Chapter Text
Markus threw his duffle bag aside and immediately flopped face first onto his bed. The trip back home wasn’t long by any means with the school being in Detroit’s urban area and his house being just on the outskirts of the city, but the hard week he had along with the stress of making sure everything in the apartment was taken care of before he left had worn him down. But he made it through another finals week and had a little over a month to recover before the next semester.
Simon and North had gone home so they weren’t in the area and Josh was visiting his uncle in Canada, so Markus was one his own in Detroit. Rolling onto his back, Markus started to scroll through his phone looking for anyone to hang out with over break. He didn’t just want to sit around for the whole month and waste his free time.
Moving from his contacts to Snapchat, Markus accidently tapped the ‘add friend’ button, taking him to the quick add section. He went to swipe back to the friend list but paused as he saw a familiar looking Bitmoji. Seeing the name Connor Stern listed, Markus hit the ‘add’ button before swiping out. He took a quick pic of his ceiling and added a caption asking if anyone was in Detroit and wanted to hang out over break before adding it to his story. Tossing his phone aside, he let himself doze off.
When Markus woke up, he checked his phone to see that two hours had passed. Rolling off the bed, he made his way downstairs to find something to eat. As he pulled out some acorn squash and started the oven, Markus couldn’t help but appreciate being back home where there was actual fresh food and he didn’t have to live off instant food and pasta. He prepared the squash before slicing it into strips, coated the strips in maple butter, and put it into a pan to bake. Another good thing was he had proper cookware, opposed to using tinfoil to create make-shift pans on a baking sheet.
Unlocking his phone as he waited for his squash to bake, Markus saw Connor had accepted his friend request. Noticing Connor had stuff added to his story, he tapped on it partly out of curiosity and partly because he didn’t have anything else to do.
First was a video obviously taken by someone who wasn’t Connor as he was lounging on a couch appearing to be asleep with a caption ‘Finals killed him’. Markus watched as the video slowly zoomed in and at the end Connor’s head jolted up and he stared at the camera for less than a second before the video cut off. It took Markus a moment to realize Connor also appeared to have a face mask on. As the video began to replay, Markus turned on the sound to hear a familiar voice he couldn’t place saying “Connor” repeatedly while giggling until the end when he woke up. Swiping left, Markus was shown a picture of Chloe and Connor sticking out their tongues, both with face masks on and a dog filter. Markus noted it was Chloe also taking the picture based on how her arm was positioned. He swiped left again just to come upon an ad. Quickly exiting out, he continued to look at people’s stories. Josh had a blurry shot of the Canadian-US border while North had a picture of the inside of the bus she was on. Simon rarely used Snapchat so Markus skipped his name and continued down the list. Most of people’s stories, he noted, were around them traveling home for break.
Hearing his timer go off, he pulled out the tray to flip the squash before putting it back in the oven. He grabbed his phone again and left Snapchat to check Facebook. He didn’t really use it anymore as social media, but more to see what events were happening around Detroit. The Historical Museum was hosting a winter gala while the Institute of Arts had a special showing dedicated to Audrey Hepburn. Hitting ‘Interested’ for both events, Markus moved to Belle Isle’s website to see what winter festivals they were hosting this year. The conservancy had the usual New Year’s Eve party occurring and an ice rink was being made within walking distance of the conservancy. Mentally marking that in his mind, Markus noticed the timer about to go off and pulled out his snack.
Quickly moving the squash to a plate, he moved all the dirty dishes to the dishwasher before heading to the living room. Sitting on the couch, Markus turned on the television and began to flip through Hulu. Settling on a show, he began to eat while scrolling back through his phone. He saw a text from Josh saying he’d be back in Detroit just in time for the holidays which gave Markus two weeks without any of his close friends in town. He also saw a few people replied to his Snap, all saying they’d be out of town either for the whole winter break or would be busy and uncertain if they could hang out. Feeling disappointed, he put his phone aside and instead focused on the show in front of him. After finishing the squash, he put the dish on the coffee table and fully laid down on the couch, pulling a blanket over him. As an episode finished and the next one began, Markus felt himself drifting off and didn’t fight it.
