♪ cєcє ♪ & Brooke~

[Brooke]

Josh walked to school, his backpack heavy with textbooks and his fingers cold from the snow that had fallen overnight. A tuque was pulled over his ears, even though his hair, which had grown quite long since the last time he cut it, kept them warm enough. Head phone wires ran from inside his tuque into the pocket of his jacket, and rock music poured out from the buds. He was dreading going to school. It was just another long day while people talked about subjects that he couldn’t really give a shit about. Nothing about them interested him, and the whole ordeal just seemed like a huge waste of his time, even though he didn’t really do much when he wasn’t in class.
His jacket swished with each step he took, but he couldn’t hear it. He was too absorbed by the music filling his head. The little buds would probably be stuck in his ears all day, the little bit of entertainment that Josh kept on him always. Even when the teachers told him to take it out, he’d always slip it back in, and make sure the cords were hidden by his hair.
A headache pounded at the front of his head, and he knew that it had been a bad idea to go out drinking on a school night. Never again, he promised himself, even though he knew that it would, in fact, happen again. Sure, he would’ve liked to toke up a little before class, but he hadn’t been able to get himself anything, so he was going to have to put up with this hangover cold turkey. With a sigh, he trudged up the sidewalk and watched snowflakes begin to slowly float down around him, counting the steps he took with each crunch under his boots.
Soon enough, the school came into view at the top of the slight hill, and Josh slowed his pace. He actually felt kind of… peaceful. It was just him, the sidewalk, and the snowflakes. His music had taken a more gentle turn, and everything just seemed to white and pure to him. But as the large gray building of St. Braxton’s Private School loomed up in front of him, the music turned darker, along with Josh’s mood. He pulled at the tie his mother had helped him put on that morning and realized he was really going to be hating on the school this year. Yeah, it was nice, and Josh was sure the education would be nice too, if he actually attended, but it just seemed like a waste of money to Josh. Not that his parents ever complained, or, not until recently. But coming from a rich family kind of does pay off, in a way. He’d been going to this school since the eighth grade, and it was all the same to Josh. All he had wanted last year was something different, and he had done that. Now even that was kind of the same too.

[Brooke]

(Bahaha, no worries, but yeah! I think they should)

[Brooke]

No worries man, so am I! That's why I like to wear contacts hahah)

[Brooke]

(Hahahaha to each his own Cx)

[cecilia]

Walking to school was an idea that Becca and Robert had outlawed in the Fitzgerald household six years ago. Mel couldn't exactly blame them, what with the situation, but sometimes she despised that rule. Now was one of those times. What kid--or teenager, come on, they'd all admit to it--didn't want to play in the snow and chuck snowballs at each other on the walk to school? It would be the brightest point of their day, which would be promptly followed by nine hours of daytime prison (also known as school, though Mel hardly ever referred to it as such). Yes, there were certainly times when Mel despised the 'no walking to school' rule that her parents had set down six years ago.
Of course, she could hardly blame them, having the reputation for accidents that Mel did. If her parents didn't trust her with a kitchen knife, or anything other than safety scissors, how could they trust her to drive a car, let alone walk to school? Sure, Mel may have given herself a bad haircut when she was five, but her parents still hadn't deemed her worthy enough to receive the real scissors. It was actually quite annoying, but Mel never said anything.
So, on a nice snowy morning, on her way to daytime prison, with Jessica Fitzgerald nagging at her from the driver's seat, Mel had just about had it. The young blonde was through with hearing about her older sister's boyfriend; wasn't it bad enough for her to know that Mel would likely never get a boyfriend, no need to rub it in? For Jess, no, it was never enough. Mel's older sister took every opportunity to use the fact that she was still in one piece, which was more than Mel could say.
A new town, a new house, and even new furniture, Mel was ready for school. Except for the fact that this house wasn't new, and neither was this town, or this school. Mel had been here before, lived here, even. It was the site of the accident, which Mel's parents were just allowing her to return to. As if Mel would lose her other leg the same way she'd lost the first one. Honestly, parents were so stupid sometimes!
Losing her patience, Mel ran her fingers anxiously through her hair and fiddled with the hem of her uniform's skirt. "Jess! Shut the hell up! I know you have a boyfriend, I know you want me to be jealous of your wholebodiedness, now shut the hell up!"
After the outburst, there were no more words, not until Mel was promptly kicked out of her sister's Toyota and onto the school property, alone. Hoping her socks were tall enough and her skirt long enough to cover her leg, Mel prepared herself for a long day of reminiscing.
One that she wasn't looking forward to in the slightest.

