"You're going on a date with Flynn Morgan?" Sophie's voice was full of disbelief and excitement as she stood in the doorway to my room, her eyes glued to me in their wide state as I threw clothes out of my closet and onto my bed.
"Yeah, I don't really know how it happened but-"
"This is so exciting!" Sophie squealed, completely cutting me off from whatever words I was going to say. I rolled my eyes and tried not to grin to show her that I was just as excited as her, but I was starting to fail as my lips stretched out wider without permission.
I still hadn't let it sink in yet, and maybe that's why I wasn't freaking out.
Actually, freaking out over dates, no matter who the man was, wasn't in my genes. Why get all stressed about it? Just enjoy the night.
But it was Flynn.
And Flynn meant more to me than a one night date, if I was completely honest. Not that I'd let anyone else know...
"Harlow Micheals are you even listening?" Sophie shouted at me from her position next to my mirror. "no, I didn't think you were. God, girl. Here I am trying to give you date night advice and you're away with the fairies."
I mumbled a sorry as Sophie grabbed my shoulders and forcefully pushed me down onto my mattress.
"Okay, step one. It's all about the cleavage."
"What?" I shouted, going to stand up but Sophie's iron grip was still on my shoulders, holding me in place.
"It's true. Too high a neckline, you can guarantee you won't be going on another date with him. Too low? About the same result. Even the cut comes into question sometimes too. What were you planning on wearing-"
"A high necked dress, but not any more." I muttered half sarcastically at Sophie. She sighed and angled her head towards me, then let go of my shoulders and grabbed my keys off my bedside table.
"What are you doing?" I asked suspiciously because one; she had my Honda's car keys, and two; she had a plotting sort of smile on her face.
I hated that look with a passion.
"I'm going to drive to my house and pick out some outfits for you to choose from since you have absolutely no idea." Sophie said matter of factly, and I scoffed as she flounced out of my room. "See you in twenty!"
"I hate you! And don't hurt my car!" I shouted at her back as she disappeared through the doorway to my room. Letting out a groan, I fell back onto my bed and closed my eyes.
Where were we even going? Flynn hadn't exactly set a dress code, and everyone knew I hadn't been on a hell of a lot of dates. How was I supposed to know what to wear? He didn't strike me as the dinner and movie sort of guy, either, so we would be doing something a little more adventureous - which I was all up for, as long as it didn't get me sweaty and stinky.
Or, we were just going to the movies and I was completely over-thinking it in that overrated girly sort of way.
"Just pull up your big girl panties, and go have a shower." I muttered to myself, and sat up. I needed to stop freaking the hell out, seriously, or I'd be a mess for tonight.
My hand was almost closed around the door knob to open the bathroom door when the handle twisted on it's own and Marley stepped out, a towel around his waist.
And I noticed two things at around the same time.
One, his ribs looked like a purple, yellow and blue patchwork quilt, and there was two lines of small, cursive writing in black to the side of his ribs, tucked up under his right peck.
"What," I started, pointing to it, "is that?"
Marley frowned and glanced down to where my finger was as if he didn't know what I was talking about, then he looked back up, face closed up and giving away nothing.
"What is what?"
"The freaking tattoo on your ribcage?" I whisper hissed, glaring up at him. It wasn't that I was against tattoo's or anything, it was the fact that Marley had gotten one with out saying anything at all.
I was surprised I hadn't seen it sooner, but I suppose he didn't usually walk around shirtless or anything.
"It's nothing." Marley said with forced calm in his voice.
"Marley, don't you dare lie to me right now." I said in a more agressive tone than I'd originally planned. "Why the hell do you have a tattoo?"
Marley sighed, leaning back against the door as he looked down at it again, his face still not readable as he started to speak.
"Just read the first line." He muttered, angling his body towards me. I leaned forward, my eyes squinting to read the letters.
"J.S 13.05.12." My mind didn't click for the first few seconds, and I was about to ask what it meant when something about the initials registered.
"Oh, Marley." I whispered, meeting his pained stare with one of my own. "You got Jamie's initials and the date the accident happened?"
His nod was my only answer.
"What does fuerza, perdida, and perdon stand for then?" I tried to read the words correctly, but failed.