The next morning Markus was immediately disorientated and it took a few seconds for his brain to remember where he was. Shaking off his confusion, he checked the time to see it was nearing 8 AM. He was still feeling groggy but knew if he went back to sleep, he’d be down for the count until at least noon. Not wanting to mess up his sleep schedule on the first day of vacation, he summoned the willpower to get off the couch and head to the kitchen. After getting coffee started, he pulled out eggs, peppers, and basic herbs and began to stir up some omelets. Within fifteen minutes he was transferring the last omelet to a plate. He sent a text to his dad telling him to come down for breakfast, poured two cups of coffee, and started to move everything to the breakfast nook.
He had made it halfway through his first omelet when Carl rolled in, still dressed in his pajamas.
“What’s the point of being on break if you don’t sleep in and enjoy the time off?”
“I’d rather not become nocturnal like North did last summer. Our first week back I couldn’t tell if she was going to kill everyone around her or herself.”
Letting out a small chuckle, Carl pulled up to the table and took a bite of his serving.
“God I’ve missed your cooking. Are you sure you want to keep going to college instead of staying home and cooking for me?”
He rolled his eyes before answering, “Aren’t you the one who argued I should get an education and live my life instead of being trapped here taking care of you for the rest of time?” The topic, which had once been the source of some of his and Carl’s biggest arguments, had turned into almost an inside joke between them.
“Well, the job is still open should you change your mind.”
“Sure, old man. I’ll consider it.” The sarcasm was heavy in his tone.
Carl scoffed before continuing to eat.
“So how was the semester? Learn new things? Meet new people? Go to a bunch of parties and get wasted?”
“Come on, where would I even get alcohol?”
“The parties I mentioned would likely be serving it by the bottle.” Markus snorted and took a bite of his food before responding.
“Sorry to burst your bubble, but I’m not as rambunctious as you were when you were my age. And the parties at school suck.”
Carl’s tone was playful, “Ah, I see you’re not only a rule follower, but a man of higher tastes. Were the parties too common for you?”
“I’m not awake enough to deal with your teasing right now.”
“Okay, I’ll try again after you’ve finished your coffee.”
The two sat in silence for a few minutes, just continuing to eat until Carl spoke up again.
“So, any plans for break, or are you just going to laze around the house collecting a stink?”
Markus shrugged, “No one is really in Detroit, so I don’t know.”
“You don’t need friends to go out and do things, Markus.”
“I know, but I’d feel weird going out to what are clearly group activities as an individual. Social norms and everything....”
Carl gave him a look. “So break those social norms. Go out and have fun while you’re young and have the time.”
Markus opened his mouth to argue but decided against it and instead leaned back against the wall. His father had a point, but at the same time he was still apprehensive. Social norms were part of what dictated society and when they were broken it was uncomfortable for everyone. But, he wouldn’t be harming anyone by breaking that social norm and it was actually very reasonable for someone to do an activity by themselves.
“Make sure your ‘social norms’ also aren’t simply you overthinking everything and letting anxiety take you over.” Carl left him with those words of wisdom as he took the now empty plates to the dishwasher and started the cycle.
Markus realized Carl was right. He was going somewhere alone, not facing backward in an elevator or standing too close to someone at a bus stop. Finishing off his coffee, he decided to just relax but keep his options open. He also was planning on trying to get some painting done while he was home and had the time, and there were a few books he had been meaning to read. As he thought about it, he realized he had lots of options for things he could do without even having to leave the house. With that in mind, he refilled his mug before heading to the art studio to begin sketching out some ideas for his next paintings.
