I was late for class. First day back at school and I was late for a class. Great, awesome, perfect. I was stood at the lockers with LSP, she was rifling through her belongings trying to find some of her deodorant for me to use. I always felt pretty weird calling her LSP, her full name was Lorraine Susan Patton, but hated every one of those, so she was dubbed LSP for short.
"You know, I don't think I need it that badly. I've really got to get to class." I shuffled on my feet a little, watching as she shoved her arms even deeper into her locker.
"Nah, girl." LSP sang. "I know it's in here somewhere, it's fine."
"But I'm late, I really-"
"Nah, girl!" She said louder. "I've got it okay, I've got it."
She didn't have it. We were stood there an extra five minutes before she finally pulled out a little can and tossed it at me with a grin. I barely caught it before she told me to be careful with how much I use.
"Need to be smellin' fine for mah Brad later." LSP fake-fell into her locker, back of her hand attached to her forehead for dramatic effect. "That was me swooning, by the way."
"Yeah, I got it." I laughed, quickly spraying the fruity scent over me and passing it back to my friend. "I've got to get to art class though, so I'll see you later."
I was halfway down the hall when I heard her shout something, but I was too far away to hear or head back. "Later!" I shouted as loud as I could without disrupting the classes going on near the hall.
LSP was a long time friend of mine, we'd known each other almost all of our lives. We first met when we were really young at a playgroup our parents made us attend. One afternoon I was playing in the sandbox when I heard a bunch of the other kids yelling. I looked and saw LSP, homemade paper crown on her head, shouting about being a princess and everyone had to do what she said. That was when one of the carers went over and told her to behave, then she was put with me in the sandpit. I guess they thought I would settle her down; I was always so quiet at playgroup.
It was last year that she had dyed her hair purple, she said it brought out her eyes. How purple brought out the color brown I'll never really understand. But maybe that was the king of stuff I'd learn in art class. I was already in the right part of the building and soon found my assigned room. But peering in I only saw empty chairs and desks in the dark room. I checked my watch. Yes, definitely late, class should already be in session.
I grabbed at my bag, hoping I hadn't lost my timetable when I dropped my things at lunch, and thankfully found it crumpled up at the bottom amongst the broken pens I had never thrown away.
I almost slammed a fist to my forehead when I read the torn piece of paper, I didn't have Art after lunch. I had music class.
"Damn, how the hell did I get that mixed up?" I scorned myself, clicking the bag closed and throwing it back over my shoulder. School was important to me. Being punctual was important to me. And there I was running along the corridors trying to find the right room. It was not my day at all.
After running down one set of stairs, along a long corridor and up another set of stairs, I finally got to the right classroom. And I was only twenty minutes late. The entrance was going to be just awful.
I lingered at the door for a little while. Crowds were not really my forte, and walking into a crowded room, late and breathing heavily from a run was definitelynot my forte. I wasn't even sure if I should knock or just walk in, if I should apologize to the teacher or just sneal in as quietly as I could. I wasn't even sure if there were any seats left. I took a deep breath and pushed open the door.
"...to fortissimo but you wont see that for- Ah, Miss Bubblegum. So glad you decided to join us."
I flinched at the use of my surname; it always cause a few giggles to erupt in the room. On the bright side, it didn't seem like I was in much trouble.
"I'm sorry, Sir." I said to Mr Petikrov who nodded and told me to take a seat. He was a good man and an even better teacher, he actually listened to his pupils and really wanted them to learn. Unlike a lot of the staff who seemed to only care about wages and possible pay rises.
I looked around the room, not letting my eyes linger in one spot for too long, and spied an empty desk in the middle row. I made my way towards it, careful to not hit anyone with my bag on the way past. As soon as I sat down I pulled out a notebook and a pen, scribbled on one of the pages to make sure it worked properly and was grateful when it did.
It was after about ten minutes of note taking that Marceline decided to show up to class. She opened the door and immediately stepped towards Mr Petikrov, said something, nodded in what looked like apology and turned to look for a seat. Of course the only one free was the one next to me. Well no, that wasn't strictly true. There was another seat, but it was next to a skinny guy with bags under his eyes who was always shaking and let his eyes dart around the room. If I was judgmental -which I have always tried not to be- I would have thought he looked a little like a drug addict, which honestly would not be surprising. There'd been a lot worse in this school.
Marceline smiled at me before heading my way, and I returned it with a shy one before returning to my notes. I felt the chair beside me move as she collapsed into it. I could see her looking at me from the corner of my eye, probably to say hello, but I just couldn't look up at her, embarrassment from lunch still settled deep within me. Soon she pulled out a small notebook and a pencil to jot down what the teacher was saying.
I got lost in my work after that, writing about pace and tempo, the basic introduction to the class. I found out a lot of my classmates didn't play musical instruments either, so I felt a little less out-of-place.
As I was writing about upcoming lessons, a note was slid my way by a thin, pale hand. I looked up at Marceline and she just tapped an index finger to the paper. I frowned a little before unfolding the note.
I need to talk to you about something after class. It's about Guy.
