Meet Again

Chapter 4

Melanie laid in her bed. It had been three weeks since Abi had left for London and she had only left her room twice. Once, because she went to raid Walmart and the gas station for at least a year's worth of food and drinks. The second time, her mother had cruelly tricked her and made her believe that Abi was back.

It was strange. What Melanie was feeling. It was so foreign to her. Yes, she's bipolar so obviously, she's had her bad times. She's even had times of wanting to kill herself and ending up in the hospital.

But this was different. She didn't want to die. She just didn't want to...live. It was hard to explain. It was like...she didn't want her heart to stop. She wanted to keep being, but not feeling. She didn't want to look at anything or laugh ever again. She just wanted to...be. Melanie wanted to sit in her room all day and all night until she blew away into dust.

And that's what she was doing. For the last two weeks, Melanie had done nothing but eat, cry, and watch all every movie and TV show that Netflix and Hulu had to offer. Zen had come around a few times and tried to cheer her up, but every time he would just remind the Cuban of the friend that was over 5,000 miles away.

Today was different, however.

Today, something changed.

Melanie woke up next to a box of tissues. It was mostly empty, she figured since she also woke up surrounded by them. Reluctantly getting up, she looked over at her bedside clock. It was almost noon. The grey-eyed girl scratched her head and wondered where all the tissues came from. Had she been crying?

Then it hit her.

It hit her like a big, hard, painful, heartbreaking boulder.

And the tears came again. She sat there, crying. She used up the rest of the tissues and wiped her tears. There was a small crack in the door, she noticed. Rolling her red eyes, Melanie called out to the person. "You can come in. I don't bite."

"Yes you do, girl. I've seen you do it." Zen said. He stepped into the room with one of Melanie's siblings in his arm while another held his hand. He wore just a plain grey sweater and black jeans. His purple Vans were the only pop of colour the Cuban girl had seen him wear in a while. "And I have proof." Zen had started testosterone shots last week. He swore that his voice got deeper and his face was hairier, but Melanie saw no difference.

The grey-eyed girl smiled slightly. "You'll never catch me alive." She outstretched her hands toward her little brother, Marcos. He smiled at her and gladly jumped out of Zen's hold and into his sister's. "Cousin Zen is crazy. I've never bit anyone, verdad?" Marcos laughed and gently set his little hand on his sister's cheek. He was only two years old and his dark blue eyes watched her happily. He had curly raven hair and was wearing a black sweater vest with a blue button up under it. His blue jeans would've completely covered his feet if it weren't for his little black shoes.

"I think that means you're a lier." The young photographer laughed.

"Yeah, you bite my ear sometimes, Meli!" Soñya said, giggling. Soñya was one of Melanie's four sisters, where Marcos was one of her five. Altogether, there were ten Carreras Rodríguez kids, with a set of twins on the way.

"See!" The trans boy said. "Soñya is a witness!"

"Yeah! I'm a witness!" The girl giggled. She had eyes the same shade as Melanie (and most of her other siblings). Her light brown hair, compliments of her father, was up in a small ponytail that reached her lower back. The little girl was still in her pajamas, which were a light yellow. Everyone always told her she looked just like Melanie. The two sisters would laugh and joke that Sony was really just a clone.