A week and a half later Markus was still in the studio. He would leave to take care of his necessities, but otherwise he was living out of the room as he continued to work vigorously on his next big project. The canvas itself was nearly as tall as he was and almost twice as wide, which made it a little difficult to work with, but he managed. His original idea was a basic portrait to practice his shading and anatomy, but it changed when he read a chapter of Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks while taking a break into something more. It was still a portrait but he was adding deeper meaning to it. Or, at least, he was trying to.
Letting out a tired sigh, Markus put down his brush and sat on a nearby stool. In his mind he knew the more he stressed about the painting the worse his art block would become, but he still couldn’t tear himself away from it. He felt if he did, then what little grasp he had on the idea would slip away.
That’s how Carl found him, sitting slumped on the stool with tired eyes searching the drying paint as if it held all the answers he needed.
“You’ve got a stink about you, Markus.” He didn’t look away from the canvas.
“I’ve been showering.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Carl’s tone wasn’t harsh, but Markus knew he was about to be lectured. “You’ve been holed up in here for too long, it’s not healthy. And take it from me, you staring at the painting isn’t going to help you finish it. In fact, it’ll likely make it take longer.”
“I know, I know.”
Carl gave him a few more moments before continuing, “I didn’t want to do this, but I’m reverse grounding you.”
Markus’s face scrunched up in confusion as he finally turned towards his father.
“What?”
“I’m reverse grounding you. I’m kicking you out of the house until.... six. Go get dressed and get out.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I am. Now go.” Carl didn’t leave room for argument as he waved Markus out of the studio.
Feeling almost dazed, Markus allowed himself to be ushered out and towards the stairs. It didn’t take him long to become presentable and within ten minutes he was standing on the front porch with the door locking behind him. Pulling out his phone, he called a Lyft and set the destination for Belle Isle. It was a Tuesday so he hoped there wouldn’t be too many people there.
His driver was an interesting person who had recently moved from New Orleans and had a lot of opinions about Northern drivers and snow. When his ride came to an end Markus made sure to tip well before heading towards the conservancy. He had debated going ice skating but considering he hadn’t done it in years he didn’t feel confident in his ability to not make a fool of himself. He wouldn’t be worrying so much about his abilities, or lack thereof, if he wasn’t alone but he was.
The ice rink still caught his eye as he walked past. The lights weren’t on yet as the sun was still in the sky, but it was covered in extravagant decorations. He was so caught up in looking at the set-up he didn’t pay attention to where he was going until it was too late.
He felt himself clip someone’s shoulder and when he turned to apologize, he saw the drink they were carrying hit the ground.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” When they turned he saw a familiar pair of blue eyes look at him in confusion.
“Wait, Chloe?” Her brow furrowed for a moment before recognition crossed her face.
“Oh, North’s friend from the library!”
“Yeah, Markus,” he gestured to himself. “I’m sorry, I should have been paying more attention to where I was going.”
“Oh no, I wasn’t really watching out either.” Markus still felt guilty, not sure if she was just saying that.
“Can I at least pay for a new drink? It’s the least I can do.”
Chloe shifted her weight from one foot to the other before nodding.
“Alright, if you have the time to stand in line. I don’t want to inconvenience you.”
“Trust me, I don’t have anything else to do.”
As Markus followed her to the drink stand, an almost awkward silence fell between them. Or at least Markus felt it was awkward; Chloe didn’t seem bothered that they weren’t talking.
“So, are you here to skate?”
She nodded, “Among other things.” She didn’t continue and Markus wasn’t sure if he should ask her to elaborate or not. As they got in line he did his best to keep the conversation going.
“Are you here with anyone or are you on your own?”
"I’m here with someone.” She paused a moment. “What about you?”
Feeling slightly embarrassed, Markus considered lying for a moment.
“I’m by myself. I got kicked out for the evening and didn’t really know where else to go.”
She didn't respond, instead texting a message to someone. She continued to watch her phone until a few seconds later.
“Do you want to hang out with us?”
Markus was grateful they were interrupted as they made it to the counter and Chloe turned her attention to the barista so he had time to process the question. He waited as she ordered before handing his card to the cashier.
