Harbour Lights

"God, Pikachu! When I say thunderbolt, you thunderbolt, damn it. You fucking suck," Adam huffed as he threw the Gameboy down in frustration.

Will eyed the toy skeptically. "Adam, were you – "

"Yes, actually, I was in fact playing Pokémon for the last two hours," Adam interrupted before Will could even ask the question.

"…Oh. And are – "

"No, I am not going anywhere in life."

"Well. I'm glad we settled that, then," Will said. He was in an incredibly good mood today: he hadn't seen Marilyn at all in the past forty-eight hours. "Anyway, what are we doing today?"

"I don't know what we're doing," Adam replied, "but tonight I have a date with Chante."

"A date? Since when do you date?" Will asked with distaste.

"Since I met a super-hot French girl," he replied. "Did you know she has a piercing on her – "

"Actually, I'd rather not know," Will interrupted. "But anyway, man, what am I supposed to do if you're out on a date?"

"I dunno," Adam shrugged. "Chill with Chad or Joe."

Will made a face. Chad and Joe were brothers – twins, to be precise – and were the two other members of their band. Chad was the bassist and Joe was the drummer. They looked exactly the alike but their personalities were polar opposites, and when the two were together they would bicker constantly. "Sorry, I don't feel like being in the middle of one of their bitch fights," Will said.

"Then take out Evie for a date."

"Dude," Will said and cast Adam a serious look. "No."

"Billy, she's your girlfriend," Adam said. "Take the girl out for a nice dinner for once. She deserves it."

"Ugh."

Adam was right, once again. Will got easily annoyed with Evie, and he only dated her because she was nice to look at and a good lay. He only hung out with her in public when it was absolutely necessary and the only time he really appreciated her was when she was naked. It's just that her personality was…well, it was nonexistent. She was too girly, and not in a good way. She listened to whatever the magazines told her and she wore what the celebrities wore; she never did her own thing. Her hair was dyed, her fingernails weren't real, and she wore so much makeup you could barely see the real girl underneath. She was not her own person.

And yet Will was still dating her. At this point, he really could not deny it – he was using her.

But he couldn't feel that guilty about it because she used him, too: she would always brag to her friends how she's dating the hottie of high school, and she would go on and on about how he was bassist in a band and one day he would be rich and famous. She used him to make herself look good. He was a prop to her, a thing that made her feel better about herself.

But she loved him at the same time…at least, she loved him as much as it was possible for such a shallow person. It wasn't much – and it was nothing compared to how much Marilyn used to love him – but it was something. And Will was willing to cling onto that something, even if it didn't mean that much to him.

He would keep Evie around because he knew she would never leave him. Her reasons for staying with him were mostly materialistic, and he knew this, but he didn't care. He couldn't bear to be left alone again and, as irritating as Evie was, Will could trust her. He knew that she wouldn't leave him the same way Marilyn did.

"All right, fine," Will gave in. Evie did sort of deserve it. He used her, and she used him – but she was still a human being and she had the right to be treated like one. Taking her out on a date was the least he could do for his girlfriend. "What restaurant are you guys going to?" he then asked.

"The Windlass," Adam answered.

"The French one? Dude, not a good idea to take a French girl to a French restaurant," Will commented. "The food will probably taste like shit."

Adam shrugged. "Whatever. She said she didn't care where we went. Why do you care, anyway?"

"I was just…uh, wondering," Will said, "do you think that Evie and I could…"

"Double date?" Adam laughed. "Can you really not bear to be alone with the girl for so long?"

"Of course I can," Will answered hastily. "Well…kind of. Maybe. I don't know."

"Whatever, man, it's good with me," Adam shrugged. "As long as you're at least taking her out, I'm fine with it. Besides, it will put her in a good mood; and when Evie’s in a good mood, so am I, because I won’t have to listen to her bitching."

A good boyfriend would have stuck up for his girlfriend…but then again, this was Will. This was the sort of person he had become. He was never like this before Marilyn left him; Marilyn had changed him, had ruined him."Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. And thanks for letting us tag along," Will sighed and he felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. Maybe tonight wouldn't be so bad, after all.

◊ ◊ ◊

"C'mon, ma chérie, please?" Chante begged through the bedroom door.

"I don't want to go," Marilyn shouted, sitting on her bed cross-legged. She still refused to unlock the door to let Chante in.

"It's just dinner," she replied.

"It's a date!" Marilyn retorted.

"It will be fun."

"No, it will be awkward. You'll be all over Adam and I'll just be the third wheel," Marilyn said. "Besides, how did you ever manage to get him to ask you out again? Adam never dates."

