Marley checked herself in the mirror before leaving her room. She found Sam sitting on the couch with her laptop typing rapidly.
"I'm going out." She announced to her friend.
"Where are you going? It's Saturday." Sam asked her looking from the screen.
"I'm having lunch with Kitty."
Sam smirked slightly. "Oh. So it's a date." She said.
Marley blushed a little. "It's not. We are just having lunch like two friends."
"So get going then, I don't want you to be late for your date." Sam teased.
Marley rolled her eyes, still blushing, and walked out the door. She arrived at the coffee shop and looked for Kitty. She saw the owner of the place, a friendly old lady, and neared her.
"Marley, dear! How are you?" The lady asked smiling.
"I'm good thank, actually Martha, I'm looking for my friend. Blonde hair, small?"
"Oh, yes. She came like ten minutes ago, she's in the corner," The lady pointed to a table and Marley saw Kitty sitting by the window looking out. She smiled widely, making Martha raise an eyebrow suspiciously. "Adam asked her a few times if she wanted anything and she said she was waiting for someone. We didn't know it was you who she was waiting for."
"She's an old friend from Lima." Marley said.
"Do you want your usual? Chicken sandwich?" Martha asked.
Marley nodded. "That would be great. Thanks." She said walking away to meet with Kitty.
"Hey." She whispered. Kitty turned to her and smiled.
"Hi." Kitty said.
Marley sat down across from her and put her arms on the table. "How long have you been waiting?" She asked.
"Like ten minutes," Kitty said looking down. "I mean, I guess I left home and arrived here too early."
Marley nodded. She was going to say something but a plate was placed in front of her. That was fast. She looked up and found the smiling waiter. "You know, you used to say hello." The boy said teasingly. He was a few years younger than Marley. He had brunette hair and grey eyes.
"Hey Adam." She said smiling at the boy.
"Marley, it's been a while since you came. We've missed you." The boy said.
"I know, I've been busy lately. I'm sorry."
Adam laughed. "It's alright."
Marley then remembered she wasn't alone. "Oh, how rude of me. Adam, this is Kitty." She said gesturing to the blonde staring awkwardly at them.
"It's nice to meet you Kitty," the boy smiled at her kindly. "Well I gotta get back to work. See you later." He walked away, leaving the two girls alone.
"So you know him." Kitty said slowly.
Marley laughed nervously. "Yeah. I used to come here a lot and the owner became kind of a friend, then, since he is her grandson, he started working here and she introduced us to each other."
"That's nice." The blonde said.
Marley nodded. She looked at the sandwich in front of her and noticed it was bigger than usual. Did they did this on purpose? She looked up at Kitty. "Do you wanna share? They made this thing bigger and I don't think a can finish it." She said.
Kitty smiled. "Yes, it's fine."
Marley grabbed a knife and cut the sandwich in half. Luckily there was another plate on the table and she placed one half there, giving the other one to Kitty. Adam came and asked what did they want for drinks, and both girls ordered lemonade, and they also ordered a plate with fries for both of them. They ate in silence, both enjoying being with each other.
Adam came when they had finished eating. "Do you guys want anything else?" He asked them.
"No thanks, just the check, please." Marley said. Adam came with the check and Marley paid for both.
They walked out and headed to the park where they met the day before. They sat on the same bench in front of the fountain.
"How long are you staying in LA?" Marley asked once they were settled comfortably.
"I don't know. I'm just looking for a permanent place to stay, a place where I feel like home." Kitty answered.
"Wasn't Lima a place to feel like home?"
"No I guess not. It was a nice place but I didn't felt at home. There was something missing in my life." Kitty said.
Marley nodded, smiling at the other girl. "I hope you find it soon." Kitty smiled at her in return.
"So. Changing the subject, how did you end up being friends with Sebastian Smythe?"
Marley laughed. "It's funny, uh, we went to college together. Despite him being a year older than me we went to the same class."
"And what class is that?" Kitty asked curiously.
"Photography."
"Really? Photography? I thought you would go more into the artistic since you wanted to be a singer on the radio."