“Uh, sure. Who else is here?” They moved to the side as her drink was prepared so the next person could order.
“It’s just Connor and me. You would make three.” Her voice tilted up at the end of the sentence and as she gave him a smile Markus could see why North liked her.
“Okay, yeah. I definitely prefer that to just wandering around like a ghost.” Chloe giggled as she grabbed her drink. Markus followed her as they made their way towards the area set up with seating and tables.
“We were going to go skating before walking through the conservancy and viewing their winter set up.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
As they approached their destination, Markus saw Connor on his phone sitting at a table with a drink and two bags.
“So why were you kicked out?” Chloe’s question slightly startled him.
“I’ve been working on a project since break started that hasn’t been going too great. My dad kicked me out to try to clear my head, and I think he was just tired of me never leaving his studio.”
Chloe nodded thoughtfully, “It’s always best to take breaks. Otherwise you’ll reach burn out.”
Reaching the table, Chloe sat down next to Connor and Markus decided to sit across from him.
“Hello Markus.”
“Hey Connor. How’s your break going?” Connor tilted his head and took a moment to respond.
“It’s going alright. I haven’t been as productive as I would have liked, but other than that I have no complaints.”
“Yeah, same here.” A silence fell over the group and Markus fell into himself a little. Chloe and Connor didn’t seem to notice as they both scrolled through their phones. He felt out of place with them, not just because he was technically an unplanned third wheel, but they both seemed so...immaculate. Both were dressed in clothes fit for an interview and didn’t seem to have a hair out of place while Markus was regretting not showering before he left.
“So Chloe,” she looked up at him, “what major are you?” At this point Markus was mainly trying to make conversation, but he was also curious about the duo. He realized he didn’t actually know anything about them aside from their names.
“I’m double majoring in Business and Women and Gender Studies. I’m also on the path to receive the Women’s Leadership Certificate and the International Certificate. What about you?”
Markus was speechless for a second but quickly regained his thoughts.
“Oh, I’m just majoring in Political Philosophy. How the fuck do you manage such a workload?”
She giggled before responding, “I make a lot of lists and planning and make sure I follow my schedule.” Markus was almost certain he was gaping at her as Connor jumped into the conversation.
“She’s also Executive Secretary of student government and President of the JSA.”
Markus did his best to school expression back to a more neutral one as Chloe pinched Connor while making a tsk sound.
“Let me ask again, how the fuck do you manage that workload?” She smiled and shrugged at him. Despite still trying to wrap his mind around how she hasn’t keeled over, he turned to Connor.
“What about you?”
Connor’s head tilted forward slightly as he answered, “I’m double majoring in Public Policy and Criminology.” Before Markus could respond Chloe began to speak.
“He’s also Vice President of the JSA, founder and President of the Criminology club, and a research assistant for Dr. Bayer.” Markus nearly missed Connor’s mouth quirking down as he once again felt amazed by the pair.
“I believe I am ready to go ice skating.” Connor stood up abruptly as his friend giggled and followed his lead. Markus remained seated.
“You two go ahead, I’m not sure I even know how to ice skate anymore it’s been so long.” Connor tilted his head slightly to the right while Chloe paused.
“Are you sure? I’m sure it’s just like riding a bike; you’ll remember how to do it once you start.”
Markus turned to look at the rink. There were only a few people on it, mainly parents guiding young children around.
“Alright, I’ll do it. Just don’t laugh when I fall.”
Chloe smiled at him, “We wouldn’t dream of it.”
As Markus made his way to the skate rental, he sent a quick text to Josh.
Im with the pres and vice pres of the JSA if you want me to set something up
He was surprised when Josh replied almost instantly.
Dude its break chill
Slipping his phone back into his jacket, Markus stepped up to get a pair of ice skates before walking to a bench by the entrance of the rink where the other two were sitting. Noticing they brought their own skates he asked them, “So do you guys go skating often?”
