"Carly, I'm not sure I'm ready to see her again," I told my best friend.
"Sam, she's your sister, and it's been a long time. You have to at least talk to her," Carly replied. I didn't know whether I should listen to her. Ever since Melanie and I had that fight right before she left, I wasn't sure if she would be happy to see me or give me the cold shoulder. I wasn't sure what I would do, either. I needed some bacon. I don't know why, but bacon always makes me feel better.
"I don't know how she's going to act. Do you even remember how mad she was?"
"Yeah, I do, but maybe she's changed. You both have grown. Gotten more mature. Well,at least I think she has,"she said jokingly.
"Ha ha, very funny," I replied.
Spencer then said, "It looks like we're almost at the airport." My stomach lurched. It was only a matter of a few minutes before I saw Melanie.
"Carly," I whined. "Give me my purse. I have my extra stash of bacon in there.
"Here," Carly said. "Go crazy." I dug through my purse until I finally dug out a plastic bag practically bursting with crispy turkey bacon. I downed it all in under a minute, and then I felt instantly better.
"OK," I said to Carly. "I'm ready." We got out of Spencer's car and went inside the airport. I looked around, and then I finally spotted Melanie, dressed head to toe in pink and carrying a big purple suitcase and a white purse.
Carly ran over to Melanie and gave her a huge hug, saying, "Melanie! Oh my gosh, it's been so long!"
"I know!" Melanie replied. I finally made my way over there at that point. That's when Melanie finally saw me.
"Hey, Melanie," I said quietly. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach again.
"Sam!" she said, wrapping me in a big hug like the one she gave Carly. "Sam, Sam, it's been forever. Oh, I'm so sorry about our fight. I didn't realize it would be this long. Can you please forgive me?"
"Yes, Melanie. I've really missed you," I said. I hadn't even run that through my brain, but it was true. I then realized that she was crying. It made me want to cry, too. So I did.
"Uh, we'd better...get going," Carly said.
"Yeah," I said, wiping my eyes.
As we were walking back to the car and Melanie was talking to Spencer but still standing close to me, Carly said, "I told you it would go well."
"Yeah," I said. "I guess I knew that all along, but I wasn't sure."
We got in the car and started driving home, and Melanie was going on and on about her fancy boarding school. She was telling about all of the fancy foods they eat there and all of the advanced stuff they learn.
Then, Spencer said, "So, Pucketts, should I drop you off at your house?"
"Yeah," Melanie replied. "I want to, you know, unpack and say hi to my mom,"
"OK then," Spencer said. "We're at your house. Do you want to come over place tomorrow?"
"Alright," I said. "See you then."
"Bye!" Melanie said.
Melanie and I went inside the house and found that our mother wasn't there. So I suggested that we start unpacking and wait for her to return. Melanie agreed and we went into our room. I had cleaned that place out for Melanie's arrival, but it did still faintly smell like bacon grease. Melanie didn't seem to notice. She just plopped down on her bottom bunk and sighed.
"It's so good to be home," she said.
We spent the next hour unpacking. It didn't take very long since the both of us were doing it. We were silent. I caught Melanie looking at me a few times. She told me we did look a lot alike.
As soon as we were done I asked, "Melanie, do you watch iCarly?"
"Every week," she replied. "I got a bunch of girls from my school to watch it, too."
I didn't respond. I didn't know what to say. I would have thought all of the female nerds at that school would have watched Nevelocity. By that time, it was pretty late, and mom wasn't back yet, so Melanie said that we should go to bed. We took about a half an hour to get ready for bed.
When we were finally ready, Melanie said, "By the way, I have a present for you." She handed me a small box, and inside was a half of a heart shaped necklace that said "Be sis" on it. Melanie showed me her half, which said "St ters." We put them together, and it said, "Best Sisters."
"I really like it, Melanie," I said, and I wasn't lying. "I have something for you, too." I handed her a small bag. She pulled out a beautifully crafted picture frame with a picture of the two of us that was taken a few days before Melanie left. A few days before our fight.
"Sam, I love it," Melanie said. "I should put this beside my bed."
I put the necklace on and decided to never take it off. It was a reminder of my wonderful sister. We then went to bed, but I couldn't fall asleep. I just stared at the ceiling.
could tell Melanie wasn't asleep either, so I said, "Melanie?"
"What?" she asked.
"I- I love you," I said quietly.
"I love you too, Sam," she replied.