Pretty Lies

Meeting The Real Melanie (Jacob)

I smile and joke with Mel at lunch, like I'd known her for years. It's crazy! You won't believe what happened this morning, she apologized for how she acted yesterday, and asked if we could be friends! And I mean of course I said yes. I'm even hanging out at her house after school!

One thing that is strange though is that she keeps calling me Jakey... and I only know one other person who ever says that. But there is no possible way Cecelia knows Melanie ha ha.

After lunch, Mel goes to calculus and I have geography with Lydia. I sit in my seat next to her and offer a friendly smile in her direction. She smirks.
"In a good mood?" She asks in a bitter tone. My smile fades.
"Well I was... what's your problem?"
"I told you already. You just don't listen."
"Listen to what?"
"Mel is a bitch!" She sneers. I flinch.
"She was just having a bad day yesterday, calm down."
"Every day is a bad day with her." Lydia continued, "She's insane!" Disgust dripped from her words, and her eyes flared with anger. Right now, she's the one who looked insane. I looked down, unable to bear her angry face.
"She isn't Amy you know. She's Melanie. Stop getting it wrong." I said it to her quietly, but I know she heard me. I heard her breath catch, and then her hands were on the sides of my face, locking my eyes on hers.
"Look me in the face when you talk shit, stupid boy." She growled into my face, then let go returning to her seat. 

Damn, that was terrifying!
"What  just happened...?" I muttered to myself.

  xxxxx


After school, I told Ann not to wait up, because I was going over a friend's house. She rose her eyebrows at me and asked, "Is this your hot friend? Linda?"
I roll my eyes, "It's Lydia, and ew no. It's a girl named Melanie." I finish with a smile.
"Ohh! A girl!" She smiles mischievously and leans close to my ear and whispers,
"Better plan on using protection little bro."

My face reddens and I answer quickly, "It's not like that Ann, fuck you."
"Jeez Jacob, touchy much? I was just kidding."
"Yea sure you were, bye." I say while walking away.

Melanie smiles and waves me over to her car, a new looking black Dodge Charger.
"All set?" She asks, still smiling.
"Sure am." I reply with a grin.
We got in her car and buckled in, eager to get away from school.
"How was your day?" She asks. I was going to say 'good' like I usually always say, but then I remember the run in with Lydia.
"Lydia... went crazy in geography today."

Her mouth  went into a straight line, but she said nothing.

"She grabbed my face and screamed at me." 

Mel's face flashed with anger. "About?" She asked, her voice stiff.

"You."

"Why am I not surprised?" She asked, attempting a cold laugh, but her voice broke with emotion.

My stomach pulled itself into a knot as a saw tears begin to stream from her eyes, as she tried to wipe them away quickly. "Melanie, pull over for a minute." I say in a strained voice. she listens. and pulls into a Starbucks parking lot and turns off the car. Then she starts to cry harder. I was beyond terrible and awkward in these situations, so I sat awkwardly silent while listening to her sobs.
"H-how much do y-you h-h-h.." She began, but was cut off by more tears.
"How much do I what?"
"H-hate... m-me?" She finishes in a small broken voice.
"I don't hate you at all! Why would you ever think that?!" I'm taken by surprise as she pulls me into a hug. Her tears sink into my shirt as I hug her back.
"You have no idea how much that means to me. Lydia is the reason why I have no friends." Mel lifts her head and looks at me with her tear stained face.
"I can't lose you too. You're my only friend anymore..." She says in a sad voice.
"Lydia's words and actions will never change my opinions of you or anyone else."

She gives me a weak smile and starts the car again. Then we leave the parking lot and ride in a comfortable silence to her house. I don't know why I expected to see the house I saw in the news article photos, of course they would move out of that house of horrors. Melanie turned the front door handle and turned towards me before going in.
"I am so sorry I lost it like that in the car. You didn't need to see that." Then she turned around and walked inside towards a staircase.
"My dad is still at work, wanna hang upstairs?" She asked. The question was obviously innocent, but I blushed anyway.
"In your room?" I ask shyly.
"Haha, duh. That's where my computer and TV are at." She replied, laughing.
"Oh yeah, duh, of course." I say following her up the stairs. We walk into a room with purple walls, posters of some guy named blackbear that I'd never seen before is all over the walls along with a few drawings and framed photos. There was a messy desk near the window, with a large screened iMac.
"Wow, that's a really nice computer." I say. Mel smiles and pushes her bangs out of her face.
"Thanks! The quality on it is amazing!"
I return the smile and continue to look around. Suddenly, I gasp. There on her wall, is a family portrait. I see Amy right away, standing behind Melanie with a crooked smile. Next to Amy, stood a short beautiful woman with chestnut hair and a plump face.

