“Ugh… my head,” I groaned, holding it between my hands. It felt as if a dozen or so bullets had been shot through millions and millions of times.
What’d I do last night? I wondered, while at the same time I looked around and took in my surroundings. It looked to be a spare room of some sort, with a walk-in wardrobe empty, except for a few hangers. To my left were some curtains, and behind them, a rather large balcony with a table and two chairs looking out into the vast city beneath them. The whole room looked as if it could have had a nice and pleasant white colour, but it looked as if the pleasantness had been completely sucked out of the room, only to be replaced with the pale, morning glow coming from the sun. Thankfully, the room was built rather economically, with the morning sun barely penetrating the already semi-dark room I was half asleep in.
Suddenly, I felt rather… vulnerable. I couldn’t understand why though. What would make me feel…?
Fuck.
As if a dam had cracked and spilled forth the contents of what it held, images of bare skin on top of bare skin flashed through my mind, coupled with the groans and moans of pleasure. Although those images were brief, more images flashed through my head: a face with chocolate brown hair looking up in pure ecstasy; my mouth buried deep amongst pubic hair; strong, lean and masculine fingers stroking my nipples; soft lips just barely below my waist…
More and more of these images continuously flashed through, while the sounds, although did not match the certain thoughts, replayed itself over and over again, like a broken record. Moans and groans, whispers and whimpers, passion and lust; they all echoed throughout my mind. I subconsciously wrapped my arms around me, and that’s when I realised that I was topless.
No wonder I was feeling rather open and vulnerable I thought. Getting up, I winced at the sudden pain that seared through my head.
Maybe I should take everything a little bit slower I mused, while feeling through the bed sheets at the same time for my blouse. Finding it wrapped around someone’s pants and the sheets neat the end of the bed, I unraveled it, and slipped it on, the material of the blouse securing me, just like those lean arms did to me last-
QUIT it Mel.
I hovered over the bed, like a lingering shadow, expecting to find the mystery guy sprawled underneath the covers, mouth hanging open with dried spit on the side of the mouth.
He wasn’t there. One half of me was greatly relieved. I didn’t want to be around the guy I had just slept with, it would be too awkward. Yet… the other half was disappointed, almost… angry. Why’d he leave like that? So abruptly? Well… maybe not that abruptly, he did leave some of his clothing behind… but honestly, who does that? Just has sex with some chick and leaves her alone?
A goddamn player Mel said a voice, the same voice that believed that Chance liked me. What was with that? Sighing, I picked up my shoes that had been tossed near the edge of the bed and I crept towards the door, pain stabbing through my head every now and then. Reaching the door, I saw the faded outlines of the red, digital numbers on the alarm clock next to the bed. Tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear, I leaned forwards and squinted. 6:15 am.
What the hell made me wake up THIS early in the morning? I thought. Frowning, I tiptoed outside and down the stairs. A noise like the sound of rushing water made me think that someone was in the bathroom, but I didn’t think about it. I did, however, pause as I passed the hallway which led down to Chance’s room. Spontaneously, I walked towards his room, stepping over empty beer bottles, thrown food, and the odd person slumped on the ground, snoring. Upon reaching his room, I found that his door was slightly ajar, with a rather scented smell emanating from his room. Curiosity now overtook impulsiveness, and as I opened the door it creaked quite loudly. I immediately stopped and I peered inside to see whether or not I had waked him. What appeared to be a lifeless body was sprawled upon his bed, half naked, his snores filling the room. Realizing that I did not wake him, I opened the door a bit more, allowing me enough space to squeeze through into his room.
Just like a typical 18 year old teenager, his room was really messy. His school and sports uniform were thrown on the floor, amongst other clothes, his books for school were littered everywhere; on the floor, his desk and some on his night stand where his clock was. Amongst the books and underwear (Ew, that was disgusting to see that) on his dresser, I saw numerous football trophies, the earliest trophy he won being “Peterson Achievement Award” which he looked like he won when he was 5 or 6 I think. As I walked towards it, I stepped on an empty chip packet, creating a loud ‘crunch’. Silently cursing to myself, I looked over to Chance, frozen in place. He stopped snoring, but as he rolled over to his left, so that he was facing me, I saw a medium sized, blonde haired girl, tucked underneath Chance’s arm in a fetus position.
As I watched Layla, who was snuggled up to Chance tightly and securely, I was surprised (mainly at myself) that not an ounce of jealousy had fired up in my consciousness. Usually, I’d be half-heartedly trying to refrain myself from chucking one of Chance’s trophies at her. But I wasn’t and that was strange… I hope it didn’t have anything to do with last night.
I walked out of Chance’s room, closing the door as quietly as I could, and as I did so, I pondered what had happened last night. I still couldn’t figure out who was the guy I slept with…
A shiver passed through me as I thought about C.J’s friend, Samson; he was pretty drunk, and so was I, so he might have, I guess ‘taken advantage’ of me, which really disgusted me as I thought about it. Then there was Chance’s friend, simply known as “The Jock”. His real name was Devlin, but because he plays a vast array of sports, including that of rough handling other guys, he just became known around school as “The Jock”. I remember that he was hitting on me early on in the party, but Chance had told him rather quietly to stop it, and he eventually lost interest in me.
Maybe, I thought to myself, as I navigated my way through the maze of unconscious bodies again, Devlin got his way with me when Chance stopped looking after me…
I snorted with laughter. I remember seeing Devlin flirting with numerous girls after Chance told him to back off. But you never know…
Basking in the clean, fresh morning air, I realised, with a rather awkward feeling, that I had finally lost my v-plates to some guy I could hardly remember, let alone when I was drunk! I always thought that losing my virginity would be something romantic and special, but in my case it wasn’t, and that made me wonder if the guy I lost it to was any better. Sighing, I walked outside when a sudden realization dawned over me: how was I supposed to get home? There was no way that Jai would drive out all the way here to pick me up. Hell, he was supposed to have picked me up at 11 last night. As I cursed the early morning mist evaporating from my mouth, a tired yet husky voice asked me,
“Can’t find a ride home?”
Normally I would have jumped a mile in the air out of pure fright, but because I was tired from last night, my heart merely just skipped a beat. But there was something strange and familiar about that deep, husky voice that emanated from behind me. Turning around slowly, I saw a shade of chocolate brown, mixed with golden specks, framing a rather picturesque oval shaped face. Within moments, my line of vision was obscured by his hair, and the stale taste of alcohol touched my lips, his tongue circling the edges, trying to find a way inside. As soon as he touched my lips, memories of last night came flooding back.
So THIS is the guy I lost my virginity to I thought to myself, when I realised even further that it was none other than C.J Kings. Dammit. I pushed him off of me, wiped my mouth (deliberately) and walked off. I must admit that it was pretty stupid of me to do so, considering that I didn’t know my way around this neighborhood as well as I would have liked to at that moment. Figuring I would just catch a bus at the nearest bus stop, I walked down the street.
“Oi, wait a sec, where are you going?” C.J asked me, grabbing me on the arm as I tried to walk off.
“Home,” I merely said, shrugging off his hand so that I could continue on walking.
“You don’t even know where we are,”
“So? I’ll find a bus stop somewhere,”
“You don’t have any money,”
“I do to,” I responded wearily, wishing that I could just drop off to sleep right where I was standing.
“Bullshit you do. ‘Sides, you’re still half asleep… and most likely still half drunk. C’mon, you’re coming with me,”
“You can drive?” I asked, rather shocked. He didn’t look as if he could even drive. Hell, I didn’t even know how old he was.
“’Course I can, what, you thought I couldn’t?”
“Um, honestly, I didn’t even think you were even old enough to drive,”
C.J burst out laughing at my remark. I frowned, clearly not seeing what was so funny. His laughing died down as soon as he saw my face, and when I narrowed my eyes at him, he started to explain.
“It’s so funny… everyone thinks I’m like, 15, 16 year old tops. But really, I’m 18. I guess I just look younger than what I really am. Sometimes its good, but sometimes its not, ‘cause all the bouncers don’t really believe I’m 18,” he laughed.
“You still go to school?” I asked, but I already knew the answer… well, half of it (I presumed).
“Yeah, I lived in America for a few years, before coming here. They’ve got an extra year there, so that’s why.”
