Happy birthday..?

[Lucas Blacke]

Luke was going back and forth in his room as he had finally freed his bed from the poster occupying his space. The boy was restless due to the gone by day.. He'd met up tih karalie, only to stumble upon Marnes. This didn't sit good with him seeing as he response was to bail, she shouldn't have to do that Luke figured. Deep down he realized that all too well, maybe he was just not done caring..

He grabbed his phone from his desk and navigated to the messaging area as he sat down on his bed. He looked up Marnie Sullivan and began typing up a new message.

''Hey Marnie. Foremost, happy birthday. Second off all, sorry for ruining it.''

He sighed internally as he put down his phone for a bit without hitting send. He had quite a long road ahead of him if he was to change, but Karalie, the start, was there. He hoped that at this point Marnie had the patience to wait it out.

''I'm trying, I really am. Please believe me. But aslso realize that I can't change overnight.. I will probably screw up countless more times, but eventually I will get it right. And when that happens, I want us to be friends.''

He hit sent and instantly began a second message.

''But for now, we just need to start at the beginning.
So,, you ready to talk about the awesome stuff you got for your birthday or do you feel like taking a slap at me? I'd gladly be your punching bag if you need to vent.''

[Marnie Sullivan]

backdated July 19th

When Marnie heard her phone chirp for a new message, she considered ignoring it altogether. She had a new book to read, after all, and the battles in its pages felt more appealing than whatever the sender had to offer. After such an awful day, all Marnie wanted was to step into someone else's shoes, even those of a fictional character.

But curiosity go the better of her, and after a few minutes of resisting she opened the message.

Marnie read through Lucas' words several times before heavig a sigh. He certainly sounded earnest enough, but what exactly did that count for when she wasn't even sure he could be trusted? For all she knew, he was planting the seeds for a rebound in case it didn't work out with Karalie.

But he had seemed different today, Marnie reflected sadly. More reserved. Maybe not much, but enough that she couldn't help doubting.

With a flick of her thumb, Marnie scrolled back from the message to the icon she had set to accompany the phone number, a snapshot of Lucas' grinning face. After a long, long moment, she began typing out a response.

Just don't scare Karalie, okay? She's a nice girl.

Send.

The truth was Marnie barely knew the other girl, but the fact was she couldn't bring herself to address Lucas' apology and its caveats. Not when she was so unsure of its legitimacy.

She should just leave it there. They didn't need to start over. They didn't need to be friends...

Another glimpse of his picture, another defeated sigh.

I got some books today. Right now I'm on the one where this girl harnesses the sun to save her country of Fantasy Almost-Russia.

[Lucas Blacke]

Glass broke, slightly irritating Luke. But that only meant that it succeeded in getting his attention. The boy tried to ignore picking up his phone as he was busy going over the past few days in his head. He had been going in the right direction, he knew that much. Maybe smoothing things over with Marnie was something he had to do before smoothing things over further with Karalie, which he actually hoped happened sooner than later.

Funnily enough, as he began turning to his side from his bed ridden position he heard another window pane break as an indication for a message. 2 in a row. Awesome. Just like the good old days. And figuring Luke was just texting Marnie at the moment, and the fact she was just about the only one with his number who actually cared (even if in the past), it was safe to assume both messages had come from her.

He grabbed his phone and tapped on the 'new message' icon that was accompanied by her picture. He read over its contents and saw it was about Karalie being a nice girl. Luke smiled and hit 'reply' and typed up a response.

''Yeah she is. You don't know half of it.''

He hit send and his mind went back and forth between the two girls. Why it did that he didn't know, maybe he wanted them to get along or something.

He read the second message which was a reply to his latter question. And while Luke was slightly saddened the Marnie didn't react to his whole 'being friends' comment but found joy in the fact she took the time to respond to him.

''Ooh! I like women who make a difference! You should try reading the divine comedy someday. It's about a woman who forms the reason for a man to go to hell and rescue her, even if it means him staying in hell for all eternity.''

He hit send and eyed his copy of 'the divine comedy' on the shelf.

''If you feel like trying your hand at that one you can borrow it, if I can have a go at your book. You know, when you're done reading it.''

Truthfully, he had just purchased 'the divine comedy' because there was a game about it.

[Marnie Sullivan]

Something twisted in Marnie's chest as she read his first message, followed immediately by a rush of embarrassment. What did she care if he wanted to gush about Karalie? They were split, they needed to be split, and only that morning she was convinced she was over it.

