Marley Meets Josh

(3)

M A R L E Y S • P O V

"Marley! Pizzas here," I heard Dad call.

I stood up from my desk, abandoning the English reading response and heading out towards the aroma filled kitchen.

"Yum, I smell pepporoni," I salivated as I opened a box sitting on the countertop. Dad retrieved some plates from the cupboard just as Andrea skipped in to the kitchen. We piled our plates up with pizza and sat down at the table together. I loved that we ate together as often as we could. It was something that I missed out on at boarding school and I didn't realise how much I loved it.

"So I have some exciting news!" Andrea sang as she clapped her hands. "I got a job!"

"Honey!" Dad paused before he bit into his apricot chicken pizza. He smiled with such pride and I could tell that it meant a lot to Andrea. "That's fantastic news."

"That's awesome Andy," I agreed, taking a bite of my pizza. "What's the job?"

"It's a reception job at a magazine. Apparently like an hour before I went in, the current receptionist handed in her resignation, effective immediately. So they gave me an interview to save time advertising the job, and I got it!" She beamed. "I start tomorrow."

"Gee's, if only it was that easy for everyone," I mumbled.

Andrea and Dad nodded in agreement. There was no denying that she was blessed to have stumbled upon something so fast. And at a magazine no less. Perhaps if she stuck it out for a while, she'd be able to set me up with an editor after college.

I turned to Dad and prepared to ask him what had been on my mind for most of the afternoon. "So, Dad, I was curious. If someone, enjoyed boxing, like they were into the sport, would that competition on Saturday be of interest to them?"

Andrea squinted her eyes at me with an obvious suspicion.

"Oh yeah for sure," Dad said, wiping his hands on his napkin. "Its a heavy weight championship, its a big game in the boxing world. A boxing enthusiast would definitely be interested in a game like that."

"I was wondering, if maybe I could have those other two tickets for Saturday night?" I quietly asked. "My friend really likes boxing. I thought I would give them to him."

Andrea's face lit up and she almost bounded out of her seat. "It's for the cute guy isn't it?!" She squealed and claps her hands. "It totally is!"

She was right. She had a cunning wit about her and she picked up on these things far too well to be normal. But still, I ignored how she hummed with excitement and focused on waiting for Dad's answer. Josh was a boxer so I figured he might appreciate the tickets. I wasn't entirely sure why, but I just felt the need to do something nice for him.

"You can have the tickets Marley, that's not a problem," Dad smiled.

"Thanks Dad."

At school the next morning, I pulled my French text book out of my locker and shoved it into my back pack. Before I zipped it up, I checked the time and realised that I still had a few minutes before homeroom, so I retrieved the latest Jodi Picoult novel that I was reading and leaned against the locker while I picked up where I left off.

"Jenny Gilbert looks so fat in that sweater, someone teach her how to dress."

I repressed an exasperated sigh and tried to block out Dehlia and Hannah's loud gossiping.

"So, did I see you arriving with Josh and Blake today?" Hannah said with scandal in her voice.

Okay, it would be a lie to claim that I wasn't listening just a little. A moment passed before Delhia said anything. I kept my head down, not wanting them to realize that I was listening as I kept my eyes scanning over the book in front of me, without actually reading any of the words.