Wren's POV
The night was dark and cool as I walked back to my house. Street lights shined around me... well, around us. I looked over to my left to see Marco texting somebody on his phone. He had invited me out to dinner again and now we were leaving to go home. The walk was silent, not a word said between us. I looked in front of me again, watching the buildings as we walked silently, side by side. It wasn't like those dark silent streets where criminals and street pedophiles would roam around. It was more like those busy nights where you could see the cars pass by and where those kids and teens would hang out and have their "parties." I could see my street and looked back over to my left to see Marco right there.
"Why are you following me?" It was an innocent question. He wasn't the type to be a stalker and he already saw my house. And there were those times where he would help me with the groceries but at least he had a reason to come over.
"I wanna see Katie again. I have something for her from my mom," Katie is my mom's name. Ever since the hospital incident they've both been the bestest of friends. Even his mom was in on it. Sometimes I would see that they would text each other from time to time. That was kind of awkward for me but I guess you get used to it after all those years. We arrived to my house and I could hear my mom finishing up the last of the plates in the sink. She must've eaten dinner while we were away.
"Mom I'm home! Marco is here with me," I could hear her steps coming closer to us as I put down my bag. "Ah Marco! Long time no see!" She smiled at him as she wiped away the water from her hands. "Hello Katie. Looking beautiful as always." She laughed as he said it with a smile.
They hugged and talked a bit about life and what he had brought for her. It was a limited tea cup that she's been wanting for a while now and you could literally see sparkles around her. He had to leave soon and so we all said our goodbyes. I went up to my room and changed into pajamas while taking out the work I had to do for college. I had a story to do and a science project. It was due next week but better to do it now. Taking out all my materials, I went back down to do my work on the table. Mom sat down next to me, looking over what I was doing. It was a normal thing now, she looking over my work and smiled like she had no care in the world.
She got up and prepared some Valerian tea for the both of us, of course using her new cup. It was definitely a stress reliever and I loved how it would make me have a great night sleep. Mom placed the two cups of tea beside us and sat on the seat next to me. "So...?" My mother started out while I hummed in response and started the story.
We were assigned to make a story for little kids around the age of 11 and younger. It's a gift for the kids in the orphanage near our building. I had already decided what the story would be and it seemed like a good one. "... Is Marco your boyfriend already?" I shook my head and muttered a 'definitely not.' "Why? He's a good kid." I sighed, knowing where this was going. Mom would always try to matchmake me with a few guys and Marco would always be her favorite.
"Mom, you know me. I have no time for boyfriends right now. It disrupts the time I have with my part-time job and studying.... anyway I think Marco would be unwilling to do so as well." I muttered the last part not thinking anything of it. I could hear mom sigh, knowing how stubborn I am. She stopped trying to give me reasons to date Marco and sipped her tea quietly.
I'm only focusing on one thing, and that is to let you have a better life, Mom
-_-_-_-
"Wren!" I was sitting on a bench, reading a book while waiting for my next class to start until I heard a voice call my name. I looked over to my right and saw a friend of mine, Mia. She saw me sitting on one of the benches and waved. "Hi Mia." I nodded my head, acknowledging her presence and she smiled. Mia is one of my good friends here. Well, we actually became friends just recently. I guess you can say it all started with a spill of coffee and having a lot of extra napkins.
Well, after that incident she became my friend and everything's been good. I closed the book shut, remembering my place and stood up to go to her. She was a short girl who had curly blonde hair that reached up to her shoulders. She was one of those girly girls who would wear dresses and skirts almost everyday. Even in the snow which was particularly strange to me but she was a nice person to be with. We walked a bit around the campus, talking about books and which clubs to take. She was already in the astronomy club and was forcing me to go with her, I told her I would think about it but it could disrupt my tutoring job and whatnot. I glanced to my right only to see Marco lagging a bit behind his group of friends. He was probably texting somebody, most likely his mother since he would usually complain to me about her texting whenever he's in class. I remembered the 'thank-you' gift that mom had made for him and told Mia to wait for a bit. She simply nodded as she sat down on a nearby bench.
