Chapter 2- Bubblegum

It had been 2 weeks since I had started going to Ooo High. I loved it there. I was beginning to feel happy. My parents couldn't keep their prying eyes on me 24/7 and I had a little bit of freedom. It was the weekend and I was going to see Marceline at her house. I thought it was strange that she lived alone. The thought of living alone send a shiver down my spine.

Shaking myself, I got up. I walked out of my very large bedroom and into the bathroom and I looked at myself in the mirror. I scowled. I didn't look good enough. I began brushing my hair and then I straightened it. Afterwards, I put on my makeup. "Better" I thought. I sprayed perfume all over myself; it was a strawberry bubblegum kind. I sighed and took out my phone.

"Hey" I sent the text to Marceline.

"Hi, you are still coming over?" Was her quick reply.

"Yeah! :)" I sent back

"Great! :D Can't wait 4 u!" she replied.

I smiled and went down the stairs.

"I'm leaving!" I shouted to my butler.

"Be careful dear!" Mr. Pepper shouted back.

I opened the door and closed it behind me. I got into my red mini cooper and started driving to Marceline's house. We had hung out 3 times before this, and I was getting used to the strange rocker girl. I wanted to know more about her.

After the 10 minute drive, I was there. I got out of my car and walked up to Marceline's front door. I knocked quietly, knowing Marceline would be waiting for me. The door swung open and Marceline stood there, grinning. But there was something wrong, I could tell. She looked like she had finished crying. I walked inside.

"Hey you" she said smiling.

"Hi" I said happily.

"What do you want to do this time?" She asked.

"First off, I want to know why you were crying" I said slowly.

"M-me? C-crying? I was not crying!" She said too quickly.

I rolled my eyes at her. "Will you tell me what's wrong when you're ready?" I asked

"Yeah." She spoke quietly.

"How's the band doing?" I asked

"We are great. We finally came up with a name!" she said, face lighting up.

"What's the name?" I bounced excitedly.

"Marceline and the Scream Queens" She said doing her trade mark grin.

"Suiting" I said.

"Yeah I thought so" She said.

An awkward silence hung between us. Marceline trudged over to her axe-bass and started strumming it. She looked up and stared at me. Tears were welling up in the corner of her eyes.

"The devil on my shoulder tells me he's proud of me. That it takes a real man to look out for himself and no one else. I don't want to believe that. But sometimes it's easier to just stay silent. I wish I knew how to speak out. I never had a problem with words, but only when talking to someone else. There's a war inside me that's all my own. And I need to talk like a queen to keep myself afloat, but how much longer until everyone knows? The angel on my shoulder tells me he's proud of me. That it takes a real man to live for everyone else before himself. I know I believe it. And it'll never get easier…" She sang and then burst into tears.
Not knowing what to do, I grabbed her arm. She jerked away and cried more. Slowly, she lifted her sleeve up. There were cuts all over her arm.

"Who did this to you!?" I exclaimed.

"Me" she said, sobbing.

My eyes widened. Clearly Marceline had some sort of emotional disorder. I took her and put her into an embrace. I breathed her in, she smelled like a spring forest. I hugged her close, unknowing what to do. I was starting to tear up too. "Why would she do this to herself?" I thought.

"It's going to be alright." I whispered.

"N-no it's not…" she cried.

"Yes it will be" I said firmly.

"You're the only one who knows about this" she said, voice barely audible.

"I'm glad you trust me" I said, burying my face into her shoulder.

"That's not all" she said.

"What?" I asked.

Marceline stood up and removed her shirt, messing her hair up. There were cuts everywhere. It was the worst on her belly. I gasped.
"Oh Marcy…" I trailed off and hugged her again.

We stayed there for an hour, me hugging her and she was trying to stop crying. I cautiously put my hand on her stomach, feeling the rough cuts. I looked up at her.

"Why would you do this to yourself?" I asked

"First it helped me get through my problems, now it's more like an addiction. My skin is so pale you can't see the scars, which is a good thing because there would be a lot of them…" She trailed off.

"I'm going to call my parents to see if I can sleep over" I said.

"You don't have to Bubblegum" She spoke quietly.

"I want to" I said firmly.

I picked up my phone and dialed my mom's phone number, knowing she would allow me to sleep over.
"Hey sweetie" My mom said

"Hey mom. Can I sleepover at Marceline's place?" I asked

"Sure, but be back by 4 P.M tomorrow, understand?" She said

"Yes ma'am" I said, smiling.

"Bye sweetie I have to go" my mom said.

"Bye" I said and ended the call.

I turned to Marceline.

"I can stay over"

"Great Bubblegum" she said, wiping the tears off of her face.

"By the way, my real name is Bonnibel."

Marceline tilted her head "I like it" she said.

I knew I was blushing, but I was not ashamed.

"Marcy, why do you hurt yourself?" I repeated.

"I-I don't want to really talk about it right now" She said

"Will you tell me soon? I asked.

"Yeah, but not now" She whispered.

She grabbed me and hugged me, this time burying her face into my shoulder. I did a little smile. I hugged her back. She broke the embrace and sat back down on the couch, grabbing the remote.
"Want to watch a movie?" she asked doing her adorable head tilt.

"Sure" I said.
"Let's watch…Nightmare on Elm Street!" she bounced excitedly

Not wanting to let her down, I said "Okay, but I'm going to scream like a girl" I said.

She laughed, wiping the last of her tears off her face. I pointed at her shirt on the floor "You forgot to put it back on" I said.

