The last word [Marnie]

[Lucas Blacke]

Hey, could you come to the auditorium?

Could you please come to the room where the music happens?

I don't know what to write down in a message to you so I'm just going to ramble on without sending anything just so I can clear my mind.

He put down his phone on the floor and took place behind the drum that happened to be set up on the stage. He grabbed some sticks and mashed away, not having any rythm in it nor using his ability to remember anything. He was just beating away the doubting part of him. He could message her any way he wanted, she wouldn't mind, right? And even if she did, he knew she wouldn't be able to say no to his question. And knowing her, she'd also see the fact he contacted her as a 'hey, I'm here!' kind of deal. Or she would reply back saying he was an asshole.

He slammed the sticks down on the drum and let them go as he fell forward and slammed his own face onto the drum. Why was this so hard? He never had any trouble contacting her before, so he was stuck wondering what was different. What made this so much harder?

He suddenly widened his eyes as he raised his head in surprise. ''Karalie!'' He yelled out. It was the fact he no longer had a girlfriend. Wait. Did he see her as..? He couldn't have, right? They were apart for a good while now and he had never felt anything before.. Unless what he felt for Karalie at the time overshadowed it. Holy crap what if this was the case?

Marnie get yo' cute lil' butt to the auditorium, please. I need to talk to ya.''

He pressed send without thinking.

[Marnie Sullivan]

When Marnie here her cell phone chirping from her pocket, she let out a small groan of frustration. Her arms were currently laden with several rolled-up posters she had been helping to take down, announcing cheerleading tryouts and other such news. They weren't heavy, but they were long enough to be cumbersome, and Marnie had to do some careful maneuvering to avoid dropping them while she dug her phone out of her pocket.

Oh good grief, it was from Lucas. And he was being awfully informal, considering their last encounter. Sure, maybe his request was totally innocent, but the odds were slim.

Rather than text back one-handed while fumbling with the posters, Marnie hit "dial" and decided not to bother with "hello."

"What do you want, Luke?" she asked, as soon as he picked up. "And you better not say my 'cute lil butt' if you actually want me to show up."

[Lucas Blacke]

As soon as he had sent the message to her he got up from behind the drums and began restlessly walking around on the stage. Lately quite a few things had happened on that stage, and most of them had been good ones. Perhaps he needed to exploit this minor streak of good luck while it lasted by inviting people he liked over to the spot he apparently took a shine to. Maybe it was because there were so many things he could manipulate. The only other place in the school that made him feel like this was his own room, but not many people had seen that. Yet.

He was walking about on the stage, wildly looking around when his phone went off. She was actually calling him instead of simply returning the message. While this was textbook Marnie it irked him a bit, he found it was much easier to convey stuff like this through text instead of speech. Perhaps she had realized this herself and called for this very reason, though in her case he wouldn't have too much of a problem saying stuff he normally wouldn't. But maybe she was just busy and only had one hand to use the phone with, either way it would have taken him by surprise.

He answered his phone after a few seconds of mindlessly looking at the caller ID and opened his mouth slightly as he pressed it to his ear. He was going to say hello but was quickly interrupted by Marnie asking for a reason and a small comment stating he had better not say what he told her in that message.

''And a fine how do ya do to you too.'' He said sarcastically, pretending not to have heard her asking for a reason. ''I'm doin' fine, an' how're ya doin'? Good I assume?'' He continued to joke.

''I wanna talk to ya.'' He finally said after clearing his throat. ''I figured somethin' out.'' Well, he didn't so much figure it out as much as he finally found the required nerve to actually tell her. ''An' I think we need to be face ta face fer that.''

[Marnie Sullivan]

Marnie's lips pursed as she listened to him ramble. She knew he'd heard her, he was doing this on purpose. Typical. Amidst her eye-rolling, she caught a glimpse of a pair of juniors tittering nearby. As Marnie strode past, Lucas yammering in one ear, she realized they were whispering about her - or maybe she was imagining that she heard them repeating "cute lil butt" and throwing in the words "booty call." Either way, Marnie quickened her pace as heat crept into her cheeks.

