Marilyn tapped her foot, anxiously looking around. 

"Oliver said to meet him in the cafeteria… where is he? I can't find him anywhere…" 

She stood alone against the wall of the cafeteria, watching dozens of students pass by her. 

Laughing with their friends as they walked, and going to sit with even bigger groups of friends… 

It was something she never got to experience. She would always eat at a table alone or, if she was lucky, she'd be able to sneak to her secret hiding slot towards the side of the school and eat there.

She loved that spot. 

She remembered her and Oliver there the other day, then realized she was still supposed to be looking for him.

Coincidently, she spotted him sitting at a table in the far, far back corner in the cafeteria, hanging out with a group of people.

"Oliver!" She hurried over. 

As she got closer, she slowed down, choosing to walk at a more casual pace. The eyes of everyone at the table followed her until she got there. 

"Uh, hey Oliver."

"Oh. Hey Marilyn." 

"Um… are… these your friends?" 

"Y–yeah. These are my friends."

Shit. Oliver knew he should've realized this might happen.

"Bro, what the hell is she doing here?" One of the guys jeered. 

Marilyn counted 5 of them, including Oliver. They were tall, and had serious looking faces. They all dressed similar to Oliver too, she noticed—baggy clothes, dark colors, long hoodies with lots of space in the pocket area. Even their backpacks were the same: black. 

She noticed the one who looked like the leader of the group—his binder had the name Josh written on it. He wore black everything, but with surprisingly nice red shoes. She secretly couldn't help but fall in love with them. 

"Hey, c'mon, Aiden," Oliver said, "She's…"

I can't believe I'm gonna say this… 

"She's my friend. And… she's… pretty cool, once you get to know her." 

They turned to look at Marilyn (though most of them just looked in her direction). 

"Um, hi, everyone," she waved slightly, trying to smile. 

She had a bad feeling about this whole situation… and she couldn't help but wonder why… 

An awkward silence followed. Her greeting was never repaid. 

Josh scoffed. "What kind of bullshit is this, Oliver? A joke? She's been a nut job since middle school, and now what—you two are buddies? What the hell do you think you're doing hanging out with her?"

"Come on, bro, don't be like that—she's pretty cool."

The group burst into hysterical laughter. 

Marilyn could tell it was mean laughter. She'd heard it a lot before. 

Josh sobered up, and looked at Oliver demeaningly. "Bro, no she's not. Haven't you seen the shit she's been doing?"

"Bruh, wasn't that the same chick who was going around in middle school, asking if people wanted to be demons?"

They snickered. 

Oliver looked at Marilyn, who stood there awkwardly. What's this girl been doing all these years?

Oliver looked at his buddies, all snickering at Marilyn’s expense. Except for Josh, who stood there coldly. 

But… did he blame them? She was strange, and it was weird as hell for him to ever hang out with her… 

"Lay off, guys," he said, meeting Marilyn’s eyes. He couldn't just let her stand there and be ridiculed, so he walked over to her. 

Josh shook his head.

"Oh, wow. Oliver's got himself a new girlfriend, guys."

"She's not my—!"

"Then tell her to get the hell out of here! She can go hang out with the other losers in the bathroom for lunch."

Oliver couldn't believe this was happening… but he knew he couldn't go back on what he said to Marilyn. He just wanted to smooth the friction. 

"No, man—I can't. I promised I'd hang out with her and, if nothing else, I'm a man of my word."

Josh scoffed again, getting more annoyed. 

"Listen, Oliver—we're not hanging out with this freak-show. If you wanna sit down and trade blood samples with 'bat-shit crazy' over here, go ahead. But go do it somewhere else." 

"Josh, look, it's no big—"

"Look, Oliver—it's simple. If you care about this damn mental-ward patient so much, then leave. But you can't have both."

"Y–you're making me choose?" 

"Dude, we're not gonna stand for this shit. So you gotta choose—the boys, or her."

Oliver racked his brain, trying to find a solution to this. They were delinquents, sure, but he also like hanging out with them. He'd known them way longer than Marilyn. And… they helped him through some shit. 

Marilyn, on the other hand, was just a lonely girl who wanted someone to sit with. Sure, she was weird, but she seemed nice enough. Plus, he'd already gave his word that he'd sit with her. 

Maybe he could just sit with her today, and th—

"Oh, but Oliver—if you go with her, then we're done."

"Done?"

"Done. You're done getting the shit. Comprende?"

Oh shit… oh shit! I can't live without that!... oh fudge, whatdoido……?

Meanwhile, Marilyn noticed the obvious tension between the two of them. She saw Oliver's face, deep in distress. She may not have had the full picture of what was going on… but she knew these were his friends, and that she was messing everything up for him. 

This whole time, she'd just been messing everything up for him. 

She chased him around the schoolyard, she made him miss his first day of school, she made him super uncomfortable, she embarrassed him in front of his friends and classmates… she even messed up his hair.

All I've been doing is messing everything up for him… and now he's going to lose his friends because of me… 

She didn't want to burden him anymore. She turned and walked away, head down.

I… guess it's back to being alone, again… 

Oliver noticed Marilyn leaving, and couldn't help but feel relief poured over him. 

"Looks like she got the message," Josh said. 

Oliver looked back, and saw she was gone. 

He thought he would feel fine—he didn't even have to solve the problem anymore, she solved it herself. 

