Girlfriend On Mars

4. "Leave me alone"

Four.

"Leave me alone." 

Ever since the day with the shoe, Marley found that Jen was everywhere. Always up on the bleachers when they practised, in science, in the hallway, at the end of the day, and even one time she walked into the bathroom and she was stood there. Marley didn't much like Jen either, she found her intimidating and unreadable. And for reasons unknown to Marley, Jen always spoke to her.

In the hallways, she'd get that silly grin and a 'hi', even an 'are you okay?' once. But every time, Marley would give a short reply and carry on as if she hadn't been invited into conversation. She didn't want her friends to see that she'd been talking with Jen Archer. She knew they'd have something to say about it. She'd heard all the stories about Jen from them, the girls she believed she could trust, the ones she'd known since the final year of middle school. Mya was her closest friend, the co-captain of the soccer team and someone who looked out for Marley always.

Marley was sat out on the bench a few days later, head thrown back, recovering from a long practice. Her teammates were still playing, Mya racing around the pitch in her place. She'd let her top ride up a bit to allow the cool air to reach her stomach.

Soccer was always an option for Marley. Being a captain of an extracurricular club and having top grades was an instant attractor for college scouts—she aimed to keep up with it all so she could get the best college placement at the end of the year. She wanted to get far away from Bank Rock and start fresh, hopefully start heading in the direction of her dream career.

Marley glanced back at the field, watching the girls huddle up, laughing and tossing water playfully. She was way too out of breath to join in. They were linking their hands together in some kind of chant and trying not to laugh.

Marley loved the team, she always enjoyed playing soccer and being the captain. Those hours playing were her hours away from the rest of the world, away from studying and away from home. She wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Not in that point of her life anyway.

The girls had shifted their vision then and Marley had noticed it too from the bench, only a few yards away. Mya was stood up on her tiptoes to peek over a taller girl's head and as soon as she caught sight of what she was looking for, she stepped aside. As did all the girls on the team, creating a part down the pitch between them, like the red sea.

It was then Marley saw Jen striding down the field with purpose, eyes fixed on her now the girls had moved. She was dressed in her usual black jeans with the thick belt snaked around the middle, her grey bag slung over her right shoulder lazily and to contrast the darkness of her colours, she was in a hot pink, skin-tight tee which finished just against her stomach. She looked terrifying to Marley in that moment and the blonde girl knew Jen was coming towards her.

Impulsively, Marley tugged her shirt down, stood from the bench and began to speed-walk away from the pitch. Her heart had started to hammer in her chest again, and it was no longer from the previous hour of exercise she'd done. Her legs moved quickly, straining and ready to leap as she tried to walk as fast as possible without running—though it was already obvious she was running away.

She pushed into the locker room, breaking into a sprint down through the middle of the room until she was in the farthest corner of the block. Why was she so set on avoiding Jen? She couldn't fully answer the question herself. She was afraid of Jen's reputation clouding her own, she was afraid of Jen's confusingly friendly behaviour. It was unnerving for Marley; she didn't know what Jen's end goal was with her—what she wanted.