&&; pretty girl

“Trust me, I was listening super intently,” Merinda insisted when the other didn’t seem to happy about her disassociating in the middle of them talking to her. “But just for good measure, could you repeat that one more time?”

Marie stared at the other before rolling her eyes, “If you weren’t listening the first time what makes me believe you’re going to listen the second?” Marie asked the other, “Maybe as punishment I shouldn’t repeat myself and you’ll forever be wondering what it was I was talking about.”

“Alright, alright but if I’m going to be the mom friend can I be like a momma bear or lioness or something badass like that?” Winnie asked. “I still want to have some cred with this new title,” she added with a little laugh.

“You can totally be one of them, Momma Bear does roll off the tongue a little easier than lioness. But there is something sexy about being seen as a lioness.” Marie commented with a small chuckle, “But you’re bad ass, Winnie- you’d take the title, own it and give it it’s own street cred.”

“Really.” Though Theo held his hand up a moment later. “It’s not to say I forgive you for the way you went about things because I still don’t agree on it though I understand from your perspective why you handed them over.” All that still bothered him given they were his parents and he couldn’t forget all the good things they’d done for him and the fact she’d given him no warning at all. “But I do want to get past it.” And right now, the only way he felt he could was to try and put it behind them and work on it a little at a time because they were both as stubborn as one another and he didn’t think she was ever going to see it how he did.

Marie was about to speak up when the other held up his hand, silencing her. “I just-... wanted to protect you. I hated seeing you hurt so much, but I-.. I get it.” Though she had never had parents herself and therefore never had that family connection until recently, she had some sort of understanding of what it would be like for someone who you trusted and called a friend to have them betray you. “I want to get passed it too, Theo-... I miss you. So much. I just want my best friend back.”

“Cancel any plans you may or may not have had tonight,” Kendall told the other, looking them over for a moment before humming to herself. “Let’s get you a different outfit, get something to eat and then we’re spending the rest of the night out. Let’s go then, shall we?”

“Okay- hold on.” Marie told the other, “First and most importantly, judging my outfit when I’ve literally stepped out of my summer internship is unfair. I was up at 5am and rolled out of bed into work, also these sweatpants are cute.” Marie continued. “And two, what makes your plans better then the ones I may or may not have already had in mind?”

“I’ll admit, that never fails to catch me by surprise,” Marzia replied after Marie’s little outburst. “Like… you totally seem like the type to have a fifteen page essay stashed away arguing why it’s an abomination and yet here you are, loving it so proudly. It’s always so crazy to me. But power to you. It’s alright and I’ll eat it but I don’t go out of my way to order it.”

“What can I say, I like to keep things spicy.” She commented, winking at the other. “I could totally write a fifteen page essay on why it should be more accepted in society and that there are a far more worse things in the world then a debate about whether fruit should belong on pizza. But then that starts to border political and ethical boundaries and I feel like pizza shouldn’t even touch those subjects. It’s too pure.” Marie smiled at the other, “You’re an all the cheese and all the pepperoni kind of girl, aren’t you?”

“Absolutely- I’ll write it down into my schedule,” She spoke as if she was serious about writing it down before laughing. “Next time it’s raining, you’re on.” Lily all but promised. “People don’t understand what they’re missing! I mean, I’ve always been a summer girl but unbearable heat all the time? I’m not a fan. I always appreciate it when it comes along.” 

“This is why Spring is my favorite season, if you’re lucky it can be the perfect combination of sun, warmth and rain. I’ve never been all that much of a summer girl, my skin is too pale to take on too much sun, that and I don’t enjoy sweating through every orifice of my body.” 

“You could call me that,” Wes grinned, “Actually kind of a perfect techie name, don’t you think?” He was quite jealous that the heroes got to have their own nicknames, why didn’t the techies get them too? “That drivel can actually be quite entertaining, when it doesn’t use lightyear as a measurement of time,” he rolled his eyes.

“It’s a bit long and doesn’t really roll off the tongue that easily. I think you want something catchier.” Marie let out a small scoff at the others words, “They do all seem to just think lightyear is an appropriate measure for everything, don’t they.”

“I think so…” Lola said, sitting up, “Oh no, am I bleeding?” She asked, looking at the other in a sudden panic, “I don’t think I am but am I?”

“Stay still, just for one moment.” Marie commented, resting a hand on the others shoulder as she sensed the panic starting to rise in the other girl. She did a quick once over, her eyes scanning the others skin before she pulled back and smiled. “You’re completely unscathed, luck must be on your side today.”

Winnie paused mid-way of pulling out the sandwiches she had packed, “Pfft– I would never,” she huffed before finally showing what she had in hand, “I mean I so did. Wow… I feel so called out right now.”

“I’d say that maybe I’m just psychic and this is an intuition, but let’s be real. You totally are the Mom friend. Own it.” Marie chuckled, leaning over to boop the blonde on the nose. “I mean, I’m not complaining, because now I won’t get burned and now I’ll be fed too.”

April smiled reassuringly, “We can choose a different song if you like. What do you want to sing?”

“No- it works. I mean the only thing on here that would be in my repertoire is ABBA and I’m not sure people want to hear me butcher such classics.”

It was mainly that reason that caused Theo to not be able to completely forgive the girl. Sure he had been angry that she had handed his parents in but more than that, he was hurt that she’d kept it all from him. That since then their friendship had been based around a big lie and that she couldn’t quite seem to understand why he was so hurt by it all. There was silence, Theo not feeling that her words really deserved an answer. Not one he could give anyway. It was a few minutes before he spoke up again. “I do miss you, you know.” The words were spoken quietly.

Marie turned to the other, staring at him for a long moment and wondering if she really had heard those words come from his mouth or if it was just her imagination. She had wanted to hear them for a long time and there was a moment where she wondered if her mind was playing tricks on her. “Really?” She asked, her voice breaking with emotion ever so slightly. “I miss you too.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, but that’s not how black holes work,” Wes sighed. “Nothing on sci-fi shows is accurate anymore.”

“Oh yeah? And are you some super sonic master of black holes?” Marie asked the other, letting out a small scoff, “What makes you think I got it from a sci-fi show, please. I have better things to do with my time then to watch that drivel.”

“Tempting.” Theo spoke drolly. “But no, the idea hadn’t really come to mind until you suggested it.” The brunette dropped down next to the girl, observing her from behind his shades. “I think we can manage to be around one another without having another argument, don’t you?”

Marie looked to the other as he sat down beside her, confusion on her face because last time they spoke he was still majorly pissed at her and she was still refusing to apologize for what she did and only saying sorry for the way she did it. “I guess if you believe that then we should be okay.” She wanted to bring up that she wasn’t the one causing the arguments, but felt like it would probably be a bad move on her behalf.

“Because like I said, it’ll be fun!” April exclaimed, “What about Love Shack? I love the B-52s.”

“I’m not quite sure if your definition of fun is the same as my definition of fun.” Marie pointed out, sighing in defeat as she realized she really was about to make a fool out of herself. At least she wasn’t doing it alone. “I think I know the majority of the words to it- like I know they’re on the screen too, but I’d like not to embarrass myself further by stumbling over the words.”

“You’re not about to send a tidal wave in my direction, are you?” Marie asked, looking up from her sketch book when she noticed the other standing in front of her. “I can go-... the beach is big enough for us not to have to be near one another if that is what you want.”

“How you’ve managed to convince me up here, I don’t know.” Marie commented, shaking her head as she watched the lights dancing around the room, “I mean have you even got a song in mind? One that won’t have people throwing food at us preferably.” She added with a nervous laugh.