But he didn't. He didn't feel better. 

Watching her walk away like that flooded him with the memories of being kicked out of his parents house. He could see it all in her—the pain, the longest, the abandonment… 

Everything he felt when he was kicked out… all the pain… 

Shit… why does it feel so bad?? I hate this feeling so freaking much… 

His mind forced those memories and emotions back up from their suppression… Marilyn must've felt exactly how he did… 

No… I can't leave her alone like that… I can't let her go through what I went through… the feeling's too painful… 

He looked up at Josh. 

"Screw you, man!" Oliver shot up and turned to walk away

Everyone was shocked by his sudden change, and Josh grabbed his shoulder, whipping him back around. He held onto his collar. 

"Hold up, gimme a damn second, Oliver. You mean to tell me that you're gonna give all this up, just for some stupid hoe??"

"Yeah, I am. What of it, douche? I'm not just gonna stand here and watch her slip into the same damn hole that led me crawling to you in the first place. You're bullshit isn't worth it!"

Josh seemed to calm down. He put an arm on Oliver's shoulder, saying, "You sure, man? You know how much it helps you calm down." 

Everything Oliver was feeling erupted out of him—everything with Marilyn, Josh, his past, the stuff. Reality gave him a cold, hard slap in the face, and Oliver lost it. 

"Get your hands off me!" He yelled, shoving him off. In his mix of rage and other dark emotions, he slammed Josh to the floor.

"We're done, Josh. I'm done with your fake ass "friend" bullshit. I know you're just using me so you can sell that shit to me. Well, I'm f***ing done letting me use me like that, you piece of shit! I'M DONE."

He didn't waste any more time with him—he couldn't. Oliver started running. 

He had to catch up to Marilyn. He had to find her and explain. He had to apologize for being such a dumbass… 

Meanwhile, Aiden and the others helped Josh up. 

Staggering, he muttered in disbelief, "S–so… the rumors are true. They are dating…" 

"Ey, Josh, you good man?" 

He winced, sitting back at the table and trying to shrug it off. "I'm fine, he just busted the hell out of my legs." He winced again, holding his lower leg. "Damn, the f***er hits hard…" 

Oliver continued to run, bursting out the cafeteria doors. "Marilyn! MARILYN!!!"

He started running all over the school grounds, trying to find her, screaming her name. 

"Marilyn!!! You don't have to be alone anymore, I'm right here!!!"

He knew he screwed up… dammit, he knew he screwed up… how could he have been so cold? 

"Dammit Marilyn, where are you?!" 

He stopped to catch his breath, holding on to his knees… and couldn't help but worry where she might've gone… 

Because he knew where he went as soon as he was alone in the world… 

"Dammit, Marilyn," he said to himself, quietly. "I'm not gonna let you go running to drugs like I did… or anything like that… because once you fall into it…

...there's no way out…" 

… damn, what've I done? 

"Marilyn! Where the hell are you hiding!" 

He looked up to the sky, searching for an idea. Instead, he was greeted with a flag, waving at least 20 feet above him.

Wait…

He looked around, realizing he was in the same spot from the other day.

This is where she made me drink her blood… where she jumped off the flagpole and punched the cement wall… 

She's so… weird. But at the same time, she's… 

…

Why can't I help but feel like I did something really stupid? 

He put his head on the wall as a tear escaped his eye. 

How could I be such an asshole… she just wanted someone to be friends with, and now she—

"...Now I lost her…"

"Hey Oliver! Have you ever heard of a thing called a 'cheeseburger', before? They're sooo good."

Oliver whipped around at the sound of her voice. 

"M–Marilyn?!" 

Empty. 

There was nothing there, except for a light rustle coming from a bush nearby. 

Oliver walked over and saw Marilyn sitting contentedly behind it, eating a cheeseburger. 

"Marilyn!!!" He yelled angrily. 

"What?" Her mouth was full and she was sublimely chewing. 

He fumbled for words for a second. "What the hell?? I'm over here, worrying you're about to… worrying about you, and you're eating a burger behind a bush???" 

"Yeah—you want a bite?" 

"No! Marilyn, I—"

He didn't know what to say to her. Oliver was just glad he'd found her. 

"What happened to your friends?" She asked. 

He rolled his eyes and sat down on the floor next to her. "Those bitches weren't my friends. I was nothing but a customer to them. They just used me." 

"If they weren't your friends, then why were you crying?"

SHIT. 

"I wasn't crying!" Oliver furiously wiped his face with his hand. 

"But, I saw you—"

"Well, you saw wrong, Marilyn." 

They sat in silence for a while. 

"Are you sure you don't want a bite? It might make you feel better."

Oliver looked over at her. Her blue hair framed her golden brown eyes perfectly, capturing the child-like innocence she showed in her small acts of kindness towards him. 

She'd even forgiven him for what happened earlier. And now she was still trying to be a good friend. 

"Sure." 

She handed it to him, and he took a bite, chewing it for a few seconds. 

"This is good," he said, mouth full.

Marilyn smiled. "Yeah, I know." 

He continued to chew. 

"Especially with a friend," he said. 

She looked at him, eyes sparkling with a slight smile. "Yeah… it is." 

Oliver took another bite and smiled back at Marilyn. 

He was feeling better already. 

End of chapter 4