"Grace, Grace, Grace, Grace, Grace, Grace!" I groaned at the loud wake-up call and cold water dripping on my face. It was fucking Saturday! What decent human being wakes up a sleeping high schooler on a Saturday morning?!
"Go away!" I stuffed my head under my pillow. Ugh, I was having a good dream too! I don't remember any of it... But it was good!
"No!" The wake-up alarm started jumping on my bed on all fours. "Grace! Grace! Grace! Grace! Get up! Get up!" I finally opened an eye to see who and where my alarm was coming from so I could calculate which object and trajectory would be best to ensure my sleep. And their silence. But mostly my sleep.
"Marley?! What the hell are you doing here?!" I glanced at the clock. "At seven in the fucking morning!"
"Get up, lazy ass! It's a big, big, big day!"
"How are you so damn happy this early?! Did Micha lay you or something?!" I groaned. Marley suddenly shut up and froze. Wait. Holy shit. "Holy shit, woman, off my bed! Go! Shoo!" I scrambled off my bed, groggily standing. "Gross, I have essence of fuck on my bed! Off!" I flailed my hands at Marley. I didn't touch her though, because God knows where she has or rather has not been since she was with Micha. "Go shower! Now!"
"What? I already did!" She exclaimed. "That's why my hair is soaked!"
"Shower again! I want none of Micha's bodily fluids being transmitted to me!" I huffed, folding my arms. Marley smirked and, being more awake and alert, lunged at me and slobbered all over my face before diving into my bed and hiding, giggling, under the covers.
"Oh my god, Marley! I will murder you! Ugh, God knows where your mouth has just been!" Oh dear lord, there go the mental images.
"It hurt me too. Now I have Hazel in my mouth!" She stuck her mouth out from under the covers and blew raspberries at me. "Oh! That reminds me! Guess what today is!"
"Saturday. I should be fucking asleep. But no. I'm being woken up by little miss lost her virginity!"
"Jealous much?" She snickered, "what's the date?" I glanced at my clock.
"March twenty-first, idiot." A dull red flag went off in my brain. Shit, was it football day?! No... Dad would've already been running rampant around the house.
"And..." Marley smirked. She leapt over to my closet, pulling out the Underground bag I'd been hiding from the nosey parents and brother. She took out the bra and swung it around her finger.
"And I've told you that boob appreciation day is not a thing." I decided that I was going to bed, Micha germs or not.
"Grace!" Marley jumped on top of me, straddling me. Damn, now that she was closer and in plain sight, I noticed that she was absolutely covered in bite marks, suck marks, claw marks, the whole array of marks. Bad images! Ow my poor brain!
"You looked like you were attacked by a suckling cat." I snickered.
"Something like that." She rolled her eyes. "Look." She held up my phone to my face and oh look, a notification.
March 21st
Hazel's Birthday
My mouth went dry and my whole body stiffened. Holy shit it was today.
"Get dressed!" Marley giggled before leaving the room.
Before I could even give myself time to accept the situation, I sent my girlfriend a text.
Me: Good morning, baby! Happy birthday :)
But I thought better of the 'baby' so I changed it to 'Zel' and sent it.
Hazel: Thanks. Megan and I are going out this morning, but I trust I'll be seeing you later?
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
Me: Definitely.
Today's the day. Oh god... Am I really ready for this? For Hazel? Ready to give her all of me? Ready to accept that maybe nothing will happen- or maybe, ready to accept that I'm going to go all the way with her... What would it be like? When she woke up to those feelings? What would it be like when it was over? Would it hurt?
"Grace! Wha'ch'a doing in there?" Marley waltzed back in, finding me sitting on my bed. "Don't you dare go back to sleep!"
"Mar, what was it like?" My curiosity got the best of me.
"Huh?"
"What was it like?" I repeated. She blushed deeply.
"Um... It kinda hurt a bit at first but then..." She paused, biting her lip, a dreamy haze clouding her eyes. "God, it felt so good... Like you're tightening up and then it just explodes..." She shivered. "Wait, why?" She scowled at me, "you're not-oh my god!" Her jaw dropped before she let out an excited squeal. "I was kidding earlier, I didn't think you were actually going to- ah!" She hugged me, "I'm so proud of you! Are you going to tell her?"
"Y-yeah... I think so..." Now it was my turn to turn the color of a ripe tomato.
"Ah!" She exclaimed again, hugging me. "I'm so happy for you! Now go get dressed so I can leave you alone with her! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" She started bouncing again. God, how the hell did she have so much energy?!
