"Hey!"

I slammed both my fists against the bathroom, rattling the wood loose on the frame. Steam seeped through the cracks, threatening to frizz my dark curly hair. My throat begged for mercy as I shouted over the metal blaring inside the bathroom, the loud YouTube commentary video blasting in someone's bedroom, the Naked and Afraid playing downstairs, and then the thunderstorm outside.

A chorus of noise topping the billboard charts in Hell.

"Jacob!" My fists drummed the door again, and he finally shut his music off. "I need the car keys! You had the keys to the van last!"

"Van's gone!" Jacob, my younger brother, shouted back. "Aunt Lindsay left with it. You can't—"

He said more, but I was already running down the stairs and jumping the last steps. With my momentum, I used the railing to spin myself into the hallway and hurtled myself out the back door into the garage door. The rain acted like the world's natural white noise, coming down in thick sheets as it drenched my neighborhood.

To my dismay, Jacob was right. The family van had vanished, and Jacob's used Toyota corolla stood alone as the last survivor.

"Mom!" I yelled and ran back inside. If given the option, I'd run. Even if it shook the house, running brought me everywhere faster. "Mom!"

"Marnie, I'm in here!" Mom shouted back from an uncalculatable distance.

"Where?" I asked, hoping to suddenly gain the power of echo location.

"Here! You're cold!"

Flipping around, I dodged out of the way from the kitchen and ran towards the front door, near the living room. "Here?"

"Warmer!" She said, her voice becoming clearer, and I figured it out. Stumbling into our sunroom, the most aesthetically appealing place to sit while the rain ran like rivers down all four glass walls, Mom sat against the couch on the floor. The originator of the curls, proud noses, and boney elbows that Jacob and I shared. Sugar and spice made other people, but vinegar and salt ran through my family's bloodstream. Less new and shiny, more homemade and vintage. Nothing simple and sleek but worn out and full of character.

At least, that's what I had to tell myself.

"What are you doing in here?" I asked accusingly.

"You know Bear gets scared when it storms," Mom said, stroking the beast of a dog on her lap. My mother considered Bear, a huge black mastiff, her eldest child and favorite, despite two more children having moved out and her golden child hogging all the hot water upstairs. As someone who knows a losing battle when I saw it, I didn't bother competing for the title.

I held out my arms and motioned to the entire room. "So, why is he here?"

Mom's face dropped, but one eyebrow bounced back up. "Because he has the IQ of a peanut. Is this an interrogation, or did you need something?"

"Yeah, you're in the hot seat." Nodding, I crossed my arms and popped my foot on the nearby side table to my mother's displeasure, but her grimace didn't deter me. Nothing usually did when I was on a roll, like during a good argument, or a car with cut brakes barreling down a steep hill. "Where's the van?"

"Your aunt Lindsay grabbed it."

"But I'm the one who requested it."

"Job interview beats blind date."

"Who was gonna tell me?"

"Jacob can drop you off and my sister will pick you up."

"Jacob has work."

Eyes squinting from the weight of her thoughts, my mother hummed, until she finally admitted, "Well, I didn't remember that." She huffed. "He never puts his schedule on the fridge calendar. I need it or my brain doesn't function."

Groaning, I let my foot slip off the edge and hit the floor. I dragged myself out of the room and climbed up the stairs as my uncle Derek squeezed by and excused himself into the freshly vacant bathroom. A one and half bathroom house with eight people was as torturous and smelly as it sounded. 

Ever since Aunt Lindsay lost her job, their family had to move in when it was impossible to pay rent and so the house was at max capacity. Everyone stepped over everyone in mass chaos like an army of panicking ants whose line was broken and, with order destroyed, anarchy ruled.

Dodging out of my uncle's war, I barged into Jacob's room, kicking through a pile of sugar free monsters that gave his room a sweet medicinal stench. Jacob cursed, jumping into his black work pants. He whirled on me, eyes wide and face red. "Can't you knock?"

I slapped my hands together in mock prayer. "You gotta take me to my date."

"Why?"

"Because I'm already late and I don't know when Aunt Lindsay is going to be done—"

The bathroom door opened, and I sprang into action, ducking into the hall and grabbing one of my little cousins by his hoodie and yanking him back. "Me first!" I said and threw myself into the still moggy bathroom and quickly laid toothpaste on my brush and ran into my bedroom for shoes. I shouted, "The cafe is on your way to work! Please! Please! Please!"

Jacob emerged in his green polo shirt and black apron draped over his shoulder. "You better tuck and roll as we drive by."

"You're doing it for a noble cause." I grinned. "Lesbianism."

Jacob rolled his eyes, but in less than a minute, he was unlocking the car for me. I climbed inside, immediately struggling to stuff my feet into my shoes while my toothbrush hung out the side of my mouth. Jacob punched in the cafe address for my day, and I brushed in the meantime.

"I gotta spit," I said with a mouth full of minty foam.

Sighing, Jacob reached down into the floorboards for a disposable coffee mug from when he worked overnight last weekend. I accepted it and spat, before fervently brushing again. I multitasked, asking my brother, "I thot u didn woark saurdys."

