Part 10

"You don't?"  
"No."
"I was afraid I'd break your heart."
"Me too."
"My dad still thinks we're going out so let's play it cool on the way home, okay?"
"Okay." She smiled. Free! 
"Hey!" Krillin yelled across the lobby.
"Hey dad."
"The gyro-copter is just outside there." Keunai pointed. He helped Marron with her luggage. On the way home she didn't bother to put her headphones on. She just leaned on Keunai's shoulder and fell asleep. 

Later . . . 

"Bye Keunai!" Marron called as they dropped off Keunai off at his house from their vacation.
"Bye Marron! Wait! One more thing."
"Ya?"
"I never got my wish come true so could you help me?"
"Sure, I guess."
"I always wanted to fall in love with a girl with red hair and you . . . I really loved you at the beginning and . . ."
"And?"
"Could you dye your hair red and send me a few photo's on the Internet? It would really make my day."
"Sure I guess I could." Weird was the only word that came to mind.
"Use the stuff that's not permanent though!" He called. He winked at her and she smiled. Krillin and her went home and she immediately crashed.

Trunks . . . .

"I'm beginning to think mom and dad switched their copter company to AT&T." Trunks told the ringing phone. 
"Hello?" 
"Hey Trunks, my main man."
"Hey Tony. It's been awhile. Bra said she had a blast at your party - except for all the guys trying to date her."
"Oh man! Your sisters a bombshell!"
"Tony, she's dating!"
"I know but why didn't you mention her before?"
"I dunno, no one ever really asked."
"Whatever . . . I'm having another party this Saturday because my folks are outta town and all."
"The nineteenth?"
"Right. If your sis wants to come she's welcome too. We need more gals to come although I did get some more. One's perfect for you to man."
"What's her name?" 
"How should I know? 'Ethan the Matchmaker' as he called himself, said you guys'd blend." Trunks rolled his eyes.
"Well I gotta run."
"See you at the party then?"
"Ya I'll be there. Bye."
"Bye."  Trunks put the phone back on the hook and he turned the TV off just as the phone rang again.
"Hello?" Trunks answered.
"Hey could you get me some stuff out of my room for me?" Bulma asked him. 
"Ya." He hung up and did what she told him as he stumbled over an old dusty album. He picked it up and dusted it off. He opened the cover slowly. The party it showed was so long ago he barley remembered it at all. Goku was there and him and Vegeta were getting along. All the kids together in a picture. Marron was looking at Trunks and Trunks was looking at Marron. Their gaze met. He realized how long they'd known each other, how long they'd known. Known they were meant for each other. He needed something to fulfill him thoroughly.  Maybe it was to fill the pit in his stomach. A playmate. He didn't put the album back in the box where he'd found it. He put in the drawer of his nightstand. He put a different shirt on and locked up the house. He smacked himself on the way over wherever he was heading and told himself 'You're so stupid sometimes.' But he kept right on flying.

Marron . . . 

Marron was woken up Thursday morning by her friend Ethan calling her. They had barley realized each other at school but met in a chat room later. 
"You wanna come to a party on Saturday?" 
"Sure." Marron said, over the phone.
"It's at my friends house." Ethan told her.
"What time? I'm free."
"How do you know?"
"My life is so boring sometimes. This weekend is one of those times." 
"Whatever. I'll come pick you up, kay?"
"Kay."
"It's at eight. The nineteenth. Here get a pen, I'll give you his address just in case." She grabbed a pen and paper as he started saying the address.
"3781 SW 39th Terrace and you know the rest."
"3781 SW 39th Terrace?"
"Ya. The host is Tony."
"Gotcha." Marron heard someone calling Ethan in the background.
"I gotta go."
"Is it formal or casual?"
"Casual. See you at 8."
"Kay, bye." She hung up. The pit of her stomach was missing something and Marron hoped it was food. Memories of Trunks flooded her mind, but food pushed them out again. The day before the party she figured she'd dye her hair red for Keunai. Her mom had bought the dye and didn't give it another thought before she applied it. As it turned out, it was permanent and wouldn't come out for more than two months. She took the pictures for him, sent them and sulked over her hair. 

The days went slowly by till the 19th came. The day of the party had arrived.

Marron . . .