The first thing I noticed was her handwriting, it was beautiful. Another thing I didn't expect from her, it was neat with the letters looping into one another beautifully. Then I noticed what she had actually written and frowned again, trying my best not to roll my eyes. I took my pen and quickly wrote a reply.
I don't want to talk about Guy. I know you're just being a good friend to him but I'm done with him now.
Marceline went to reach for the note when the teacher looked up, pointed his finger at her and raised an eyebrow. She retracted her hand and crossed both of her hands over one another, grinning at him with an almost red face. I could have sworn Mr Petikrov smiled before turning back the board at the front of the room. I pushed the note towards her and she quickly skimmed it.
Rolling her eyes, she crunched up the paper in one hand and leaned over to me while the teacher still had his back turned.
"It's not like that," She whispered in my ear. "I'm probably being a bad friend to him right now, so hear me out okay?"
She leaned back in her chair facing the front but keeping her eyes on me. I blinked and chewed on my bottom lip. She had peaked my interest with that. At her raised eyebrow I sighed and nodded. We didn't speak again during the lesson.
Eventually the lesson came to and end and I started to pack up my belongings while everyone but Marceline and I left. I was getting ready to leave the room until I heard Marceline address the teacher.
"Hey, Simon, do you have to work in here tonight? I need to talk to Bonnibel here." She said while jumping up to sit on the desk.
"I do, but I've been dreaming of grabbing a coffee for a while. Make it quick, Marcy."
"Sure thing." She smiled, swinging her legs.
He grinned at her before slipping out of the classroom, leaving us two alone.
"Simon?" I asked, jumping up to sit next to her on the desk.
"Uh, yeah." She shrugged. "We're pretty cool."
"Hm, I see. So..." It was the first time I'd been alone with Marceline. And I was comfortable, but being so comfortable so quickly made me uncomfortable. Yeah, it didn't make sense to me either. "What did you want to talk about?"
"Well, it's pretty weird, so I guess I'll just say it." She sighed and shook her head, twisting her body to face me.
I looked at her, as politely as I could whilst I waited.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
Thirty...
"Don't think I'm saying this to get him out of trouble, because he really deserves to be in it, but I found something out at lunch. It was why I was late." She was staring at her shoes with purpose I didn't think those boots deserved. I was going to ask her what she heard but she continued without prodding. "Guy didn't sleep with Keila."
That was it. I pushed myself off the table, stretched over it to grab my bag and made for the door.
"Hey! No, wait!"
I heard scraping against the floor and knew she had came after me, but she was quicker than I thought. I went to reach for the door handle but a hand shot out from behind me, pressing flat against the door to keep it closed.
We stood that way for a while. Me facing the door, her facing my back with a hand still reaching over me. "That wasn't hearing me out." She growled. "Don't you walk out on me."
"How is that being a bad friend?" I spun around to face her, and was shocked to see how close she actually was. In any other situation, I would have blushed. But I was too angry. She had basically talked me into listening under false pretenses. Now there she was lying for Guy. "You're doing him a favor aren't you?" I all but shouted in her face.
She stared me down for a couple of moments, and I thought she wasn't ever going to move her hand, but she did. Marceline sighed roughly, her breath tickling my face, and backed away, giving me my personal space back.
"He didn't sleep with her. Keila wouldn't go near him, she's never wanted to. He only said he did." She wasn't looking at me anymore, she just looked tired of the situation. I could only imagine the conversation she'd had before class. "I dunno why he said it, but no way man, that didn't happen."
Everything in me just... stopped. I didn't understand. Why would he say he'd done it if he hadn't. Marceline could have been lying, but it wasn't as if this lie would get him out of trouble. So why would she say this? Unless it was true that is.
"I'm confused..." I rested my head against the door and shut my eyes. "Marceline, I don't understand. Why would he say that if it didn't happen? He didn't even deny it, not once."
She walked up to my side and leaned against the door with me. "I'm confused too, and it's not even my problem. But it's true, he told me himself."
I looked to my left so I could see her. "Is he still here?"
"Dunno, we've got practice at mine tonight though. Could tag along if you wanna talk to him. Gotta be when we're done though, I don't need him storming off before we've played."
"I'll think about it." I said after a while. I didn't want to see him, but now my head was all scronked up. How was I supposed to get anything done with all of this playing on my mind? No, I had to see him. To put him in his place if anything. "Actually, yes. I will come."
Marceline spent the next few minutes telling me when practice ended and explaining how to get to her house. She ended up explaining twice; there were a lot of twists and turns in her part of town. I had remembered most of it to the best of my ability when we heard my name being shouted around the halls.
We frowned at each other, then Marceline moved so I could open the door. Looking down the corridor I saw LSP shoving her head into every classroom she could find.
"Where you at BonBon?" She was yelling through each doorway, huffing and slamming the doors shut when she saw I wasn't there.
"I uh, gotta go." I mumbled to Marceline at my side. She laughed and nodded before slipping through the door I was holding open.
"Such a gentleman. Later, BonBon." She mocked, but strangely, I wasn't offended. Still, my face turned a little red and I had to turn to hide it.
