A Crybaby in the Badlands: HALSANIE

10 - Coming Down for Milk And Cookies

We got off easy, y'know, for disappearing. We just told them we got on the wrong tour bus. They let us off with a growl or two.

When we got back to America, at five in the morning, all I wanted to do was sleep, but my parents insisted that we go out to breakfast with Melanie and her grandma.

We went to iHop, and I got cinnamon roll French toast. I ate slowly, not having much of an appetite, as jet lag had been getting the better of me.

After breakfast, I went back with Melanie to her house, having made a good first impression on her grandma. She gave me a tour, then we went to hang out in her she-shelter, (basically the female version of a man cave). She finished composing 'Cry baby', and I sat and listened. I didn't really have much to say for some reason.

"You've been really quiet," she commented, putting down her notebook and looking at my worriedly. "Everything alright?"

"I feel a bit sick," I replied, crossing my legs and resting my head in my hands.

"You can go take a nap in my room while I help Nana with the garden," she offered, and after a moment of thinking, I agreed that it would be a good idea.

I lost about four hours, waking up to Melanie softly shaking me. I was a bit happy to wake up to the sight of her face. Could I honestly say I only liked her as a friend anymore? Just the sight of her made me smile.

Oh shit. Rainbow fever...

I forced myself awake and sat up, still gripping her soft comforter. "What time is it?"

"About three o'clock," she replied, staring at my lips as if tempted to steal a kiss. She looked away after a while, brushing her hair out of her face.  "Come downstairs, me and Nana made cookies."

"Is there milk?" I asked, leaping right to my feet at the mention of food. My stomach growled in response to my thoughts."

"Of course, I'm not a monster!" Melanie replied, and I skipped downstairs.

Melanie's POV

"I'm not a monster!"

I was practically lying through my teeth. If only Ashley knew...

After a moment of self-reflection, I realized Ashley had gotten ahead and I sighed. I looked at my desk to make sure nothing had been touched, worried she'd have seen something. Seeing everything was orderly, I followed her, shutting and locking my room door behind myself.

By the time I caught up, she was already digging into the cookies, laughing with Nana. I wondered what they had started talking about, but pushed the thought to the back of my mind and smiled ignorantly, seating myself beside Ashley. I cast a quick glance to the cupboard beneath the sink, noticing the rat poison was visible. I quickly stood and rushed over, throwing it behind the tool box and stacking the Drain-o on top of the box, hoping no one would bother investigating behind the two things.

I shut the cupboard door and faced Ashley and Nana who didn't seem to be paying attention. Quickly I walked back to the table, trying to find myself an opening in their conversation, but I had gotten too lost in thought to pay attention. As I was watching Ashley laugh so blissfully with Nana, it made me glad I'd decided not to use the rat poison. I couldn't bear killing yet another person I loved...