Hatchetfield High

11. Melissa Tw

Currently being rewritten to fit with new canon (replacing Melissa basically). This does not fit with the new Canon of Hey Melissa.

TW - slurs

I wake to the usual sight: all my dogs. asleep all around me and sunlight trying to find it's way through the cracks in the curtains. I turn to my other side and grab my phone. February 20th. Deb's birthday! I sit up and text her a quick happy birthday, smiling at the day ahead. Deb asked a few years ago if she could move in with me at some point and, today is the day. I wince at the brightness as I flick the light switch.

I change quickly and, opening the curtains, run downstairs. I check one last time that the old spare room is ready for her and jump in the car. Although it's a few minutes walk, I'm taking all her stuff so it's better to have a vehicle. After a couple moments, I pull up at the place I used to call home. Wrinkling my nose at the memory of last time I was here, I approach the front door. I hesitate, before I rap on the door. The door creaks open to an unwelcoming face.
"Hello Mom. Is Deb here?" I ask, hiding the discomfort and hate I feel towards her. She, annoyed, answers coldly.
"Helena." I can feel her eyes scanning my body and I can't stop myself from shivering. "She is in her room. I'll call her for you."
The door slams and I hear Deb's full name echo through the house. The newly slammed door opens forcefully.
"I can't believe you have the nerve to return home after you ran out like that. Its been 7 years and you didn't turn up once. Now suddenly you appear asking to see your sister. What are you up to?"
"Just trying to get her off of your hands."
Deb gasps, having had heard me. I smile.
"Wait really? I get to live with you?"
"Hold on a minute. You can't just take her from me. She's my child."
"Yes. But she's 18 now. She can move out if you want to. You can't stop her. It's all up to Deb."
Lacey and I all turn to Deb who runs to me.
"I want to live with Doug. With my sibling. I want to be loved, truly loved. I want to be accepted. I'm not getting that here. I'll pack my things. You can't stop me."
Deb happily runs upstairs to her room. Lacey is obviously angry.
"Mike, your daughter is trying to move in with her sister. Get in here."
My father joins her, my brother, Jason obviously listening in on the stairs.
"What are you doing here?"
"Saving Deb."
"You are not welcome in this house."
Tears spring to my face. I was close to my father when I lived here. His words always hurt the most. I reply.
"I'm not in your house and I don't want to be. I just want what's best for Deb."
A scramble comes from the top of the stairs. Deb rushes down, followed by Jason.
"So you are just going to be fags together? Fucking dykes."
Deb whirls round and punches him in the face.
"Never call them that. Never call me that. I'm so glad I'm leaving."
She grabs her backpack, obviously heavy, and joins us. I wipe my tears away and hold her close for the first time in 7 years. Together, the two of us leave the hate filled house and we slide into the car, both of us in the front.
"I'm so sorry for leaving. I knew you were going to go through the same things I had to but you couldn't get out. You were 12, you didn't understand. I have been a lousy Sibling and I'm sorry. But you deserve better than them and me. I mean this is a terrible car. I live in a good neighbourhood but that means a lot of work. Of course I also have school and things but we can work around each other's schedules to make time for each other. For example: do you have anything to do today?"
Deb smiles at my monologue.
"OK so first: I love you and I couldn't ask for more. And second: I am meeting Alice at 9 to watch a film and enjoy ourselves. I don't know when I will come back but I promise I will."
I nod.
"We're here. Do you want me to meet you anywhere to take you home? You don't really know the way back."
Deb nods as she opens the car door. It's quite a clean house but it gets messy quick. Since I cleaned yesterday, it's pretty tidy. Deb rushes out the car and onto the street. She smiles as she recognises one or two of her friends' houses. I laugh as I exit the car and make my way to the front door. Deb joins me as she looks around the house. The bottom floor is all open plan with a kitchen and diner, complete with a TV and back door out to the garden. Deb runs out into the "huge" yard. Pinebrook is a small little neighbourhood but it's nice and safe. She waves at someone down the rows of gardens, probably her friend. I call her inside to show her the upstairs and she tells me that it was a guy called Ethan who got her and Alice together. Smiling, I head up the stairs. It's a narrow hallway with plenty of light coming in through the windows that look out to the woods and, though you can't see it, the Hidgens Manor. I show Deb the bathroom and tell her that the top floor is my room. Finally, we enter a faded yellow room. It outlooks onto the street and the double bed is perfectly placed in the corner. There is a desk and plenty of photo frames around. Deb jumps onto her bed, delighted with her new room. I smile, pleased she likes what I  spent weeks on. Under Deb's bed, there is a present that I pull out. The wrapping matches the walls and there are lots of mini decor things inside like fairy lights that can have artwork or photos on them. Deb gasps with delight.
"happy birthday sis."
She barrels into me, hugging me tight. I laugh and lead her upstairs to my room. I show her the windows to both sides. She sits on the bed, a smile creeping between her ears.