The beautiful foggy morning had turned a silent storm for me.

"What's wrong?"

Repeating my question didn't make any sense to him. Because Marcus still seemed too lost in his own world of thoughts.

"Marcus?" I whispered out, while putting my hand on his shoulder. He wasn't even blinking until I shook him slightly. "What happened to you?"

"I have a test."

That wasn't the answer, I expected from him. Marcus was clever but equally blunt too. In a parallel world, he would have told me everything without any hesitation. Because I was the only one he talked to.

A gust of wind passed, that made him pull his muffler more on his nose. "Hurry up."

My heart dropped at his words. Was it rejection that I was feeling?

"Loretta, hurry!"

I flinched from his sudden loudness and sighed dejectedly. "Okay."

The journey to school was nothing like the colorful and positive walk I used to have alone before I met this boy.

I missed that freedom.

Because right now, I felt trapped by this feeling of helplessness.

Helplessness of not being able to leave him at this point.

Getting off the bike, we neither exchanged a word, nor a glance. I turned around while holding the strap of my bag. There were very few students standing in the lot talking to each other. But they had stopped to observe the unusual lack of glow on Marcus and my face.

A sudden urge came from inside to look back at the boy I couldn't seem to understand. But I refrained.

He needed time or maybe, he was not even planning to share anything with me.

Shaking my head mentally, I left for my classroom with an empty mind and heart full of dejection.

* * * *

"The winter sucks. I can't seem to get courage to wash my hair even with hot water."

I rolled my eyes at Alyssa's chatter, mentally. It was everyone's headache and no one could do anything about it except for taking a proper bath.

Joan shrugged her shoulders. "It's just this month, babe. With the first week of March, there won't be much cold."

"I can't believe that. I am freezing," muttered Alyssa while crossing her arms which wasn't possible since she had worn so many layers. But soon, her attention was directed to a silent me. "What's caught you? Why are you so quiet?"

"I am bored."

I was telling the truth because from past five minutes, I had been waiting for him to cross the cafeteria to go towards the library or return from it like he would always do. But Marcus was nowhere in sight today. It had started to bring restlessness in my legs.

"Bored? Well, now Marcus' company is more interesting than ours." Alyssa teased me while winking at Joan who smiled in agreement.

I shook my head while looking away at the loudest table in the cafeteria. Ted's gang was hooting as Tabitha had sat on his lap. I looked away before I could get nauseated by seeing them licking each other's mouth.

"It's not that. I am just not myself these days," I said absentmindedly. "I am doing homework. Coming to school regularly and early. I have a boyfriend. What else?"

"You are also not eating." Joan added as we all glanced at my plate where the sandwich and a juice can was untouched.

"Right," I mumbled, passing them the plate. "You guys have it. I am not in the mood."

Alyssa shrugged her shoulders while taking the plate. But Joan won't let go my mood that easily. "What's up with you?"

A round of laughter echoed around and all eyes went towards Ted's table. Tabitha and Ted were erotically fighting over a hot dog. Both trying to eat from their sides and enjoying the attention.

"Dude, they are messy." Alyssa mumbled, while looking at them.

Whatever they were, but I was hell bored and empty. I needed some walk to calm my restlessness. "I am going to washroom," I said while getting up and hanging my bag.

"Wait! Why? You didn't take a single bite. You need to eat this." Joan shrieked lowly, while I shook my head.

"You guys have it. I need to pee." I turned around. "See you at the class."

Hurriedly getting out of the cafeteria, I did get a glimpse of Ted smirking at Tabitha who was wearing a very mini-skirt even in this chilly weather. She had stockings on but what would they do. Wasn't she freezing?

I rolled my eyes and stomped in the corridor. Reaching the library, I had one thing in my mind.

To check if Marcus was fine.

From last night's event, I could guess that there had been some argument between Marcus' parents. Or why would his father leave the house like that? It was very rare when I would see him at his own home.

Pushing the library door, I felt the comfortable warmth. Calmness filled my eyes at seeing books all around in shelves, at the corners, on the tables. Looking around, students had occupied table and some were even having little snacks right under the Librarian's nose who was busy in reading a book herself.

I went towards the shelves, thinking about the subjects that Marcus would be studying here. I didn't even know what was his major. All he knew was Maths and Blackmailing. Or just what he wanted me to know.

Even on the tables, I couldn't see him anywhere. Walking slowly towards the other section they had with individual cabins, I checked each bench for him. But he was nowhere.

