melody of solace

Prologue

"Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope." - Maya Angelou

 

"There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul." - Elisa Wheeler Wilcox

-Prologue-  

The day you die never quite goes how you expect it to. Granted, for eighteen year old Deidra Monroe, it definitely could have gone much worse than it did. It had been an average day, overall. She'd woken up and gone to school, and then to work after school. After work, she returned home to change out of her work uniform to drive to her girlfriend Selena's house. It was Valentine's Day after all. But what she hadn't known at the time, was that this was to be the last day of her life. It doesn't really matter what happens at that point. Whether the day is good or bad, when you die at the end of it, it has a tendency to ruin everything. 

Deidra glanced at the heart shaped package in shiny red gift wrap in the passenger seat. It was in her peripheral vision the entire time she had been driving to Selena's house thus far. Every time she went over an uneven section of road, the package would shift in place. This fact, when combined with its shimmering wrapping, made the package in itself very distracting. 

She hoped Selena would like it. It was kind of a theme present, she almost expected Selena to know what it was. She'd gotten her similar things for their past anniversaries and Valentine's Days. They'd been together since they were fifteen, which was now almost three years ago. Their first two anniversaries, Deidra had gotten her bracelets engraved with their anniversary date on it. 

She pulled the car to a stop at another red light, and sighed. It was annoying, because she knew she could easily run this light. It was after 9pm, and in Little Rock, Texas, that meant no one was on the road. The inconvenience was hardly worth losing her license over, though. So she stayed stopped, despite the fact she knew she was the only car on the road for miles. 

As she waited, she began to dwell on the fact that she wouldn't even be able to stay the whole night with Selena once she got there. She'd only be able to stay for a few hours. That was the proverbial cherry on top of this evening. She turned the radio up to almost maximum volume to try to drown out her thoughts. She wouldn't let her pessimistic thoughts ruin the time she did have. Yes, that was the key. Just think about how you at least have any time at all with her, she thought. Some couples don't even get that much on Valentine's Day. 

About fifteen minutes later she pulled into Selena's driveway. She waited a few minutes to make sure no one was coming out so she could primp before she went inside. She looked at herself in the mirror, and decided to reapply some lipstick and gloss. Her deep brown eyes seemed to pop out of the pale skin she had, and her dark brown hair reached halfway down her back. She was only wearing a t-shirt and some jeans that she'd thrown on when she got off of work. Nothing fancy. But, she'd always lived by the idea that you should look presentable at all times, no matter what.  

She grabbed the small package from the passenger seat and got out of her car. She closed the door behind her, and walked up to the door and knocked. Unfortunately, Selena's dad, Jerry, answered the door. He had never accepted that his daughter was a lesbian, and certainly didn't like seeing her girlfriend come to their house. Normally, she tried to avoid staying at Selena's for this reason. They would usually go out somewhere to get out of the house. But tonight, with Deidra having to work in the morning, they really didn't have that option.  

"Hello, Deidra." Jerry greeted her in the most unfriendly way possible, folding his arms. His beady blue eyes regarded her, beneath his mostly bald head.