Love Song (6 page)

Song’s hands bent at the knuckle challengingly, a smirk on her lips. They were playing her own game, and Song was convinced that it was one she had mastered. She crossed her arms, notepad in one hand, pen in the other, waiting for Marceline’s next move with confidence.

Marceline shook her head with a roll of her eyes as she thought of her next charade.

“Don’t get cocky,” she warned, cracking her knuckles.

She cocked one foot back, placing it about two steps behind her and leaned back while stretching her arms out, her hands now modeling. Both hands were balled in a fist, one horizontal, and one vertical. Marceline made a face of concentration, her eyes geared up towards the ceiling. Making slight rocking motions, she made as though she was pulling back, and then being pulled forward a bit.

Song couldn’t help but give a silent giggle. She had to admit, Marceline was pretty good at acting things out. But to her, this was still child’s play. Writing on the notepad, she held it up to Marceline, revealing her answer of, “kite”.

Marceline’s shoulders slumped as she nodded. Song gave a smug smirk, crossing her arms again and waiting for the next go.

Rolling her shoulders dramatically, Marceline made as though she was buckling a seat belt around her waist. A moment later she was walking slowly back and forth, squatting and standing repeatedly. She grinned over at Song as she held her look of confusion, brows tightly pinched over the bridge of her nose. She watched the display for a few more seconds, but was still coming up short. After about a minute of no movement to write on her notepad, Marceline stopped, holding her hands out for a response.

“Nothing? The master has been stumped already?”

Song held out her hand to by her some time, her eyes lowering in wonder as she played through the options for an answer in her head. But she came up blank. Frowning, she looked back up at Marceline, giving a shake of her head. Marceline smiled.

“No? Ferris wheel.”

Song’s frown deepened, not understanding. She’d never been on a Ferris wheel before – or even heard of one. Her head shook in protest, as if to question its existence. Marceline’s brows furrowed seeing Song’s deepening expression of muddle.

“You know, a
Ferris wheel
. The things at the amusement parks that go around. Vertically, not horizontally. That’s a merry-go-round.”

But Song continued to shake her head, not understanding. Marceline’s face fell in realization, her shoulders slumping.

“You … don’t tell me you’ve never been on a Ferris wheel.”

Song gave a sheepish shrug. Marceline scoffed, her hand waving off her nonchalant expression.

“No –
yes
, big deal. It’s a fucking – You’ve
never
been on a
Ferris wheel
?” she asked again in disbelief.

Another shrug.

“No … No, no.
Nope
. This is not going to work. You’ve never … You at least know what an amusement park
is
, right? Please say yes.”

Song, now slightly embarrassed, shook her head again, this time slower, more cautious. Noticing the change, Marceline quickly redirected her taunting.

“You … But we live like twenty minute away from …” she gave a heavy sigh, gripping her hair line and looking over at the clock again. They had plenty of time. “Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do.”

8

              Staring at the Ferris wheel with wide eyes, Song stood at a safe distance away from the conductor that was beckoning for them to come forward to be strapped into the seat. Marceline waved her hand at Song, gesturing for her to come closer, but Song shook her head, looking at Marceline like she had lost her mind.

Marceline had decided to hop on a bus to the nearest amusement park and give Song her first experience. And Song seemed excited enough – until they got there. She’d looked around at all the other activities with eagerness, but once they’d gotten to the thirty-seven year old Ferris wheel, her enthusiasm was nowhere to be found. But Marceline wasn’t leaving until Song took at least one ride.

“Song,” Marceline laughed, stepping over towards her and letting the people waiting behind them take their seats. “Come on. I promise we’re not going to die.”

Song’s eyes snapped from the Ferries wheel up into Marceline’s with somewhat of a glare. Marceline snickered, bending forward a bit to stifle her laughter.

“It’s fun! I swear it is. Come on. Please? I’m right here.”

Song frowned, eyes shifting back in worry to the towering wheel of possible death. She gnawed at her lower lip, weighing her options. Marceline gave a reassuring smile when her eyes met hers again, and Song sighed in defeat. She couldn’t say no to that face.

“Yes? Okay?” Marceline asked in excitement.

Song gave a solemn nod, looking back up towards the contraption as Marceline tugged her along. Having been signaled to their readiness, the conductor waved off the next pair of people, opening the door to the cart and allowing them to step inside.

Following being buckled in, Song’s hand clung to Marceline’s as the wheel spun one section to allow the next group of people to board. The cart shook, making Song gasp repeatedly, her grip on Marceline’s hand becoming vice as the cart rocked. Marceline gave a nervous laugh as she tried to pry her hand from Song’s feeling the sting of her surprisingly strong grip. But when Marceline looked up to see Song’s eyes watering, she stopped, alarmed.

