by Wendi Wilson
"Well, thank God for that dog. I wonder if we can find its owner and send them a thank you gift of some sort."
"I don't know, Tara. I'm starting to believe I imagined him. No one else saw him, and the police asked around and not one person on that street owns a dog like that."
"Well, maybe it was a stray. I don't think you imagined it, though. I mean, if it wasn't real, who or what got that beast off of you? I can't imagine him just deciding to stop and leave, know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I agree. It had to be real. It had to be, right?"
"Yes, definitely."
They sat in silence for several heartbeats, until Tara's stomach growled loudly. They both burst into laughter and decided to get up and go inside for some lunch.
Tara stayed all afternoon and had dinner with them, too. It was a good day, and no one brought up the attack again. They all just relaxed and enjoyed each other’s company.
After Tara went home, Melanie took a long, hot shower. The water felt like hot needles poking her all over, and she scrubbed until her skin was red and blotchy. She stayed under the spray until the water cooled and forced her out. Her body still felt dirty. She didn't know if she would ever feel clean again.
She went to bed early, feeling exhausted, and fell asleep almost instantly. When she dreamed, she was back on that dark street.
Her steps were slow, her ears listening for a rattling in the bushes or the snap of a twig. Suddenly Melanie heard a pattering of feet behind her. She turned quickly and saw something running towards her. It was the dog, big and black and unimaginably fast. Before she could make the decision to run, it stopped and sat on its haunches about five feet in front of her. Its big pink tongue lolled out of its mouth in a pant, and it tilted its head to the side inquisitively.
Suddenly, Melanie realized she wasn't scared anymore. She held her hand out, palm up, and took a tentative step forward. The dog's tongue disappeared back into its mouth and it tilted its head to the other side. Melanie took another step forward, and still it didn't move. Four more painfully slow steps brought her within reach of its mouth. She held perfectly still, hand outstretched, and waited for the dog to make the first move.
The dog slowly stretched its neck forward and sniffed her fingertips. Then it tilted its head and rubbed its forehead and ear into her palm, as if begging for a scratch. Melanie felt instantly at ease. She pet the dog on its head and face, then gave it a scratch behind the ears. It suddenly stood up, and she backed up with a start. It was huge! The dog's head reached above her belly button. It stared at her now, with those dark solemn eyes, and a feeling of calm settled over her once again. She saw something in those eyes, something trustworthy. Something...
Melanie shot straight up in bed as her alarm clock screamed from its perch on her nightstand. "Why the hell is my alarm on," she mumbled grumpily as reached out and slammed her hand down on the snooze button. She slumped back down onto her pillow. "It's Sunday."
Then she sat back up again. It wasn't Sunday. It was Monday. She had school today.
Oh God, I don't know if I can do this, she thought, knowing her mom would let her stay home if she asked.
Melanie lay there and thought about it for a while- exactly nine minutes- until the alarm went off again. She turned it off this time, flung off the covers and sat up with her legs dangling off the edge of the bed.
"You have to do this," she said aloud to herself. "Get up, get dressed, and go to school. Get back to normal."
Maybe if things got back to normal, she could forget Saturday night ever happened. Maybe. Probably not, but she knew she had to at least try.
Twenty minutes later, Melanie shuffled into the kitchen to find her mom, whose mouth dropped open. "Melanie, what are you doing?"
"Um, getting breakfast? Don't you always tell me to eat something before school? Feeding the brain and all that?"
"You are not going to school today, honey. You need to stay home and rest. It's too soon."
"Mom, please let me go to school." Wow, she never thought she'd utter those words! "I need to get back to normal to move on with my life. Sitting around here all day dwelling on what happened is not going to help me."
"I don't know. I don't think it's a good idea to push yourself too far, too fast."
"I'm not, I promise! Please, mom. I swear if I start to feel bad or anxious or anything I'll check out and come home."
"Are you sure? You don't want to just take a couple days off and relax?"
"I'm sure. I need to fill my head with something else besides that...that...man."
“I called the police station this morning. The detective said that they are still working on it, but don’t have any real leads yet.”
“Oh. Okay,” Melanie said dejectedly.
Her mom walked over and hugged her tight. The embrace lasted for so long, Melanie thought she would never let go.
"Okay, okay. You win. You can go to school." Elaine pulled away and rested her hands on Melanie's shoulders. "But if you start to have any anxiety at all, come home immediately."
Melanie grinned and gave her mom a salute. "Aye, aye captain."
Her mom hugged her again and left the kitchen to go get dressed for work. She was a nurse at a local retirement home and needed to be in by eight that morning.
Melanie glanced at the clock. It read 7:25. She pulled out her phone and texted Tara.
"R U picking me up this morn or am I hitchhiking?"
"U R going today???" was the reply she got three seconds later.
"Yes. R U on ur way?"
"Be there in 5."
Melanie grabbed a banana from the counter and a cherry cola from the fridge and headed outside to wait for Tara. The spring air was still a bit crisp this early in the morning, so she grabbed a sweater. Juggling her banana, her drink and her backpack, she tried to pull the sweater on. She heard a familiar engine roaring down her street as her head popped through. Tara was pulling into her driveway.
