Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for the Alternate Universe I created.
Contrary to what everyone else on the island believed, Eric did think. Not all the time, but sometimes, when he was bored out of his mind and was left to entertain himself. That usually only happened when he had annoyed everyone to the point in which he was exiled to a deserted part of the camp. Even Melissa, who was usually so tolerant of him had her days. Eric had noticed a pattern in Melissa's moods; she was only impatient and annoyed whenever Jackson and Taylor were off doing something together. Also contrary to popular belief, Eric wasn't stupid. He had worked out that pattern all by himself. Then again he was pretty sure everyone but Taylor and Jackson knew what irritated Melissa the most.
Contrary to what everyone else on the island believed, Eric think. Not all the time, but sometimes, when he was bored out of his mind and was left to entertain himself. That usually only happened when he had annoyed everyone to the point in which he was exiled to a deserted part of the camp. Even Melissa, who was usually so tolerant of him had her days. Eric had noticed a pattern in Melissa's moods; she was only impatient and annoyed whenever Jackson and Taylor were off doing something together. Also contrary to popular belief, Eric wasn't stupid. He had worked out that pattern all by himself. Then again he was pretty sure everyone but Taylor and Jackson knew what irritated Melissa the most.Eric crossed his arms behind his head and laid back to stare at the sky. If it wasn't for the fact that they were lost, this place wasn't too bad. He thought about Melissa again, and remembered when he first got to know her. It was when they were paired to do a history presentation together in the 7th grade. He had slept through most of the classes in that first semester so he wasn't particular familiar with anyone. He had heard the scrape of the chair beside him and felt a nudge as whoever it was who sat down beside him. He had thought that a little weird since none of his friends were in this class and he had always sat alone.
"Eric?"
He looked up from the makeshift pillow of his folded arms and into a pair of big, chest nut coloured eyes. They blinked back at him and for a moment all Eric could do was stare. He could count her eyelashes, if there weren't so many.
"Hi" He looked down and there were lips too, he could smell the faint scent of strawberry not the fruity kind, the artificial one used in cupcakes and lip gloss.
"Hello" He managed to cough out. "What's going on?"
"Weren't you listening?" She leaned back and everything came into focus. Her delicate features were framed by a dark mane that fell just past her shoulders.
"Not really" He admitted and straightened himself out.
"We're doing a history presentation together. It's going to be so much fun!" She smiled and it must have been contagious because Eric caught himself smiling too.
"What's your name?" She didn't seem offended by the question, considering she knew his.
"Melissa" She replied with the same enthusiasm.
"Melissa" He repeated, "Nice to meet you."
Eric was usually satisfied with a scaping pass but Melissa turned out to be one of those hardworking students who got really good grades. Eric didn't mind though since she did most of the work, so he thought it was only fair that they do it as his house so he could at least provide the snacks if nothing else.
Eric knew Melissa was the type of girl his parents would adore. Just by the way she held herself. He couldn't think of the word to describe it but he kept imagining a ballerina. But he thought 'you have really good balance' would be a weird thing to say to a girl, especially a girl he didn't really know and didn't get his odd sense of humour.
The first day Melissa came over, they were eating sushi, because his mom was having one of her health fixes and that was all they had, in the kitchen.
"You have a really nice house." She said.
Eric nodded, his mouth was full, and he was raised to be polite at least on the surface.
His mother had cooed over them for at least ten minutes, talking about how great it was that Eric brought home nice girls. He corrected her and said Melissa was just an assignment partner but his mother had ignored him. She told Melissa how pretty she was and how she envied her lovely skin. Melissa seemed embarrassed so Eric interrupted his mother and explained that they had an assignment to do. She finally ceased the chatter, patted him on the head and ushered them both into the kitchen. She placed a plate full of sushi in front of them. Then she was gone.
"Mothers" He had said with a shrug and took his first bite.
Eric wondered just how messy he had left his room this morning as he led Melissa up the stairs. He hoped he hadn't left anything embarrassing in plain sight, like his Batman underwear and his secret stash of action figures. He opened the door and hoped for the best.
"Wow" She said and headed towards the huge glass tank on the other side of his room. Eric followed her. "What's that?"
"It's an iguana." He shoved his hands in his pockets and declared proudly. "His name is Frank."
"Hi Frank" she waved timidly at the motionless lizard.
"They're not like poisonous or anything." He said, noticing how far she was standing from the tank. "And like, he can't get out or anything."
She smiled at him but didn't move closer. They stood there for a minute just looking at each other. Her hair was tied up put a few strands had escaped and she was still wearing that strawberry scented lip gloss. Eric wandered if it was creepy of him to keep track of something like that.
"So! I guess we should get started."
The assignment didn't turn out to be as mind numbingly boring as Eric had thought; in fact he learned something about American history. It didn't take long because Melissa was really smart or something and it really only took them three days to complete it. On the fourth day Eric asked if she wanted to come over.
