“No.”
“Then don’t worry about it. It’s sort of personal.”
“Shit… you’re going to break her, aren’t you?”
I walked to the door and Mac followed.
I put my hand to his shoulder again. “You stay. Work the halls. Let everyone know we’re pissed and watching. Let them get nervous that someone did something wrong. They’ll all be scattering. It’ll create some tension.”
“Hey, you remember Glenn, right?”
“Yeah. What about?”
“I have a problem there. Personal.”
Mac loved using my own words against me.
I wasn’t going to tell him about Mel.
So I nodded. “Go ahead then. Only two more of you though. Taz and Les.”
“Fucking right,” Mac said.
“Don’t kill anyone.”
“I’ll try my hardest not to.”
“What did he do to you?” I asked.
“It’s just personal.”
Mac’s eyes flared.
That was the worst.
Mac would beat the hell out of someone for just looking at him. For breathing. For existing. And he wanted control of BC. There was no way I could let that happen. What he would do…
I lit my cigarette outside and walked to my secret room.
I wanted to think this entire thing out.
Come up with a plan.
By the time I finished my cigarette, I was at the bottom step.
I started to climb up and I swore I heard music…
I paused and listened.
Definitely music.
I leaned over the railing and looked up toward my window. Toward my room.
It looked like the window was open.
And I swore the music was coming from there.
I rushed up the metal steps and jumped at the window, ready to attack. My hand reached back for my knife.
All I could figure was that someone found out about my secret room and was there to jump my ass and beat the hell out of me.
And I always told myself if that was going to happen, it was going to be Mac doing it to take control of BC.
I looked in the window and brought the knife forward.
And I stopped.
I slowly tucked my knife away.
I watched as Mel stood at my bed, the keyboard on the bed.
She was playing piano.
Nowhere near as good as me.
But her fingers gently danced along the plastic keys.
And I didn’t make a sound.
I just watched, listened, and smiled.
And I knew it was the calm before the fucking storm.
* * *
I stepped up behind Mel and put my arms around her, my hands to her hands.
She let out a gasp and turned her head.
“Sorry,” she said.
“For what?”
“For being here. For crashing your secret place. I promise, nobody followed me. Okay?”
“How long have you been playing?”
“Not long,” Mel said. “Kind of self-taught. I needed noise to block out the noise.”
I curled my fingers so my fingertips ran along the tops of her fingers.
She smelled sweet. Honeysuckle… with a hint of cinnamon?
Behind her eyes there was something cruel. The real Melody just waiting to come out. The real version of herself… the one she was afraid to let out.
She didn’t want to get into trouble.
She was afraid of getting into trouble for the what happens next part.
So much waiting there.
And I was hooked on her.
And I didn’t get hooked on anyone.
Not anymore. I learned that lesson the hard way.
“You’re quiet,” Mel whispered.
“Thinking.”
“About?”
“You.”
I brought my lips to hers and we kissed.
Her back to my chest.
Both sets of our hands on the keyboard.
As we started to make out, her hands relaxed and she hit a few notes.
That made her jump and gasp.
We both started to laugh.
I grabbed the keyboard and slid it off the bed to the floor.
My hands touched Mel’s waist and I turned her around.
I sat her on the bed and then settled next to her.
“Barr…”
I kissed her instead of talking.
There was a little unfinished business between our mouths.
When that was handled, I licked my lips and looked back at my bed.
Mel was bad for me.
She didn’t mean to be that way but there was no controlling it.
I touched her cheek and slipped my hand to the back of her neck and pulled her toward me again. Our foreheads touched.
The silence was comfortable.
Maybe it was the first time since coming to BC that I felt… still.
“You’re so hidden, love,” I said to Mel. “And that’s got me feeling addicted.”
“We just met, Barr,” she whispered. “You don’t know a thing about me and you should keep it that way.”
“Then let’s keep it that way.”
“That’s not how it works. Eventually questions are asked and answered. And things change.”
“So I should make my move while I can,” I said with a grin.
“Not going to happen,” Mel said. “I’ll leave right now if that’s what you think I’m doing here.”
I tried to stroke her cheek again and she slapped my hand away.
Her right eyebrow raised into the air.
Showing off some of that real Mel.
“Then what are you doing here, love?” I asked.
“I just wanted to say thank you for what you did for me,” she said. “I was feeling really crappy. Not just because I got hit in the mouth. It was just everything. But I’m here… I have to be here. I have to deal with this.”
“Don’t thank me yet, Mel,” I said. I stood up and offered my hand. I wiggled my fingers and she took it. “There’s something happening. And I need you to do something for me.”
“What?” Mel asked.
I touched her face again.
She didn’t slap my hand away.
“I can see who you are, love,” I whispered. “I don’t know the story and I’m not worried about it right now. But I can see who you are.”
