Just Cruising
Marlene woke up early the next day. Her best friend, besides James, was coming back from Louisiana today. She had been planning for weeks, they had a whole day of fun planned. They were first going to go to the local mall. Marlene’s finally convinced her dad to drive them. Her dad hasn’t really got out of the house since her mom ran off.
Marlene got ready for the day. She brushed her pale blonde shoulder length hair and bangs, put on some light natural looking makeup. Mary always says to look good when you go out just in case there is a cute boy. Marlene hasn’t been out in public in two months. She’s been to the beach, the stables, and the grocery store for her dad but not to a mall.
She put on a cropped dark blue shirt that said ‘Texas’ on it in red. Marlene liked to wear cropped tops in summer. It made her not as hot, especially in Texas where the daily average temperature was in the 90s. She also wore some blue jeans with some little rips on them. And to finish her look she of course she wore her white cowgirl boots. Her mom got her these boots for her last birthday. She loved wearing them because it made her feel like she had a part of her with her at all times.
Her phone rang and Marlene leaped across the bathroom and grabbed her phone. She was hoping it was Mary telling her that she was back. But it was James, she let out a little sigh before answering the phone.
‘Hey James, what’s up?’
‘I was just asked if you’re going to be by the stables today. If you aren’t it fine, It’s was just wondering.’
‘Well, I wasn’t planning on it because Mary is coming back tomorrow, but if you need me than I can probably find some time to.’ Marlene answered, trying not to sound disappointed.
‘No! Well, if you want to you can but I was just asking because Sirius asked.’
‘Oh-Why..why was he asking?’ Marlene stuttered
‘He wanted to know when the next lesson was. He’s here right now.’
‘Well, if he’s really worried about the lessons, you can teach him. You would probably do better than me. And he’s just still getting used to riding with a normal saddle, but he knows all the basics’
‘Ok thanks Marls, say hi to Mary for me!’ James said before hanging up the phone
Why was Sirius worried? She had told him yesterday that Mary was coming back today. Marlene told herself not to worry about it right now. She had bigger things to worry about, like making sure she had everything ready for Mary to come back.
It was almost noon now; Marlene was in the living room watching a cooking show that her dad put on. Cooking was a hobby that her dad took up after her mom left. He’s been taking up a lot of hobbies. He started to learn to knit, sew, and even woodwork. Marlene was fine with it, at least he wasn’t crying himself to sleep anymore, like he did when she first left.
A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. Marlene thought it was probably someone trying to sell them something, so she ignored it the first time, but they knocked again. She got up with a sigh. She opened the door thinking she was about to see some middle-aged guy trying to sell them a vacuum. But she was wrong.
When she opened the door, she saw a girl with light brown skin and dark brown curly hair pulled back into a high ponytail with a few little strands out. She was wearing a pink and white dress, and some pink and white cowgirl boots. It was Mary!
But she had someone with her, another girl with bright orange hair and a white visor. She was also wearing a blue shirt and overalls with some light brown cowgirl boots. It was Lily! Lily wasn’t supposed to be back in Texas until Sunday. She was In Hawaii with her family.
“Mary! Lily!” Marlene screamed, grabbing them and gave them a giant hug. They hugged her back with a laugh. “Lily! Why didn’t you tell me?!” Marlene asked when she let go of each other. “Well, I wanted it to be a surprise.” Lily answered. “Well good job. I was very surprised!” Marlene teased.
They stood there for a minute in silence. “Oo! I was just on the phone with James actually! Does he know you’re back?!” Marlene asked excitedly. “No not yet, but Mary was telling me on the way over about y’alls plans, and Mary said I could come. Then we could maybe go down to the stables and surprise him.” Lily explained. “Ya! He actually called me to ask if I was coming to the stables today for Sirius’ horseback riding lessons.” Marlene agreed. “Sirius? Who’s Sirius?” Mary asked, coming into the conversation. “Oh, he’s a boy that moved in down the street. I’ve been teaching him how to ride on Danny’s horse.” Danny was Marlene’s brother that was in college. She couldn’t believe she forgot to tell Mary and Lily about Sirius. They have gotten really close over the last few weeks, well two weeks but she thought they would get closer in the school year.
