ILLICIT BLUES.
03.   ╱ Midnight Breeze

A midnight breeze blew through Marigold's golden hair. The girl, eagerly, moved the stands out of her eyesight. Charcoal painted her fingertips, dusts of it smeared against her cheeks. Black bits had taken their place underneath her nails, filling the empty spot just between the skin and itself. Using the back of her palm to brush away any stray loose strands of hair. The bits of charcoal were starting to disappear onto the page, dusting over the paper.

The view of the glowing ocean, waves crashing upon the sand, brushed onto the paper like it was nothing. A mirror view painted black onto the paper in Marigold's hands. Her legs were nestled against her chest, the sketchbook laying flatly against them while she drew whatever it was that she saw, including the silhouette of her brother───feet in the pool, joint in hand.

    She noticed she had begun to shiver from the cold wind, sweeping against the exposed skin between her shorts and shirt. But she didn't move back inside. She would stay out here for hours, even if it meant she was freezing or melting from the heat.

Her bedroom window was open, a corner of the blanket falling from the roof───the rest covering her legs. Nights like this were the girl's paradise. The ethereal sounds of water crashing against each other, the soft glow the moon had against said water. The sun had fully set and it was dark, a single lantern beside her legs being the only source of light atop the roof.

Susannah was never a fan of her going onto the roof.

But one night as she staggered into Marigold's room to bring her a bowl of soup when she was sick, she saw her sitting there.

Susannah watched her for a moment. The girl hadn't even noticed her at first, a soft smile played against her lips, eyes closed and head drawn back against the concrete wall behind her. Shoulders were slack and face was relieved of any sign of stress. At that moment, Susannah realized that this was her escape, and she wasn't going to take that from her. Marigold felt very thankful for her understanding.

    Truly, it was only a mother's instinct to protect her children, but it seemed the pain of falling was canceled out by the peace of living.

   The sound of the door creaking underneath her brought her away from my thoughts. She peered down at the pool area to see Belly walking out in her black swimsuit. She dived in beside Conrad and Marigold suddenly felt guilty for staring at the girl for too long, looking away when she broke into the water.

Belly resurfaced, swimming toward the boy. Marigold's once peaceful expression began to disappear only to be replaced with a small frown.

Moments like this is when she hated her brother───hated Belly even (which was hard to do). The boy was leading her on, playing into the harmless flirting, but it wasn't harmless. Belly believed it, Belly believed he truly felt for her what she felt for him.

It broke Marigold's heart, to say the least.

She wanted Belly to see that it wasn't her fault, it was her stupid brother's. She wanted to hold the girl when she was crying, make the girl laugh when she was feeling down, protect the girl when she was scared. She wanted to tell her how she felt, but Marigold couldn't.

   "Goldilocks, you still up to go to that bonfire?" Jeremiah questioned, peeking his head through his sister's open window, standing inside her room.

   "Yeah. Here, help me in," Marigold groaned as the boy pulled her through, one hand in his and the other holding her belongings. He laughed as she lazily got pulled back into her bedroom. She slapped his chest at his obvious amusement.

   "You're meeting Lila there, right?" Jeremiah asks, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe.

"Yeah, I'll be out of your guy's hair soon enough, don't worry," she sent a small smirk towards him and he shook his head with a laugh. Marigold knew the boys didn't want their little sister following them like a lost puppy dog. "You sure you don't wanna invite Belly?"

   "I don't think it's her type of thing, plus the moms are waiting for her, especially since you're leaving," he explains, starchy his neck and the girl softly nods.

   "I'll be down in a minute, I've got to get dressed," Marigold breaks the silence, motioning for him to leave.

   "Okay, I'll go get Steven and Conrad," he replied, shutting the door behind him as he left.

Pulling on a pastel yellow dress, flowing mid thigh with shorts underneath───she grabbed her things and left her room. She jogged down the stairs, reaching the bottom just as Steven and Jere were going outside to retrieve her and Jere's older brother. She ran out toward them, smiling at the Conklin girl when she saw her swimming around in the pool, but it dropped when she saw how she was looking at Conrad.

"First bonfire of the summer!" Jeremiah exclaimed as they all burst through the door. Steven and him laughed while Marigold stood awkwardly next to them. She noticed Belly looking at her brother with some type of emotion she couldn't decipher. She suddenly wished they'd been out here faster to hear exactly what they were talking about.

   "Alright, we're totally taking my car. And you're not driving," he said, earning a laugh from himself and Steven.

   "Come on, man. We're leaving. You ready?" Steven asked once the three of them neared the edge of the pool.

   "Can I come, too?" Belly questioned with a hopeful smile. Marigold looked down at her shoes, knowing the answer that would slip from their mouths, and not wanting to be the eyes that met Belly's when they were full of disappointment.

   "Uh . . . No," Steven pretended to think for a minute then bluntly replied.

"The moms are getting everything set up for your movie night," Jeremiah replied, much nicer than the girl's older brother had, which Marigold was very thankful for.

Conrad bid goodbye to the girl and the four of them were off to the bonfire. Although, Marigold couldn't help that guilty feeling in the pit of her stomach as they left the girl.