Melissa looked confused. "But we've finished the assignment."
"Yeah, but maybe we could just hang out."
Melissa tilted her head and Eric had never felt more self-conscious. She smiled though and Eric thought that was a good sign.
But before she could answer someone interrupted. "Hey Mel!"
They both turned to see another guy running towards them. "Hey Nathan." She beamed.
Eric thought he looked vaguely familiar. "Man, it feels like I haven't seen you in ages." He said when he reached them. He then noticed Eric. "Hi"
"Hello" Eric shuffled his feet. He could tell he wasn't going to like Nathan.
"This is my history partner." Melissa introduced. "Eric, this is Nathan, he is my best friend."
"Oh man, that assignment! I got paired up with Taylor; I might as well have been doing it myself." He rolled his eyes and Melissa laughed. "Me and the other guys are heading to the mall, that new movie you wanted to see just came out."
"Oh! Yay!" She cheered and then turned to Eric. "You want to come? It looks really good."
Eric looked at Melissa then Nathan, who he could tell didn't like him, and then back to Melissa. "Nah" He replied. He couldn't think of a good excuse so he just let his one syllable answer just hang in the air between them.
Nathan shrugged, "Okay. Let's go Mel. We want to catch the 4pm session."
Melissa looked almost disappointed. "If you're sure."
Eric nodded and Melissa let herself be dragged away by Nathan. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then!" She called back and waved.
Eric waved back. It took him a while to figure out what that twisting feeling at the bottom of his stomach meant. Not that it mattered since it seemed like he was never going to be alone with Melissa again. Nathan seemed to make sure of it. His only proof of their time spent together was the A+ he got for the assignment, his first and his last. His mom had it framed. It was embarrassing but he was secretly glad.
The next few years flew by and he had thought he had put a stop to his mushy feelings towards Melissa. But he guessed all it took was for him to bump into her between classes and for her to smile with those strawberry scented lips and it was like he was in the 7th grade all over again. He now supposed the plane crash; the being stranded on the island together and the whole her saving his life kind of thing helped a little. He wondered did that mean he was now in love or something. But he is only sixteen. What is love?
He uses that, his twisted logic of love, to justify his sudden betrayal of her confidence. He had seem the tape, had watched Melissa confess her feelings about Jackson. It felt like his insides were being squeezed together, until they exploded. And being a weak and petty person, Eric had handed it to Taylor.
Now don't get him wrong, he thought Taylor was hot. But talking to her was like talking to… well he couldn't think of a good comparison but it wasn't something that he often enjoyed. She was just pretty to look at for the most part, though she did have a bit of a nasty streak in her. He had initially thought that was an attractive quality in her, until she manipulated him too.
He regretted it the instant he put it in her hands but it was too late. He tried to laugh off the hurt he saw in Melissa's eyes but it felt like someone had punched him in the stomach and by the looks of Nathan and Jackson he guessed he was lucky that it didn't really come to that.
He wanted to apologise, especially with all the drama that unfolded after but Eric wasn't someone who apologised very often, let alone sincerely.
He had wandered towards her on an especially boring afternoon. Nathan and Jackson were nowhere to be seen. He wondered if Melissa was aware of the captivating vulnerability she radiated, the way she made every guy within a ten mile radius gladly protect her from slime balls like him. She was sitting under a palm tree, weaving frons together and humming to herself. After a moment's observation he thought, probably not.
"Hey" He said.
"Hey" She replied.
This is going well, he thought.
"I" he began and she looked at him with those eyes that won him over so long ago. "I" He tried again.
"It's okay. Don't worry about it. I know you didn't mean it." Eric thought her unyielding optimism and belief in people was going to get her really hurt one day. He just hoped he wouldn't be the one.
"Thanks" He replied and stared at his feet.
"Do you want to help me?" She offered, holding up a giant leaf.
"Yeah" Eric quickly said, in that moment if she had nonchalantly asked him to throw himself off a cliff or cut off all of Taylor's hair he would have just as eagerly complied. Melissa wasn't mad at him and it was a very liberating feeling.
He kept his distance though. Nathan already didn't like him and he was pretty sure he wasn't making a very good impression with Jackson. He only hung around with her when neither of the guys were around. He had noticed that was happening more and more frequently. Nathan had realised he liked Daley and Jackson and Taylor apparently had more in common then anyone would have thought. He knew the latter especially well since it upset Melissa. And he always noticed when things upset Melissa. He knew Jackson was deliberately trying to distance himself from Melissa because he had made that stupid no relationships rule. Who died and made him boss? Then Eric remembered that he had contributed to that and his train of thought fizzled away.
He realised the sun was going down and he didn't like to be too far out when it got dark. He had paranoid visions of being eaten by a polar bear or something just as random and unexplainable. He got up and dusted himself off and wandered back to camp, wondering what Melissa was up to.
Unlike my other Flight 29 Stories this will be continued. Albeit, slowly.
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