Marvin's Confusing Life

Cordelia

"My back is killing me," Charlotte groans as we trudge up the stairs with our shopping bags. We just got back from getting groceries, since Whizzer refused to do it.

"It's not my fault the elevator is broken," I tell her. "And I really feel for you, honey, but you're the doctor here. I don't know what to do."

She laughs a little. "Well, I'm not a doctor just yet. Ask me in another ten years."

"Will do."

We finally make it to my floor, and the walk down the hallway feels hours long. Not to mention how hot it's getting around this time of year. Our freshman year is so close to ending I can taste it, and the extra-warm weather makes everything a million times more unbearable.

I unlock the door and we step into the apartment. There's no air conditioning, so the temperature isn't any better, but it's nice to be able to stop moving. Charlotte closes her eyes and leans against the door frame with a groan. I drop my bags and take a deep breath for the first time in what felt like days.

Whizzer's sitting on the couch reading a magazine, staring at us curiously. "What is your problem?"

"The elevator's broken," Charlotte sighs, walking in and steadying herself on the coat hooks. "We had to walk up so many flights of stairs."

"Three?" Whizzer raises an eyebrow.

"Three feels like a lot," I snap. "Especially in this weather." I pull my hair up behind my head and remove the elastic from my wrist so I can tie it up. "Come on, Charlotte, there's a fan in my room."

So we go in my room and cool off a bit. Charlotte's lying on my bed and I'm in front of my mirror styling my practically sweat-soaked hair when her phone buzzes. I hear her make a noise of combined surprise and excitement and I turn around.

"What's going on?"

"Caroline just texted me!" she exclaims. I wrack my brain trying to remember who Caroline is. That girl she was friends with in high school who told her a couple months back she didn't want to hang out anymore, right?

I climb onto the bed and look over her shoulder. "What did she say?" I want to know.

"Something about whether I want to get together after classes are over," she mutters. "This is great! I thought she was done with me. Maybe our friendship isn't ending after all."

"Well, that's great," I remark.

"I'm happy about this. I mean, the last time I saw her in person was that same day you first asked me out."

I stop and give her a look. "Back in October?"

She nods slowly.

"Charlotte... Jesus Christ."

"I'll do better this time," she says, turning back to her phone. "Of course I want to hang out. Thank God."

I smile and go out into the living room. Whizzer's still on the couch, reading his magazine but looking very uninterested in it. I sit down next to him with a sigh.

"How's it going?" he asks me, not looking up.

"It's going okay." I shrug. "Charlotte's texting her friend. Man, it's getting really warm out, isn't it?"

He nods. "The year's almost done now. And then it's gonna be a whole new batch of chaos."

I turn to him and tuck my feet up onto the cushion. "I don't think so," I admit. "At least, not as bad as this year. We're all friends now, right? It's not like anything's going to undo that." He doesn't say anything, so I add, "Right?"

"No, you're probably right," Whizzer replies, closing his magazine. "With Trina and Mendel and all this new stuff... I guess it'll cool out by the time we're back."

I smile. "It already has. Mostly. Anyway, do you think we should go to the cottage some more this summer?"

"Absolutely not."

"Come on, Whizzer! The lake will have warmed up way more by then. And we're all cool with each other now. Like I said. This summer's going to be great."

"Sure it is," he mutters.

"It is."

Marvin

It's one of my last few days of classes, and I'm just coming out of my dorm when I see Trina standing there. Now, I know damn well she doesn't live on my floor, so she has some explaining to do.

She smiles when she sees me. "Hey, Marvin. I just came here to see if you wanted to talk about some stuff."

"No, but go on," I sigh, leaning against the wall. If there's one thing I'm sure of about Trina, it's that she's not going to forget something that's on her mind. That's probably why it took her so long to get over our breakup, but to be fair, the news that I had practically cheated on her with another man must have set things back a little.

She shrugs, looking a little uncomfortable. "Well. Okay. How's it— how's it hanging?" she starts.

I raise an eyebrow. "You came all the way to my dorm to ask me how it's hanging?"

"Yes, Marvin," Trina answers. "Yes I did. You know why? Because after all the things that happened over the last thirteen months, we're friends. We're still exes, but we're friends. And we should be allowed to have moments where we can just ask each other what's going on."

"Fair enough," I say. "If you must know, life is okay. Nothing new, nothing special. Can I get past you now?"

She rolls her eyes and steps aside, but follows me down the hall anyway. "Look. Mendel and I have been getting close in the last month. Really close."

"I don't still love you, Trina."

"No, I know that. I just wanted to—" She exhales sharply. "Marvin, do relationships get easier as you go?"

"Uh, yeah, if you actually try to keep them going."

"But there's so much more to it. And what if Mendel and I weren't even meant to be? That would have been such a waste—"

"Trina, relax. You've had a dysfunctional relationship before, remember? So just think of everything that went wrong while we were together, and don't do that. Trust me, it was way more difficult for me, getting with Whizzer when I didn't even know if you and I were broken up."

"We weren't," she replies. "And at least you thought that after a couple of months you would never have to see me again. I have to see you and your boyfriend for the next three years. And I'm not complaining, because Whizzer's great and you're— okay—" (Rude.) "But I thought that being with Mendel would make that part easier, and it seems like it's doing the opposite."

I hesitate for a moment. "Trina, no offense, but you had a whole school year to get over it."

"Can you ever really get over it, Marvin?"

Damn. Good point.

"Okay, well, stop focusing so much on my relationships," I tell her. "That's what's been torturing you all year. And start paying more attention to Mendel. Even I had to admit you guys had sexual tension. Like, intense sexual tension. And I thought you guys were doing okay?"

"We are. We're doing great. I don't know what I'm getting myself worked up over, honestly. I guess every once in a while I'm going to get these feelings, and I have to do what you said and remember how horrible it was being your girlfriend," she breathes.

I give her a look. "I'm pretty sure I didn't say that."

"Thank you, Marvin." She drops her bag and stops in the middle of the hallway to give me a hug, which is confusing, because didn't I just make her entire freshman year hell? And were we talking about that, or were we talking about her and Mendel? Are they okay? Am I okay? Is she okay?

She seems to be okay when she pulls back, so I decide not to bother with it. "Do you need me to walk you to class?" I ask, because I still don't know what to say.

Trina laughs. "No, I'm good. Actually, I'm meeting up with Mendel. Take care, though." She flashes me a grin as she picks up her bag and walks down the hall by herself.

"Yeah, take care," I repeat, watching her leave. Okay, I didn't exactly understand what happened, but let's be honest, did I really ever understand anything that happened this year?

I guess that's college for you. Tons of excruciating schoolwork, but also building and mending relationships. And growing up and shit. I'll say it again, it's definitely not what I expected back in August, but hey, I'm not complaining.