[Brooke]

Josh was already wishing for summer. Sure, the snow was nice for about a week or so, which was how long it had been around, but he was getting sick of it. He was sick of being cold, getting wet feet and going to school. They were about halfway through the first semester, and it couldn’t go by any quicker for him. As he neared the front doors of the school, he started considering if he even wanted to be there today. He could easily skip, and he was sure his parents wouldn’t be surprised by the phone call they would receive if he did. Go for one class at least, he told himself. He was acting like his mother, when she would tell him to go take a shower and see how he felt when he claimed he was sick and couldn’t go to school. That had ended a long time ago, when he stopped asking permission to ditch.
He really should’ve started life with low expectations, instead of letting everyone down. But, nothing ever really tended to go his way, so at this point, he was used to it.
The slam of a car door pulled his attention to the edge of the parking lot, where a Toyota was swinging itself out, throwing bits of snow up behind the tires. A blonde stood there, watching the vehicle go. He didn’t recognize her, so he figured that she must be a freshman or something.
“Josh!” A chorus of voices pulled his gaze away from the blonde and towards The Pit. That’s where all the St. Braxton smokers would meet up before class and pass around a cigarette, or occasionally a joint. A few hands raised and waved him over, so he turned away from the school and wandered over there with a lazy stride.
“Wasn’t sure you were going to show up,” Charlie, one of his mates said as he passed him a cigarette. Josh took it with a shrug, and gave it a small pull. He wasn’t all that fond of cigarettes to be honest, because they didn’t really do much. Sure they were said to relax you, but Josh was pretty sure that was just a mental thing. Still, he took a drag and passed it on, telling his friends that he had been running a bit late that morning. Or more truthfully, he had been having trouble getting out of bed.
The group of friends didn’t have all that much time to talk though, because the bell was ringing, beckoning them inside. Josh said goodbye to them, and then he was on his way, inside the building, down the hall, to his locker, which had been his since he started at the school. His parents had enrolled him in a private school, thinking it would keep him in class, but that too failed. By now though, they had just kind of given up on him.
Shrugging out of his coat, which he hung up inside along with his backpack, he leaned down to pick up the binder from the floor of his locker and tucked it under his arm. He rummaged around the top shelf, looking for a pen, and then he was off to class. English, which was the one he hated the most. Ironically, it was the class he needed to graduate school, so he was kind of forced to take it. Along with all his other classes, actually. He just hated school in general.
He arrived in the class, and took a seat in the far right corner, in the back. Nobody really paid attention to him, and he preferred it that way. He just pulled at his tie, which was kind of suffocating his neck, and made sure the headphone he was wearing in his right ear was hidden by hair, and that the music wasn’t too loud that everyone would be able to hear it. And then he slouched down in his seat and waiting for the class to start.

[cecilia]

