The Best Thing for Me

by Lauren Jackson

  "Good on her."

  I shook my head. She always sided with Mum.

  As I lay there, just thinking, a wicked idea sprung into my head. I jumped up and slapped my hands down onto her arms excitedly. She jerked, her eyes snapping open. I grinned like a maniac towards her. She frowned up at me.

  "Why are you looking at me like that?"

  "Guess what!"

  "What...?"

  "Do you realise that we now have the perfect leverage?"

  "Huh?"

  "Please pick up where I'm going with this a little faster." I pushed. She gave me a blank look and I sighed. "Since Daniel is making Rachel go out with his Dad without her full consent, we can black mail him now!"

  She slowly sat up. "Because of what we know?"

  "Yes!" I said excitedly. "This could all end!"

  A slow smile stretched across her face. "Oh wow, you're right."

  "Of course I'm right," I stated. "Are you ready to take action?"

  She was full out grinning now. "Hell yeah I am."

  Emma Ross

  Melanie just sat there, legs folded beneath her, looking like a stunned mullet. Her eyes were so wide I thought they were going to pop out of her head. She just stayed like that, her mouth gaping for several moments.

  "You're not serious..."

  "Deadly serious." I nodded. "Jason and I overheard them when I was buying my dress for Angela's wedding. Oh and while we're speaking about that, am I able to bring a plus one?"

  "Yes Jason can come," she said flatly, rolling her eyes. "But now back to the important subject. They're step-siblings?"

  "Yeah!" I exclaimed. "Weird right? And guess what, they're in love."

  "Don't make me sick." she gasped, a horrified expression making its way into her face.

  "Oh I almost wish I was kidding right now."

  "Wow..." she trailed off, shaking her head. "This is insane."

  "I reckon. Jason said we should black mail them to leave me and my family alone."

  She nodded at me, impressed. "You know, I'm liking Jason more and more every day."

  "I'm not too keen on black mailing though. I'd rather just have them back off on their own accord." I pointed out with a frown.

  "Oh honey, harden up. We've got to take down these guys."

  "But-"

  "Just think about what they've done to you. It should be enough to fuel your anger. Jeeze, you're like a saint. How can you be so forgiving?"

  "I'm not forgiving them." I said quietly. "I'm just saying there may be another way around this..."

  "Not a fun way."

  "Still-"

  "Daniel put you in hospital. He almost tried to rape you. That's only two things he has done, not even bringing your mum into this."

  "Well-"

  "Stop defending him!" she cried out in outrage. "Stop it! He doesn't deserve it."

  "Mel-"

  "Listen to me." she said sharply, slapping her palms to my face. "We need to do this."

  I scowled at her and she giggled. "You look really funny when you do that."

  "Great."

  She then began mooshing up my cheeks and I folded my arms impatiently, waiting for her to finish playing with my face. She let go and grinned. "Sorry."

  "Good. Okay let me talk now."

  "No can do." she said, glancing down at her phone. "I'm going to go meet up with Luke so we can have-"

  "Ah!" I cried. "Please stop!"

  "Have lunch." she finished flatly. "That's what I was going to say."

  "Oh..." I trailed off sheepishly. "Sorry."

  "Hmph."

  I grinned at her. "Fine. Go and get him. I need to have some alone time with Michael Scofield anyway."

  She rolled her eyes at me. "You're hopeless."

  I shrugged in response.

  With a cheery wave, she took off out of my room in search for my brother. I'm glad they stayed together. Luke is handling the whole pregnancy thing a lot better than I had expected. Dad, even though he was not at all happy with the situation, was being really supportive. Mel's parents were talking about renting out their beach house to them for half the price, so they can live together and look after the baby, so that was good.

  I don't think Dad wanted Luke to move out, but he knows it's for the best. It's only about fifteen minutes away anyway, so we'd be able to see them both all the time still. It was a three bedroom place, near the beach. It was basic. It was still nice, obviously because the Stewart's owned it, but it wasn't like the house Mel lived in now. She knew that though.

