Marley was in a tough spot. She felt stupid and conflicted. Henry was right about one thing. He did have a reason to be jealous of Trevor. Trevor was everything Marley wanted in a guy, but she still didn’t know him. Sure they talked and they hung out, but Trevor seemed secretive at times like there was something that he was hiding. Henry was never secretive; when he was upset, Marley knew it. Henry was like an open book, easy to read. Trevor was harder to figure out. Both guys were so different, but they each had qualities that Marley loved.
Marley never thought she’d be in the middle of a love triangle. In fact, she could never understand them before, but suddenly, they made perfect sense. Love wasn’t as easy or simple as it had always seemed to Marley. Henry and Trevor were both great, but Marley couldn’t have both. She had to choose. Thus, she felt trapped in the middle of a love triangle, balancing her feelings for both guys. She was hurting Henry by spending time with Trevor and hurting Trevor by staying with Henry. It didn’t make sense to Marley. She had never had a problem deciding what she wanted before. Marley had her whole life planned out perfectly, but when it came to love, she couldn’t figure anything out. Marley didn’t want to hurt anyone, but she couldn’t spare everyone else’s feelings and ignore her own.
Choosing a guy wasn’t all that different from choosing a new purse. Purses are each different, colors, different prices, different shapes, and different sizes and though a girl can like both purses, buying both isn’t always in her budget; so, she has to make a choice: the functional or the pretty purse; the plain or the patterned purse; the black or the pink purse. Henry or Trevor. She had to choose one or risk losing both. Above all, Marley didn’t want to be alone.
“Trevor?” Marley asked as they waited in line for the Ferris wheel.
“Yeah?”
“Tell me about yourself.”
“What do you mean?” Trevor asked, not sure what Marley wanted to know.
“You’re just mysterious and I want to solve the mystery.”
“Well, Nancy Drew, there isn’t much to figure out.”
“You just seem so secretive.” Besides the part about his cheating mother, Marley felt like she didn’t know much about Trevor’s personal life. She wanted to know more. She wanted to know what made Trevor tick.
“Secrets run in the family, I suppose.”
“Tell me one.” Trevor shook his head. “Please.” Marley begged, pouting a little.
“Fine,” Trevor sighed. “Believe it or not, I used to party a lot. I got a little crazy sometimes.” So, there was truth to what Henry had been saying about Trevor.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that all before. That’s not a secret, Trevor. Though, you don’t seem like the partying type.” Marley commented. “Just saying.”
“I’m not. It was more a peer pressure kind of thing. You know my friends would go. So, I would go too. Things went too far sometimes. It’s so easy to get hooked to alcohol when life gets tough and because of that, people get hurt”
“Were you addicted?” Marley asked quietly. Marley didn’t want to bring up bad memories, but she was too curious to let Trevor’s comment go unexplained. Marley needed to know what it meant or else the comment would echo, ruminating in her mind until it drove her crazy.
Trevor became contemplative and his eyes became clouded like he was about to cry. “No, not addicted just overindulgent, but I had a friend who was an addict. He had a terrible home life and was struggling at school. So, he turned to the bottle. He drank all the time. Anything he could get his hands on, he would drink, but it was never enough. He always wanted more. So, we went to a party on night and just kept drinking. Later that night, he died of alcohol poisoning. I was too drunk to do anything about it. Everyone was. So, Kevin just died and we all watched it happen. He was on the floor and I thought he was just messing around, but by the time I figured out that he wasn’t, it was too late. He was already gone.”
“I’m so sorry, Trevor.” Marley said sympathetically.
“It’s in the past, Marley. It was terrible, but I’m a better person now. I’m no longer that spoiled brat who only thought of himself.”
“I’m glad you’re not that kid any more, Trevor, because I like how you turned out.” Then Marley said under her breath, “Yes, I like you a lot.” There was still a lot that Marley didn’t know about Trevor, but he was opening up to her and that made Marley so happy.
Marley recalled the kiss between her and Trevor. When she kissed Trevor, she felt something that she never felt with Henry. She thought she should confess to Henry about the kiss, but she didn’t think that would be a good idea. Henry would just get angry and probably go punch Trevor or something. That kind of conflict was unnecessary. Besides, Marley didn’t want to tell anyone about the kiss. That had been a special moment that should stay between her and Trevor. That kiss was theirs and only theirs.
Marley felt like a puppet when she was with Henry. They always did what Henry wanted. In their relationship, Henry was the decision maker and mostly, his decision was final. It was a rare occasion when Marley stood up against Henry and when she did, they always had a big fight. If Marley stayed quiet, they wouldn’t fight. Everything was peaceful if Henry got his way. So, Henry usually got his way. When Henry was mad, he became impatient and cruel. So, Marley was constantly trying to avoid making Henry mad.
“Do you want to go to Keebler’s Bar with me tonight? Black Hawk is playing tonight.” Henry asked Marley one evening after her shift. Black Hawk was one of Henry’s favorite bands. Every time Black Hawk played, Marley and Henry went. It could be tedious to Marley, who didn’t especially like the band, but it made Henry happy. So, Marley usually went. Marley made sacrifices for Henry because that’s what people did for the ones they loved. Though, Henry never seemed to sacrifice for Marley, but Marley ignored that problem. She simply pretended that it didn’t exist. In Marley’s mind, everything was perfectly fine, everything was alright.
Marley sighed. She wanted to go with Henry. Things had been especially rocky between her and Henry in the last few months. More and more, Marley got angry at Henry. She was usually a very patient person, but lately, she had been snapping at Henry more than she would have liked to admit. So, going to the bar would have appeased Henry and smoothed over the bumps in their relationship, but Marley couldn’t go, she already made plans with Trevor. Henry would certainly hate that. If saying no wouldn’t make him angry enough, mentioning Trevor would make Henry explode.
“I can’t, sorry.” Marley said, biting her lip. Henry didn’t take no well. He never had.
“Why not? This is really important to me.” Marley had to stay strong. She couldn’t let Henry guilt trip her. They went to hear the band play at least once a month. They could miss this one time. Or Henry could find a friend to go with. Marley had to remind herself that Henry would forgive her if she said no. Saying no wasn’t wrong. It was her life and she could say no if she wanted to.