SKEPTIC.

                DARK    LOCKS    FLOAT    ON    THE    SURFACE    —–    her    limbs    is    what    keeps    anika    on    top,    not    drowning    and    her    face    is    lifted,    eyes    filled    with    joy    as    she    glances    up    at    the    other.    she’s    enjoying    herself    at    this    event,    despite    not    wearing    the    appropriate    swimwear,    but    she    supposes    that    spontaneity    doesn’t    hurt.    the    cool    water    laps    against    her    skin.    “what    on    earth    are    you    doing    out    there?”    she    asks    the    other.    “we’re    at    a    POOL    PARTY    for    gods’    sake.

MARNI ARCHES HER BROW AS anika speaks, bewilderedly looking over her shoulder just to make sure she wasn’t speaking to someone behind her instead. but no one else is looking at anika, so the words really must be directed at marni of all people. she can’t begin to understand why. “...well, i’m uni-cycling of course. can’t you tell?” marni replies dryly as she clutches the phone she was reading on slightly tighter in her hand. the words are awkward more because of the company than the joke, but after a moments pause marni continues, “everyone knows pool parties aren’t really for swimming. they’re more of an excuse for everyone to show off how hot they look half clothed and get wildly fucked up than anything else.” marni  gestures to anika, “and you look like you’re doing a good enough job of both for the both of us, so i don’t really see a need for me to get wet.”

                HE    WASN’T    IN    THE    MOOD    FOR    PARTYING    —–    it    was    odd    to    see    him    like    this,    but    perhaps    it    was    because    harry    had    a    feeling    that    something    bad    was    about    to    happen.    he    took    refuge    in    the    library    away    from    the    pool,    the    scent    of    the    old    volumes    on    the    shelves    and    in    messy    piles,    dust    in    the    air    and    the    sun    rays    breaking    through    them.    the    place    looked    more    like    a    church    than    anything.    harry    disrupted    it,    taking    a    drag    from    the    cigarette    and    exhaling;    he    was    glad    that    he    still    had    one    pack    of    those    in    his    pocket.    there    was    a    loud    THUD    from    across    the    room.    “you    know    you’re    supposed    to    be    quiet    in    here,    right?”    he    gestured    to    the    sign    that    was    hastily    taped    on    the    nearby    column.    “imagine    if    marge    walked    in    and    saw    your    dumbass    knock    her    stack    to    the    floor…”

MARNI HAD FOUND HERSELF IN THE LIBRARY purely out of habit. after all, it was where she spent most of her time in university. parties never really were her thing, and after latching on at the opportunity to leave, get some air, and search for her friend, her feet just naturally led her to the place she’d prefer to be; among the tall stacks, breathing in the smell of old paper, and soaking in the silence. or well, muffled music at the very least. honestly, marni had thought she was alone for a good amount of time, simply looking through one of the shelves for a suitable reward to come away from this party with, because truly, she should get something for enduring all this. it wasn’t until she caught movement from him out of the corner of her eye that marni even noticed him, and promptly dropped the book she was examining in her surprise. “shit. sorry.” marni says immediately, honestly more to the book than anything, as she bends to pick up the fallen novel. it’s as she’s straightening that registers his words, gaze quickly hardening at the insult. “okay, i dropped a book. i didn’t set off an airhorn. i’m sure marge will understand.” marni squints at him for a moment then, eyes widening as she asks, “are you... smoking in here?” marni asks in blatant disbelief, “surrounded by all this very flammable, and pretty much irreplaceable, material? because, what, it was too much trouble to just go outside?” marni can’t resist the urge to roll her eyes, moving to slide the book in her hands back into it’s place as she says, “and you have the gal to scold me?” 

“Yo, there’s a million people coming this way! What did I tell you? Think the end of the world is gonna stop a bunch of college kids from drinking their brains out? Hell nah…” proud of his own rather predictable predicton, Zac turns around to face the other a grin now decorating his face. “Brilliant. I hope we got enough food though, d-did you, is the mic working did you ceck? Actually, nevermind that I’ll get Alex to fuck with the music stuff. Is that? Have you got weed?”