Marron picked out her clothes carefully. She had no relationship and she took it as an opportunity to flirt! She could finally not slap someone when they checked her out. She got a pair of hip-hugger flare legged jeans out and tried to match a shirt. She finally chose a blue low-cut one with no sleeves and sparkles. She put on her black platform shoes with the silver buckle on top. They rounded in the front and went perfect with the outfit. She did her hair down and straight. It felt weird because she rarely did her hair in anything but pigtails. She grabbed her purse and put on her silver dolphin necklace. It was ten till eight and she had Ethan picking her up. She didn't have time to put her earring on before she heard the car horn beep. She ran downstairs and kissed her mom and said she was going out. Her mom continued watching TV and eating her dinner. She grabbed her keys off the counter and ran outside where there was a beat up small red car waiting. She went down the front steps onto the driveway and got inside. He pulled out of the driveway and sped off.
"You look good." He told her. 
"Thanks. You do too."
"Nah. So, are you still going out with that . . . guy?"
"Keunai?"
"Yea."
"No, I don't miss him either. He was more like a friend. Ruined my life for a while, he did."
"Ruined your life? He was your boyfriend!"
"He . . . uh, took away some close friends of mine."
"How?"
"Well, my old boyfriend is my best friend's brother. When I dumped him he was so hurt. To tell you the truth if I could go back, I wouldn't have, but what's done is done. Then to top it off, my best friend wanted to do stuff with me but I was always to busy. One day she exploded about how I liked Keunai more than her and we stopped talking for a while and I had no one but him and he's not that great to be around for more than two hours like my other friends and . . . you know?"
"Ya. Why don't you get back together with your old boyfriend?"
"I'm not sure he'd take me back. So I'm gonna play it single for awhile, I guess." They arrived at a large pastel yellow house. It was Victorian style and they got out of the car. He opened the door for her and walked inside where the party was just getting started. Ethan introduced her to most of his buddies and some of the girls there. They had just started playing an intense game of spin the bottle, but when Ethan arrived all the guys left the circle. They then started playing Truth or Dare. They invited Marron to play and she did. She was drinking the spiked punch when Hilary dared her to climb the highest tree by the house. It was a very tall evergreen that looked ancient. 
"I'll do it." The girls stopped giggling about what they'd ask her for the truth question. She didn't want to tell the truth. She wanted to be a single carefree girl at a party. They'd all predicted she'd say no. 
"You gotta touch the tallest branch on the tree. Changing your mind now?"
"No." They goggled at her. Hilary took the cup of juice away from her.
"I think the punch went to her head." She poured it out on the ground.
"Nothing's wrong with me! I just want to prove to you I can do it." 
"Can't I dare you to do something else? Something easier? The whole party'll be watching you!"
"You might not be up to the challenge but I am. I want to do it. It's my fault if I screw up."
"Please don't." She walked over to the tree. The girls followed.
"Could you give me a boost?" She called Ethan over and he did. He regretted doing it after he asked why she was climbing a tree. Her scarlet hair flew in the wind. 

Trunks . . . 

