Short Story Sunday: Forever Friend-Episode 2.

Over the years we made it through some tough times. Marlowe and I never seemed to make other friends. All the kids thought we were weird and made fun of us. The teachers would just say “That is enough,” and move on to the class subject.

In third grade we had a great teacher, Mrs. McDougal. She made sure that no one ever said any bad things about us. She was the first teacher who really talked to me. Even though I was really shy, I felt that Mrs. McDougal understood me and Marlowe. She accepted that we were kind of weird and she liked it.

Marlowe and I were fine being with just each other. We had a sleepover every weekend and we played at Marlowe’s every day after school. As we got older, it was nice to always have each other there to help with homework.

One night at dinner Marlowe and her mother were talking.

“How was school today?”

“It was fine,” Marlowe responded. “School work is really boring though, right Molly?” We both laughed.

“Oh, That’s nice. Did you try to talk to other kids?” Her mother asked with a worried look on her face.

“Nope, Just me and Molly. The other kids don’t really talk to us,” Marlowe said with her head down.

Her mother and father looked at each other.

“Well, maybe if you talked to them they would want to play with you,” her father added.

“It’s okay, Molly and I have so much fun together. The other kids are kind of mean and I don’t want to play with them,” Marlowe said as she smiled at me.

“The mashed potatoes are so good, Mrs. Greenfield. Could I have some more please?” I asked her mom, trying to change the subject because I could tell Marlowe didn’t want to have this conversation with her parents again.

Her mother looked at me as though she were mad I spoke up.

“Mom, Molly asked for the potatoes, can you please pass them to her?”

“Sure,” her mom smiled, but I could tell it was forced.

Then her dad pushed himself back from the table and left the room. Her mother hung her head down. We didn’t know what was going on with her parents, but they were fighting a lot more these days. We tried to ignore it, but I could tell Marlowe was getting worried.

Over the years her parents fought more and more. They asked Marlowe if she could stop playing with me. They didn’t like how she was spending so much time with me and how I was stopping her from making new friends. I was hurt by what they said, but Marlowe reassured me that it wasn’t my fault.

“You are my best friend and no matter what my parents say, I don’t need anyone else. Who wants to be friends with kids who are mean anyway?”

I smiled, but I was worried about it, too. Maybe we should be making other friends. Even though I liked having Marlowe all to myself, maybe it was hurting her. Maybe her parents were right; maybe we did need to make more friends.

When we got to junior high, things started to become weird. We were both scared and homework was a lot harder. We still didn’t make new friends, even though we tried. I thought that maybe if we tried out for a sport it would be easier, but Marlowe didn’t want to. She didn’t want to do much lately. We usually just did our homework and then we would lay there on her bed and listen to music. I was okay with it because at least I was with Marlowe.

There were times when we would try to make friends, but everyone called us “freak”. One day our sixth-grade teacher, Mr. Samson, held us in after class.

“I know that school has been really hard on you, but I think once you get through this stage, you’ll start to enjoy it. You are really smart Marlowe, so let others see that. Maybe you can make some friends,” Mr. Samson said.

“But we have each other and that is enough,” I said grabbing Marlowe’s hand.

She squeezed it back and smiled at me. “I am okay Mr. Samson, I have all the friends I need.”

He just shook his head and said, “I am here if you ever want to talk.”

“Thank you, but we are fine,” I said. I think he could tell how mad I was.

“Like Molly said, we are fine. Come on, we need to get to class before we are late.”

The next couple days Marlowe seemed really depressed. Nothing I said made her feel better. “Do you think you should talk to Mr. Samson? I don’t know what’s going on, but maybe he can help?”

“It’s just that mom and dad have been on my case lately and they’re fighting all the time. I’m sure it will get better though.”

“It sucks when parents fight. That’s why I like coming here. My parents fight all the time too,” I said, hoping that would make her feel better.

“I’m sorry you have to go through that too Molly.”

As we got older, Marlowe got worse. She wouldn’t eat as much, and she always wore big sweaters that she hid in. She always kept her head down as we walked through the halls. I kept telling her that she needed to talk to someone. Her parents were right to worry, she was slipping away and I was scared I was going to lose her.

“I just want to disappear,” she told me one day.

“Please don’t, I don’t know what I would do without you. You are important to this world. I wish you could see that, Marlowe. Please, can you go and talk to a counselor? If you want, I will see one as well,” I pleaded with her.

“I know. I’m really trying, but I fear that if I do I won’t be able to see you anymore.” A tear escaped her eye.

“Hey, I will always be here. We will be together, forever, okay,” I reassured her.

She gave me a hug. “Okay, I will see someone.”

“Good, I worry about you. That aside, did you see James looking at you today?” I teased. I knew Marlowe had a crush on James since he started school here a week ago. Her eyes light up every time she sees him. He’s the only boy in the school who doesn’t think we’re freaks and actually talks to us.

“It will just be a matter of time before everyone convinces him we are freaks,” she replied.