Ch. 4

(Marceline's point of view)

I woke up late because of my dad's drunken rage last night. I got ready and left my room. The living room was a mess but nothing was broken. My dad was sleeping with his head on our table. I just walked by, ignoring him as usual, and left. I got to school so late that I missed the entire 1st period of the day. I walked into my period 5 class only to be sent to the office. Twenty worthless minutes went by and I was sent back to class. I gave the teacher a halfhearted apology and sat in my seat. I decided to pay attention and do my work which was easier than I expected. I did want to graduate but it wasn't my biggest concern. Then came lunch.

"So, what kind of hobbies do you guys have?" Heather asked.

"I can personally tell you that me and Marceline have no hobbies." Bonnibel told her.

"Shut up Bonnie," I told her.

"Grouchy much? Not enough beauty sleep?" Bonnibel asked.

"No... my dad was at it again. Drunk as usual." I told them.

"Oh." was all Bonnie said.

"You could stay with my home if you want," Finn suggested.

"I couldn't. That'd be wrong. I'd feel like I was mooching off you." I told him.

"Your helping me with the drama club. Its only fair." Finn pushed.

"The answer is no Finn." I told her firmly.

"Oh come on Marcy. He's giving you the chance of a lifetime. To get away from your father just for a little bit." Bonnibel encouraged.

"Ugh. Fine. I'll think about it. I'll give you my answer in a week." I told Finn.

The next few days were hard. I had to catch up on my work because that teacher that talked to my dad asked Finn to watch over me. Ugh. Don't get me wrong, I like hanging with Finn and all but he's so pushy when it comes to school now. He never skips class and always does his work now. Bonnibel on the other hand skips class but still does her work, was I the only slacker? Heather... well... we don't really know much about her. At all really. Right now I'm heading to the library to look for some books about plants. The librarian seemed to be out so I just looked around. Then I found piles of books surrounding Heather.

"Heather?" I asked.

She looked at me almost in a daze, "Yes?" she asked.

"Uh... What cha up to?" I asked.

"Reading." she answered.

"Oh... did you read any books on plants by any chance?" I asked.

She looked through the piles quickly and pulled out three books, "Here, these three are very good. This one talks about plants on a cellular level." She told me while pointing to the top book.

"Thanks." I said and walked over to a table and started reading.

A couple minutes went by and the librarian came back. I noticed Heather's piles increased by quite a large margin. Her eyes devoured page after page.

"Oh, hi." I heard a voice say.

I turned to see the librarian smiling at me, "Hello." I greeted.

"Hi. Do you know Heather?" she asked.

"Yeah. But not that much. Look at her go... is she really reading that fast?" I asked.

"Mm hm. She's a genius her teachers say. She generally comes here on her free time but recently has been more outgoing. So she did make friends. That's good. I was beginning to worry. Please be kind to her." she told me.

"I will. Can I check out these books?" I asked.

"Sure dear." she said.

Lunch came around and I was the first on the roof. Then Finn and Heather came up. Then last but not least Bonnibel.

"Why didn't you tell us you were so smart Heather?" I asked.

She blushed, "I'm not that smart," she answered.

"Well, at least she's modest." Bonnibel said.

"Yeah. Can you at least tell us about yourself Heather?" I asked.

"Well... there's not much to tell. Growing up, I used to stay in my room and read all the time. My family isn't rich but has done well for itself. We have our own library in our house so I read books from there a lot. By the time I was 13 I read every single book in that library. I guess I'm like an encyclopedia." she told us.

"I'd like to see your house." Bonnibel told her.

"Me too." Finn agreed.

"I guess I might as well agree with them." I said mostly to myself.

"No!" she yelled.

We were all takin aback, "Why?" Finn asked.

"I... uh... My parents don't like people coming over. Even if they're my friends." she told us.

'Is she hiding something from us?' I wondered.

"Oh... ok." Finn and Bonnibel said sadly.

Lunch continued in silence. Heather's outburst caused an awkwardness to be created between everyone. Me and Finn went to our period 6 class as they went to theirs. Then, before we knew it, School ended and I was heading home but then I saw Heather. I knew I shouldn't but I decided to follow her.I followed her all the way to her house, keeping out of sight. At one point she disappeared down an alleyway. I had to run in order to catch up. Then she entered a rather large house and I heard the door lock. Her front yard was awful, weeds were growing from the cracks in the stone floor that led to her door. The entrance to her front lawn had a broken down rusted fence and her lamp over her door was shattered. The house looked like a wreck. I looked to my right to see a pathway to the backyard. I walked back there just to be met with what I saw on at the front. The backyard was overgrowing with weeds with a knocked over chair and a rusted over tricycle. The glass doors to the backyard was still clean so I peered inside. Heather was crying while holding a picture to her chest.

"Mom..." I heard her say, "Dad... oh glob why did you to have to go..?" she sobbed.

I gasped when she said this. Her parents must be dead, that's why her house is in this condition. But... how is she still living here though? Did they give Ownership of the house to her or something. Hoping she doesn't notice, I left her backyard and proceeded to go to my house again.

I came home to see my dad once again sitting at the table. His hair was straightened a bit though and the radio was off. He looked at me with his usual smile.

"Hello Marceline. How was school." he asked.

I ignored him like I usually do and went to my room throwing my stuff aside. I fell onto my bed, laying on my back, and stared at the ceiling. Then, I succame to sleep.