In the Absence of a Good Life

(4) Wild Things Found In Unexpected Places

The Comedy Duo (A.K.A Shelly and Mel) :

"See! He was nice! He is so NOT a thug." Shelly claimed.

"Yeah, they all start like that. Next thing you know you'll be living on the streets while that bastard takes everything you own..." Mel objected.

"Mel, you need to lighten up, not everyone's a bad guy."

"Well maybe you need to be a little less trusting Shelly!"

"You're just bitter after what happened with Justin and Tina!"

"AM NOT! She had it coming!"

"How can you think that and still sleep comfortably at night?"

"..." Mel crossed her arms and turned her head away from her friend to look out of the window in defiance.

"Hey, it's over now, he's gone! And I'm not dead!" Shelly joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Yet..."

Mel's comment earned her a playful punch to her arm from Shelly.

..........

Almost a week had gone by since the encounter with Terrance, and still nothing had happened to Shelly. In her mind it completely proved her point. The guy was alright in her book.

She thought back to when she had first spoken to Mel. That girl could be so irritating sometimes.

Five Years Ago

Shelly sat in her usual seat at the back of the classroom for her art lesson. Having just started high school, nobody had had the chance to form their friend groups.

Shelly had been a tall girl for her age with a spindly figure. The curves that would become more pronounced in later years had only just started to develop. Her hair had been cut short to rest just above her shoulders. It had also been dyed a bright mixture of blues, greens and turquoises. Inevitably it would be darkened down to a deep purple when the school ordered her to 'tone it down'.

Her eyes were a lightly tinted blue. In the right light, they would appear almost grey. In short, she was a rebellious girl, with an attitude to match.

Or that's what Mel had first thought when the two had met for the very first time.

Mel had walked in, unsure of who to sit by. This simple choice could dictate what kind of treatment you'd get from other students later on in school life.

If you sat by a nerd, your social life would be pretty much over, but if you sat by a future cheer leader, well, that could do wonders for you.

She had looked around whilst a small debate took place in her head.

She had three options swimming in her mind:

a) Sit by the abnormally pretty, bitchy looking girl with a posture that screamed 'I'll give you a headache with my conversations about myself that you will be guaranteed to hear every waking moment of your life!'

b) Sit by the freak with bright blue hair and a jutting out lower lip that complained 'Sit by me and I'll rip you to fucking pieces if you piss me off...'

Or, by far the best option in Mel's mind;

c) Sit by the normal, pleasant looking girl, with a quiet disposition that spoke 'Hey, d'ya wanna be friends?'

Option c it was...

"Hey, is this seat taken?" Mel asked the brunette. She sat down when she received a 'no' in reply. Silence fell upon the pair, and Mel began to regret sitting by the shy girl. She introduced herself with a bright smile and an offering of a hand to shake. The girl turned to face her. Her lips curled into a strangely, forced smile after looking Mel up and down.

"I'm Harley." The two girls then shook hands.

Harley had soon come to realise that the girl who she had been so fortunate to sit by, achieved better scores in assignments than her. She was also extremely gullible, which made her intentions slightly easier to achieve.

Harley started to push Mel, to see how far she could go before a line of some sort was crossed.

It started with the occasional and innocent asking for an answer in a homework project. This then slowly graduated to Harley asking her new found 'friend' to give her every answer she needed.

After Harley had successfully gotten Mel to do her homework for her, expertly supplying many excuses, she began to push further.

Homework soon turned to the 'borrowing' of Mel's jewellery, that according to Harley, had been stolen off of her by some street mugger.

Jewellery then turned to things of more importance, such as money, which was never returned.

Little by little, Harley began to let the friendship with Mel, disintegrate, as she found new, 'cooler' friends.

The last thing that Harley had borrowed had been Mel's iPhone which had been bought for her the previous day. Though she had no use for the thing, Harley found enjoyment in smashing it, quite purposefully, in front of a room full of people, including Mel.

Then, she took scissors to her own brunette, waist-long hair. With her back to the spectators and standing behind Mel, no one but Mel herself had seen that Harley had cut her own hair into the short pixie cut that had now been outgrown.

No one had believed Mel when she was accused of bullying by everyone in the school.

No one had stuck up for her when Harley and her gang of average friends had resorted to blackmail, mugging and rumour spreading.

That was, until Shelly happened to oversee the events for herself. Instead of resorting to violence, Shelly turned their own poison against them by spreading rumours of unpleasant events involving them.

All the while, she stuck close to Mel, always checking that the girl was okay and looking out for signs of danger. With her help, Mel was able to regain the confidence that she'd lost because of Harley.

Shelly had made Mel do things that she never thought she was able to do. The most important and life changing being that Shelly taught Mel to stick up for herself.

The bullying stopped when Harley and her gang of hormonal bitches attempted to threaten her.

Like she had been taught, Mel stood up straight and tall, resisting the urge to cower. She stuck her chin high into the air and looked her attackers squarely in the eye.

Then she did something that none of them had expected.

She laughed.

From then on, the tall, blue haired girl with equally blue eyes and a spunky attitude to match, and the shorter girl with dark ginger hair, brown eyes and a sweet, gullible but judgemental disposition, were inseparable.

Mel had made a best friend in the one girl she thought would be a bully, and had defeated an enemy in the seemingly quiet and normal looking girl.

Mel's whole life was the story of judging a book by it's cover. After this event, she had claimed that she would never do it again.

Well that certainly lasted...

Four weeks...

When the new homeroom teacher was assigned to replace the old one.