Page 49 of Hooves & HeartStrings

We walk along the pier, hand in hand as we lick our cones, playing a game of I Spy.

Who knew something so simple could be one of the best days of my life? As long as I’m spending time with Marley, we could be just sitting in silence and I’d be happy.

“I spy with my little eye something that is blue,” Marley says on her turn.

“Blue.” I start to look around. “Ahh. The water?”

“Nope.”

“The sky?”

“Nope.” She looks up at me with a smile.

“That's a hard one,” I muse, looking around some more. As my eyes sweep over the crowd of people, I start to notice eyes on me. A lot of them.

My heart rate starts to pick up as my palms grow clammy. So many eyes, so many judgmental stares. I’m used to this, it’s not something new but since coming to Coral Springs University, a good part of the student body has been open and accepting of monsters.

“Luci?” Marley’s voice snaps me out of my head. She gently grabs my arm and pulls me to a stop. “Are you okay?”

“No,” I tell her honestly, looking to find more people watching. “Everyone is staring at me.”

Her brows furrow as she starts to look around. “I mean, yeah. Why wouldn’t they?”

“What?” I stare at her in shock.

“I mean, we’re both dressed in absolutely ridiculous outfits. Of course, people are going to stare.”

I blink and look down at my clothes. “Shit. I kind of forgot we were wearing this,” I say, feeling embarrassed that my mind jumped to the worst.

“Did you think they were looking at you because you're a centaur?”

“I feel silly about it now, but yeah.”

“Ohhhh,” she says, giving me a look of understanding. And then it turns to pity. “Sorry, babe, but it’s not because you're a sexy half-horse man. It’s because you look like you dressed yourself in the dark, locked in a costume shop.” She bites her lips together, trying to hold back her laugh.

“You're a brat.” I can’t help but laugh.

“In all honesty, I don’t think we will ever know if they are staring at us because of our clothes or because of who you are. But fuck them. Because I know you're amazing and so does anyone whose opinion matters. Fuck everyone else.”

“You’re amazing, you know that.” I smile down at her, pulling her into my arms.

“I know.” She beams up at me.

I bend down and give her a lingering kiss. “Let’s head home.”

She nods, hugging me tightly and everything feels right in the world.

* * *

The walk home is amazing. We spent the whole time laughing and talking about all the stupid things people do in horror movies.

The whole night was perfect. I’d say that date was beyond a success. I don’t think I’ve laughed and smiled so much in a long time.

Marley made sure I was comfortable, and I love her for it. She did have a point. These outfits are god awful, I guess I’ll never really know if they were staring at me because I’m a monster or because of what I was wearing. Doesn’t matter because, after a little while, all I could pay attention to was Marley, her smile, her laugh. Everyone else around disappeared until it was only the two of us. Even at the pier surrounded by people, I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Things have changed between us and I believe it’s for the better. I could feel that shift, our bond getting closer. She just seemed so relaxed with me, so comfortable. Like she wanted to be with me, at that moment.

“I wanna ask you something.” I pull her to a stop, just outside her dorm.

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