  Mel's bump was getting more noticeable now because she was so tiny. Soon, people were really going to start to notice. She was freaking out a little, about what people will say at school and everything, but she's popular. I think she'll handle it.

  "You okay?" Dad asked, his voice coming from my right. I glanced over and saw him with his arms folded, leaning on my door frame.

  I shook my head, coming out of my thoughts. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking. How long have you been standing there?"

  "A couple of minutes." he laughed, coming over. "How was the beach?"

  "Really good." I nodded. "I think Jason's going to teach me how to surf."

  "Hah!" he cracked up, slapping his knee. "That'd be a sight to see!"

  "Thanks Dad." I deadpanned. "Feeling the support right now."

  "Sorry," he said, still chuckling. "It's just, you doing sport? That's hilarious."

  "Dad!"

  He grinned at me. "Anyway, how did the dress hunting go?"

  "Great, actually." I said, crawling off my bed and fumbling through the bags. I snagged onto the dress and pulled it out. "Jason picked it."

  "He did?" he asked in surprise. "It's nice."

  I beamed at him. "Do you think it's appropriate enough?"

  "I'd assume so. This is more of a question for your Mother, I think."

  As soon as the words left his mouth, we both exchanged a glance. It was weird talking about Mum like she was still a part of the family and had been for my whole life. I was so used to not having a mum that it was still dumbfounding when I thought about her being back again.

  Silence lapsed and it became slightly awkward.

  "So..."

  "So..." Dad repeated. "What did you want to have for dinner?"

  "Is it okay if Jason comes over? I sort of lost a bet with him and now I have to cook..."

  "Oh jeeze." he said, putting his hand to his forehead. "I should prepare for food poisoning then?"

  "Dad!" I cried out again.

  "I'm only joking, that's fine. You might need to get down to the super market though. We haven't got much here."

  "Okay, sounds good."

  "Oh and you need to put your resume in. Did you end up printing it?"

  "Yeah I did." I replied. "Good idea, I'll go get it."

  I checked myself in the mirror. My long hair was still slightly wet from the beach as it trailed down passed my elbows and on the borderline of my waist. I had tea-cup shorts on and a tucked in black singlet. I leaned in close, to study myself. I didn't have any make-up on, but I couldn't be bothered to go and put some on. I shrugged and grabbed the change Dad left me. I slipped my thongs on and headed out.

  The warm sunshine hit my skin as soon as I stepped out. I breathed it in. I loved the sun. This time of the year was just perfect. I strode down my hill and made my way down town. I waved at a girl in my year and she looked the other way. I made a face but continued along.

  That was rude.

  The automatic doors slid open and a wave of air conditioning hit me full blast. I grabbed a little red basket and went down aisle three. As I bent over to grab some sauce, I felt a slap on my butt. I whirled around and Chase stared back at me, grinning.

  "Hey!"

  "Oh, hi Chase."

  "How are you?" he asked, wrapping his arms around me and squeezing me. I gasped, feeling like my ribs were snapping individually, the tighter he embraced me.

  "Dying!" I choked out, pushing on his
chest.

  He laughed and stepped back. "Sorry."

  I tried not to frown. I grabbed the stuff I was looking for and began to try and sneak away. He was oblivious and began to follow me.

  "Shopping for dinner, are we?" he asked, his American voice booming.

  "Yep."

  "Any chance I can tag along?"

  "Chase." I sighed, facing him. "Jason will be there and I don't think it would be a good idea. We may be friends, but he knows what happened."

  "So?" he asked. "It's not like I'll try and kiss you again. In front of him, anyway."

  "That's exactly what I mean." I stated in exasperation. "You're too inappropriate."

  "You like me like that." he winked, smirking.

  "Obviously not..."

  "Just admit it."

  "Admit what?" I asked, turning back around.

  "You want me."

  Without even thinking, I let out a snort. "Don't flatter yourself Chase."

  "It's true. I see the way you look at me."

  "I try to avoid you." I said flatly. "Go away now, please."

  "Also, you didn't try to pull back when I kissed you."