“Oh, a new boy, hu, is he cute?” Mary asked tightening her ponytail. “Mary!” Marlene said, hitting her on her arm playfully. “It’s a honest question.” Mary shot back playfully. “Okay, let’s go inside, we can talk about this summer, then my dad can drive us to the mall.” Marlene explained gesturing to the door that she just opened.
They all went to Marlene’s room, Marlene stopped by the kitchen to get a few snacks. “Okay, so we all traveled this summer. So, what did we all do?” Mary asked after flopping on Marlene’s bed. Marlene and Lily sat on the edges of the bed and took their shoes off. Lily was sitting crisscross, Marlene was lying on her back throwing her team ball from last year up and catching it, and Mary was lying on her stomach with Marlene’s summer journal.
Marlene wrote down everything that she did in Florida in her summer journal. “Okay, we heard about Marlene’s summer, now it’s your turn, Lils! What did you do In Hawaii?!” Mary asked, closing Marlene’s summer journal. Lily looked up from her phone, with wide eyes. “Any cute boys In Hawaii?” Mary asked, hitting Lily’s knee playfully. “Or good food, or nice stores? It doesn’t have to always be about boy’s Mary.” Marlene added. “Well, there was a really cute boy who asked me for my number, but I didn’t give it to him.” Lily answered, Marlene could tell that something was bothering her. “Did you want to?” Marlene asked, stopping throwing the ball. “Well, ya, but I’m dating James, and that wouldn’t be right.” Lily revealed. “He could have been a little side peace.” Mary said with a cheeky smile. Marlene and Lily looked at her disapproving. “You know I’m kidding.” Mary said rolling her eyes.
“Speaking about James, how has he been?” Lily asked, she was starting to blush. “Well, he has definitely missed you. From what I’ve heard from Peter he’s spent a lot of time at the stables this summer.” Marlene said. “What time is it?” Mary asked. Lily looked at her phone to check the time “It’s almost 1” Lily answered. “Okay I’ll get my dad so he can drive us to the mall then we can hang out there until about 2. Then we can go to the stables and surprise James.” Marlene explained.
Marlene’s dad dropped them off at the mall and the three girls went inside. Marlene hasn’t been to a mall in months, especially not this mall. But she had Mary with her. Mary was almost always at the mall. This mall in-particular. It had tons of shops, two food courts, and a movie theater. It had everything! Mary had gone to this mall to hangout, to shop, to go on dates, she was always at this mall. That’s why Marlene picked this mall, it was Mary’s favorite.
They walked around the mall before deciding to go into ‘Rainbow’ Marlene liked ‘Rainbow’ but it was definitely Mary’s store. Almost all her wardrobe was from ‘Rainbow’. “I only have $50 so I won’t be able to get too much.” Mary said walking into the store already getting lost in all the clothes, shoes, and accessories. “Don’t worry, my dad gave me his card. He said the limit was 2,000!” Marlene told them. Mary’s head snapped to Marlene, with her mouth wide open. “That’s a fuck ton of money!” Mary said still amazed. “We shouldn’t use all of it of course, but we don’t have to worry about money.” Marlene explained. Mary began walking in the store again, getting lost in everything.
Marlene was looking at all the new shirts they had, she would have to get some new clothes for the upcoming school year. Lily was looking at the shoes. Lily always looked at the shoes, but she never got any. Marlene was about to change that. “Get whatever shoes you want, Lils.” She saw Lily’s face light up, she was looking at some cool looking boots.
Mary was looking at the accessories, she was always looking at the accessories. Mary always had the best accessories to all her outfits. “I’m going to make you an outfit for the first day of school.” Mary told Marlene, still looking at all the purses and hats. “What?” Mary turned to Marlene to explain, “Because you planned all this and paying for everything, I’m going to put together the perfect outfit for the first day of school for you!” Mary let out a little excited squeal when she finished. Marlene let out a little laugh before Mary grabbed her arm and dragged her to one of the clothing racks.
Mary pulled off a few different colored dresses from a few different racks before telling Marlene to try them on. Mary was like a ninja she knew where everything was, and what she wanted. It was impressive, riding was Marlene’s talent, shopping was Mary’s. She could style anything!