“Hey,” Tara said as Melanie climbed into the passenger’s seat. “How’re you feeling this morning?”
“I’m good. I really hope I don’t hear that question a million times today.”
“Sorry! I won’t ask again, I promise. And I’ll level anyone else who dares ask it.” Tara batted her eyelashes. “Forgive me?”
“Shut up, you goof.”
The ride to school seemed shorter than usual, probably because Melanie was filled with dread at the prospect of facing everyone. Against her better judgment, she checked her social media pages and found herself tagged in at least three dozen posts about “the incident.”
The whole school was speculating on what happened, how far her attacker actually got, and who it could possibly be. She knew all eyes would be on her today, and being the center of attention was something she had always found highly uncomfortable.
Chapter 5
Too soon, they were out of the car and walking toward the big double doors that led into Baldwin High. Melanie wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but it seemed all conversations stopped. Much to her mortification, everyone was staring. She saw eyes filled with inquiry, concern, and worst of all, pity.
Her first instinct was to flee. She wanted to hide in a bathroom stall until the first bell, then sneak into class and hide in the back. Instead, she stiffened her spine, sucked in her gut and held her head high.
Slowly the noise level picked back up to a normal tone. Melanie made it to her locker and threw her backpack and the banana inside, but she opened the cola and chugged it down. Caffeine was a necessity in order to make it through the day.
As Melanie finished the last of her soda, she felt a presence behind her and stiffened. She was not ready to answer questions. A glance over at Tara showed her smiling radiantly at the person behind her. Melanie turned slowly and her eyes met dark chocolate ones causing her to melt a little.
“Hi,” Jeremy said quietly.
“Hi.”
“Mel,” interjected Tara, “I have to go find C
hris. I’ll see you in second period, okay?”
Melanie nodded stupidly, but never broke eye contact with Jeremy. After what seemed like an eternity, she started to fidget and grow self-conscious. She finally tore her eyes away from his and stared down at her shoes.
She felt a warm finger under her chin and slight pressure as he lifted her head back up and stared at her face. He brought up his other hand and cupped her cheeks. Melanie had to force herself not to flinch. Her reaction was partly due to her traumatic experience, but mostly because no guy had ever touched her like that, gently, reverently, and with extreme care. Certainly not this guy. The guy.
“You okay?” His question was so quiet and gentle she almost didn’t hear him.
Nodding slowly, trying not to dislodge his warm hands, she replied, “Yes.”
He held her face for another second or two, then released her. She stumbled forward slightly at the loss of his touch, then straightened quickly and blushed. He smiled a lopsided grin and tapped her under the chin with his knuckles.
“Glad to hear it. Let’s get to class.”
Melanie followed behind him, distracted by her whirlwind thoughts. What is going on? she thought. He was so, so… affectionate for a minute and now he’s all business and buddy-buddy.
She decided she had mistaken friendly concern for affection and let it go. Time to face the firing squad.
They walked into first period and her eyes lit on her nemesis. When Sissy looked up and saw them walking in together, she sneered and rolled her eyes. Melanie braced herself for Sissy’s usual verbal attack, but it never happened. One look at Jeremy’s face wiped the sneer off Sissy’s and she quickly looked down at her notebook as they passed.
Melanie took a seat and Jeremy sat down directly behind her. She turned to stare at him with a look of exaggerated wonder on her face.
“What just happened? Are we in the Twilight Zone?”
He snickered and then plastered an angelic look on his face. “I don’t know. Maybe she had personality replacement surgery over the weekend.”
“Mm, Hmm. I bet,” she said. He gave her a wink and a hornet’s nest erupted in her stomach.
She turned around to face the front as their teacher, Mr. Hughes, walked into class. His icy blue gaze swept the class and landed on Melanie. His eyes held none of their normal mirth. They were intense, almost angry, then he glanced away. She shivered in discomfort. He looked back and the intensity was gone and he was back to normal, smiling with crinkles around his eyes.
“Good morning, class. Please pull out your copies of To Kill a Mockingbird and turn to chapter fourteen.”
The class progressed normally enough, with only a few questioning glances her way when they discussed Scout asking Atticus what “rape” was. Melanie felt eyes on her, but kept her face down and focused on her note taking.
After an endlessly long fifty minutes, the bell finally rang. Mr. Hughes called out a few last minute instructions for homework and students stood and started shuffling out of class. Melanie glanced up at him and he caught her eye and motioned for her to come to his desk.
Jeremy walked up with her and stood by her side. After a pointed glance from Mr. Hughes, who then nodded his head toward the door, Jeremy mumbled something about waiting for her outside and walked out the door.
Melanie watched Mr. Hughes while he organized papers on his desk, put away his pens, and performed several other menial actions that seemed to serve no other purpose than to make her wait. She started to fidget and pulled on the hem of her sweater. This caught his attention and he froze, staring at her hand twisting and pulling the garment. Realizing her ministrations were baring a narrow band of her bare belly, she dropped the hem of her sweater and fisted her palms by her side. This broke his trance and he raised his gaze to her face with a shake of his head.
He still didn’t speak, so she asked timidly, “You wanted to see me, sir?
