A Little Bit Of Joy | ✔

Chapter Forty Two : The Boy's Dilemma

My bicycle screeched into a halt as I climbed down and held it. "Hey, Marilyn!"

Marilyn was striding briskly on the opposite side of the street and when she heard me, she turned around. Recognition flickered in her grey eyes as she crossed the street, her freshly dyed blonde hair swaying. "Hey JJ, how are you?"

"I'm alright," I replied and shifted uneasily. The break up between her and Shaun created a sort of unspoken awkwardness between us. I added helplessly, "M-My brother's alright too."

The moment I mentioned Shaun, she seemed more upset, but she didn't show it. She only smiled. "That's good. How's France for him?"

"Marvellous! The French are friendly, not too cold and he claims their towns are more beautiful than ours. Although, I don't think any place can beat where we live," I said airily. "He says his mentor is strict and he misses peanut butter. Apparently, you don't get it there much."

Marilyn's smile widened, her plump lips ajar in amusement. She certainly enjoyed hearing about him, but I couldn't fathom how. Weren't people supposed to feel desolation when their lover was out of reach? Was their love so powerful that they were okay being apart and silent? Or was it a load of bullcrap and all of it was merely a façade?

"Marilyn . . . Shaun said he called you numerous times, but you didn't pick up. He . . . Well, he wanted to speak to you," I said nervously. "Has your number changed or something?"

Her lips pursed into a thin line, her grey eyes hard like moonstone. "Tell your brother to stop calling."

"Did he do something wrong?"

"He's a nice kid- your brother JJ, but we broke up. It's the end of the story," she said bitterly.

"Surely you can be friends?"

She laughed- that musical, deep laughter of hers.

"I don't do friends JJ."

I asked almost spontaneously, "Then what are we?"

She gazed at me thoughtfully for a long minute and I waited expectantly. Shaking her pretty head, she then said, "I have to go. Tell your brother to give up, I don't like getting pestered." With that, she whirled around and left without a wave. I watched as she walked away sharply like she owned the entire town.

I tried not to be bothered by Marilyn's aloofness and headed towards Logan's apartment. Once I went through the terrible elevator and arrived at his place, I started banging his door. "Logan, it's Joy! Open the door!"

I was welcomed by silence. Absolute silence. But I knew Logan was in there.

"Hey, open the door! I know you're in there! Come on now!"

Still nothing. He almost convinced me that he wasn't in there until I heard the faintest of a thud, followed by a series of colourful words. I suppressed a giggle.

"Come on Logan, it's obvious! Open the damn door! Logan---"

The door flung open and hit me right on my poor face. I was livid- not because he did that deliberately, but because he didn't look a bit apologetic. I gingerly massaged my face and glowered at him.

"I hate you Logan---" I was rudely cut off with a large hand clamping my mouth shut. He pulled me in by my waist and slammed the door. "What the hell? You can't hurt me and then grab me like that. You-mmph!"

I almost bit his hand and wrenched free from his hold with all my strength. I was breathing heavily and Logan watched me wearily, running a hand through his hair. He was acting like a douche all because I asked him to go on a date with Rosemary. Well, she asked him out two days back through text messages and I peeped at his phone in the flower shop. I texted a 'yeah cool' for him because he had preposterous plans to refuse. The aftermath of my innocent actions was Logan getting absolutely furious and raving.