“Hey … Hey,” she couldn’t help but giggle as she reached over to hold onto Song’s thigh. “It’s okay. I promise. What is it? You don’t like heights?”

Song gave a nod of her head, just having the opportunity to have the realization that she didn’t. Her eyes nervously glanced around the cart, continuously looking down before jolting back up. Her grip on Marceline’s hand began to tremble as the cart swayed again in its upwards movement. She flinched, and Marceline moved closer to her, not wanting her to, in a worse-case scenario, fall out of the cart.

“Hey,
hey
. Song. Look at me. H – Look at me,” Marceline demanded, getting Song’s jumbled attention. “You’re okay … Have I ever let anything happen to you?”

Song gave a tense shake of her head as Marceline gave a comforting smile.

“Right? So I’m not going to start now. Breathe. Look at me. Just look at me.”

Song sighed, trying to steady her breathing to comply with the request to calm down. She gasped, her hand gripping the bar that held them in the cart when it swayed in motion again. She wanted to cry, the anticipation of the ride starting almost being too much to bare. Her eyes watered, and Marceline’s hands immediately went to cup Song’s face, pulling it towards her. She let her forehead rest against her collarbone, one hand coming to wrap around her back.

“Shh … Okay. Close your eyes,” Marceline cooed as the ride finally kicked into gear, sending them higher and higher. Her chin came to rest at the top of her head, her hand rubbing her back soothingly as she felt her tremble. “I got you.”

Song’s arms wrapped around Marceline’s torso with everything she had, making Marceline grunt from the pressure. But she took it, knowing that it would comfort her. About five minutes later when the ride began to slow and Song had coaxed herself enough to remain calm, Marceline decided to try again.

“Song … Look.”

Song’s head shook against Marceline’s chest, her grip on Marceline’s shirt tightening from the request. Marceline chuckled, rubbing Song’s back.

“Please? This is what I wanted you to see.”

Song whined, but slowly started turning her head to comply. Peeking through one eye, Song allowed herself the start of the view she had been dragged up to see. And immediately, her attention was captured. Her head turned towards the opening of the cart, her body slowly joining her as she gazed out over the amusement park. Her lips parted in awe as she was taken in by the view, drenched in the breath-taking colors of the setting sun.

After their day spent in the park, trying everything and leaving the Ferris wheel for last, the sun had just started to set, coating the entire area in a brilliantly warm golden glow. Slowly, Song’s hands left Marceline’s torso to grip at the safety bar in front of her, her body actually leaning forward to get a better view.

She’d forgotten how high she was in the midst of her captivation. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips until it was wide enough to see. Being able to see a view like this, it was almost surreal.

“I told you,” she sighed victoriously.

All Song could do was nod as she leaned back against the hard plastic of the seat, not even bothered when the cart swayed in response.

But the process was almost abruptly interrupted when they felt the cart kick into motion again, rotating them until they were back near the ground. Feeling as though she’d been ripped off, Marceline complained to the conductor of the ride.

“Hey, what gives? We barely had any time on it.”

“Sorry, kid. Thunder’s rolling in. We can’t have people on this thing in the rain. Safety hazard.”

“But it’s not even –“ Marceline was cut off by the smack of a rain drop against her forehead. She blinked, looking up at the nearly cloudless sky with skeptical disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Of all days for the devil to beat his wife,” she scowled, looking over at Song, who was looking confused by her phrase of choice. Marceline shook her head dismissively and tugged Song along towards the food court. “Never mind. Come on. We can still get some food before it starts to really rain.”

Song pointed at the sky in almost worrisome question, but Marceline waved it off.

“Nah. It just started drizzling. We have at least like … fifteen minutes. The next bus doesn’t leave for another ten, anyway.”

              Eight minutes later, both Song and Marceline were rushing to get to the bus stop in the downpour. Song was holding onto Marceline’s hand for dear life, fearful that if she wasn’t able to keep up, she would be left behind. Marceline was considerably faster, even in the rain. And she was determined not to have them miss the bus.

“Stupid rain – I can’t believe this,” Marceline complained as she rushed them down the side of the entrance to the park towards the bus stop as the bus was pulling up. “Wait!” she shouted, and the doors to the bus stopped in the middle of their closing to reopen.

There were a collective group of groans from the people on the bus as Marceline and Song squeezed in, drenched from the rain. Marceline thanked the driver as they inched back behind the safety line, Song gripping onto Marceline’s shirt so not to be separated.

“Sorry,” Marceline pleaded in forgiveness. “There weren’t even any clouds. I didn’t think it was actually going to start pouring. I didn’t look at the weather.”

Song placed her hand over Marceline’s thudding chest as a sign of forgiveness, her other hand tucking a few wild, wet strands behind her ear. She gasped at the sudden jerking motion of the bus as it took off, almost stumbling backwards.

