Marlowe's Massacre | ;

CHAPTER 4

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[.17.3.28.]

Time, or something like time, had stopped. It happened the moment Teddy's gaze swayed towards André. The sudden lack of oxygen she felt was only a symptom of the deadly disease that infected everyone on the rooftop. Only now did Teddy notice, none of them held the cure.

"I'm not your sweetheart, sweetheart." She remarked with an attitude loud enough for him and his boys to hear. "And no, I'm not looking for someone." She said a bit hesitant, clutching her blazer tighter. And while she had been glaring at André, Max had been admiring her.

They all knew who she was, but none of them were willing to say it. In the afternoon sun, André's eyes were the color of death. His glare as cold as ice and his stance broad. He was all sharp edges sculpted from marble. A masterpiece made from scraps.

"You're a bit rude." He uttered before blowing smoke into the air once more. It was clear cigarettes were crucial and just maybe Backwoods too, but whatever came second, had to be equally important. He breathed in one lung-full of fresh air before continuing. "And I, well, don't like it."

"Well, sorry to disappoint you but the world doesn't revolve arou—"

"What? Me. The world doesn't revolve around me? No shit. That's great! But we don't need no bitc—"

"You know, I think you should get going and before you say where, how about class. Perhaps?" Max started turning to face André abruptly. His voice was low and scathing, looming control in a way that André was not. "And I bet you have a lot of things to do, right?"

"No, I don—"

"I'm sure you do." Max replied, and there was just a hint of laughter in his voice. A crack in his politeness. A change in his demeanor. It was such a strange thing seeing Maxwell break character.

Several steps away, something changed in André's face. Something raw and rotten, something cruel. Teddy couldn't tell what it was, precisely, but it moved through the humid air reaching for her. It wasn't long before Teddy realized it was André's hatred, and André knew that. Instead of acknowledging it, he took one more drag from the cigarette before dropping it to the cemented ground. Turning away, he gave another glance at the girl in front of him before slamming the metal door shut.

Somewhere on earth, a volcano erupted.

"I hope you aren't like that? Like him." She said facing James. In comparison to André, James looked noble. Hand-picked. Independent. Charismatic.

"No. Not quite." He said checking his wristwatch. Teddy couldn't help but notice it was the kind of wristwatch she could get anywhere. To her, it was wrong seeing a watch that outdated on a boy who looked regal in every way.

Somewhere on campus, a bell rang.

There was no denying all four of them were going to be late for their next class, but if James was ever going to survive getting yelled at by Mr. John for coming in thirty minutes late one more time, he had to leave now. Money toyed and edged him everyday, school did not. He had to leave now. He murmured something directly into Max's left ear. Teddy wasn't sure what he said and it didn't help when the boy she described as being vigilant and handsome chimed in.

Only now, none of them were speaking English.

She was glad when the metal door finally shut. Leaning on the baluster, she watched the vast view of green foliage sway in the wind. The smell of last night's downpour ran past her nose and far away the mountains faded against the horizon. In the pocket of her blazer she took out a pack of cigarettes, plucking one in her mouth. The metal door behind Teddy startled her from her thoughts.