Chloe was the one to answer. “We used to go all the time in middle school – about twice a week. In high school it went down to about twice a month and now with university we haven’t really had time to skate unless it’s break.”
“You two have known each other since middle school?”
“Elementary school, actually. And our families go to the same synagogue so I guess you could say we also knew each other through that.”
Chloe and Connor finished lacing up their skates in nearly half the time it took Markus. As both Connor and Markus stood up, Chloe remained seated.
“You two go ahead, I want to finish my drink.” She gestured towards the cup she had been carrying with her. Connor nodded while Markus froze. Despite having a longer history with Connor, he felt more comfortable having Chloe as a buffer. She was noticeably more sociable than her friend and Markus didn’t know what to do with the silences that seemed to occur whenever he talked to Connor. He also didn’t know how to insist staying with Chloe without being rude to Connor.
“Are you sure? I’m fine with waiting.” Chloe nodded and Markus began to wrack his brain for what to talk to Connor about as he followed him to the entrance of the rink. He didn’t expect Connor to be the one to start the conversation.
“How did you find your final Politics of the EU grade?”
Markus’s mind blanked.
“Do you mean where I found it?”
Connor’s mouth twitched as he stepped onto the ice.
“Were you happy with your grade?” Markus was a lot less confident entering the rink and immediately grabbed onto the wall.
“Yeah, I guess so? I got a solid ‘B’ which I wasn’t expecting.” Connor nodded and that was apparently the end of the conversation.
Markus continued to hold onto the wall for balance as he tried to remember the proper foot movements for skating. Connor skated calmly beside him, hands in his coat pockets, making it look like the easiest thing in the world. Looking towards him, Markus began to try to mimic what he was doing. Almost immediately he lost his balance and gripped the wall tighter as his foot slid.
“Do you want help?”
Markus sighed, “Yes please.”
He paused as Connor did a smooth turn so he was in front of Markus before pulling gloves out of his pocket.
He put them on as he spoke, “The wall will hinder your ability to gain a proper balance. I’ll guide you until you remember how to shift your balance with your movement.” Connor held out his hands towards him and Markus looked at them skeptically. The wall was much sturdier than Connor, who didn’t look like he’d be able to prevent Markus from falling.
“Don’t worry, I will be able to help rebalance you before you fall.”
Despite his instincts screaming at him it was a bad idea, Markus slowly shifted from holding onto the wall to a vice-like grip on Connor’s gloved hands. Connor began to skate backwards, pulling him along. Markus did his best to propel himself forward but was still worried about comfortably shifting his weight from foot to foot. This method was more comfortable, but they were moving even slower than before. They had barely made it halfway around the rink before Chloe skated up beside them.
“Have you ever roller-bladed Markus?”
Confused by the question and putting most of his attention on not falling, it took Markus a few moments to respond.
“Not since middle school. Why?”
“It’s very similar to ice skating so any experience would help.”
At that moment, the front of Markus’s left blade caught on the ice and he felt himself trip forward. He panicked as Connor’s hands let go of his, but not even a heartbeat later he felt Connor grip his elbows, forcing Markus to grab his forearms. Markus looked up at Connor with wide eyes, surprised he had managed to steady him.
“I told you not to worry.” His shock increased when Connor gave a crooked smile and winked at him before moving his grip back to Markus’s hands and reverting to the neutral expression he had been wearing since Markus had joined them.
“I left our bags at the rental stand.” Chloe continued with the conversation as if Markus hadn’t tripped, for which he was grateful.
As they completed their first lap around the rink, Markus reluctantly pulled his hands away from Connor’s.
“If you two want to go ahead, I think I can manage on my own.”
“Are you sure?” asked Chloe.
“Yeah, I think I can keep myself going while you two do a few laps yourself.” He didn’t want to slow them down and keep them from having fun, but he felt if he mentioned this Chloe, at least, would insist on staying with him.
She looked at Connor, who shrugged.
“Alright. Have fun!”