I nodded, and I also figured that’s where his accent came from. After an awkward silence, he practically dragged me off to his car, but not because I was hesitating: I was glad that someone was giving me a lift, but because I couldn’t be bothered to walk all the way back to Chance’s so that he could get his keys.
Anyways, after he got his keys from the room we had slept in, he got in the car and opened the door for me from the inside. After I gave him directions to my place, we drove off, leaving Chance’s house behind, but not the incidents that had happened there. It was quite a far drive from Chance’s place to mine, but that was only because of the quiet silence that had now surfaced between the two of us. I wound down the window, allowing the cool morning breeze to waft around C.J’s musky car, but it didn’t dissipate the awkward silence that was now drifting around.
As C.J drummed his fingers on the steering wheel while we were waiting at the stoplights, I looked the other way, out of the window, into the vast and barren lands of Mount Aridia.2
I haven’t begun to tell of the place that I lived in, but that’s my fault. I’ve been too engrossed with my life to focus on the other things, including where I live. I suppose it’s a fairly nice place. The city is directly in the middle of a canyon, which stretches out for miles and miles. The edges of the canyon stretch out towards the opposite side, almost creating a jagged ceiling directly above us. The area we live on is mostly desert, although the climate here is strangely cool and pleasant. The city itself is quite the metropolitan city, with the CBD filled with massive towers and buildings, with various subway and train lines coming in and out of the city. The outer suburbs was surrounded with such a lush environment that I sometimes forgot that I lived within the desert. 3
“What’s wrong with you?” C.J asked, snapping me out of my reverie.
“Mm? Nothing,” I replied absent mindedly.
“Was I that bad last night?” he asked cockily. Raising an eyebrow, I looked over at him in disdain.
“Please…”
“So what’s bothering you then?”
“Nothing,” I replied, a bit more forcefully. C.J narrowed his eyes down in surprise and suspicion.
“Okay…” C.J said, as he drew out the last syllable so that it sounded like ‘aaaaayyy’. I said nothing, and we continued to drive in silence. I couldn’t help, however, to sigh huffily in order to release my frustration at what happened. Slamming his hand hard on the steering wheel as he was driving, C.J looked over at me and asked forcefully, “What?!”
I wasn’t scared at his outburst, but it did startle me back into reality.
“My god, the way you’re acting, it’s like we’re a married couple for god’s sake!”
“Well I can’t fucking see the point in why you’re going all agro at me; especially if I don’t even know why!” C.J’s voice grew louder at each word he spoke, but I didn’t flinch.
“Because I lost my virginity to a guy I hardly know, that’s why!” I retorted. And the silence was shattered; but it was now filled with an air of awkwardness. I shifted in my seat to adjust my position, and I looked back out the window. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that C.J’s mouth was left agape, big enough for an apple to fit in there whole.
“You better watch the road C.J,” I said rather quietly. He said nothing, but refocused his attention back onto the road. Sighing, I once again pondered my thoughts. I couldn’t believe I told C.J that I was a virgin… but it wasn’t as if he could do anything about it though, there was no point. What’s done is done, right? I had hoped so…4
Chapter 115
“You live quite close to Dario,” C.J observed, as he drove past it towards my own.
“Yeah,” I replied, still feeling awkward about the earlier outburst fifteen minutes ago. As he pulled up at the curb just outside my house, I had half expected Jai and my mum to be standing outside, waiting for me so that they could both nag and scold me. They weren’t though, thankfully.
“So…,” that was another futile attempt by C.J in order to get the air of awkwardness to disappear.
“Well, see you later,” and with that, I got out of the car and walked away. I wasn’t expecting him to call out to me, but he did, and I pretended not to hear him as I walked inside and slammed the front door, in order to symbolize to him that I wasn’t ready to talk to him just yet. I stood next to the door, however, just in case he decided to run up to the door and beg for me to take him back… or whatever. He didn’t, thankfully, but I heard the car revving a bit, before driving off. I sighed in relief.
Suddenly, all signs of my tiredness had disappeared, as a wave of realization washed upon me: Mum and Jai were obviously asleep, and my slamming the door would most likely have woken them up.
Silence.
I narrowed my eyes in suspicion and confusion.
Where were they? I thought to myself. As I walked over to the kitchen bench, I saw a hurried note on a post-it sticker. Knowing my mum’s scrawl anywhere, I picked it up and read only 10 words:6
Mel,7
Me and Jye will be back soon. Don’t worry.8
I frowned. Where’d they go in the first place? And why didn’t she want me to worry? I shrugged.
At least I’m off the hook from coming home late. I think…
I chucked the sticker back onto the bench and shuffled off towards my room, looking forward to a whole day of sleeping in my own bed. Not that I didn’t get enough sleep (I think I got like, what, 5 hours?), but it’s just nice to sleep in your own bed, compared to a king-sized bed that just smelled of sex.
After closing my door, I fell face down onto my bed, not bothering to take off my clothes. As soon as I had hit the bed, I had passed from the world of living, to the world of dreaming.9
His long, sensuous thrusts inside of me made me groan in delight, my eyes closed in ecstasy. I begged him to keep it up, and as I opened my eyes, I couldn’t see his face, as the darkness covered almost the whole of his face. Suddenly, he moved into the light, and it turned out to be C.J. As he continued to pound away, I continued to stare, and saw that his face changed several times, to Dario, Orion, as well as others, until it finally rested on Chance. His face immediately screwed up, almost reaching the point of no return. And it was fucking hot. His thrusts became deeper, violent and desperate, and I too, could also feel the climax building up inside of me.
“UGH!” Chance cried out, and as he did one final thrust-
“Dinner Mel!”
I snapped my eyes open, the pounding of the door echoing throughout my room.
Damn you mum, why did you interrupt me in the most erotic dream I’ve ever had? I thought angrily. My stomach thought otherwise, as it replied in a loud rumble. Looking down at it, I rolled my eyes, and groggily stood up, yawning as I did so. I realised that it was quite dark in my room, and looking at my clock, I saw that it was already ten past eight. I had slept throughout the whole day.
“Mel, are you even awake?” The pounding was louder, and I figured that it was Jai, showing his usual brotherly ‘love’ towards me. I frowned as I noticed that his voice lacked the usual cheer whenever he taunted me.
I grunted and shuffled off to my bathroom so that I could splash water on my face, doing the best that I could to wake myself up. Looking in the mirror, my normally straight hair was sticking up everywhere, and for the first time ever, I saw bags underneath my eyes. Not bothering to comb my hair, I just did the best that I could to look presentable at dinner. Besides, I planned to drop back off to bed. I was dead tired.10
The first thought that entered my head as I walked into the kitchen was;
What the hell?
Mum was unusually disheveled looking; her hair unkempt, their was still traces of make-up left on her face (smudged?) and her clothes looked as if she had thrown them on at the last minute (mum was a careful and fashionable person when it came to clothing).
Jai on the other hand, looked not himself. His hair which was usually straight and silky was all over the place, and it seemed to be wet (sweat?), while his skin seemed strangely pale… a lot paler than usual. I walked behind him, put a hand on his shoulder and asked,
“You okay Jai?”
He looked up at me and, with what appeared to be a great effort, gave me a smile and meekly replied, “I’m fine Mel, thanks.”
He also didn’t sound like himself. The usual bounciness of his voice had disappeared, only to be replaced by what seemed like a monotone. I grimaced at his response, and sat down at the table. Their was a distinct awkwardness in the air that not only came from how my mum and Jai looked like, but also because of the fact that I had snuck home at 6 in the morning, without telling either of them where I was the previous night. And yeah, I was nervous.
“So, how was last night?”
I gulped. Here we go I thought.
“Uhh… good… I guess?”
Mum nodded, and Jai’s head remained slumped on the table. This wasn’t exactly the reaction I expected. I waited for more, but when mum laid down a plate of spaghetti and meatballs in front of me and Jai, and started eating her food silently, I realised that my coming home wasn’t the problem.
Something else was.
I couldn’t figure it out though. I was just about to ask what was up with the two of them, when mum sliced the awkward silence with her own question.
“Who’s Chance?”
I stared at her for a few seconds, before the name rendered me conscious.
“What?” Well, almost conscious.
“Chance, tall, good looking, darkish hair? Ring any bells?”
