The pair sat on Marley's bed, not saying one word to each other. Marley was waiting for Kitty to explain the cut on her face, but wasn't sure if that explanation would ever come. Kitty was facing the wall across from the bed, staring off into space. Marley thought for a second, and moved to touch Kitty's shoulder. But, before she reached it, she reconsidered. The last time I tried that, she jumped. Maybe I should try talking to her? Marley was completely lost in this situation. She wasn't sure how she should go about pulling Kitty from her trans without startling her. Kitty looked like she had been through hell, and Marley didn't want to do anything that might catch her by surprise. "Kitty?" Marley whispered quietly. Kitty continued staring at the wall. Has she even blinked since we sat down? Marley wasn't sure. "Kitty." Marley tried again. Kitty hadn't even seemed to register that Marley was sitting next to her. Marley sighed; "Kitty!" she said more forcefully. Kitty squeaked and jumped out of her trans, almost falling off of the bed. Marley reached a hand out, and caught Kitty by the arm. Kitty whined and grimaced at the action, but allowed herself to be pulled back onto the bed. Marley gave her an apologetic look, and released her arm.
"I'm sorry Marley. I guess I'm just very spacey today." Kitty explained, rubbing her arm.
"That's okay, I'm just worried about you. You didn't tell me what happened to your face. I don't know if you want to talk about it or not, I just thought I'd tell you I'm worried." Marley said, frowning.
"Marley, it's just really hard to talk about. I don't know where to start, or..." Kitty began, only to be interrupted by Marley's mother opening her daughter's bedroom door.
"Well, hello there Kitty!" Marley's mother beamed. "I'm glad to have you here! Marley's been excited for this slumber party since earlier tonight. She just won't stop talking about you! Literally, she talks about you all day. I'm not even exaggerating! It starts in the morning when she gets up, and just continues on until I take her to school. Then at lunch she talks about you, and after school she talks about you. You'd think she'd change the subject by dinner, but not a chance! Just as I'm heading to bed, I'll hear a few more things before she wanders off to her room for the night. You must be quite the gal!" Marley blushed a deep shade of red, and glared at her mother. "Mooooooom" Marley whined. Kitty simply grinned, and attempted to stifle a giggle. Marley thinks about me all day? Maybe...
"Thank you, Mrs. Rose. You are very hospitable. Thank you for letting me stay at your home. Marley is a wonderful friend; I talk to my parents all day about her as well." Kitty pieced together eloquently, trying to save Marley the embarrassment. Marley smiled at her appreciatively, and nudged Kitty with her arm.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone. I'm sure you have a lot to talk about." Marley's mom winked, and raced out of the room before any objections could be thrown her way. Marley's blush only deepened.
"I'm really sorry about my mom...she goes out of her way to embarrass me sometimes.." Marley muttered, trying to hide her incessant blushing.
"It's okay Marley. I think she's incredibly friendly, especially considering what I've done to her in the past." Kitty said regretfully.
"Oh, don't worry about her. She understands what being a teenager means; especially staying popular. Would you like to watch some movies?" Marley suggested, changing the subject.
"Sure. That sounds great. Also, if you don't mind, is it okay if I borrow some Pjs? I forgot mine at my house." Kitty stated sheepishly, leaving out the reason for having forgotten them.
"Of course you can! My second drawer down has a few extra pairs. You can choose whichever ones you like." Marley smiled. Kitty returned the smile, and headed towards the drawer. She found a pink tank top with black bows and a long pair of pink flannel pants, and decided on those. She excused herself to the bathroom to change, and locked the door behind her. After she changed, she returned to Marley's bed to decide on the movies they would watch.
"Okay, so all I have are Disney movies. Cheesy, I know. But do you at least have a favorite Disney movie? Every girl has one." Marley said hopefully. Kitty smiled at how cute Marley was, even at home.
"Well, I love Hercules. The hero, the heroine, the villain, all of the plot points are there. Would you like to watch that one?" Kitty asked.
"I love Hercules! It's one of my favorites. After that, we can watch Alladin. I think it's very romantic." Marley added, suddenly grimacing. Why did Marley say that? thought Kitty. Is she blushing again?
"Aaaaaaanyway so can I get you something to drink?" Marley shuffled to her feet, stumbling into the wall in the process, and blushing an even deeper shade of red.
"Uhh sure. Do you have Pepsi?" Kitty asked, suddenly suspicious of Marley's behavior.
"Yes, we do. I'll be right back." Marley rushed out of the room, almost tripping on her shoes on the way out.
Was Marley acting nervous? Why did she say that Alladin was romantic? We are having a friend-type slumber party. And Marley is straight...right? She likes Jake or Ryder or somebody...right? She's acting so odd though. At first I thought it was because of my face or arms, but now I'm not sure. I mean we haven't talked about either of those in over an hour. Weird...maybe I'm just over assessing the situation.
