~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

8. Getting to Know You.

I was talking to Lark all night again. We wanted to hang out but I still had school. I never faked a sickness before but I needed a day to myself and away from Glee club and school in the whole. I said I'd call him back and then hung up and slept a little bit more before I heard a knock on the door and Mom call in. "Marley? Baby, it's time to wake up."

"Mom... I don't feel good..." I moaned. She came over and felt my forehead.

"You don't feel too warm. Is it the stomach bug?"

"I don't know, I feel like crap." I said. If I had used 'crap' to her, she'd bound to believe me.

"Oh I'm sorry baby," She sounded sympathetic. "I'll fix you up something quick to eat and soup to heat up later."

She left my room and I went back to laying on my side. She believed me. I lied though and that was a horrible feeling inside. Well it was a half lie, white lie. I did feel like crap. Glee lost because of me. I texted Lark and said I was free today and to get me around 11. Mom came up with cereal, toast and hot chocolate with a tall glass of water and some medicine. Once I took the medicine she brushed my hair back. "Are you sure your going to be okay? I can stay home."

"No, go to work."

"Okay. I'll the therapist and tell them your sick with the flu for today. And don't forget I having a girls night out with some of the ladies at work so I'll be home late. No later than 11. Alright?"

"Okay." I smiled.

I waited twenty minutes until I was sure she was gone to get up, shower dry my hair and get dressed in a white short sleeve shirt with this really nice rag hoody military cargo jacket I got at the second hand store with my Mom a few weeks before starting high school this year and a pair of jeans I've owned for a few years. I grabbed my phone, wallet and jacket and waited downstairs for Lark to come and get me. I asked him if a bicycle helmet would work, but he said he had an extra one helmet for me.

Eleven on the dot just as I finished a chapter in my book I heard the sound of a motorcycle coming from the streets and coming to an end in front of my house. I stood up and got my jacket and shoes on and began heading towards the door. I opened it just as Lark, with his hand up in a knuckle, was about to hit the front door.

"Oh, I thought I was coming to knock on the door and get you." He said.

"No it's okay, I don't mind coming and meeting you outside."

"So your the reason why chivalry is dead," He laughed. "I was taught to answer the girl at the door and meet her parents. Are either of your parents home?"

"No, my Mom is at work. And my Dad..." I paused, biting my lower lip and looked down a teeny bit.

"Oh," I heard Lark say and I looked up at him. "Don't worry, you don't have to say it. So your Mom let you stay home whenever you feel like it?"

"No, I lied and said I was a bit sick. I've never lied before though so this would be my one time... Okay, well except a few other times when it came to eating I would say I ate, when I really didn't."

Lark looked a bit surprised when I said that. Gosh, him and Ryder almost looked alike right now. Except one is blonde and the other brown haired. "You're... you..."

"Recovering bulimic." I shyly stated.

"Oh but you're good now, right? Like getting help I hope?" He asked me. I nodded. He smiled. "Great, that's good. So what do you wanna do Miss Rose?"

I shrugged. It was still a bit too cold to be outside and I don't think they had any good movies. Not that I'd be able to afford it anyways so I just suggested that we get on and go where ever Rodney decided to take us.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

We drove on his motorcycle for half an hour before stopping by a small food market and pulled into the parking space. "Mind if we pop inside and I get a few things?"

"Sure no problem." I said as I got off with him. He adjusted his army green backpack on his back and we walked into the food store.

Now for a normal person food shopping is food shopping. For a person who decided they will eat after they food shop is clearly wrong because they will end up getting foods and snacks that they didn't intend to buy, just to feed themselves in the car on the drive home. For me personally, food shopping had it's own story. The food in the store sat there just waiting to be picked like a kitten in a brown box at a pet store and taken home for it's purpose. Not feeding the food or changing a liter box, no, but to be eaten. Then there are those big huge signs in every lane that tells me the food is 50-10 or even 5 percent off, making it more available to buy and take home for someone to eat and gain weight. That's all these signs are telling me. Gain weight, eat calories and become as fat as your Mom. Also just because I'm new to working on ending my bulimia, I didn't want to stay too long.

"Will we be here for long?" I asked Lark as he lead me into the pasta aisle.

"No, just here to grab a couple of things for dinner tonight." Lark told me as he grabbed a couple of boxes. "And the next few nights since I'm on my own and can't afford take out all the time. This box shit is affordable."