"Marley, calm down!" I groaned, my face still burning and probably beet red, but Marley's was too, and so I ignored the existence of both. "Why is it that you're so invested in this? I mean, I know you love being involved in my personal affairs, but really, there has to be a limit to how excited you can get over someone else's relationship. And last time I checked, you were still iffy on the idea that I was getting involved with Hazel."
"Well, yeah, but I'm in a good mood today-" I scrunched up my nose, desperately pulling my whole arsenal of mental evasive maneuvers to avoid any more images of my best friend and her girlfriend (also my close friend) in bed together, "-and you two seem to be getting on well with each other. I've started to see that, despite her denial of it, Hazel does have real feelings for you. And you... Well." She shrugged, "I've got good hopes for you two being able to make it work."
"That still doesn't explain why you're so hyperactive this early in the morning."
"I'm excited. I'm happy. I've got a good eye out on the world." She smiled cheerily. I snorted, giving her a pointed look. "Okay, fine. I'm also still a little giddy from the sex hormones."
"I'm going to duct tape your mouth shut if you remind me one more time." I made a face like I was going to gag. Marley stuck her tongue out at me childishly.
"You're ruining my perfect morning, Gracie!" She whined.
"Whatever. Go wait outside while I put real person clothes on." I ushered her out of my room.
"Oh! Don't forget your nice underwear!" She cackled before I shut the door almost on her face.
"Fuck you!" I grumbled as I grudgingly got out of my pajamas and took my hair out of the braid I'd put it in last night, after my shower.
"Your girlfriend wouldn't like that!" She snickered back from the other side of the door. I rolled my eyes, laying the Underground stuff on my bed. Dear God... If about three months ago, someone had shown me this and told me it belonged to me I'd've actually thrown up and run away after spraying the messenger with pepper spray. Now... I don't know... I mean, putting them on would basically be a huge reality check on my part. I'd be preparing for an event which I may instigate, and is the farthest out of my comfort zone that I've ever been. And that terrifies me and kinda entices me too.
With a sigh, I accepted my path and let myself forget the other option. I put on the underwear set and walked over to my full length mirror. I stared at my reflection. I looked... Good. I won't say I looked hot or sexy because there's a limit to the words I would use to describe my own form staring back at me. But I did look good. Both the panties (ugh, can I just call them underpants. please? Okay? Good.) and the bra were made of black lace, and were quite revealing for my generally chaste taste, with only slightly more coverage of the more personal details. I was surprised by how comfortable they were, in terms of only physical feeling. Honestly, they were nauseatingly strange to me.
I'd dressed nicely for past occasions, and for past girlfriends; I've put on pretty dresses, or done something nice with my hair. Never have I done this. Dressed up to be dressed down.
I decided I'd spent enough time scrutinizing the great symbolic relevance of the underwear and started gathering the rest of my wardrobe. I ended up with a simple white tank top covered by a black button-up long sleeve shirt (which was thin so I wasn't too hot in it), comfortable jeans, and boring sneakers.
"Grace?! You done yet?" Marley banged on my door obnoxiously loudly. I sighed and finished up the rest of my morning routine: brushing my teeth, hair, deodorant, all that. I grabbed my purse ad shoved my phone in it after checking to see if Hazel had sent me another text.
"Yeah." I called, leaving my room and finding a happy looking Marley sitting casually on the rail of the hallway leading to the stairs.
"Well, you look normal." She pouted.
"Yeah, well," I shrugged, "I'm not changing again. So, what is it you'd like to do this morning that warranted waking me up so early?"
"Well... I was thinking along the lines of a birthday present, but I don't know how you'd go about that with her, so..." She gave me a clueless look, "I dunno."
"I woke up this early, I'm not settling for a waste of time. Let's go see if I can't find my girlfriend a decent gift." I declared.
"Cool. Where you wanna go?"
"Uh..." Thinking... Thinking... "Princeten & Fhord." I smiled to myself.
"A bookstore?" Marley asked in a deadpan. "You're getting Hazel a present from the home of all things Hazel hates?" She added.
"Yep." I grinned. I ran back into my room and grabbed something before I ran down the stairs with Marley on my tail.
"Okay. She's your girlfriend. I'm just very confused." She muttered as we made our way out to -surprise- Micha's car.
I slid into the back while Marley took her time to go around front.
"Hey, Grace." Micha smiled at me in the rearview mirror. I made note of the scarf she was wearing, and all the marks it left uncovered.
"Back, love." Marley got into the front passenger seat, leaning towards Micha to plant a not-long-but-not-short kiss on her girlfriend's lips.
