Girlfriend On Mars

10. "CDs in the car"

Ten.

"CDs in the car." 

In the cool afternoon of a following Thursday, Jen buttoned up her jacket to keep the wind from finding her bare skin. She'd been hanging back due to a missed assignment detention, ready to drive on home and take a nap. But she changed her mind, realising that the soccer club was practising that day and it was fairly cold. She didn't want Marley to be walking home when there was a possibility of rain.

Jen had kept her distance from the soccer club like a grumpy Marley had warned a week or so earlier. She had gone home each day and not even thought about it. The club was a waste of her time anyway, as long as she got her participation mark, she was happy. She needed it to go on her report so she could move on to a good college—though in reality, the idea of going to a good college was well out of the picture. Jen didn't really have any set goals anyway, she figured she'd go from job to job until she died—as long as she was making money.

She despised the idea of marriage, or ridiculous soulmate searching. She didn't hate the idea of love though—she was just uncomfortable with it and strongly didn't believe in it. All pleasure and excitement came from an increase of heart rate, something thrilling, like sex or bungee jumping. Not settling down and dedicating your whole life's loyalty to one person. She had no interest in it, the idea seemed grossly boring and stupid to Jen.

She noticed girls leaving the locker room and making their way across the parking lot, so she lowered her cap to shield her face. Jen was aware that Marley hated talking to her in front of friends. It didn't bother too much in all honesty, her feelings weren't hurt in the slightest. She just enjoyed talking with Marley, making her flustered and seeing her awkward attempts to not embarrass herself in front of the older girl.

Jen smiled to herself, thinking about how things were progressing her favour, how Marley was warming up to Jen and how she was lowering her guard bit by bit. The older girl liked to be around the blonde, she liked looking at her and she found herself wanting to touch her most times, as she would around pretty girls. But Marley was a little different to Jen's usual pursuits; she seemed more worth the wait and the patience. Marley was more delicate.

She noticed an unkempt, blonde mess of hair appear from the door to the locker room. The younger girl had a large bag weighing on her shoulder and she still hadn't changed out of her soccer uniform yet like she usually would have.

"Psst, Rhodes." Jen called, lifting her cap upwards so the blonde could see her face.

Marley turned, noticed her and smiled weakly, waddling over. She glanced around the parking lot and realised everybody had gone home quickly. Her bag was so heavy that it was weighing down on the right side of her body. Marley attempted to smooth down her hair in front of Jen but was restricted by the pressure on her movements.

"Here, let me take that." Jen said gently, gripping the sports bag and pulling it off her shoulder. She immediately felt her arm weaken. "Jesus, fuck, what is in this thing?"

"Class books, clothes, boots, lunch box, water bottle, workout weights." Marley said sheepishly, counting on her thin fingers.

Jen glanced between the bag and the shorter girl. "Forget all that other stuff, why are there weights in there?"

"I wanted to find time to work out after practice, but the opportunity never came." She explained, laughing nervously.

"Right, well, do you want a ride? Might rain soon." Jen offered, already opening the door to the back seat so she could load Marley's heavy bag in.

The blonde nodded gratefully and made her way around the car to hop into the empty passenger seat. Jen closed the back door and copied in getting in. She'd flipped her cap so that it was on backwards, that way she'd see better while driving.

Before driving off, she turned down the volume on the stereo it wasn't excessively loud. Then they drove out onto the street in the quiet. Marley then remembered the CDs Jen had kindly lent her a few weeks before and looked over at Jen, wanting to say thanks again.

"Jen?" She said quietly.

Jen glanced away from the road briefly to look at Marley. "Yes?"

"You remember when you gave me those CDs?"

"I do, yes."

"I liked them." Marley said shyly. "They're in my bag right now."

And she was telling the truth. She'd spent the weekend fishing out the old CD player and thoroughly listening to what she'd been gifted. They were good, even through the rubbish sound quality of the antique headphones she'd found. She'd rewound them and started them again until she felt sick of them. She was pleased Jen had shared it with her, showed her a side of her cool life—even as simple as it was.

"Really? I'm glad." Jen grinned, then she bent slightly to her right to take another in her hand. "Hold on, you might like this then."

Marley sat quietly, hands clasped between her thighs, waiting happily for Jen to play her another song. It was an upbeat, danceable track that filled the car after a few seconds. Jen was biting her lip, smiling widely and body swaying gently against her seat. When the singing kicked in, Jen mouthed along instead of singing. Marley really wanted to hear her voice again though.

Marley just watched Jen's happy, exaggerated lip syncing, feeling her body moving along. She was tapping her fingers in her lap and humming to the music. Jen was encouraging her to let loose, dance a little with her unjudging gaze and her cool smile. As the song progressed, Marley had raised her arms a little, playing along with Jen's playful dance moves. Marley Rhodes was a horribly awkward dancer, but Jen didn't care. She watched the younger girl laugh and move her body in clunky, belt-restricted movements. She admired her even with her unruly hair flowing down the sides of her face, framing her freckled exhaustion. Jen wanted to kiss her, quite a lot.

Marley noticed the car and Jen's sudden stillness and turned to catch her gazing right at the younger girl. She quickly became embarrassed, face flushing a deep, hot red. The song died down and Marley froze, looking sheepishly away from Jen's studious stare.

"Pretty." Jen spoke softly.

Marley turned slowly to look at the still staring older girl. She was surprised by the random blurt of a compliment. Her eyes were round and bright.

"You're so pretty." Jen grinned, gripping the steering wheel in her right hand. The car was stopped at an intersection and Marley wondered how Jen had managed to look at her and drive too. Though she didn't feel any less safe, she felt Jen was a steady enough driver.

"Uhm, thanks, keep your eyes on the road though." Marley squeaked, still unbearably embarrassed.

Jen laughed. "Kinda hard when you're in the car."

"Oh, sorry."

Jen laughed again, gently. "You're forgiven."