Melaine

Chapter 2: She, Melaine

Melaine sat in a black marble bathtub hugging her knees. There used to be a time when she would sit in the water for hours losing sense of time. Her fingers that were splayed on her leg, played with crescent shaped scar on her upper thigh. She was pressing and scratching at the wound with her nails till the blood seeped out of it again. She bit her lower lip, muffling back a cry and she held onto the brim of bathtub when her nail tore open the flesh of her cut. She blinked back tears with the fresh burning pain in her bleeding leg that reminded her of who she really was. She had never allowed the wound to close and heal, with each day passing she cut it open again for herself either with blade or piercing her fingernail in the raw wound to freshen it again. The wound and stinging pain in her thigh, reminded her of her horrifying past that still haunted her and the urgency of her survival, will to live for 'her'. She pressed on the bleeding wound with her palm that coated her hand with blood, and cleaned her leg with washcloth limping out of the bath into her bedroom. She opened her closet, rummaging through her clothes and pulled out her blue check shirt and ripped jeans. Melaine stood in front of the mirror, putting on a padded brasserie adjusting it on her chest before pulling a sports bra and white tunic over her head. She changed into her long loose blue check shirt and placed a band-aid on her cut before changing into the jeans.She grabbed an hair brush untangling her wet tousled locks tugging at the knots and gave them a blow dry. She held a rubber band between her mouth as she worked on her lose ponytail, snapping the band in the place. She ran fingers through her bangs letting them rest on left side of face. She took  foundation from her dresser to work on her face, and used face powder to dust her cheeks lightly. With a thin clean layer of eyeliner and mascara to curl her eyelashes, she was ready to go outside. She checked her reflection in the mirror and a sad smile formed on her lips, when her heart ached upon seeing the face that could have belonged to 'her'.

Melaine stalked outside of the room into the kitchen. Knowing, she only had 15 minutes left before rushing to the school, she hurried to prepare herself breakfast. She made herself scrambled eggs and ate them with toast. Looking at the clock in the kitchen, she took a sip of her now cold tea, making a gagging face, and picked up her backpack to leave for school. She slang bag over her left shoulder and locked her house, double checking it before she jogged on the road to the school.

Rohan pulled in his car in the parking area, and stepped outside of his black Lamborghini Huracan, carrying his bag back in his hand. He was dressed in black jeans and Rodz berry button up shirt that was half tucked inside his jeans and a black jacket. Sam waved at him along with the rest of his boys, and he walked towards them removing his shades.
"Someone's in a good mood, why? Did Jessie give you a goodnight sleep?" Sam,  nudged his ribs with his elbow. Sam was his best pal and a date-maker setting him up with hot girls on real date but for him it never worked more than just one night sex. Sometimes, Sam would make a joke about him being homosexual but the tested theory of one night stand with a boy didn't prove anything that he could be into men romantically.

'You must be then A-romantic'. Sam cracked a joke once that earned him a punch in answer.

'What a lousy joke' Rohan commented  as Sam held his bruised chin.

"Guess boys, who is the hot new neighbor in old Uncle Tom's house?" Rohan flashed them his signature smirk sliding his hand in jeans'pocket.
"Gay Dan?" Sam made a guess though he knew wasn't correct given the skeptical face of his friend who raised his brow at him.
"Ms. Spectacles, Melaine." The boys went silent as if he had dropped a bomb on them.
"Holy shit, Rohan!" Sam shouted thumping his back in surprise that knocked the breath out him, "Did you just call her hot?"
 "I did". He moistened his dry lips with his tongue and smiled at the girls who waved at him when they passed their group. He wouldn't lie that he didn't find himself attracted to that nerd, and he couldn't tell when did his taste change from hot babes to a plain girl like her. He had a bad habit of walking in opposite direction to the rest of the world and it couldn't be denied the raw desire she stirred inside him. The way she would lift her eyes whenever she caught him staring at her, it literally took his breath away. Sometimes, he wondered if she had known how to torture him slowly and he had to find some other girl for night to distract himself from her.
"But that's not big deal here, the news is that last night she glared at me in anger". His words earned whistles of appreciation from boys.
"Jesus Christ! It's unbelievable!" Sam shouted again holding Rohan in a neck lock and ruffled his perfectly gelled hair, "That's the news of decade that she glared at you. It's a shock that she didn't cut your throat." Rohan freed himself from Sam's grasp and draped his arm around his shoulder.
"It suited her. Maybe I'll tell her she should glare more often." He told Sam, as they headed towards the school building and saw Melaine walked past them.
"Hold your balls, lover boy", Sam chided him when caught him looking in Melanie's direction.
"Ms. Nerd of all people?"
"Her name is Melanie...",Rohan spared a glance to his dumbfounded friend, "I mean it sounds real good the way it rolls off the tongue..."
"Oh my! Don't tell me you're shouting her name in the bedroom too". Sam whacked his head with his thick physics book.
"Like Hell I would!" A voice in the back of his mind stirred the guilt because somewhere along the line he knew it's lie.
 "Even if I do... you've got any problem with it?"
"Dude, even if you're the last  Adam on earth and she was Eve, she wouldn't have chosen you. She would have gone with a serpent. So, drop your stupidity."
"Real thanks, Sam". He rolled his eyes at him replying with his sarcastic remark.
"Anytime." How could he forget that Sam is father of Sarcasm.