With a soft sigh, Mel ran the her fingers along the tall piles of snow on the side of the road. The plows had long since come through and gotten the snow off the road, but it was still piled high along the sides, which Mel liked. Mel didn't get outside much, not after the accident, so she took every spare moment she had to enjoy all types of weather. So, Mel fiddled with the edge of her skirt and hoped that no one would see the metal that was her leg. Honestly, Mel wasn't in the mood to go over the story of the last six years, what had happened since she'd moved away from here. Everyone knew the story, and everyone knew she had moved back, but Mel was hoping to keep retellings out of this. School was for school and nothing but. Hopefully, her prosthetic leg would remain unnoticed, or at least people could refrain from commenting, but Mel knew that was unlikely.
So, resigning herself that this would turn out to be another bad day in the long streak of bad days that her life was, Mel hefted her backpack onto her shoulder and headed over to the doors of the school. Ignoring the stares that she got--apparently people recognized her already, just great--she glanced around the front hall before locating the office. Thankfully, it was in plain sight so she didn't have to go wandering around like an idiot trying to find it.
After slipping into the office and retrieving her schedule, Mel decided that taking her time to get to class was the best idea. Getting lost wasn't something she planned on doing anytime soon. So, she headed to her locker--which was all the way on the other side of the school from her first class, great way to start the day--and hung up her stuff. Mel's parents had thought that going to a private school would keep her from being teased about the thing that had caused her to move, but Melody knew better than to believe that. She'd been to numerous private schools after the move; they were all the same. It meant nothing to her.
With a soft sigh, she tucked a pencil behind her ear and headed for her first class--English, thank god. If Mel had P.E. first thing of the day, she was going to stab pencils in her eyeballs. Weaving her way through the crowds of people was a challenge--Mel wasn't exactly good at quick movements with her false leg the way other people were, so she got jostled around a lot. By the time she reached the classroom, three minutes late, Mel was breathless and more than slightly rumpled. Apparently the larger people in the school had a complete and total disregard for the smaller people, making it nearly impossible to navigate the corridors without some sort of problem.
Before pushing open the door, Mel ran a few fingers through her hair in hopes to calm it slightly, and twisted the knob, not knowing what to expect. It'd been six years since she'd last seen these people--and some of them didn't know her at all. But they all knew the story about the girl who'd lost her leg, so this was bound to be interesting.
Bracing herself, Mel twisted the doorknob and pushed open the door, not sure what to expect, and wishing she could just go home and be homeschooled the rest of her life.

[cecilia]

((you alive, darling? :3))

[Brooke]

(Barely.
Spammed with chapter and unit tests this week... xP)

[cecilia]

(Take your time! Just making sure you hadn't been killed by school XP)

[Brooke]

(I'm replying to this right now!
Glad to know you still want to do this :D
Thanks for looking out for me man! School SUCKS)

[cecilia]

(OMG no problem love ^.^ take your time. I was just checking up on ya. Hadn't heard from my darling in a while :3)

[Brooke]

(Bahah, I seriously get home, do my homework, and then go to bed. THANK GOD FOR THE LONG WEEKEND!! I missed this!!)

[cecilia]

(Long weekends are the best :3
Yeah, I've heard things are like that. Sounds absolutely awful if you ask me.)

[Brooke]

(They really are! Especially Thanksgiving :D
It is! But hey, whatever I guess. School is school :P)

[cecilia]

(Thanksgiving is the best :3 and summer Christmas and spring lol
It's annoying too DX)

[Brooke]

(Any time when we're not in school is the best:D)

[cecilia]

(Much agreed :3 anytime at home with Internet access)

[Brooke]

