If she were mine, I’d cherish every fucking moment I had the honor of calling her that.
* * *
Mardi Gras isin full swing, and there are beads and boobs everywhere I look. This school acts like they live on Bourbon Street, and not like they’re a boring school nestled in the middle of Vermont. Briar House is bursting with drunk party goers, as James and I finally show up. I debated if I should even come, but I’ve been moping about for long enough. It’s time to let loose and forget.
My eyes scan the room full of sweaty bodies, hoping or maybe not hoping to see Melody. If some guy was all over her, I don’t know how I’d react right now. I’m strung tight, ready to snap. The further I sink into the house, the rowdier the party gets.
“Watch out!” Someone yells as they come sliding down the banister, nearly missing my head with their incredibly high red heel.
Irritated by almost getting impaled by footwear and in need of a drink, I head into the kitchen to find myself something. Thankfully, there’s a keg set up right in the middle.
I grab a red solo cup and fill it with room temperature keg beer. It might taste like piss, but it helps take the edge off.
I heard from the detective on my mom’s case today, informing me that they were officially closing the investigation. I knew it was coming, but it’s news I didn’t handle well. In fact, I punched a hole in my fucking wall. My hand is still smarting from that stupid decision. My knuckles are swollen and painful, streaked with red cuts along the skin.
James gets lost in the crowd as music pulsates against the walls. It’s loud as hell, but there’s really no one out here that’s going to make a noise complaint. Our closest neighbors are a bunch of moose and maybe a lone bear. It takes over an hour to drive into town, but Langford likes the isolation. I think it makes them feel even more elite. Their way of thinking is if it’s hard to access then it must mean it’s inherently better.
As I drink the warm piss flavored beer, a pair of hands snake around my middle from behind.
“Hey, stranger!”
That voice. I pull out of her grip and turn around to find a slightly unhinged looking Jenna.
“Hey.”
“You haven’t called me.” She pouts poking my chest with her pointy fingernail.
“Jenna, look, we had our fun, but I’m not really interested in pursuing anything further.”
My words settle and she goes through a myriad of emotions before settling on pissed off.
“You fucking asshole!” she screams. I don’t have enough time to react before she hurtles her nearly full cup at me, soaking me from my head down to my feet. She stomps off leaving me in a puddle of sticky beer.
“Bathroom?” I ask one of the guys hanging out in the kitchen.
“Up the stairs. Third door on the left.”
“Thanks.”
I maneuver my way through the crowd, regretting my decision to come at all. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. This isn’t my scene anymore. When I first started attending this school, I couldn’t get enough of the parties. But with my mom’s death, the allure quickly faded. I became angry. Fighting or fucking anyone that crossed me and garnering a reputation. I didn’t give a fuck. They can all think what they want. Some saw it as a challenge, and some avoided me at all costs, too afraid of what I might do.
The bathroom has a line wrapped around the hall, so I go in search of an alternative. The first few doors are occupied, but at the end of the hall, there’s another set of stairs that leads up to an empty room. Tucked in the corner is a bathroom. I head to the sink when I hear the small sniffle from behind me.
“Sorry, I didn’t—” My eyes land on a distraught looking Melody and my entire body is on full alert. “Who hurt you?” I ask, rushing over to where she’s perched on the edge of a white ceramic bathtub. Her eyes are rimmed red, and the tip of her nose matches. It’s clear she’s been crying for some time up here and fat black mascara marks line her cheeks. I take her in, making sure she’s not physically hurt anywhere, but all I see are miles of unblemished skin on display since she’s wrapped in the world’s smallest black dress. It hugs her curves like it’s been painted on.
“No one. Nothing, it’s fine. It’s stupid.” She waves me off, not looking up into my eyes.
“Melody, if it’s making you feel like this, then it most definitely is not fine.”
“What do you care? You hate me. You’re always tormenting me, trying to make me feel things for you.”
I blink slowly. “I don’t hate you.”
“Yeah. Okay,” she scoffs, blowing her nose into a wad of toilet paper. I sit next to her, and she finally takes me in. “What the hell happened to you?”
“I pissed off Jenna.”
“Shocking.”
