Twenty-Nine // J.G.

twenty.

Day 17.

     J A C K     

Even with the three of us surrounding her and using our best reasoning to try and persuade her, the perfectly poised, pigheaded Marley still would not budge from her comfortable spot on the futon. Instead, she had her eyes locked onto the ink-filled pages of a new book, making it obvious that she had no interest in our offer.

"Please, Marley, you have to come clubbing with us." Sam tried again.

"This is an opportunity to be a normal teenager. Ain't that what you always wanted?" Nate coaxed, and even though that sounded like a good enough reason to me, she thought nothing of it.

"Marley!" They both chimed at the same time, which I guess aggravated her enough to at least look up from the book. She gave the coldest glare to each of us, her eyes narrowing to emphasize her refusal to come.

"No!" She huffed. "Yes I want to be a 'normal' teenager, but if you think I'm going to sacrifice my cozy night just to be ditched for some one-night-stands, then you're crazy! No way am I ending up an extra wheel again!"

The boys nudged me from both sides, so I guess that was my cue to beg now. I slapped on the most convincing puppy face I could muster and sat beside her curled-up figure, sliding my hand over her knee. Her body tensed on instinct, but I saw no signs of her faltering just yet.

"Please, Marley, will you come with us to the club? I won't ditch you, I promise. You're my girlfriend, remember? I want to go with you." Looking into her eyes, I could see a slight hesitation, but she was fighting with herself to stay strong and resist me, so I could only hope that my next words would motivate, not discourage, her. "Not to get cocky or anything, but you know there's gonna be a lot of girls there who will try to take me home.. Don't you wanna show them that I'm all yours?"

I knew Marley wasn't the boasting type. Hell, she hardly wanted any kind of attention. But somehow, some way, I learned that she cared about other girls coming up to me. Of course she would never make it known, though I had been observant of the way she reacted when another possibly flirtatious girl came into play.

"I don't have anything to wear." She said quietly, the book in her hands slowly coming to a close as she looked at Sam and Nate, avoiding me in a subtle way.

"We'll buy you somethin', lil' mama. Don't worry about it." Nate grinned, and the two fist bumped as they finally got what they wanted.

"Then.. I guess I'm coming." She offered a weak smile while the boys whooped and hollered, then she looked towards me and a blush warmed her cheeks. "J-Just so you know, I'm not doing this because of, you know, what you said. I'm not that greedy."

I nodded.

But I didn't care about any greediness. All I cared about was the conversation that just happened.

When I mentioned the possibility of me being persuaded by another girl, she hardly thought twice before agreeing to come, yet for some reason I dwelled on what could have happened had she stuck to her initial decision of staying in the hotel. Another girl really could have taken me home with her if Marley decided not to go to the club. I could have easily lost the bet tonight. And then I realized what exactly this meant.

She wasn't trying to win anymore.

* * * *

Strobe lights flashed all around us, and the smell of alcohol stained the atmosphere, creating a pungent aroma mixed with sweat. Bodies thrashed about, and I came in contact with at least ten pairs of less than sober hands before we reached a spot that allowed us enough space to breathe. Turning to Marley, I was immediately greeted by a scowl that elicited a hesitant grin from me.