"So did you figure this out before or after Karalie dumped you?" she groused. Oh yeah, Marnie knew - everyone did. It was hard to keep secrets in a place like Hammel, apparently. She wasn't entirely sure of the details, since the story tended to vary depending on who told it. The last she'd heard, Karalie had called it quite because Luke had slept with half the cheerleading squad. Marnie doubted it, though. She knew a few of the cheerleaders, and they seemed to have better taste.

[Lucas Blacke]

He listened to what she said when he did his part, she didn't have all too much to say except ask when he had come up with this new found information, before or after Karalie had broken up with him. Luke failed to be surprised by this as he was sure the entire school knew by now. Whether they knew the correct story was a question for another time but he was certain he deserved whatever people thought of him.

''After.'' He blankly replied as he let out a sigh that said just how fed up he was with it all. He'd heard people talk about him and Karalie for multiple weeks now and it was starting to get old. Though it was kind of funny to see how many people had heard the wrong version of whatever happened. Some stuff was even flattering to him. Sleeping with Anthy or Marnie or even both at the same time, doing a few teachers here and there. It was fun to hear, not true, but fun none the less. Though if Marnie had heard the same it would explain her hesitance a bit. People would start to call this a booty call. Which.. wasn't all that far from what he had in his mind to be frank.

''I don't really get what this has ta do with anythin'. So she broke up wtih me. Sure, it hurts, but this ain't what I wanna talk to ya about as I think most of Hammel has already done that for me.''

[Marnie Sullivan]

"Just wondering what it is you had to be single to figure out," Marnie replied pointedly as she neared the student council room. There she'd be able to sort through the posters and decide which to throw out and which could be saved.

Marnie wasn't all that worried about sounding accusatory. Lucas had done plenty of damage, he could handle a little blowback. But something about saying it out loud stuck out to her - that even though he'd been dumb enough to cheat, at least he'd refrained from contacting her until he and Karalie were over. Not that it earned him many points. Being a rebound didn't appeal to Marnie any more than being an "other woman" did.

"So what do you want?" she repeated, phone tucked between her ear and shoulder to free up her hand. Thankfully, the council room was empty when she swung the door open and headed inside. She could do without eavesdroppers.

[Lucas Blacke]

He took a seat on the stool by the piano and paused for a moment as his free hand brushed over the keys. What she said wasn't true, perhaps it was to her but he didn't have to be single to figure it out. He just happened to have figured it out after Karalie had broken up with him. He wasn't lying but wasn't telling the truth either, something he had gotten pretty good at.

''Repeatin' the same question over an' over doesn't change my answer.'' He replied to her as he had already said what he wanted. Wasn't his fault she wanted clarification. Though in her defense just wanting to talk to someone about something because you happened to figure sokmething out was pretty vague. ''I still just wanna talk to ya. Y'know, with reactions and words, maybe even sentences and stuff. And if yer gonna ask me to go into detail 'bout what I wanna ask I'm gonna respectfully decline, this is somethin' I don't wanna say over the phone.''

He put her on speaker and placed his phone on the piano, softly playing a tune on the keys. ''So what made ya call instead of comming over? Ya busy or somethin'?''

[Marnie Sullivan]

"I don't need you to change your answer, I just want an answer," Marnie replied, exasperated. What, was she supposed to just come running when he beckoned, with barely a clue what it was about? For all she knew, it could be anything. A confession of undying love, perhaps; or maybe he was terminally ill, or maybe he'd won the lottery and wanted to gloat about what a mistake she'd made in dumping him.

Aggravated, Marnie flung the posters onto the council's round table a little too forcefully, and several of them went bouncing to the floor. Listening to Lucas condescend on the phone did nothing for her mood as she chased after the strays.

"Something like that," she answered, then blowing away a strand of hair that had fallen into her eyes during the scramble. Of course Marnie was busy - it was senior year! "I mean you can't just expect me to drop everything whenever you message me, can you?"

[Lucas Blacke]

She was right to say he couldn't expect that. Truth was that he didn't so why so commented on it was a bit odd, all he did was say he wanted a face to face conversation in the auditorium where he happened to be right now and she knew that because he was playing the piano.. he saw how she could think he expected her to drop everything.

''Now now Marnes, I never asked ya to come over now. Might have seemed that way but I didn't. And here I thought ya knew me better than that.''

