“Sorry, man. I didn’t know.” Thad said holding his hand up in surrender, not wanting to be punched. He turned to Marley, “Bye, Beautiful.” The statement made Henry even angrier and Thad knew as much. Henry looked like he was going to rip Thad’s head off, but he restrained himself. Thad gave Marley a wink, stood from his stool, took Marley’s drink from Henry, and walked a couple seats down the bar, giving the drink to another lonely girl.
Henry sat down in the abandoned barstool. “Marley, he could have put drugs in your drink and date raped you or something.” Henry said, scolding Marley. His voice still seemed angry and his fists were still clenched.
“Thad was a good guy. Besides, you were like ten feet away, Henry. I think you would have noticed if I was leaving the bar with some guy and by the way, not all guys need to roofie a girl to get sex.”
“My point is that taking a drink from that guy was stupid. If you wanted a drink, you could have just asked me.”
“Fine, next time I will.” Marley said through clenched teeth. It was all Henry’s fault for abandoning her in the first place. Henry had no right to be angry at her.
Henry sighed, his anger fading. “I’m just worried something will happen to you.” He said, taking Marley’s hand in his own.
Marley matched his sigh. She couldn’t stay angry at Henry. It was a stupid fight. No one was to blame. It was just a misunderstanding, that’s all. “I know that, but I’ve told you before that I can take care of myself. So, I just need you to let me do that.” Henry said nothing, but he nodded to show that he understood. Marley smiled to herself. Once again, everything between her and Henry was perfect. Together, they could handle any situation.
It was finals week and Marley had a heap of knowledge that she was trying to shove into her head. She needed an escape and Henry was there to give her just that. At around six o’clock that day, Henry knocked at Marley’s door. She hadn’t been expecting him, but it was very sweet. Literally so, Henry had brought Marley cookies. They were her favorite, oatmeal raisin. This was an especially kind gesture because Henry hated oatmeal raisin; so much so that he normally got angry whenever he saw Marley eating them. Henry handed the cookies to Marley and sat down on her futon. “So, how’s the studying coming?” Henry asked.
Marley stuffed a cookie in her mouth, savoring its sweet taste. With her mouth still partly full she said, “Better now, that’s for sure.”
Henry got a glint in his eye that made Marley think that he was going to scold her for chewing with her mouth full, but he didn’t. Instead, Henry said, “You know, Marley, you really are beautiful.” Marley was taken aback. There she was, stuffing her face, but Henry still thought that she was beautiful. Marley’s heart felt like it was about to explode. Sometimes, Henry could be so very sweet. In those times, he made Marley feel like she was on top of the world. Henry could get angry, but the times when he treated Marley like a princess made up for all of Henry’s flaws. Marley didn’t need perfect. Henry was perfect enough.
Marley plopped down on Henry’s lap, taking a break from the plate full of cookies. “I love you, H. I really do.” She put her hand against Henry’s cheek and leaned in for a kiss. They kissed passionately. Henry didn’t even complain that Marley’s lips tasted like oatmeal raisin cookies. He just kissed Marley, loving her with his lips.
Henry pulled away for a second to say, “I love you too, Marley.” Then, he began kissing her again, more ferociously than before. Needless to say, Marley didn’t get a lot of studying done that night. What she did get was a whole lot of Henry! Marley was sure that nothing could ever come between her and Henry. They had formed a bond that was unbreakable. Nothing could tarnish their love. They could get through anything. Marley was positive of that.
“So,” Marley said to Henry one Saturday. It was mid-June and the semester had ended, but Marley had decided to spend the summer working at the store instead going home for the summer. The money would be nice, but it’d also be cool to be able to spend some more time with Henry. “I was thinking that it might be fun to go to the carnival tonight. We can ride the Ferris wheel and kiss at the top. Then, you can win me a giant stuffed bear at some carnival game. It’ll be really fun.” Marely said excitedly.
“Marley, don’t be so childish.”
“I wasn’t being childish, Henry. I was being romantic.”
He scoffed, “That’s not romantic; that’s an indicator that you’ve read one too many romance novels. Carnivals aren’t actually romantic, Marley. They’re stupid and childish.”
Marley’s face grew red. “You could have just told me that you didn’t want to go instead of being a jackass.”
“Fine, Marley, I don’t want to go. There, are you happy now?”
“It’s too late for being nice, Henry. You’ve already made a jerk of yourself.”
“I just think that it’s time you grow up. We’re adults not six year olds.”
“We can’t go to the movies and we can’t go to the carnival. Well, what can we do? You say that everything I like is childish, but it’s not. Lots of old people go to movies and carnivals. There’s no age limit, you know. You’re the one acting like a child. You can never compromise. All we ever do is what you want. What about me? What about what I want.”
“Why don’t you just go with your bestie, Trevor? That prick will prance around doing all the childish things that you love so much.”
“Trevor has nothing to do with this.”
“Yes, he does. You’d choose him over me any day.”
“I would not. He’d my friend, but you’re my boyfriend.” Then Marley added, “But not for long if you keep up this jealousy.”
“I’m not jealous.” Henry said stubbornly.
Marley scoffed, “Try defending that in court. A jury of dogs wouldn’t believe you.”
“Just because I don’t trust that spoiled prick doesn’t mean that I’m jealous.”
“Do you mind not calling him a prick all the time? Trevor does have a name.”
“Really, because ‘prick’ is the only name that seems to fit him.”
“You haven’t even tried to get to know him. He’s actually very nice. Nicer than you’re being.”
“See? You do like him.”
“No, I just don’t like you when you’re like this.”
“Marley, I’m sorry.”
Marley crossed her arms. She wasn’t ready to forgive him so quickly. She wanted to make Henry suffer for a little while. It wasn’t like he didn’t deserve it, anyway. “I have to go.” Marley said firmly. She couldn’t stand there fighting with him. She needed to get away from or else she’d say something that she’d regret. Marley was mad at Henry, yeah, but she didn’t want to ruin their whole time together because of one stupid fight.