Memories and Melodies

By: Riley

Kendall has never been known as the guy that would give up when things got tough; but he might not be able to resist the urge to have it all end.


.:Chapter 01:.


"Your total will be…seventy-five dollars and twenty three cents. Will that be cash or charge?"

Kendall Knight turned away from the register in front of him to look at his customer, an elderly lady, and had a mental meltdown when he saw that she was digging through her purse. It wasn't that she was looking for her money that bothered him; it was the fact that he could see that it was going to take a while. There were receipts, tissue packets, napkins, tubes of lipstick and mascara, lollipops, a mini umbrella, wallet, a notepad, pens, keys, chapstick, at least two pairs of earrings, gum, a light bulb, deodorant, a camera, batteries, a little memory sick, business cards….anything and everything else but money.

He already had a very long day, now he had to deal with a growing checkout line with someone who he was sure was really sweet, keeping him from being able to clock out and meet his friends to play some video games. It was the only thing that was going to give him a good stress relief, especially after having failed his science test. He could practically hear that annoying little voice in the back of his head saying 'you should have studied harder' but in his opinion, watching the hockey highlights was more important than one measly little science test.

"Oh! Here it is!" Kendall smiled as the older woman pulled her checkbook out of her purse. She gave Kendall a sweet smile, instantly making him regret the selfish thoughts that had crossed his mind moments before. "I'm sorry, what was the total again?"

"Seventy five dollars and twenty three cents," Kendall replied. He flipped his shaggy hair out of his green eyes, waiting for the check to be written out. Once the woman handed it over to him, he took the check and slid it through the reader. When the machine let him know that the check had been cleared, he took it, scribbled a pen across the back, and stuck it in the register drawer. He then ripped he long receipt out of the machine and handed it over to the woman. "Thanks for shopping at Sherwood, have a great day!"

The woman gave him another warm smile before taking her bags and loading them in her cart and walking out of the store. Kendall turned to the next customer and rang them through their groceries before shutting down his register. He pulled his apron off over his head and draped it over his arm before walking into the break room. He bumped into his manager, Mr. Stayton, on the way.

"Hey, my shift is over and I'm clocking out," Kendall said. He let out a tired yawn, rubbing a hand over his neck. "I'll be back in same time tomorrow."

"Good, good." Mr. Stayton nodded. "You did a good job today, Knight." He looked towards the ceiling in thought. "You're going to be working as a kart wrangler tomorrow, I have the registers filled and…I'm pretty sure that you're getting tired of having the customers scream at you for a lifetime."

Kendall gave a wry smile.

Throughout that day, he had customer after customer blame him for their coupons, which had been expired for weeks, being declined. It wasn't his fault that the policy wouldn't let them take coupons that were over two weeks old. But it was still kinda funny to see how worked up they would get the calmer her got. He had been able to see that some people turned a very interesting shade of pink, red, or magenta the angrier they got. It was almost as much fun as Grocery Kart Golf with his best friends.

"Actually, from the smile on your face, I think they were getting more annoyed with you," Mr. Stayton said, with a laugh. He reached out and clapped Kendall on the shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow, Knight."

"See you." Kendall gave a wave and stepped around his boss, heading into the break room.

He hung up his apron in the small locker that had been assigned to him, along with the gloves, gray beanie, and his backpack. He could see the failed test poking out of the top, reminding him that he needed to have his mother sign it. Kendall shoved the test down into the depths of his backpack and pulled out his jacket. He zipped up his backpack and pulled on his jacket before grabbing his beanie. Firmly pressing a hand against the locker door, he closed it with a sharp push, the feeling of the cool metal under his hand, allowing it to calm him down.

The cold did that to him sometimes. It was a good way for him to clear his head and to let him gather his thoughts.

Kendall pulled his beanie down over his hair and pulled his jacket tighter around him as he walked out the backdoor of the grocery store. He hitched his backpack up his back and started the walk back home. Along the way, he tried to think of a way to convince his mother that his failing grade wasn't a big deal. She was a stickler for education, deeming it as the most important thing in someone's life. It wasn't his top priority, honestly, that was always going to be hockey, but he knew that his mother was right to some extent. Enough so that he was scared for her to figure out what grade he got.

Kendall looked at his watch and started to walk faster, knowing that his best friends were really going to lay into him when he finally arrived so they could start playing video games. It was bad enough that Logan and James were both sticklers for being on time, but Carlos acted like a puppy if you were ever late. He jumped on you with so much enthusiasm when you walked through the door, that you wondered how he was able to function when he was alone. Kendall ducked down an ally, taking a shortcut. When he popped out of the other side, he darted across the street and headed up the sidewalk. But he moved so quickly that he didn't notice the patch of ice until he slammed back onto the ground.

"Oof!"