Kitty absentmindedly ran her fingers back and forth across the scabs on her forearm. She hadn't even noticed that Marley had returned with the drinks, and was watching her. She cleared her throat, and Kitty took a moment to process what Marley was looking at. Kitty suddenly blushed, and moved her hand away from her arm, flipping it back over. Marley sat next to her on her bed, and handed her the cup of soda.
"Kitty.." Marley began. Kitty looked over at her, expecting to see a depressing frown on Marley's face. Instead, she had the expression of someone who was intently listening to a conversation. Marley seemed to understand that she should wait for Kitty to bring up the topic herself, instead of pushing it. Kitty reached for Marley's hand, and gave it an appreciative squeeze before letting go. Marley smiled at her, and did something unexpected. She reached her arms around Kitty's neck, and embraced her tightly. Kitty was momentarily caught off guard, but recovered and wrapped her arms around Marley's waist. Kitty eventually relaxed her grip, preparing to let go of Marley, but Marley held on for dear life. Kitty decided better than to push Marley away. She stayed in Marley's embrace, and waited for any signal that Marley was going to release her.
"Kitty, I'm worried about you. I know I should wait for you to talk about everything, but just know that I am worried about you. I'm worried about what I saw at the hospital, I'm worried about what happened to your face, and I'm worried about how quiet you've been." Marley forced out, still holding Kitty. She sounds like she's going to cry..thought Kitty.
"Marley, please don't cry. I don't want you worrying about me. In fact, I'm not worth worrying about. After everything that I've done to you, I don't think I deserve anything you have to give me. You are a great friend; too good of a friend for me. I don't know what I did to deserve your friendship, but I'm grateful for it, nonetheless." Kitty rasped, attempting to keep her own tears at bay. She could hear Marley starting to sob into her neck, and hugged her more forcefully.
"Marley..." Kitty whined, not wanting to be the reason for more of Marley's tears. Marley pulled back, and looked Kitty in the eyes. She was still letting loose a few tears, but made solid eye contact with Kitty, before continuing.
"Kitty. Please talk to me." It sounded more like a plea than a request. Kitty sighed and looked down, too ashamed to keep eye contact with Marley.
"You were right, Marley." started Kitty. "I did this to myself. I do this to myself..almost every day. I'm disgusted with what I've become. My father always wanted to me to be the best at everything that I ever attempted. My mother used to be that way, but started drinking several years ago, and hasn't really cared about anything that I did since. I always had a 4.0, I was always head of the cheerleaders at all of the schools that I attended. But I had to step on so many people to get where I am. My father encouraged it, but I was always the one to act. I went out of my way to push people around, to ruin their lives. I mean, for God sakes, look what I did to you. You developed an eating disorder, and ended up in the hospital. And it is all my fault. If I hadn't attacked your insecurities, you wouldn't have followed my advice about throwing up. It's all my fault, Marley. And a few years ago, I couldn't live with the things that I had done to people to reach my place at the top. I didn't know what else to do; I feel so ashamed of myself. I hate myself. That's why I do this; because I can't stand to look at myself. I can't stand to know what I've done. It's horrible. I'm ugly on the inside, and I feel like I should match that on the outside." Kitty finished, letting out a few more tears. Marley stared at her in utter shock, her mouth hanging open in a small "o". Tears were streaming down Marley's face, and her hands were shaking at their places on Kitty's shoulders. She simply leaned forward again, and forcefully embraced Kitty.
"K-k-kitty you aren't a h-h-h-horrible person. W-w-why would y-y-you think that? In school, being p-p-popular is the best thing for your r-r-reputation, so of c-c-course you did what you did to be on top. Who wouldn't? And y-y-y-your parents don't sound like they h-h-h-helped you in that field either. Why do y-y-y-you blame yourself? I am s-s-so so s-so sorry Kitty. Y-y-you don't d-d-deserve to f-feel like this e-e-ever." Marley stuttered, interrupted by her tears. Kitty instantly regretted sharing this information with Marley. Damn it! All I did was make her feel worse! Why do I make her feel so horrible? I shouldn't have told her all of that.
"Oh, please don't cry Marley! Don't feel bad for me. I did this to myself. I deserve this. Please don't cry...I can't stand to make you cry anymore." Kitty rushed out, trying to comfort Marley. Marley pulled back from the hug to look Kitty in the eyes. Her eyes were red, but she seemed to have controlled her crying.