"Strength, loss, and forgiveness." He whispered out, and I bit my lip my lip to keep the words in I so desperately wanted to say.
Instead, I replied with "When did you get this?"
Marley shrugged, looking over my shoulder to stare at the wall behind me. "I wasn't allowed at her funeral, remember? This was my way of remembering her, paying my respects."
I gulped down the sudden knot in my throat. People forgot that Marley had been Jamie's best friend, as well as Samson. They forgot the years when they were young and inseperable and when the two boys treated Jamie just liked a dude. They forgot the times when they'd have sleepovers, and go on vacations, and stay up all night on the phone with each other.
Samson may have been Marley's best friend, but Jamie was the person he went to with problems. Jamie was the one who listened, who helped him through them, who no matter how tough it seemed, would get them all back on track. And when Jamie needed someone to talk to, Marley was there for her.
They were each others support, and losing her had a bigger impact on Marley than not even I knew about.
Marley's eyes met mine again, and this time he sent me a small smile. "So, a date, huh?"
I rolled my eyes, letting him get away with changing the subject. "It's no big deal."
"No big deal?" Marley raised an eyebrow, not believing me in the slightest. "With Flynn, right? Does dad know?"
"He will in the morning when he gets home from work." I ignored his questioning reply, and remembered I still needed to shower, so I gently pushed Marley out of the way and moved into the bathroom. "Are you okay with me going?"
Marley laughed. "Your asking me if I'm okay with this date? I'm more worried about you, Harls. Are you sure you can handle it?"
"What are you trying to say?" I bristled at his sentence.
Marley laughed again and replied. "I heard a few girls at the library the other night talking about how hot he is, and we all know you don't really cope well when something you're involved in gets a lot of attention."
"Is this your perverse way of looking out for me?" I nailed a glare on Marley's face, but smiled regardless. "Because that was a really shitty way to phrase your statement."
"Words aren't my strong point, I get it." Marley grinned, then turned in the direction of his bedroom. I subtly checked his back for more permanent inkings, and sighed in relief when I found none.
Closing the bathroom door behind me, I quickly stripped and turned on the shower, stepping in once the water ran hot against my fingers.
Under the steaming water beating down on my back, I thought about what Marley had just said. I wasn't surprised other girls had noticed Flynn's looks, he could have the whole damn female population of this town pining away for him if he wanted it, but still, to hear that other girls were discussing him too...
I laughed, and actually had the urge to pat myself on the back for scoring a date with Flynn.
"Way to go, me." I smiled, closing my eyes to wash my hair and face.
By the time I stepped out of the bathroom with my towel wrapped securely around my body, Sophie was already back because I could hear her moving around in my room, singing away to the music drifting out of my open bedroom door and into the hallway.
"Seriously?" I groaned when I reached the doorway to my bedroom. It looked as though Sophie had moved into my room with the amount of stuff she brought over. Clothes, everywhere. "How'd you even fit it in my car?"
"I'm an ergonomic packer." Sophie shrugged, picking up something black and sequined.
I instantly shook my head no.
"Alright then," Sophie sighed, her hands on her hips. "Where do we start?"
"How about with a nice top and jeans?" I suggested, looking wistfully towards my wardrobe. "They'd be comfortable, stylish enough, warm-"
"And they would scream friend-zoned." Sophie cut me off, lifting a hand in the air to stop any more words from coming out of my mouth. "You don't trust me with your car, parties, or boyfriends, but please just trust me on the fashion side of our friendship."
I sighed, then nodded and walked over to my underwear drawer, pulling out a black lace bra and matching panties. When Sophie saw them in my hands, she wiggled her eyebrows and laughed as I pulled on the underwear and turned away to pull on my bra. As soon as I was facing her again, fabric was flying at my face.
I removed the black material from my face and noticed that it was a pair of leggings, so I slipped them on and waited as Sophie rifled through the other piles to find a top to match. I was about to go over and pick one myself, but she would have completely ignored me anyway, so I waited patiently as she chose. A cream coloured singlet tank came flying my way, and I caught it, pulling it over my head and turning to look in the mirror. The front had bird silouettes scattered all over it, and the last item of clothing that I barely managed to catch was a dark blue, almost navy, knit sweater at me.