"Maybe I didn't forget…" she said slyly.

I ignored the comment and watched her put her shirt back on. You couldn't see her 4 pack underneath all of those cuts. I sighed and sat down next to her. She put an arm around me and I looked at her. She was fiddling with the remote, trying to get the movie to play. Finally, it started.

After about 2 hours of screaming, it was finally over. I was shaking and I was clinging to Marceline.

"Marcy, I don't ever want to watch that again" I said, groaning.

She chuckled "Okay, we don't have to watch that again."

"Any other movies you want to watch?" I said.

"No, you get to pick now" she said.

I looked over Marceline's movie selection. I saw Avatar. I smiled and picked it. "This one" I said with a smirk.

"But it's so long!" Marceline sighed.

"THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID" I started laughing.

Marcy stared at me and began laughing. Her laughter racked through her body, and it was good to see her finally happy-ish again.

"When did you learn that sort of language?" She said mockingly.

"2 weeks of public high school does stuff to you" I said giggling.

"I guess it does" She said, a twinkle in her eye.

"Well, start it already!" I screamed.

"Okay, okay, calm yourself Boni!" She said laughing, and grabbing the remote and starting the movie.

We watched the movie in silence. After it was done, I looked at what time it was, it was almost 2 A.M. I was starting to get drowsy. I yawned and leaned against Marceline.
"Tired already?" she asked.

I just yawned in response and closed my eyes. A little snore escaped my mouth.

Marceline snorted and picked me up. I pretended I was asleep. She carried me up the stairs and opened the door to her room and said "Sheesh, you fall asleep fast." I opened my eye a tiny bit to see what was happening. She set me down in her bed and looked at me hesitantly. Quickly, she bent down and kissed me on the forehead. I tried not to react.

Marceline walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. Now curious, I stood up and quietly padded to the bathroom door. I heard a whimper of pain escape her mouth. Marceline made a little gasping sound and turned on the sink. I climbed back into her bed, completely scared for her. The shower turned on and I heard her walk into it. I sighed and waited for her.

I was sitting up in the bed when she walked out of the bathroom. Marceline looked at me.

"You waited for me" she said.

"Well, yeah. Let me see your cuts" I said.

She hesitated "Okay…fine."

She sat down in the bed and showed me her arms. I stared at the cuts. I lightly dragged my finger across the broken skin, finding the cut that she had just made.

"You must stop this" I said.

"I know" she said shortly.

"I can go if you need space" I said slowly.

"You don't have to, you can stay here." She said, with a sad smile on her face.

"You want me to stay here?" I asked.

"Hell yeah!" she exclaimed.

I sighed and laid down, and Marceline did the same. She wrapped her arms around my waist and started to breathe more steadily. I smiled and stroked her hair, letting the dark embrace of sleep take over me.

I woke up the next day. It was a Sunday. I yawned and stretched, but moved carefully so I wouldn't disturb Marceline. I tiptoed across the bedroom and went down the stairs and into the kitchen. I looked through Marceline's pantry. I found pancake mix, butter, and strawberry syrup. I started making pancakes at around 10 A.M. and Marceline came down at around 11. She looked well rested and she made the cutest face ever when she stretched and yawned. I smiled at her.

"Good morning Marce!" I said.

"Mornin'" she said, rubbing her eyes.

I gave Marceline her pancakes with butter and strawberry syrup. She devoured all 4 of them and looked up at me for more.

"You sure have an appetite!" I giggled.

She shrugged "I don't know how I stay skinny"

I poked her arm muscle gently "That's how"

Marceline grinned and grabbed her 5th pancake. I, however, had only finished 2 pancakes. I couldn't believe how much this girl was eating. After her 6th pancake, she put her plate away and she groaned with how full she was. I smirked.

"Maybe you shouldn't have eaten so much"

"Maybe…maybe…" she groaned.

I looked at the clock, it was noon.

"I still have four hours left" I said happily.

"What do you want to do?" She asked.

"Shopping?"
"No."

"Walk in the park?"

"No."

"Picky today, aren't you?"

"I'd rather…stay here." She said quietly.

I nodded "Well, what do you want to do here then?"

"Teach you how to play music."

I smiled "You'd teach me?"

She did her cute head tilt and nodded "Yep."

"Teach away" I giggled.

"You sure giggle a lot, Boni"

"You need to giggle more" I shot back.

"Touché" she said grinning.

"What instrument are you going to teach me how to play?"

"Piano" she said in an instant.

Marceline walked over to her piano, and motioned for me to sit down next to her. She showed me the basic hand stance on how to play. By the end of the day, I knew how to play Mary had a little Lamb, Farmer Jack, and Hot Cross Buns. When Marceline played music, she was a different person; she became a wise and patient teacher.

I looked at the clock "It's 3:30" I said.

"Before you go, there's one more thing I would like to play for you." She said, pursing her lips.

"Okay" I straightened my back.

Marceline began playing a sad and slow song. She opened her mouth to sing, "I'm so tired of being here, suppressed by all my childish fears, and if you have to leave, I wish that you would just leave. Your presence still lingers here, and it won't leave me alone. These wounds won't seem to heal. This pain is just too real. There's just too much that time cannot erase…"

"Was this…about your mother?" I asked

Marceline nodded "Yeah"

"Is she the reason you cut?"

"No"

I frowned slightly thinking: "What has happened to this girl…all of my life I've been protected from society. Who could have possibly done this to her?"

My thoughts were jumbled, and my questions where not answered for a long, long time.