But Marceline’s arm jutted out to wrap around her waist and pull her back against her. Song’s arms clutched around Marceline’s torso, her heart now beating just as fast, if not faster, from the near tumble. Marceline chuckled, Song pouting as she tightened her grip, not being tall, or coordinated enough to balance herself against the moving bus and hold onto the railings provided.

“You’re not gonna fall,” Marceline said with a roll of her eyes.

Song continued to look around skeptically, her body shifting with every movement the bus made.

“So,” Marceline huffed, shaking her wet hair from her face and smiling down at Song. “You like it? Not that scary, right?”

Song gave a weak shrug, not wanting to admit that Marceline was right so quickly.

“You’d probably hate the rollercoasters, though. Which is why I didn’t take you on one.”

Song looked up at Marceline, making and snake like motion up and down with her arm to verify what she thought she was talking about. Marceline nodded.

“Yeah, the like, trains in the sky.”

Song’s eyes widened, her face seeming to pale as she shook her head, making Marceline laugh.

“I know. That’s why we didn’t go. Can’t have the mute girl screaming. Might freak some people out.”

Song rolled her eyes, wobbling some as the bus shook.

“Besides,” Marceline added, tilting her neck forward to speak towards Song’s ear. “If anyone’s going to be the first to hear you do anything, I want it to be me.”

Song felt herself blush at the hidden meaning of the words, the back of her hand whacking against Marceline’s side in embarrassment, and making her laugh again. They’d yet to do much with one another, most likely out of a common lack of experience and shyness. But Marceline hadn’t been shy about flustering Song. In fact, it was one of her favorite pass times.

“Fucking disgusting,” came the grumble of an old man sitting a seat or two away from them.

Song’s face fell, but she didn’t turn around to look at the man. She’d heard it. Marceline heard, and she was shooting daggers into him, looking over Song’s head. Three other people were making similar expression as the man as they eyed them, some talking amongst themselves about their opinions. Marceline frowned, glaring towards the lot of them, but looked back to Song when she felt her grip on her torso tighten in discomfort.

She was already paranoid as it was about what her family would think about her and how she felt about Marceline. She almost hadn’t realized that other people might pose the same threat. She hid her face against Marceline’s chest, and Marceline wrapped one of her arms around her waist to comfort her in response, choosing not to say anything to the man despite her better judgement.

              Closing the front door behind her, Marceline could see that Song was still feeling the sting of that man’s words. She rubbed the outer side of her arms as she stood idly in the living room, already having taken her wet shoes off. Marceline did the same before approaching her, turning her around to embrace her.

“Hey … That guy was full of shit. There’s nothing wrong with … Us. There’s nothing wrong with this.”

And while Marceline was still thoroughly confused about how her feelings came to be, she believed that. However unlikely it was, it happened, and she was going to stick by it.

But Song didn’t look up. She was lost in her own thoughts. She was wondering what her parents would do if they found out about what she was doing. About where she was tonight. What would they do? Would they forbid her from seeing Marceline? She winced at the very real possibility. She looked up to Marceline with already grieving eyes, making her frown and rub her hands against her chilled arms comfortingly.

“Hey … Don’t worry about them. Come on. We’re both gonna be hacking up a lung if we don’t get out of these wet clothes.”

Marceline walked over to one of the small pantries for the downstairs bathroom, opening it and throwing Song a towel, before taking out one for herself.

Song caught it with a flinch, nodding in agreement.

“Bathroom is to the right of my room. You can shower first. I’ll be up in a little bit. You like hot chocolate, right?” Marceline asked with a smile as she made her way to the kitchen.

Song nodded again with a small smile of appreciation. She was grateful that Marceline wasn’t in the same mindset. It gave her something to emulate. A reason to be strong – hopeful. Turning around, she made her way up the stairs to the bathroom. Fearing her parents wasn’t a reason to hold back with Marceline.

If anything, it was a reason to enjoy every moment with her like it was going to be her last.

              Walking through the doorway to her bedroom, Marceline hummed softly to herself, a smile on her lips as she scratched her towel against her now damp and stringy hair. She rubbed it against the scalp, trying to quicken the drying process.

“So I have hot white chocolate, and regular hot chocolate. Which –“

Her towel slumped in her hand when she looked up, startled to see Song’s partially nude figure standing by her bed.

She had a towel wrapped around her body – though not enough of it to stop Marceline’s eyes from traveling. Her long, wet strands of hair clung to her neck, back, and shoulders. She had her bag on Marceline’s bed, and was going through it for her clothing. She’d stopped when seeing Marceline enter the room though, who was now regretting having done so.

Song merely stood as Marceline fumbled over her words and actions. Her eyes were having a hard time deciding where to look, and her mouth was having an even harder time deciding what to say. Until finally, she decided on an apology and a swift turn around to face the hallway outside.