Judging by the tone in Chante's voice, Marilyn could just envision the wicked grin spreading across her face. "I showed him my piercing on my – "

"Chante! Ew!" Marilyn screeched. After hearing how ridiculously high pitched Marilyn's voice had just become, the two girls burst out into giggles.

"Just come, Marie," Chante said when her laughs subsided, and the pleading tone had returned to her voice. "Just come to the restaurant. It won't be awkward at all, I promise."

"Yeah? How so?" Marilyn questioned.

"I got you a date, too."

She was shocked and thrilled at the same time. Slowly, Marilyn got up from her bed and walked over to the door. She unlocked it and opened it up a creak, so that she was staring at a thin sliver of Chante's face. "A date?" she asked in a small voice.

Chante nodded enthusiastically. "When I was getting coffee with Adam the first time, we ran into one of his friends, and we started talking…and then somehow our conversation got to the point where we were setting up a time to meet again."

"Wait – a double date?" Marilyn asked incredulously. "You set me up on a double date?"

"Well, not exactly," Chante laughed lightly. "You're not going to be with Adam and me. See, I sort of asked the guy if he would like to go out with you when Adam wasn't paying attention…"

"Woah, woah, woah. Hang on," Marilyn said slowly, and she opened up the door fully so she could stare at her friend in disbelief. "You set me up on a date - without even asking me - with a guy you just met? And you're going to be in the same exact place at the same exact time, but you're just going to ditch me and leave me alone with – "

"In his defense, he is pretty cute," Chante interrupted. "And he was complaining about how he had nothing to do on Friday night, and I felt bad that he was lonely…so I asked if he would like to hang out with you."

"You are absolutely ridiculous," Marilyn scowled.

"Well, I was surprised he actually said yes, since – " Chante cut herself off, suddenly looking ashamed. "I'm sorry," she muttered, casting her eyes to the rug. "I didn't mean – "

"Don't worry about it," Marilyn said shortly. This feeling of being disliked by everyone still stung, but she was finally getting a little bit used to it by now. "I'm surprised, too,” she added sarcastically in spite of herself. “I mean, who would want to hang out with me? It's a miracle that there's a guy in Ogunquit who doesn't hate my guts." Chante made a sympathetic face, but Marilyn ignored it. She didn't want any pity. "Who is this guy, anyway?" she asked, hoping to change the topic in order to lighten the mood. She didn't want to waste any time feeling bad for herself.

"His name is Garrett Banks."

And then Marilyn slammed the door again.

"Marie? What's gotten into you?" Chante asked, startled. She couldn't help but feel a little frustrated that she was forced to speak through the door again.

"I'm not going!" said Marilyn's muffled voice.

"Why not? Is there something wrong with Garrett?"

"Yes!" Marilyn shouted. "He stalked me at every school dance since junior year. And he had the most horrible acne you could ever imagine. How could you ever set me up with him?!"

Chante laughed. "Ma chérie, come on, let's be serious," she said. "You know I have an excellent taste in men."

"Says the girl who's dating someone with blue hair."

"Garrett is not unattractive, I can assure you of that," Chante crooned. "Just give him a shot. Please? I can promise you won't regret it."

"No."

"He seemed like a very nice guy," she continued, "and it would be terrible if you stood him up like that."

"I don't care."

"Fine, then," Chante sighed. "If you don't go, I'm going to tell Adam about that time in Paris when you drank too much and danced in the fountain….without any clothes on." She smirked. "And, judging how this little town is so gossipy, I'm sure everyone will hear of your little nude adventure by morning."

In a flash, Marilyn had sprung up from her bed and had opened the door again. "You wouldn't,"she gasped. That little ‘incident’ had occurred when Chante convinced Marilyn to have a drink (or two) too many. That had been one of the wilder adventures she had had while in Europe. It was not something she would ever, ever do in Ogunquit, which is what made London so different, so…enticing. Marilyn had more freedom there. Of course, it didn’t mean that she wanted her nude endeavor broadcasted to the ears of Ogunquit; they wouldn’t understand. All they would do was judge her.

Chante raised an eyebrow deviously. "Wouldn't I?"

Marilyn just groaned. "What time does the date start?" she asked in defeat.

"Two hours," Chante piped, smiling victoriously.

“And where are we going?”

“The Windlass. I heard the food was fantastic, though I doubt it’s anything compared to what we eat at home.”

“Chante, I don’t know…”

"Come on, darling, let me help you get ready."

Marilyn rolled her eyes and tried to think of the silver lining. Well, if Garrett was still the overly-polite nerd that she remembered him to be, he would be paying for her dinner. That wasn’t too terrible.

Maybe, just maybe, tonight wouldn't be so bad after all.