Somehow, he understood it. He said, "I changed my availability for the summer. I'm trying to fit in my summer training camp, but I also like money."

As a polite little lady, I spat again before asking, "You're choosing to work more?" The idea made my stomach sicker than drinking a cup of milk after sitting on the kitchen counter for a day.

"Better than doing nothing," Jacob shot back. It was a kill shot, but I was an easy target. "If you're friend didn't set this date up for you, you'd be at home doom scrolling on top of a pool of drool."

"Gross! I don't drool." I paused. "Anymore."

"Did you apply to college?" He effortlessly turned the spotlight back on me. The light hurt my eyes.

"Obviously."

And by 'obviously', I meant I haven't even touched my little mouse to the college websites. I've accepted no cookies, favorited no admissions pages, and completely dissociated from the process... for now. I'll apply. I had to eventually, but I had a few weeks until the deadline, if I remember my friend Sarah's reminder. I never checked it myself.

This lie was one of many I told when it came to college. When it came to lying about anything, honestly. Lying was easy though, if you keep the lie simple, commit to the lie, and never tell anyone you don't lie (that's a lie), you can get away with saying anything.

My rules kept me out of trouble.

"We're here," Jacob said and parked at the front. "Don't drown."

"Don't tell me what to do," I said, smiling as the thrill of the day hit me like I fell asleep and woke up strapped to a rollercoaster ride the moment it was taking off. "Have fun at work."

"Don't tell me what to do."

Holding my breath, I hiked my raincoat over my head and dove into the rain. I ran for the white and red awning over the coffee shop door, stopping to wave at Jacob, who wasn't even glancing at me as he drove back into the flow of traffic.

"Excuse me," I said to other people escaping the downpour and held the door open to let them inside first. I joined them at the tail and scanned the bustling cafe. Every table, couch, and chair had a butt sitting there, and even the window bar was at capacity. With the rain outside darkening the world, the fairy lights in the window warmed the place up and the freshly brewed coffee helped melt the chill away.

This place had the best coffee in town, and everyone knew it from priests to biker gangs, from princesses to paupers and knew the Copper Coin was the way to go.

I scanned for a pop of yellow. That was my clue to find out who my blind date was, a date set up by Sarah, who said, "She's a cute blonde and will wear yellow." When I asked for more, like a name and a vibe, Sarah was more than helpful. "Her name's Kate and she'll be planning to go out with a girl tomorrow night. Do the math."

But when my eyes landed on a girl sitting alone, wearing a yellow ribbed sleeveless top, I wouldn't describe her as cute. This girl looked down her nose at her phone, showing off her two lines of thick eyelashes and perfectly threaded brows. Her white, blonde hair looked freshly chopped, framing her face. Her lips had the pointiest cupid bow Marnie had ever seen. However, wild enough, she wore white pants.

Only someone with pure confidence wore white pants.

She wasn't cute.

This girl was drop-dead-punch-me-in-the-face-gorgeous.

Taking a deep breath, I trudged over and whatever cool thing I planned to say jumped out the window when this girl looked up with her sharp brown eyes. Verbal vomit poured out of me instead. "Hey, you must be Kate! Sorry, I'm late but I didn't have my car. Well, I don't have a car, so I can't drive myself. My little brother had to drive me. After a lot of begging. Begging I shouldn't admit to."

I pulled off my coat, sending water droplets across the table. Panicked, I grabbed the end of my hoodie sleeve and wiped it up. "I don't know how much Sarah has said about me, but I have like a weird living situation, so we only have so many cars and like a million people in my house."

Plopping down, I tried fixing the poof ball I called hair to make myself seem cool and relaxed, but cool and relaxed people didn't have to try this hard. "I can't believe it's raining like all of a sudden and now I'm walking in here like a wet cat and a frizz ball. Please excuse me, but you look great. Oh shit," I realized myself and pressed my hand to my chest. "Sorry! I'm Marnie Fletcher, it's nice to meet you. Let's have fun tonight, okay?"

And like an absolute clown, I held out my hand. Heat slapped the back of my neck as I blushed and prayed she was nearsighted and couldn't see it.

This girl, this beautiful girl who had not a said a word yet, who just stared at me with wide perplexed eyes.

"Okay." Kate's confusion dissolved into a smile, and she accepted my handshake. "I like fun."

Excitement whizzed up my arm like a firework taking off and crashing against the top of my skull, lighting me up brighter than a Christmas tree. I took back my hand, but Kate's warmth lingered on my skin. To save it for later, I shoved my fist into my pocket.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say the love bug just bit me.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Chapter one! We're here, we're queer, and we're happy to be writing again. I hope you're ready for some fun and lots of romance. I'm a little biased, but I love Marnie fiercely and her relationship with "Kate" is a favorite of mine. They're so cute guys, you don't even know (yet). 

Don't forget to leave a comment and tell me what you think! What's your first impression of Marnie? Would you go on a first date? Did you own a car in high school (I did not)? And tell me what's your first job (I worked at a dry cleaners)? 

And if you like this book, check out my other novels!