Only Fools - Chapter 38: Chapter 38

Me: Fucking bitch.
Margot: What?
Me: You know what you did.
Margot: I do?
Me: You fucking left.
Tears well in my eyes as I glance at the empty space in the bed beside me, but I quickly blink them away before turning back to look at my phone in an attempt to will her to respond faster.
I shouldn't have expected anything different this time.
Margot: Come downstairs dumbass
Furrowing my eyebrows, I swing my legs over the side of the bed before hopping down. I tug on a sweatshirt from a pile of clothes next to my bed before sleepily walking across my room and then proceeding down the stairs and to the kitchen where Margot is standing in front of the stove with her back to me.
"Hey," I say shyly as I cross my arms over my chest.
"Hey," she responds, though she doesn't turn to look at me as she continues to cook whatever she's preparing on the stove. Hesitantly, I drag my feet over to stand beside her and begin to watch as she methodically flips pancakes before sliding them onto a plate on the countertop beside her.
Not exactly sure what to say to her, I begin to set the small kitchen table for the two of us. After a couple minutes of the only sounds being the scraping of the spatula against the bottom of the pan and the clanging of plates as I set them in the table, I sit down in my seat without a word as Margot turns off the burner with a satisfying click and then proceeds to bring the plate of pancakes over to set them down on the table between us.
"These are really good. Thank you," I finally break the silence after I take my first bite of the pancakes.
"You actually thought I just left you?" she asks me.
"I.... yeah?"
"Yeah?"
Letting out a sigh, I shake my head, not knowing what else to say about it.
"Why?" she asks me quietly.
"I just.... I woke up and I realized that I was alone in my room...." I tell Margot quietly.
"So you assumed the worst?"
"I'm really good at it," I respond with a small smile that's very clearly fake.
"You don't have to do that with me," Margot attempts to reassure me, yet I still furrow my eyebrows in response, wanting her to explain herself further.
"I'll only leave if you want me to," she tells me, though it sounds more like a promise.
"Don't do that," I say quietly as I begin to mindlessly push my pancakes around with my fork.
"I just-"
"No. We just started this thing. We haven't even gone on a proper date yet, so don't just try and tell me what you think I want to hear because for all I know you could just decide that you don't like me as anything more than a friend and I'm suddenly cast to the friend zone. Except, it's something much worse than the friend zone because I'm going to be stuck still liking you while you try to ignore it, which creates a rift that we can never overcome," I ramble on anxiously.
"That won't happen," Margot says, shaking her head.
"I don't know that," I counter.
"Then we'll go on a date. I'm both free today and ready to prove you wrong,"
"It's going to take more than one date, Margot,"
"I know, but I figured we should start this thing as soon as possible,"
I smile softly at her words.
"I suppose I could clear my schedule," I tell her with a small shrug.
"Like you actually had anything to do,"
"For your information, so many people will be disappointed that I have to cancel my plans with them. You should be honored," I say as I send a glare at the girl despite my smile never truly leaving my face.
"Yeah? Who are these people?" Margot asks with a smirk.
"Didn't I tell you that I was going to be picking up people at the mall yesterday?" I ask her, tilting my head slightly.
"And didn't you also tell me that you would be my girlfriend last night?" Margot asks me as she quirks an eyebrow. My cheeks flush as I quickly look down and resume eating my breakfast as a way to ignore the girl.... my girlfriend. But it's then that it actually hits me.
"My girlfriend," I voice my thoughts out loud as a smile slides onto my lips.
"Don't get too excited. I can break up with you at any time," she tells me with a shrug that quickly results in her receiving a punch in the arm from me.
"You won't," I tell her rather nonchalantly as I take another bite of my pancakes.
"Yeah?" she challenges me as she raises her eyebrow.
"Babe, you made me pancakes, and I didn't even ask for them. You're whipped,"
"Babe?" Margot asks me as she chuckles softly. Anything I was going to say gets caught in my throat as my cheeks immediately begin to heat up, causing for me to look down.
