Technocracy: Marin/Ardo, Part 2

Marin plotted and schemed.

It was a few days after Ardo’s beating. As Tyler had predicted, the attack could not be pinned on him or his group due to the lack of cameras around the sewage treatment facility. Mr. Gideon had his suspicions, of course, but without firm proof he could pass no judgment, and merely put out a very stern warning to the student body about fighting on school grounds.

So a few days later, Marin sat, sipping gently on a juice box, listening to Becky, Kimberley, and Lindsey gossip and talk around her, blue eyes sparkling with hate. Oh, how she hated them all. She’d always hated them, but it was different now. They had hurt Ardo. Or, not them, at least. Their male friends had hurt Ardo. But they had laughed to see Ardo in pain.

“And, ooh, Robert wants me to sit with him at Lunch tomorrow!” cooed Kimberley, clutching her cigarette daintily as her face twisted up in delight.

Marin overheard this, and sipped her juice box, and listened. She slurped a dollop of green juice into her mouth.

“I don’t know,” said Lindsey. “I’m hesitant. He’s a bit of a weirdo.”

“Yeah, but he’s, like, a cute weirdo,” said Kimberley. “If he’s a little weird, who cares? I just want him to kiss me, you know? Like, just want him to be nice. I can put up with him.”

A drop of water fell.

“Hmm,” said Marin, pulling her juice box’s straw away from her mouth.

“What?” asked Lindsey.

“Nothing,” said Marin.

“Well, okay,” said Lindsey, sparing a glare in Marin’s direction, “just be careful, Kimby. Don’t get in too deep with a weirdo like that.”

Kimberley nodded. Her green gaze flickered to Marin, who flashed her a glimmer of her sapphire blue eyes, but only for an instant.

It was enough, however, and Marin knew it. The bell rang, then, conveniently enough, scattering the four girls. Becky and Lindsey picked up their packs and purses and hurried towards the entrance of the school. Marin walked, but more slowly, and she glanced over her shoulder. Sure enough, Kimberley was hanging back, following her. Marin wished to smirk, but hid it.

“What’s up, Kimmy?” said Marin, turning to face her.

“Mare-Bear, what was that look you gave me? Just before, just when the bell rang.”

“Well…” Marin glanced to the side. “I really shouldn’t say. I don’t want to betray Lindsey.”

“Lindsey?” Kimberley’s green eyes glinted in fear. “What’s wrong? What’d she do?”

“I don’t wanna be a bad friend…”

“You’re my friend too, Mare-Bear.” Kimberley flashed Marin a big fake smile. “We’re best friends, right?”

Marin thought of Saera, and almost snarled. But, again, she hid her true emotions, and put on a concerned, worried face. “It’s just…” she waved a sallow hand around. “I think Lindsey likes Robert. I think that’s why she’s trying to warn you off him.”

Kimberley’s face went white. “N-No. She’d tell me. We’ve been friends since seventh grade.”

“Does she tell you everything?”

“I…”

“She doesn’t tell me everything.”

“You’re a freshman, you’re a nobody. You don’t count.”

“But she did tell me that she thought Robert was cute, the other day when you weren’t there.”

Kimberley went even whiter.

“She did?”

“She said he had a cute smile.”

“He does… have one.”

Marin sighed in false compassion. “Kimmy, I shouldn’t have told you. I don’t want to come between you girls.”

“No,” said Kimberley. A hard glint had settled in her green eyes. “No, Mare-Bear, I’m glad you told me. This was something I needed to know.”

Kimberley strode forward, firmly and with purpose. Marin followed in her wake, like waves in the wake of a massive ship.

Ardo was brooding.

His injuries, in the end, had been mild, and he’d healed from all of them days ago. His aunts were heartbroken at the loss of his chalk, and swore to replace all of it. They were adamant that the school discipline those responsible for the beating of their nephew, but Ardo had refused to name names. He’d already heard people talking about Tyler, Zach, the boys, and the girls at someone else’s house that afternoon. And he wasn’t some idiot—he knew that he, himself, was not well-liked among the student body, except by his three friends. His word carried little weight.