“... Zac, you’re asking me if I have weed? Me?” Marni asks with a pointed arch of her brow, but she doesn’t quite know what she expected. This is Zac, after all. “I’ve never even smoked. Or been high. Or been drunk.” Marni reminds him with a sigh as she pokes her head out to watch the hordes of college kids come their way with something only akin to dread. She was not looking forward to this nearly as much as Zac was, and she saw no point in hiding it. “But you were right. Congratulations. Nothing is going to stop people from getting shitfaced in the apocalypse. We’re all going to be dancing towards the end of the world. Maybe you can turn one of your poems into a rap and lead the charge.”  Marni pauses for a moment before adding, “that was a joke. Please don’t do that.” 

dripping hair fell over her shoulders , still wet from an unexpected dip into the pool , but she was thankful for it . against bare skin , the slight cooling effect was welcomed . she’d been changing in study hall b when the lights cut out , pulling on something dry only to have everything go dark … until the sky illuminated an electric green . it’s too hot , they’d said , stay indoors … but she. had already snatched up her bottle and tied up her laces . now , she stood staring at a dark sky splintered by green lightening , wisps of color wrapping themselves over and under clouds . “ what the fuck ? ” she whispered to herself , furrowing her brow and glancing back down to the bottle , reading the label again — just in case . footsteps came from behind , but she didn’t bother to move , looking back up into the clouds instead , “ you see this shit , too , right ? ” trippy , she thought to herself , before something flew across her vision . memories of the better parts of childhood the past year practically erased jolted to life in her brain ,  and she grinned . smacking the person next to her , laughter laced. her words , “ was that fucking lightening bug ? ”

marni didn’t really think she was going to run into anybody outside. she figured most people would, pretty reasonably honestly, be scared to go out in the lightning storm. she could understand why. if marni wasn’t going out for her own reasons, she’d likely be back inside enjoying what was left of the festivities, or more likely, avoiding what was left of the festivities. but she very much does, have her own reason that is. with her notebook and pencil handy, she was determined to record as much information about what’s going as she could. that said, once again, she wasn’t expecting to see anybody, but she especially wasn’t expecting to see max. and what seems to be a less than sober max to boot. great. “don’t worry, i’m seeing it too, you’re not that drunk.” marni replies easily as she pulls away from max’s good natured smacking, only to flinch back sharply as a bug gets a bit too close to her face. she stumbles back a few steps with a wrinkle of her nose, steps quickening to avoid the insect as she says, “god, that or some mutated version of one likely. or maybe an entirely new species, i-- okay,” marni claps at the bug following her threateningly, and it quickly buzzes away. she follows it with her eyes for a bit but as her gaze gets higher it catches on-- “oh my god.” marni’s eyes are wide and round as she looks at the sea of colour in the distance, mouth gaping for a moment before she speaks.  “is that... the aurora borealis?” her brows furrow. “that... cannot be the aurora borealis.” 

features twisted playfully  ,  brows arched with a tiny perk as she glanced back at the other  .  “ hey ,  it’s not funny— don’t laugh  .”  arms cross in front of her chest  ,  but her gaze softens into something similar  .  “i’m not afraid of the dark  ,  i just um-” bottom lip is tugged between her teeth and she’ll finally let out an exasperated grin  .  “ i never learned how to swim  ,  alright ? i think i’d rather get lost in the storm outside, than have all of halloway watch me doggy paddle to save my life .” smaller frame slips from their gaze  ,  and around the lecture hall  ,  which coincidentally , has been cut off from power  .  the only light that crackles through the glass windows  ,  is of a green hue with the taunt of lightening  .  she’s drawn to it  ,  but instead  , perches herself on one of the desk  ,  using her phone to shine a lightway for the other  .  “ in good news  ,  i stole some liquor from danny yearling  ,  and he even let me keep his flask  . ”  maya is shuffling  ,  reaching into her back pocket and outstretches the metal vile  with a little shake  .  “ ta-da  ! let’s ignore the problem until it goes away  ,  or we’re too drunk to remember—  ”

