The Prologue

     Marina was given the title of the town slut — thank the Lord she didn't give two shits about titles that were tossed around.  More than half the tales that circled her name were just rumours, anyway.

     While Marina wasn't favoured by most in the town of Meade, Ohio, she had her mother and that was all she ever needed.  When her father enlisted in the war and left, Marina's behaviour became more reckless — maybe it always was and people hadn't noticed? — although, things only really started getting bad when her older brother, Leonardo, went missing.  Leo and his friend went for a drive one day, Leo hopping into his old pickup truck became the last image she ever had of her brother.

     She missed him every day, but then months passed and the cops still hadn't found nothing, and life seemed to go back to normal.  Marina got a job, which ironically, she took more seriously than school, and started seeing her mom less.  More months went by and Marina barely had a relationship with anybody, except maybe her history teacher Miss Ellie who was always praising Marina for how smart she was and told her that she hoped more than anything that Marina would eventually muster the courage to leave Meade and do something great with her life.  But Marina always brushed it off.

     "So," Marina slammed a glass of chocolate milk down in between a young boy and his father.   They were out for their weekly Friday night dinner, nothing out of the usual.  Marina wore her work apron but didn't do her hair that day, leaving it in its natural wavy.  She wore no makeup either and had been invited to a party later on that night.  "What'll it be?" Marina squinted her eyes at the little boy.

     "It'll be the hamburger," he said, returning the same intensity that Marina showed him.  She nodded while she wrote it down and the boy shared a giggle with his father, who agreed he also wanted a hamburger.

     "Fries okay with that?" Marina asked.  The two nodded.  "Alright, two hamburgers.  Comin' right up," she smiled before turning around and heading to the back to chat with the cooks.  For it being a Friday night, things were kind of slow around this time of the evening.  She leaned against the countertop and glanced at the father and his son in the booth, trying to act like she wasn't letting her mind drift off into dark territory.

     "It's okay to miss 'em," one of the huskier men on the other side of the countertop said while cooking fries.

     Almost everyone at work knew the truth about Marina; she was daddy-less, brother-less, and once even nearly homeless.  People assumed her lack of male figures in her life drove her to sexual escapades — it wasn't like her coworkers didn't know about those either — but Marina liked to think people assumed wrong.  "Shut up," she said, loud enough for him to hear over the grease popping.

     "That's not what you were saying—" he began, cutting himself off when Marina turned her head, sending him a harsh glare.  The two had never hooked up, boss sure wouldn't like that, but once Marina was drunk enough to beg him to take her home for the night and he was decent enough to decline her offer.  Despite this, Marina never wanted to talk about that night again.  Like, ever.  "Right, right," he said to himself, shaking his head as he went back to cooking whatever was in front of him.

     "Am I free to leave now?" Marina wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, setting down a dirty cloth in the bucket of water.  Boss always made her clean her tables before she left.

     He nodded.  "Yup, see you tomorrow."

     Marina smiled, happy he didn't think of any more chores she could complete for the night.   "Thanks."

     It wasn't often in Meade that teens would get to party like this, so when it happened, Marina couldn't resist the opportunity to drink and maybe dance with a stranger or two.  Within minutes of entering the party, Marina was already settling into the vibe, ignoring the stares and obvious whispers from the more stuck-up young girls who were also attending.

     For the most part, nothing out of the usual happened.  Nothing big happened at teen parties in Meade anyways.  The most out of the ordinary person was a boy — a young man — standing in the kitchen of the small house — whoever's house it was  — with his arms crossed and his curly hair covered in a baseball cap.

     "Arvin?  What are you doing here?" The boy turned to her in a frantic as Marina came up behind him.  His stomach twisted slightly like he were nervous like he'd been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be.

     He shrugged, uncrossing his arms and bringing a hand to his face.  It was then when Marina saw smoke emitting from his mouth as Arvin removed a cigarette from in between his lips.  "It's a party, ain't it?"