How many friends did he have, anyway? He knew he could trust Saera and Terry with his life. But Marin was disturbing him these days, even more than she had before. What to think? He couldn’t get over the way she’d come begging to him. It almost made him as mad as knowing she’d been there, watching, doing nothing. Something about her voice growing so strained and hollow as she had cried between breaths—Ardo curled his lip. He hadn’t liked it at all.

“Watch where you’re going!”

Ardo’s ruby eyes shot up.

“Hey, man, what’s your problem?”

Now Ardo was really looking. Because there was Tyler, and there was Zach. The eyes in the hall bent towards them as the two boys squared up against each other. All Ardo felt was confusion. They’d worked together to beat him up a few days ago, what was happening now?

“You know what you did,” said Zach.

“No, uh, dude, I don’t,” said Tyler. He smiled, his pale face taking on an easy expression. “Come on, man, tell me what’s wrong.”

Zach did not answer. He huffed a breath, and almost seemed to snarl under his breath. Then, he glared up at the taller boy again, and Ardo saw a very familiar glint in Zach’s eyes. Was there a fight brewing?

“Hey, hey.”

That very familiar voice washed over the scene like soft rains. Ardo’s shock became stronger still as Marin, dressed in a dark blue wool dress, slid between the two boys as they eyed each other.

“Come on, Tyler,” said Marin, cooing at him, “come on, babe, it’s no big deal.”

“What did I do to you, man?” asked Tyler, barely paying Marin any mind. Zach did not respond, but continued to glare, black eyebrows low and glowering.

“Hey, come on, Zach, let him go,” said Marin. Her eyes, that deep blue, that sapphire blue, that blue like the depths of the sea, bent themselves upon Zach, and Ardo was reminded, all over again, that when Marin was really trying she was very impressive. Zach softened at her gaze, and he broke his stare with Tyler, glancing at Marin once again. Marin smiled at him, very sweetly and very kindly, then turned to Tyler. “It’s no big deal,” she said, pressing herself up close against the tall and formidable boy. “It’s no big deal.”

Tyler stared down at her again, his face hard. But it softened, and broke, and melted, as Marin batted her sapphire eyes at him, as she pressed in close, all softness and sweet-smelling perfume. Actually her perfume was quite strong—Ardo could smell it from his post across the hall.

“Yeah,” said Tyler. “No big deal.”

“You say so,” said Zach.

“I don’t even know, dude.”

“Let’s not argue,” said Marin. “We’ve gotta get to class. There will be time to deal with things later.”

This was the wrong thing to say. Zach’s face went stony. “Yeah,” he said. “There will. See you later, Mare-Bear.” With that he pushed past both of them, pointedly bumping up against his friend Tyler as he did.

The showdown finished, many students dispersed from the scene, though some lingered around. Ardo did, and he saw Tyler turn to Marin. “What was that, Mare-Bear?”

Marin shrugged daintily. “Don’t know. I’ll talk to him, if you want.”

“Yeah…” said Tyler. He shook his blond head hard. “I mean… he’s weird.”

“You definitely shouldn’t talk to him yourself,” said Marin. She winked and flashed Tyler a salute. “Just leave it up to me!”

“You know… yeah, okay,” said Tyler. “Okay, yeah. Let me know what he says.” The five minute bell rang overhead. “I gotta go, Mare-Bear.”

“I know, hun,” said Marin. She traced a finger up Tyler’s front, from his navel to the middle of his chest. “Just let me deal with it, okay?”

Tyler sighed. “Okay. Catch you later?”

“Definitely.”

With that, Tyler smiled gently at her. Marin cooed at him again, and flashed him a brilliant grin. So Tyler headed off in the opposite direction that Zach had gone, and almost every other student followed suit.