Marlene came out in a frilly purple dress, she did a little silly pose. Lily was now next to Mary on a little bench, they shook their heads, and Marlene turned on her heal and went back into the dressing room.
The same thing happened another few times with a long pale yellow dress, a shorter tight pink dress, and a sleeveless blue dress. The last dress Mary had picked out. It was a teal, long-flowing sleeved, off the shoulder dress. Marlene loved it as soon as she put it on. And so did Mary and Lily. As soon as Marlene walked out they stood up and started clapping and nodding their heads yes. Marlene did a twirl then a little bowl.
Marlene got the dress, Lily’s shoes, and a bag that Mary picked out for herself. They decided they would go to ‘Clair’s’ just for fun. When they got into ‘Clair’s’ Lily was looking at all the different earrings they had and Mary was looking at all the different headbands and accessories on one of the walls. Marlene was about to go look at the headbands and accessories with Mary when she saw a little girl with long blond hair and blue eyes, and her mom who looked very similar, they were getting the little girl’s ears pierced. The little girl looked to be about 6 or 7, that was the same age Marlene got her ears pierced with her mom.
Marlene could remember how scared she was, but her mom told he not to be, and promised that she would get her the prettiest pair of earrings ever. and they did, they were little pale blue diamonds. Marlene loved them, she wore them every day. After they got ice cream, that was one of her favorite memories. She had a happy family, her mom was there, her dad wasn’t drunk and depressed, and she had her big brother to comfort her whenever she needed him to. But now, she doesn’t know where her mom is or why she ran off, her dad is always drunk because he misses her mom, and her big brother Daniel is at college.
Marlene felt the tears run down her face; she wiped them with the back of her hand before anyone saw her. But wait she had mascara on, even if your mascara is not messed up at all, Mary will still know. Marlene looked up at the ceiling and blinked a few times. Mary had taught her that trick. She always said, ‘It’s ok to cry but don’t let the boys know’. Marlene walked over to the accessory wall where Mary was standing. Mary turned to show her a cute flower headband thing, but her smile dropped when she saw Marlene. “Marls, what happened?” she asked, putting her hand on Marlene’s shoulder. “What?” Marlene asked token back. She knew, Mary knew that Marlene was crying. Mary looked at her with a ‘don’t even start’ kind of face, “What made you cry?” Marlene took a deep breath before answering, “There was a little girl and her mom getting her ears pierced, and it reminded me of my mom.” Mary turned Marlene to her, putting both of her hands on her shoulders. Then she pulled Marlene into a big hug. Marlene hugged her back.
Mary knew more than anyone how much she missed her mom, every night when she cried after her mom left she had Mary. In person or on the phone, Mary was always there. She made Marlene feel comfort, feel stable.
They left ‘Clair’s’ shortly after that, they only bought a few pairs of earrings but nothing else. “Oo! Let’s get pretzels!!” Lily suggested. They were across from ‘Westal Pretzel’ all three of them loved pretzels. They all walked in and looked at the menu until Mary pulled them into the corner of the store.
“Jacob Rotherhide!” Mary began in awe, Marlene and Lily shared a confused look at Mary. “Jacob Rotherhide from school is working here! He is one of the hottest, and most popular boys in school!” Mary explained. Marlene didn’t see what the big deal with Jacob Rotherhide was, he wasn’t really a nice guy, he was actually kind of rude. They ordered their pretzels. Jacob Rotherhide rang them up. Marlene grabbed the receipt from him; she saw something written on the receipt. It was his Snapchat. Marlene looked up at him and he winked at her.
“What happened?” Lily asked when they left the store. “Jacob Rotherhide just gave me his Snap.” Marlene said still in shock. “What!?!?!” Mary said, almost dropping her pretzel. “Ya and he winked at me.” Marlene continued, “oh my fucking god Marlene! The hottest and most popular boy in school just told you he liked you!” Mary squealed . Mary went on about the interaction, telling Marlene to tell her exactly what happened.
