A/N: Chapter 2 in my song fic! I'm not sure exactly how long this story will be, probably 4 chapters, possibly 5. Give me your feedback, let me know what you think - good or bad. Reviews are like my bread and water as a writer. :)
Hope everyone's having a great new year so far!
Chapter Two – Them and Us
In chapter two
It got more serious
Changed from you and me
To them and us
"They still don't think it's a good idea."
That was putting it mildly. Melissa's parents actually hated the idea of her going to Texas for college. She was in her first semester of her freshman year at a college close enough to home that she was still living with her parents. But she and Jason had been talking about her transferring to Texas so she could go to college with him. Jason would have transferred to Virginia, but they didn't have a good music program at the college Melissa was going to. Melissa had brought up the subject with her parents several times over the past couple of months and always got the same response – a flat, resounding "no."
"Well…" Jason sighed. Melissa could envision him running his hand through his hair. She could see him so clearly in her mind's eye – even though she hadn't seen him in about three months, since the end of the summer when they'd said goodbye. That's when they'd first discussed Melissa transferring.
Melissa sighed in response to Jason's sigh. "Yeah. What should we do?"
"I don't know." Jason was silent for a few seconds. "What do you want to do?"
"Ha, that's easy. I want to be with you."
"But your parents say no. So we need to find another way to be together."
"But we've talked about it already," Melissa said quietly, "and there is no other way while we're in college."
Jason didn't immediately respond. When he did, it was in a low voice. "I could drop out."
"No!" Melissa frowned deeply. "No, Jim, this is your dream."
"You're not dropping out either," he insisted. "You want to be a journalist just as much as I want to be a musician. You're not giving up your dream either."
"I didn't say anything about it."
"But you were thinking it."
Melissa sighed, but didn't say anything. She had been. But they'd gone through this conversation so many times, there was no reason to repeat it, really. "I wish my parents could understand. They just want what's best for me, but they think what we have isn't…"
"Serious. I know. I can understand. They don't want you to make a mistake and run the risk of ruining the rest of your life." Jason sounded grudgingly understanding.
"But it's my life!" Melissa felt tears stinging the back of her eyes. Her resentment to her parents was beginning to show itself in the tone of her voice. She could understand the same way Jason could, but at the same time she didn't want to be held back from what she wanted. "Shouldn't I be able to make the decision?"
"Yes."
Melissa took a deep breath, trying to calm down. She shouldn't yell at Jason – he was on her side after all. He wanted her to be with him just as much as she did. "I don't want to go against my parents, but…I really miss you, Jason."
"I miss you, too," Jason whispered. He didn't add that he wouldn't dream of trying to convince her to defy her parents. That had already been said several times.
Melissa wished more than ever that she was holding him, rather than her cell phone. "Do you know if you'll be in Florida at all next summer?"
"I…doubt it. We've got things pretty well booked through the summer." Jason was in a band that was just taking off. They'd been working for months on getting a good schedule of shows, and they were working on their first record.
Melissa knew how big of an opportunity this was for them, but it didn't make it any easier for her to accept. Of course, she had her internship to think about next year. "I probably won't be going, either." Melissa threw one of her small pillows across the room and flopped backward onto the bed from her sitting position. Her hair fanned out around her. "I feel like the whole world is against us."
"If it has to be that way, at least we're on a team together. I will always be here for you, Melissa, no matter what might happen or what life might throw our way. You can always come to me."
"Same goes here." Melissa closed her eyes, pretending Jason was lying next to her.
"Even if we can't resolve this problem, we'll work something out."
Melissa couldn't answer. She was working hard to hold the tears back. She could tell goodbye was coming. And this goodbye felt different. More serious. More like a parting of ways. Melissa didn't want that. And she knew Jason didn't either. But what else could they do?
"Remember, if you need someone, if you have nowhere to turn, you can always turn to me."
"I know," Melissa whispered. She felt fragile, like one of the leaves blowing in the wind outside her window. She felt like her world could blow away just as easily as the changing leaves were blown off the tree branches.
"I promise."
"I know."
"Goodbye, Melissa."
"Goodbye, Jason." She paused and added, "I love you." But she didn't know if he heard before he hung up.
She laid her cell phone on the bed next to her, the tears beginning to course down her cheeks from her closed eyelids. Melissa opened her eyes and sat up when she heard a light tapping on the window. Rain had begun to fall from the gray autumn sky. A sudden gust of wind whipped through the tree outside her window, and most of the remaining leaves were swept away. Melissa buried her face in her hands and sobbed.
And we felt like the autumn leaves
But the leaves got swept away
And the rain bled us off the page
