Hey guys welcome back! I know I haven't updated in forever, so i'm just going to get right into the story, and hopefully you all enjoy.
So, onto the story!
Maren
"Hey cutie, what's happening!" I hear more hollers come from the direction of the whistling jock and I roll my eyes as they laugh at my non-amusement.
Ever since the big situation with Marina and Prince Zach's dinner last weekend, you could say that we've been pretty popular at school lately.
And by we, I mean Marina.
Marina shyly tucks a strand of hair behind her ear when she hears the boys howling again and blushes uncontrollably.
"Shut up, assholes!" I yell across the courtyard as they continue to mock Marina picking up her dress and the mimics her sobbing as they run to class. The boys look at me in fear as they scramble to pick up their books and run inside the building. Anger and guilt boils up inside of me for having to see Marina going through this constant cat-calling and teasing.
"You didn't have to yell at them, Maren" Marina whispers under her breath, but also having an annoyed edge to it. "I can handle them myself"
I roll my eyes as I swing the front door of the school open, only to be engulfed by crowds of people. "Yeah, cause it sure looked like you were handling it so well" I say, my voice dripping in sarcasm. Her face tenses in anger at my words and she opens her mouth to say something before she's shoved harshly into the middle of the hallway.
Everything seems to freeze as Marina stands in the center of the giant hallway with everyone else at least ten feet away from her. Marina looks around slowly at the whole student body as they study her every move.
Some girls are staring in envy at all the attention she's been getting, some are laughing at her embarrassment. And the boys are the same way, they either are mocking her or dreaming of having her. But a two boys don't seem to being doing either.
Joseph and his big muscled friend, Stanley, I think his name is. Joseph looks at Marina with no emotions on his face, his usual warm and happy eyes are stone cold as he stares at her without moving. Usually I would feel anger at him even looking at her, but instead I feel a different feeling in my gut that feels a lot like pity.
Before I can even realize what the feeling means, i'm shocked out of my trance when Stanley moves from Joseph's side to go and stand next to Marina. There's an audible gasp from the students and if the situation were different, i would've laughed about it. But Marina just stares at Stanley in shock as he puts a hand gently on her waist and gestures her to walk forward with him and as she still looks at him with confusion, she follows.
I look to Joseph and I see that his stone facade has cracked just enough for me to see he's even more confused about this than I am, if that's possible. With anger, I storm up to Joseph as I push through the crowd and come to his side.
"What the hell is he doing?" I ask Joseph furiously, and he jumps slightly and looks at me with astonishment, like he didn't see me walking up to him. He hesitates for a moment, and i think that he might just not talk to me and pretend i'm not there, but he finally decides against that.
"How am I supposed to know?" He says, his voice bubbling with an emotion i've never heard from him before. It sounds a lot like anger, or maybe... jealousy? But that doesn't make any sense, who does Joseph have to be jealous about when it comes to Marina?
"Well," I finally say, regaining my anger and turning to him with a harsh look. "Tell your burly friend to stay away from Marina" I say it with as much vile as I can, which is why i'm surprised when I hear him let out a dark chuckle as his eyes continue to follow Marina and Stanley as they awkwardly walk down the hallway.
"I've heard that sentence too many times" And his voice is empty of emotion again, and I feel an urge to ask him what is up with him right now, but before I even get a chance to even consider it, he turns on his heel and storms away without a word.
Ms. Durand drowns on for what seems like hours as she explains on quadrant equations, a topic that I already completely understand since she's been going over it for days. I'm in Algebra Two, which is average for a senior, but Marina is in advanced Geometry because she's such a smartie. Which leaves me completely alone in my average class with a bunch of dumb people. Which unfortunately includes that smart ass Stanley guy who thought it was okay to just march Marina down the hallway and in front of the entire student body.
He sits in the desk in front of me, which is somehow something that I have never noticed until now. Tapping his pencil impatiently, he wags his head back and forth like he's listening to music. I roll my eyes angrily as he does nothing but sit there, but it infuriates me so much that I feel like punching him in his huge gut.
Losing my patience, I kick my foot hard into one of the legs of his chair. The force is strong enough to send him spiraling to the floor, and causing all of the students to look at him. Including Ms. Durand.
"Mr. Williams, I find it very inappropriate for you to cause a distraction in the middle of my class. Please, get back in your seat" She lectures sternly, and the class snickers quietly as Stanley lifts himself off the floor and back into his seat. He waits for Ms. Durand to turn back to her whiteboard and continuing to ramble on, before turning to look at me with a harsh glare.
"Do you have a problem?" He whispers harshly under his breath so Ms. Durand won't hear him. I glare at him intensely and my eyebrows furrow with anger.
