First Light

4 marlo's room

Faye:

Marlo's flat is on the completely different side of the accommodation building than mine is, so it's no wonder why I've never seen him before.

I watch as he taps his keycard on the door and leads me into the flat. I can hear talking and laughter coming from the kitchen.

"My flatmates are in. I might have to go and say hi quickly," He says to me, nodding his head in the direction of the voices.

"Okay," I say, frowning when he doesn't take his eyes off mine.

"Do you maybe wanna come with?"

I open my mouth for half a second, the words "Is it okay if I don't?" right on the tip of my tongue.

"Yeah, okay," Is what I say instead, and Marlo smiles at me.

"Don't worry, they're nice." He says as he walks towards the kitchen.

As soon as he opens the door, the two people in the kitchen look up at the movement, and we are greeted with a chorus of "Marlo!"

The girl with mousy-brown hair sitting on the countertop notices me first, swinging her legs. "Wow, Marlo's finally made a friend!"

Marlo scoffs. "Shut up."

"I'm Faye." I say, smiling.

She gives a small smile back. "Faye. I'm Emily."

"That's a pretty name," The boy says. "And I don't mean yours, Emi."

A freckle-faced boy with three nose piercings is sitting on one of the chairs at the table, grinning widely.

"Thank you," I say to his compliment, smiling back at him.

"Jonah. Pleasure to meet you." He does an extravagant little hand wave, then looks over at Marlo, and they exchange something with their eyes that I can't seem to understand.

Marlo shakes his head in response, smiling at the ground. "Alright, Faye, enough introductions for today. C'mon."

He places a hand gently on my shoulder-blade for half a second to lead me out of the kitchen first.

"You still going to the party tonight?" Jonah asks from behind us.

"I'll have to see how long I'm going to be with Faye for," Marlo says, looking back, his face turned from me.

Jonah grins. "Alright. Becca's probably going to want to go when she gets back."

Marlo nods, and lets the kitchen door swing shut.

"My one's the end one." He just says, pointing.

I'm about to ask him who Becca is, but the words are stolen from my lungs as I open the bedroom door. The entire room is a galaxy. It is bathed in a dark blueish-black light, and little stars and lights decorate the ceiling.

I let my eyes wander around as I walk further into the room, noticing his curtains are pulled completely shut. His wardrobe has one door open, displaying a rack of hoodies and trousers that I can't quite tell the colours in this lighting.

The desk is messy, like mine, with chains and bracelets strewn across it, alongside a couple of empty alcohol bottles and a laptop. The shelves above the desk hold a collection of Jordans and Converses, as well as books. Even in this light, I can see the cracked spines, so I know they've been read many, many times.

One book in particular, though, catches my eyes over the others and I let them wander over the familiar font of the title written down its spine. The Fault in Our Stars.