It certainly did, as well as other things.
“Ohh… Chaaanceee….”
“Yes. Chance. He came by twice today, and rang up at least three times. Any reason to why this might be?”
I stared at her dumbfounded. I was just as clueless as her. Especially as to how he even knew where I lived, or how he got my number.
“No, I seriously don’t know either.”
“Hmmm.... Well, he said that when you are conscious again, to tell you that he needs to talk to you. Urgently apparently.”
I frowned. What did he want to talk to me about?
I signed on MSN, my tiredness now evaporated in the wake of mum’s startling statement: that Chance wanted to speak to me. I was over him though. Completely over him. So, why did I want to speak to him so badly?11
Meeell!! REAL tired because of last night
says:Hey Dario.12
Yes i play footy. yes im bi. yes im taken
LOL. Got a problem??? Loovee you Orion!! (L) says:Wassup girl?!13
Meeell!! REAL tired because of last night
says:not alot. you?14
Yes i play footy. yes im bi. yes im taken
LOL. Got a problem??? Loovee you Orion!! (L) says:FUCKING tired, aye. oii whered u go last nite? 15
Meeell!! REAL tired because of last night
says:i dunno. youll have to fill me in tomoz. hey, do you have chance’s msn addy?16
Yes i play footy. yes im bi. yes im taken
LOL. Got a problem??? Loovee you Orion!! (L) says:uummm… yeahh. u want it?17
Meeell!! REAL tired because of last night
says:please.18
Yes i play footy. yes im bi. yes im taken
LOL. Got a problem??? Loovee you Orion!! (L) says:not til you tell me whered you go last night!!!! Lol19
Meeell!! REAL tired because of last night
says:oi, im tired pissed and angry20
Meeell!! REAL tired because of last night
says:dont mess with me21
Yes i play footy. yes im bi. yes im taken
LOL. Got a problem??? Loovee you Orion!! (L) says:finee. whatever.22
Yes i play footy. yes im bi. yes im taken
LOL. Got a problem??? Loovee you Orion!! (L) says:chance_1191_1192@hotmail.com23
Yes i play footy. yes im bi. yes im taken
LOL. Got a problem??? Loovee you Orion!! (L) says:happy?24
Meeell!! REAL tired because of last night
says:very. he on msn?25
Yes i play footy. yes im bi. yes im taken
LOL. Got a problem??? Loovee you Orion!! (L) says:yeeppp26
Meeell!! REAL tired because of last night
says:cool. talk tomoz.27
Yes i play footy. yes im bi. yes im taken
LOL. Got a problem??? Loovee you Orion!! (L) says:laterz babee.28
So, since I got Chance’s msn and that I knew he was online, I needed to make sure that no one would disturb me. As I added him, I waited until he came onto my contact list. His display name immediately popped into my online list, and a few seconds later he said, “Heyy!!”
I changed my status to offline.29
Meeell!! REAL tired because of last night
says:hey yourself.30
The CHANCE of a lifetime
FUCKING SICK WEEKEND!!! WON THE FOOTY FINAL, AND THE FUCKING BEST PARTY EVVEERR!! says:lolz. whats up? who gave you mt addy?31
The CHANCE of a lifetime
FUCKING SICK WEEKEND!!! WON THE FOOTY FINAL, AND THE FUCKING BEST PARTY EVVEERR!! says:my*32
Meeell!! REAL tired because of last night
says:not alot. pretty tired. dario gave it to me.33
The CHANCE of a lifetime
FUCKING SICK WEEKEND!!! WON THE FOOTY FINAL, AND THE FUCKING BEST PARTY EVVEERR!! says:ahhh….34
Meeell!! REAL tired because of last night
says:listen, i need to talk to you…35
The CHANCE of a lifetime
FUCKING SICK WEEKEND!!! WON THE FOOTY FINAL, AND THE FUCKING BEST PARTY EVVEERR!! says:suuree, whats up?36
Meeell!! REAL tired because of last night
says:my mum said that you came over today and rang twice?? what for??37
Meeell!! REAL tired because of last night
says:…38
Meeell!! REAL tired because of last night
says:chance?39
-You have sent a nudge-40
The CHANCE of a lifetime
FUCKING SICK WEEKEND!!! WON THE FOOTY FINAL, AND THE FUCKING BEST PARTY EVVEERR!! says:oii, ill talk bout it tomorrow… its not something too disucss here…41
The CHANCE of a lifetime
FUCKING SICK WEEKEND!!! WON THE FOOTY FINAL, AND THE FUCKING BEST PARTY EVVEERR!! says:discuss*42
Meeell!! REAL tired because of last night
says:yyyy????43
Meeell!! REAL tired because of last night
says:THAT important???44
The CHANCE of a lifetime
FUCKING SICK WEEKEND!!! WON THE FOOTY FINAL, AND THE FUCKING BEST PARTY EVVEERR!! says:yahh.45
The CHANCE of a lifetime
FUCKING SICK WEEKEND!!! WON THE FOOTY FINAL, AND THE FUCKING BEST PARTY EVVEERR!! says:look, i gotta jet. ill cyas tomorrow. ill talk to you bout it then.46
Great. Now I had to wait until tomorrow for him to tell me… ugh. Ah well, at least I could get back to sleep now… 47
Chapter 1248
What the hell is that noise? I groaned and slowly opened my eyes, only to quickly shield them from the bright sunlight coming through the windows.
Damn it all, I forgot to close the blinds. Rolling over, I thought it ludicrous of me that I slept through the whole weekend.
Saturday, I slept, only waking to eat and go to the toilet. On Sunday was different, but I still managed to sleep a total of 17 hours. Alright, I know that it may seem weird, but truth be told, I’m not exactly the kind of person to stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning, drunk and lured into having sex with a guy I had only just met. Plus, I was also worrying about mum and Jai chucking a fit after I didn’t come home on Friday night.
So, that meant that today was…
… OH SHIT!
Rolling over, I saw that it was Monday… and that it was already 8:20am. I had realised (maybe a bit too late) that I had slept through my alarm. Twice.
Dammit!
I raced out of bed into my bathroom, hopped into the shower and had the quickest wash ever. I rushed out, dried myself, bushed my teeth for like, 5 seconds, before I ran back into my room and shoved my school clothes onto my body. I looked at the clock
8:28. Crap! Wait… Jai!
Why didn’t I think of it before? He drove me to school once before; he could do it again.
Hopefully he’s not at work…
Hurrying over to Jai’s room, I saw his door was closed which meant two things. Either: Jai had gone to work (he had a habit of closing his door since childhood- apparently I liked his room better than mine) or that he was still asleep. I prayed for the latter.
I knocked on the door silently at first. No response. I knocked again. Still no response. I huffed.
PLEASE don’t let him be at work…
I knocked again, and the door was abruptly open with a pale face looking down at me in annoyance.
“What?”
I raised an eyebrow at his tone. “Nothing. I was just wondering if you could take me to school. I’m kinda late.”
He looked at his watch, then back at me. “So?”
“Can you take me to school?” I said again.
“Do I have to?”
“It’d be nice.”
“I can’t honestly, I feel really sick.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Sick? What’d you do last night? Go out?”
There was a moment’s hesitation that I barely heard, before he continued on. “Uh… I did. That’s why I’m sick. Hangover.”
“Pretty stupid of you to go and get yourself drunk the day before Monday. What happened if you had to work?”
“I did have to work. Called in sick earlier.”
“Oh.”
“Sorry Mel, I need to sleep it off. Look, I’ll write you a letter so you can get off easily.”
As I watched Jai shuffle back into his room to grab a pen and paper, I narrowed my eyes in annoyance.
What the hell was that? Jai would have gratefully driven me to school… hangover or no hangover. What’s with the change of attitude?
Jai handed me the note, and after a quick goodbye, I walked off to the bus stop. I saw no reason to rush anymore, considering that not only was I going to be late, but I also had a note… so that kinda allowed me to take as much time as I wanted.49
Arriving at the bus stop, I was greeted with a surprise: around twelve students were still waiting at the bus stop. Looks like it hadn’t came yet. Walking over, I found another surprise: Dario. Winking at me, he strode over and greeted me.
“What’s up babe?”
I raised an eyebrow at his greeting. “Not a lot ‘babe’. What’s up with the bus? Did everyone miss it?”
