chapter 2
cozy cuties 😘😘
marlene!!: WAIT!! guys.
james!!: what now.
marlene!!: ok attitude. i just realized dorcas is going on a date. with a girl. BEFORE ME!!
lily!!: here she goes😒
marlene!!: don’t start, lillian jane.
james!!: SHE FULL GOVERNMENT NAMED YOU 😭
lily!!: james fleamont pottter.
james!!: i love you. please don’t break up with me.
lily!!: mhm.
mary!!: CLOCK IT 💀
marlene!! (replying to james!!): gross
marlene!!: CAN WE GET BACK ON TOPIC PLS!!!
marlene!!: dorcas just came out like two months ago and she’s already on a date 😑
marlene!!: IVE NEVER TALKED TO A GIRL ROMANTICALLY
lily!!: yeah you just dated max sands 💀
marlene!!: YOU SET US UP!! YOU AND JAMES!! in your plan to double date 😒
james!!: hey! he was my bsf.
marlene!!: yeah mine too. until i broke up with him and he became homophobic.
james!!: yeah…
james!!: my bad?
marlene!!: whatever.
marlene!!: moral of the story, i need a gf.
mary!!: no. you need to get over pandora.
marlene!!: ok no need to clock my shit like that.
marlene!!: and i am over her…
mary!!: bitch don’t lie in my face.
marlene!!: ok let me live.
lily!!: no.
mary!!: no 🤗
james!!: no! ❤️❤️
marlene!!: fuck you guys.
Marlene throws her phone on her bed. She has homework to do. And a girl to get over. And music to learn. Fuck.
~•~
The next morning, Marlene wakes up at 7:10. She used to leave her house at 7:10. School starts at 8:00 and she lives half an hour away. Morning rush hour traffic makes the drive to school about 50 minutes. She’s been late to school everyday for the past 6 months.
At 8:23, she walks into piano class. Her teacher isn’t here yet. Of course they’re not. Mx. Aspen Athens is fashionably late everyday. She sets her bag down next to her keyboard. She fixes her hair in the mirror hung on the wall.
“Hello, Marlene.”
“Hey, Regulus.”
“Morning,” exclaims Emmeline. Cheery as ever.
Marlene pulls her sheet music out of her bag and places it on the stand of her keyboard.
“You look extra gay today,” Regulus states.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Marlene snaps back.
“Nothing! I’m loving the baggy jeans with a t-shirt and flannel. Very masc lesbian of you.”
“Exactly! You’re wearing the same thing! Twink.”
“Ok. Not too much.” It’s friendly banter. Marlene and Regulus used to be close but they drifted when Regulus got closer with Dorcas. They still talk almost everyday but it’s very surface level. You wouldn’t expect it but Regulus is a bit of a gossiper and ended up telling Dorcas and Barty some things Marlene told him in confidence.
At that moment, Mx. Aspen burst in. “Good morning, my lovelies!” Their thick accent bleeds into their speech. “You all have your pieces. Get working! Next week we have the recital and we will be performing these solo pieces for Mr. Cra-” They’re interrupted by the door opening.
“Sorry, Mx. Athens.” Dorcas creeps in, shyly.
“May I help you?”
“So sorry. Um we ran out of the cord adapters for the headphones… Do you have any extras?”
“You all do this every morning! Where are your adapters going?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s the freshman,” Sean Jetson pipes up, “They take them or drop them behind the keyboards against the wall.”
“Ugh. Do any of you have an extra adapter near you?” The class looks around each of their stations and they all come up empty. “No?”
“Ok,” Dorcas sighs. “Mr. Cranson’s gonna yell at me,” She sings as she walks out, not closing the door behind her.
“That is not our problem,” Marlene mumbles.
“Ok, enough. Back to work.”
~•~
Marlene walks into the recital hall an hour later. She spots two of her favorite people sitting… rather close. “Emmeline,” Marlene whispers as she comes up next to her.
“Hey, Marlene! Why are you whispering?”
“Shhhh. I don’t want them to hear me.” Marlene nods her head toward Remus and Sirius. “What’s up with them?”
“Oh my gosh!” Emmeline leans in. “ I don’t know! You noticed it too?”
“Yeah! What the fuck is that?”
“They’re both gay, right?”
“Oh yeah. Why are they practically sitting on top of each other?”
“Shit!” Emmeline scurries off to the soprano section. Marlene turns around and finds Slughorn marching in, ready to start rehearsal. Marlene makes it over to her seat quickly.
She thinks about Remus and Sirius. Interesting. Something to occupy her brain while she sings this boring ass contemporary music. God, she hates contemporary music. Why is there a giant piece of sheet metal two feet away from her? Why is she clapping and snapping and stomping? Ridiculous.