Marin stood there, alone, in the middle of the hall. Ardo had not yet left, and now Marin’s sapphire blue eyes twitched to the left and saw Ardo standing there. Marin grinned at Ardo. It was not a cute grin, a sweet grin, a gentle grin. It was fierce, and sharp, and she showed her teeth. It was aggressive. Then she winked at him, and with that, she dashed off in the direction that Zach had gone.

And all Ardo felt was confusion.

Marin sat in silence with a neutral face.

“I didn’t say anything!”

“Yes you did! Michael says you did!”

Blue eyes, sapphire eyes, eyes as blue and as deep as the depths of the sea, drifted from side to side, looking, watching, perceiving.

“You’ve been lying and whoring and fucking around behind my back you shitty little cunt! I knew we should never have let you hang out with us!”

“Me? You fucking slut! I know you’ve taken every dick there is from Tyler and the rest of them! Tyler was talking with you alone the other day! I saw!”

“He was just telling me that things were cool!”

“That’s what you say!”

Marin was sitting, cross-legged, on a stone posting outside school grounds. It was chilly, but not bitterly cold; it was still warm enough that she could make do without a heavy coat. She was wearing a heavy wool dress colored deep violet. She was bent over a bit, and had her cheek in her palm.

“You are a fucking traitor skank bitch and all you’ve ever done is drag us down,” snarled Kimberley, who was standing next to Lindsey.

“I made you rotten bitches cool when you started to get old and have worms in your fucking vags,” growled Becky, eyes crackling with malice. “I gave you new blood and this is how you fucking treat me?”

“You’re a traitor and this is how we treat traitors!” roared Lindsey.

“You’re the real traitor, Linds, you fucking ho. I know you kissed Zach! You kissed him even though I was making a move on him!”

“I kissed him because fuck you,” said Lindsey. “Because you needed to be taught a lesson!”

“You admit it. You fucking whore! Why don’t you start sitting on the fucking barrier wall of the cafeteria and holding up a fucking sign with your rates on them? I bet you could make good money!”

Marin squinted and put her other hand out in front of her face. She examined the backs of her fingers. It was probably time to get her nails done again.

“You cunt! You want to talk whoring! At least I haven’t crawled over every boy on the lacrosse team!”

“Because you said it was a good idea!”

“I didn’t expect you to be such a cheap, nasty ho about it. I didn’t think you were that big of a whore!”

The bell rang.

“Fuck you!” roared Lindsey, turning and stomping off towards the school.

“Yeah, fuck you!” cried Kimberley, hurrying after her would-be friend.

“Well fuck you!” cried Becky, standing, seething, snarling. She stood there, almost vibrating in place. The girls and boys who had heard the fight steered well clear, and those few who were standing nearby quickly made themselves scarce. Only Marin was close enough to Becky to see the faint glimmer of water in her eyes. “Bitches!” she roared.

“Hmm.”

“Mare-Bear you’re the only one I can trust,” said Becky. “You’re not the one doing any of this shit!”

“Perks of being a virgin,” said Marin. “You don’t need to worry about me slutting around behind your back.”

“Unlike that fucking whore Lindsey,” said Becky. “That slut! Her and Zach! I can’t believe she’d do that to me!”

“You know it takes two to cheat, right?”

“Hmm?” the watery eyes switched to Marin, beholding those infinite sapphire blues.

“You don’t think Zach wanted to kiss her? It’s just like Tyler with Kimberley.”

“Wait, Tyler’s with Kimberley? But I thought he was with you.”

Marin curled her lip in a snarl. “Yeah, so did I.”

“Whore,” growled Becky. “Everyone’s a… a whore, and a slut, and a jerk!” She smiled warmly at Marin. “Except for you, Mare-Bear. I know I can trust you.”

“Mm-hmm,” said Marin. She smiled prettily. “So I say, you should try to get revenge on those bitches. Do it however you can.”

