Maren had never been the one to be extra sentimental.
At least, that's what everyone else saw. On the outside, Maren put up a thick shield that hid her insecurities and emotions and layered them with the tough, badass label that most first impression-ers labeled her as. She wore very tomboyish clothes and cut her hair down to short, thick bristles after one time her ponytail became more of a distraction than anything else. Most people at school whispered and gossiped to each other, as they normally do, but some had given her compliments on it. John told her he loved it, and knowing John, every comment he made would be absolutely genuine. Sam even passed by and muttered a small string of words that sounded like "looks good on you." Many would say Sam and Maren had been a whirlwind thing and every time Maren spotted Sam in the hallways, a force would press on her heart bluntly and yet she also felt the need to tell him to man up. Sam was an immovable force when it came to his friends and powering through any difficult time but he immediately crumbled at the first sign of a heartbreak. It broke Maren as well, though she desperately tried to hide it. They both agreed wholeheartedly that they were better off as friends.
Maren brought her motorcycle to a halt, upending some of the gravel in the school parking lot. Unlike most people who asked for a car or a computer on their sixteenth birthday, Maren, of course, asked for a motorcycle. Maren's family wasn't particularly extra rich, but they were definitely not poor so her parents agreed and bought her a shiny black motorcycle with top speeds of 180mph. Some of Maren's friends would always ask to take it on joyrides, though many opted out after they realized they couldn't figure out how to keep their balance. Maren pulled out the sturdy kickstand with her toe and let it rest in her usual parking spot. She pulled off her helmet and relished in the way her hair didn't stick to the top and yank upwards. Slipping her phone out of her bag, she checked the time and cursed.
"Shit." Maren scanned the school courtyard and sighed as she found it empty. She took a brisk stride through the empty school halls towards her first classroom wondering how she was going to manage to come up with an excuse this time. Seeing as nothing could make the situation worse, she stopped quickly in the girl's' bathroom to take a quick piss. When she opened the door however, she saw one of the bathroom sinks on the end were taken up by Marina.
Marina was a sweet girl whom Maren had occasionally spoke to in class and at lunch. Sadly, something deep had changed within her when her boyfriend Naveen moved away. Maren vaguely knew Marina had tried to keep in contact with him and they were pen pals for a short period of time but one day he stopped returning his letters. Marina, growing concerned, did everything in her power to contact his parents and his friends to ask what had happened to him. She never got an answer until a couple weeks later, both of Naveen's parents arrived at Marina's door in person and tearfully spilled the news that Eight had gone missing. It was all very dramatic and hardly seemed real, but the following days melted into weeks which in turn easily slipped into months until it had been a little over a year and Marina was never the same. Most of her friends didn't know how to react and Maren watched from afar as Marina slowly fell into an icy loneliness where the people around her didn't know how to react.
That was almost a year ago. The Marina that stood with desperation in her dark brown eyes seemed stronger and further along the healing process than the last time Maren had seen her. However, there was still the slight trembling in her fingers and the tensed shoulders from the pain of grief. She glanced up barely as Maren pushed open the creaking door. They made eye contact, and Maren held her ground as she did when people attempted to stare her down, but Marina was different than most others. She showed no signs of looking away, and Maren curiously observed Marina's irises, which had darkened from the translucent, easy-going hazel color to a deeper, chocolate brown in just the past year. Realizing what she was doing and cursing at herself silently, Maren dared to break eye contact first.
