Paper Thin

• 55: Two! Four! Six! Eight! •

Melody

• Age Eight •

"Do you have the hot chocolate?" I asked.

"With three big marshmallows," my mom replied with a smile as she placed them on the coffee table. She covered us in a big blanket, while we waited for my dad to bring in the popcorn. We were watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, our tradition to watch Christmas movies every Saturday in December.

"Popcorn coming through!" My dad called, holding a large bowl. He flopped down next to me as we hit play. Gently, my dad pulled the blanket, spreading it over himself as well. The movie began to play, and I rested my feet on my father, while leaning my head on my mother's shoulder. Warm. Content. Happy.

***

December had blown in along with the soft flakes caught in the wind. I found myself in jeans and black sweater, for the first Monday of the month. My hair down in natural waves and cozy boots on my feet, I threw a thick jacket on before meeting Carson at his car.

As I slid into the car, I gave Carson a kiss on the cheek, making his lips part into a smile. I sat back into my seat and closed the car door.

"Good morning," Carson said, putting the car into drive. Slowly, the car moved in the direction of the school.

"Guess what came out last night!" I exclaimed, as he slowed at a yellow light. I pulled out the Macy's flier and held up the section where I sported a sweater dress.

"Mellie! You look amazing!" Carson replied, glancing over at the red light. "That's so cool. Are there more?"

"A couple more sections, but I'll show you after school," I said with a grin. He drove off the green light, soon making a turn.

"Sounds good," Carson smiled. He turned into the parking lot. "Will you come sit in the cafeteria today? Alani and Emma keep bugging me to ask you."

"Hmmm..." I exaggerated, pretending I wasn't happy my friends wanted me around. "I guess things have begun to die down in terms of rumours, so fine. I'll come."

"Finally!" Carson laughed. He parked the car and turned off the engine.

***

Between Carson and Emma, I sat quietly with a salad in front of me while conversations of winter activities whirled around me.

"Okay, guys but peppermint everything!" Emma exclaimed, almost whacking me with her arms.

"Christmas has officially taken over her body," Cora muttered.

"You should see her house," Alani laughed.

"Two words: Christmas overload," Noah said.

"This I have to see," Harvey replied.

"I swear it's not that bad." Emma held a hand up in protest.

"At least her mom bakes Christmas cookies like 24/7," Cora shrugged.

"Holy crap the Christmas spirit has taken over Cora's body!" Alani exclaimed.

"The niceness... it burns!" Noah squealed making the rest of us laugh.

Cora rolled her eyes. "You're such a clown."

"And she's back." Noah replied with a toothy grin.

"Well, speaking of Christmas cookies..." Emma said reaching into her bag. She pulled out a container of cookies that appeared to be vanilla flavoured and covered in red, white and green icing.

"I'll take some of those," Carson laughed.

"Be thankful for Christmas y'all," Emma grinned. Six hands stretched across the table reaching for a cookie, but my attention was facing the entrance to the cafeteria.

The doors had burst open with a loud bang and two voices yelling, "Ready? Okay!" Four cheerleaders came back flipping into the cafeteria. Three came behind them, cartwheeling in on one hand, a stack of papers in the other.

"Two! Four! Six! Eight! Her uncle this girl likes to date! To the toilet she migrates!"

The air seemed to get sucked from my lungs as I watched Rose, Summer and Serena strutted into the cafeteria in their matching cheer uniforms. They started tossing papers, with the three other girls holding them.

"For Macy's this girl advocates!" They yelled. I stared, frozen in horror. I wanted to run, move, flee the scene, but my body was glued to the seat

"M! E! L! O! D! Y!" The cheerleaders spelled, spread out across the room. An attack on all sides. "What's that spell?"

"Melody!" Rose yelled pointing at me. She walked up to my table and threw some of the Macy's flyers at us. "I bet none of your friends knew you were secretly modelling."

"You what?" Echoed across my table. I looked at my friends and saw shock, dismay, and anger colouring their faces, like paint against a canvas. For some odd reason, only two faces out of the other six at the table remained unsurprised; Carson's and Cora's. While Carson knew, I wondered why Cora didn't seem more appalled by the fact that I'd kept such a huge secret from my friends.

"I-I was going –"

"Oops. Looks like we've got a lying bitch on our hands," Rose shrugged. She placed a hand on the table and leaned in close beside me. "I bet you all didn't know that her mother was the Harmony Winters. A famous super mo–"

"You shut your mouth about my mother," I snapped, my face an inch from hers. Rose's eyes widened for a split second before she adjusted her expression into a sly smirk.

"I'm sorry, did I hit a nerve?" She asked straightening her body. I clenched my fist and unclenched it, unsure if I was going to punch or slap her. Burning anger spread through my body and racked it with tremors. I stood up, making Rose flinch, as I brushed roughly passed her. My feet carried me out of the doors, past the whispers and stares of students and cafeteria workers.

"Melody! Wait!" I could hear Carson chasing behind me, but something in me couldn't stop moving. It felt like a string was pulling me out of the school, like a fish being drawn out of water. Or maybe, a human being pulled out of water.

The cold air hit my face as I stepped outside, but the further away from the school I was, the more I could breathe. A deep shaky breath that released warm tears from my eyes that quickly turned to ice on my cheeks. But my feet carried me down the sidewalk; passed the leafless, frost bitten trees.

When I got home, I collapsed onto the couch, tears rolling down my cheeks as I stared into space and replayed the horrific cafeteria scene in my mind over and over again. Everything I tried to avoid was out in the open, thrown casually across the school like water against pavement. I willed to go back to eight years old, wrapped up in a blanket between my parents. But I wasn't. Instead I was here. Cold. Alone. Empty.

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Author's Note: Almost 11K reads! You guys are amazing! Thank you all soo much! Let me know what you think of this chapter! We've got some sneaky characters around here... haha! Also, special shout out to: makaroonies for your hilarious comments! To Hailieroo01 for your sweet comments!  And to pfingstrosendrama for all your votes! You two rock!