"Wasn't my mother so beautiful?" Melanie murmurs, walking up next to me and placing her fingertips onto the frame.
"You look a lot like her." I say quietly, "So beautiful." I feel blush cross my face at the same time I see it on hers. She turned away from me and the photo and walked over to her bed to sit down.
"Do you really think I'm beautiful?" She asks softly. She looked up at me with a sparkle in her eyes. I felt my face get hotter as I sat in her desk chair, thinking of what to say next.
"Well y-" I began, but was interrupted by her door opening.

"Heyo Skippy, just got home-" I recognized the man right away as Melanie's father, from the photo. His hair had a lot more gray, but his friendly face remained the same.
"Oh, I didn't know you had company." Her dad said, raising his eyebrows at Mel, and giving me a warm smile.

"Hey dad. This is my friend Jacob. He's new to California." Mel says while smiling.

"Nice to meet you Jacob! Call me Bill." He said, while holding out his hand. I shook his hand and said, "Nice to meet you too Sir."

"Well Skippy, I have some paperwork to do, so I'll be in my office. Behave." Bill said, before walking out of the room, leaving the door open.

"Skippy?" I asked after he was gone. Mel pulled her pillow over her face and groaned.
"You don't wanna know." She said. I grinned, amused at her reaction.
"Yes, I do wanna know, Skippy." I said while biting back a laugh.
"Ugh, whatever, it's because I am obsessed  with Skippy peanut butter and NO other peanut butter is good enough." She exhaled in a big pout-y way, then pursed her lips into a matching pout. I burst out laughing so hard that I could barely breathe, while she was saying things like, "It's not that funny gay wad." ; "Stop laughing before my dad thinks you're high!" and "Asshole."

"I'm s-s" I started, still breaking into laughs. "Sorry!" I exclaim, out of breath.
"No you aren't." Melanie says and rolls her eyes.
"No really, I am. I didn't want to upset you, honest." I say, finally calming down. She look at me for a moment then finally says, "Fine apology accepted." She flashes a grin.
"Why, thank you madam!" I say, dramatically taking a bow and blowing kisses.

She rolled her eyes and started laughing. "Are you done yet, pageant queen?" She asks in between giggles. I do one more princess wave and then nod. "You are such a goof." She says, while walking to her window seat. I hear the familiar ding of my phone getting a text message before I can say anything back. Melanie looks up at me curiously. 

"It's a text from my mom." I read, "She wants me to come home." I say with a frown. Shouldn't mom be glad I'm making friends? Why call me home so soon?

"Man that sucks ass." Melanie says in a glum tone. "You should see if you can stay longer. Maybe for dinner?"

 I shake my head before she even finishes her sentence. "No, my mom is very stubborn. If she wants me home, I have to go." I complain.

A slow grin crosses Mel's face as she looks at me.
"What?" I ask.
"You're a Mommy's boy." She says, bursting into a laugh. I roll my eyes and sigh.
 "Can you just take me home now?" She holds up her index finger and continues laughing. About five minutes later, she finally stops and says, "Alright, let's go Mommy's boy!" With a big grin on her face.
"Whatever you say Skippy." I respond with a smirk.

She bounds down the stairs and I follow. After grabbing her keys she yells,
"DAD I'M TAKING JAKE HOME! OKAY? BYE!" And then without even waiting for an answer, she slammed the front door.
"You don't have to ask to leave?" I ask, surprised.
"I'm 16, almost 17. I can handle myself. Besides, my dad is relieved when I actually go places."
"Oh." Is all I say. She drives me home in silence after that.

HELLO BEAUTIFUL READERS!

I am really proud of how this story is going so far honestly. I still have 5 more chapters ready to be copied over, but my hands can only do so much typing at once haha. Feel free to comment what you like best! I love reading all of your comments ♥ (:

-Courtney ☺♥ ♫