Salem's Civil War (Book Five of The Silver Society)

Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

School felt strangely alien that year to Melissa Morgan. She had been enrolled in Bishop High School earlier the previous year, after surviving several years in Catholic school. She went to class more often than her unofficial boyfriend Arnie, but not as often as she should. That may have been part of the reason. Then, there was the fact that Spencer was dead and wouldn't be coming back. On top of that, Cierra Denton, the resident genius and bookworm of the Silver Society, who had always been a guaranteed sight in the hallways of Bishop, had made up the work she'd missed after getting kidnapped a few months earlier and had graduated. That was one less person Melissa would get to see in school.

Arnie, Aideen, Jesse Rodriguez, and Dylan Messina were all scheduled to graduate that year. Things were changing. Melissa and Jade were juniors, and Beth and Randy were sophomores, although they were both taking advanced classes and may very well graduate early if they kept it up. Alex, Melissa's legal guardian, had graduated from high school before even coming to Salem, and Cassandra Jones, the final member of the Silver Society, had graduated two years before. It was strange how old Melissa was beginning to feel.

Junior year was supposed to be all about planning for college. Melissa didn't even know if she wanted to go to college, let alone what to major in or where to go. She suspected that Arnie would not go, considering his dislike of sitting though classes, and she couldn't stand the thought of being away from him, so she would need to stay close to Salem if she did go. If Arnie decided to go to school, it would probably be to follow Aideen, and Melissa was confident that Aideen would never leave Salem. She enjoyed living there too much.

"I wonder if other superheroes have to worry about going to college," Melissa mused aloud. She somehow doubted it. Cassandra never discussed if whether she was a college student or not, but then again, she didn't discuss anything about her personal life except how much her long lost brother Josh annoyed her. Alex had some sort of degree or another, and Cierra was enrolled, of course, in the best local college there was in Salem, but Melissa wasn't sure if any of the other Silver Society members were planning to go to school, or if they would choose to leave Salem in order to pursue that goal. The thought made her nervous. With Spencer's death, they were already a member short. What would happen if the rest of them scattered? They were stronger together.

"You think too much," Jade said, making Melissa squeak and jump in surprise.

"I didn't see you guys come over," Melissa replied.

"We just got here," Beth explained.

"Hi, Melissa," Randy added. "Where's Jesse?"

Jesse, who lived with Melissa because Alex was also his guardian, sometimes had a habit of not leaving her side. He was overprotective of her and treated her like his sister. "He's in the principal's office," Melissa replied with a sheepish grin.

"Damn, that boy starts early!" Aideen said as she, Arnie, and Dylan joined them. Jesse was Aideen's ex-boyfriend. Melissa immediately ran into Arnie's waiting arms and kissed him.

"You know how our favorite puppy gets," Dylan replied. "Does anyone have a newspaper? He needs a good whack on the nose." Jesse was a lycanthrope, and although he was technically a polywere, his wolf was his most dominant beast.

"What did Stupid do, anyway?" Aideen asked.

"He got into a fight," Melissa replied.

"Classes haven't even started yet. Who did he find to fight with?" Arnie asked.

"Melvin Ming."

"That scrawny kid? Why waste his time?"

"Actually..." Melissa sighed. It had not been a good morning. Jesse had walked her to school, since Arnie wasn't coming by to drive her, and they had run into Melvin Ming, previously the biggest geek in the new senior class. "Melvin grew fangs over the summer, and apparently he thinks that makes him untouchable. He started taunting us, talking about 'look at the witch bitch and the furball,' and he was being really loud. I don't even think it was the fact that he blew Jesse's cover, but the fact that he called me a bitch that made Jesse snap. Before I could calm him down, he had Melvin on the ground. Melvin is lucky that he still has a pulse. If the principal hadn't broken it up, I think Jesse would have changed form and mauled him."