chewing gum • ray hall

seven|teams

when melodie and ray got to her trailer she sat up and looked around. her dad was home.

she rubbed her face and sighed. she felt like he would be angry if she just waltzed in. melodie was slowly starting to regret her decision of even coming back.

"i'll go in with you if you want, i can distract him while you get your shit?" ray said noticing her unease.

melodie just nodded and got out of ray's truck.

ray was right behind her when they walked in. the tv was blaring sports (as usual) and there was beer cans and bottles everywhere. it smelled like vomit.

"melo-" her dad stopped as he looked up and saw ray standing next to her, "...ray hall."

"hey dad," melodie said quietly as she rubbed her arms. she was uncomfortable with how he was looking at ray.

"mr.frost," ray nodded towards her dad.

"don't be silly ray, called me jared," melodie almost wanted to scoff at his mood change.

he always did this. would be aggressive with her and then switch, appearing nice in front of others.

she felt ray nudge her on the back while he began talking to her dad about sports.

melodie walked back to her room quickly before her dad could talk to her again and changed quickly. she picked a sweatshirt with word "texas" stitched on the front and a pair of blue jeans. she checked herself out in her mirror quickly tossing her hair up into a crooked ponytail.

after she was done she grabbed her duffle bag and started shoving things into it. her money, clothes, pictures of her mom. melodie even grabbed her baby bear and threw it in.

anything she saw as important went into the bag.

when she was done she tightened her ponytail and looked around one more time at her room before shaking off all the bad memories. she hated that room.

as she walked out she heard her dad pop open another can. melodie felt beet was the only thing she'd ever seen him drink. even before her mom passed.

"ready to go?" ray asked nodding at her.

she nodded her head quickly walking towards the door.

"where you goin' with all your things? off to mess with this boy too?" jared laughed as he questioned his daughter.

before either of the teens could respond melodie pulled ray out the door, an angry scowl settled upon her face.

"i hate him," she whispered.

the two were silent after that, melodie only muttering out a quiet thank you before both of them drove off to the parade.

-

when the two parked on the side of the street melodie pulled out her phone and called tank to see if he was coming or if he was already there.

"mouse, hey, what's up?" tank answers after a few rings.

"you coming out today?" melodie asked.

"can't. got caught by the police last night. parent's busted my ass and i'm not allowed out," tank said and let out a sigh after.

"i'm sorry tank, i wanted to go back but i couldn't," she said.

"mel don't apologize. i should be the one saying sorry. i was a jerk last night," he spoke softly as melodie started hearing yelling in the background, "hey i gotta go, parent's want me."

"okay, call me or text when you can," melodie told him before he hung up.

"is he going to show up then?" ray asked.

melodie only shook her head before saying, "can we go somewhere else? i don't like the crowds."

"what if there's clues?" ray asked.

"i'll ask heather or you can ask tyler," melodie looked over to him.

ray started up his car before asking, "where you going to go with all your stuff?"

"i am going to ask diggin's if there are any empty rooms at the inn," she muttered and shrugged.

"you're really going to stay at that shitty place?" he said back.

"i don't have another choice," melodie said.

"you can stay with me," he told her again.

"no way," melodie shook her head, "where are we going anyway?"

"to the lake. we can boat and swim for a bit?"

melodie just nodded.

"we should team up. split the money if one of us wins, yeah?"

"are you going to try and kill dodge mason again?" melodie responded.

ray rolled his eyes, "no."

"then sure," she nodded. half the money was better than no money if she lost.

but melodie didn't plan on losing.

when they arrived back at ray's place they both got out and changed into swimsuits.

melodie's black one piece felt tight on her since she hadn't gotten a new one in years, but that didn't stop ray from wolf whistling at her when he saw her.

"you're gross," melodie laughed softly as he winked at her.

ray had a shirt on over his bare chest and melodie couldn't help but peek at hm a few times.

"i can take it off if you want?" ray askd her when he caught her
looking.

melodie's face went bright red as she shook her head and walked in front and away from him she was so far ahead that she couldn't hear what he said and before he could repeat himself she pulled her hair down and jumped into the water.

"melodie?" he called out peering down into the water, "where are you at?"

melodie stayed silent under the water until she jumped out and yelled at him.

"holy shit!" he yelled out, "what the hell melodie?"

melodie only laughed and held her hand out to him, "help me out?"

when he went to help her out she pulled him in with her. she laughed even more when he was drenched in water.

the two splashed each other and laughed until melodie's phone started to ring. when she answered heather spoke telling her where the next challenge was.

when she told ray the news they looked at each other. the fun was over for them.

it was time to get back to the game.

end of chapter seven
word count: 1014

a/n: i'm sorry this took so long and is kinda short! i have been super busy from a broken tooth to a lot of family stuff, but i am back! expect some more chapter this week along with hopefully the first chapter of my twilight fic <3!