Still... she couldn't help wondering if Lucas had ever talked about her like that.

But then two more messages arrived, allowing her to focus on something else. Marnie hadn't read The Divine Comedy before, but it was one of those books everyone sort of knew about.

That doesn't sound like a woman making a difference, that sounds like another story where a man needs to save her only he gets stuck in hell and somehow that's her fault

Marnie realized how bitter that sounded as she hit "send," so she hurried to respond to his next message.

I don't think you want to borrow this one, you'd have to read the first book to get what makes the bad guy extra tragic

[Lucas Blacke]

He received a message about 'the divine comedy' being some kind of book that blamed women. Luke smiled and saw the point she was making and respected it, though maybe a bit odd to think about women being the reason bad stuff happens.

''Maybe it sounds like that to you, but to me it sounds like a man loving a woman so much he'd literally go through hell for her.''

He replied and as he hit send he realized he didn't really clear pup all that much about it. But he knew he couldn't if there was any chance she'd ever want to read it and not get spoiled.

''Technically 'the divine comedy' is 3 books. Limbo, hell and heaven. So.. you read 'the divine comedy' and I'll read the book you're reading? After you're done with it, of course.''

''It's actually written in the 13th century by Alighieri. It's a really fun view on heaven and hell. I liked reading it, though a bit hard.''

[Marnie Sullivan]

Still. That sounds like it's more about him than her.

Why was she bothering to argue about this? Marnie wondered as she sent the message off. He was just trying to make conversation. Sure, the connection he'd made between his book and hers was tenuous at best, but that only made him sound like he was trying too hard.

And to be honest, Marnie wondered if it would be worth it to take Luke up on his offer. She wanted to know what kind of woman Dante was so willing to go to hell over.

And I want to finish my book first, she typed out. I think maybe the bad guy's been in love with the main character the entire time, even though you're supposed to think he's lying

This story was more her speed right now, Marnie thought. One where - if she was right - love hadn't been enough to stop the villain from going through with his greedy and nefarious plans. Maybe she wasn't in the mood for hellbent love after all.

[Lucas Blacke]

''Sure, there's more written about Dante than about Beatrice. But you're left with the knowledge that he willingly goes through hell to save his girl.''

Not entirely unlike Luke in the library. He mentally slapped even the slightest idea of that out of his head and went on to read the second message he'd gotten while trying to be satisfied with the talk they were having right now. There was no real sense of hostility from Marnie, but Luke knew that this was only temporary, this was just a veil covering the serious talk they needed to have, he knew.

What she wrote next, even though it was her impression from a book, got Luke thinking. Obviously there was Karalie, but he wondered 'what if'.. What if Karalie was just a stepping stone? What if it was just a.. Get your shit together Luke. Stop being such a dick and quit ruining your own life.

''That sounds pretty interesting to say the least. I like stuff that makes me think.'' He wrote and hit send.

''I'm not good at it, we both know that, but I'm making progress'' He joked and added a winking face.

[Marnie Sullivan]

Reading through his second message, the corners of Marnie's mouth twitched up a bit.

Kind of an understatement, don't you think?

Only after she hit "send" did it occur to Marnie that she shouldn't have. Agreeing that Lucas was bad at thinking wasn't the issue - she knew from previous conversations that the boy could handle a little teasing. The problem was, would teasing turn this into one of those conversations? One of those back-and-forth banters they used to enjoy? What kind of ideas would that give him? Would it even give him any ideas, now that he had Karalie? ...Did she want it to?

God, what a mess.

Sorry. I'm sure you've come a long way.

Better to nip it in the bud, Marnie told herself with a sigh.

[Lucas Blacke]

One message.
Luke had been staring at his phone intensely with the assumption this was a fast moving conversation, that he didn't need to wait 5 minutes before receiving a reply. So as soon as the message rolled in the sound of glass breaking failed to sound since he was already looking at it.

Marnie joked about him being bad at thinking and that made him chuckle, and think. Were they friends? Or had she at least forgiven him? Was she using it as an insult or a counter joke like they had done in the past? Luke began writing up a reply as a second message rolled in. He went back one screen and read the second message.

This one wasn't intended as a joke or anything else, he knew. She texted back that she was sure he had come a long way. Luke's smile failed him, and had no intention of putting up a fake one because he knew she couldn't see it anyway.

''Apparently not long enough.''

He smiled faintly as he re-read his message.

''And that is no innuendo.''