or strangers. valentino !
Apr 23, 2020 19:00:28 GMT -5
Post by ✨ zozo. on Apr 23, 2020 19:00:28 GMT -5
e l e n a ;
"ella no tiene que preocuparse
e acostumbró a estar sola. "
It's kind of fun, having a secret.
I mean, the anxiousness isn't great. I never liked butterflies, certainly not in my stomach. And to be honest it's not like Marley is a secret - everyone around here knows about him. It's just not everyone here knows we're friends. I know it's silly to hide friendships, that most people would scoff at the idea that my parents have to approve of who I spend my time with. And I kinda get it, you know, it is sort of silly. But....
I can't explain it, it's just sort of how my family works. If you know, you know, y'know?
The worst part of having a secret is juggling it all. Dodging Marley's questions about coming over for dinner, "Hey let's hang out at your house" "Oh now's... not a good time hey let's go to the lake!" is on loop, I'm a broken record. "Where were you today Elena?" "With..." choking on my roast potatoes, "Jemma!"
Jemma doesn't exist. Well she does, I did go to school with her. Think I went to a few birthday parties at her house as a child. All I actually know about her is that she's blonde and she had a dog once and she's on the approved list of people I can talk to because her Mom worked at the Justice Building and her Dad worked hard, I guess, I could never really work out the criteria. But Jemma is a name I can use to shut Mom up with. A decoy imaginary friend.
"She has a dog, did I tell you?"
and Mom will just look at me funny, go back to not giving a shit about my life outside of appearances. I'm sure Jemma is great and all but she doesn't make me laugh like Marley. She doesn't squint up her eyes when she grins like a goof, she can probably ride a bike without crashing into a tree, she doesn't dare me to do canon-ball bombs into the river with all my clothes on. She doesn't have a step-Mom that bakes with me or a sister that lets me borrow her clothes when I sleep over on the couch or slip into a mud puddle in fall. She doesn't make me feel like there's a life outside of parties and my sister and Papa's business.
She doesn't make me feel safe.
Nobody does except Marley. Not even my own parents.
I'll just eat my potatoes and ask for Papa to pass me the gravy, "please," stare at my peas like they're the most fascinating thing on the planet and try not to make my nervous bouncing knee underneath the table so obvious.