"Yeah, I do" I respond, purposely talking at a louder volume than his whisper.
"Well what is it?!" He says in angry confusion, forgetting to whisper. Ms. Durand turns around once again with an intense stare. And everyone around us watches in interest.
"Ms. Straub, is there a reason that Mr. Williams here seems upset with you?" She asks, crossing her arms and tapping her fingers on her forearm impatiently.
I put a sickly sweet smile on my face, knowing my strategy at once. "Ms. Durand," I begin with an innocent and offended tone. "He was trying to steal my answers from the worksheet and I told him that it was a very irresponsible thing that he was asking me and he got angry" I say with a shameful tone and looking at him sadly. He continues to stare at me as he shakes his head, not believing what I was doing.
I smile one last time and look at the grumbly teacher one last time. "I was only trying to stop a cheater, Ms" I say, batting my eyelashes. My whole charade wouldn't have worked for anyone else, but since all the teachers know me as the daughter of Ruler government members, they know not to argue with me.
She looks at me with a sad smile, and whether she actually believes me or not, she chooses to follow along.
Turning to look at Stanley with another angry look, she points her wrinkly finger at him with precision. "Principles office" She seethes with anger as she barks the last word at him, "Now"
Stanley's eyes surprisingly widen in regret and looks at her with something like a look of apology, before whipping his head around to shoot a glare at me. He storms out of the room, if you could call it that, he walks slowly but you can tell that there's anger radiating off of him.
The entire class sits in silence as they watch him walk out and shut the door behind him. Ms. Durand huffs one last time before putting on an obviously fake smile and turning to the class happily.
"Now, where were we?"
The rest of the goes by normally, other than the fact that Marina is ignoring me. She's probably upset that Stanley had to stick up for her in the hallway since I didn't. But trust me, I wish he hadn't done it either.
I'm just grateful to get out of school, since today has probably been the longest day of school ever. But when I remember my after school plans, school sounds much more appealing, so I decide to wait outside of the classroom where Marina does her tutoring students session like the smart girl she is.
I slump to the floor against a bright red locker and blow air out of my mouth in boredom. I watch as a few students pass by, people who are going to a sports event or who just missed the bus, as I count the seconds that go impatiently.
10 seconds, I throw a rock at the stone column that sits directly in front of me, and it bounces back to me.
20 seconds, I do it again.
30 seconds, I do it again.
40 seconds, I throw the rock and wait for it to roll back. But it doesn't.
Nope, what happens is that it's caught by a strong hand and snatched out of the air right in front of my face. I jerk in surprise, thinking that no one had been paying attention, and jerk my head up to see the guy i've seen a little too much of today.
"What do you want Stanley?" I say, making sure to make my unhappiness very clear. He crouches down next to me and shoots me a sharp look.
"What I want is to know why you have a problem with me" He says calmly, even though he's obviously not calm at all. I sigh and play with a loose string on my jeans.
"I think it's obvious why I don't like you, don't you?" I say sarcastically while pulling myself to my feet. He stands up too and and forces a laugh.
"You mean it's because I had the guts to stand up for your friend and you didn't?" He says, laughing like he made some hilarious joke. My face flushes with anger and I shove him hard in the chest.
He stares back at me with astonishment, "What's your problem?" He says, but i'm already storming down the hallway.
I'm tired of people yelling at me because I didn't do something. I didn't stand up for Marina because i'm not supposed to cause trouble since i'm the treasured government daughter. Of course I wanted to help her out, but getting in trouble with my parents is more important than that.
I scramble through my bag until I can find my phone, and I yank it out. I dial the number that I haven't dared call ever since this whole problem with Joseph and Marina started. It rings four times before it stops and a deep voice comes from the other end.
"Hello?" It sounds melodious and seductive, as it always does and it makes me shiver with uncomfort. But, I clear my throat and try to take control of my voice and make it sound happier than I really am.
"Hey, it's Maren. You busy?"
Marina
"Maren? Hello? I need a ride, remember? Call me when you get this" I hang up the phone and sigh angrily. I've tried calling her five times and she's not answering. She knows I have tutoring sessions on Thursdays and she just ditched me.
I try to calm myself down and take a few deep breaths so I don't start screaming out loud. The entire day i've been thinking about how mortified I was when the entire school was staring at me. It felt like a million tiny holes were being drilled into me, and then to make it even worse, Joseph's friend of all people stood up for me, the one who supposedly hated me. Everything just doesn't make sense at all right now and it's really kinda freaking me out.
"Hey, you need a ride?" I look up in confusion to see John, (again, of ALL people) sitting in a black jeep, staring at me with a teasing look. What's with people laughing at me today?
"I don't think so" I reply unsurely, and he narrows his eyes at me.