“Your point?”
I inched closer to Mel. My lips touched hers but I didn’t kiss her. “Let the crazy bitch out to play for one day…”
* * *
I smoked in the hallway.
My back against the lockers, one foot up, stretching my neck.
It was interesting now because when people saw me smoking in the hallway they knew something was up. And anyone who looked at me, I made them stop.
I made them wait right where they were.
Everything was timed perfectly.
Mac was near the end of the hallway.
He wasn’t happy but when was he ever happy?
Taz and Raf were my eyes on the other side of the building.
The others were scattered across campus, handling business, creating some much needed diversions.
When I saw Pissy Chrissy turn the corner, coming toward her locker, I took another drag from my cigarette.
She stepped up to her locker, her cheeks bright red already.
“Want a smoke?” I asked her.
“No thanks, Barr,” she said.
“Need a diaper?”
She looked at me and rolled her eyes. “When does that get old?”
“You tell me,” I said.
“I was laughing and having a good time,” she said. “So what? I pissed myself. Ohmygod…”
“Right,” I said. “My bad. I guess I need something better.”
I dropped my cigarette to the floor and stepped on it.
Chrissy opened her locker and out poured a very nice
collection of plastic bottles. Everything from soda to milk…
I was impressed by how many bottles that were in there.
They hit the ground all around Pissy Chrissy.
She stepped back and scoffed.
I leaned toward her. “Look familiar?”
“What?”
“Everything plastic…”
Her eyes went wide.
I put my back against the lockers again and saw Mel pushing through the crowd of people.
“Fake, plastic bitch,” Mel said.
Pissy Chrissy spun around and her jaw dropped.
I nodded to Mel.
She lunged forward and threw the same punch that she threw at me.
It was much more effective than hitting me.
Pissy Chrissy flew back into the open locker and let out a cry.
Mel moved forward again and had a handful of hair. She took Pissy Chrissy to the floor and twisted her hair so hard, Pissy Chrissy’s neck looked ready to snap.
“You never fucking touch me or talk to me again, bitch,” Mel growled.
I crouched down and joined the fun.
“Look at me, Pissy Chrissy,” I said.
She listened.
Tears filled her eyes.
“You heard what my girl said,” I said.
“I didn’t know she was yours,” Pissy Chrissy said.
“Now you do. You don’t want to know what’s next if I ever hear you call her a name or make her bleed. Understand?”
Pissy Chrissy nodded. Then she looked at Mel. “I’m sorry.”
I saw the way Mel was shaking.
She wanted more.
I touched her shoulder and she let go of Pissy Chrissy.
Mel grabbed an empty soda bottle and threw it at Pissy Chrissy’s face. “Here’s some of your tits.”
A few people started to laugh.
I slipped my hand into Mel’s hand and we walked away together.
The message was sent.
If you fucked with Mel, you were fucking with me. And if you fucked with me, you were fucking with BC.
I took her outside and she buried her face into her hands.
“What’s wrong, love?” I asked.
“I’m screwed,” she said. “If she says-”
“That’s not how it works here,” I said.
Mel looked at me and swallowed hard. “So now I’m your girl?”
“I’m whatever you want me to be, Mel.”
I slid my hands along her face.
“We’re going to get close, Barr. We’re going to find everything out about each other.”
“I know.”
“This is never going to work out the way you think then.”
“I know,” I whispered.
“Then why even bother?”
My thumbs stroked her cheeks. “Because I think I just fucking met you and fell in love with you, Mel.”
Chapter 6
Mel didn’t move as I approached her.
She looked up at me and that was about it.
Her pretty, dark eyes wide.
Her hair a mess, pulled back without care.
The oversized hoodie with the Brooks Crest logo on it.
Time wasn’t going to help us as I stood there.
And we both knew that without saying a word to each other.
Mel looked around.
She paused when she saw Pres and Kip.
I crouched down and couldn’t believe this was happening. Me and her. Facing off. So close to her again. I swore I could still smell the honeysuckle and cinnamon but that was just my heart forcing my mind to conjure up an old memory.
I reached for her lip and gently touched the corner of her mouth with my thumb.
I wiped away a speck of blood and looked at my thumb, shaking my head.
“Mac?” I whispered.
“Barr, what are you doing here?” Mel asked.
“Looking for you, love,” I said. “You stopped texting me. And I just knew something was wrong.”
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. You can’t be here. They’ll kill you. All three of you. You know that, right?”
“I know that,” I said. “But Pres and Kip don’t. I warned them but they don’t really get it.”
“Bay Falls High?” Mel asked.
“The Rulz,” I said.
“Shit,” she said, turning her head.
I put my pointer finger to her chin and made her look at me again. “You can’t stay here like this. I saw Raf is having a nest night. I assume everyone else is doing something too.”