"Hey, I don't mind," I hear Margot say before she hooks her finger underneath my chin and tilts my head back up so that my eyes meet hers.
The first thing I notice is her eyes twinkling in amusement. The second is the smirk playing on her lips.
"What happened to smartass?" Margot asks me in a hushed tone, clearly meant to tease me.
"Oh, fuck off," I say with an eye roll as I pull away from her.
"You don't really want me to go," Margot says.
"Smartass,"
"There it is,"
A small smile slips onto my face as I shake my head at her.
"So.... what are we going to be doing for this date then?" I ask her before taking another bite of my pancakes.
"It's a surprise," Margot responds with a wink.
"You haven't got an idea yet?" I ask her in return. Margot just rolls her eyes at me as she opts to not respond.
"So I'm right," I say slightly louder than I originally intended.
"I'm not responding to that," Margot states plainly before taking a sip from the glass of water in front of her. I just smirk in satisfaction at her response. Before looking over at her to see her silently typing on her phone.
"Who are you texting?" I ask her, feeling slightly jealous over the fact that I no longer have her full attention.
"My aunt," she says simply, not even looking up from her phone.
"Oh shit. You've been here for a while. Is she just now checking on you?" I ask her as the realization dawns on me.
"No. I've been texting them with updates the past couple days, dumbass,"
"Oh. Right...." I trail off.
"Well, I have to go watch Vivian. I'll pick you up tonight?" Margot asks as she looks up from her phone, prompting smiles to spread onto both of our faces.
"Yeah. Tonight," I agree quietly before Margot stands up and gives me a quick kiss on the top of my head before leaving the room.
I stay frozen in my spot, smiling stupidly at my pancakes until I hear the front door open and then close, signaling Margot's departure.
"My girlfriend," I whisper to myself quietly before I continue eating my breakfast.
————
"Hey, kiddo. I'm home," I hear my dad call to me before the sound of the front door closing echoes throughout the house.
"Hey," I call back from the living room where I'm watching SpiderMan on the couch, trying to distract myself from the nerves and excitement that I'm feeling over Margot and I's plans tonight. Unfortunately, it's not actually helping all that much, as I keep checking my phone every few seconds so that I don't miss any sort of message from her.
"Hey. How was your day?" my dad asks me as he pokes his head into the living room and shoots me a tired smile.
"It's been alright. What about you?" I ask him in return as I turn down the volume of the movie.
"Well, I was at work for most of it, so it could've been better," he responds with a slightly forced laugh.
"What do you mean? I thought plowing parking lots was the most fun job in the world," I say sarcastically in an attempt to lift his spirits even a little bit.
"Really? Then I must not be doing it right," dad says as a real smile twitches onto his face.
"Dang. That sounds like a personal problem," I say with a shrug.
"So, I haven't seen you in a while, kid. What's up with you?" my dad asks as he walks over and falls back onto the couch next to me.
I got a girlfriend.
The words hang in my throat as if I was about to say them, even though I know I never could.
The happiness I originally felt over the thought of having a girlfriend, is suddenly replaced with fear and anxiety. Instead of thinking about Margot and how amazing she is in every way, I can't help but imagine people I've grown to care about turning against me and the trusting relationships I've built falling to pieces.
My dad has never given me any reason to suspect that he wouldn't accept me. In fact, he's given me more reasons to just the opposite. There's always a big smile on his face when he finds out that more progress towards equality has been made for any minority group.
And yet the thought that's left is: what if he feels differently about his own kid?
I've heard too many stories about parents who had originally seemed indifferent on the issue, suddenly turning on their kids because of that excuse. They were fine with it as long as it wasn't in their family.
So I can't do it. I just can't tell him.
"Nothing much, really," I say with a shrug, trying to seem nonchalant despite the war waging on in my head.
"I'm sorry, kid," he says quietly as he looks down at his hands which are intertwined together.
