eleven: he's here
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀As Ryland and I take our seats, Landon walks over to the both of us. I shoot Ryland a look who currently has a face that reads I'm-going-to-murder-him. She silently asks if she can strangle him and I shake my head no.
I don't need my friend being incarcerated. Especially on charges for homicide.
"Marley," I glare at the boy standing at the end of the table. "Look, I'm sorry. I really am."
Cue Taylor Swift's song You're Not Sorry.
Man, T. Swift songs are so relevant. Especially recently.
"Look, Landon, I made the mistake of believing you before." He cringes at my words. But it's true, it was a mistake. "I'm not going to make the same mistake twice."
"I get it," he smiles an insincere closed mouth smile. "I really am sorry. Bye, Marley," he nods before walking away leaving Ryland and I alone.
My eyebrows knit in confusion. He's never given up that easy. I guess he finally gets it. At least I hope so.
"So," I shift in my seat throwing away any memory of Landon. "You sleeping over this weekend?" I pull out my pasta that Rosaline had made me for lunch.
"Sure am," Ryland's mood changes altogether once the boy had left and I had changed topics. "I'm so ready to pig out and watch movies all night."
"If only Friday were to hurry up," I joke. "I'm going to get a napkin. You need one," I ask standing up from my seat.
"I'm good," she states with a mouth full of food.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're not supposed to talk with your mouth full?" I tease before making my way towards the condiment table.
As I pass by Conner's table, the usual teasing occurs by his 'friends' but this time was slightly different. Conner didn't participate. In fact, he told them to stop.
Does that count as standing up for me? I guess it kind of does.
"Seriously, Con?" Kylie asks in disbelief. "Whatever," she rolls her eyes before continuing a conversation with the others.
A smile makes its way on my face as I return to my table with a napkin in hand. Ryland raises her eyebrows at me as I take a seat on the bench.
"Why are you smiling like the Cheshire Cat?" She scrunches her nose.
"Conner kind of stood up for me against those jerks," I reply taking a bite of my pasta. Mm, thank you, Rosaline.
"What happened?"
"Well, I was walking to get some napkins and Kylie and her crew started to pick on me like normal," I relay taking another bite of pasta. "Then," I finish chewing my food. "Then Conner told them to stop." I finish.
"Wow," Ryland's eyes widen. She knows that Conner has been one of the ones to pick on me. I've told her everything including the part where he called them his fake friends. She thinks that he's doing it to keep his reputation.
"Yeah," I reply snapping the lid back on my pasta container. "Maybe this is the start of something new," I shrug. Maybe he's realizing I'm more important than his popularity.
"Maybe," she replies finishing her sandwich.
The rest of the week dragged on without any exciting event happening. Landon has left me alone, though, I've caught him sneaking glances at me multiple times. Conner hasn't been picking on me as well as the other populars–I hate calling them that. Kylie re-dyed her hair pink as everyone loved the color. In fact, the color boosted her in the modeling world.
You're welcome, Kylie.
"See you tonight," I hug Ryland as I leave Ryland's locker. Unlike most people in stories, my locker isn't located next to Ryland's. It's all the way down the hallway. "Be there at five, yeah?"
"Sounds good," the red head waves before focusing on her locker once more. I wave one last time before exiting the building I've become familiar with. Now that I've gone to Ridgeway High for two weeks, the school doesn't feel as big as it seemed when I first attended. Yes, there's many more people than my old school in North Carolina, but it is that bad.
I make my way through the parking lot and meet Conner by his car. He's been driving me to and from school this week. But I've had to stay late as he's had soccer practice.
"Hey, bro," I greet as I reach the car.
"Hey," he pushes himself off the car and holds out his keys. I quirk an eyebrow. "I've got a game today. John's going to pick me up."
"Oh," I reply taking the keys from his hand. I haven't driven in forever. But there's no way I'm telling him that. "Thanks."
"Drive safely, okay?" He replies walking backwards. "I'll see you later," he turns around and jogs toward the locker rooms.
"Bye," I wave despite the fact that he can't hear me or see me.