"Where we going?" Micha smiled at Marley when she pulled away. Okay. I love Marley. And Micha and I are close. But I cannot stand the sickeningly sweet lovey-dovey looks those two are giving each other. It's like they're waiting for me to blink so they can make out or else. Which I'm sure they don't mean to do, after all, I know Marley to be a very considerate person, but still. It's gross. I mean, could anyone stand third wheeling their best friend and another friend while they were basically sharing a mind to make love? Uh, God no.
"Princeten & Fhord." Marley grinned at Micha. Okay, they were cute and all, but still. I'm trying to forget the awful mental images of the two of them having sex. Fuck there are more! Gross, gross, gross!
"The bookstore?" Micha was taken aback. Marley shrugged and nodded. Micha hummed an indifferent note and also bounced her shoulders one as if to say 'to hell with it. It's not my girlfriend I'm shopping for' before putting the car into gear and pulling out into the road
An hour or so later, I had bought the object of my search and after another hour of combined shopping at a local store for wrapping paper, a gift bag, a card, some other stuff, etc. and then going home to get the present wrapped and presentable, I was at a loss for anything else to do.
"I still don't get why you're getting that stuff for her." Marley eyed the medium blue bag I'd put Hazel's present in. She was snuggled up with Micha on the couch, flipping through channels on the TV while I clutched the present bag and stared at the clock, taking frequent glances at my phone to check for any word from my girlfriend.
Soon, a text message from said wonderful non-human appeared on the lock screen of my phone.
Hazel: Megan and I are headed back home now. It's about an hour's drive. I'll notify you when we arrive.
I smiled a little. I was just so happy that she cared enough to let me know what her plan was and that she wanted me to know when she would be available. I'm weird, I guess. And lucky. Very lucky.
Me: Okay, beautiful, I'll see you later <3
I thought better of the heart, so I erased it before sending the message.
Hazel: You're being oddly affectionate today.
Me: Yeah. It's your birthday. I like being affectionate with you, especially when I have an excuse. I'll see you soon, okay, baby?
Crap. This time I sent the 'baby' before I fixed it.
Hazel: ... Okay
Crap.
"What's that face for?" Marley snickered, noticing my grimace.
"I accidentally called Hazel 'baby' again..." I sighed.
"Again? There was a first time?! How'd she take it?" Micha's interest was officially caught.
"Yeah... Uh, she took it surprisingly well..." I bit my lip. I wish I were comfortable calling her that more often, but Hazel isn't much for public affection or terms of endearment.
"I'm impressed. Not everyone can call her anything but 'Hazel' and live to tell the tale." Micha joked, planting a casual kiss on her girlfriend's cheek.
"Aw, I love you, babe." Marley whispered to her sweetly. I kinda smiled when Micha returned the gesture, giving her a full-hearted 'I love you too' back.
"Anyways, I've got a while before Hazel wants me over. I don't want to take away from your couple-time." I scratched my neck awkwardly. No matter how cute my two friends could be, it was still awkward to third-wheel them.
"What?" Marley sighed innocently, extending the word almost indefinitely like she had no clue what she was doing wrong.
"Mar." I gave her a stern, semi-playful look. "Go have fun. Go on a date."
"Is that a nice way of saying you're kicking us out?" Marley snorted, pouting while Micha chuckled at her girlfriend's slight indigence.
"Sure." I shrugged, half a smile on my face, "just saying. I'm boring. It's boring here. You two can go do something together."
"And leave you here with yourself? Bros before hoes, bish. You're stuck with me." Marley snickered.
"Hey!" Micha exclaimed, flicking Marley's shoulder.
"Ow!" Marley grumbled.
"How about pals before gals, idiot?"
"But that doesn't sound badass at all!" Marley whined.
"How do you live with this crazy woman?" Micha sighed in my direction.
"I've been asking myself the same question for years." I mused back.
"I do have an off button... Somewhere..." Marley teased her girlfriend, sticking her tongue out.
"You probably forgot it on top of your microwave like you do everything else." Micha retorted, catching Marley off guard. "Baby, you're going to have to try a lot harder than that of you are going to try and flirt with me." Marley lifted an eyebrow. "The answer is no. Whatever you're questioning about my statement the answer is no and I can explain later." She rolled her eyes.
"Okay, we're done with this topic." I declared, seeing as the two were talking dangerously close to that area of nauseating unmentionables.
"Wait a second- you told her, didn't you!" Micha poked Marley's side, making the girl squeak, a blush surfacing on both their faces.
"It might've come up... "
"Marley, you idiot, I told you to wait until I was with you! I wanted to see her face!" Micha had this uncanny ability to simply ignore the fact that she was embarrassed, as I'd come to realize. I kinda envied her for it.
"Sorry, babe." Marley tried to hide her smirk as she kissed her girlfriend's cheek. Meanwhile, I was scowling at them.
