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My best friend sat with me as I got ready to go to prom. “Marcie.. I’m gonna look like an idiot, aren’t I?” I sighed in defeat as I tried to tie my tie on my own for the fourth time. “Felix is gonna make fun of me and I’ll never get to ask him to-”
Suddenly I felt a slap on my shoulder. “Nope, shut the fuck up, you’re asking Felix out tonight.” Marcie said, clapping her hands and getting on her tip-toes to help me fix my tie. I bent down a little bit so she didn’t have to do that. “I’m gonna ask Scarlet to be my date, and you’re asking Felix. Do you hear me, Henry?”
I nodded. “Yes ma’am,” I chuckled. “by the way, how are you able to tie ties so well?” I asked, genuinely curious.
She laughed and fixed the tie to be neat-looking but easy enough to remove if needed. “Well, when you’re a lesbian you learn about what gets the ladies goin’, y’know?”
“Nope, I didn’t. Because some boys like the homeless raccoons,” I laughed as well as I looked at my reflection. “ This raccoon’s gonna get a date tonight~!” I smiled, rolling up my shirt sleeves to show my forearms.
Marcie looked at me and shoved me out of the way with a giggle. “Correction, both of these raccoons are getting dates tonight!” She smiled wide as she pulled me back up and we stood together in front of my mirror. “We look so good…” She said.
“We really do.” I smiled softly as we stared at our outfits in silence for a couple minutes. “I hate that this is gonna be our last dance in high school,” I messed with a button on the bottom of my shirt. “Last chance, I guess,” I chuckled. Marcie kept quiet and I didn’t really notice anything different until she started to tear up. I caught it immediately and concern fell over me. “Marcie? Hey…” I wiped a tear with my thumb. “are you okay? Your makeup’s gonna get all fucked up,” I chuckled quietly as she looked at me sadly.
“Why are you still here?” She asked in a sleepy voice. “I’m not even…” Marcie looked pale and tired. “I’m not even alive anymore… Why are you still pretending?”
“Why are you still pretending?”
I looked back in the mirror and stood up again. Except Marcie wasn’t there anymore. “Fuck,” I muttered softly, feeling the tears flood my eyes like water during a tsunami. “Fuck, fuck fuck…” I sobbed quietly and wiped my eyes carefully.
I stood in front of the mirror like I did during our senior prom. Just like I did with my best friend, Marcie James. Just like I did before going to her funeral just weeks afterwards. My door opened to see my now-boyfriend. “Henry...?” He walked in carefully, seeing me with tears in my eyes and my old favorite button-up on. It still had traces of her old perfume that her parents had eventually given to me. “Oh… are you alright?” Felix asked, coming to my side and standing next to me.
I shook my head and looked at him. “No.. I don’t think I am.” I said softly, wiping my eyes again. “Lix, I miss her so, so much.” I said.
He brought his arms around me and sighed softly. “I know you do.” I let out a soft breath and hugged him back.
“I’m sorry.” I said into his shirt, a couple of stray tears falling from my eyes to the soft material of his t-shirt. “I’m a mess, you shouldn’t have to put up with me grieving all the time like this…” I mumbled.
He hummed softly and pulled back slightly to kiss me softly, like I was a thing to be careful around, like I was special and fragile. “Don’t apologize. I miss Marcie too. We all do,” he said softly, pushing back my hair slightly. “We can visit her grave later if you’d like,” he added.
“Okay… but let me change out of this first..” I said, looking at my shirt. Felix chuckled lightly and nodded, kissing my cheek before leaving the room. “I’ll be out in a little bit.” I said.
I changed out of the button up and into a regular t-shirt and hoodie before exiting my room and walking out into the living room where Felix awaited me. “Hi,” I waved and smiled softly. “Are you ready to go yet?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he replied, grabbing his bag and tossing it over his shoulder as he stood up. “Let’s head out.”
- fin.