As the two of them skated off, he slowly made his way towards the rink door. Once outside, he stood at the wall to watch the two of them. They had moved towards the center of the rink, which was reserved for the more advanced skaters. He watched as they skated around one another, performing spins and jumps. His jaw nearly dropped when Connor picked up Chloe and spun multiple times before releasing her back onto the ice. It was beginning to get dark when the two skated back to him.
“Are you done skating Markus?” Grateful Chloe didn’t seem to notice he immediately left the ice once they had split up, he nodded.
“Okay, then I guess it’s time to head to the conservancy.”
The three of them made their way to the skate rental booth. Markus let Chloe and Connor go before him to retrieve their bags as he unlaced and removed his skates. Once he had his normal shoes on, it took him a few steps to get used to not be walking on blades.
“So did you guys take skating lessons when you were younger? You did some pretty impressive stuff out there.”
“Nope. One day we were tired of just skating in circles and decided to try some more advanced moves.” Chloe made it sound so easy; they just decided one day to be better at ice skating and were. Though, from his impressions and what he knew about them, it wasn’t that surprising anymore. The lights surrounding the rink turned on as they walked past it.
“The conservancy is closed.” Chloe and Markus both turned to Connor, who had pulled out his phone. He turned it towards them to show the time, just after five.
“Oh no,” Chloe gasped, her mouth down turning into a frown. Her brow furrowed as she stared intently at the phone, as if trying to will the time to turn back. Markus waited for one of them to say something, but when neither did he spoke up, “Do you want to go to an arcade instead?”
They both turned to him and he continued, “There’s one just off the isle. We can take a bus and be there in fifteen minutes max.” Chloe looked to Connor who shrugged with a bob of his head.
“Okay, let’s do that!”
Markus took out his own phone and pulled up the bus schedule with the stops. He led the way to the closest stop, leaving the other two to trail behind him. He talked to fill the silence.
“I’ve been here a few times. It’s a pretty neat place and stays open late. There’s also one of those late-night cookie shops like right next door to it, which is nice when you’re there at like, midnight, and all the places around them are closed.”
“So I take it you’ve been there around midnight and wanted food?” Markus turned to shoot a small smile at Chloe.
“Yeah, pretty much every time I’ve been there it’s been pretty late.”
“Well, now you get to break that routine.”
“True.”
They managed to arrive at the stop as the last of a line of people was getting on the bus. Markus entered first, swiped his student ID, and scanned for open seats. Not seeing any, he continued forward slightly before grabbing onto one of the overhead bars. Connor came up behind him and Chloe brought up the rear. She was too short to reach the bars and instead held onto Connor’s arm.
As the bus pulled away from the stop and began to drive across the bridge connecting Belle Isle to the mainland, he Snapped a quick pic of Connor and Chloe, who were conversing quietly among themselves, and sent it to North and Josh. The rest of the short journey he spent staring out at the lights reflecting off the river and counting the few stops between when they got on and when they needed to get off. When the time came, he motioned it was their stop and made his way to the front. When the vehicle came to a stop the three of them thanked the driver as they exited, and Connor and Chloe looked to him.
“It’s right here.” He gestured to a building front lit up with flashing neon lights. They entered it and he saw Connor quickly scan the layout. He gestured them over to the coin machines.
“It’s simple, you just put in your card, input the amount you want, and out come coins.” They each started with ten dollars' worth. As soon as he had his coins Connor left them. Chloe shook her head slightly while smiling and followed him. Markus followed her and turned around a machine to see both at the skee-ball machine. He watched as Connor got a perfect score and Chloe receive a nearly perfect score.
“Are you two great at everything?” He didn’t realize he had said that out loud until they both turned to look at him. Connor’s brow furrowed as he tilted his head to the side and Chloe frowned slightly.
“Of course not,” she switched to a smile, “we just really like skee-ball.” Markus nodded, embarrassed. He really didn’t mean to say that thought, much less where they could hear it.
