by Wendi Wilson
“Mel,” he said as he grabbed her hands to stop her from wringing them. “Stop it. It’s fine. You didn’t do anything wrong and you can tell her that it most definitely does not affect Chris.”
“It doesn’t?”
“No. In fact, he doesn’t even know about it. No one does. No one but me, my parents, and you.”
“But-”
He put his finger to her lips to silence her. “We can talk about this later, somewhere a little more private. Besides, we have to get to class.”
As they headed down the hallway, Melanie started thinking about the rose again. She had to figure out who could have stolen her locker combination from Tara’s phone. There was only one option.
“I have to tell Tara.”
“Tell her what? About me?” Jeremy asked worriedly.
“No! No, you can trust me with that, Jeremy. I meant I have to tell her about the rose. She’s the only one who can help me figure out how someone got into her phone.”
“You’re probably right. Do you want me to be there when you talk to her?”
She paused while she thought it over. “No. I think I better talk to her alone. If she starts to freak out over the thought of someone invading her privacy, she wouldn’t want to do it in front of you. Girl pride, and all.”
Jeremy smiled. “Ok, well, girl pride or no, call me if you figure it out, or if you need me for anything, okay?”
Melanie pulled him forward for a hug and kissed him on the cheek. “Deal.”
Chapter 16
“So?”
“So, what?”
“So, did you ask him?”
They went to Melanie’s house after school and had been studying in her room for nearly an hour before Tara had broached the subject. Melanie couldn’t believe she’d lasted that long before bringing it up. Melanie tried to hide her grin.
“Ask who, what?”
“Mel! Did you ask him?”
“Okay, okay, don’t get your panties in a bunch. Yes, I asked him.”
“Well?”
“No, the secret does not in any way affect or pertain to Chris. Don’t worry, your man is not keeping any secrets from you.”
Tara let out a deep breath. “Well, that’s a relief.” After a brief pause, she continued, “Are you sure you don’t want to talk to me about it? It seems like you and Jeremy are back on track, but you were pretty upset this morning.”
“Tara, I can’t. I promised. Believe me when I tell you, it’s all okay now. We’re good.”
Melanie looked down at her notebook and pretended to study. She needed to talk to Tara about the rose in her locker, but she wasn’t sure how to bring it up. She didn’t want to sound accusatory, but if someone hacked into Tara’s phone to get her locker combination, they needed to figure out who it was and how they gained access.
“Melanie!”
Melanie’s head shot up at the exclamation. “What?”
“Oh my God, I said your name like three times. Where were you just now?”
Melanie closed her notebook with a sigh and turned toward Tara. “Tara, we need to talk.”
“Why does it sound like you’re breaking up with me right now?”
“Shut up, this is serious!”
“Okay, okay, what is it?”
“Okay, don’t freak out like I did, but when I got to school today and opened my locker, there was a white rose inside.”
“Oh! Was it from Jeremy? How romantic!”
“No. It wasn’t from Jeremy, it was from him.”
Tara’s brows wrinkled in confusion. “Who? Oh.” Her face paled as understanding dawned. “But, how do you know?”
“There was a note attached. It said ‘From your Perfect Match, may we meet again soon.’ It was him, Tara.”
“Oh my God! How did he get it inside your locker?”
“That’s what I want to talk to you about. You’re the only person who knows my combination.”
“Wait! You don’t think that I…I couldn’t! I would never…”
“Hold on. Calm down,” Melanie interrupted. “I know you would never intentionally tell anyone.”
“Intentionally? Does that mean you think I unintentionally did it?”
Melanie stayed silent, but looked pointedly at Tara’s phone that was sitting on the floor beside her. Tara looked from Melanie’s face to the floor and raised her eyebrows. She picked up her phone and searched the contacts until she came to Melanie’s. When she opened it, she saw the three digit code under the notes section.
“You’re right. It’s in here. I’d totally forgotten about it because you’ve never asked me to use it before. So, you think someone took my phone and stole the information from it?”