i’m not laughing. marni can only think to herself as she rolls her eyes towards the ceiling. she is standing with her back turned to maya as she faces the window, arms crossed over her chest as she deeply hopes the blonde catches onto her disinterest sooner rather than later. she doesn’t, and marni isn’t sure if it’s because maya is just used to people always pretending to be interested in what she wants to say or if she just likes the sound of her own voice. in the end, marni mostly tunes her out, only really digesting the knowledge that maya macmillan is afraid of the dark and can’t swim. her life has obviously been devoid of colour without that information. she’s glad to have it now. “i’m good.” marni replies curtly at maya’s offer, not so much as glancing at maya from where she’s staring intently out the window at the weather outside. the green tinge of the lightning periodically lights up her features, painting them in eery shadows that only highlights the indifferent expression on marni’s face. “i’m not really one for avoiding my problems or, you know... slowly allowing this environment to turn me into an alcoholic. i mean, i understand that it’s likely inevitable for most of us considering the circumstances, but i’d like to avoid becoming apart of that statistic.” marni says bluntly with a shrug, for a moment before she’s narrowing her eyes as lightning strikes down worryingly close to where her family home roughly is. well. it’s not like she had any particularly fond memories there anyways. she’s distracted as she finally adds, “ ...but you go right ahead. don’t let me stop you.”

       THERE’S NOT enough in her system for her to be plastered with a smile yet –- instead she sits by the pool, water only up to just above her ankles as she gnaws away the skin on the thumb. something about the air feels wrong – it’s much too hot, and tatum who never wants to swim feels the urge to get in just to cool off. the idea of it is making her anxious. “ the sky looks terrifying. ” she murmurs, eyebrows pulling into a frown. “ is it the best idea to stay out here? ” she makes no move to leave. after all, it’s not as though she’s entirely afraid to die and all that waits for her in her bed is her never ending circle of thoughts. she barely laughs, but it’s there. “ or maybe just take a page out of everyone’s book. ignore and cope with alcohol. ”

“... I DON’T THINK i could do that if i wanted to.” marni says as she looks up at the sky with a pinched nose and tilted head, brows furrowed at tatum’s words. she wrinkles her toes in the warm pool water, and silently agrees with tatum. the sky does look terrifying. “just... numb myself until i can pretend everything’s fine. i mean... i suppose i understand the appeal of it as a coping mechanism but... it just seems like a foolish choice. nothing will change if you just pretend everything is fine. it still won’t be.” marni’s lips purse as she shakes her head, shrugging jerkily before she simply says, “I don’t know. i just don’t think i’m designed for it. but you’re right. things are looking pretty bad.” marni turns to look at tatum then, glancing from her face to the thumb in her mouth and wordlessly reaching out to pull her wrist down, and her hand out of harms way. she did not doubt tatum’s ability to worry the skin until it bled. “...if you want to go somewhere else, i’ll go with you.” 

“Agh, I don’t know if I even wanna go. Everyone’s gonna be there all sweaty and shit. Also, I’ve checked the damn kitchen staff for today and lemme just tell you the food situation does not look promising…” Jo sighs but finds herself compelled to follow the other. “Okay fine, fine. There better be some tobacco and ice there, this heat is getting unbearable and I need a smoke. – Well then, are you coming or what?”

“I mean, do I have a choice?” Marni asks with a brow arched in question, frowning for a moment before she adds, “because if I do, the answer is no. But if the only two options are still this or sweeping the streets then--” Marni throws her hands up in the air in frustration, eyes rolling as she says, “I guess sweaty hoards of people I don’t like and dying at the hands of Tatum’s food is the only valid option.” Marni quickens her pace to keep up with Jo, lips still tugged down into a frown before she sighs. “ At least we’ll go quickly and surrounded by drunks and kegs. Truly what more could we ask for?” 

“you know, when i imagined god to take me someday,” he said, “i didn’t picture him to be quite this melodramatic.”

“... really?” marni asks dryly as she turns her gaze back to the sky intently, brow arched as she asks, “are we talking about the same all powerful entity that turned a woman to salt just for taking a glance behind her? because honestly, i’m surprised he’s not being more dramatic. i believe the bible promised hellfire?” 

#friendship