“Okay, I’m confused,” I tell her. “Are you on birth control, or are you trying to go on it, or are you talking about something completely different?”
“I’m on the pill, Journey.”
I nod, telling her I understand so far, but still not sure where she’s going with this. “Okay, so why do you need the morning-after pill?”
Melody runs her hands down the side of her face. “I missed a pill at some point last week, had unprotected ... you know, then noticed the pill I missed.”
“Oh,” I say, holding my lips in the o-shape. “Well, it’s better to be safe than sorry, right?”
Melody shakes her head. “Part of me would rather be sorry, but I can’t do that to Brett.”
“No, you can’t do that to Brett.”
“I want a baby so badly, Journey.”
I know what Melody wants. She stayed in a crappy relationship for years, holding out for what she wanted until she realized she wouldn’t be getting it from that guy. She’s only been with Brett for a few months, though. I don’t see things ending anytime soon between them, but she needs to go through the motions, especially with the way she looks at life—one foot before the other kind of girl, unlike me.
“You’ll have one. Don’t worry, okay?” I tell her.
“What about you?” She always asks me these damn questions when she knows the answer never changes.
“I’m dying alone, Mel.”
“No, you’re not,” she argues.
“I know for a fact that you’re going out with Brody tonight.” She bounces on her toes and smiles mischievously.
“This is why two sisters and two brothers—”
“Okay, I know. You’ve said this four million times.” Melody gives me a one-armed hug, so she doesn’t touch me with the duster. “Make sure you dress warmly for tonight. I’m surprised you agreed to Frozen.”
“It’s a restaurant,” I tell her.
Melody squeezes me a little tighter. “I love it when I know more than you do. It happens so rarely, but these moments. Ugh. Amazing.”
“What is Frozen?” I ask her.
“It is a themed restaurant,” she says. “Oh, my phone is buzzing. I gotta take this. I’ll call you later.” Melody answers her fake call and walks toward the other end of the shop.
Dress warmly. For God’s sake.
I make my way home and up to my apartment, wasting no time before pulling up Google to find out what the hell Frozen is, besides a Disney movie.
Of course, my search brings up nothing but the movie. I shouldn’t assume a non-chain themed restaurant in this state would have its own website. Still, I continue scanning down the search engine pages for even a small hint.
Brody sends along a text, which I see pop up on my phone.
Brody:Dress warm and bring your camera.
Me:I thought I agreed to have dinner at a restaurant with you and Hannah?
I’m not surprised when Brody doesn’t respond. The thought of locking myself in my apartment for the night scrolls through my mind, but I don’t want to upset Hannah, especially if this is the first time we’re spending time together outside of the family dinners. This brings up my next thought of: how did I get here without committing myself to someone? Does hooking up equal reservations? It’s not that I haven’t been thinking about Brody as more than a hookup, but the thought of moving any further in a direction he might want scares me for many reasons. I’m going to have to let go of my other life if I was to do something like that with Brody, or anyone.
My other life isn’t one that has many sides or communication, or fairness, but I can’t move past the point of believing I should be free to release what I pull behind me.
I’m going through the motions of accepting the hand reaching out, but I could end up damaging his hand and the smaller hands that come along with him.
As if Melody can hear my struggling thoughts, her face shows up on the display of my phone. I answer quicker than I normally do.