I slowly lower myself into Conner's car. I've honestly no idea the make or model of his car. Shutting the door, I quickly buckle up and start the engine causing the engine roaring to life.
You can do this, Mar.
I take the parking break off and change the gear to drive before exiting the student parking lot. Instead of heading straight home, I stop by Target to pick up some items for the movie night.
I make my way into the familiar store and head straight for the snack section. As I'm grabbing some crackers, I notice somebody from the distance. He seems to be watching my every move. Or so I think.
Shrugging away the thought, I grab popcorn and candy and some raspberry ginger ale before making my way to the cash register. I hand the cashier my money and notice that the man I had seen earlier was waiting by the door just staring at me.
Okay. Now I'm freaked out.
"Thank you," I grab my change with a smile. I grab my bags and make my way to customer service not wanting to risk my life because of that man.
"May I help you," a lady greets me when I approach the counter.
"Yes, uh," my voice comes out shaky as my heart races a million miles and hour. For all I know it's him. "Can somebody please walk me to my car. I think somebody's following me," I reply awkwardly.
"Sure, give me one moment," she replies walking over to a phone. "Walker to customer service, please. Walker to customer service," the overhead system books with her voice calling a Walker to CS.
I wait anxiously as Walker makes his way to where I'm standing. I glance at the door where the man still stands but with a scowl on his face.
His hood and sunglasses hides most of his face, by the scowl still can be seen.
A tall man with a beard approaches the counter greeting the lady behind the counter.
"This young lady would like you to walk her to her car. She thinks somebody is following her," the lady relays the information to Walker.
"Sure thing," the man smiles down at me.
As we make the awkward walk to Conner's car, the man dashes out of the store before Walker and I reach the doors. Not wanting to risk the fact that he's waiting for me outside, Walker and I continue the awkwardly silent walk.
When we reach the car, I say a thank you before quickly entering the car and exiting the parking lot. My mom always told me to be safe and that sitting in a parking lot after being in a store is risky. And with that man following me, I was definitely not going to risk it.
I make the short ten minute drive home without any problems. I pull into the roundabout and step out of the car. Grabbing my backpack and Target bags, I greet John who takes the keys from me.
"Afternoon, John," I smile at the man.
"Good afternoon, Marley," he greets back before lowering himself into the car. He drives the car into the garage as I enter the house.
I don't understand why I can't drive the car into the garage myself.
Once I reach my room, I hang my backpack on the back of the desk chair and place the Target goodies on my bed.
In the light of the movie night, I hang up some sheets creating a little fort. I even string up Christmas lights to make the fort more festive. I smile at my creation before placing the goodies in the fort.
The next hour and a half drags on before Ryland shows up. When she does, I run down the stairs to greet the red head.
"Hey," I pull her into a hug despite seeing her only two hours earlier. "I've got the perfect set up," I grab her arm and pull her up the stairs and to my room eagerly.
"Woah, there," she chuckles at my excitement. "Woah," her eyes widen and light up at the fort. "This is so cool," she places her bag on the floor inspecting the fort.
"Right," I smile like the Cheshire Cat. "Let's start the movie night," I turn on the television and put in Tangled to start with.
We watch multiple Disney movies before I crawl out of the fort to stretch my legs. Ryland heads to the bathroom while I open the window because my room is stuffy.
As I open my window, I notice through the dimly lit night a car sitting at one end of the driveway. A black one to be exact. One that looks awfully familiar. One that looks like the one I saw last Saturday.
That's when my phone rings. I pick up my phone from my dresser and return to the window. The caller ID reads unknown just like last week.
"Hello," my voice comes out hoarse.
"Hello, Marley," a dark, muffled voice echoes through the phone. The voice I dread to hear. The voice I thought I would never here again. The voice that causes me to shiver. His voice.
He's here.
author's note
Hola. If you're ever in a store by yourself and you think someone is following you, go to customer service and have someone walk you to your car. Risk the awkward walk rather than your life.
Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, yo.
I can't help not posting. Haha.
With love,
.j