“You don’t have a password set up to unlock it.”
It was a statement, not a question. Tara had never felt a need to lock her phone. She never had a reason. She never suspected anyone would invade her privacy and search its contents.
“Melanie, this is all my fault. I’m so sorry.” Tara’s brown eyes started to fill with tears.
“Hey,” Melanie said softly, putting her hand on Tara’s shoulder, “stop it. I am not blaming you and I never would. I’m telling you because we need to figure out who this creep is. This is actually a good thing.”
“Really,” Tara said flatly.
“Yes, really. It narrows down the number of possible suspects dramatically. I mean, seriously, how many people have access to your phone?”
“Let’s make a list,” Tara said as she pulled a blank sheet of paper from the back of her notebook. She wrote the word “Suspects” at the top and underlined it. Underneath she wrote “Tara.”
“Really?” Melanie asked sarcastically.
“Hey, you said you wanted to know who had access to my phone, right?” Melanie shook her head with chagrin. “Anyway, there’s me, you,” she said as she wrote down Melanie’s name, “my mom. Who else?”
“You might as well write my mom on there too, while we’re being ridiculous. You’re here just as much as you’re at home. Your dad, too.”
Tara stared at the paper. “This isn’t much of a list. None of these people could be your stalker.”
“Stalker?”
“Well, what would you call him?”
“I don’t know. I just never really thought of it in those terms before. I guess it’s accurate.” She paused and stared into space for a second. Shaking her head to clear the cobwebs, she continued, “Back to the list. There’s gotta be someone else. Someone who you feel comfortable enough with to leave your phone lying around when you leave the room.”
Tara’s face blanched as she stared at the paper in front of her. She started shaking her head quickly, back and forth, as she slowly spelled out a name underneath her dad’s.
“Tara, what is it? What’s wrong?” Melanie asked quickly, her voice rising to a high pitched squeak.
Tara picked up the sheet and slowly held it out to Melanie. Her hand was shaking violently and she dropped it before Melanie could take it from her. Melanie picked it up off the floor and read the name. Her face scrunched up in confusion, then disbelief.
“Chris? No. No! It couldn’t be, Tara.”
Tara sniffed loudly and Melanie got up and grabbed her tissue from the box on her nightstand. Tara dabbed at her leaking eyes and blew her nose before responding.
“Mel, he’s the only one besides you that I hang out with outside of school. I go to his apartment sometimes. I use his bathroom while I’m there. I leave my phone on his coffee table!!” She jumped up and started pacing.
“Tara, calm down, please!” Melanie grabbed her arm and pulled her to a halt.
“Calm down? How can I calm down when my boyfriend could be stalking my best friend? When my boyfriend tried to rape my best friend?”
She plopped down on the bed with that last bit and started crying in earnest. Melanie sat down beside her and rubbed her back soothingly, the same way Jeremy did for her when she was upset.
Could
it be Chris? she wondered. No. No! She just couldn’t fathom it.
“Tara, listen to me. I just can’t imagine it was him. He cares about you and he’s Jeremy’s cousin! There has to be another person. Someone. Anyone. Calm down and let’s think about this.”
“Oh God! Oh God, oh God, oh God!” Tara chanted as leaned over and put her head between her knees, trying not to hyperventilate.
“Tara! What is it? What’s the matter? Talk to me!”
“Oh God. Oh my God, Mel.” Tara sniffed loudly again. “Remember,” she paused to wipe her eyes. “Remember the party. After you left, I overheard Jeremy telling off Sissy outside. I told you about it, remember?”
“Yes, I remember.”
Tara took a deep breath. “The reason I went outside. Do you remember?” she said brokenly, between breaths.
“You were looking for Chris, right?”
Tara nodded violently. She looked like she was going to vomit. “I couldn’t f-f-find him. He w-w-was gone.” She broke down into tears again.
Melanie’s spine stiffened as a chill ran from the base of her skull to her tailbone. “He went home sick. Stomach flu.”