Releasing a long breathe at doing this unnecessary search for him, I decided to leave. But a sudden hand on my shoulder made me think otherwise.

Turning around, a familiar face came in sight. Craning my neck, I smiled awkwardly.

"Loretta. Right?"

His dirty blonde hair were coming out of his black beanie. He was tall and had freckles on his nose.

I nodded, still calculating where I had seen him in the school. Was he my senior? In Marcus' class?

"We both attend the history class. Ring a bell?"

My eyes lit up as I suddenly remembered that the boy was actually one of the newcomers this year. The history teacher had praised him once about being good at subject. Unlike me, he was a frontbencher which was why, I never got to observe how cute he was.

"Josh."

He chuckled. "Thank God. Otherwise, I would have felt bad." I blinked questioningly that made him explain, "I am regular here. You don't really come to this place often. Do you?"

"Nope." I mumbled, observing his grey eyes.

He smiled cheekily. "I just wanted to say hi and make an acquaintance with you."

My eyes narrowed mentally. "Oh."

An awkward silence fell and it looked like he wanted to say more. But I remembered something about him from past month. "You have written that poem in the school's last month magazine."

He widened his eyes. "How was it?"

I lowered my gaze, remembering that I had read it absentmindedly while buying a burger from the canteen. "Um, it was nice. About some legacy. Yeah?"

He nodded and suddenly, looked overwhelmed. I felt like I had made his day. But then a glimpse from the summer basket ball match came in my mind. I had seen Josh sitting alone in the audience with no friends to talk. But then, he was a new student.

Why would I always meet the boys who were loner just like me? I now believed the quote, 'You get what you seek.'

It made me feel more dull and the desperation to complete my task risen.

"Um, Josh." He blinked while listening carefully. "Have you seen a guy with specs here? With cream sweater and maroon muffler."

His eyes narrowed as he looked towards the table. "What's his name?"

"Marcus." I said, quietly.

I could see the recognition in his eyes but he still behaved like he was confused. "I don't talk to much people here. Neither I have seen any guy with maroon muffler. But a senior with big books does sit there."

He pointed towards the line of individual cabins. "The one near the window."

It was empty. But a great place to get natural light for studying.

"He would study there and give glares if someone even attends a little call on the other cabins or make any kind of noise. It's like he owns that section. He is also very disciplined. He would have this black diary with him and keep marking in it his schedule or something."

Josh licked his lips as they looked dried. "Introvert but always ready to fight whenever someone pisses him off by a mere noise. One day, he had glared at me when I had by mistake bumped into him."

I nodded slowly while believing it all because that did sound like Marcus.

"But he isn't here, today. Must be sick. Why do you ask?"

I could swear it felt weird. "He's my boyfriend."

One thick eyebrow of his raised in surprise and then both narrowed in disbelief. Josh scrunched up his nose while giving me a judgmental look.

"Oh."

Expected. I smiled tightly at him. "I must go now. I have English lecture."

He didn't say anything and looked lost. I took that as my cue to leave when he suddenly said, "Then who was-"

My heart jolted in suspense and eyes narrowed at him. "What did you say?"

He had opened his mouth to speak but that mouth closed very quickly when his eyes fell on something far behind us.

"There he is."

My head turned in curiosity and started aching in confusion at the sight in front of me.

Marcus walked towards the librarian, startled her by dropping three thick books. She started doing her work on computer after giving him an irritated look.

"See you, later." Josh muttered in my ear while I absentmindedly waved my hand.

"Bye."

Returning the books, Marcus zipped his bag after putting the card in the pocket. Thinking that he was coming only to this side, I hid behind the shelves.

But instead of coming here, he was out of the library room.

* * * *

Two days smiling. Two days sulking.

This was my life.

Cursing at the chilly weather, I stomped towards the parking lot. School was over but the headache from the history class wasn't. And top of it, Josh had started to give me knowing looks as if we were good friends already. But that too failed to distract me from this frustrating saga called 'Marcus Brent.'

That clever thing was waiting for me quietly, standing in this foggy afternoon.

Everyone else looked happy and cheerful. But he was the quietest one, staring at the road and I was the dumb one, concerned about his silence.

Quietly sitting behind him, Josh's words revolved in my mind.

Marcus rode out of the school and soon, we were passing the streets.

"I get that you are full of this boyfriend thing already. We can call it off if you aren't able to say it openly, Marcus." I said, thinking about getting my freedom back. It was high time, I needed to get out of this thing if he wasn't sharing his problems with me like I did.

His moods had started to affect mine and it wasn't good for my mental and emotional health.

