Melody

CHAPTER 6

"Attention? What is he, the President?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Who says he's telling the truth? I'm quite certain we have never crossed paths before."

"Oh Lily, Lily, Lily. Do you even have to ask? Just look in the mirror."

"What's your point? That he saw me for the first time and suddenly wanted my attention? Does that make sense, even to you?"

No, it didn't. "That's the only part that doesn't add up."

Oh well. We'll figure that out later. For now, we had to get back to class. Helping Lily up, I held her hand and swung it all the way to class. We were silent on our way back, but the silence was companionable, even enjoyable.

The moment we reached our seats in class, Marcus walked up to me and tapped me on the shoulder. 

"Got a sec?"

Lily raised her eyebrows at me, and I shrugged. Pushing my seat back, I rose and followed him out of the classroom. He stopped at the end of the hallway outside our class, and he turned to face me.

"Look Melody," he avoided my intense gaze, "I don't think you understood what I meant."

"The part about seeking Lily's attention, and definitely not mine? Oh, I understood that part all right."

Blowing out a breath, he finally met my eyes.

"I might have been a little…rude. I'm sorry."

I waved him off. "It's fine, it's okay. So, what did I not understand?" 

"Um, well…"

"Are you wringing your hands, Marcus? Is that some sign of nervousness?"

Marcus glared at me.

"You gonna let me talk or not?"

I swallowed my giggles. "Okay, okay."

Pressing my lips together, I nodded at him to go on.

"So," he shoved his hands into his hoodie and looked away, "I actually wanted to get your attention."

My eyebrows shot up.

"By leaving vague and ominous statements? I must say, your style of getting attention is... interesting."

He shrugged. "I get that a lot."

My eyebrows rose even higher.

"Wow. You are humble."

My comment went way over his head.

"You must have noticed how terrible my grades are."

"Oh, you noticed that too?"

Again, he pointedly ignored the polite jab.

"Seeing as you're one of the nerds here," I didn't miss the way he dragged the word nerd, "I was hoping you'd be willing to tutor me."

Shaking my head, all I could do was stare at him in awe.

"You leave snide remarks everytime we cross paths, and pointedly insult me at every possible opportunity, to see if you can get me to tutor you? Wow. Just…. wow."

Maybe Marcus was just realizing how his actions looked like, because he hung his head. He looked like a lost puppy, and my heart melted instantly.

"Hey. When are you free?"

His head shot up so fast, I'm surprised he didn't get whiplash. Or maybe he did, and I just didn't look hard enough.

"Really?"

The sudden flood of hope and gratitude that filled his eyes washed away every doubt in my mind that I was doing the right thing.

Someone cleared their throat behind me.

"Don't you have a class to get to?"

Turning, I found Miss Nelly glaring at me. No, not me, at Marcus. Apparently, he was not in the good books of a lot of people. Sad. I gave him a weak smile and left him to Miss Nelly's disapproving stare.

Marcus stayed outside a while. By the time he came inside, all merriness had disappeared from his eyes. It was replaced with cold, the kind that made me shudder when his eyes met mine.

"I guess Miss Nelly had scolded him about his grades."

"What?" Lily raised her eyebrows at my broken expression, "don't tell me you've suddenly become softhearted."

"Hey! I am softhearted!" I tried not to look offended.

Lily snorted. "Right. To cute puppies and decent humans. Not to Marcus." 

I sighed. While I had agreed to tutor Marcus, I completely forgot what Lily's reaction would look like. I might as well wait till we got to our hideout before spilling the beans. I never liked beans anyway.

"What? You did what?"

Now, that was Lily. Standing with her hands on her hips, her burning eyes fixed on me. Honestly, I could feel the searing intensity.

We were holed up in our little hideout, and I had told her everything about Marcus' offer and my decision. To say none of that sat well with her was an understatement.

"Melody!" I resisted the urge to cover my ears when her voice began rising, "I do not believe you agreed to it! What, you guys are friends now? What else are you going to spring on me?" 

"Hush, Lily," I pulled her down beside me, " what did you want me to do? Turn him down? He looked so…so…lost!"

"And?"

"Lily! Where is your compassion?"

"Don't tell me you forgot everything he's done in one supposed flash of compassion. And to answer your question, it's bottled up and buried in my grandmother's backyard, where it belongs."

I gave Lily a disbelieving look.

"I mean, I realized you would be opposed to this, but I had no idea you would be this dramatic!"

"Who's the dramatic one now?"

"You are!"

"Not! You're being unreasonable."

I could feel my throat begin to burn, so I decided to let it go. Lily would probably cool off after a good night sleep. Sighing, I picked my bag up and headed home, her glare burning a hole in the back of my head all the way out.

Lily did not cool off after an entire night's worth of sleep. When we met the next day, she greeted me with her signature snobbish silence and stuck her nose in the air all the way to school.

I usually hated when she acted like this, but all I felt at that moment was indifference. I'd thought a lot about it, and I didn't care what the result would be. I was going to be Marcus' tutor, and that was that.

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I really ain't satisfied with this chapter, but oh well!

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