"I know that idea." I muttered, crossing my arms and following him.

We walked for another few minutes as he got sauce- red and Alfredo- and other things to make food. He could make basic pasta and then add things to make it more fancy. Garlic, tomatoes, basil, parsley, ect. He said I could come over if I wanted some fancy food and even send me home with some food. I laughed and thanked him. We got to the other end of the store and once arrived he gave me the money to buy his food and asked I pay for it while he got something else. I nodded.

I waited five minutes before Lark came out putting change into his pocket. He put the food in my bag into his backpack and we went back to his motorbike and stood there while I texted someone asking to e-mail me the homework. "You hungry?"

"A little." I said. "But I don't need an elaborate meal." I said to him.

"No problems," Lark smiled.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

Lark drove for another ten minutes before we stopped at a red light, turned left and went down a street. This wasn't Lima Heights as I've seen that area in person, thanks to Santana showing me around, but this area seemed less dangerous and less violent. It seemed like a quiet neighborhood with just some loud people. A couple of homes and then apartments and stores like video rental stores, a small playground for children and some more stores for specific foods.

We stopped at this one building and Lark turned off his motorbike, inclining we arrived at his home. I looked at where he held his hand out and saw where he was living. He said, "When you step in it looks small, but its big."

We got up from the motorbike and I followed him inside of the building. It smelled like revolting moldy food and, maybe not surprising, drugs and cigarettes. But I kept forward.

We arrived at his door on the fourth floor where he inserted the key and opened it. "Not fancy, but hopefully good enough." He said as he pushed it open more.

I stepped in after him and observed the apartment. Small enough for one person, sure, but maybe a roommate too if it could be accommodated correctly to meet both renters needs. A small hallway to the left that lead to a brown door at the end, which Lark explained was he bathroom. And there was a closet along the right side of the wall in that small hallway to hang jackets up too. The living room, which was the first thing seen when entered, had a large box TV that I also owned with a table set in the front that had magazines and a couch to the front of that small table. A white couch that could fit two people only. To the opposite side of the room I was standing at and to the left was another open door. Bedroom maybe? The other side of the apartment consisted of a small kitchen; stove, sink, fridge and trash can. A round table in place with three different chairs.

"I like this," I told him. "It's kind of cozy."

"Thanks. Bathroom's straight down there if you need to take a leak. I'll start lunch."

I went to the brown door and opened it, finding the bathroom. It was pretty small and everything was close to one another. The glass shower was in the back right corner, with a blue shower curtain on the outside, the toilet to my instant right and the sink with the square mirror to the straight of me. To the left of me was a closet that I assumed held toilet papers and such.

After I finished my business I joined back into the kitchen and stood back watching Lark boil the water. I didn't want to get in his way so I stood where I was.

"I don't have a lot for a snack but there are crackers in the box on the table." He said.

"What's with the curtain over the shower?" I asked.

"More privacy." He told me.

Forty minutes passed and we sat on the couch watching some lame movie on TV while eating the spaghetti Alfredo with parsley and garlic. It tastes awesome. We talked about the movie and how stupid the characters were when I asked, "So Ryder doesn't like you a lot because of the...habits you have." He nodded. "Yeah the other day when we became Facebook friends, Ryder came over and started freaking out on me over it saying I shouldn't be around you. And Blaine too he was there."

"Ry's just overprotective crazy that's all." Lark said. "Does he know you've smoked anything yet?"

"NO! GOD NO!" I yelled. "I can only imagine him going off about it and then telling my Mom about it...but," I thought about it fo a minute. "It did feel good, but I don't want to smoke weed again."

"I won't force you." He said. he put his plate down and pulled from the table a deck of flashcards. "Wanna play Questions?"

"Sure." I smiled. He handed me several cards and I went first. "Oh, easy one, 'What action from you past would put you in jail if law enforcement ever found out?'"

"Shit, drugs and alcohol." Lark laughed. "Best time was went I was being driven in the back of a police car and Mom was driving home from work. We both pulled at a red light, she saw me, and yelled at me. Alright, 'What is something you stole?'"

"Um...nothing...I guess...well...this girl Kitty said I stole her boyfriend, Jake. But Jake and I were into each other at the time...Kitty was being a bitch and broke up with him."

"Why'd he date her?"