School sucks. This was the only thing running through Josh’s head as he listened to music and stared out the window at the gray morning. Snowflakes drifted down from the sky like pieces of wonder, but no matter how hard Josh tried, he couldn’t see the wonder in it. Hell, he couldn’t really see the wonder in anything anymore, but maybe that was because he had reduced his head to about three brain cells in a series of two years. Whatever, that was the way Josh liked it… sort of.
Josh pushed his hair away from his face, and over his shoulders. It had gotten so damn long since he stopped getting his Mom to cut it for him. Believe it or not, Josh used to be a really clean cut guy. He kept his hair short and neat, stayed away from drugs and alcohol, got his homework done on time. Man, what had happened to that kid? The pictures on the wall of him at home had stopped abruptly when he started acting out and skipping class. They all still showed that good-looking guy with the happy smile. Maybe his parents stopped taking pictures because he stopped smiling. He was sure that someone who knew him back then would have no idea he was the same person. His hair had gotten long, to just a little past his shoulders, and his wardrobe had gone from gentle colours to black. He told his parents he was just finding himself, when in reality, he wasn’t even sure if he was really looking.
The background chatter of the crowded classroom suddenly stopped, and Josh pulled one of his headphones out of his ears, thinking the teacher had walked in and the class had started. Might as well be one step ahead of the teacher, because she’s going to get him to take it out anyway. But, surprisingly, the drone of the teacher isn’t happening, and instead the other kids had gone back to talking, but were glancing not so subtly toward the door.
New student, Josh thought instantly and turned in his desk to catch a peek.
It was the girl from the parking lot. But up close, Josh knew who she was.
Melody Fitzgerald. Mel. Melly. Melly the Jelly Belly. All these nicknames jumped into Josh’s head the moment he recognized her and he whirled back around in his chair. No way. No fucking way she could be back. Josh jammed his headphones back in his ears and returned his gaze back to the window, but he couldn’t focus on any of them, not with that girl behind him somewhere. God, where had she gone? After the accident, she had been packed away like a piece of furniture and she hadn’t even said goodbye. It was stupid how something that happen so long ago could still dig up a little hurt, but it did, and Josh pushed it away as quickly as he could. Nope, nope, nope. He was not going to go there again. He was done with this and he was done with her, even if she was back again. He had his group of friends, and she could go make her own. Besides, he doubted she would even recognize him. He hardly recognized himself in the mirror sometimes.

[Brooke]

♪ cєcє ♪ ℓσѕт ιη му нєα∂ ♪ wrote: "(Much agreed :3 anytime at home with Internet access)"

(Exactly!)

[cecilia]

(I love Internet :3
I'll type a reply eventually lol I'm likely to fall asleep if I do it now. Probably tomorrow before dance :) )

[Brooke]

(Me too :D
Okay! no worries!)

[cecilia]

(Eh, screw it, I'll type now lol. :3
Mmm... Now I've gotta think...)

[Brooke]

(Bahha okay! Can't wait!!
Take your time <3)

[cecilia]

(Haha, I'm not that tired :3
Will do! XD)

[Brooke]

(Well that's good, I think! xD)

[cecilia]

(OMG, I'm going off on too many tangents. Eraseeee. DX)

[Brooke]

(Ugh, don't you hate that?! I do it all the time xP)

[cecilia]

Mel held her breath as she pushed open the door, hoping her anxiety wasn't too obvious. In all honesty, the blonde girl was quite worried as to how people would react to seeing her again; no one in this town had seen her for at least six years. Mel wouldn't be surprised if they'd all forgotten her by now. Of course, that was impossible. How could anyone forget the accident? Even the people who weren't here when it'd happened had heard about it. Mel had even heard the neighbors--who Mel was quite certain were somewhat new to town; she'd never seen them before--making references to her accident as if it were a joke that morning. "Don't go gettin' in no accidents, ya hear? We don't need another Mel Fitzgerald in this town." The words had angered Mel to no end. The laughter that had vibrated through the air and into Mel's chilly bedroom was horrifying. People not only knew about her accident, but joked about the ten year old girl that had lost her leg.
It made Mel want to move right back to Seattle, where she'd been before this move. Seattle had been nice. This school, with all of the eyes in the classroom glued to her, running up and down her body, was quite unnerving. Mel saw a flicker of recognition in a few people's eyes, but no one offered a greeting. No one offered anything of the sort. In a way, that was good; Mel didn't want to go back to her old life. It had been six years and everyone had certainly changed by now. Besides, she hadn't seen Josh yet, which was both odd and reassuring. Her once best friend--she didn't think of him as her best friend anymore, a thought that tore at her heartstrings--was nowhere to be found. Needless to say, though, Mel hadn't really been looking.
After a few moments of standing at the door like a retard, as if expecting someone to voice something, Mel decided to go for the first available empty seat, in the middle of the classroom.
As she slipped between tables and people she'd been friends with since childhood--who likely didn't recognize her anymore--Mel noticed the foot stuck out at her seconds too late. She'd stumbled and tripped before she knew what was happening. Luckily, Mel had caught herself on a desk, so she pushed herself up again, and continued on her way. Indifference, indifference, indifference. she repeated in her head, hoping no one was looking at her anymore. She'd known this would be a bad day, but Mel hadn't known people would recognize her fast enough to get back to tripping so quickly.
Apparently, there were no longer accident perks.
Of course, none of the residents of this town really knew she didn't have two legs anymore. The family had moved before Mel was out of recovery in the hospital from the accident.
Mel planned to keep her unileggedness a secret for a while.

