Beneath the Willow Tree

Chapter 4 A little too Melodramatic

A few days later, it was the weekend before Thanksgiving break. Which meant no homework, no projects, and for Melody, no Mathew. Oliver had made it a habit to get off the bus with Melody in the afternoon, they would hang around for a while, then she would go over to ride with him. That afternoon, when they were getting off the bus, Oliver looked at Melody with a quizzical look that caught her attention, "What is it?" she asked, looking at him through the corner of her eye.

"Are your parents going to be back by Thanksgiving?" Oliver asked, adjusting the messenger bag on his shoulder.

Melody hesitated her steps for a moment and her mind drifted off, "...N-no...not this year."

"Oh, well, you and your sister are welcome to eat with me and my family." Oliver moved closer and smiled.

Melody was silent for a few moments, contimplating her answer, "Thanks, but we'll have to pass for this one. I don't want to push myself into your life as much as I already do." she said politely.

"I honestly don't mind, neither does my mom, or my brother...I think my mom loves you more than she loves me and she's only known you for a few days." Oliver smiled reasuringly.

"Really, it's fine." Melody said quietly.

Oliver followed her into the house and set his stuff by the door, "Look, if you don't want to, it was just an invite--" Melody snapped at him, interrupting what Oliver was saying.

"If I said that I didn't want to go, would it make you happy?" her face was unamused and her tone flat and cold.

"I-I was just saying...I didn't mean to upset you..."

Melody turned around again without saying anything. Something was bothering her, he mood had suddenly switched when he mentioned her parents. That could be it, but why? Why would her parents not being home for Thanksgiving bother her that much? They hadn't been here the last three or four weeks from what she had told him, so why would one silly holiday matter? Oliver shook his head in frustration and followed Melody up the stairs where she had shut herself away in her room. He opened the door and leaned against the doorframe, "Hey, sorry if I made you mad at me for some reason."

"No, it's not you. It's just that, my parents, they are never here for more than a week at a time before they fly off to another country and stay for six months at a time. Hell, I don't even know what they do for a living anymore." she rolled over on her bed to face the wall, "I could get high everyday, get arrested, be a prostitute, anything that you can imagine, and they could give less of a shit. They would bail me out, and go about their way again."

Oliver shut the door so that Ami couldn't hear their convorsation from down stairs, and sat on the edge of Melody's bed, "Then I guess you could call me Mr. Benzedrine."

Melody chuckled half-heartidly and rolled over to face him, "Don't go quoting your bands on me now."

"Ah, I just want to cheer you up." Oliver said as he scrunched his nose.

"Hey," Melody grabbed a handful of sheets and curled up so Oliver couldn't see her face very well, "I don't know if you feel like this, since we've only known each other for a few days, but..." she paused, noticing the tint of pink on his cheeks, "...you're my best friend."

"Well, you're one of my only friends, so, I guess that makes you my second best friend besides my brohter..."

"Jake?"

"No! No, no, no,no! My twin brother." Oliver stressed.

"Wait, you have a twin? Why didn't I know about this?" Melody sat straight up, her mood suddenly swinging back into its usual ADD pattern.