Kendall's eyes closed and he let out a low groan of pain, lying on his stomach. In the fall, his backpack slipped forward and was now resting half on his upper back, half on the back of his head. His hands were crushed underneath him, one by his chest, and the other under his stomach. He had fallen so hard that he had knocked some of the wind out of him. Kendall turned his head to the side, resting it on the ground, sucking in a sharp breath of air. He groaned again when he felt stinging pain across his chest.

"So, you know that thing that people do when they put one foot in front of the other? It's called walking. You may want to try it sometime."

Kendall looked up to see a teenage girl standing over him, bent at the waist so she could see him clearly. His green eyes locked onto her blue ones and he two looked at each other in silence. Kendall slowly pushed himself up so he was on his knees, not breaking eye contact with her. He felt himself being drawn to her for some reason, completely mesmerized. She raised an eyebrow as she straightened, but she didn't look away either.

"S'matter, mate? D'you lose your ability to talk?"

"No, but I got a fist to the gut," Kendall said. He leaned forward slightly, briefly squeezing his eyes shut as he waited for another flash of pain to pass.

"Oh, so Little Blonde Beanie Hood has a voice!" The girl smirked before reaching out a hand. Kendall grabbed onto it and allowed himself to get pulled to his feet with one strong pull from her. He stumbled forward a step, looking down at her. Standing at five foot eleven he seemed to tower over her five foot three frame, but it was comfortable for him. He noticed the warmth in his hand and quickly let go of hers.

"And so do you," Kendall remarked. His eyes moved over her face, noticing that her cheeks and nose were bright red. "Rudolph." He was surprised when he noticed the girl's eyes narrow into slits, her dark blue eyes flashing. "I like your accent," he said quickly. "Are you…British?"

"Australian, actually," she quickly corrected him. "What's up with your collarbone?"

"Huh?"

Kendall didn't notice the pain; he had pushed it to the back of his mind, until she brought it up. He winced as he moved his arm, feeling it pulse again. This time the pain was so sharp he felt like his legs would give out. Another quiet groan leaked from his mouth. "I'm ok."

The girl snorted. "No, you're not." She stepped closer to him and pulled the collar of his shirt aside, using her other hand to press her index and finger fingers to his collar bone. Despite how cold it was outside and her lack of wearing gloves, her fingers were hot against his skin, causing goose bumps to immediately rise. "You broke it," she said matter of fact.

"It wouldn't be the first time," Kendall replied with more of a weary sigh than annoyance. He couldn't help but think of all of the times that he had been smashed into the boards by opponents that were desperate to keep him from making a goal. "Oh!" Kendall moved his good arm and held it out. "I'm Kendall Knight."

The girl looked at him for a long moment before swinging her right arm and slapped her hand into his, giving it a firm shake. "Nice to meet you, I guess." She turned her head away, pulling her phone out of her pocket and looking at it. She ignored Kendall for a moment before looking at him out of the corner of her eye. "D'you need to go to the hospital?"

"Probably," Kendall replied. Most of the times that he had gotten hurt during hockey he would just wait for everything to stop hurting and heal it at home. But breaks were trickier, especially when he wasn't sure what kind of a break it was and how long it was going to put him out of commission.

"Well, unfortunately, I'm stuck with you, because I witnessed this whole thing." The girl roughly shoved her phone back into her pocket. She rolled her head to look at him again. She tilted her head to the side, smirking again. "Until your mummy comes to get you." She lifted her right hand and Kendall noticed a bandage that went from her bicep down to her fingers. "Hospital's this way, right?"

"Right." Kendall shifted his backpack onto his other arm and slowly turned around, making sure that he didn't move his other arm too much or it would send a lightning bolt of pain down his arm. "Uh, you didn't tell me your name."

The girl studied him as the two continued to walk down the street, being careful of any piles of slush and spots of black ice. "…Name's Riley," She finally said after a long moment.

"I don't even get your last name?" Kendall pushed his fringe out of his face. He took the chance to look her up and down, taking in her black hair with red streaks that was pulled back into a long ponytail and dark blue eyes. She was wearing a red sweatshirt over a pair of black jeans and black boots. Definitely not suited for the cold weather.

"You're going to have to figure out that one yourself," Riley replied mysteriously. "Most people want to forget my name when they hear it."

"I don't believe that," Kendall denied.

"Believe what you want," Riley said carelessly. A strong wind blew and she pulled the sleeves to her sweatshirt down over her hands, shoving them into the front pocket of her sweatshirt. She ducked her head so her face was out of the way of the wind and Kendall could hear her mutter "stupid, cold, weather" under her breath.

"It's not that bad," Kendall tried to reassure her the best that he could. It was a bit awkward, really, he didn't know her from any other person on the street, but he felt a need to make her feel better in some way.

"Yeah, well, you haven't lived in only warm climate places all your life," Riley pointed out. She pulled her hands out of her sweatshirt pocket long enough to pull up her hood. Kendall smiled a little, noticing that she looked like a little kid, as her sweatshirt was bigger than she was. It was kind of worn at the ends of the sleeves, with holes big enough for her thumbs to fit through, but she didn't seem bothered by it. In fact, as Kendall took in more of her appearance, he was surprised that she wasn't freezing. Her shoes had a hole in the toes and her jeans had holes in the knees, probably making her colder than she was letting on.

