Home for the Summer // KJ

07

Chapter Seven

she noticed everything about him because she loved everything about him

    "Winter break was boring without you," Marley frowned.

    It seemed like their junior year was flying by faster than they could process, yet slugging as slow as possible at the same time. Karl's family made a trip states away to New York to visit family, so him and Marley weren't able to see each other for a few weeks. She spent several nights waiting by the phone for his call, disappointed each time when she was met with radio silence. She knew he was enjoying his time with his family and that the busy day most likely exhausted himself for a good nights rest but she still couldn't help that saddened feeling every day that progressed with no call. Marley felt guilty for being upset; we needed time apart, she'd tell herself.

    So Marley stopped calling and texting. Karl noticed the notifications and he'd open them, remind himself to reply later, then forgot not even a minute after the mental note was made. Each time he would remember Marley's texts, it would be times he couldn't text back like when he was brushing his teeth or at the dinner table with family. As close as they were, he'd barely noticed the time apart because of his attention being preoccupied constantly.

    But the second Karl stepped foot back in his home, he grabbed his car keys from his room and left not even a second after. He wasted no time running to Marley, wherever she was, which happened to be at her house. And that's how Marley knew that while she was treated poorly in past friendships and her feelings were invalidated, Karl would never do such a thing to her. That's how they ended up on the floor of Marley's room at one in the morning; Karl was sitting with his back against the bed, Marley's head in his lap.

    He eagerly told her every detail of his trip, not without trailing off to a different detail though every time a path opened up in the story. She assumed it was his ADHD that opened up these portals that he jumped through, but she thought it only made him a better storyteller. Karl made sure to tell her about the bagels he had because how could he forget the bagels. And she listened intently, her eyes bouncing between his facial features, watching the way his lips moved and twitched to the side slightly when talking about his cousin's dog jumping on him, or how his eyes danced to every object in the room between each word from his mouth. She appreciated the freckles on his neck, the way his nose crinkled every so often which she didn't think he noticed but she did. She noticed everything about him because she loved everything about him.

    "Are you listening?"

    "Mhm," Marley hummed, the biggest smile on her face.

    "What are you smiling at?"

    "Nothing," she mused, but the question made her smile grow.

    "You're an idiot," he responded with a giggle, then continued rambling about his trip.