After the mall Marlene called her dad. He picked them up around 2, they were just on schedule. Marlene texted James and told him that she was coming to the stables. She didn’t tell him she had Mary and Lily with her. James would love this surprise; he had been asking if Marlene had heard anything about Lily coming home early for the last week. If Marlene was here in Texas, the whole summer James would probably ask her every day. James really loved Lily, and Lily really loved James. They were going to be the power couple this year. Marlene was sure of it.
They all got out of Marlene’s dad’s car and walked towards the stables. They could hear James and Sirius laughing. Sirius probably made a joke about his name. He always did and James always laughed. Marlene, personally, the joke was funny the first few times but now it was getting old, but she was fine with it.
“James!” Marlene yelled out as she caught sight of him. He looked and ran towards Lily. Marlene didn’t think she had ever seen James run that fast in her life. But he did for Lily. He hugged her and lifted her off the ground. He spun her still off the ground. He put her down, but still didn’t let her go. “I missed you too James!” Lily said hugging him tight. “Why didn’t you tell me!?!?” James asked. He wasn’t hugging her anymore but was holding her hands. “I wanted it to be a surprise.” Lily answered, kissing him on his cheek.
“Ya, missed you too, James!” Mary teased, standing next to Marlene. “Oh, sorry, Mary! How was Louisiana?” James asked, putting his arm around Lily. “Good, how was it here all alone?” Mary teased again. “Hey, I wasn’t all alone!” James shot back.
Sirius was still by the horses, he looked like he felt uncomfortable. This wasn’t his place, this was our friend group from last year, before Sirius. “Sirius come over here!” Marlene called. His eyes widened from being addressed. He walked over shyly. “Mary, Lily, this is Sirius. He’s the one that moved in down the street, that I’m teaching to ride.” Marlene introduced Sirius, as he walked over.
“We have heard a lot about you, Sirius.” Mary teased. Sirius’ eyes got big, and Marlene could tell he was feeling uncomfortable. “Mary, stop.” Marlene shoved Mary in the arm. “So, are we going to ride, or going back to James’ house?” Marlene asked playfully. “Oh ya! Let’s go to my house. My mom would be overjoyed that you all are back. We could all have dinner there too, if y’all want.” James offered. They were all in silent debate for a minute before everyone nodded their heads. James, Sirius, Lily, and Marlene put up all the horses that were out.
Lily knows how to ride and take care of horses, but she wasn’t as good as Marlene or James. Well, no one in the area was really quite as good as Marlene and probably James. Lily didn’t care, she enjoyed riding. She had a horse called Chica Linda. She was a tan Palomino; she was a truly beautiful horse. Marlene and James thought if Lily wanted to, she could be just as good as them, but she didn’t want to be. That was fine, to James and Marlene.
They all got into the golf cart. James was driving, Lily was in the passenger's seat, Mary and Marlene were in the back seat, and Sirius was in the back. Sirius was being really quiet Marlene noticed; Sirius was never quiet. He was always telling stories about New York, with his old friends or with his brother, Regulus. Marlene made a mental note to ask him about it when they were alone.
James propped up his phone on the front of the golf cart like he usually does to put on music. He put on a song and Marlene recognized it immediately. “James, really?!” Marlene asked with a laugh. “Yep!” James exclaimed as he turned it up all the way. “Baby you’re a song, you make me roll my windows down and, cruise!” James started looking at Lily. It was ‘Cruise’ by Florida Georgia Line. Ever since they had started dating this had been James and Lily’s song. Marlene didn’t have a problem with the song, it was James, he would be really dramatic with it. It was actually really funny but could be really embarrassing.
“I put it in park and grabbed my guitar and strum a couple chords and sang from the heart. Girl you sure got the beat in my chest bumpin’! Hell, I can’t get you out of my head! Baby you’re a song, you make me want to roll my windows down and, cruise!!” Now Marlene joined in with James. It was just their friends; Marlene wasn’t going to get embarrassed by singing with her friends.
When they to James’ house Marlene realized it almost 3, she turned around still in the golf cart, and asked, “Wait Sirius, what time do you have to be home?!” Sirius was in some kind of trance because he shook his head to clear his mind before answering. “Oh, no, my parents are in Huston for the next few days so I can be out as long as I want.” Sirius answered with a smile.