"Do you want to use my jack-"

"No!" Riley said with so much bite that Kendall took a step away from her. "I'm fine!"

"O-ok," Kendall said. "If you're sure." The two continued to walk to the hospital in silence. Kendall's mind wandered to which doctor he thought that he was going to get. He had been there enough times to know almost every doctor that was there and who was better what procedure. For concussions he had a choice of two doctors, for sprains he usually got Dr. Cohen, for casts he usually got Dr. Manning, but for splints and mild to severe work, he got Dr. Ames, who he was sure was still on the clock. I wonder what mom is gonna say? This is the third time I've gone to the hospital in five months.

"You a hockey player?"

Kendall looked over at Riley and saw that she was looking at him with an expectant look on his face. He blinked once, her question settling into his brain, and then nodded. "Oh, yeah, I am. How'd you know?" At the 'duh' look on his face, he looked down to see that he was wearing his high school jersey. "Small talk, right?"

"Small talk is for people who have absolutely nothing to say," Riley said mysteriously. "And I hate small talk almost as much as I hate talking about absolutely nothing." She raised and lowered her right shoulder in a shrug. "I was just wondering what kind of guy you are."

"And what kind of guy am I?" Kendall pressed. Riley didn't answer. Instead she started walking faster. Kendall looked up to see that they had arrived at the hospital. The two moved through the front door and Riley looked around before walking up to the receptionist's desk. "Hey, this guy here may have a broken collar bone; someone needs to look at him."

The receptionist looked at Kendall and gave a small before she grabbed a clipboard, handing it over to him. "Yes, we get Mr. Knight here a lot. Just fill this out and have a seat and you'll be called when it's your turn to go in." Riley took the clipboard and handed it to Kendall as she moved over to a set of empty seats.

"Uh, I can't," Kendall said as he slowly sat down. "My right hand is-"

"Son of a bitch," Riley muttered under her breath, taking the clipboard back from him. She grabbed the pen and took the cap off with her teeth. "Name: Kendall Knight. Age: Sixteen."

"How'd you know-"

"I was taking a guess, since you seem to be about my age," Riley interrupted him. "Date of birth?"

"November second," Kendall said.

Riley wrote that down. "Any pre-existing medical concerns? Freakishly large eyebrows and an even bigger nose." Kendall moved forward to see if she was writing it down and frowned, leaning back in his seat when he noticed that Riley's hand was still sitting over the clipboard, not making a move to write. "Sorry, but you should have clearance on those things."

"Just a bad knee," Kendall said through gritted teeth. "They should know about that by now."

"Allergic to any medication?"

"No."

"Any recent surgeries?"

"No."

"Anything that needs to be noted that you're concerned about?"

"No."

"Are you sure about that?"

Kendall turned to look at her and she defiantly looked back at him, raising his chin a little. His eyebrows lowered as he studied her again. "So how come you're learning all of these things about me and I haven't leaned a single thing about you?"

"I'm just good," Riley replied. She looked up as a doctor walked towards them. "I'm guessing this bloke is for you? He shook his head in a funny way when before coming over." She bobbed her head. "Though I think you're funny looking too, but that's not my call."

"Ahh, Mr. Knight," Dr. Ames said kindly. He looked at Kendall over the top of his glasses. "I thought I told you that I didn't want to see you for another two months at the most?"

Kendall gave a half smile. "Well, what can I say, doc, I just couldn't stay away."

Dr. Ames smiled and turned to Riley, his eyebrows rising in surprise. "Miss. Jackson, I didn't expect to see you here so soon. How're the bandages holding up? You're not getting them wet are you? I know it'll be tricky in the shower."

"No, things are fine," Riley replied calmly. Kendall couldn't help but note that she was being friendlier to the doctor than she had been to him. "I think by now I would know how to make sure that my dressings are taken care of." She sat up straight. "Is my sister still here?"

"Yeah, she's coming out of the room in a couple of minutes," Dr. Ames said with a smile. "I know you must have been worried. Your brothers called enough." He looked around for a moment before looking back at her. "I know that I shouldn't do this, but you can go back and see her. I know she hasn't been discharged yet but I think they'll let it slide this time if you let them know, that I sent you back there."

"Great." Riley stood up and haphazardly tossed the clipboard into Kendall's lap. "Hoo roo." She turned on her heel and walked in the direction that Dr. Ames had pointed her to. Kendall watched as she disappeared down the hallway.

Jackson huh? Kendall turned to address the doctor himself. "So, should I call my mom now or wait until after I get checked out? I don't know which would be better because she'll be equally upset I've ended up here again."

Dr. Ames laughed.


Scorpio loves controlling things from behind-the-scenes. They are like the master puppeteer.