"What?" I ask him, genuinely confused as to what he's apologizing about.
"I'm sorry I have to miss so much because I'm working,"
"It's alright. You know I understand," I try and reassure him.
"I know that. I just wish you didn't have to. It's just.... I've had to take every job I can get since your mom left and-"
"Dad.... I seriously understand. And take my word for it when I say that you aren't missing much,"
"I don't want to miss anything," he says in a near whisper.
"I know.... You wanna watch this with me?" I say as I nod my head towards the television screen in an attempt to change the subject.
"I could probably do that," he says as if reluctant about agreeing before he sinks back into the couch and focuses his attention to the screen as I turn the volume back up, allowing myself to drift back into thoughts that utterly consume me.
Now, not only am I worried about Margot and I's date tonight, but I'm also worried about losing those around me for dating a girl that I really, truly like.
However, my thoughts are luckily interrupted as I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket.
Margot: Don't be mad
Me: Shit. Why did you open with that??
Margot: Because I don't want you to be mad....
Me: Rip it off like a bandaid.
Me: Just tell me.
With a sigh, I quickly call Margot and let my heart beat anxiously as I hold my phone up to my ear. Once it starts ringing, I motion to my dad that I'll be back in a minute and then proceed to hurry out of the living room, up the steps, and to my room where I quickly close the door behind myself.
"Eager to hear my voice again?" Margot asks as soon as she answers the call.
"Fuck off. You were taking too long to respond,"
"So you decided to call?" Margot asks, her voice resounding with amusement.
"You're stalling,"
I hear Margot sigh from the other end of the line and we both go silent for a moment, allowing various possibilities run around my mind, all worst case scenario, with the outstanding being that she's already breaking up with me.
"Shit. I'm sorry, Aspen...."
My breath gets caught in my throat.
"You're breaking up with me?"
"I-what?"
I don't respond because anything that I was going to say keeps getting caught in my throat.
"No, Aspen. I'm actually really happy that you're my girlfriend, believe it or not," Margot says as if she's scolding me for thinking otherwise.
I smile softly at her words and my breathing becomes less shallow than it had been before.
"Then what's wrong?" I ask her.
"I can't go out on a date tonight. Not because I don't want to! Because I do, but...."
"But what?"
"But.... I am not currently allowed to leave my house," Margot states plainly.
"What the fuck did you do?" I demand.
"Hey. You said you wouldn't be mad,"
"Nope. I never agreed to that. What the fuck, May?"
"I.... I got a speeding ticket, so.... I have been grounded,"
"Fucking idiot,"
"You could just call me a dumbass," she teases.
"No. Don't do that. I'm mad at you,"
"You were looking forward to our date that much?"
"I'm gonna hang up on you," I say rather resolutely even though I don't mean it.
"You won't,"
"Yeah? Give me one good reason,"
"Because then I can't explain my new plan for our date tonight,"
"You can't leave the house...."
"That doesn't mean you can't sneak in...."
I dramatically gasp at her words, mostly for effect because I know that I'd do almost anything for this girl.
"So, what's the plan?" I ask her.
"I didn't think you'd agree so easily," she confesses.
"What do you mean? I'm a rule breaker, a rebellious teen, a person who lives on the edge-"
"Delusional?" Margot offers with a small laugh.
"Slander," I gasp.
Margot chuckles at my response for a moment before her end of the line goes silent again.
"So, you wanna hear my plan?"
"I've been waiting,"
————
"I thought I told you to go to the back door, dumbass," Margot whisper yells down to me from the window of her room, clearly peeved after I just threw stones at her window.
"Ok. But this is literally Romeo and Juliet, right?" I respond as I wiggle my eyebrows, though she likely can't see them because of how dark it is.
"Immature teen infatuation that ends in tragedy?" Margot quips back.
"I was going to try and use some lines on you, but I don't think I remember any. Wait, wait, wait. Margot is the east and the sun," I say, completely ignoring her.