I caught myself watching her leave, before I remembered she had brought a bag to class. I ran to the desk we shared earlier, yanked her bag from the floor and made for the hallway.
"Marceline!" I shouted, but it looked like she'd already headed towards the exit, lord knows which one. "Damn..."
As I was heaving both bags onto my shoulder, LSP caught sight of me at last.
"Hey, earlier I was tryin' to say that you didn't have art class, didn't need to run off. Wait...Marceline?" She asked when she made it next to me. "Marceline Abadeer?" I only nodded.
LSP looked at my shoulder, noticing me wrestling with the two bags, and pieced together that Marceline had forgotten hers.
"Maybe it was an excuse to see you again." She winked at me as we made our way to the lockers.
"Wrong." I sang. "I'm going over to her house tonight anyway, so there's no point in doing that." I caught LSP's grin but before she could open her mouth to make some rude comment I interjected. "I'm going to see Guy, before you even say anything."
Her grin dropped from her face as she launched into a rant about how girls shouldn't let men rule their life and how we're stronger without the male populus. Funny coming from her, not in an awful way -she was my friend after all- but she always had a man on her arm, so her advice seemed a little off. But I knew better than to interrupt LSP when she was halfway through a speech, last time I did she got angry but insisted on finishing anyway. I was sure she made that rant a lot longer just to prove a point too.
When she'd finished talking we were already stood outside of her locker. Before LSP put her locker combination in, she stood to stare at me. That was when it occurred to me that she must have asked me a question, or my opinion. I went for a safe bet answer.
"I agree with everything you said, as always." I smiled as sweetly as I could, honestly feeling bad that I'd stopped listening. My answer seemed to be what she wanted because she smirked and spun to grab her things.
The walk home was as it always was. LSP would talk about Brad, her new styling products and some girl called Melissa who I'd never actually had the pleasure of meeting. Whenever I'd ask about her, or ask what school she attended, LSP would throw herself into telling a story about what this Melissa had done recently. I never got any real answers so I simply stopped asking. Still, it was nice to see my friend so animated, I'll admit sometimes it would be equally as nice if she could calm down, but that just wouldn't be LSP.
I waved goodbye to her as we separated near my house, and adjusting the bags resting on my arm. I'd have to remind myself to return Marceline's later on. I thought about asking my uncle, Pepperwood, for a ride there but I didn't want to impose, and he probably wouldn't even be home. My uncle lived with me; he was more of a parent than an average uncle. He was understanding and kind, and best of all he kept me on the right track with my studies and everything else he could. Uncle Pepperwood was short and pale, but he always had these wonderful rosy cheeks, a constant blush painted on his face.
I searched my bag for my set of keys and smiled when I heard a rattle, pulling them out I attempted to unlock my door, but the key jammed. For one stupid moment I thought that the locks to my house had been changed, but laughing at myself, I shook it off. I held up the keys to my face, thinking something was caught on them, making them incompatible with the lock. But it wasn't my keys I was holding, they were Marceline's, I had apparently searched through the wrong bag.
I was about to put them back where they came from when something small and purple caught my eye. Hanging on a key chain was a tiny, little bear, Well, it could have been a bear. The little thing was too tattered and worn to tell, but perhaps it was manufactured to look that way. All in all, it was cute. Especially because it was Marceline's. She had always seemed so cool and distant. Who would have thought she'd have a pretty (sort of) teddy key chain? I ran my thumb across its face, as lightly as I could, fearing the smallest touch would loosen the one eye he had left. I put him back in Marceline's bag and rifled through mine, looking for my own set of keys to get inside.
I kicked off my shoes, dropped the bags and made my way upstairs, not bothering to shout my arrival to the household. My parents usually spent most of their time in the office they both managed, and Uncle Pepperwood was their personal assistant at the demand of my father. I'd have to leave a note if I left before they got back home.
Looking at the clock I realized I had plenty of time before I went to see Guy, which part of me was dreading and the other part... no, I just wasn't happy about it in the slightest. I wanted answers, I wanted to know who this Keila girl was and I wanted to know what had really happened. Not because I wanted to date Guy again, God no. It was kind of a closure deal for me, if I knew the truth then I could move past it all. If I didn't find out the truth then I'd probably simmer in my own anger for a very long time. Or convince someone else to find out for me. Either way, my studies and mental state were not going to be great.
I fell down into my desk chair and pulled on my reading glasses, really I should have worn them at school and any other time I was doing close-work, but my glasses were large and round. Not the sleek, stylish ones I so wanted, and I thought I looked insane with them on. The glasses made my eyes look like they took over most of my head, so that's a no-go for wearing them outside of my house.
I settled down to get some studying in before I had to adventure my way to Marceline's house, but that ended up with me pressing my face to my desk and groaning. I had to no idea what I wanted to say to Guy when I saw him. At least he'd be worse off than me. He wasn't expecting me, so I'd take him by surprise. That was a small comfort for me.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for all the reviews/favorites/follows, they make my day.
Next chapter will probably take a little bit longer because I've put off a bit of work that needs doing, but it shouldn't take too long.
Thank you for reading!