"Put it on." She ordered, so I obeyed, and her smile of approval had me turning to the mirror again.
I looked casual, but not too casual, and my previous worries of Sophie dressing me up in something completely ridiculous faded away.
"I did good, huh?" Sophie appeared behind me in the mirror, grinning. "Now sit down, it's hair and make up time."
After another half an hour of Sophie doing this and that and the normal girly sort of preparation you do before a date, she stepped away and let me look in the mirror again, and I almost sagged in relief.
I looked like me. Thankfully. I was afraid she was going to turn me into some sort of barbie.
But even though I looked like me, I was...different. I looked more alive.
More excited. More like my actual age of 20.
"Sophie, I love you." I laughed as I looked in the mirror and examined her handiwork. My face was covered in the smallest amount of foundation you could possibly imagine, but it still looked clear and smooth. My eyes only had a little bit of eyeliner on the upper eye lid and mascara, but the grey was jumping out, looking lighter, free-er. My lips had nothing on them but a clear lip balm, because Sophie had complained about how envious she had been about how nice the natural colour of my lips were, and she'd done my blonde hair into a messy high bun, some of the wispy bits in my hair loose around the front.
"I know, I'm a pro." Sophie winked, checking the time on her phone. "We better find you some shoes, Officer Morgan will be here any minute now."
Tendrils of excitement ran up my body.
"Will you stop calling him Officer Morgan?" I groaned, but Sophie shook her head in amusement and rattled around me now messy room for shoes.
"No way."
"He's not a police officer tonight, though." I scolded her.
"Yeah, but he may have brought handcuffs anyway." Sophie winked at me again, and this time I couldn't help but blush.
"You're impossible."
"I'm the coolest friend you could ever have." Sophie stated in such a sure tone that even if she wasn't, I wouldn't have had any other choice but to agree. "I found some shoes!" She held up a pair of black chucks, which I pulled over my socks quickly and looked myself over in my mirror once more.
"You staying tonight or going home?" I asked Sophie as she started dumping clothes onto the floor with no disregard for it's value or price tag.
"I'm staying, the witch has a new guy over and he's about three years older than us." Sophie shuddered and I wasn't far off the action myself. "Besides, I want to know all about how it goes tonight."
"Okay, you know theres food in the fridge and Marley to annoy anyway." I quirked a grin as Sophie pushed down the on button on my tv remote and settled down under the covers in my double bed. "Don't wait up, either."
Sophie snorted from her position in my bed. "Like I'm going to fall asleep and miss your I-just-had-sex-with-Officer-Morgan face. No way."
"We're not going to have sex-" I was cut off by the doorbell ringing. My heart jumped into my throat, cutting off any more words as I momentarily froze, trying to calm myself down.
So maybe I was more freaked out than I'd thought.
"Just use protection, okay?" Sophie said, smirking as I blushed again and pulled the fingers at her as I grabbed my phone and wallet and started towards the stairs.
By the time I'd gotten to the bottom step, I could hear Marley and Flynn's voices in the entrance. Taking a deep breath, I walked around into the kitchen and spotted them almost instantly.
Flynn was wearing a pair of dark jeans that fitted extremely nicely and a buttoned light blue long sleeved shirt with a lovingly worn looking fawn coloured jacket over top. He looked freaking delicious, really, but when did he not?
The moment my eyes lifted from his attire, his own bright blue met my grey ones straight away.
And he stared for a moment, his eyes trailing away down my body as I walked closer, then straight back up to where my eyes were waiting for his again.
And then he smiled.
And I just knew tonight was going to be one of the best nights I was ever going to have.
* * * *
I'm sorry about the later update, I truly am, but I've been sick and off school for the past three days and all thats been coming out of my head is leaky ear wax and snot, so I apologize for not having the motivation or being in the right head space to write.
Buuuuuut I'm starting to feel better now, so stay tuned for more updates preeetty soon! :)
Sorry if this was a bit of a filler chapter, but I needed to write one before the big date and I also missed Sophie, so why not chuck her in their too, right?
Oh, oh, oh! And Marley's tattoo? Whadda think about that?
Comment, vote, fan, or none of the previously listed, you do whatever you wanna do :)
Thanks for reading!
x