𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗜 𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗧. a true story

⁀➷ 16- EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

-𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐲-

I woke up the next morning.

Late.

I scrambled out of bed and into the bathroom, taking the quickest shower of my life.

As I was drying my hair and trying to brush my teeth at the same time, my dad shouted, "Melody, hurry up! We're leaving in 30 minutes!"

Why did I have to wake up so late on a church day?

I finished drying my hair, deciding to leave it down for today. I quickly grabbed a denim jacket and wore it on top of a simple white dress, pulling on a pair of sneakers, not in the mood for heels, as well as a bit of mascara and lipgloss.

Pretty decent for 30 minutes, right?

Then I unlocked and opened my door, and I immediately found a note from my friends and the giant teddy bear from yesterday.

Without a second to spare, I threw everything inside my room and shut the door.

With that, I slid down the banister and all but ran to the garage, where my parents and siblings were waiting for me.

Soon, we arrived at church, and I noticed my friends were sitting together, Ian among them.

I pulled my hair down a little and tried to walk past them quickly, but Alec came up from behind me and gently grabbed my shoulder.

"We need to talk."

But before he could, the sermon started.

---

It was near the end of church, and so far, I'd been successful in avoiding my friends.

Before I knew it, Michael came to find me and tell me that we were going home, so I walked to the parking lot with him.

"Melody!" Alec's voice called.

I turned around to see him run up to me just as I was about to get in the car.

"Meet me at my house later."

Then he walked off, leaving me in confusion.

---

"Hey," Alec greeted me as I entered his room.

"So what's up?" I asked.

"I need to tell you something."

I raised an eyebrow, motioning for him to go on.

Alec looked down. "Yesterday, that picture Elliot showed you... it's fake."

I sat in silence for a while, processing what I'd just heard.

"What do you mean it's fake?"

"It's photoshopped. Elliot edited the picture to make it look like Ian and Macy were... you know."

I looked away, hurt. "Why would he do that?"

"He was jealous," Alec replied. "Elliot was freaking jealous. He wanted to get you two to break up, to make you hate each other... and he asked me to help him... and Reese as well." I could see tears forming in his eyes. "But I can't do that to both you and Ian- I know it's not fair. And the guilt's been eating me alive, Mel. No shit it's not right."

"I... I don't know what to say." I leaned back and exhaled heavily. "Thanks for telling me though."

I gave Alec a quick hug and ran back across the street and banged on the door.

"Mel?" Tessa asked, opening the door. "Oh my gosh, we were all worried sick about you!"

"I'm sorry," I said. "I really need to see Ian though, is he home?"

"Upstairs."

I went up three steps at a time and barged into Ian's room.

"What the-"

"Ian, I'm so so so sorry. I-I should have known you wouldn't do such a thing, I was so stupid to believe Elliot-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, what are you talking about?"

---

After everything was resolved with Ian, Elliot was the problem left.

I didn't speak to him after the incident, and neither did any of my other friends.

and he ended up moving like a few months later :pp

-Emmie