as soon as we got to the house i got off and entered the house while getting hit with the smell of 'velvet wood'.
masons favorite fall candle.
i headed upstairs to change while the rest of them set up in the basement.
i went towards my bedroom and picked up my basket of clothing that i washed earlier in the day then entered my room.
as i was hanging up my clothes i glanced in the mirror and stared at her for a while.
her. me. who is she? she's me but she's not herself today that's all. oh, so we're fine? yeah i guess.
the little conversations with myself are the only things that encourage me to get up in the morning.
i threw on whatever looked comfortable;
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that'll do for now i guess.
i finished putting my laundry away and slowly walked to the bathroom while scrolling on instagram until someone grabs both of my shoulders.
"hey little one! better watch where you're going. you could've taken a really bad fall." ethan says concerned as i look up at him.
"oh i didn't notice, thank you for catching me." i say while still looking up at him giving a small smile.
he smiles back at me giving me a wink while rubbing my shoulder with his thumb.
"you guys are back already?" i say as he heads to the bathroom.
"yeah, we got your plain bagel by the way that you requested." ethan says as i run down the stairs.
"yussss" i say while heading down the stairs running towards the kitchen.
"babe" i hear a voice say from behind me as i grab my bagel. i turn around slowly and make eye contact with jackson.
"melody" i correct him.
"oh i'm so sorry, melody. we're done setting up in the basement. so we need to go and act like a couple, understood?" he demands as he waits for my response and all i can do is nod. no words could come out of my mouth. he was never so demanding but yet again just like any ordinary relationship, ours wasn't perfect.
he would comment on how much i ate and ask questions like 'why are your thighs so round?, why do you have stretch marks on your ass?.' constantly making me feel down but then somehow make me feel better and call me beautiful and that he's so lucky he has me in his life.
no one, not even keith, who i tell him everything, knows about how toxic our relationship really was and keeping this secret that i have with grayson is eating me alive every-time i hear his voice.
"hello? hey! earth to melody!" tori says as she's clapping and snapping in my face.
i pull myself out of my thoughts and look around the room,
it's clean for once except for the huge couch and 3 huge beanbag chairs that are covered with blankets and pillows. along with the table that has a bunch of snacks on top of it and the TV showing the big letters ' N E T F L I X ' on the big screen.
i look to see keith and aaron scrounging in the mini fridge as jackson is holding me close to him then glance over to see grayson on the bean bag chair staring me down. actually, staring jackson down as if he was burning holes into his chest.
ethan, then took my hand and led me to the table where the snacks were showing me what to eat.
i head over to sit next to tori as everyone finds a seat and luckily i'm far away from jackson.
but every now and then i can see grayson glancing at me out of the corner of my eye. we ended up watching a new movie called "Always Be my Maybe" and throughout the movie everyone laughed and made jokes until the end and everything was silent. i was the only one awake so i got up and covered tori, ethan, mason, and jackson with a blanket because the others had their own.
i quietly went up the stairs and slid on my shoes and grabbed my phone. i walked past the kitchen and to my surprise grayson was standing there putting on his shoes as well.
"we're going somewhere?" grayson said as he followed me outside while i locked the door behind us.
"i'm going to get some fresh air." i say while walking down the sidewalk.
"and i'm coming with you" grayson says as we walk down the sidewalk together.