"Not even close. Now get to the back door,"
I just smile at the girl before following her instructions and walking over to the sliding backdoor, quickly slipping into the familiar house once I see Margot lead her aunt and uncle into another room. As quietly as possible, I sneak upstairs to her room and only let out the breath I had been holding in when I successfully close the door behind me.
Margot doesn't come in until about five minutes later, but once she does, a smile instantly spreads onto my face. Yet, it's quickly replaced by a frown as I narrow my eyes at her and charge forward before I begin to aggressively punch her in the arm and push her around, though intentionally not hard enough to actually do any damage.
"Fuck you. Slow down on the roads, you asshole," I say as Margot just chuckles before enveloping me into a hug.
"Really living up to the short and feisty stereotype," Margot whispers into my ear, only succeeding in making me angrier with her, though it's not true anger as the joy from being with her is too overwhelming.
"Oh, fuck you," I spit back as I pull away from the hug.
"Slow down. This is only our first date," Margot retorts back, making me roll my eyes at her.
"You gonna have this attitude all night or are we gonna have a nice date?" Margot teases me as I stand before her with my arms crossed over my chest. With a sigh, I try to force the smile away that threatens to spill out onto my lips at the mentioning of this genuinely being a date.
"I suppose I could forgive you so that we can have a nice date," I tell her, trying to make the agreement seem reluctant as I do so.
"Great," she says before giving me a quick kiss on my forehead, "I have to grab something but I'll be right back."
I nod slowly as I furrow my eyebrows, watching her turn on her heel and leave the room she entered just minutes ago. Once the door closes behind her, I take the chance to actually look at the one corner of her room that's always piqued my interest.
There's a mix of art mediums represented from what I can tell, some that I wasn't even aware Margot knew how to do. Among the couple half finished paintings, lie a couple of colored pencil drawings on an open page of a sketchbook and random sheets of paper strewn around her desk with sketches done in what appears to be pen, with lines in different directions pulling the shapes and objects together. The last thing I can see, and the thing that caught my eye first, is the charcoal drawing centered on her desk, half complete, but clearly an image of Vivian in a crown and gown to accompany her "royal status". I smile softly at the sight, realizing Margot's intentions to give the picture to the young girl just to see her happy.
The sound of the door opening and closing breaks me from my thoughts as I whip around to see Margot with a plate stacked with slices of pizza in one hand and a liter of root beer in the other along with two plastic cups.
"Dinner is served," Margot says with a smile.
"Hmm. Gourmet," I respond. Margot chuckles before setting the food down on her nightstand for a moment so that she can quickly spread a blanket out onto the floor before sitting down and placing the food in front of her.
"A picnic? You shouldn't have," I say as I place a hand over my heart before sitting down across from my girlfriend.
"I hope you enjoy. My aunt gave me a weird look when she saw how much pizza I was grabbing so it better be worth it,"
I smile at the girl before grabbing a piece of pizza from the top of the pile and begin eating.
"So, what do people who already know almost everything about each other do on first dates?" I ask Margot before taking another bite of my pizza.
"I doubt we know almost everything about each other already," Margot says.
"Ok.... so what don't we know?" I question her.
"How long have you been doing cheer for?" Margot asks.
"Since I was in 6th grade, I think. I actually have a competition coming up this weekend.... Are we just going to ask each other questions like this?"
"Until something sticks," Margot says with a shrug.
"Ok.... What-"
"Hold up. You have a competition this weekend?"
"Yeah. Did that just now register?" I tease her.
"And you didn't think to invite me to come?"
"What?"
"I want to support my girl,"
My cheeks heat up at her words before I shake my head.
"Well, of course you can come if you want to. I just didn't want to force you or anything...."
"Of course I want to come. And I will definitely be there,"
"Ok," I say shyly before clearing my throat.
"What's your favorite art medium?" I ask her after I glanced back over at the messiest corner of her room.