"If either of you mention it one more time, I'm going to throw up."
"Oh, come on, it can't be that bad!" Micha challenged. Marley gave her an appalled look, then me a terrified, pleading one. She knew exactly what I was going to do.
"Micha, you're close with Tatiana, yeah?" I started. This would make me sick, but, it had to be done. Marley plugged her ears.
"Yeah?" Micha gave her girlfriend a confused look.
"Okay. So, for a minute, picture in your head, in a really vivid mental image, us having sex. Very vividly. Sounds and all. You get why we're not talking about this now?" I'm sorry Ana, I'm sorry me, I'm sorry universe who had to hear that- except Micha. Oh, the look of horror on her face was a gift.
"Yep. We're good. I'm just going to go find something to get that thought out of my head." She groaned, running her eyes. I gave Marley a thumbs up and she unplugged her ears.
"Is it over?" She checked.
"Yep." I answered cheerily.
"I'm going to regret this, but who was your example this time?" Marley asked like the words were a toxin she had to get out.
"Ana."
"Oh lord." Marley made a gagging sound.
"Wait, there was an other time?" Micha blurted.
"Oh god, not this!" Marley plugged her ears again.
"Well, once Marley and I were watching a movie together and Sawyer decided to come and tell us about a girlfriend he had that looked just like the main actress. And he talks a lot. Too much. So I shut him up by describing a hypothetical rendezvous with Cael because he's a straight guy and I've learned that I can never use woman other than myself to gross him out. Anyway. He was done after that and Marley was never the same." I recited. I didn't tell her how Sawyer behaved weird around Cael and especially around Cael and I together for weeks after the incident.
"Why did I ask?" Micha banged her head against Marley's shoulder a few times.
"Is it over?" Marley whined. I nodded. "Thank god. Did you tell her about the thing with Sawyer or the one with Robyn?" She took her fingers out of her ears.
"I'm not asking anything else." Micha shuddered.
...
We ended up spending most of the wait talking about random things. Funny stories and such. But eventually Micha had to get going to get to an N.S. function so she was waiting in her car while Marley pretended to look at a picture on the wall she'd seen a hundred times.
"Okay, Mar, we're alone. What do you want to say?" I closed the front door so Micha definitely wouldn't overhear.
"You want me to cover for you?" She got right down to business. I blinked.
"Uh, y-yeah." I nodded. This was one of those fare-dealing moments. Like Brutus conspiring and executing a plot against Caesar, I was mentally and physically preparing for Hazel.
"You sound unsure. Grace, I don't think I can help you with this unless we're both sure you're ready. More you than me. Let me rephrase that. I'll cover for you. But you have to promise me that if you have any doubt, that you're not ready, you will back out and spend the night watching a movie or something. Make sure you're both up for it. I know you care a lot about Hazel, so I can't really stress to you how important I think it will be for you both to know what you're signing up for. Make sure she knows what she's dealing with, and you her, before you act. I mean, that's what I feel would be best. It's your relationship. I just want you two to get the best out of this. No matter what happens." She ranted. I blushed and smiled at all she had to say, and it wasn't lost on me.
"Thanks."
"Okay. Now. Let's leave a note for your fan so they don't call and ask either or both of us what's up."
And so we got a piece of paper and Marley wrote out a note.
Hey, Danielses, I kidnapped Grace for an impromptu best friend sleepover party! You'll get her back eventually! -Marley
"We're all set. See you on the other side, Grace." Marley saluted and pretended to wipe away a tear. "Aw, my little girl is growing up! I'll miss you! Send me care packages every now and then, don't forget about me, and don't forget to feed your cat!" She hugged me like I was going away forever.
"Marley. Calm. The fuck. Down. It's one night, woman!" I giggled but hugged her anyway.
"I know. But it will feel so much longer while I'm fucking my girlfriend. Bye, babe." She kissed me on the cheek and then ran out the door laughing her ass off.
"Marley, you idiot!" I screamed out the door at her, causing her to fall into her seat in Micha's car, her already having been doubled over with breathless laughter. Micha just looked between us with confusion.
**hey all! Hopefully this chapter gave y'all enough Michley (because it's literally all my brain could conjure up) the next chapter is promising a lot of Grazel fluff (no real smut yet, guys ;) not in the next chapter, anyway). Btw I'm probably going to put up a chapter to introduce part two of this story, so there's your heads up. Expect a small or larger rant in that.
Ps anyone got thoughts on the Michley development and or Marley's exiting line? Or on Marley's heart to heart with Grace? Or graces plan Bla Bla Bla, just comment plzzzzzzzz -xoxo Kira