Sail

~Chapter 1

School starts again today! Well, we only have to get our timetables and then we are allowed to go again, but somehow I am really excited. I haven't seen my friends in forever, so talking to them again will be amazing. I have a lot to discuss with Melody. We had some conversations on Skype lately, but actually talking and giving her advice in real life is much easier.

It started when we went to a concert together at the start of summer break. We were just talking about some random stuff, when all of a sudden she just blurted out that she had developed a crush on her best friend, Elly. We talked about it for a while, but it was not long and we started talking about bands soon after. Now she really needs some help and thinks I am the right person for that. I asked her if she could come a bit earlier so we had some time to talk.

 "Hey, Isa!" Melody says to me as she is walking towards her locker. Her locker is only two meters from 'the pillar', as I like to call it. It is actually some kind of supporting post to prevent the first floor from collapsing, but that is too long to say every time. I just always call it 'the pillar'. It is the place where we are most of the time at school, when we don't have a class to go to.

"Hi! Excited for today?" I answer.

"Kinda, but I am more excited for our party this evening than I am for receiving my timetable. I already know most of it. You?"

"Yeah, true. I'm just excited to go back to school again, summer break was getting a bit boring."

"At least you got to go to fucking Florida. That has probably been amazing!" And that was true, kind of. I had an amazing time in Florida, but I was very tired most of the time. It felt like I couldn't actually enjoy it as much as I would have a couple of years ago. That has happened with more things lately...

"So, about Elly... first of all have you talked about it with her?"

"No, not yet. I wanted to do it when we had a sleepover at her house, but I got scared and got a panic attack. It took me a few hours to recover from it and I couldn't even explain to Elly why I had one. After that I didn't want to try again."

"That's okay, you're clearly not ready for it yet. Do you want me to talk to her about it? Or do you want me to ask someone else?"

"No, I have to figure this one out myself, with occasionally ranting about it to you." she ends her sentence with a grin.

"Okay. Well, let me know when you need me again!"

Just after I said that, Steph, my best friend, came in, clearly worried about something.

"Isa, I need to talk to you about something. Can we go over there? It's kind of private."

"Uh, sure. I'm sorry, Melody, I think I have to go. See you in class!"

"Bye!"

We walked towards our lockers, which were close to each other. While we were walking, I couldn't stop thinking about what it could be she wants to talk about so desperately. Has something happened in her family? Or has someone told her something she is worried about? I have never seen her worried about something before. She is always optimistic and happy about everything. Not that she is dumb and unknowing, she just tries to look at the positive side of life, unlike me. I always look at the negative side of things. I am trying to change that, to look at the positive things, but it is really hard. It is funny that we are so different, yet we do have a lot in common. I like to think that is the reason why we are best friends.

I snap out of my thoughts when Steph starts talking.

"So, I kind of overheard something and I don't know what to do with it. Do you promise you won't tell anyone what I am about to tell you?"

"I promise." Now I am really worried. What happened?"

"Well, last week I went  shopping with my parents. They wanted to look at some new furniture, but that is really boring, so I decided to stay outside and wait. Then I heard a voice that sounded familiar. It turned out to be Elly. She was talking to someone, I didn't hear who. She said... She said she had a crush on Melody."

I couldn't believe it. Elly has a crush on Melody? That is amazing news! Well, not that amazing, since I am the only one who knows of both sides.

"Wow, that is..." I am looking for the right word to use. Amazing? Cool? Weird? "... unexpected. But why are you so worried about it?"

"I now know something I am not supposed to know!" Yeah, I know. You are not the only one, Steph!

"It's not your fault. You accidentally overheard something. That happens sometimes. Don't worry about it. Everything will be fine, trust me." Shit, I said too much.

"What do you mean?" See, she knows I said something weird.

"You'll be fine." But will I? I will never be able to keep these two secrets. Maybe it will be for the better if I just told Steph. When I tell one person, it will already be less hard to keep it a secret. I hope, at least.

"Hey Steph, do you want to come over to my house after we received our timetables? We have a lot of catching up to do."

"Yeah, that's  okay! I'll text my mom about it." Just as Steph reaches for her phone, the bell rings. Time to get to class! It is still weird I am so excited about it though.

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As soon as we get home, we go to my room. It is only 11 in the morning, so we have the whole day to talk. First, I need to tell her what I know about Melody. I do not actually want to, but it needs to be done. If I do not tell her right now, I will implode or something.

"Steph, I need to tell you something." There is no going back now, is there?       

"What is it?"

"Well, that thing you told me this morning, about Elly... I know something else about it."

"So you knew it before I told you?"

"No, no, it's not like that. I- I know..." Here goes nothing. I take a deep breath and speak. "When we went to Blitz Kids, we went to get some food, right?"

"Yeah, that's when you left me alone." she says, while she pretends to be sad.

"And while we were doing that, she told me... She told me that she had a crush on Elly." I did it. It is done. I told someone something that was supposed to be a secret. I am a horrible person.

"Really?! That is amazing! So they are already together?"

"No, that's the thing. Only Tay and I know about it. You and I are the only ones who know Melody and Elly like each other."

Silence. We both are not able to say anything. This is wrong. Then Steph starts to speak again.

"What if we help them? We could try and bring them together. Give little hints and all. You can encourage Melody to do certain things."

"That is a pretty good idea, actually." I was not lying. It was a really good idea. Maybe Melody will forgive me for telling her secret to Steph when we help them. Maybe I will feel good about myself again. This needs to happen.

"We need a name." What? I look at Steph with a confused expression on my face. "A name, for our secret mission! If we need to do a secret mission, I want to do it good. And it is easier to talk about it when we have a random word for it, since nobody knows yet." That makes sense. What could be a cool name? Something random like 'Operation Panda' is a bit childish. It has to be something that is relevant to a relationship. Wait, I have got an amazing idea.

"What about 'Sail'?" I blurt out. Steph looks like she is thinking for a few seconds, then proceeds to look at me questioningly. "You know, we ship it. This ship needs to set sail and we are going to try and make that happen, get it? They need to get together!"

"Oh, now I get it! That is an amazing name. Let's try to let this ship set sail!"