Bra was fussing over how he looked. 
"Why don't you spike your hair? No, put your other jeans on. Those are ripped. Can't y-"
"What's gotten into you? I'm a big boy now. I can do my hair and pick out my clothes by myself!"
"I know," Bra said blushing. She knew Marron was going to the party. 
"Then why are you acting so strange?"
"Me? I'm not acting strange." She said, falsely high pitched. His eyebrows went up.
"What aren't you telling me?"
"Me? I'm telling you everything. I'm not acting strange, I'm fine!" She said quickly and rushed out of the room.
"Whatever, Bra." He muttered. It was ten after. He got his shoes on and looked in the full-length mirror. He looked casual enough. He just looked like him. But as he was thinking of how he looked he thought maybe it was time to stop getting his hopes up Marron would ever be his girl again. He knew it was time to move on. That was a while back. He remembered how far he'd thought that relationship would go. It had stopped so early. He shook the burden off his shoulders and figured he would just relax tonight. A Marron-free, worry-free evening with just him and his buds. As he left his room, Bra was standing anxiously at the front door downstairs.
"Mom, I'm going out. I'll be back later. Kay?"
"Sure, fine whatever dear." He went downstairs and as he opened the door and prepared to leave Bra whispered "Tell me everything that happens when you get home." Trunks's eyebrows shot up again as he closed the door and took off into the cool night air. He arrived at the Victorian style house a little later. He rang the doorbell. After ringing it three more times Ethan answered it. He looked exited. 
"Come on in. Hurry though or we'll miss it."
"Miss what?" But there was no time to explain as he grabbed Trunk's wrist and pulled him through the quiet house. 
"Come on!" Ethan said as Trunks slowed down a little. 
"Why's the house so quiet? I thought this was going to a party."
"I'll explain when we get outside." He dragged him through the open sliding glass doors. The entire party was outside staring up, silently. Then he saw it. There was a girl climbing the humungos evergreen tree next to the house. Every time she made the slightest movement like she would fall the crowd gasped. Her crimson hair stood out to Trunks. It was so . . . familiar.
"She was dared to touch the highest branch or answer a question truthfully. I guess she liked the person they were asking her about and didn't want to admit it." Ethan told him.
"Who is she?"
"I can never remember her name. She goes to school with us. She's the same age as your sister." She climbed and climbed. Tony found him in the crowd. 
"That's the girl Ethan said you'd make a good match with. She's really nice and hot too." He was smiling.
"I have to meet her first."
"I'm glad you're here though. If she falls you can fly up there and catch her."
"Don't put that obligation on my shoulders!"
"Hey if you teach me to fly, I'd do it gratefully." Tony looked serious but then again Tony couldn't be serious. He hung around with Trunks and sometimes Goten who were some of the best practical jokers in town. Trunks hadn't egged a house since Marron dumped him though. It seemed as though Marron had just taken his life away. He was almost failing to live without her. He could do it. Even if the love of his life didn't love him back. He'd pull through. Meanwhile, the girl climbed higher and higher. After a while she reached the top. She touched the topmost branch. The girl cheered gleefully. She sounded like a mouse and the crowd burst into applause. She started to climb back down. About one quarter of the way down, her foot slipped and she held on by her hands. One by one her fingers slipped and one hand was left. She finally let go and Tony nudged Trunks. They crowd was gasping and screaming. He gathered his energy and soared up into the sky. He caught her in his arms and all he could see of her face was a mess of red hair in it. The swarm of people below opened and made a place for him to land. He was holding her like a baby and he set her down but she was turned away from him. She turned. His heart leapt. Marron was there, her cheeks were flushed pink and her heart beating fast. Her eyes told him she was sorry. They were pleading for him to take her back into his arms. His eyes were soft and they told her how much she'd broken his heart. At the same moment, they walked to each other and kissed. And it wasn't just a peck. It was a minute long, hand on cheek, eyes closed kind of kiss. The people started clapping for them and went back to the party. They sat at a table and talked and laughed. She told him the story of her hair and then Ethan came over. 
"Man, Trunks you gotta teach me how to do that!"
"How to fly?"
"No, the whole routine! Catch her and make you kiss her like that! You don't even know her."
"Actually, yes I do. She's my-" He stopped and looked a her.
"Girlfriend." Was she asking him to be her boyfriend again? He nodded silently. Ethan was looking at the sliding glass door and saw a pretty girl come out. 
"I thought your girlfriend had blonde hair and thought you stopped going out months ago." He asked Trunks.
"Nope." Trunks said. 
"She does have blonde hair." Marron aid curtly. Ethan goggled. 
"You you're okay with that? Him playing you like that?"
"Chill," said Trunks patting him on the back. "She dyed her hair." Ethan looked relived. He shook his head at Trunks in a funny sort of way and then made his way over to talk to the newest girl at the party. Meanwhile, Marron was looking at her nails and she looked up. They could talk about this in private.
"So does this mean we're-"
"Ya, if you'll take me."
"Ya well, you don't know how long I've waited for this." He kissed her again. This time she scooted closer. She put her head on his chest and closed her eyes for a brief second. She took a deep breath and she adjusted. He felt something in his oversized pocket. 
"Hold up, Mar."
"Hmm?" She sat up and he reached inside his pocket. He felt a velvety box. He pulled it out. What? When did he buy this? Her eyes lit up.
"Oh, Trunks! For me?" He wasn't paying enough attention to notice she had picked it up. She opened it and finding the two silver dolphin earrings she gasped. He looked up. 
"What?"
"Trunks! These are beautiful. Thank you! How did you know I was wearing my dolphin necklace?"
"I didn't. I bought that for you before you went on that vacation."
"Oh. I love you." She had the deepest regret in her eyes.
"It doesn't matter."
"You should have been the one at the resort with me. It should have been you!" She cried.
"It doesn't matter." He repeated, taking her into his arms.
"It doesn't matter!" Tears flowed down her cheeks. He took her by the shoulders and shook her until she got her breath and stopped wheezing so much. 
"Marron, we all make mistakes." Her head was down on her chest. She lifted it up so her eyes were equal with his.
"Not me and not with you." She got up and ran into the house through the sliding glass doors with the earrings clutched to her heart.