Marianne by Elizabeth Hammer (best books to read in life TXT) 📕

at each other for a minute, Marianne swaying slightly for the sake of the baby. Then Patrick raised his eyebrows as if to ask how she was.

He was a glorious angel of light. “You are a glorious angel of light,” she whispered.

Patrick just kept looking at her. “Monkey Baby is asleep.”

Marianne shifted him in her arms and stroked his cheek.

Patrick spoke softly, “Lay him down in your parent’s room, instead.”

Marianne frowned. That was kind of an odd order.

Patrick shook his head. “You don’t want to go into your room just yet.”

Marianne gave him her Spock eyebrow but obeyed. She brushed his chest accidentally as she passed him—it was the fourth time they had touched; she was keeping count. Patrick followed her silently through the halls. The door to her bedroom was slightly ajar, and she could tell by the lighting that someone had opened the curtains. She passed by it, though, right to her parent’s room. Marianne lay down on the bed with the baby and eased him out of her arms. She gently rolled off the bed, trying not to shake it, and covered him with the quilt.

Patrick closed the door silently after they had walked out. “Are you okay?”

They were close together in the narrow hallway, not touching, but almost. The crisp smell of Patrick’s soap or hair product or something seemed to fill up the entire space. “Yeah, I’m fine. He didn’t hurt me.” Her voice wasn’t nearly as strong as she would have liked. “Besides, I could have taken him.”

Patrick laughed quietly, just staring down at her. “Sure you could’ve.”

Marianne stepped back a few inches. “Thank you,” she said.

Patrick shrugged and pointed to the doll head that had lolled over into the corner. “Couldn’t ignore that. I’m glad you don’t mind.”

Marianne stared at the bleached-out, bodiless head and asked slowly, “What did you do to him in there?”

“I asked him very politely to get the eff out.”

“That’s a lie.”

“You’re right. I didn’t just say eff.”

Marianne smiled.

“Are you ready to see your bedroom? I hope you don’t mind, but I just have to witness your reaction.”

“Reaction to what? I thought you didn’t knock any teeth out?”

“You’ll see.”

What on earth? “Do you wanna get your camera or anything?” she asked sarcastically. “Do we need to document all this great drama that’s about to happen?”

“Great idea, actually,” he said. “You’re going to want to show this to your grandkids.”

“Okay,” said Marianne, giddy for some reason. “Danielle’s camera takes video.”

“I’ll be right back,” he said. “No peeking.”

Patrick started to walk away, but Marianne stopped him by grabbing his arm. “No, I’d better go get it,” she said. “I don’t have that much self-control.”

“Yes, you do.” Patrick flashed his gorgeous grin. “Be right back.”

Marianne bit her lip as she watched him stride away. She went to the kitchen, got a glass of ice water, and planted herself at the table. Patrick had said last night that they were friends, but he stood a little close for a friend, held her eyes just a little too long. Marianne wished that she could get out a pen and paper and work out her feelings like a math problem. She went ahead and did it in her head. Two columns; score one for each bullet point listed.

Column one, Why You Should Be In Love with Patrick: He’s good. He’s helpful. He’s honest. He’s empathetic. He’s willing to scare away monsters when needed. He laughs at your jokes. He’s obnoxiously perfect all around.

Score: seven.

Column two, Why You Should Not Be In Love with Patrick: Because he’ll eventually discover what an Epic Calamity you are, leave you, and break your heart, fool. Today or a week from now, he will break your heart.

Score: Darn it.

That was the death strike, right there. No amount of addition could get her out of that one. Too bad she hadn’t paid more attention in trig, because that stuff was like alchemy… Whoops. Marianne had drawn P D into the condensation on her cup. She wiped it off quickly. It really was kind of amazing how much he filled her thoughts right then. She couldn’t care less about what was in her room. About how Alvin had gotten around the first rule of vampires and come inside without an invitation. About whether her parents would come home soon. About her big, fat thighs. About what she looked like right now. Wait. What did she look like right now?

She ran to the bathroom by the den and checked herself in the mirror. No makeup smudges, every hair still in place. Wow. She’d weathered that one great. Yup, she was fit for video.

“And here’s Marianne, making sure she’s photo-ready.”

“Gah!” Marianne bent over in shock, grabbing the edge of the sink.

Patrick was standing in the doorway pointing the little digital camera in her face, watching the screen. “Happy to see me?”

“Um...” Come on, brain. What’s the appropriate response? He was filming her, after all. “Yeah.”

“You sure about that?”

“Stop zooming on my face.” Marianne backed up and flapped her arms at him. “So, do you use your feet or do you just float around silently so you can scare me? You make no noise when you walk.”

“It’s called being graceful. Something you wouldn’t understand.”

Marianne gave him a dirty look and slammed her wrists together at him. “Is that something you can understand?”

Patrick cleared his throat. “Mmm, yes. I have watched Friends.” He pretended to hit a few random buttons on the top of the camera. “We’ll just edit that one out, shall we?”

“We’d better.” Marianne shook her hair out and smiled at him. “What took you so long, anyway?”

“I was supposed to meet some people this afternoon,” said Patrick. “I called to cancel. This is going to be way better.” He patted the camera fondly.

Marianne couldn’t decide if she should be pleased that he’d chosen her over his plans, or terrified about whatever was lurking in her bedroom. “Are we gonna do this thing, or what?”

“Lead on.”

Patrick followed Marianne to her bedroom with a giant