Everyone was now out of the golf cart and walking into the house, this was her chance to ask Sirius if something was wrong. “Hey, Sirius are you okay? I just mean you’ve been really quiet since me, Mary, and Lily showed up at the stables. Is it about what Mary said? She just teases like that, she did it all the time with me and James before James and Lily got together.” Marlene asked, trying to sound reassuring. “Ya, it’s just-you know… in New York, I had friends that I spent a lot of time with, but then they got girlfriends. Then they stopped hanging out with me.” Sirius confessed with a sigh. “Oh…. Well Sirius, James isn’t like that. I promise. And you still have me!” Marlene answered sounding a little taken back. “Ya, I know, I’ll always have you and James, but it’s just feels a little like déjà vu, you know?” Sirius asked rubbing the back of his head. “Well just know me and James and Mary and Lily and Peter and Remus-wait, where is Remus? I haven’t seen him since I got back.” Sirius shrugged his shoulders and looked away like he was trying to hide a smile or something. “But anyways, we will never leave you. I promise.” Marlene assured him sticking her pinky out. Sirius gave a little laugh before hooking his pinky to hers, and completely the pinky promise.
“So, what were you two doing out there?” Mary teased, as Sirius and Marlene finally came into the house. “Mary stop, don’t be a bitch.” Marlene whispered, passing Mary. Mary’s jaw dropped, and she turned to follow Marlene to the living room.
“You know I’m kidding Marls.” Mary told Marlene sitting on the Potters couch. “I know.” Marlene told her sitting on the couch next to Mary. Everyone else was hanging out in the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Marlene, Mary, and now Peter, that just came in, were in the living room talking about their summers. James, Lily, and Sirius were in the dining room and kitchen with Effi. Sirius wasn’t as shy as he was in the stables or on the golf cart. This made Marlene feel proud, she helped Sirius get over some kind of past anxiety. And she was happy he was having a good time.
“Dinner!” Effi called from the dining room, it was about 6:30 now. They had been going from room to room and talking about their summers and the next school year. When Marlene got to the dining room Lily and Sirius were on each side of James, Mary sat down across from Lily, and Peter sat across from James. The only spot left was across from Sirius, which Marlene was really happy about even if there were other seats open, she would still probably sit there. “So, you sitting here because you have to?” Sirius teased jokingly. Marlene let out a little giggle and kicked him lightly under the table. Sirius let out a little yelp and pulled his leg back. “You need to learn your own strength, Marls!” Sirius said he still had a smile on his face, his Sirius Black smile. Well, it wasn’t really a smile it was more of a grin, that Sirius Black Grin. “I’m kidding I’ve been hit way harder.” Sirius assured her. Marlene didn’t think anything about what Sirius said. She thought he might have gotten into a fight or something in New York.
Effi made chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, broccoli, corn, and her famous dinner rolls. They were all in little conversations while eating, Marlene and Sirius were talking about the competition later that week. “Can I come?” Sirius asked excitedly. “Ya, I was going to invite all of you.” Marlene replied, she loved how Sirius liked riding and how hard he worked to get good. Marlene saw his face light up when he heard her answer. Marlene let out a laugh, and so did Sirius. She loved how pathetic he was being, it was a new side of Sirius that she hadn’t seen before.
“Wait, James where’s Remus? I haven’t seen him since I got back.” Marlene asked a few minutes later. James thought for a second before speaking “Actually I’ve only seen him in person once since he’s gotten back from Philadelphia.” Sirius looked interested in the conversation now, more interested than any other of the conversations that he was brought into during dinner. “I’ve only met him in person once, we’ve placed COD a few times but that’s all.” Sirius added. “COD?” Mary asked now in the conversation. “It’s another nickname for Call of Duty.” Marlene explained to her. “Well, my first competition is on Thursday, and if y’all wanted it come you are all welcome.” Marlene announced to the whole table. The next moment the table broke out into excited chatter and nods, Marlene took that as a yes. Marlene told herself to text Remus about the competition, he probably won’t go because he doesn’t really like horses but it’s worth a shot to ask.