  "Actually," I butted in, turning to face him once more. "I did. Twice. Now if you don't leave me alone, I'm going to tell someone who works here that you're harassing me. Leave. Me. Alone."

  "Are you trying to turn me on?" he questioned, not receiving the 'go away' vibes at all. "Because it's working."

  I let out a groan and stamped my foot. I turned and stomped from the aisle. As fast as I could, I continued my shopping and marched to the front, throwing my stuff on the conveyer belt. I unpacked it and got out my Resume.

  "Hello!" the young boy beamed at me. "How are you today?"

  I put on a fake smile. "I'm great and you?"

  "Very well thank you!"

  "That's good. I was wondering if I could hand my resume in?" I asked, my heart rate increasing slightly. My palms became sweaty.

  "Definitely! I'll call the manager down now!" he sang. He dialed on the phone and called someone name John down. "He'll be here in a moment."

  "Thank you."

  He scanned through my items and I paid, just as John jogged down. I re-packed my stuff and followed him to a quiet area. He glanced down at my resume and began to ask me a series of questions. After answering them, he smiled and said he'd be in touch. I began to leave when I heard footsteps descend after me.

  "After a job?" Chase asked.

  "Chase, please go away. I don't want to ask you again."

  "I just want to walk you home."

  "I can walk by myself, thank you."

  He sighed in frustration. "Why won't you let me be friends with you?"

  "That's the thing. I would be fine being friends with you, but you step outside the boundaries. I have a boyfriend, Chase."

  "I'm aware of that." he deadpanned. "I don't care though."

  "Exactly why we can't be friends."

  I tilted my chin slightly and stomped away from him. I didn't hear him come after me, so that was good. I didn't glance backwards the entire way home. I arrived there and checked the time. It was nearing five o'clock and Jason was coming at around six. I looked at Charlie and sighed.

  I better start cooking...

  I nervously watched as Jason brought his fork up to his mouth. I rolled my lips into my mouth, expecting him to start spluttering or something. He chewed with a blank expression before swallowing it. I gulped.

  "It's..."

  "Terrible, isn't it?" I said miserably, hanging my head in shame.

  "Actually good."

  "I tried my best but- pardon?"

  "It's good."

  Dad raised his eyebrows and exchanged a surprised look with Luke. I frowned at their lack of confidence in me. They looked at each other and then tried it. I grinned when they didn't spit it out. I almost fist-pumped in glory. I tried it and found out that it actually did taste pretty decent.

  I was mentally high-fiving myself right now.

  After everyone had finished eating, Dad and Luke were on washing up duty as I had cooked. Jason and I decided to take a walk. It was still warm, but there was a slight breeze sweeping through the area, so I just grabbed a cardigan and slipped it on over my singlet. I slipped my shoes on and followed Jason out. He linked his fingers through mine and we set off.

  We chose to go down to the beach again. There were a couple of people splashing around in the water, even though it was dark. We sat down and just watched the waves rolling in. I breathed in the salty air. I brought my knees up to my chest and hugged my legs to me as I rocked back and forth. The moon shone down, illuminating the water and the golden sand beneath us.

  I sighed, resting my head on his shoulder. "I want to stay like this."

  "Stay like what?" he asked.

  "This," I said, gesturing around. "I don't want to grow up. I don't want to move and leave. I want to stay here, with you."

  "But wouldn't it be nice to get away from everything?" he asked, turning towards me. I lifted my head and gaze into his eyes. He got onto his knees and gently pushed my back so that I was lying on my back, my hair mingling in with the sand. "Wouldn't it be just... amazing to leave all this drama. Leave Britney, Daniel and all those other people. Just me and you. Together. A new start in a new place. Where we could make a family and everything."

  My stomach did a little dip at the mention of making a family. Now that I thought about it, I'd never broached the subject about kids. I stared up at blue orbs and bit my lip. "Kids... now that's just scary. I'd be terrified if I was Mel. I'm freaking out about having a kid when I'm at least in my late twenties."

  "Melanie is strong." Jason pointed out. "She will be fine."

  "I know, but still."