Bullshit excuse. He did want her to come right over before he found himself distracted by something shiny. But as she spoke he could feel himself breaking and actually answer her despite saying it was about something he'd rather not discuss over the phone. He pondered his options a bit as his finger silently pressed down on one of the keys continuously before finally inhaling and taking his finger off the keys, planting his hands on his knees.

''Ya want an answer?'' He asked. ''Hold on, here's yer answer.'' He said with joy in his tone.

''I wanna talk about us.''

[Marnie Sullivan]

I knew it! Marnie wanted to blurt out. It was so obvious! He'd even used his old nickname for her, something he'd very deliberately avoided doing the last time they'd talked. That settled it, then - no way was she going. Lucas could just deal with it.

Except...

Sorting through the pile of posters with one hand, holding her phone with the other, something gnawed at Marnie. It wouldn't be that simple, not with Luke. The last time she'd tried to avoid him, he'd found her anyway, and nearly caused a scene out on the school grounds. If she just bit the bullet and got it over with now , rather than dragging out a response, maybe she could avoid a meltdown in front of any other students.

Honestly, when it came to Lucas Blacke, sometimes that was the best one could hope for.

"...Fine," Marnie sighed. "But let me finish this first. And don't get your hopes up, okay?"

[Lucas Blacke]

''Not gonna get my hopes up, scouts honor.'' He replied as he took his phone off of the speaker and put it close to his ear near the smile he'd been wearing right after she agreed to come on over. Sure he'd needed to tell her what for, something he initially didn't want to do but she was one of the few people able to make him do what he did not want. He'd rub her nose in this fact later on, he was sure of it. While she was entitled her counter attacks he felt that this little thing was supposed to be off limits as he wasn't even sure what he wanted to say really.

He knew the gist of what he had figured out, but he wasn't really sure on how to break it to her. Luckily she asked him to at least let her finish what she was doing which gave him some time to flesh out his thoughts, though he had no idea how long it'd take.

What did he want to say? This was at the moment the most prominent thought in his head as he suddenly realized he was still on the phone with her and this little bout of silence would probably result in one of them hanging up. So, finally he just said what he thought was best at the moment.

''An' I'm sorry for tellin' ya like this. Not my intention.''

[Marnie Sullivan]

"Not gonna get my hopes up, scout's honor."

She doubted it. Lucas sounded a little too happy on his end to be bracing himself for unwelcome news. Marnie almost wanted to call it off right there - maybe she could avoid him after all - but no, it would be better to get it over with. Like ripping off a bandaid, right?

"Bye, Luke." Ignoring his apology in favor of just getting off the phone, Marnie hung up and got to work. It wasn't a difficult job - just throw out the posters whose dates had come and gone - but the prospect of meeting up with her ex was distracting enough to slow her down. Or maybe she was just dragging it out, in the hopes that Lucas would get bored waiting and leave. ...No, she knew better than that.

So some time later, when Marnie approached the auditorium apprehensively, she fully expected him to still be there. Before stepping inside, she paused for a couple of deep breaths. Hear him out, get out of there, she reminded herself. It might not be easy, but it was simple enough. The door creaked when she pushed it open, announcing her arrival.

[Lucas Blacke]

What she didn't know, or did know was that he had grown up around bad news. Okay so he was prone to thinking of himself as Bane in that perspective but he really always braced himself for the worst as he had shown her once before. Or not shown her as much as himself by expecting the worst by hitting that winged guy, or when he cheated on Karalie, or when he mucked things up with Axelle, or any of the other people he'd ever met, and the handfull of people he had yet to disappoint in some way.

He let out a sigh as he heard her say goodbye and did the same before hanging up the phone. This meant he had to brace himself for more failure, not that he'd expect anything different though. Failure was pretty much his middle name by now as he had shown himself time and time again, the only thing going for him right now was the fact he had a car. And even that thing was waiting to fall apart with his luck or something.

A few moments passed in which he recapped what he wanted to say to Marnie when the door finally opened and she stepped through. Luke turned his head and, instead of growing a smile at the sight of her like he had thought he would he just told her to take a seat somewhere, he'd just take a chair and sit opposite from her.

As he grabbed a chair and walked towards her he chimed a single thought. This isn't what I had in mind. He had even planned out what he was going to say but just haviing her agree to come over was appaently enough to throw his entire plan off.