He broke off from them for a while after that, going to play his favorite games of classic pinball and Oceanhorn 2. After about an hour he found them facing off in Mortal Kombat X. He watched as they conducted an extremely close match, but Chloe managed to win with an expert level execution combo. The two of them spun around on their stools to face him.
“I’m out of coins. I don’t know if you guys want to continue or head out. Either is fine with me.”
Chloe answered, “We still have some coins and were planning on moving onto air hockey next.” Markus nodded and followed them to the next game.
He took a seat at a game near the table and watched as they inputted their coins. The puck was released, and the match began. As he watched them go back and forth, he quickly noticed that Connor was much better than Chloe. However, she quickly began to cheat, laying her arms in front of her goal so the puck had no chance of entering.
Connor didn’t seem upset, instead he smiled and switched his tactic to trying to toss the puck in like a frisbee. Chloe laughed, shifting so her goal could barely be seen under her arms. Markus was curious to see how Connor responded. He wasn’t expecting him to simply say, “Let me in.” When Chloe giggled and shook her head, Connor widened his stance, threw his head back and began to almost yell, “Let me in ,” before collapsing into a fit of chuckles himself.
Markus let out shocked laughter, not expecting Connor of all people to be a memer. The timer on the table ran out, letting off an airhorn sound. Chloe turned towards Markus, still giggling.
“I think we’re ready for cookies.” He nodded and led them outside and a few doors down.
As they entered and were hit with the smell of freshly baked cookies his mouth began to water. He stepped up to the register and ordered a box of six chocolate chip cookies and a medium lemon tea before moving aside to grab a spot at the bar by the counter. After Chloe and Connor ordered – Chloe asking for a vanilla ice cream sandwich with chocolate covered mint cookies and Connor getting two M&M cookies and a bottle of milk – they joined him. The bar didn’t have any seats, so they had to stand. It didn’t take long for their orders to be ready and Markus happily bit into the warm cookie.
They ate in silence until Chloe spoke, “I’ll be right back.” Markus glanced at her briefly as she headed in the directions of the bathrooms. Looking at his phone, he saw Josh and North had responded to his Snap. Josh’s was a pic of what appeared to be Shephard's Pie, and North was of her face with a caption, “Gone not even for a month and you replace us.” Markus looked up at Connor.
“Hey, do you mind if I take a Snap of you?” Connor shook his head and Markus quickly took a pic of him, making sure to show off the place they were eating at. Sending it to North, he slid his phone back into his jacket.
He felt Connor lean closer to him and turned to look at him.
“Can I tell you a secret?”
Confused, Markus gave a slightly unsure nod.
“M&M cookies are my favorite.” With that, Connor straightened up and began to examine the different types of cookies on the menu. Not sure how to respond, Markus was sure his face showed his confusion. He didn’t have long to be too perplexed before Chloe returned.
“I ordered a Lyft. You’re welcomed to join us Markus, though I don’t know your address so you might just have to come back to my house.”
“It’s fine, I can just order my own.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. It’s about time for me to be getting home anyways as my ‘reverse grounding’ is over.” As he said this, Markus pulled out his phone and sent the Lyft request.
“Okay, well our ride is here. Get home safely!” He waved to Chloe and Connor as they left the store. His ride was still about five minutes away and he didn’t want to stand in the cold, so he remained inside until it arrived. The ride back to his house was quiet – he spent most of his time on his phone and the driver seemed to take this as a sign he didn’t want to talk.
Carl rolled up to him as he removed his coat and hung it in the coat closet.
“So how did your reverse grounding go?” Markus thought about the day he had hanging out with Chloe and Connor. The duo seemed too perfect to be human and were incredibly perplexing – Connor especially. He still didn’t know what to think of the ‘secret’ shared with him.
“It went pretty alright. I still don’t know if I’ll be able to finish my painting though.”
Carl snorted, “One night on the town isn’t going to cure your art block, but it’s a start.” Markus nodded and headed to the kitchen to begin preparing dinner.