Seventeen- Wren

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Chapter 17

Wren

The shards will fly

no more will we see

the fragmented sky

and no more hope

and no more nice

Just shards

of us.

Excerpt from “Shards” by Sophie Lynch

Marina and I have been avoiding each other for the past two days, or as much as we can, anyway. We were walking home from the party, I was buzzed, but she was wasted. She was tripping over her own shoes, her speech with the accent and the slur was unrecognizable, and she was giggling so loud at everything, it was kind of contagious.

She tripped again, but this time she fell. She sat there, laughing with her head thrown back. She has a nice laugh. I held out my hand to help her up, but she pulled me down next to her, which made her start laughing again. And then she was crying. And my exact thoughts were, “What the hell?” Tears streamed down her face. I took her face in my hands and wiped her tears away with my thumbs. She stared at me, her blue-green eyes shining. Then she leaned in and tentatively put her lips on mine. We both sat there, frozen, while the tips of our lips barely touched, breathing out of our mouths, unsure of what we were doing. Or at least, I was. I don't know if any thoughts were running through her head at all. But then it was like a switch flipped. She leaned in to me and kissed me so passionately I was surprised. She pushed me to the sidewalk and we had what was basically a make-out session in the middle of town. Thoughts of joy floated to the top of my head, and then burst like bubbles when the next thought came: This isn't right.

“Marina-” I managed to gasp out, but she just took my mouth to hers again. “Marina, no. This isn't how it's supposed to be.” She sat up, sitting on my crotch.

“What do you mean?” Her lips were pouty and swollen from the kissing. She looked like a puppy dog.

“You're drunk, this isn't right, why don't we get you home, a nice shower will be good for you, then you should sleep.” She looks at me blankly. I examine her. Glitter shimmers in her hair, and I can taste the alcohol from her mouth on my tongue. Her make up smudged a little bit and there is a stain on her shirt, which is twisted and drooping slightly.

She giggles. “Playing hard to get, are we.” She leans in again to kiss me, again, a grin on her lips. I push her away by her shoulders.

“No, Marina. We're going-” I say. She stands up quickly and runs to a nearby bush and vomits all over it. “-home.” I finish. She crumples to ground, passed out.

“Great.” I mumble and pick her up in the “honeymoon” position. But instead of her arms being locked around my neck, a smile on her face, and, you know, her eyes being open, her arms and legs dangle and her head lolls to the side, covered by her curly-wavy hair. She snores softly. I walk the rest of the way home with her in my arms.

When I reach the house, I'm glad to see mom forgot to close the door, only the screen door is closed, so I push it open and I'm careful not to hit Marina's head. Somehow, I manage my way up the stairs, only losing my balance once. I reach the door to our room and I am tempted to let her sleep in my bed again, but she'll just get mad at me. So I put her down on the pull out and cover her with the blanket.

God I hope she doesn't remember tonight.

I wake up around ten o'clock, even though I went to bed around three. I sit in bed, reading, partially because I don't know what else to do, and partially because I'm afraid of what Marina's going to say. She wakes up at noon.

“Ugh, my head hurts. I'm gonna go take a shower.” Is the first thing she says. I hear the door close and the shower turn on, then- “OH MY GOD!” She runs in the room, wrapped in a towel.

“Did that really happen!?” She yell-whispers.

I nod solemnly, knowing exactly what she's talking about.

“Oh my god I'm so sorry! I- I- I'm just gonna go take a shower now.”

“No problem.” What else do I say, “My pleasure?” I mean, really. She turns away, beat red. And since then, we haven't talked once.

She sits at the piano just mindlessly playing while I sit on the couch, reading, but not really taking in the words. It's two days after the party and the... incident. Suddenly, she stops playing.

“You're a good kisser you know.” I look up from the page. He head is down, her face is red, and I can tell she's trying not to smile.

“Well, you were drunk, your judgment could be off.” I say nonchalantly.

“I wasn't that drunk.” She says quietly.

“Oh really? Does the word “pudding” make you laugh hysterically?”

“No?”

“Well it did.”

“I was not that drunk!”

“Do normal people laugh hysterically when they fall, then start crying, then make out with their roommate all in the same two seconds?”

“Um... sure?” She says.

“Uh huh. So, what's this about me being a good kisser?” I smile, sitting up.

“You did well, do you want a sticker?” She says sarcastically.

“I've never been told that before, I still think your judgment was off. Maybe you should try again.” By this time I'm standing next to the piano bench. She stands up.

“You know what, to prove my point...” She kisses me. The same as before: amazingly. My hands tangle in her hair. We stay like that for a long time.

“Wait a minute...” She says, breaking away. “My god I'm an idiot! You tricked me into this!”

“You kind of tricked yourself.” I grin.

“I'm so mad! Ugh! I”m gonna-” She bursts out laughing. “That was a good one, I have to applaud you for that.” She claps slowly, collapsing onto the couch in a fit of laughter. “So... you like me? For how long?” She asks once she regains her breath.

“When you first saw the ocean.” I answer truthfully. This actually dawned on me a few nights ago, when I was still watching her sleep from the pull out, that that was the moment I actually fell in love.

“Really? Wow.” She says. “You know we can't do anything about that.”

“Why not?”

“Because we're practically siblings now.”

“So... not because you don't feel the same way?”

“Well... yeah, I think.”

“When did you start?”

“When you started calling me Okie.” She gives me a small, shy smile and turns red. I smile back, this just got awkward... er. She twirls a piece of hair around her index finger.

“Oh, so that's why you started flirting...” I grin.

“I don't flirt!” She says defensively.

“See? You're doing it now!”

“No I'm n- Oh my god, this has to stop. Forget the past few days ever happened, after the party we walked home and fell asleep. That's it. This- it isn't even a 'this', we need to stop.”

“I understand.” I nod. But inside, my heart is shattering and tinkling down to my toes in little tiny shards.

Author's Note

I am so in love with this!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Reviews

[Lina Grey]

AHHHHH!!!!!! I've been sort of waiting for this scene, I knew it would come. Didn't know how, but I really thought she'd say yes. Like Abbie, I can understand where she's coming from with saying no, but still. I guess it's part of the perspective, it's in first person from Wren's POV so I sympathize more with Wren. Great write, though! Can't wait for more. Thank you.

[Sylvana]

Man, I meant to review this a while ago but kept forgetting, I'm sorry.
And i've been expecting this to happen ever since Wren first thought he loved her. :D And i also predicted it would never work out~
Excellent chapter.

[Abbie]

Great chapter Sophie! I love it! It breaks my heart though, to see that Marina said no. I mean I can understand her reasonings, but really. Did she really have to do that? I suppose she did..., but still! I didn't really see any typo's BTW.

[MandaBear]

I cant wait to read what happens! You have once again have peeked my interest! Great job so far!!