''Marn.'' He said sternly as he sat down in front of her and looked her in the eyes. ''I've been thinkin', as ye've no doubt been assuming.'' He hesitated a moment. '''bout us.''

He swallowed and went on to say what he never even thought of, somehow improvising this talk was the way it was going. He didn't agree, but he was sure people would get hurt either way. ''I don't mean us as in let's get back together. We're doin' fine as awkward friends, right?'' He joked with a playful punch against her shoulder. ''But just us. I dunno. Maybe I am sayin' just that.. I really don't know.''

''But having Karalie break up with me has made me really only wanna ask one question though, an' one I think you are best able to answer.''

''Have I changed?''

[Marnie Sullivan]

There was something absurd about Lucas greeting her by telling her to find a seat. As though this were an interview or a business meeting or something. Marnie's such impression was only cemented by the turnaround his attitude seemed to have taken since getting off the phone. The boy appeared much more serious, maybe even a little grim. Instead of arguing, she sat stiffly in one of the chairs that had been left onstage, crossing her arms over her chest and chewing her lip.

"I've been thinkin'.... 'bout us."

Marnie listened, eyebrows furrowed, waiting for Luke to get to the point before she spoke. Even as he insisted he wasn't trying to get back together - the most obvious answer, and the one she'd figured so likely she hadn't really considered other possibilities - Marnie didn't respond. She flinched slightly at his raised hand, and immediately felt a sting of embarrassment when she realized he was only playing. What had she expected, that he'd called her here to attack her?

...Well, at one point she might have. Enough that she'd feared for Karalie's safety and gone to Dr. Neville about it. But that was months ago and so far, even as outlandish as the rumors surrounding Luke had gotten, those fears hadn't been realized. And right now he just wanted to talk. Hold it down, Marn. She didn't want to panic and bail before learning what this was about.

"Have I changed?"

...That was definitely not the question she'd been expecting.

Marnie's eyebrows threatened to disappear into her hair, as high as they'd risen in surprise. She looked a bit like a startled fish, mouth opening and closing as she struggled for an answer.

"Changed? I-I don't..." she stammered. What kind of question was that? They'd barely spoken for months! And, sure, for some reason the Hammel rumor mill did its best to make sure Marnie couldn't escape Lucas' dirt getting shoved in her face. Most of it, though, was awfully unflattering. As far as she knew he hadn't beaten anyone up lately, but what was she supposed to say? 'Well you're apparently a cheater and a flake but hey, at least you're not violent'?

"...I don't know," Marnie answered after several moments. Truthfully. "I guess I'd like to think so, but... to be honest, Luke, the stories I've been hearing... I kind of doubt it."

[Lucas Blacke]

Holding his breath in expectance at her answer he kept on looking at her as if she was going to tell him how long he had left, and were it slightly earlier she would have been. Though he was out of the danger zone that was his own mind for the time being, he still dealt with the remnants of his dark period and he would find most of it resurfacing with most comments he'd take the wrong way. And more often than not he'd also lash out for little to no reason. So when she flinched at him playfully punching her in the shoulder he didn't look all that much into it as he knew he would be capable of doing more with less of a reason.

''Leave it to Hammel to ruin lives, right?'' He replied after a while with a fake smile on his face as Marnie gave her answer, that she hoped he had changed but the stories she heard made her think otherwise. What stories? The stupid ass rumors around campus which held no substance but could ruin you all the same? ''I figured as much.'' It was a rhetorical question at least, he knew he hadn't changed. He had wanted to but as with everything it'd go good for a while before finally fucking it up and going back to square one.

With a sigh he calmed himself down, figuring that his reputation had been ruined before that. ''Can't have 'em all I 'spose.. Shame ya rather take those stories for the truth than hear my side.'' He wasn't guilt tripping her in any way, he wasn't trying to either way. Not consciously. He had been stuck wondering how to convince people he'd been trying to change if people kept telling these stories about him and there always was someone around taking them for truth.

He shrugged lightly, maybe there was some truth in what they said, he didn't know and did not want to find out. He was miserable enough as it was.

''So where exactly do we stand?'' He asked finally. ''Do ya hate me and should we keep our distance or do ya wanna give me a third chance at changing?''