I couldn't even comprehend why I was caring about him. I could easily play my old loner self, be satisfied that I didn't have to walk to and from school daily and be chirpy whenever he would remember that he had a girlfriend.

But no. I was digging my heart's grave by getting involved in this wholly.

I needed to slap myself.

Instead of answering me, he kept riding the bike.

"You are being an ass, Marcus."

He took the right turn and kept quiet. It was a deserted street that I hadn't come to before. The houses looked bigger like bungalows and were only two-storey.

"Marcus, I am done with you. Yesterday, you were forcing on me to tell you my problems and I shared them with you. But you are being a moron by being quiet, right now." I said, angrily while looking at an old house that looked like it wasn't painted from years. "We should break up!"

"Get off," he said just as the bike stopped.

I did, hesitantly. Clutching the straps of my bag, I watched him putting the bike on stand while walking towards the old abandoned house. My eyes moved to observe the other houses.

"You can't go in there like that. Someone will notice us and think wrong. . ."

Marcus pushed the little iron gate open and kicked the wooden branches away that were wet because of fog.

"Come."

My nostrils flared at knowing that he was ignoring my anger. But finding no one around in the street, I felt like it was best to be with him than alone here. Getting through the entrance, I observed the old building. Windows were broken, doors were hanging. It was brown from everywhere as if an arson had happened.

"Is it haunted?"

Marcus gave me an amused look while finding a place to sit. It was a rusty iron table. He patted the space near him and for the first time on this day, I felt like I existed. I started walking towards him, minding the shards of broken glasses everywhere.

"I think, it is."

My feet stopped and I looked at him, unsure if I should trust him anymore.

Marcus laughed and shook his head. "I am kidding. It's just an old burnt house. No one comes here. Only ghosts do."

I rolled my eyes while sitting beside him. I took off my bag and put them beside his on the table. "Ghosts like you," I mumbled.

"I heard that."

I chewed on my lip, trying to ignore his gaze on my face. The whole day I was dying to know his thoughts. Now when he was looking at me, I was being a nervous rat. To distract myself, I pulled my leg up and tied the shoelace properly.

Before more silence could kill the time, he finally sighed.

"My sister birthed a baby girl, yesterday."

My head turned on its own accord to see him rubbing his eyes while holding his specs in other hand.

"Congratulations," I mumbled, confusingly. "You have a sister? Real sister?

Marcus looked at me strangely. "You never knew?"

"I never saw any girl going to your house."

A small smile lifted the corner of his lips. It faded as soon as he whispered, "She had ran away, two years ago. Before that she was in another country, studying."

"Where did she go?" I whispered back, feeling shocked by the revelation. I couldn't help but try to imagine a girl with same as looks as of his or his mother.

"She married a guy whom my father didn't accept as an eligible groom for her. Eventually, she ran away."

My eyes narrowed in disbelief. "He wasn't handsome?"

Marcus chuckled sadly. "He was a clerk at some bank in the town she was staying. They dated. It was in summers when she returned here with him. Mom was happy but Dad was furious. He threw him out."

I shuddered, mentally.

"My sister was grounded, you know. They didn't let her leave for last semester. Dad even tried for her migration to some University in our country. But she rebelled hard."

I smiled sadly at Marcus who gave me a soft look. "One day, she tried to call the boy. One of the servants had eavesdropped and complained to Dad. That was the first time, I had seen him slapping her."

I gasped. "What's wrong with marrying the person she loved?"

Marcus gave me a wise look. "Dad had a dream of marrying his daughter to a big businessman. He wanted her to have a luxurious life. He had sent her to study. But coming back with a boyfriend just angered him. Especially, because he was a mere clerk."

"Your father could have helped him get a good job?" I suggested unsurely.

Marcus chuckled humorlessly. "But the status still mattered, Lori. What would have Dad's fellow businessmen said at the wedding? Of course, they would have asked about groom's background and all that shit people care for."

He called me by my nickname.

I kept quiet, not knowing what to stay.

"But like I told, she ran away one night. Police looked for her and investigated. She wasn't found. She had left the country. Last year, Mom told me that Millie had called her. I didn't know if I should refuse her or tell Dad. I just told her to do what she wanted. Since then, Mom had been in contact with her."

I chewed on my lip, removing my glove to loosen my hand a little.

"Last night, Dad caught her talking to my sister. The news of the baby infuriated him further. They fought for nearly an hour until Dad left angrily."

That's how it all happened, last night.

"It's been three years. Can't your Dad forgive her?" I asked, quietly.