“Yeah!” cried Becky, excited. “I bet… ooh, I bet I could start something with Adam, that would really drive Lindsey crazy.”

“I’m not telling you exactly what you should do. I just think it’s time for a little payback, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” said Becky. “Yeah. Yeah.” She walked off towards the school. “Yeah,” she said, one last time, as she moved away.

Marin grinned and showed her teeth at the departing girl, her blue eyes sparkling.

Ardo sighed as the bell rang to end the school day.

“All right,” said Mr. Daniel, smiling at the head of the class. “Tomorrow I expect you to be close to finishing your final paintings. We’ve been working on these for weeks now, and it’s time to put up or shut up. Any good artist has to know when to wrap a project up, and tomorrow’s the day. See you then.”

Ardo eyed the painting in front of him. The forest fire basked before him, its flames warm, swirling rushes of gold and white, orange and red. The light from the flames played perfectly across the trees they were engulfing, rising waves of glow that reached even the very tops of the piney forest branches. Overhead, the sky was dark with night, stars pricking bright in the moonless air. Ardo smiled. It was a good painting.

All it needed was a few finishing touches, but those could wait until tomorrow. Hefting his pack over his shoulder, he moved to the door. But he frowned. Marin was standing there, waiting for him. He’d been avoiding her ever since his beating, except at Lunch; and there, he’d pointedly spoken as little to her as possible. But there she was. And something in his chest made him want to keep walking. Maybe he’d been gloomy long enough. So he walked, and met her, and said, “Hey.”

“Hey,” she said. “Your aunts picking you up today?”

“Yeah, but they might be a little late.”

They began to walk down the hallway towards the exit, towards the front of the school.

“My mom’s got some documents to finish certifying at work,” said Marin. “She might be a little late, too.” Marin smiled, that beaming, pretty smile she had. She had several smiles, and some of them were cold, and some of them were small. But when she really let her happiness shine through she had a bright, big expression that showed all her teeth. “We can wait together!” she said brightly.

“Sure,” said Ardo, glancing to the side.

“You’re right.”

“Hmm?” Ardo now turned to her, ruby red eyes fixing on her face.

“You were right before,” said Marin. “I should have done something when they were beating you. I shouldn’t have just stood there. You’re my friend. I should have stood up for you.”

Ardo’s black eyebrows rose. “Thanks. I mean, I guess, thanks, fatass.”

Marin scowled. “I shouldn’t have been a coward.”

Ardo glanced towards the floor as they walked. “Maybe I should have been more of a coward,” he said after a pause. “You were right. I knew they were going to whip my ass at some point if I kept coming there. You tried to warn me. I hate to admit it, but I guess I should have listened to you.”

“Hmm,” said Marin, sapphire blue eyes staring ahead at nothing. They had reached the doors to the school, and each of them put a hand on one of the doors. Between the two of them, they shoved both of the doors open at once.

They exited into the chilly, low November sunlight. Marin and Ardo were both wearing coats: Ardo had a military green puffer coat on, while Marin had a lovely cashmere coat in bright orange. All of a sudden, their ears perceived an uproar. Huge shouts and a general din rose on the air. Both teens found the source of the noise soon enough: a huge gathering of students, bunched over towards the place where the buses met.

“What the hell?” said Ardo.

“Oh boy!” said Marin, face brightening. “Come on!” she said, and moved towards the gathering, beckoning Ardo to follow. Ardo looked at her strangely, but ultimately followed in her wake.

When they were close enough, both of them stared with wide eyes, because the center of the chaos was filled with people they recognized. There was a huge fight going back and forth, punches and blows being traded between groups of sophomores and juniors and seniors. Ardo gaped in wonder. On one side were Tyler, Robert, and several others from the boys who had beaten Ardo up. But on the other side were the rest of those boys: Zach, Adam, and the remainder. The two factions were clashing in waves, coming in close to swing at each other then scattering backwards again, as the sides smashed against each other like surf breaking on rock.

