Look a little deeper

chapter 4: Tyler - strike one (part one)

Melanie's POV:

"Mel! Dinner's ready, mom says to come down!" Lisa called from downstairs.

She had started calling my mother mom. You didn't hear me call her father dad, no. I just called him Mike. I shook my head and sighed, that wasn't really a big deal; I was just trying to switch my focus from Logan for a little while. I had been lying on my bed all afternoon pondering about this karma game he wanted me to play. There was something about the way his eyes had darkened when he had spoken about it that gave me the chills. I kept feeling like something bad would happen if I played. At the same time it excited me in a wierd way. Maybe it was the danger of going up against people with that much power; or maybe it was my own boredom getting the best of me. I sighed. I wasn't sure if I was in or out.

"Melanie! Mom said-" Lisa called again.

"I heard you the first time!" I yelled back and swung my legs off the bed.

I trudged down the stairs and took my place at the table next to Lisa and opposite my mom and Mike. They were acting all lovey dovey again, feeding each other and rubbing their noses together. Lisa sighed happily and said something about the beauty of romance; I just made a gagging noise. Don't get me wrong, I was happy my mom had found love and was enjoying it, I just wish she wouldn't do it in front of me.

As I poked at my lasagna, my mind wandered back to Logan and his proposition. He said it was to teach the populars to stop bullying. His idea was drastic, but didn't a lot of great things get done through drastic methods?

"Mel? Melanie!" My mother's voice brought my mind back to the dinner table. I must have spaced out.

"What's wrong? You've barely touched your food." Mom asked, concerned.

"Nothing's wrong, I just have a few things on my mind, that's all." I replied, taking a big forkful of lasagna to emphasize my point.

"Things like what?" Mike asked. Then he gave me one of the silly grins that mom used to gush about. "Maybe we can help figure it out. A problem shared is a problem solved."

I looked at all of their faces; their eagerness to know was very clear. I supposed it wouldn't hurt to get an opinion.

"Alright. Say, hypothetically, you have an opportunity to make a difference; like really change something bad that's happening. But in order to do that really good thing, you have to hurt the people doing the bad thing. Should you go ahead and do it?" I asked.

I watched them all think hard about it and waited for a response. Wierdly, I was interested in what they had to say. Mom cleared her throat, indicating that she was done thinking.

"I would go for it. I'd do more good than harm and you never made an omlette without breaking some eggs." She said.

"What do you mean you would do it? If it's going to hurt people then wouldn't it make you just like the people you were trying to stop?" Mike said.

"I think I would find a way to stop it that didn't involve hurting anyone." Lisa said. Bless her innocent heart.

"Oh Lisa, that's sweet but a method like that doesn't exist in the real world." Mom said, shaking her head.

"It's that sort of thinking that keeps wars going on." Mike argued.

The rest of dinner turned into a spirited debate between Mike and mom about war, politics and America's system as a whole. Lisa just looked on as if she was scared they were going to end up mad at each other. I just smiled and ate my food. They weren't fighting. Mom loved having intellectual debates and Mike didn't seem like he hated it. For the first time, I started noticing what my mom saw in him. He was good for her.