Marcus wore his specs back, now looking at me properly. "Dad has earned his respect bit by bit, Lori. The property he deserved in inheritance was conquered by his own brothers. They didn't give him a piece of the land. With the help of a friend, he managed to get jobs from selling newspaper to dry cleaning clothes."

"A recruitment drive happened by this new automobile company and both the friends got the jobs. Five years later, both had gotten promoted. But one extra promotion of my father led to a conflict in between the two."

A dry leave fell from the tree that was in the lawn and rested on Marcus' head.

I lifted my hand to ruffle his hair a little until the leaf fell away. Removing my hand, I saw Marcus looking at my lips.

The sudden realization of sitting alone with him in an abandoned place hit me hard.

"What happened ahead?" I asked, trying to stop the scene from getting awkward.

Marcus had noticed the discomfort on my face as he smirked a little. But the seriousness erupted back on his face. "A robbery happened in the company's building. My father was framed for it."

My eyes widened in shock.

"They fired him. At last, my father temporarily worked for another company for three years. His idea was bought by a big businessman and they together created a new firm. The man had cancer and sold the shares on his name to my father before dying."

"Wow!" I stared at him. "And that's how BrenLee brand became your father's success."

Marcus nodded, releasing a heavy sigh. "My Dad's not an evil man. He is just very strict and believes that money is power. I respect him but at the same time, I hate time for being so worked up all the time. He never smiles."

I smiled sadly.

"Money is power, Marcus. And I don't have money. Your father was staring at me, yesterday. He might be suspicious if something is going on between you and me."

Marcus blinked calmly and pushed his specs a little. "Something is going on between us?"

My heart skipped. Marcus smirked.

"You don't know?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

He smiled cheekily while holding the hand with which I was going to slap his chest.

"I have to carry on his legacy, be his successor. He won't say anything even if he gets to know about us."

I tried to loosen my hand from his. "Are you sure?"

Marcus nodded and left my hand.

"I just don't like it when my mom cries. She never yells, doesn't get jealous and is always positive. Because of Dad's hunger for success, he has been ignoring my Mom from long. She just seems alone all the time. Dad likes to stay back at our farmhouse which is near to the countryside."

"So, it could be convenient for him to go his office?" I guessed.

Marcus nodded with a tight smile. His eyes showed the lack of sleep as the red rays were still there.

"Cursing my sister hurts my father more than any of us. She was his favorite. A brilliant student. But the love story ruined my father's bonding with her," he said lowly.

I wanted to ask him that why he asked me to be his girlfriend then. His father could eat us alive if he caught us alone like this. Though, my parents would be no different.

"It just feels bad that in that big house, Mom and I stay alone. We too aren't that close because of my studies. She misses Dad, I can see it. And when he comes, he behaves like a jerk. But I can't stop respecting him for the struggles he suffered," told Marcus in a firm voice but in a sadder tone. "I miss my happy family. It was fun when Millie used to live here with us."

I stared at him, feeling my hand reaching for his shoulder. "Every family has problems, Marcus. Things will be fine soon. Don't worry. I am sure, your Dad would be dying to see if his granddaughter had his features or not."

Marcus smiled.

My heart swelled.

"Time heals everything," I told the line that I had heard often in TV. "But my damaged hair is an exception."

"They suit you."

Was that a compliment or insult?

Consciously, I pulled the beanie over my ears and wore my glove back. At least, Marcus had poured his thoughts to me and was now smiling. But that didn't mean, he needed to say something that would almost make me jump in fright.

"Can we kiss?"

Shivers started crawling down my spine while the hair on neck raised in alarm. But this heart inside my chest started beating at the speed faster than light. On addition, my cheeks were on fire.

The kissing scenes from all the videos and movies I have seen were flashing in my mind. I closed my eyes and pressed my lips tight. Oh damn!

What would it be like?

Will it be a peck or even French? Will our noses touch? Fuck! Should I ask him to remove his spec-

"If you aren't comfortable-"

"Yes!" It came out as quickly as I regretted it later. Because, a chuckle left his mouth. His eyes looked brighter.

Before I could drown more in embarrassment and change my decision, his woollen-gloved hands reached for my cheeks.

My eyes closed on their own accord when his warm breath tickled the whole of my face. A pair of lips touched mine, making my heart dance in excitement. Partly, because it was happening.

And partly, because it was French.

______

"What do you think?"

I thought, I would give an early update to surprise you all.

Please do vote and comment if you like it. (Silent readers, please.)