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning you need to slip away right now. With me.”
“How does that play out then?”
“For starters, no more bloody lips,” I said, feeling a pain in my chest.
I let this happen.
I left and let this happen to her.
It might as well have been my hand…
“I’m fine,” Mel said.
“No, you’re not.”
“So you’re just going to show up and fix everything, Barr?”
I shook my head. “I’m going to get you out of here tonight, love. And if you don’t leave with me then I’m staying. I’ll send Pres and Kip away but I’ll stay. And whatever happens then…”
“Don’t guilt me into anything,” Mel said.
“Then stand up and walk away with me, Mel.”
“You can’t ask questions then,” she said. “Not about my lip. I’m not saying a word about anything.”
I gritted my teeth and put my head back.
She was still here. Still at Brooks Crest. Still dealing with BC. Still dealing with Mac and the others.
And she was still scared of the what happens next.
I had pulled her out of that fire and then left her to walk back into it.
None of it was her fault either.
I slowly stood up.
I didn’t offer her my hand.
Mel tucked her feet under her butt and lifted herself up. She hid her hands into the ends of the long hoodie sleeves like she always used to do.
It was her comfort move.
I looked around the dark campus and knew we didn’t have much longer.
It was either get out of there safe with Mel or face a hell that Pres and Kip couldn’t possibly imagine.
She stood inches from me.
I counted how many times she blinked her eyes.
Five times.
Seconds racing by.
Mel finally threw her arms around me and I picked her up.
* * *
“They’re really following us, huh?” Mel asked, looking at the side mirror.
“Yeah,” I said. “I told them not to come. They wouldn’t listen. That’s just how it goes.”
“Where are we going right now, Barr?”
“Somewhere,” I said. “I just want you in a bed safe and sound. I’m sure you could use the sleep.”
Mel looked at me. “Is this where you make a comment about you being in the same bed?”
“No,” I said.
Mel shut up then.
A minute later she whispered, “Well then. You really did just come to save me, huh?”
“I’m not saving you, Mel,” I said. “I’m keeping my promise to you.”
She laughed. “Really? Does that even matter to you anymore?”
I cut the wheel to the right.
Mel let out a scream as she grabbed for the dashboard and the door.
I drove down a side road and sped up.
The road was paved, smooth, and perfect for my kind of car.
It also meant no matter what Pres tried to do he wouldn’t be able to keep up.
I ditched his SUV in a matter of thirty seconds.
I slammed on the brakes, cut the wheel to the left, and turned so hard I thought the car was going to spinout. But I knew how to drive the car.
The backend moved left to right and I steadied the wheel and we were suddenly going straight a
gain.
Picking up speed.
“Barr!” Mel yelled. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
I then hit the brakes again and pulled the car over.
We were off the road and I turned the engine off.
I turned to face Mel and had no idea what I wanted to do first with her.
Hug her. Kiss her. Tell her I loved her. Come up with a plan that would get her away from BC for good.
“I never gave up on that promise, love,” I said. “Not once. Everything I told you was true. And I made sure of it.”
Mel wiped the corner of her mouth and threw a bitchy look across her face. She put her thumb up and showed me the blood.
“Yeah, you did wonders, Barr,” she said.
She opened the passenger door and got out of the car.
I gripped the wheel and looked forward.
The car door slammed shut.
I slowly got out of the car and lit a cigarette.
She hugged herself, so damn stubborn, she wouldn’t even lean against my car.
“Do I hear the ocean right now?” she asked.
“Yeah, love,” I said. “Behind us. Over the dune.”
She looked at me. “Can I see?”
“Of course you can. Follow me.”
We crossed the road and I took her down a little way before walking to the sand.
I knew right where we were and how to get to the beach and down to the ocean.
As we climbed up the sand, she lost her footing and grabbed for my hand.
At first I didn’t squeeze back… but it was Mel. My Mel. My Melody. My song. My Ody.
I held her hand and walked her down to the beach.
She let out a long sigh and smiled.
Living in a beach town, I guess I took for granted the look and feel of the ocean.
“Want one?” I asked her, showing her my cigarette.
“Still don’t smoke,” she said. “Never will.”
“I’ll never stop asking,” I said.
“And I’ll always shut you down.”
“I don’t doubt that, Mel,” I said.
She slowly peeled her hand away from mine. “Are you with someone?”
“What?”
“Are you with someone? Is someone waiting for you?”
“No, love. I’m not with someone.”
“Have you ever…” She looked at me and shrugged her shoulders. “I mean…”
“No,” I said. “I kept my promise.”
“I hate that, Barr. Why?”
“Because it all fell apart, Mel. That’s why. I had to leave. I had to come back here. And when I did, I got together with Pres and Kip and we did what we had to do here. To protect ourselves and protect what we had.”
BARR: a bay falls high novel Page 5