“Get his ass!” came a loud shout, and Ardo found its owner soon enough. It was Kimberley, who had pushed her way to the front of the throng, and was dangerously close to being involved in the fight herself.

“Fuck you!” came a loud screech, and Ardo recoiled in shock as he saw Becky come in and yank Kimberley by the hair. The two girls began screaming at each other. Lindsey came out of nowhere to slash at Becky with her nails, only for Kimberley to spit in Lindsey’s face, and all of a sudden, there was a girls’ fight alongside the boys’ fight.

“Uh oh,” said Marin. Ardo turned his head. Marin was looking back from whence they’d come, and pointing. “Looks like the law’s here.” Ardo followed her finger, and sure enough, multiple teachers and officials were running their direction.

“We’d probably better get gone,” said Ardo.

“Yeah,” said Marin. “Come on.” They moved closer to the carpool area, where cars were already beginning to line up. The great noise from the fight meant that this area was almost abandoned, save for a few strays who even now were craning their necks to see the distant commotion.

“What the hell?” said Ardo, glancing back towards the fight himself. “Didn’t those guys all used to be friends?”

“You’re welcome.”

“Huh?” Ardo glanced towards Marin. She was grinning in a very satisfied way, like some kind of predator that had caught its prey. Her blue eyes glimmered. “What are you talking about, fatass?”

“I got revenge for you!” said Marin brightly.

“What?”

“The reason they’re fighting is me!” said Marin. “I felt so bad about what they did to you. So I started to manipulate them all into hating each other. It wasn’t all that hard. I just had to lie a few times, say a few things to all of them to get them to break into factions. They actually did start to cheat on each other and backstab each other, for real, after a while. They’re all so used to being bastards and bitches that they were easy to turn against each other. And they all wound up trusting me, and never suspecting me!” Marin smiled in a savage way. “I knew they’d turn on each other. I knew they’d all be at each others’ throats, in the end. I know what they’re like. I knew this is what they’d do. So,” said Marin, smiling triumphantly and putting her hands on her hips, “you’re welcome.”

Silence followed. Marin waited for Ardo to say something. But he did not. Her happy expression faltering, Marin turned her eyes back Ardo’s way. He was staring at her with an expression she could not read. And Marin was about to say something, but Ardo suddenly said, “You’re fucking crazy.”

“Huh?”

“You thought getting people to kill each other would make me happy?”

“Well what did you want?”

“I wanted you to stop being a nasty bitch! Not for you to turn into an even nastier, even bitchier bitch! Did you lie to all of them?”

“Well, most of them.”

“How does that not make you a monster?” cried Ardo.

“I’ve never pretended I’m not a monster!” snapped Marin. “I’m just a friendly one!”

“You are out of your fucking mind, fatass,” said Ardo. “What if you ever want to get revenge on me? Are you going to turn the whole school against me, too? With your pretty, popular bullshit?”

“I’d never do it to you, just like I’d never do it to Saera or Terry! You’re my friend, you’re a real friend.”

“I thought they were your friends too.”

“Oh, they were never my friends,” said Marin, a cold expression on her face. “They were just useful. Just like I was never their friend. All we ever were was useful to each other.”

“That freaks me out, fatass,” said Ardo. “Is this how you popular fucks behave? You make me look like a fucking cuddly puppy.”

“I can’t believe this. I do something nice for you—”

“I don’t need you to fight my battles for me, Marin!” said Ardo. “And I don’t need you to act like the biggest fucking alpha bitch on the planet just because you did something shitty. You did something shitty but you can’t make up for it by doing another shitty thing!”

“I did this to get revenge for you. And to protect you! They’ll never gang up on you again now.”

“So you think that by lying and stabbing people in the back you’re doing a good thing.”