Marley shrugged. "Yeah, well, everything doesn't go as planned."
"And your friend? How did you met her?"
"I was looking for an apartment online and she was looking for a roommate, she was in college too, so I talked to her, she seemed cool and she accepted me, we became best friends. She helped me with assignments and I helped her too. We are still living in the same apartment."
Kitty nodded slowly. "I'm glad you had someone to help you out through college."
Marley smiled. "I missed you, Kitty. I missed all of you guys my first year of college, but then I accepted the fact that I wouldn't see you again." Marley admitted, looking down.
Kitty looked at her. "You weren't planning on seeing us again?" She asked with disbelievingly look in her eyes.
"I wanted to leave Lima in the past, it brought me bad memories." Marley said, not looking at her.
"Because what I did to you, right?" Kitty said sadly.
Marley looked at her. "No. I forgave you for that, you know it. What I wanted to get away from was my house," she said, looking down again. "It brought me painful memories from when my father left me and my mother without looking back, she refused to remove his pictures from the walls and everyday I had to see them." Kitty took her hand between her own and gave it a gentle squeeze for reassurance. Marley gave her a weak smile.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that." Kitty said.
"It's all in the past, and besides, you are here so," Marley stared at her smiling.
"Are you ever going to go to Lima?" Kitty asked hesitantly.
Marley looked up at the sky, letting out a sigh. "I don't know. Maybe someday, but I don't plan to go anytime soon." Kitty nodded in understanding.
They stayed in silence with their hands joined together, neither wanted to break apart. Soon they decided to part ways and go home.
Marley stood up and looked at Kitty, who was also standing up. "It was great to see you. I had a great time." She said smiling widely.
Kitty smiled in return. "Me too."
"Hope to see you soon." Marley said. Next, she did something that took Kitty by surprise, she leaned in and kissed her cheek. After a few seconds, she pulled away and said goodbye to her. She walked away smiling the whole way to her apartment. When she arrived she saw Sam still typing on her laptop. She closed the door and that's when Sam noticed she had arrived.
"So how did your date go?" Sam asked smirking.
Marley rolled her eyes. "I told you. It wasn't a date."
Sam laughed. "Whatever you say. How did it go?"
"It was great. I had a great time."
Sam nodded. "I figured, you were gone for more than five hours." She said chuckling.
Marley widened her eyes. "Really? That long?" She walked to the couch and sat next to her friend. "Time flies. I didn't even noticed."
"You were too busy making out." Sam said teasingly.
Marley shoved her shoulder playfully. "Stop it."
"Oh you wish you had done that." Sam said. Marley stayed silent, deciding to let her friend be. It had no case. "You totally were wishing that happened. Your silence confirmed it."
"Drop it Samara." Marley said, faking annoyance.
"Oh God. She used my full name. I'm so scared." Sam faked fear.
Marley looked at her and was about to say something but was interrupted by the bell ringing. "Who could that be?" She asked. Sam shrugged.
She stood up and walked to the door. When she opened it and was surprised by who it was. A blonde girl stood smiling widely. "Hello Mar!" The girl yelled happily as she hugged her.
"Sara? What are you doing here?" Marley asked. The girl walked past her and into the apartment.
"I decided to come and say hi. It's been a while." Sara said.
Sam stood up from the couch. She smiled when she say the girl and hugged her. "What are you doing here? I thought you were in China."
Sara sat soundly on the couch. "I was, but I got bored there and decided to come. Can't I visit my little sister?"
Sam rolled her eyes. "You are one year older, I'm not that little." Marley walked and sat next to Sara.
"Yeah, whatever you say lil' sis." Sara said teasingly.
"Where are you staying?" Marley asked her.
"I was hoping I could stay here."
"Of course you can, although you will have to sleep on the couch." Sam said.
"It's fine by me." Sara shrugged.
"Okay. Do you guys wanna go eat something? I'm starving." Sam asked, and as in queue her stomach grumbled, making the other girls laugh. They all agreed to buy burgers so they stood up and walked out the door.