"Nobody made fun of him."

"Oh shit then, he didn't give a shit about her then. You didn't steal anything boyfriend."

" Lark, What is the meanest thing that you have done in your life?"

"Push a girl down. She stole my favorite Ninja turtle toy. What is your guilty pleasure?"

"Anything with Jessica Simpson in it." I told him. "What was the first professional sporting event you went to?"

"Baseball. Red Sox vs Mets." He said. "First crush?"

I blushed and felt myself turn red. My eyes shifted down and I muttered the name. Lark asked for me to say it again. "Ryder..."

Lark grinned and said, "Hey! I know that kid! First crush too...oh wait, that's Jake..never mind. First kiss?"

"Hey, my turn to ask!"

"Too late, now answer."

"Ryder."

"Dang, cousin and Marley getting it on together.

We laughed and continued for several more rounds of Questions. My heart beated more profoundly as we spoke. No I wasn't falling for him but I felt a lot happier being here than around anyone else right now. Lark was just wonderful and easygoing to talk with about anything. I mean besides the drugs and smoking I don't mind hanging with him. Ryder just needs to grow a pair and forget the drugs.

Lark put the cards down and pulled out the cigarettes from earlier. "You mind if I smoke?" He asked. I shook my head. He took one out of the package and lit up the end with his lighter thingy and took a few puffs. "So never dated?"

"No, Jake for three weeks. Then we lost Sectionals because of me and because I hadn't stopped puking at that point. So he just gave up and I heard he's with a bunch of Cheerio's now. The cheerleaders at our school." I explained. "And the only reason I stopped was because Kitty made me think Ryder didn't want to go out with me because I was fat, even though he cancelled his plans because of a doctors appointment."

"Oh the dyslexia one? Yeah Mom told me after Aunt Heather mentioned it to her." Lark said. "Sucks. Who's Bitch Satan by the way? She keeps blaming you for losing?"

"Tina?"

"What's Bitch Satan up to?"

"Nothing, she's ignoring me." I told Lark.

I could feel my nerves tingling like being tickled with a small feather. A deep sea on anxiety building up inside of me. I felt all the stress again inside of me from the other day and I could feel my hands becoming clammy and sweat fill my forehead. I turned to Lark and asked him, "Can I borrow one of those?"

~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

Smoking it was hard at first because I'm so use to breathing in and out, but after a while I got the hang of smoking this cigarette in my mouth. It was so relaxing.

We finished the movie and by then he asked if I needed a lift home. "Not until my Mom comes home around ten."

"Cool, I'll make dinner."

We sat there in his place for the rest of the day. Talking, laughing, making jokes, smoking cigarettes. Lark went to the store again and bought more since we finished the first two boxes in three hours. I had about seven of them already. He made dinner by re-heating the lunch again. We watched Mean Girls and smoked throughout that. Lark had two or three bottles of beer with him too, but he said he was sober enough to drive back in his friends car.

Lark got me home by ten that night. He walked me to the front door and waited until I stepped inside the house. I turned back and smiled. "Thanks for the day, it was fun."

"No problem. Catch you later. Goodnight Marley." He smiled.

"Night Lark."

After shutting the door I watched him drive off in his friends car and once he was out of view I went to the kitchen and heated up the soup Mom made. While it was being made I checked the answering machine for messages. 20?

Girl? It's Unique, call me later! I miss seeing my Boo today, feel better.

Marley? It's Jake, can we talk? Call me.

Listen Bulimic loser, stop purging and come to school tomorrow or this Kitty cat is going to throw her claws into your bones and drag you here.

Marley? It's Mom, I'll be home around 11 tonight if you forgot. Call me when you get the chance. Love you.

The rest of them were from Ryder.

Your Mom told me you're sick, feel better.

Hey, you're not skipping to see Lark, are you?

Hey! One of the football guys said they saw you and Lark at the store! Marley! Call me!

Stop being around Lark.

Call me.

I'm gonna kick Lark's fucking ass.

I deleted all the messages. I ate the soup quickly then hurried upstairs to shower and put my pajamas on. I walked over to my jacket and pulled out something Lark gave me. Three packs of cigarettes, in case I needed some and wasn't with him.

I smiled. I know know they're bad, so today was my last day. I'll just keep them for when he comes visits.

So, what's going on with Marley? What do you think is going to happen?

Opinions on Lark?