He laughed and shook his head. “Nah, it’s just late. As usual.”
I frowned and looked at the time. 8:36.
“It’s been late for like… 30 minutes Dario.”
“Huh, what?” he said, pulling out his phone. “Oh, no shit, it is.” He said laughing. I rolled my eyes.
As I stood silently, my mind wandered back to what had gotten Chance so worked up about… me.
What was the important thing he needed to tell me? Some secret? About him? About… someone else? Layla? Dario? C.J? Is it that important for him to tell me in person instead over MSN?
“So. Tell me what happened Friday night. When you ah… wandered off.”
My mind snapped back to reality.
“Huh, what?”
“Geez Mel, Friday night, party? You left for like ages and no one knew where you were?”
I hesitated before answering. I didn’t want to tell anyone what had happened, especially my ex-boyfriend. Thankfully, a distraction in the form of a bus speeding down the road saved me from an answer.
As everyone piled onto the bus, I managed to get on before Dario, prompting me to get a seat by myself… or so I thought.
As Dario walked past me, I saw him say ‘hey’ to his friends, before he sat down next to me… on my bag nonetheless.
Great.
“Yeah, hi, can you get off my bag please?”
He just laughed. “So, c’mon, spill the goss: what happened on Friday? You ain’t getting away that easily.”
I sighed. There didn’t seem to be any way out of this.
“… I will, later. Just tell me what happened after I left.”
“Then you’ll tell me about… whatever?”
I hesitated. Was it a good thing? I sighed.
At least I can get it off my chest.
“Deal.”
Dario smiled that white toothed smile I had fell for so often. My stomach barely even wriggled when I saw it now. I changed so much when I first went out with Dario… my first ever boyfriend really.
“Well… where to start…”
It was strange. I had never been really that into boyfriends or whatever. I just liked living my life the way it was. Quiet, kinda slow. My life. I didn’t want to change it, not for no one. Chris and Becky… they had changed. Into something they weren’t. Sure, change might’ve been a good thing, but, if it changes who we are as a person… is that a good thing?
“Chance and I were worried about you for starters. We both completely freaked. We were supposed to be watching you… well, we weren’t officially, but I guess it kinda made sense, you being you, and in grade 10 and stuff.”
Am I changing? It seems like it. Before I had met Dario, I didn’t even know parties existed. Now, I’ve entered a world full of alcohol and guys older than me by two, three years… is that a good thing? I never drank alcohol, except for the odd sip of wine my dad and mum gave me years ago… but that night, that Friday night where I had, what, 6, 7 Cruisers? That night where I lost my virginity to a guy I hardly knew? Am I honestly turning myself into a person I’ll eventually not be able to relate to?
“We looked for you, but didn’t find you. I gave up, and washed away my concerns with a few beers… Chance on the other hand seemed rather determined. Kept on looking for you everywhere, even dodging Layla to find you… he was determined. Real determined.”
Two paths ahead of me, with only one road I’m allowed to take. But what is right? What is the right and wrong road? Is there even a right and wrong road? They say change is inevitable… and it certainly seems that way for a lot of teenagers… Chris, Becky… me… we’ve come a far way from being gap toothed youngsters. But to turn into what? Rebels that want to have fun and get shitfaced every single weekend? Sluts and pimps that get laid every night?
“THEN he noticed that C.J was gone and he freaked even more… you do know the story about C.J right?”
Should I tell him? That I had changed? That that Friday night, I had permanently changed… forever?
“Mel? You do know about C.J… right? What he did?”
Should I tell him that my young, innocent self had disappeared into thin air? Only to be replaced with the impending doom of a rebel teenager who’s lost her virginity? To a stranger no less? What did this even MEAN?
“MELODY!”
I turned to face him, as stoic as I could be. “I slept with C.J, Dario.”50
“Fuck… fuck off.”
“I did. That’s where I disappeared to. I went off with C.J in the garden… then eventually into a bedroom upstairs.”
“…”
“What?”
“Chance is going to be fuckin’ pissed at him. And at you.”
“Me?! Why me?”
“You slept with him. Cave Johnson. C.J. For all we know, he could’ve drugged you.”
“He didn’t, so get over it okay?”
“No, I won’t get over it! Look, I may be repeating myself, but do you know who C.J is?”
“No, I don’t. I just slept with him, that’s all.”
“…never. Never say that again.”
“What? That I slept with him, Dario? Does that bother you?”
“…”
“It does, doesn’t it?”
“Melody, stop it. You don’t know the first thing about Cave Johnson. I do. He’s a good mate of mine, but… he’s done bad things. You’re better than that Mel.”
“Just because you’re my ex, it doesn’t mean you get to choose who I sleep with and who I should be friends with Dario.”
“You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. He sleeps around.”
“Hypocrite. So did you last time I checked.”
“Mel! This is no time to be a smart-arse: Cave Johnson will hurt you.”
“…….”
“I’m only worried for your well being, you know that.”
“…You hurt my well being, as well as everything else, the moment you touched Lorelai. Get over it.”51
Chapter 1352
Thankfully the bus had saved me once again from him saying anything to me. The bus stopped outside the school, and I took the opportunity to shove past Dario and get off the bud.
“Mel! For god sakes, wait!”
I sighed, but continued on walking, ignoring him.
Serves him right, he really just needs to stop focussing on me, and more on Orion: just in case he stuffs that one up as well.
I shrugged and started to make my way over to the student services so I could get my late slip.53
English. The most boring subject on Earth. Especially if you’re learning about Shakespeare. After handing Ms. Lillith my late slip, I sat down near the back of the class, and zoned out while Ms. Lillith droned on about Shakespeare’s plays and his weird language he used. A few weeks back, I realised that I do this thing where I just gaze upon everyone in the room, taking in how they act and such. It’s a weird hobby of mine, I know, but I found it interesting. As my eyes slowly scanned the room, I couldn’t help but realise that I kept on staring at my ex-best friend, Becky, which was weird, considering that I hadn’t even thought of her during the past few weeks. I had literally forgotten about her.
Her looks had changed, physically at least. Her light, chestnut brown hair was now streaked with blonde, and her skin was lightly tanned. She must have been spent some time underneath the sun. But I also noticed that her face was thinner, as well as her arms, legs and waist. Hell, her whole body was thin. But it didn’t look bad on her. In fact, she looked like a young, Brazilian model, the way she looked. Or maybe I was just over exaggerating...
“Melody?”
I snapped out of my trance, to see that Becky was staring at me. As well as everyone else, including Ms. Lillith.
Oh crap, did she say something? “...yes Miss..?”
“I was just wondering what you thought were the major themes Shakespeare pressed upon in his play, Macbeth.”
“Oh, um... death?”
“Death, Melody?”
“What, most of his plays are like that, aren’t they? What’re they called... tragics, or something?
“Tragedies you mean?”
“That’s it... they’re all like that aren’t they?”
“Well... yes, a majority of Shakespeare’s plays are tragedies, but I’ll have you know, that if you don’t start paying attention Melody, there’ll be another tragedy... right within this room.”
I raised my eyebrows when she said that. She returned the gesture and walked off and talked about betrayals and good and evil and stuff.
“Now, just remember class that this particular assignment doesn’t affect your overall grade as much... but that doesn’t mean that you attempt this assignment half heartedly! No, I want everyone to try their best and to actually make an effort into completing this assignment... unlike that novel assignment.” Ms Lillith said, raising a pencil thin eyebrow at the class.
Throughout class, I couldn’t help but to continue to stare at Becky. She had become very pretty since the last time I saw her. It was a shame that I fell out of touch with her, but from the looks of things, Becky turned out alright. She was a part of what everyone would call the ‘popular’ group. Such was high school. Everyone was labelled with certain tags and nicknames and stuff.
There were a lot of groups though. Some that I doubt I even knew about. Populars, Nerds, Jocks and Emo’s were the main classes at Aridia High. Other groups also consisted of ‘Scene Kids’, ‘Loners,’ ‘SPEDS (Special needs students)’, ‘Gangstas’ and the ‘Nobodies’. I was a nobody. Becky was a nobody too (she was friends with me after all), but I guess that changed... when, though, I don’t know.54
I managed to zone out safely again when Ms. Lillith put on a Macbeth movie, allowing me to continue on observing Becky in her social state. I watched her text some random underneath the table, gossip to her plastic friends about god knows what, as well as passing notes to this tall, tanned, blonde haired kid, who was sitting a seat away from her. She had changed after all. However, these actions were completely opposite to what Becky once was! A shy, yet mature girl, who always followed rules, yet here she was texting in class!