"Were you planning on walking home then?" He says sarcastically, and it causes me to giggle.
"I just... don't think you should give me ride. Maren would have a heart attack if she saw you" If she's even at the house, that is. But it still feels like a bad idea to let John anywhere near my house again. John realizes this too, and his jaw tightens at Maren's name, but he still shrugs.
"I can handle her" He says, and despite the light look in his eyes, I feel like there might be something he wants to tell me, so I just laugh in return.
"If you say so" I walk towards the car and swing the door open, while stretching up to climb inside. I shut the door, and he immediately pushes the gas, speeding off campus.
"Woah there John, take it easy" I say jokingly, and he gives me a sideways smirk.
"Well, if Joseph sees me talking to you, he'd kill me" He says with a light tone, but it still sends a wave of pain through me. "I'm sorry" He continues, when he sees me looking down and playing with my hands lightly.
"No, your right. He probably doesn't want to see me" I mumble, not looking up from my lap. I hear John sigh next to me, as if deciding whether or not to say something, but he apparently decides he should.
"You really like him, don't you?" He asks, not to be teasing, like he's really just curious. I feel my cheeks heat up, but I duck my head lower so he doesn't see it.
"Does it matter?" I can feel his eyes on me again, and he reaches over to put a hand on my knee. It surprises me so much that I accidentally look up at him. His eyes are filled with a sad look that I haven't really seen him wear before.
"Don't look at me like that" I say, trying to sound confident, but i'm sure it comes out more like a whine then a statement.
John looks at me with understanding, and takes his hand off of me knee and reaches it up to scratch his neck.
"You know, I never would've pictured it. You, the free and perfect Marina Reyes being upset over Joe, the carefree and happy dude who was the newest member of..." He trails off, knowing better than to say that word where anyone driving by could hear him.
"Yeah, well everything turned out a little unexpected didn't it?" I say, trying to force out a laugh to stop myself from being upset. He sees the fake ness behind it though but ignores it.
"You could say that. Actually..." He starts, before abruptly cutting himself off, and a look of regret crosses his face, and I faintly realize that he chose not to say whatever he was going to say. I look out the window quietly, thinking the conversation was over until he speaks up again.
"Actually, he's never acted the way he does when someone brings you up" I sigh, not liking what turn the conversation is taking, and i'm about to interrupt when he continues.
"Sure, I mean, when someone brings you up now he mainly looks angry. But before... everything happened, he would always light up whenever I teased him about talking about you all the time. But i'm not really sure what's going on anymore, he always brushes me off when I tell him to talk to you-" He continues to ramble but that catches me off guard, and I straighten up sharply.
"What do you mean you talked to him about me?" I gasp, and John looks up in surprise like my voice wasn't supposed to be there. He looks confused but continues talking.
"I just-"
"You shouldn't talk to him about me, not anymore. I screwed things up and he shouldn't have to deal with me ever again" I started talking quietly, but by the end of my sentence I was yelling. John almost jerks back in surprise but tries not to look too surprised at my outburst. I shy back in my seat, embarrassed about how angry I got so suddenly, but John just focuses his eyes on the road, and doesn't say a word for the rest of the ride.
We finally pull up in my driveway after what seems like years, and I immediately swing open the door and slide out of the car.
"Marina! Wait" I turn around to see John look at me with a pained expression, and it gives me a feeling like I can't breathe. If I see another person looking at me with that pity, I think I might throw up.
"I'm sorry this happened, all of it. It's... it's partly my fault. I shouldn't have told Joseph to stay away from you, and i'm sorry" He spills out, looking out of breath. Well that would make two of us. Without responding, I turn around and walk quickly to the porch of my house, and throw the forms door open and scramble inside.
I hear John's engine start again after a few minutes, and slowly drive away from the house. I can feel my throat close up slowly, but I choke the feeling back down. I'm done crying over this whole damn situation, i'm going to fix it.
I hear a faint yell from across the house, and I turn to it quickly.
"Marina, are you home?" I hear Mrs. Forrest yell, and I shout back as I grab my jacket from the chair in front of me.
"Yeah, but i'm heading out again!" I shout back, as I reach to grab for the car keys on the hook next to the door, before I remember that Maren has car. I just ditch the jacket and my backpack from school. It looks like i'm going to have to run. Fine by me.
I open the door again eagerly, weirdly giddy even though this could very well be the worst day of my life. But I need to get everything figured out, i'm done waiting for things to get worked out on their own, i'm doing it myself.
Time to go to Joseph's and get my living hell of life, together.
Hope you guys enjoyed! Sorry again for updating so late but i'm back in the game again! And i wonder what's going on with Maren... anyway, don't forget to leave a review and i'll see you guys next time!