"Painting," Margot answers almost instantly. I nod at her response before taking a bite of my pizza, waiting for her next question.
"Do you...." she trails off as if she's rethink her question.
"Do you want to get out of here?" she asks me.
"Nice try, but you're grounded,"
"And?"
"And that means you can't leave the house until you are ungrounded?"
"Not unless my aunt and uncle don't know I left the house...."
"I.... You're getting to be a bad influence on me,"
"Says the one who gets shit-faced nearly every weekend," Margot retorts.
"And now you're attacking my livelihood. I'm not sure why I stand for this behavior,"
"Come on, it'll be fun," Margot tries to persuade me.
"And when we get caught?"
"If we get caught," Margot attempts to correct me.
"Babe, don't set your expectations that high,"
"We'll be fine. I've done this dozens of times,"
"Oh, so you do it with all the girls then?"
"Yeah. It's usually pretty effective," Margot says sarcastically as she rolls her eyes at me.
"Ok. And how exactly are we going to get out? The story high window behind me just doesn't seem like the best option?"
"We go out Vivian's window," she responds as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yes. The other room conveniently located on the second story of this house. Brilliant,"
"Just trust me?"
I roll my eyes at her before nodding in response.
"Only because it's your ass on the line and not mine,"
Margot chuckles at my response before leading me out of her room and quietly through the hall to Vivian's.
However, before we can reach the door, Margot suddenly pushes me back into her room as the sound of footsteps on the stairs echoes around the hall. I'm barely inside before she slams the door closed, resulting in the wood smacking me hard in the face and sending me tumbling onto my butt as I let out a small screech.
However, before I can even register what just happened, I hear Margot let out a yell from the other side of the door, which only confuses me more.
"What the heck is going on up here?" I hear Margot's aunt's muffled voice through the door.
"Nothing. I just stubbed my toe really bad," Margot tries to cover for the both of us.
My nose is throbbing as I allow myself to sit up, still on the floor. I wince slightly as I lightly tap it in an attempt to assess the damage, and it's only when I pull my hand away from my face that I notice the blood. Shit.
She said to trust her and then pulls this.
"Ok. Well, your uncle and I are going to head off to bed then. So we'll see you in the morning. Goodnight,"
"Night," Margot responds to her, however it isn't until another minute passes before Margot reenters her room to find me sitting on her floor with a bloody nose that she caused.
"Shit," Margot mutters as soon as she sees me and quickly closes the door behind her.
"Fucking dumbass," I say with a wince.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit," Margot repeats as she hurries to the other side of the room to grab the tissue box and bring it back to me.
"Thanks," I say quietly as I grab several tissues and hold them to my nose, pinching the base of my nose as an attempt to help stop the bleeding.
"Shit. I am so sorry," Margot says as she looks around her room frantically, clearly not sure what to do.
"It's alright. It was all an accident.... I hope," I say, smiling softly at her before wincing yet again. Slowly, I push myself off the ground and then walk over so that I can sit on her bed. I let out a small sigh as I lean against the headboard.
"God, I hope I didn't break it," Margot says before sitting down on the bed next to me.
"I thought you were an atheist,"
"You're seriously making jokes right now?"
"It's how I cope," I say with a shrug.
"Aspen Marilyn Grayson, you might be the death of me,"
"You're one to talk after you just slammed a door in my face,"
Margot just stays silent as she shakes her head at me, worry clear by her demeanor.
"So, how should we tell everyone I broke my nose? A run in with ninjas, where I obviously won....? Or.... I'm actually a secret agent and one of my fights didn't go so well at first, but I still won in the end. Though, I couldn't really tell anyone that because that's the point of being a secret agent.... What do you think?"
"You think you actually did?" Margot asks in a slight panic.
"Probably not, but we should think up a story just in case," I say with a shrug.
"A slip and fall would be most believable for you," Margot tells me.
"Margot, honey, we're not going for realistic. We're going for cool, badass, 'don't fuck with that girl'...."