As I continued to stare, parts of me suddenly wished that she would turn around, see me and squeal in that delightful voice of hers, while the other half just wanted me to tell her what a complete and utter bitch she was... or had become. I just hoped I wouldn’t follow a similar path.55
As I wandered over to our groups’ little lunch spot, I started to think about Chris, Becky, and strangely, Lorelai. They had ‘vanished’ from my life, yet I couldn’t help but think about their wellbeing and stuff. No matter how much they had betrayed me, they had still stuck with me throughout the good and bad times, comforted me when my life became ugly, while they also laughed at my mistakes. Like good friends do.
I stopped a few metres away from our spot, and I heard Dario’s hearty laugh, and Chance’s light banter. I frowned and started to walk away. I had only known these people for like, a few weeks, and I was acting like they were already my best friends. Maybe it was best if I started to figure out who my friends were first before I got into anything serious within my life... namely C.J. I paused for a second and turned back around. Dario had said that there was something important about C.J I was meant to hear. And Chance said there was something he needed to tell me... and that was the whole point of me coming to school today. I mean, if Chance hadn’t told me that he needed to talk to me, I would’ve just slept in... again. But I needed time to think. And that meant quiet time for me... so that I could sort out some things first. Then I would go and ask Chance about C.J... or whatever it is he wanted to talk to me about. Shrugging to no one in particular, I started to make my way towards the library. I knew that there, I would be able to at least gather my thoughts and set myself in the right direction. Hopefully.56
An odd feeling swelled up inside me like a balloon as soon as I entered the library. I thought it might have been the fact that I hadn’t been in the library for a few weeks, but I realised it was something completely different. I hadn’t been in the library since I had rejected Chris.
Sighing, I rolled my eyes and made my way to an empty table near the back corner of the library. It was a fairly quiet corner, away from the rowdy chess players and gossiping students, plus, it also gave me a panorama view of the quad, C and D block, as well as the canopy of trees littered around the school. So, what, you ask, gets me thinking? What else but homework! Okay, I know, it’s a bit nerdy, but not only did it get me thinking about the question or the assignment, but it also allowed to me to think a more broader view on any personal things that were happening within my life. I pulled out my pencil case, my Ipod, my English book and my English assignment on Shakespeare. Putting the headphones into my ears, I switched it on and started to play the song The Real Thing by Gwen Stefani. The slow beat and meaningful lyrics allowed me to contemplate my personal problems.
As I wrote my notes, I was distracted by a guy trying to walk past my chair.
“’Scuse me,” he said,
I frowned in annoyance, and I briefly looked at him as I pulled my chair in. I noted his sun-bleached hair which was artfully messed up, and his tanned skin that almost seemed to glow whenever he was exposed to sunlight.
Wasn’t he in my English class...?
Whoever he was, I instantly took a disliking to him. I don’t know what it was, but he seemed so... sure of himself, that he was ‘god’s gift to women’, and I didn’t like that. Not one bit. The group he was sitting with, three guys and three girls, all appeared to have either brown or blonde hair in appearance, and they all had rather tanned skin, something that was odd around Mount Aridia. 57
Although there were several beaches along the coast, you had to travel for at least two or three days and traverse through dense forest areas and rather large craters and cliffs and, at the odd occasion, canyons. According to my geography teacher, Mount Aridia was battered by numerous comets and meteorites during the Ice Age... probably even further back. And that was one of the major reasons why hardly anyone went to the beaches. That, and the fact that all the beaches there are strangely freezing in temperature, and, considering that our climate here in Mount Aridia is a relatively ‘cool’ climate, it kinda dissuaded other people from making the long and treacherous trips to the outer beaches. 58
I found myself staring at him longer than expected, and I only snapped out of my trance when one of his girlfriends smirked at him and nudged her head in my direction. The first thing I noticed was his eyes; his light, heavenly baby blue eyes. They were stunning. But as I started to take in the rest of his face, I saw that he had his eyebrows raised in my direction, the corner of his mouth curling up in a combination of a smirk and a sly grin. He licked his lips slowly and deliberately.
What a DICK I thought. I just turned away from him, shaking my head. I could hear his laugh; a high pitched cry followed by a few hearty and manly chuckles, combined with the squeals, shrieks and sniggering of his girl and guy friends, made me cringe. Trying my best to ignore them, I continued on with my assignment. I had just begun to start the first paragraph of my assignment, when the bell rang.
Let’s see... it’s Monday today, and it’s periods 5 and 6 so... ah. Drama. My favourite lesson... I contemplated, taking out my diary and studying it.
“So Cam, what lesson have you got now?” asked one of his friends in a really whiny high pitched voice. I tried to not listen to them, but their loud voices carried over to where I was sitting. That, and I was like, right behind them.
“Oh fuck, I dunno... I’m gonna have to check.... umm, hmm... its period 5 now right?”
“Yep. What do you have now?”
“Drama it says...” I froze. No way... he’s probably in another class that just happens to be on at the same time... maybe.
“Ewww, that’s yuck. Why’d you choose drama instead of like, I dunno, like, something else?” Ugh, she’s such a bimbo...
“I dunno Sheree. I just figure it’s gonna be one of those easy subjects, you know?” No, you goddamn idiot, Drama has rather intense theory assignments, making it NOT as easy... Dick... PLEASE don’t let him be in my class...
“Who’s your teacher?”
“Miss Ella.” Dammit! That’s my teacher!
“OMG! That’s such a slut name.” Look who’s talking skank...
“Fuck yeah! You never know though...”
“Ugh!” I said. I hardly know them and already they’re starting to annoy me...
I shoved all my things in my bag and hurried out of the library.59
Chapter 1460
“Alright class, before we start, I notice that we have some new students joining us today!” Miss Ella stated in her usual cheerful tone. “Let’s see... Cameron Duncans, Peter Schreiber, Merrit Schulzhaus and... Denise Simons! Would you all like to stand up and tell us about yourself in a few sentences?”
The whole class was sitting in a circle on the floor as the first guy, Peter Schreiber, stood up and talked about himself. I was sitting next to some of the popular kids (Becky included) and that made me relatively uncomfortable. As Peter explained how he was a foreign exchange student from Berlin, the girls around me giggled and whispered excitedly at the two new guys in our class.
“Oh my god, he’s got such a cute accent doesn’t he?”
“Hehehe... he’s a MAJOR hottie though...”
“Look at the blonde guy! He’s like, a surfer or something from, like, Surfer’s Paradise or something!”
“OH MY GOD, he’s soooooo hot!”
I rolled my eyes. They were being really annoying, and very immature. Alright, so yeah, they were good looking, yeah, the blonde guy did seem hot, and yes, their accents made your skin tingle a bit, but that didn’t mean I had to go and carry on like a little school girl like the others did! God...
“... and I’ll be staying here for 6 months,” Peter concluded. Everyone applauded, and amongst the clapping was a faint whisper and giggle about him. I rolled my eyes again. As the two girls, Merrit and Denise talked about themselves during the next ten minutes, most of the girls (did I happen to state that our class was mainly filled with girls? Yeah... there’s only about three guys in our class) started to get restless. And I could imagine why. They were all dying to hear Cameron’s little introduction. I figured he was just going to boast about himself and his looks and such...
“... and, I’ll be staying here for around 3 months, so... yeah,” Denise concluded, and as the lukewarm applause died down, most of the girls suddenly regained attention as Cameron stood up slowly, flicking his sun bleached hair out of his face as he did so. Some of the girls giggled.
“Well... let’s see,” Cameron started, his American accent clear through his words. Most of the girls giggled, and Cameron flashed the class a pearly white smile. “I’m Cameron, and I’m 18 years old... I realise that schools in Australia have one extra year, so... that’s kinda lucky for you guys,” he said winking. More giggles.
Oh god...
