To Didi- No, they're not Solace-Diangelos! Elsie, Alokia and Charlie are all Valdezes! Sorry!
Melody Garcia. Two months and three days younger than Elsie, a proud Ravenclaw with perpetual pink in her wardrobe and a personality that defied her appearance. She was four foot ten, but that didn't stop her from, well, anything. Coupled with said personality, Elsie marvelled at how this girl hadn't killed herself already.
Their first date had been going quite well. Elsie was pleasantly surprised when Melody ate two Big Macs, fries, a doughnut, a McFlurry and three apple pies, slurping unapologetically on her milkshake. Her appetite meant Elsie didn't have to hide hers. She spent most of the thirty dollars on food, much to Melody's approval.
"No, I think I'd pilot the Black Lion."
"You wouldn't reach the pedals."
"Like you could?" Melody wrinkled her nose. Elsie laughed. Melody prised the lid from her milkshake, dipping a fry in.
"Why?"
"Oh, don't tell me you're a pineapple-on-pizza person?"
"No, no, ew, no. Milkshake fries though?" Elsie shook her head, grimacing. Melody smiled, munching happily. Something over Elsie's shoulder caught her eye and the smile disappeared in a flash.
"What are you looking at?" She demanded hotly. Elsie started, wondering where the sweet girl had gone. She turned to see an older, grey-haired woman frowning at them. At Melody's tone, the frown deepened. The woman straightened, sniffing distastefully.
"You should be ashamed of yourselves, behaving like that in public."
"You should be ashamed of yourself, wearing those shoes with that shirt. What you were thinking?" Melody shook her head. "Keep your nose out, I'm a dab-hand with a scalpel and it'd be a shame if it came off." She went back to dipping her fries in milkshake. When the woman kept staring, Melody made the point of chewing loudly, with her mouth open, holding the mush between her teeth and glaring at their new friend. The woman scoffed in disgust, swivelling on her heel and marching off. Elsie looked back as Melody resumed chewing. "What?" Melody asked innocently.
"You're not as sweet as you look."
"Excuse you, I'm adorable, inside and out."
"No, no! I think it's…" Elsie laughed. "I think it's brilliant!" Melody blinked at her, cheeks reddening. "For the record though, you don't actually carry scalpels around with you, do you?"
"There's nothing you can prove." Melody defied, pouting as she realised she had eaten all her fries. "I won't cut your nose off. Not yet, anyway."
"I've had worse." Elsie said without thinking. That got Melody's attention, her eyes widening with demand. "Uh…" Elsie said brilliantly. She couldn't exactly list her multitude of old stab wounds and monster-related bites and scratches, all reduced to scars now. Especially on the first date. "I have… an interesting past." She winced internally.
"I need to know." Melody gripped her hand with surprising strength. "Does it involve the Mafia?"
"W-what? No! No Mafia!"
"Aliens?"
"No."
"Demons!"
"No!" Elsie laughed.
"You've summoned the Devil." Melody squinted suspiciously. Elsie shook her head, biting the inside of her cheek. Did her great-uncle, Lord of the Underworld, count as the Devil? "I'll get the truth out of you eventually." Melody warned. "I love mysteries."
"So your hobbies include cutting off people's noses, judging their fashion choices and solving mysteries?"
"And science. And paranormal stuff. Paranormal science stuff."
"And yet… pink."
"I have found my colour and I will wear it." She stuck her tongue out. "You, on the other hand, should really try a purple. Or a dark blue." Elsie looked down at her shirt.
"What's wrong with red?"
"It clashes with my pink."
"Purple and dark blue don't?"
"Mm, fair point. Maybe wear black!"
"No."
"White?"
"Won't stay white."
"That's fair." She looked down at their conjoined hands, blushing and letting go with a cough. Elsie hadn't realised, but suddenly missed the contact. "Should we go for a walk?" She asked, not quite looking Elsie in the eye. "That woman is sitting over there muttering to her little buddies." Elsie turned in her seat, resting her hand on the back of it. "Ugh, you are so not discreet." Their judgemental, ill-fashioned friend sat on a booth about twenty feet away, three of her friends listening to her grumble. She saw the drinks on their tables, smiling to herself. She extended her fingers. Her mother could have done this at a greater distance, without even looking or moving so much as a millimetre. It took Elsie a little more concentration. She could sense the water in their drinks, the ice cubes slowly melting. She flicked her fingers and all four drinks went over, pouring over their respective owners. They shrieked, jumping to their feet. "Whoa!" Melody was on her feet too, smiling at their misfortune, confusion weighing down her brow.
"Seems like there's a ghost in here. Maybe they don't like her outfit either." Elsie started gathering their rubbish. Melody remained standing, looking from the soaked ladies to Elsie, puzzling something over. Elsie carried the tray over to the bin, taking a minute to dispense their rubbish. She glanced over at the ladies, who had grabbed handfuls of napkins from workers and friendly customers, frantically trying to dry themselves down.
Melody looked like she had come to a conclusion when she returned, but frowning slightly, missing a small piece. "You OK?" Elsie asked.
"Yeah, yeah. All good." Melody shook her head, smiling. "We'll have to come back and investigate this ghost."
"Is that you asking me on a second date?"
"That or dinner later." Melody shrugged.
"We'll go with the second date. Someone ate my allowance's worth of Big Macs."
"I'm not going to turn down free food."
"You're buying next time then."
"Deal." Melody grinned. She looked over at the ladies, smirking as she tucked her hand through Elsie's arm. Elsie had been wearing a jacket the entire time. Melody had secretly been admiring her shoulders, but now her attention was on her arms. Through the material, she could feel strength and muscles defined enough to weaken her knees. I have… an interesting past, she had said.
She held Elsie's arm with both hands, tipping her head onto her shoulder. She could get used to this. "So, where're we off to?"
"Nowhere that's going to cost more than three dollars."
"Oh, mood."