“I never said it was good!” snapped Marin. “I know it’s mean and I know it’s cruel. I’ve always known. I’m not stupid!” and her blue eyes flared at this.

“Then why—”

“Because it has to be done.” Marin crossed her arms over her chest. “This is what you don’t get. You think you can just swing your fists and get mad and it will make people not mess with you. But just plain anger won’t defend you. You have to be willing to play dirty. This is what you don’t get. Saera doesn’t get it, either.” Ardo saw her expression change. It looked like sadness was coming across her face. “Sometimes you have to do terrible things. Sometimes you have to play god, to help yourself and help the people you love.”

“I’d never want you to be a god,” said Ardo. “You’d be the worst god ever.”

“Would not!” said Marin.

“You’d be cruel!”

“Only if I had to be!” Ardo’s eyes widened. Marin took a step forward, advancing on him. “The world is mean. People are mean. Nice people don’t survive on their own. Nice people need mean people to look after them.” Marin sighed. She glanced towards the ground. “Nice people need people who are willing to do what it takes.”

Ardo looked at her for a moment. Their eyes met, briefly, then darted away. “So that’s you?”

“Yes,” said Marin. “I’m mean because I want to help. Because Saera is nice, and someone has to be mean to keep her safe. Someone out there has to be willing to do things no one else will do. Someone has to do the things that have to be done. The things that are necessary. Someone has to be cruel.” Marin set her face firmly and stared very hard at Ardo. “And if everyone else is too squeamish to do it, then I’ll do it.”

Silence.

At last, Ardo said, “It helps you out too, though.” Marin looked at him. “You wind up being popular and rich and everyone loves and fears you. So you don’t just do it for others.”

“No,” said Marin. “No, it does help me out. But my bitch act isn’t actually as fun as you think it is. I don’t actually enjoy it as much as you think.” She smiled, and it was her warm, bright smile again. “What I really enjoy is hanging out with you guys. You, Saera, Terry. That’s what really makes me happy.”

Ardo let out a breath. He stuffed his hands into his pockets. And, to his own surprise, he smiled. “You’re more interesting than I ever thought you’d be, fatass.”

A chuckle bubbled out of Marin’s lungs. “Thanks,” she said.

“I still don’t know how much I like you,” said Ardo. “I don’t approve of this shit. But if you really do care about me, I appreciate that. I really do.”

“Thanks.”

“And I care about you, too.” Marin’s eyes widened. “I don’t really like you, but… I care about you.” Ardo smiled in a crooked way. “That’s weird, isn’t it? That seems weird.”

“It is,” said Marin. “But that’s kind of how I feel about you. I think. So I guess we’re even.”

Silence passed between them once again. They stood there, apart from each other by a few feet, yet feeling very close to each other, as though some membrane, some field of energy, had appeared around them and enveloped them both together.

“You’re weird,” said Ardo.

“Well, so are you,” said Marin.

“Guess so,” said Ardo. He laughed. “Nobody’s normal.”

“Not really, I guess,” said Marin. They shared a look. Marin smiled at him again. “So, now that all my bitch friends are probably done as a group, I guess I’ll be hanging out with Saera and Terry and you a lot more.”

“I’m glad,” said Ardo. “I think you need to hang around us more, fatass. I think it’d be good for you.”

“You might be right,” said Marin. A horn honked. She looked up. “Oh, there’s my mom.” She turned back to him. “I’m glad you’re my friend, Ardo.”

“I’m glad you’re my friend too, fa… Marin.” He held out a fist. Marin was briefly confused, but she realized his intention: she stretched her own fist out, and they bumped their fists against each other.

“See you tomorrow!” said Marin, waving over her shoulder as she hurried to her mother’s car.

“Yeah! I will!” said Ardo. He watched her go. Then he glanced over his shoulder, back towards where crowds were still milling around the remnants of the fight. He shook his head. “God she’s fucking crazy,” he muttered to himself. “It’s not so bad, though.” He smiled.