"Kitty Wilde. You are not a horrible person. I think you are the most wonderful person at our high school. I think you are one of the most wonderful people I have ever met. You may not think you are worth anything, but you are worth everything to me. You have made mistakes, but you have to move forward from those. You can't blame yourself for your past behavior. What happened is in the past; you can't change it. But you are not a worthless person, Kitty Wilde, and don't you dare ever call yourself that again. You have to promise me, Kitty. Promise me that you won't hurt yourself like this anymore. Or..if that's too hard for you, at least promise to try. For me, Kitty. Promise to try for me. You will try for me, won't you Kitty? Promise me." Marley stated determinedly, looking into Kitty's eyes. Kitty was shocked to see this level of certainty and adoration come from someone who she had spent countless hours torturing. She wasn't sure how to respond after Marley's speech, so she simply nodded her head, keeping eye contact with Marley. Marley held out her pinky, indicating for Kitty to do the same. Kitty smiled slightly, and liked pinkies with Marley. They shook, and Marley nodded in approval.
"Now." started Marley. "What happened to your face? Did you do that to yourself too?" Marley asked carefully, trying to avoid any sensitive subjects. Oh, I almost forgot about that.
"No.." Kitty sighed despairingly. "My mom did this. She got drunk and came upstairs to my room. I pointed out all of her flaws, and she got mad and tossed a bottle of whiskey at me." Kitty shrugged. Marley's jaw dropped once again.
"What?! Oh my God, Kitty! How could she do that to you?" Marley raised her voice, shocked by Kitty's mother's aggression. Kitty simply shrugged again in response. Emotionally drained, Marley simply grabbed Kitty again in another bone-crushing hug. Kitty smiled into Marley's shoulder, appreciating how many hugs Marley was willing to give out today.
"It's okay, I guess. She's been like this for a few years." Kitty tried to chuckle half-heartedly.
"Wait. This had been going on for a few years? Oh, Kitty.." Marley pulled back from the hug, and looked sympathetically into Kitty's eyes. Kitty shrugged once again, giving Marley a half-smile. Marley just shook her head in disbelief, and linked hands with Kitty, not knowing what else to do. God, I am loving this. I'm not happy that I had to upset Marley, but I love her hugs.
"Come on!" Kitty chirped, trying to cheer Marley up. "Weren't we gonna watch Hercules? I thought we decided that we needed a hero.." Kitty added the last part, hoping to encourage Marley's enthusiasm. Marley's smile didn't seem as sincere as before, but nonetheless, she popped Hercules into her DVD player. Kitty settled on the ground in front of the TV, patting the ground next to her. Marley smiled at Kitty's optimism, and plopped down beside her, instinctively grabbing her hand. Kitty was shocked at first, but made no move to release Marley's hand.
As the movie started, Marley seemed to relax slightly, and Kitty sighed with relief. As the movie progressed, Marley's grip on her hand relaxed slightly. At one point, Marley released Kitty's hand altogether. Kitty thought about protesting, but decided against it. She felt Marley's hand again, but this time, it was running up and down her forearm, grazing her scabs. She jumped at first, but relaxed into the motions. The movement wasn't painful; instead, it felt warm and loving. Kitty relished in the feeling, and allowed Marley to continue. She glanced over at Marley, who was looking at Kitty's forearm curiously. Marley watched her own fingers run up and down Kitty's forearm, catching here and there at the bigger scabs. Marley frowned in concentration, causing her eyebrows to furrow. Kitty smiled slightly, and reached over to rub the spot above Marley's nose. As soon as Kitty began rubbing the spot, Marley giggled a little, and un-furrowed her eyebrows. She stopped stroking Kitty's forearm, and intertwined her fingers with Kitty's instead.
About halfway through the movie, Marley stretched out on the ground, pulling Kitty with her. She wrapped a protective arm around Kitty's abdomen, and continued focussing on the movie. Kitty's stomach somersaulted, and her chest fluttered. Oh. My God. Best...sleepover...ever. Kitty beamed, but kept her expression hidden from Marley. Careful now, Kitty. Don't want to freak her out anymore than you already have. Marley reached up to her bed, and pulled her blanket down on top of both of their bodies. Kitty scooted back against Marley's body, and Marley pulled her in tighter in response. Wow...she's warm. The movie continued, though Kitty had stopped paying attention an hour ago. She linked hands with the hand that Marley had draped over her abs. Marley absentmindedly stroked the back of Kitty's hand with her thumb.
"Tell me something about you that I don't already know." Marley mumbled into Kitty's ear. The movement sent shivers down Kitty's spine, but she hoped that Marley hadn't noticed.
"That feels really good.." Kitty muttered huskily, before she could stop herself. She froze in place, hoping that Marley hadn't heard. She turned her head slightly, making eye contact with Marley. Marley was wearing a shocked expression, and had stopped rubbing her thumb across Kitty's hand.
Damn it...thought Kitty. She heard.