Tara nodded again. “He disa…he disappeared right after y-you left.”
Chapter 17
After dinner, Melanie stood by the window, staring out into waning light. Thoughts whirled through her mind like a cyclone, never ceasing, never giving her rest. She thought about that night, the night that changed her life forever.
She thought of the hurt and anger that Sissy had caused, making her run from that party in mortification. Memories of the darkness, that of her surroundings on the street as well as the appearance of her attacker, plagued her repeatedly. She remembered the fear and helplessness that she felt when he threw her to the ground and covered her body with his.
Her churning thoughts eventually focused on the dog. Ace had saved her. Jeremy had saved her. Ace is Jeremy. Jeremy is Ace. It was all so surreal.
Because of that horrible night, so much good had come into her life. Jeremy had realized that his feelings for her ran deeper than friendship. He’d protected her, listened to her and believed her. He had kissed her. He had trusted her with his deepest, darkest secret.
Her vision started blurring as her eyes filled with tears at the thought of his devotion. Melanie never imagined that any boy, much less Jeremy Stevens, the object of her affection and desire, would ever care so much about her. He was there for her and always would be, no matter what. He was just as loyal in his alternate form, Ace.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, she saw movement in the backyard by the tree line. She hastily wiped her eyes and blinked a few times to clear her vision. It wasn’t quite dark out yet, so she had no trouble recognizing the figure that appeared in her yard. She ran out of her room, down the stairs and out the back door without a second’s hesitation.
“Ace!” she yelled. She’d nearly yelled “Jeremy” but caught herself. Someone might have heard and think she had really gone nuts.
The dog’s ears perked up when he heard her and he started charging toward her. They met midway through the yard. Melanie grabbed him around the neck and pulled him to the ground with her. He growled playfully as she tried to put him in a headlock and rub her knuckles on the top of his head.
“Melanie? Melanie!”
Melanie immediately let go of Ace and stood up. Her mother was standing on the back porch, wringing a dish towel in her hands. She looked scared.
“Mom?”
“Melanie,” her mom interrupted, “back away slowly from the dog. Don’t turn your back on him.”
“Mom, wait.”
“Melanie, now!”
Melanie turned to look at Ace, sitting on his haunches with his tongue lolled out the side of his mouth. He tilted his head and licked his chops. Melanie couldn’t help it. She giggled.
“Melanie, are you crazy? Stop staring and get away from that dog! He’s a beast and you don’t know where he came from or where he’s been. He could have rabies!”
“Mom, listen to me,” Melanie said without moving an inch. “This is Ace. He’s not a beast.” Ace gave a little yip at that. “Mom, he’s the dog.”
“What do you mean,” her mom asked as she eased down the porch steps toward Melanie, “the dog?”
“I mean,” Melanie said as she reached down to scratch Ace behind the ears, “that he’s the one. The one that saved me, you know, that night.”
Her mom walked slowly and cautiously until she stood beside her. She always had been a little leery of dogs. Melanie thought she must have been bitten by one as a child, but her mom never wanted to talk about the reasons.
“How do you know?”
“How do I know what?”
“That he’s the one?”
That question stirred up all kinds of thoughts in Melanie’s mind. How did she know that he was “the one?” Ace must’ve read her thoughts because he gave a little whine and nudged her leg.
She cleared her throat. “Mom, look at him. Could you seriously mistake this dog for any other? He’s beautiful, not to mention ginormous. It’s him.”
“How did he find you now, after all this time?”
“Well, uh, this isn’t exactly the first time I’ve seen him since.”
“What?! Where? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“He’s been watching out for me. I’ve seen him here in the yard a couple of times. It’s like he’s patrolling the woods or something. I didn’t tell you because, honestly, I know how you feel about dogs and I didn’t want you to make me stay away from him.”
Ace stood up then and rubbed his sides along Melanie’s legs and licked her hand. She stared at his face lovingly, and rubbed her hand over his head.