     It's important to know Marina and Arvin met on his first day of schooling in Meade after he moved up from Knockemstiff, but that's pretty much the only piece of history they shared.  Marina was the stereotypical "bad girl" and Arvin was the quiet kid who kept to himself, so it was no surprise that their paths had never crossed besides occasionally seeing each other around school and church.

     "I just never seen you at one before, that's all," Marina put her hands up in mock surrender with a low chuckle.  "Didn't know Arvin Russell liked to party."

     "I don't," Arvin grumbled, raising the cigarette to his lips again.

     Marina stepped to the side of him, opening the door to the refrigerator, happy when she found a cold bottle of Coke.  "Then I ask you again, why are you here?"

     "Why do you care so much?" he asked as she closed the door, stepping closer to him.  She wasn't a fan of the scent of smoke, but she sure had gotten used to it.  Arvin eyed the girl, the dim lights in the house making it ten times harder to read Marina's face exactly.  Every move she made ended up causing him to be anxious, but that was all part of Marina's game.  She liked seeing which ones cracked under pressure and which ones could withstand her.  

     Marina shrugged.  "Just tryin' to understand you," she answered truthfully.

     "Careful, Arvin.  She might try and hop into bed with you tonight if you're not careful," a blonde girl walked through the kitchen entrance near them, inadvertently entering their conversation.  Marina didn't blame her for the comment, she was comfortable knowing she was the town slut and Arvin wasn't half-bad looking at all.  For all she knew, the random blonde had a crush on him.  Matter of fact, she was surprised he hadn't swooped up any random girl in their class — any of them would be lucky to have a boyfriend like him.

     Arvin Russell was good company, this much Marina was sure.  She had seen him many times accompanying his family to church, sticking up for his sister Lenora at the school and taking her home so she'd be safe from the preying boys of their town.  To Marina, Arvin was a type of hero, disguised by worn-out denim shirts and a dirty used up baseball cap.  Still handsome though.

     "News flash, I don't feel the need to fuck everything that moves," Marina retorted, making direct eye contact with the girl.

     Despite the girl taking a step backwards and lowering her head in sudden embarrassment, she still spoke again.  "Can you, uh, move?" she motioned, trying to get to the fridge for a drink as Marina had.

     "No," she answered simply.  When the girl threw her a look and walked away, Marina finally turned her attention back to Arvin, whose eyebrows were raised in amusement as he had watched Marina from up close.

     "You don't scare me, Marina," Arvin spoke, clearing his throat softly.

     "Oh, I love the way you say my name," she changed her tone of voice, biting her lip as she stared him straight into his dark eyes.  By now, the kitchen area was almost empty, and she was sure no one was listening to their conversation anyways.  God forbid she ruin Arvin's reputation.

     Arvin straightened his posture, refusing to make eye contact with the shorter girl as he scanned the room for something else to focus on, to regain composure.  He hadn't yet thought of sex as a sin, but there was something about Marina that reeked of trouble, and his brain was telling him to make a run for it.  "Nuh-uh.  No."

     "Aw, you're no fun," Marina pretended to pout.  "You don't even know what I was going to ask."

     "Look, you seem..." he trailed, finally making eye contact with her as he racked his brain for the right words to describe this girl he barely knew.  "Look, I just know you don't want me, Marina."

     "You have no idea what I want and don't," Marina stood straight, her left eyebrow arched as if challenging him.  "Do I need to spell this out for you?  You, me.  Tonight."

     Arvin shook his head.  "I don't know about you, but I was taught never to take advantage of girls — especially in a state like this..." he trod lightly, words losing meaning the longer he stared into her puppy dog brown eyes...

     It seemed like she thought about it for a moment before something in her clicked.  "Okay," she simply said, turning her back to him and leaving him alone with his thoughts, a ghost of her presence filling the room but only that; it was like she had never been there at all.  Arvin gulped, unsure what to think, if there were anything to think of at all.

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