𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 | 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟐 | 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐔𝐏

y/ns pov

"I can't believe Cynthia. My mom's been busting her ass. The way she is about this job, I've never seen her care like this before. I'm so proud of her, and then this B pull this C?" Ginny ranted, I nodded along, impressed with her defending of Mom.

"Bitch, crap, I'm with you guys." Max ran up to a tree, "Whoa! Hold up, drama."

Marcus and Padma were arguing about something, voices raising after each retort. "I don't get why it's your problem, Marcus. Our relationship has nothing to do with you."

Marcus scoffed, "Of course it has something to do with me, you're my best friend. I'm not going to sit back and let some guy embarrass you for a laugh."

"I told you it doesn't matter, it was a joke." "A joke? Who jokes about something like that? I would never make fun of Y/N in front of my friends."

Padma frowned, "He wasn't making fun of me. You're taking things too far, just like always."

Marcus sighed, not looking up from the ground. It was easy to tell when he was angry, his eyes hardened. "Fine." He walked to his house, slamming the front door, leaving Padma standing alone. She groaned, getting into her car and driving away.

Ginny and Max simultaneously turned to me, giving me a look.

"What?"

"Are you not going to comfort your boyfriend? He seems mad." Ginny laughed.

My eyes widened, "OH! Uhm, I'll be back." I ran across the road, slipping into Max's house. Marcus was sitting in his room, leg bouncing. He was rapidly texting someone, sighing.

I knocked on his door, his head shooting up at the noise. "Why— what are you doing here?" He opened his arms, preparing himself for a hug. I skipped into his arms, patting his back. He tried to put on a happy expression, but the rugged frown wouldn't escape his face.

"I saw, well, heard, you and Padma arguing, I wanted to make sure that you were okay." I released him from my grip, still holding onto his hand.

"Yeah, it was nothing."

"Didn't sound like nothing. You know you can talk to me, it's not like I have anyone to gossip with."

He laughed, intertwining our fingers, "Ok, sure. So, Padma has been going out with this guy, Nick. She met him at Battle of the Bands, and they were talking for a while." I nodded, ushering him to continue. "At first, he was cool, but now, he's acting like a jerk. He constantly makes fun of her, calls her names, especially in front of his friends. And every time I confront him about it, Padma says it's fine because he's 'joking'." Marcus groaned, hand squeezing mine tighter.

"Have you asked her why she doesn't leave him? She seems like a smart, strong woman." I replied.

He sighed, "I have, but she ignores me. Always makes up an excuse."

"Maybe he's blackmailing her or something, this seems fishy to me."

Marcus froze, eyes widening at my words. "He wouldn't.." He trailed off, reaching for his phone. He pressed it towards his ear, huffing at the voicemail beep.

"She's not picking up. Listen, I know you came here to make sure I'm okay, but I've really got to go." He grabbed his skateboard from under his bed. "I'll see you soon."

He jumped out of the window, skateboard scruffing the sidewalk a minute later. I was honestly confused but he had already left.

"Bye?" I walked back out, seeing Max and Ginny waiting for me.