He flicked his hair out from his eyes again. “I like to surf, but when I realised there’s no surf around this part of the city, I kinda wanted to throw myself off the cliff. And, because there’s no beach, that means no tan, but I doubt that’ll affect me much... considering I’ll be here for only 3 months. I’m sure I’ll survive,” he finished, winking at everyone again. He received far greater applause compared to any of his other fellow exchange students.
Not what I was expecting... but still. He was full of himself. That and he was flirting with the whole goddamn class! What a player...
Miss Ella smiled and walked to the centre of the circle. “Good, good! That’s everyone introduced then! Well, I think we should start off with a game, and then we can get down to work hmmm? Alright, now everyone, go and find yourselves a partner!”
Like a pack of hungry dogs, a large group of girls descended onto Cameron as they talked, laughed and flirted their way through. I rolled my eyes, and stood awkwardly to the side. It was not as if I didn’t know anyone in this class; sure, I would see most of them outside of class and I’d say ‘hi’, but I never seemed to bond closely with them, as I had done with Becky. And now... well, considering that my only friend in this class had left me, I kinda was placed in an awkward position.
I shuffled uncomfortably, and I had half a mind to pair up with one of the female exchange students, but they already had found their partners: themselves. They seemed happy enough, chatting to each other merrily, while Peter had paired up with Jake, the residential class idiot. Although he had a heart of pure gold, he never seemed to think straight. Literally. Sighing, I turned around, only to bump into Cameron, making him chuckle.
“You really have to got to watch where you’re looking babe,” he said, winking. I raised an eyebrow in response, making him chuckle. “You got a partner?”
“No...” I replied, staring at him. Is he asking what I think he is?
“Well, now you do,” he proudly confirmed, as he punched my shoulder. I smiled rather uncertainly.
Okaaaayy...
“Right, does everyone have a partner then?” Ms. Ella asked, as the class noisily agreed. I noticed that the popular girls were all looking at me... or Cameron. I couldn’t tell who. But, either way, they were full on giving us the death stare. I didn’t care either way.
“So, the game we’ll be playing is called Knights, Mounts and Cavaliers,” Ms. Ella said, as the students whispered both their approvals, and disapprovals. “For those of you who don’t know how to play, this is what happens: when I call out ‘Knights’, one person has to kneel down on one leg, and their partner has to sit on their other thigh okay? With ‘Mounts’, one person has to get down on all fours, while their partner sits down on their back, while ‘Cavaliers’ is where one person has to jump into the others arms okay? If you are the slowest, you’re out okay? Right... let’s start!”
Although the game seemed childish, it was actually a lot of fun. And even though there was tension between myself and Cameron, it was eventually broken, and we ended up (strangely in my opinion) having a rather entertaining time. Eventually, Cameron and I were one of the last three pairs left in the game, however, we were eliminated after Cameron did something rather stupid. Miss Ella called out ‘Cavaliers’ and, instead of me jumping into Cameron’s arms, he tried to jump into mine for some stupid reason, and obviously, I couldn’t hold him, and we fell onto each other in a pile of tangle limbs. It was pretty funny I guess.
“Why the hell did you do that?” I had asked him, after we managed to untangle ourselves and watch the rest of the game.
He just laughed and replied, “I thought Australian girls were supposed to be strong.”
I just shook my head. After the game had finished, Miss Ella started talking to us about our assignments; we had to write a duologue complete with stage directions and the like, and we had to perform it for our assessment.
“Now, considering that this will be duologues, you will be obviously working with partners. Instead of everyone here choosing their own partners, I have decided to liberate that technique, and I have chosen partners for you already.”
Muffled groans and complaints from my class wafted throughout the classroom, but Miss Ella chose to ignore them and continued on.
“This is a major assessment piece, so I want to stress the importance of not failing this assignment, as this mark will ultimately shape your final mark. As for our new students, you will be paired amongst yourselves, so that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Now, I will hand out your assignment sheets, and on the top of the page you will see who your other partner is.”
As Miss Ella walked around the room handing out papers to the rest of the class, I couldn’t help but sneak looks at Cameron every now and then. He didn’t pay any attention to me though, as he was looking at Denise Simons, the pretty and tall African American girl. I rolled my eyes and looked the other way.
“Here you go Melody,” Miss Ella said cheerfully, as she handed me my assignment sheet. I thanked her quietly. I instantly looked at the top of the page and as I saw the name, I groaned out loud. Cameron looked over at asked,
“What’s up? Paired with someone you don’t like?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Ah well, if it only you were paired with me, I’m sure we would both be happy,” he replied, winking at me. I smiled back rather uncertainly and looked back at the loopy writing that was Miss Ella’s.
‘Becky Fullisades’... GREAT.61
Although we had little than ten minutes left in drama, Miss Ella had forced us to get together with our partner and discuss potential duologue scenes. As expected, Becky was rather reluctant in being partners with me, and had spoken to Miss Ella several times throughout the class, while leaving me with all the worksheets.
Great. I get paired up with my ex-best friend, and now she’s openly asking right in front of me if she can change partners! That’s just PERFECT…
Thankfully, the bell for afternoon lunch rang, and I gathered all of my stuff and headed out of the classroom, leaving behind all of Becky’s things. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do with this problem however. This was my final assessment and I didn’t want to ruin it... for both of us. However much I disliked Becky, and vice versa, I just had to pass it… no matter what the cost. Even if it meant spending time with Becky again.
I hadn’t realised where I was walking until I sat down and looked around. I was sitting in my group’s usual spot.
Ah well, at least I get to ask Chance what he wants to ask me…
As everyone arrived, including Layla and C.J, they all sat down after saying ‘hi’ to me. C.J sat next to me, looked at me, and raised his eyebrows in my direction. I smiled half-heartedly back. As everyone started chatting about everything and anything, I just sat and listened, eating my lunch. Layla was telling Orion about a girl in her class who had dropped out of school because she was pregnant, while Dario was telling C.J about this guy in their grade who everyone thought was gay.
“Seriously, I don’t think that Vanessa could be pregnant, because I mean, look at her! Who would want to get with that bitchy lesbian slut?” Layla said scathingly, giving the dirtiest looks to no one in particular.
“I mean, come on, Lochlan gay? That’s like saying Chance is gay!”
“What?!” Chance asked shocked.
“Nothing mate, just comparing you with… shit. Anyways,” Dario continued, as Chance was saying ‘what the fuck?’ under his breath, while C.J was laughing. “Lochlan can’t be gay… I just can’t think that he would be.”
“Are you having doubts Dario?” C.J smirked.
“Fuck off I am! I’m just saying that it’s Lochlan we’re talking about. You know, one of the star players of the footy team? It’s… just not right.”
C.J just nodded his head, smirking at Dario as he did so. Dario narrowed his eyes and flipped him the bird, which made C.J laugh even harder. No one really made any attempt to talk to me, which I was completely fine with as I was too busy thinking about how I was supposed to overcome the obstacle that was Becky Fullisades. Like I said, I’d probably have to face her and eventually talk to her… but I didn’t see why I was so freaked about it. I mean, she was my friend, and, perhaps with a little effort, we could probably fix everything up again. But that was still a maybe. All I had to do, was to get Becky to talk to me, friend or otherwise, and get this assignment done. Suddenly, I remembered that Chance wanted to talk to me about C.J. As I looked over at him, I noticed that he and Dario were deep in conversation about something, but I couldn’t tell what. Every now and then, there was a slight nod or shake of the head, but either way, it didn’t give off any hints as to what they were talking about. Layla, Orion and C.J hadn’t noticed though, but after C.J became bored with Layla and Orion’s talks of who was the hottest girl in their grade, he too also noticed that Chance and Dario were talking about something secretive. He thought nothing of it, until Dario looked briefly at him, then back to the conversation. He looked at them questioningly, but neither of them took notice. Suddenly, Chance looked at me, the same way Dario had, for a few seconds, and then went back into conversation with Dario.
Then it hit me. They were talking about me and C.J, and the thing that Chance wanted to tell me about him. C.J didn’t seem to care but after they shot him and me a few more looks, I’m sure he figured something out.
Finally, with a firm shake of his head, Chance pulled his head of whispering reach of Dario, and continued to eat his lunch, as Dario did the same. Just as C.J was about to say something to Chance, I beat him to it.
“Can I talk to you Chance for a minute?”
He flashed me a smile and replied, “Sure.”