[cecilia]

Brooke (I need shelter from pieces of fallen sky) wrote: "(Ugh, don't you hate that?! I do it all the time xP)"

(I'm in such a long post mood now. It's awful. I'll be typing too much for everything!
Or maybe I just like Mel; I had to cut out a lot of the stuff I wanted to write to make it reasonable lol)

[Brooke]

(Bahaha, dude, type whatever you want! Working on my reply now!)

[cecilia]

(XD XD XD You're gonna regret saying that lol. Take your time, I'm working on a few other posts now. :3)

[Brooke]

(Bahahah never!!!! I love long posts to no end! It gives me a long range of something to write.
And it shall be up shortly!)

[cecilia]

(Okie then! I'm loving this lol.)

[Brooke]

(Me too dude!)

[Brooke]

Even though Josh tried to stay focused on the window, he couldn’t help but glance over when she began to walk towards an empty seat. She’s changed a lot, well; obviously, she was ten years old the last time he had seen her. But, she just looked like an older version of the little girl he remembered. He wondered if she still loved jelly beans and action movies. He wondered if she was still the same girl that he had been so close with back in the fourth grade.
And, seconds after everyone was adjusted to her being there, the bullying was back to. A foot was stuck out while she walked up the aisle to find a seat. Josh winced at the sound her hands slapping against the top of the wooden desks as she caught herself, but he didn’t do anything. What was he supposed to do? Stand and beat that kid up? He doubted she was even the same Mel anyway. What was he even defending if he did that? A six year old memory?
Before he could really think about it, the teacher, Mrs. Johnson, was tapping into the class in her high heels, telling the kids to get their books open and to turn to page 163, which was where they left off last class. And of course, Josh had left his book at home, where he had been trying to catch up, which was result for having missed three classes in a row.
Josh raised his hand and waited patiently until she looked up from her papers, pushed her glasses up her nose and frowned when she saw his hand.
“You forgot your book again, didn’t you Joshua?” She asked with a sigh, and Josh, hating the way she used his full name, nodded and dropped his hand.
“This is the last time I’m lending this to you.” Mrs. Johnson dropped a spare copy of the book onto his desk and Josh picked it up and grudgingly turned to the page that she had directed, shooting a glare at her receding back.
“Alright class, we’re reading up to page 180, and then we’ll have a class discussion about it. I expect all of you to read it, because I’ll be asking everyone’s opinion on the chapter. You must back those up with facts from the book, or else you get to read the entire thing out loud, in front of everyone.”
It seemed like that whole statement was directed toward him, but he kept his eyes glued to the words on the paper and just tried to ignore everything around him. For once, he was actually going to read this stupid book, because he needed a distraction from this whole area around him. He decided right then that this was the only class he was going to stay for. Screw this school day, seriously. He was going to go home, get high, and do something stupid, like he always did. Nothing made him happier. If artificial happiness counts.

