Bruises
Yep, that's me. I'm still waiting for my TV Land special.
What? You're calling THAT lame?
Maybe you just don't understand the true meaning, the power of TV Land. Is that it?
Forget it. Forget the whole damn thing. I can laugh it off, but it's still there.
I'm all alone. No one.
"You have the other Animorphs." I tell myself, in a convincing tone.
But deep down, in some swirling mess of emotions, I know that's not what I mean when I think of being alone. And now, I'm just out-and-out admitting it.
I mean, come on. Jake has Cassie, Rachel has Tobias. And Ax's situation is pretty much self-explanatory. It's obvious: I'm the only one that's either too annoying or too "flighty" for a girl to really like. No one ever says "Marco likes...as in likes...so and so.", as is said for Cassie and Jake, Tobias and Rachel, and vice versa.
It's not like they're all going to start eloping at this age or anything. But my place romantically in the group is all too clear. I'm that humorous, obnoxious guy. The one that loves to party and is always single. I mean, what girl would want to date that egomaniac? Pretty soon, I'll have to go around in a Hawaiian shirt.
Single and loving it. I try to do that. But I see the way that Jake looks at Cassie, and man, my heart aches to look at someone like that.
But I shove off the feeling with glib humor. Who would have thought that humor, once something to lighten my friends' moods, would become a coping mechanism, something to hide behind?
Something to hide behind and to help me slide back into that role: The cynic, the ruthless one, the funny one, the blundering single one that tries to get the girls and fails miserably. The one that falls heads over heels for someone, and then gets chased down the halls by her boyfriend.
Cue the laugh track. And Rachel mocking me, Jake smirking, Cassie stifling a giggle, Tobias making smug comments.
Not to be bitter.
See, I'm not supposed to hook up with anyone.
I'm supposed to stand the looks that the others give me. Are they laughing with me, or at me? Are they on my side, or just watching the show?
It's not supposed to matter.
I know that none of the others mean to actually be harsh to me. I can take a joke and all. Really, I can.
Just as long as it doesn't cut too close to the heart.
And when I go into a life-or-death battle, there's no one to say those personal good-byes to, no one to say "I love you, be safe"' to, no one to kiss or daydream about knowing that they're daydreaming about you too.
Not that I'm supposed to care. I mean, having a deep love for someone isn't funny, is it? And I'm funny. I need my humor. Can't get too close to someone. Might lose it.
A little flirting here and there. Calling Rachel Xena, making comments about Jake to Cassie, giving my best smile to a girl in Science. Nothing serious. Because the other Animorphs? They wouldn't believe I was being serious about this whole love thing. They would laugh.
Not that it matters.
What's another bruise?
A/N: I know this is a little more serious than Marco would usually be, not to mention more open. But hey, if that's how I have to have him be to have a monologue that gets to the point...so be it. hmph.