  He leaned down and brushed his lips to mine. I arched my neck and wrapped my arm around him. It became a little more intense as he dropped down, crushing his body to mine. He wedged his knee in between mine, making it impossible for me to move. Our lips moved together in synchronisation. We stayed like that for a long time. Not going any further. After a fair few minutes, we broke apart and I was pretty dizzy. He fell onto his back beside me and I snuggled up to him. I sighed, resting my head on his chest.

  "I get freaked out, thinking about the future."

  "Me too," he sighed. "Me too."

  I tightened my grip around him and buried my face into his stomach. I really, really just didn't want this moment to end.

  I leapt off my chair and screamed loudly as I saw Jason's tanned hand belt against the end of the pool. The rest of the crowd erupted around me and I began jumping up and down in excitement. Jason just shredded up. He was definitely in the relay team.

  He pulled himself out of the water, looking incredibly sexy with water glistening off his body. He threw off his goggles and reached down, chugging a bottle of water. He went over to the coach and shook hands with him. They had a few words and with a nod, he began walking away. He looked up at the lined crowd, who had come to see the try outs and his eyes connected with mine. He broke out into a grin and put two thumbs up.

  I beamed back at him and clapped. I was so proud. I quickly jogged around to the back and met up with him. He pecked me on the cheek and I jerked away from him. He was soaking wet. It would have been okay, if I wasn't in my school uniform.

  "It's going to look like I'm sweating if you hug me." I laughed.

  "Hmph." he shrugged, ignoring my comment. He wrapped an arm around me and I shook my head, just letting him get away with it.

  "Well done. You flogged them!"

  "Really?" he breathed. "It felt awesome to be out there, competing against others again."

  "Yeah. You did great!"

  He smiled and I pressed my lips briefly against his, before stepping back. "Okay, the bell is about to go and I have Geography."

  "Oh, fun." he said sarcastically.

  "Yeah I know. Anyway, I'll see you this afternoon?"

  "Yeah I'll drive you home."
/>   "Oh." I said, grinning. "Okay, thanks!"

  Yes! That meant I didn't have to walk home in this heat. I headed back to where I had stashed my bag and slung it over my shoulder. I was just walking when I felt my shoulder get shoved. I tripped in my step and gasped. I quickly steadied myself and spun around.

  No one was there.

  With wide eyes, I stared around, scratching more fore head in confusion. With pursed lips, I turned back around. Only seconds later and about three strides, my shoulder was barged again. This time, I struck my leg out backwards and heard an, "Oomph!"

  I turned around, seeing Daniel drop to the ground. My face instantly dropped and I scowled at him. I hated how he was always in my life these days. He smirked up at me and tilted his head, so he got a good look up my skirt. My face flushed and without even thinking, I stomped down onto his chest. He let out a cry of pain, his head smacking down onto the concrete. He wriggled from underneath me and I increased the pressure in my foot. He stopped moving and with wide, frantic eyes, stared up at me.

  "Daniel." I greeted coldly, my eyes in slits. "Why are you following me?"

  He squeezed his eyes shut dramatically. It wasn't like I was cutting off his breathing or anything. He just couldn't get up...

  "Daniel."

  "Because it's fun." he said with a grimace, trying to pry at my ankle. I stared down at him, my upper lip curling in distaste.

  "Oh yes, tormenting other people is so joyful." I snapped sarcastically. "You need to back off Daniel. I mean it."

  "Oh, don't threaten me with the cops again." he said, faking to shudder. "I'm so scared."

  "Yeah, you look it."

  "My Dad will just tell everyone about your mother's little secret..."

  The bell buzzed loudly, piercing the air. I barely even heard it though. My face didn't even change at the mention of the Witness Protection. He stared up at me in confusion, obviously hoping to get more of a reaction out of me. If it had been a couple of months earlier, then sure, I would have almost pooped my pants. Not now though.

  I wasn't scared of Britney anymore. I wasn't even scared of Daniel. Yeah, they might know a secret about my family, but I sure as hell know one about theirs now. I didn't want to have to use it against them, because I don't think I'm really that type of person. But there's only so much one can take.