"So, more like Tori?" she offers.
"I wasn't going to say it.... but yes,"
Margot just smiles as she shakes her head at me.
"This will be a fun story to tell one day. Margot got a speeding ticket so we couldn't go anywhere and then she slammed a door into my face on our first date and gave me a bloody nose. She's always been quite the charmer,"
"Who's gonna wanna hear these stories?" Margot challenges me.
Our children. Wait. Fuck. This is the first date! What the fuck am I thinking? ....How much blood did I lose?
"Who isn't going to want to hear a story about the iconic duo that is us?" I ask her.
"How much blood did you lose?" she questions me.
Shit. I just asked myself the same question.
"I'm just saying, a book about me would not be a bad idea,"
"I thought this was our story,"
"Yeah, but every story needs a main character...."
Margot just rolls her eyes at me as she lets me have this victory.
"Fuck. I probably look like such a mess right now. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want a second date after this disaster," I say, coming back to earth, my fingers still pinching my nose as I stare straight ahead at the wall across the room from me, covered in various posters and works of art.
"I'm pretty sure I'm the one that made it a disaster," Margot tells me.
"Knowing us, it was a combined effort," I say with a shrug, noticing that she didn't disagree when I said I looked like a mess.
"It's worth it though,"
I nod slowly in response, not sure what else to say.
"And you are a mess...." Margot agrees with me, "but a really fucking beautiful one."
I blush at her words, but the tissues luckily hide most of it, or so I let myself believe. It's then that I feel Margot get off the bed, and I look up to see her walking across the room before stopping and grabbing a sketchbook and pen.
"Are you going to draw me like one of your French girls?" I ask Margot with a wink before pulling my black sweatshirt up slightly so that my midriff is exposed before dropping the material back into its spot.
"I wasn't going to stop you," Margot says with a smirk before grabbing the chair from her desk and tugging it over so that she can sit in front of me.
If my cheeks were red from her compliment before, my entire face is red from her comment now. Realizing that there's no point in hiding it, I keep eye contact with her until she has to break it in order to actually put a sketch onto her paper.
Then I watch her draw. There's something so mesmerizing about the sight, but I can't quite but my finger on it. Her hair is down and splayed all around her shoulders, creating sharp contrast with the light blue hoodie she's wearing. Every few minutes, she has to re-tuck her hair behind her ears when it falls in front of her face. She works quick, looking up every few seconds before continuing her work. She's biting her lip in concentration which has to be one of the cutest things ever, but I have to refrain from smiling because I know that I shouldn't try to move that much.
And every so often, she looks up and our eyes meet. Those are my favorite moments.
Once she's done, she gets up from her chair and sits back down beside me on the bed. When my eyes land on what she created, I can't help but smile just because of the simple fact that I now know how she sees me and it really is beautiful.
"This looks amazing," I say quietly to her before resting my head on her shoulder.
"It helped when the person I was drawing was already so amazing,"
"And you being such a great artist probably wasn't a hindrance," I tell her before looking up at her after she doesn't respond for a few seconds. The blush on her cheeks makes me smile.
"Is your nose feeling better?" she asks me, clearly just trying to change the topic. Furrowing my eyebrows, I finally decide to pull the tissues away from my nose only to find that it's stopped bleeding.
"Well, I don't think you broke it," I tell her as I tap on it a few times and only feel a fraction of the pain I felt initially.
"So you don't have to tell one of your unrealistic stories?" Margot asks me.
"Oh, shush. You don't know me," I respond quickly.
"I don't?"
"No...."
"Dumbass," Margot says with a scoff, and I can just tell that she's rolling her eyes at me.
"Smartass," I say before resting my head back on her shoulder before taking her hand in mine.
"So, get talking," she tells me after a few seconds.
I pull away from her so that I can give her a confused look, to which she responds with an eye roll.
"Tell me what I don't know. I'll listen,"
With a smile, I give her a quick peck on the lips.
"I know,"