[cecilia]

Mel frowned slightly at the instructions to open up a textbook. Seated at her desk, Mel was reluctant to get up, lest she get tripped again. So, like the kid in front of her--Joshua? She dismissed it as simply a duplicate name; the Josh she'd known wasn't forgetful, and didn't have long hair--she raised her hand and waited for the teacher to notice her.
It took a few moments, but eventually the teacher inquired in her direction. "I don't have a copy," Mel admitted softly, ignoring the snickers of the classmates behind her.
The teacher frowned, but handed her a book. "Melody Fitzgerald," she noted, eyes slightly wide. "Never thought I'd see you back here again."
Apparently people did remember her. "I never thought I'd be back here again," she answered simply, flipping open the book to the assigned pages. Even though what she was reading made absolutely no sense; she hadn't read the previous parts of the book and reading in English was always awful for her, Mel didn't ask for pity, or ask to start from the beginning. People would see her as weak because of the accident; she didn't need that image continuing.
The teacher said nothing else, and neither did Mel. So, as she was told, she read.
Though Mel didn't quite read, she just let her eyes flit across the page and her mind wander.
Clearly no one was happy to see her. Well, she'd just disappeared, six years later finally showing up again. Mel resented her parents for bringing her back here, thinking that things would get better than they were before. They weren't. People resented her and joked about her accident. None of them knew the hell she'd gone through afterward, the amputation, the learning how to walk again, moving constantly, putting up with bullies just like them everywhere she went. No one cared, either.
Maybe Mel would just ask to be homeschooled again. She'd done that in a few of the places she'd moved, where the people were unbearable. But if Mel asked to be homeschooled, she'd be packed up and moved again, just like a piece of furniture.
Mel pondered those things for a moment, her fingers idly flipping the pages of the book, before her thoughts flicked back to the same person they always did when she thought about this town.
Josh.
Where was he now? He probably--no, not probably, certainly--hated her for moving without warning. He'd probably found out in the hospital. Maybe he'd come to visit her and she hadn't been there? Whatever had happened, Mel felt pretty awful that she hadn't said goodbye to her best friend. Maybe that was better, though, so he could get better friends.
Wherever he was, she knew he hated her. Mel wasn't so sure how she felt about that, either.

[Brooke]

Hey! Was Mel in a car accident?

[cecilia]

(hehe, maybe... why? (view spoiler)[Okie, fine, I was planning on it being a major car accident, yeah XD. Still working out the finer points. (hide spoiler)]

[Brooke]

(view spoiler)[I was just totally wondering!! I kind of thought so, but I didn't want to be wrong, because I've done that accidentally before and it was kind of awkward, so, yeah XD (hide spoiler)]

[cecilia]

(view spoiler)[haha, okie :3 yeah, that's what I was planning. XD I hadn't worked it out completely. I was trying to think of something more dramatic, but I came up blank. (hide spoiler)]

[Brooke]

(view spoiler)[Well, it's the most realistic way to lose a leg anyway! She could have gotten hit by a car on her bike riding home from Josh's place or something. (hide spoiler)]

[cecilia]

(view spoiler)[It's the most realistic, which it why I chose it :3
You read my mind. O.O Psychic darling. (hide spoiler)]

[Brooke]

(view spoiler)[Awesome. Great minds think alike ;D (hide spoiler)]

[cecilia]

(view spoiler)[Then I dunno why your mind is thinking like mine lol XD my mind isn't great.
It's brilliant!
JKJK I love you! Your mind is brilliant :3 (hide spoiler)]

[Brooke]

(view spoiler)[Bahahaha, whatever you say there ;D <3Lurve you too!!!!!!!!<3 (hide spoiler)]

[cecilia]

(view spoiler)[I'm kidding lol I love you <333333 (hide spoiler)]

[Brooke]

