PROJECT ANDERSON

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO: SARGE

No one had spoken in some time as we drove down the road just outside of Krystal. Amber and Melissa were now separated by me, so nothing would get out a hand again...at this point it was needed.

"At the next stop you and Johnny need to switch places, so you can talk to Andie." I finally said breaking the silence finally.

"Are you sure that you really want to do this now?" Melissa asked unsure of my decision.

"Mel, we've been over this already and you agreed." I retorted sternly. "Besides if find out what he is holding over her the better off we will be when it comes to fighting him."

"And what if the doesn't have anything else over her, what are we going to do then?" She asked as she ran her fingers through her curly brown hair. "What if I say the wrong thing and they completely stop trusting us?"

"You won't if you just stick with what we talked about." I reassured calmly. "Besides you know that she likes you."

"We talked once and she didn't really tell me anything...how could you tell that she would trust me after that?" Melissa asked confused and slightly annoyed.

"Because you seem to have a few things in common with her, so maybe you can use that to get the information."

"What do you mean by that?" She asked with her arms resting on her knees.

"You had an emotional reaction to her attempt on her life." I answered warily. "So I figured that maybe it was because -"

"I had a personal experience with that sort of thing?" She questioned softly.

"Yes, but I was going to be nicer when I said it."

"When I was younger...before my mom moved on from my dad leaving...I found her on the kitchen floor, she overdosed on some painkillers or something...I don't really remember, but I knew that she had defiantly taken some sort of pills...all I remember thinking as I tried to find a phone was that I didn't want to be separated from my brother...I didn't even care that my mother might have been dying on the floor...because she was the reason our father wanted nothing to do with us." Melissa explained through a choked voice.

"But that didn't happen, because you were able to save her in time." I said trying to comfort her the best I knew how by reassurance.

Amber looked like she wanted to say something, but I stopped her.

"This isn't about you, just go back to sleep." I said softly.

"But -"

"Amber, I don't care what you were about to say, because no one was talking to you and in the words of your old roommate...NO ONE CARES." Melissa said with a slight smirk.

Amber's facial expression changed to something that you would probably know from an old meme or reddit Karen stories...surprised Pikachu face.

"She's not worth it Melissa." I said with a sigh. "Try to ignore her...that's what I do."

"How do you expect me to do that, when she is always sitting there staring you in the face?"

"Just pretend that she doesn't exist...there is no one here, but you and me." I said as I gripped her hand. "Just talk to me."

"Our mother was always troubled, my Abuela used to call her perra problematica, the booze wasn't her only problem...it was also pills and well her own children." Melissa said with a small laugh to herself. "She was never abusive towards us...just neglectful...especially with me, but it was probably because I reminded her of herself when she was younger."

"What makes you think that?"

"Because I started doing the some things." She answered with a small shrug.