“Melanie, this dog saved your life. I will be forever grateful for that, but you can’t keep him. He must have an owner somewhere that’s worried about him.”
“Mom,” Melanie replied quickly, before it got awkward, “I don’t want to keep him. I’m sure he does belong to someone.” Ace yipped and licked her hand again. “I just want to play with him when he stops by.”
Melanie’s mom stretched out her arm slowly toward Ace with her palm down. He sniffed her hand for a moment, then shoved his whole head under it. She had no choice but to pet him. He sat back on his haunches and enjoyed a scratch behind the ears.
“Well, he seems tame. And friendly. Just be careful, okay honey? Big dogs like him can turn on you in a second.”
“Okay, mom, I’ll be careful.”
As her mom turned and walked back to the house, Melanie rounded on Ace.
“Were you just flirting with my mother?”
Ace whined and made his ears lay back. He slowly shook his head back and forth as Melanie stalked closer to him. She laughed as he back up a little.
“I certainly hope not, because you’re all mine.”
She tried to grab him playfully with that last word, but he jerked out of her reach and darted for the woods before she could touch him. She chased him to the edge of the yard, but he didn’t stop. He disappeared through the trees.
“Ace, come back! I was only kidding! Come back! Ace!”
Melanie slumped her shoulders and let out a big sigh as she thought, Great. Now you’ve gone and done it Mel. It was too much, even if you were only joking. You probably sounded like a clingy lunatic.
Before she could turn and run back to the house in her misery, she heard a yelp from the woods. She narrowed her eyes and tried to peer through the trees, but she didn’t see anything.
“Ace?” she called out. “You okay?”
She heard another yelp and that decided it. She ran into the woods after him. It was the only thing she could do. If Ace was hurt or in trouble, she had to help him. No matter how scared she was of black-clad stalkers lurking behind every tree, she needed to get to Ace.
Suddenly, a large figure jumped out from behind a tree and grabbed her. A scream lodged in her throat as she ran straight into it and stro
ng arms wrapped around her waist. Her momentum took them both down to the forest floor, where she landed sprawled on top of and straddling whoever held her.
“Mel,” she heard as she started to struggle and all the fight left her. She opened her eyes and was staring into dark, hooded ones.
“Jeremy? Are you okay? You ran away and it sounded like you were hurt.”
He didn’t say anything. He responded by running his left hand up her spine to the back of her head, which he pulled down as he raised his lips to hers. He kissed her slowly, with soft lips, until she relaxed against him and started kissing him back. She put her hands in his hair and grabbed it tight, taking over and deepening the kiss.
Jeremy growled softly and ran both hands down her back to her butt and squeezed lightly. Melanie moaned and kissed him even harder. She wanted to grind against him, but even in this lust-filled haze, she couldn’t bring herself to do that. She was scared of looking like an idiot.
Before she knew what was happening, Jeremy had rolled her over so that she was underneath him, all without breaking their kiss. He had moved his hands into her hair, gripping it to hold her steady, while propping most of his weight on his elbows. All thoughts of looking stupid deserted her as she could now feel every inch of him against her. It was then that she realized he was shirtless.
She got swept up in the headiness of it, running her fingers up and down his bare arched back, feeling the sinewy muscles. She brazenly ran her hands all the way down to his butt and, as he had done to her, squeezed it lightly. His sharp inhale of breath egged her on and she squeezed harder. His body jerked forward and his pelvis ground into hers, proving to her that he was really enjoying the contact.
Melanie tensed. She didn’t mean to, but the contact startled her and her body reacted by tensing up. Jeremy felt it and immediately stopped his movements. He pulled his head back and stared into her eyes.
“You okay?” he asked softly.
Melanie nodded and tried not to cry. She couldn’t believe she had messed this up, ruined the moment, again. She really and truly sucked at making out. That’s all there was to it.
“Hey,” Jeremy whispered and leaned down to give her a soft kiss. “You’re perfect,” he whispered against her lips between feather-light kisses. “Don’t ever doubt that.”