Saving Marley

Chapter Nine

MARLEY

  Sunlight peaks through his satin blue curtains and spools across his bed covers. Trent groans and rolls onto his side, the sun shines on his face and he wrinkles his nose.

His eyes flutter open and he dashes under the cover, then resurfaces.

"Sorry, I forgot about, um, yeah. Morning." He sighs.

"Least one of us could forget," I mumble.

Trent catches the time and leaps out of the bed. He races into the bathroom and I flop against the couch. It's weird not sleeping. For being dead, I've never felt this alive.

He exits the bathroom half-dressed in his uniform. The burgundy tie hands around his neck and his grey shirt half tucked into his trousers.

"My parents should be gone, so you can stay here and watch television in peace."

"Could I come with you?" I tug on a hopeful smile.

"Are you sure?"

"I know it seems morbid but I already spent the night alone." I sigh.

"Okay." He nods.

Trent packs his bag and we leave his room and head to the kitchen. He searches through the cupboards until he finds a collection of crackers, dried fruit and muesli.

We leave the house and Trent throws his things onto the backseat. I don't think about the car, I think about how it would feel to have the fresh air rippling through my blonde hair and the glow of the morning sun on my skin.

I move through the car door and land on the seat with success. Trent's mouth pops open, then he shakes his head and climbs into the front seat.

"Please don't do weird ghost things around me."

"Fine," I grumble.

He reverses down the driveway and speeds down the road. I shuffle around until I find a comfortable spot to stare out the window.

When we arrive at school, I wait until Trent isn't looking to leap through the car door. He takes a deep breath and we wander into the school. Jeremy, the second in charge on the team, gives him a tight hug and grimances.

"How are you?"

"Fine, you?"

Josh wanders past and I snap to his side. He's walking with another teammate. Sarah's probably taking the day off, which is good because I need more time before I see her, any of them. If I don't see their sad faces, it's like this never happened.

"Are you coming to hockey training tonight?"

"No, I'm heading back to Sarah's house. She's a complete mess after what happened to Marley."

"Do you know what's happening?"

"Her parents haven't released anything about her condition. They don't want to upset Sarah with any bad news."

"That bad is it?"

"She finally passed out from all the crying last night, but her parents said she work up screaming. When I go back, I need to bribe her into eating something. I'm really worried about her." Josh frowns.

"I'm sorry, man."

"Don't be sorry for me. Poor Adam." He frowns.

I can't listen to anymore of their conversation, so I turn back to Trent. He raises an eyebrow and I wrap my arms around my body and sigh.

It takes a week to create a routine and one day to ruin it.

It also only takes one wrong move and one wrong even to end up like this.

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