Rohan entered the noisy classroom and his eyes landed on her sitting at end in the farthest corner of the room. She was reading a book, tapping pencil on the table. The seat beside her, he noticed like always was empty since no one bothered to sit with someone like her and waste their time trying to get a mute talk to them. He pursed his lips and went straight towards her seat to sit next to her. The class suddenly went painfully silent. Melaine, who noticed it looked up from her book and found the entire class staring in her direction with agape mouth. She turned her head to see him sitting next to her and smiled at her.
"Good morning!"
Melaine stared at him with her normal blank face though he noticed the flicker of amusement in her brown irises that was  unexpected. It's rare for a blond to dark eyes. Their Professor entered the classroom and started giving lecture. Rohan yawned resting his chin in his palm and glanced sideways at Melaine who was jotting down the notes in her notebook. He leaned back in his seat, resting his arm next to hers on the desk and brushed his knuckles against hers testing the waters if she would pull her hand away . But she didn't flinch back. If only he could read her face, he would've been be able to tell if the act had comforted her or she simply ignored his presence.

She must have thought that he'd a lecher. He mentally berated himself and paid attention to the lecture.

 After the class, he followed Melaine to the library room where she would often spend her time than socializing with anyone. Rohan strolled through the aisle between the book racks in the library, matching the steps of Melaine who was walking the other side of book racks inspecting the spines of literature books. He stopped, when she slightly raised herself on her toes to reach for a thick heavy book and he extended his arm to pull out the same book. Melanie's hand stopped midway when she noticed him through the gap and took another book before leaving from there. He frowned at her, taking the novel that she intended to get and turned it over to read its title. He scoffed at the title of old classic novel and shoved the book back on the shelve. Melaine pushed her specs up and opened the book turning over the page. He settled on a chair two rows across her seat from where he could easily watch her without getting caught. She was engrossed in reading, lost  in her book that she didn't know someone had been staring at her. He noticed the small changes on her face; the way her brow creased, lips quirked up at left corner in concentration and he felt himself envious of the author who, long dead, was getting a reaction from her. The silence of the library got disturbed when they heard the blast in the chemistry laboratory adjacent to the library sending a flying oxygen cylinder inside room that blasted spreading the fire through the library . Fire alarms went off, people got panicked running out of the room when fire stared spreading to furniture and books. The spray of water could only douse the fire at the entrance and middle of the library. Rohan immediately shot up from his seat, rushing towards the exit door but noticed her sitting with her back to burning furniture.

"Melanie!" Rohan shouted out his name which fell deaf on her ears.

 
"Melanie!" He shouted again yet no response from her.He grimaced as he ran towards her direction pulling her off the seat by her arm and dragged her outside of the library. She blinked up at him when he scowled holding her chin roughly and turned her face to the burning book rack that then came down on the chair where she had been sitting.
"Your attitude could've killed yourself!"
Melaine furrowed her eyebrows, when he took her to the infirmary asking a nurse to check on her. The nurse checked on her if she had been injured somewhere and handed her a glass of water.
"Are you deaf? What were you even thinking?" Melaine looked up at him momentarily before going back to ignoring him.
He narrowed his eyes at the girl, who brushed his question aside as if he was joking with her,"I'm talking to you Melaine, don't you dare to ignore me!" He barked and this time he got on her nerves who sprang up on her feet and jabbed his chest with an accusing finger.
"If you're here looking for a thank you, sorry for disappointment I'm not saying it. Besides, no one had asked you to save me and be a hero." She shouted back at him.
"What?" Rohan who was taken aback by her sudden outburst and choked out in surprise.
 "You could've burnt yourself alive...", he seethed through his gritted teeth towering her lithe frame.
"It's mine body. I can either drown it in water or burn it alive it's none of your business". Melaine gave him a push back and stalked towards the door to leave.

"Fine! I will get you petrol and matchbox then you can fucking burn yourself alive for all I care", he shouted at her back who stopped to spare him a glare over her shoulder.

"I'll remember it then."