A Dying Girl's List

Chapter 1

"Oh come on, Mel!"

"No, Steph, I told you I don't like hanging out at such events!" Mel tucked one leg under her butt, while the other dangled off the side of the bed. Her back pressed against the headboard.

"But it won't be fun without you there."

"Oh trust me, Steph. I'm pretty sure it will be." she retaliated.

All those parties she attended were always overcrowded and Melissa could barely guide herself through the insanely large crowd to get to the other side of the room, and she only knows of this, because she went there once, just once, to see what it was like.

"Mel, don't be such a pessimist! You need to get out of this room every once in a while." Steph babbled, as she paraded around the room, "It's depressing." she ended, flopping down on her stomach onto Melissa's bed.

Stephanie Howards was always a little bit of a loose cannon. She couldn't sit quiescent for longer than five minutes, and her mouth could never stay shut for double that time.
Yet, she managed to befriend such a quiet, timid girl. Someone who contrasted herself.
She tried an innumerable amount of times to force Melissa out of her comfort zone, and although her attempts have not all been in vain, Melissa just went crawling back into whatever shell she has built for herself soon after. But, Stephanie still carried on with her attempts, because she knew, sooner or later, one of them would crack, and a compromise would be thought of...

"The only depressing thing here is you trying to convince me when you know the answer, is no."

"Okay listen, you know Hidden Valley High is playing against Long Side High next Friday right?" she asked, perched up on her elbows.

"I know." the entire district knew that. It was all the latest news around the school, but Melissa has only ever seen three matches her school has played thus far in the season, not her kind fun, she soon realised.

"So since you don't want to go with me to this party, you're staying after school with me to watch the match, okay."

"No," Melissa answered.

She would rather spend her Friday doing something she enjoyed. She knew what Stephanie was trying to do, and if it wasn't for what happened in Middle School, she doubted they would even be sitting there, having that conversation.

Strange how life works, isn't it? Melissa thought.

"It wasn't a yes or no question, Mel," she replied.

"You won't let me say no, either way, will you?"

"No," she said.

"Ugh, fine! I'll go--" Melissa was always the one who caved first. A terrible habit she could not seem to get rid of or stop.

It must be because of The Incident, Mel thought, as her mind switched to that of a Middle schooler, and she heard the children's taunting cackles, and saw their pointing fingers, pointing to a short, red-head, girl in the middle of their fun-making circle, damn near ready to piss her pants...

Steph's very unnecessary squeal rushed her back to the present,

"Yay!"

"But this is the last time!" Melissa preached when her mind registered the reason behind Steph's ear-piercing squeal.

"Totally," Steph confirmed, nodding her head. Melissa knew Steph like the back of her hand, once she's wanted something, she would not stop until she got it, and at that point in time, all she wanted was a yes, and she got it. As always.

•

Fridays were supposed to be Melissa's days.

The days she got a break from studying and got to watch all the episodes she missed during the week, from her favorite series, Orange is the new Black.