't have time for this, they want me downtown at 11." Griff started out of the room with a sleep-deprived Marlene yelling at him, "HEY, HEY, HEY REAL EYES, GRIFF! REAL LIES!"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it, babe."
"NO, NO YOU DON'T! COME BACK!" She latched onto Griff's arm and tugged him back. "DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS GRIFF?"
"That we're breaking up?"
She jumped up off the couch and darted into the kitchen, grabbed a pen, and began scribbling onto a napkin. When she was done, she held it up to the fridge and slammed a magnet onto it, pinning it in place.
"Now do you understand?" Marlene's breathing intensified as she pointed at the napkin.
"Yeah, I understand perfectly." Griff smiled uncomfortably.
"Really!?" She perked up.
"Really really," Griff got closer to her, "I understand that you're wearing my badge, and I'm gonna be late, and probably get fired." He unpinned it from her tank top and waved it in her face.
Marlene pouted, "I'm going to bed." She squeaked before scurrying off.
Griff pinned the final touch to his security jacket and headed for the door.
"I still don't get it," he mumbled under his breath.
THE NEXT DAY
MJ opened the fridge to get some Gogurt when he noticed a slip of paper on the door.
"Real eyes, realize, real lies." He said out loud. He was silent for a moment while his brain processed it. "OH MY GOD. MARLENE!" Marlene ran in from the other room.
"Hmm!? Huh!?" She questioned.
"Real eyes," MJ exclaimed.
"Realize," Marlene continued.
"REAL LIES!" They shouted in unison.
"Oh my God, Marlene, I feel like my chest is constricting!" MJ leaned against the fridge.
Marlene dove for her phone goggles on the counter. "We have to call mom and dad and tell them right now!"
"Okay!"
The phone rang a few times before Jennifer picked up. "Hello?"
"Mom! It's me and MJ! Is dad with you?" Marlene said excitedly.
"Yeah he's right here." She slurred.
"Put it on speaker phone." There was a few seconds of static noise then they were both there.
"What's so god damn important that you kids are bothering us during the Wheel?!" Marty asked, annoyed.
At the same time Marlene and MJ yelled "Real eyes, realize, real lies" into the phone.
There was a brief pause before both Marty and Jennifer shouted "Oh my God!"