“Yes. I heard what happened this weekend and I just wanted see if you’re okay.”
“Yes,” she replied with a slight tremor in her voice. “I’m good.”
“Good.” He pressed his palms together and formed a steeple with his long, tapered fingers under his chin. “Do the police have any leads? Do they know who attacked you?”
“Um, no. Not yet.”
Mr. Hughes was making Melanie feel really uncomfortable. Sure, he was her teacher and it was plausible for him to be concerned, but this whole conversation seemed off to her somehow. He was staring at her intensely again and seemed to be waiting for something.
“Okay, well, I have to get to second period, if there’s nothing else.”
He paused for another split second, then smiled. “Sure, go ahead.” She turned to leave. “And Melanie?”
“Yes?” She stopped and looked back.
“Let me know if there’s anything I can do, okay?”
“Sure. Thanks.” Turning her back on the strange conversation and weird vibes, she left the room.
Jeremy, true to his word, was waiting right beside the door with one foot braced against the wall and his arms crossed. Melanie’s breath hitched at the sight of him and her step faltered. He immediately straightened and rushed to stand in front of her.
He put a hand on either of her shoulders and asked quietly, “What’s the matter? Did he upset you?”
Melanie got ahold of herself and sucked in a long breath. His touch was burning right through her sweater, her t-shirt, and into her skin. The concern in his eyes made her breath hitch again and she struggled to get her beating heart under control.
“No, no, I’m good. It was just weird having him ask about everything. His concern seemed so out of left field. Do you know what I mean?”
“I know, it was strange.”
“You heard from out here?”
He shrugged. “The sound carries in this old building. Let’s get you to class.”
He turned her towards the math wing and fell into step beside her. His class was in the other direction, but she didn’t mention it. It was too amazing, having him walk her to class. Every third or fourth step, their hands brushed against each other and she felt the tingle all the way up her arm and then down her spine. She wondered if he felt anything.
Probably not, she thought. Stop being unrealistic, Mel. He’s just being a good friend.
When they reached the door to her class, he grabbed her hand and yanked her into a hug. She almost started hyperventilating. He kissed her forehead, turned her around and gave her a light shove through the door. She was in a daze and almost tripped over a trash can on her way to her desk. Tara was waiting with a huge grin on her face when Melanie sat down next to her.
“Oh my God! I totally saw that!” She squealed with delight. “Are guys together?”
“No!” Melanie’s denial was a bit too forceful. “He was just being nice. He’s worried about me, as a friend.”
“That’s not what it looked like from here.”
“Tara, please. Stop.”
“Okay. But just because class is starting. We will be discussing and dissecting this at lunch.”
“Great. Can’t wait,” Melanie mumbled under her breath as their teacher started droning on about acute and obtuse angles. Melanie tuned her out and daydreamed about Jeremy’s soft lips brushing against her forehead.
Chapter 6
When the bell signaled the end of second period, Melanie jumped up and ran out of class before Tara could stop her. She heard about two words the entire class, she was so wrapped up in everything that had transpired between her and Jeremy. She practically ran to her locker, dumped her English and math books and grabbed her flute.
She speed walked to the music room for her concert band class, and arrived with no interference. The hour flew by as she lost herself in Sousa’s Washington Post March and the other pieces the band was set to play in its next concert.
At the end of class, she cleaned and put away her flute, packed up her music and stood to leave. Before she made it to t
he door, it opened and Stephanie Woods walked in with a malevolent snarl on her face.
“I’ve been looking for you,” she spit out. “I should have known I would find you in the geekiest room in the entire building.” She flipped her blonde curls over her shoulder.
“What do you want, Sissy? I’m kind of in a hurry.” Melanie tried to put on a brave front, but she was quaking inside. This girl always managed to bring her to her knees.
“I just wanted to give you a warning, Piglet. Stay away from Jeremy. He’s mine.”
Melanie’s back straightened. She knew Jeremy wasn’t hers, but she also knew he was definitely not Sissy’s either.
“Oh, really?” she replied. “I hear it differently. In fact, I heard he warned you to stay the hell away from me.”
Sissy’s blue eyes narrowed. She pinched her face in a very unflattering way as she came up with a retort. She would never let Melanie have the last word.
“We’ll see,” she said. “All I have to do is snap my fingers and he’ll be following me around like a little puppy dog again. You’ll never know what that feels like, Piglet.” She stressed the nickname to make the sting sharper.
Just then, the door slammed against the wall behind Sissy and she jumped with a squeak as she turned toward the noise. Melanie looked past her and her eyes met a sight that took her breath away.
Jeremy stood there, chest heaving and hands fisted at his sides. His beautiful face was a war of conflicting emotions ranging from concern to impatience to pure, unadulterated rage. Melanie had to mentally corral her galloping heart and slow her breathing. She pulled her eyes away to glance back at Sissy, who stood there putting on a brave front.
“I was just leaving,” she said huffily.
“You do that,” replied Jeremy tightly.
As she tried to flounce by him, he grabbed her elbow and leaned in close to her ear. Melanie had to strain to hear what he said.
“I thought I told you to stay away from her,” he bit out through gritted teeth.