I fast-walked his way as he walked as slow as possible while on his phone. He must've not noticed because the moment I said his name he jumped, making a little squeak sound. He put his hand, that had his phone on his chest in surprise as he looked my way. I tilted my head in confusion and he made a little sigh. "Geez, Wren! Don't scare me like that!" I shrugged my shoulders in a way that said 'not my fault.' He must have gotten the message since he rolled his eyes. "Hey dude! Who's the chick?" I looked over his shoulder to see his friends waiting for him beside the building. Marco, merely put one of his hands in his pocket and raised the other as if saying 'not right now.' "It's nothing! Just go ahead." I could see one of them shrug their shoulders while they started to walk again, talking to each other about normal things and/or taking out their phones. "So, what's up?" I looked inside my bag to see the little present inside another tiny bag and took it out. "Here. Mom said it's a return present for the cup last time." His eyes widened a bit in surprise and he took it, being careful not to break what was inside which wasn't really fragile but he didn't know. "Tell her that I say thanks." He said as I nodded. "Well I'll be taking my leave now." I turned around to go back to Mia, until I heard Marco call my name.
I spun around in confusion, waiting for him to say what he wanted to say. He looked away from me, seemingly flustered from what he had done. I raised my eyebrow at him and he did something I never thought he would do. He gently took a lock of my hair and put it behind my ear, letting the hand stay on my cheek. The warmth from the back of his hand lingered on my cheek making me seem more comfortable and maybe safer in his touch. I looked up at him with the slight height difference we had and... he started to pinch my cheeks. First the right then the left and then both at the same time! He started to laugh as I gave him a confused look and I started to scold him. He put his hands up in defense and I sighed. "I'm going this time. Don't stop me!" He stopped his laughing and waved me a goodbye. I looked at his fleeting form and just shrugged off my confusion. Marco has always been like that ever since the hospital incident. He would stop me just to do something weird, but he would make me smile, laugh and get confused at the same time. I don't even know why we're still friends...
The moment I came back, Mia rushed to me with wide eyes and a big smile. A face she would always have when she would be excited for something or when she's fangirling over people especially book characters. But this one seemed a bit different. Her hands gripped my shoulders in a tight hold and she pushed me back and forth, making me a bit dizzy.
"W-Wren!!! Oh gosh!! Was that really?!! Was that really hIM?!!"
She said while she pushed me back and forth. Suddenly, she stopped and I had to find my footing again. Mia looked expectantly at me for an answer but I only gave her a confused look. Who was him?
"Mia. I do not know who you are talking about. Please specify who is 'him'," Shocked by what I said (which isn't really something she should be shocked about) she motioned to the direction of Marco and his friends then looked at me. "Him! Marco! As in THE Marco Wright! The son of Khristine Anderson, founder of Green Top AND Aiden Wright, famous actor. Also an award-winning medalist in swimming!! You never told me you were friends with him!" She almost screamed into my ear saying what she had said which wasn't really helping with my forming headache but I gave a small nod. "Uh... I guess that is Marco...? We are friends, I mean yeah. And I'm sorry I never told you," She waved off my apology and just smiled that big smile. "Apology accepted, Wren, but still! You HAVE to introduce me to Marco. You know how big of a fan I am of his parents and him actually. Please please please introduce me sometime. Oh! Or you can ask him if we can meet up some day!" She gave me instructions on what to do so that she could finally meet her "idol" and I laughed. I knew how much this meant to her and so I would tell Marco.
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HI PEOPLES!!!! Haha ya miss me? Maybe? I dunno... so I'm very vERY sorry for not updating for a while. I made this chap pretty long... it was actually going to be longer but then I felt like it would have dragged on so I cut it in half... the next chap will also be a while but not as long as this one.
Sorry again!! And tHANKS TO ALL OF YOU READING THIS STORY!! When I found that it was all of a sudden 900+ reads I swear I got a bit surprised. Never knew that this would actually get read. Haha
[> w o]b
Sorry if there's mistakes here and there...
I didn't proofread and made this on my phone so its pretty sucky
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OH AND THANKS TO @mindblownlrh for the beautiful cover!!!