   "Have fun with the moms!" Steven shouted to the girl.

The boys agreed to drive Marigold, only because they knew she would be leaving them alone shortly after. She was meeting up with Lila, and her new boyfriend, which meant she was going to be no where near the boys───just how they like it.

Raging sparks reflected against her tan skin, legs lying in the sand, arms supporting her upper body. The night darkened around them, enhancing the glow of the orange fire. Marigold admired the fire, watching as the flames fought with each other, pushing against each other. She loved watching fire, it was calming. the sound of sparks flying, and wood burning were euphoric.

"Hey, Max. Can you go get us some drinks?" Lila asked abruptly of her boyfriend, more like demanded. She glanced wearily at the the Fisher girl who was clearly zoned out, hoping the boy would get the hint: he did.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Lila finally broke the silence, bringing her back to reality after her little staring contest with the flames.

"Nothing's wrong." Marigold shrugged, furrowing her brows in confusion at her friend.

"Come on, I know when something's up," She gave a pointed look, not letting this go, to which Marigold mentally cursed.

"Fine, it's───Belly?" Marigold trailed off, glancing in confusion over Lila's shoulder.

"I knew it... Marigold? What are you-?" Lila asked as she noticed Marigold abruptly stand up. She twisted her body, finding her walking toward Belly.

"Oh."

"Belly, what are you doing here?" Marigold asked once she finally caught up to the girl. "And what are you wearing?"

Marigold looked down, noticing the girl dressed in a skin tight pink dress, something Belly has never and would never wear.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here, Marigold? You left me," the girl said, filling that pit in Marigold's stomach with even more guilt. "These bonfires were always for the boys, and you were supposed to stay with me. We were left out together, we had the movie night together, but you just went ahead a left me. You didn't even try to convince them to let me come."

I did, she wanted to say, I did. She begged and begged them but they still said no.

"Bels, I'm so—" Marigold began to say but was interrupted, spotting a boy running up to them.

"Yo, Gas Station Girl," he exclaimed, coming up towards Belly. Who the hell is this? Marigold bitterly thought. How old was this asshole? "Where you coming from?"

"Uh, another party," Belly lied and the Fisher girl cocked a brow at her answer.

Why was she lying?

He went to hand her a beer but she denied. Marigold sighed in relief. "So, uh, you got a boyfriend back home?"

"Steven!" Belly shouted, breaking away from the conversation───avoiding any eye contact with Marigold.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, turning his attention away from the girl he had under his arm to his sister. "And I'm sorry, what───what are you wearing?"

"I invited her. Who the fuck are you?" The older guy replied for her and Marigold couldn't help but roll her eyes, quite dramatically, if you ask me.

"I'm her brother," Steven said quickly after.

"And she's fifteen, asshole," Marigold shouted. Belly turned to glare at her but it that moment she didn't care. This pedo wasn't going anywhere near Belly.

"I'm almost sixteen!" Belly shouted towards him as he walked away but it was no hope. Marigold tried to talk to her but Steven began to pull her away, leaving her to jog behind them.

   "Jesus Christ. Belly, come on," Steven said as they walked.

   "What are you doing?" Belly asked him. "Will you let go of me, please? What are you doing? You're embarrassing me."

   "Steven," Marigold warned slowly, not liking the way he was gripping her arm.

"I'm embarrassing? You're embarrassing," Steven said, ignoring Marigold, who continued to walk behind them, which only made her frustration grow.

"Why am I embarrassing?" Belly begins to get even louder, and Marigold was panicking.

"Steven," Marigold warned louder, but it seemed like a soundproof cage was surrounding them. Nothing was getting through to them.

"Quit embarrassing yourself! Are you kidding me?" Steven said, still continuing to pull her.

"Stop it! Steven!" She yelled, pulling herself from his grip which landed her in the sand. Marigold went to help her up but Belly brushed her off. The Fisher girl slightly frowned.

   "Marigold? Come here," Lila pulled her away from the chaos, seeing Belly start to talk with Conrad.

   "What the hell was that?" She asks, moving to sit down away from the Fisher and Conklin siblings. "What is she doing here?"

   "I───I don't know," she shook her head, leaning against the girl's shoulder.

"Do you want me to get you something to drink?" She asks, brushing her fingers through Marigold's hair which she knew calmed her down.

She shook her head, and Lila could sense something was wrong, it was clear as day. "Mar. Come on, talk to me. What's wrong?"

   "I left her. She's angry at me because I left her. She's angry at me," Marigold mumbled, hugging her knees to her chest, thanking god she wore shorts.

She wasn't sure why this was effecting her so much but it was like her head was spinning and nothing could stop it. She felt nauseous and her hands were clammy. Belly never really got angry at her───not like this. Everything was going wrong. This summer was not turning out to be what she thought. And she didn't doubt that it would continue that way.

   "Hey, it's gonna be okay. Tomorrow morning everything will be fine and you guys will be back to your normal selves," Lila reassures her but she wasn't sure if she really believed her.

This summer is going to be anything but normal.