We stood up and as Chance told Layla that he’d be back in a few minutes, he followed me away from the group, while C.J’s eyes followed us until we were out of reach.62
“So, what did you want to tell me Chance?”
“Tell you what?”
“Uh… Dario said you had something to tell me. You also said that you had something to tell me.”
“Did I?”
“Yes Chance, you did. Is it about C.J?”
“C.J?”
“…Yes, C.J. Dario said something… weird about him and that I should ‘look out for him’… what did he mean?”
“‘Look out for him’? Can’t imagine why he would’ve said that…”
“Chance, stop being such an idiot. Both you and Dario said you needed to tell me something, and both you and Dario made it seem urgent… so now, I’m here, you’re here and I’m waiting. What. Do. You. Want. To. Tell. Me?”
“… Don’t worry Melody, it’s nothing serious. Seriously. It’s not important, and I don’t think it involves you… yet.”
“‘It doesn’t involve me yet’? What do you mean? Are you talking about me and C.J?!”
“Oh look! There goes the bell.”
“Oh for crying out loud…”
“Look, I promise I will tell you everything Melody, in due time. It’s just that it doesn’t concern you yet. It will make you change your mind and make you think in the… right direction. Hopefully.”
“Whatever.”63
Chapter 1564
Since I had to work with Becky for drama, I started to just suddenly see all of my ‘old’ friends; namely Lorelai and Chris. Weird, I know, but I noticed that they had changed; all in different ways.
Chris was still the same popular guy from two, three months ago, but I noticed that he was a lot more… well, defined. The muscles were more noticeable around his shoulders, biceps and arms, and I assumed that his muscles would be more pronounced in his chest too. His blonde hair, which now had brown highlights in it, was longer, and he looked a lot older than his 15 years.
Lorelai still acted the same, but her looks said something different. Her brown, wavy, shoulder length hair complimented her slim figure. Two months ago, Lorelai always wore knee length skirts and blouses that seemed too big for her. Now, she wore figure hugging blouses and tops, and short skirts that went WAAYYY above the knees. This made her look taller, plus, with the amount of make up she layered on her face, she also looked two years older than she was supposed to.
Anyway, Becky and I were sitting together during lunch, five days after we were handed our drama assignment.
Neither of us had touched it, mainly because we were just being bitches, and not talking to each other. Finally, I became the bigger person and just sat down in front of her, and started talking about the assignment. She didn’t respond to anything, but she eventually caved in and started writing up our character profiles. Neither of us acknowledged each other as more than partners though.
I was halfway through my blocking for my script when I heard a bark of laughter coming from behind me. I turned around and saw Chris, Lorelai and Cameron walking together, chatting animatedly with each other. My heart just kinda seized up, and almost refused to pump blood into my body. Cameron had caught my eye and smiled at me, but when Chris and Lorelai also looked over in my direction, their smiles slid off their faces instantly. My eyes widened a little bit when they saw me, and I quickly turned back to my assignment. Becky didn’t notice a thing. Or, she did, but didn’t care about it.
I worked furiously at my assignment as the three of them walked up to us. There was silence. I saw out of the corner of my eye, Becky looking up at them and giving all three of them a warm smile.
“Hey guys, what’s up?”
I turned my head slightly, as if to check my notes on my character profile, but I only did that so I could see what the Chris and Lorelai were doing.
“Nothing much,” I heard Chris say. I then saw him nodding slightly in my direction, but Becky shook her head. Chris shrugged and walked off, Lorelai following him like a puppy. She didn’t even say a single word.
Cameron, on the other hand, stayed back and sat down next to Becky, peering over her shoulder.
“What’s that you got there girl?”
“Oh, it’s our drama assignment. You know… the one you’re supposed to be working on?” Becky replied in a mocking tone. Cameron just waved it off.
“I’ll get it done, don’t you worry.”
They seem really buddy buddy… I wonder why…
I didn’t have the chance to ponder that thought any further, as the bell had sliced through me like a knife, waking me from my trance. I had drama, and that meant Cameron and Becky had it too. Cameron was already walking, but I, for the sake of being polite, had waited for Becky. She didn’t move.
“Umm… c’mon Becky, we’ve got drama you know.”
She just looked at me and replied, “Uh, no. You do though.”
I screwed my face up in confusion. “What?”
She sighed and said, “I’ve got cheerleading practice today, from period 7 and onwards.”
“I didn’t know you did cheerleading.”
“Yeah, well, I only just started six weeks ago, so obviously you wouldn’t know,” and with that, she gathered her books in one sweeping grace and marched off towards her locker, which was conveniently located in the opposite direction. I frowned at her back and then sighed.
Becky’s right. I don’t know a thing about her anymore…
I hung my head as I walked as slowly as I could to drama. I was surprised to see Cameron still waiting for me. I hope he didn’t see what happened between me and Becky…
“So… I noticed that you and Becky aren’t on speaking terms?” Dammit.
“Yeah, I guess you can say that…”
“Why?”
“No particular reason...”
He shrugged. He was very easy to convince. That or he had a short attention span. Cute, but dumb.65
Thank god, school’s finished for today… now, I just need to get home and continue on with my various assignments…
“Oi, Mel, wait up a second!”
Hearing the voice, I turned around and saw Dario walking towards me with four of his friends who I’m pretty sure were called Tristan, Lewis, Blake and Vance. As other students walked past me to wait for buses and parents, I just stood there, as Dario and his group walked up to me.
“What’re you doing?” he asked, stopping. His friends also stopped, observing me.
“I was thinking about going home on the bus and finishing some assignments…”
“Phfft, that’s boring. Why don’t you come to our footy celebration? You know, the whole winning the grand final and shit.”
“The final finished like, a month ago. Why are you guys celebrating it now?”
“Hah, that’s because Coach Garner’s a slack ass,” guffawed Tristan. Dario and the others sniggered.
“So, you gonna come or what? Everyone’ll be there… I mean, I’m bringing Orion and Chance is bringing Layla-”
“I’m bringing Candice,” said Lewis.
“And Kyra’s meeting me there too.”
I frowned. “It sounds like as if everyone’s just bringing their girlfriends.”
“And boyfriends,” Dario reminded me.
“Yeah, but you don’t really count mate… unless you think of yourself as the girl in the relationship?” nudged Vance, causing myself and the others around Dario to laugh. Dario shoved him into his friends, making him laugh even harder.
“Whatever. So, are you coming Mel?”
“Well… I guess so… but-”
“Great!” Dario exclaimed, cutting me off completely, “We’ll meet you down in the oval in ten?”
I hesitated, but before I could say or do anything, Dario walked past me, winking as he did so. I frowned as he walked past, and I noticed that Blake, who was talking to him moments before, looked back at me and gave me a funny, lopsided smile... or smirk.
…What was THAT?66
“Where am I supposed to even go? I feel so left out here…”
It was so weird to be amongst all the sport people of our school. I hardly- scratch that- I never associated with them. At all. Period. I mean, I knew of them; everyone knew of them. But none of them knew who I was, so when I turned up with Dario and received blank stares from all of the players, I kinda shrunk behind Dario and let him do the talking. I sheepishly stared at the ground, and when Dario was free from talking to his friends, I raised the subject of my awkwardness.
“Well, if you feel so left out, why don’t you just sit in the bleachers? Look, Layla’s there,” he said, pointing behind me.
I turned and saw Chance and Layla talking for a bit, before giving her a quick peck on the cheek and walking down the bleachers to meet the rest of the footy team. He gave me a hug as soon as he saw me, but he had no time to talk, as Coach Garner was already bellowing for them to ‘shut the hell up’. I grimaced at Dario and Chance, and then quickly walked towards the bleachers. Layla didn’t hear me when I walked up to her, as she was both listening to her Ipod and occupied with texting one of her girlfriends… or something like that.
As I sat down next to her, she looked up startled, but when she saw it was me, she gave me a warm smile.
“Hello Melody,” she greeted rather cheerfully, taking out her headphones as she did so. “What are you doing here?”
“Dario made me come,” I replied uninterested.
“Oh okay then…” and she trailed off. And as an uncomfortable silence settled between the both of us, I stared out at the footy team. Coach Garner must have been making some sort of impressive speech, as all of the boys were cheering and whistling loudly. It was rather quiet up in the bleachers however, and other than the clickety-clack that was emanating from Layla’s texting (which, was starting to annoy me a lot) there was nothing else that could entertain me.