Josh’s eyes flitted over the pages, absorbing some of the words, but most of them were going in one ear and out the other. This book, like most of them, was doing nothing to hold his interest, and instead it wandered, like it always did. His thoughts would usually take a turn to where he could be instead of at school, and typically, he just wished to be at home. Or on a nice beach somewhere, like most people. Although, he hated going home when his parents were there. Maybe it was just the weed that made him so paranoid, but it always seemed like they were watching his face and his actions closely, like they were observing him for some kind of experiment. When that happened, he’d usually just take something harder so he wouldn’t even notice.
With a soft sigh, he flipped the page and thought about Melody, even though he had told himself not to. It was kind of impossible when she was sitting right behind him, practically breathing on him. He thought about the last time they had been together, and that just bummed him out a little bit, so he just focused on his music instead of this thoughts or even the book.
Eventually, Mrs. Johnson called the class into attention, and began asking the class their opinions of what they had just read. When it came to Josh, he simply said, “Didn’t finish it,” and she pursed her lips, and instead of pressing him to say something, she just skipped over him.
Josh closed the book and ran his hand over the hard cover. There were a couple rings on his fingers, and they scratched the shiny covering a little, but that hardly meant anything. The ring on his left hand hugged his middle finger snuggly, and he twisted it around out of boredom. On his left hand, he had one around his thumb and ring finger. None of them represented anything, he just thought they were kind of neat. And he gave him something to fiddle with when he was drunk off his ass and sitting in the back of his Dad’s car when he picked him up from a party he wouldn’t be able to drive home from. Everyone was sort of paranoid about car accidents in this town, ever since Mel’s happened. This place was pretty damn small, and everyone knew of Melody’s family.
Drunk driving is even worse to be known for in this town. Josh was pretty sure the only reason his Dad picked him up from those parties was the fact that he didn’t want Josh to ruin whatever was left of the family reputation. And of course, he had to look like a good guy, since he worked with the church. Ugh, just thinking about it pissed Josh off.
His eyes wandered to the clock at the front of the room, hanging on the wall at a slightly crooked angle and wished for this class to be over so he could leave and do something that was actually worth his while.

[Brooke]

(view spoiler)[Hahaha I know. Love ya too!! XD (hide spoiler)]

[cecilia]

Mel spent all of the allotted reading time attempting to decipher the words written in size twelve, times new Roman font. English had never been easy to read for her; she found it quite difficult to comprehend. After every sentence, as usual, Mel found herself pausing to translate. Thankfully, this novel was relatively low on the difficulty scale, so it wasn't as hard as it should have been. Even after focusing her mind countless times on what she was reading, Mel found herself bored.
Why had she let her parents come back here? They would have gone somewhere else if she asked them to; since the accident, Mel could have anything she wanted. Mel had never asked for anything before, so maybe she could get them to move, and fast. If kids were beating her up, just like they were when she was a kid, how would they act once they found out she'd lost her leg? There wouldn't be sympathy, she knew that for a fact. The kids in this small, hellish town seemed to be lacking in the sympathy department.
Mel's thoughts were interrupted when she noticed eyes on her, and her cheeks immediately flushed. She'd gotten so lost in her head that she hadn't even noticed when the Mrs. Johnson asked her opinion on the chapter. In all honesty, Mel had hardly paid attention to a single word that she'd read, but she somehow managed to BS her way through her report. To Mel's great relief, Mrs. Johnson gave her an approving nod. Mel was quite surprised at that, but said nothing of it.
And once more, she was back to her thoughts. No one seemed quite happy to see her. Of course, Mel couldn't blame them. She'd gotten in a huge accident, been in the hospital for two weeks, and disappeared without a word. No one had even figured out that she'd been amputated; no one had been allowed to see her in the hospital, and her parents hadn't said anything. Mel wasn't surprised that they all hated her. She'd been packed up like furniture and vanished like a ghost.
Mel sighed softly, leaning down and tugging on her sock and skirt, trying to cover up her faulty leg as much as possible. There was a slight flash of metal that could be seen if you looked hard enough, and Mel wasn't in the mood to explain, if she were being honest.
Her thoughts wandered back to the boy who'd once been her best friend. Josh. Mel hadn't heard from him since she'd left his house that fateful night. She wondered if he'd even thought about her after she moved, wondered late at night whether or not she was okay, what had happened. She wondered if he still liked chocolate ice cream and action movies, if he still visited their old treehouse in his backyard. Mel knew she'd have gone there every day if she'd had one.
Of course, Mel was certain he hated her by now, too. So, once more, just like every other move before, Mel was alone.
This time, the dread was there. Normally, Mel was used to being alone, and thought nothing of it. This time, Mel was dreading the rest of the time she spent in this hellish town, and was counting down the seconds until she was eighteen and could move out.