I quickly lost interest in the footy team, and I swept the grounds with my eyes, trying to find something that I could occupy myself with for a while (a while meaning the entire time I’d be sitting here… with Layla). I looked around at the bleachers and saw several students sitting there who also seemed to be bored out of their minds. A question suddenly popped into my mind, and I mentally kicked myself for not asking the question earlier.
“Where’s Orion? Isn’t he supposed to be the one cheering on Dario??”
Layla looked at me from the top of her phone and replied, “He’s in detention.”
“Detention? What for?”
“He didn’t do his homework or something. That’s what he tells me anyways,”
“Are you texting him now?” I asked, peering over her phone.
“Yes. I’m assuming that’s why Dario wanted to bring you: he didn’t have anyone else.”
I fell silent again. So that’s why he wanted me to come…
It was a nice gesture; especially one coming from an ex. This was strange, considering that he hadn’t acted like that towards me since we were dating.
Suddenly, the deafening sounds of shouting and clapping snapped my attention back to the footy team again. They were separating; some were walking off towards a table with food on it; some continued to stand there, chatting away happily; while others walked towards the bleachers.
Chris was one of them.
“Oh my god, trust Chance and Dario to head for the food first.”
I looked towards the tables, and saw Chance and Dario chatting away merrily with a few of their teammates, stuffing their mouths at the same time.
“It amazes me as to how guys can do that…” Layla said bitterly, before she went back to her texting.
However, I only stared at them for a few seconds before my attention turned back to Chris. He was sitting next a very pretty (and very skinny) brunette girl, who looked twice Chris’ age. His forehead was resting against hers, and both of them were whispering and giggling. They eventually started kissing. Well, not kissing, more like… making out. Attacking each other’s lips. That kinda thing.
I blushed and turned away. I noticed that Layla was watching the red flushes creep up around my face, until it was like, half red. I hated when I looked like that. The red merged in with my skin colour, making me look like I had a pinkish tinge as well.
“Are you into him?” My blush deepened further.
“No… what makes you say that?”
Layla shrugged and replied, “I dunno. Most of the girls in our school are, so I just thought you’d be too.”
I frowned as I watched Chris and his brunette girl straddling each other, laughing and chatting at the same time. “What do you mean by that?”
“He’s like, the biggest pimp in our school,” she said as she rolled her eyes, not at me, but at his ‘title’.
“You mean… he’s slept with… wait, how many girls?”
“I mean he’s like, slept with half of the girls in my grade, three quarters of the girls in grade 11, and practically all of the girls in your grade,” she said, as she ticked them off her fingers. I simply raised my eyebrows in response, and I glanced back over to him.
His eyes caught mine, and for a second, we shared the briefest looks that we hadn’t shared for over two months. It was weird. He then glanced back at his girlfriend (I’d assume… unless she was his slut for the week) and started playing with her hair.
Hmph. So, I now know how Becky and Chris have turned out… Becky’s Miss Socialite and Chris is Pimp Daddy. But what does that make Lorelai? I assume I’m going to find out eventually…
As I contemplated this, Layla said something weird that made all of my thoughts of Becky and Chris vanish with an almost comical ‘pop’.
“Chance thinks you’re really cool you know,”
“What?”
“He thinks you’re cool,” she repeated simply.
“Oh does he?” I replied nonplussed, “I think he is too. I mean, he’s a good friend and stuff,”
She looked over at me, her eyebrows raised. “You know what I mean.”
Strangely, she didn’t extend on this cryptic remark, as both Dario and Chance had lumbered up the stairs, both carrying unbalanced stacks of food on tiny paper plates.
“Oh look,” Layla sarcastically exclaimed, a smile pulling at her lips, “our heroes have returned with food. Did you have fun at your little ‘get together’ boys?”
Chance smiled and gave her a quick peck on the cheek (I swear she moved her lips a fraction away from his) before giving her the plate.
“Ew, that’s all fatty food,” she said disdainfully, placing it delicately next to her side. Chance heartily laughed. Dario gave me a slightly non-fattier plate which I gratefully accepted. As Layla’s phone beeped (which prompted her to start texting again), Dario and Chance continued their chat about whatever they were talking about before, which left me to reflect on the… hint Layla gave me.
But, once again, I was denied that fact as a distraction in the form of two guys walked up to us: Dario’s friend, whom I met earlier, and a short but muscular guy. Dario and Chance looked up in surprise.
“Hey Vance, Lars, what’s up?” Dario asked.
“Nothing much,” said Lars, his voice deep and almost echo-y, “I just came to collect her.”
It took me a second to realise he was pointing at me. I looked at him in disdain. “‘Collect’?” I repeated.
“No,” interjected Vance, looking at Lars like he was an idiot; he probably was. “Someone just wants to talk to you.”
The upper corner of my lip turned upwards, but I had to hide my smirk as both Chance and Dario had turned to stare (rather intensely) at me.
“Um, who?” I asked rather quietly.
“Uh…” Vance hesitated as he looked at Dario and replied, “you’ll see him soon enough.”
Dario frowned at Vance and Chance was still looking curiously at me. Layla seemed uninterested and still continued her texting. She gave me one look though; humour. What on earth was so funny about this?
“Um… sure, I’ll come,” and with that, I swept my way down the bleachers, Vance leading the way, Lars walking behind me. I turned and saw that Chance and Dario were in deep conversation, while Layla looked on, amused.
Who on earth wants to see me, of all people?
Strangely, my first thought was of C.J… but an image of Chance flashed in my mind for a second, before disappearing.67
Blake?
I stared, rather shocked and amused, as I saw him sitting there in his footy uniform.
“Want a coke?” he asked sheepishly, holding it up for me.
“Um, no thanks,” I replied softly as I went and sat down next to him. What was happening was very…well, weird, and I asked him, “So… why did you want to meet me?”
His cheeks flashed red (was he blushing?) and replied conversationally,
“Oh, you know… I just wanted to get to know you a bit better.”
I nodded slowly. “So…”
“So…” he said pulling out the ‘o’ sound. This little ‘meeting’ was obviously going nowhere, so I decided to move it forward.
“Aren’t you in grade 12?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he replied, maybe a bit too eagerly. I didn’t know. He seemed glad that we were talking, at least.
“Are you in any of Dario or Chance’s classes?”
I wasn’t sure, but it seemed as if his face fell very slightly at the mention of the two names. He answered, “Yeah… why?”
“Just trying to make some talk, that’s all…” I replied conversationally.
“Oh,” he said, rather awkwardly. He shifted in his seat, but when I next looked up, he was leaning into me, his hand resting lightly on my thigh.
“You’re very pretty you know…” he said softly, fingering a single strand of my hair. I giggled, and he seemed to take offence to it.
“What?” he asked, staring at me.
“Nothing,” I laughed, “it’s just that I’m not used to guys flirting with me…”
He smirked, and leant in close. Strangely, I panicked.
Oh great, what do I do? Am I supposed to kiss him? Am I supposed to like him now? DAMMIT!
“Melody?”
Both Blake and I jumped a metre in the air. I turned around quickly, and saw C.J standing there, an eyebrow raised in our direction.
“Oh. C.J. Hi. What are you doing here?”
“Uh, I was coming to look for Chance. I’m giving him a lift home. Do you know where he is?”
“Yeah, in the bleachers somewhere.”
He nodded in thanks, but he didn’t leave. Blake looked away sheepishly, trying to occupy himself with something else, but I continued to stare at C.J as he still continued to stand there, his eyes drifting elsewhere, except my face.
“C.J?” I asked.
“Yeah?” he replied, looking up at me, raising his eyebrows.
“Um, aren’t you going to find Chance?”
“Oh. Right, yeah, that...” he said, trailing off aimlessly. He stood there for a few seconds more, but when I my stares turned to glares, he gave me a funny smile and walked off.
“Sorry about that,” I sighed, sinking back down into my seat. Within a flash, Blake was next to me.
“Don’t worry, its fine...”
And as we sat there (again, with the awkwardness), he asked me something that made me question my own relationships... and other objects of desires I hadn’t yet presented myself to.
“Did you wanna go out this weekend?”
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