Ethan "Spot" Conlon

Melody "Bittersweet" Conlon

Charity "Criss-Cross" Conlon

Josephine "Gip" Miller

Matthew "Specs" Gordon

Travis "Skittery" O'Connell

Evelyn "Hades" Swanson

Vinny "Ghost" Soprano

Crystal "Books" Sawyer – Tal

Amanda "Whisper" Conners

David "Davie" Jacobs

The door was slowly closing as Melody reached her destination and she managed to squeeze through just in time, taking her seat in the back. She looked around for her small red-headed teacher, but she wasn't there. "Where's Mrs. O'Leary?" Melody asked the girl to the left of her. Crystal Sawyer was a prep, but a smart prep. AP English was the only class she had with the small brunette, and thank god for that.

"She's on maternity leave for the next two months…" Crystal's emerald eyes pierced through Melody, her voice tight with annoyance.

"Be nice Tal, it ain't her fault you forgot to do your homework," a girl on the other side of Melody said. Tal was Crystal's nickname, something only her friends called her.

Amanda Conners was one of Crystal's few friends. She was the happier of the two, always laughing and smiling. Her hazel eyes were inviting and she was known for the blue bandanna that held her shoulder length light brown hair out of her eyes. One of the deans had tried to get her to take it off, seeing as it was a local gang symbol, but everyone knew Amanda was too nice to ever be in a gang. To say the least, he failed miserably in his attempt.

"I hear we have a guy for a substitute these next few months," Amanda's nose wrinkled as she spoke, illuminating the freckles that were scattered across her cheeks.

"Well he's late and in my eyes that's already one strike against him," a boy's nasally voice interrupted from the front of the room. The voice belonged to none other than David Jacobs, head of every geek or nerd club started in the school and the obvious valedictorian of the senior class. His brown locks were slicked back in a ridiculous manner and he wore outdated rhinestone glasses that looked as if they were invented way before David was born.

The door opened and an older man in his late forties walked in. "Hello class," he smiled as he spoke, dodging the eyes of the prying teenagers. He walked over to the desk and gently rested his briefcase on it. Removing his black jacket, he scanned the chalkboard, looking for a piece of chalk.

He ran a hand through his brown tresses and found the item he required. "I am Mr. Denton and I will be your teacher for the rest of the school year," he wrote out his name as he spoke. Written on the board was a simple, "DENTON" in scratchy letters.

A shiver ran up Melody's spine as he spoke, but no one seemed to notice the strange air about their new teacher. After a few minutes, the feeling had left and Melody began to think she might still enjoy English even with her favorite teacher out for the rest of the year.

They were about to begin a set of Shakespearean poems when the door creaked open again and Melody's least favorite person popped his head in the door. Dr. Snyder – Head Dean of the crummy Brooklyn high school. How he ever got his doctorate in anything but torturing teenagers was beyond Melody. She sunk in her chair, knowing why he was there.

"Melody Conlon," his voice broke through the sudden silence like a bullet hitting glass. A snarl dominated his features as his beady eyes spied her. She was glad she had pulled the zipper of her hoody up all the way, covering every inch of bare skin that the corset exposed. She stood up and gathered her things quietly.

Ignoring the stares of the goody-two shoes surrounding her, Melody found her way to the door and she followed behind the sniveling Head of Deans to his office. Without even being asked to, Melody took a seat opposite his desk and crossed her arms. "Yes?" she asked as he sat himself, looking like he was waiting for her to speak first.

"Any good reason to why you ditched first period again?" Snyder asked, pulling open a drawer and bringing out a pad that was covered with red sheets.

"My brother was running late again," Melody said, not as an excuse but as a piece of information.

"You could have walked," Snyder said, scratching out a date and a name on the piece of paper. All Melody did in response was shrug. He tore the sheet of paper and handed it to her.

"This is the third time, you get a Saturday. This Saturday…" Snyder pointed out the date, the time and location of where it would take place.

Melody's jaw fell open and she just glared at him. "Can I do it another Saturday?" she asked through gritted teeth. She would have never stooped to this low of begging, but she could not go on Saturday. She didn't want to go either way, but if she got another suspension she might face being expelled.

"No." he said flatly, getting up and opening the door.

Rage overflowed Melody and she ripped up the sheet of paper. "I will not be attending then…" she locked her jaw and started to walk through the door. His hand locked on her arm and her she turned her head, eyes wide and she shrugged her arm out of his grip.

"If you touch me again, I will break your jaw…" Melody began, but was interrupted by a secretary.

"Sir… Ethan Conlon is here to see you," the small old lady stated politely, scurrying off again in fear of Snyder's reaction. He was not one to be interrupted.

The icy coldness of Ethan's blue eyes flickered between the two. "What is the problem here?" his voice sounded authoritatively.

"You're sister refuses to accept her punishment," Snyder said, "If her disobedience continues she will face being expelled."

Tears had been forming in Melody's eyes, her vibrant green eyes clouding over in a stormy grey color. Ethan's hand touched her arm gently, but she still pulled away from him. "I will not sit in school for four hours on the day our little sister died!" She pushed past both of them and ran out of the office, her sobs echoing through the empty hallways as she ran to her sanctuary.

The large doors to the auditorium were open like always and Melody crept through the shadows and up a set of stairs opposite the stage. The sound booth was never locked and the only time it was used was during play rehearsals or actual plays. She was safe there anytime of the day. Only one person knew it was her sanctuary. It was their sanctuary: Travis's and hers.

Time stood still as she sobbed silently, she curled up in the corner, her knees to her chest and her head buried in her arms. It could have been seconds, minutes, or hours, but time didn't matter. The tears kept coming and she could not stop them. April 2nd, last year. That date kept haunting her, following her in the shadows and creeping up to surprise her with unwanted tears.

It wasn't just one person Melody had lost. The memories that came with that day made her stomach twist and she tried to will them away but they came all the same.

A day no different then any other it had started out. First they went to school and then came home to the mess that was their lives. It was Charity's last year of middle school and she was blooming into a beautiful young woman. She had strawberry blonde hair that reached her waist with a natural streak of brown on one side and on the other a dyed black streak that hit her chin. She had the same striking Conlon eyes and fitting facial features. She was the thinnest of them, never eating more than they could afford and burning it off just as easy with her high metabolism.

She was quite a character and always dressing eccentrically, something Melody was proud of her for. She was friendlier than both Melody and Ethan and gained friends easily. They were never around though. In those days they weren't allowed to bring people over and for good reason.

Today was Friday, payday. That's when shit went down. Their mom was only working one job back then and she never made enough; at least, not enough for her husband. That day it got out of control.

All three of us came home from school together. We knew just to go straight to our rooms and hide out until Dad was off to work at 5 pm. That's when it was safe. Safe to talk, breathe, and fix our mother's new bruises and cuts.

It was different lately because Ethan was at his part time job at a coffee shop close by. When we got there it was quiet; unusually quiet. I motioned for Charity to go to her room and I crept down the hall and listened. Nothing. "Mom," my voice was meek and I knocked on the closed door.

A moan sounded and I heard my dad yelling suddenly. I stepped back from the door as he swung it open. "Go to your room!" he hollered. I could see past his enormous form and I saw my mother, in a pile of her own blood on the floor.

When I didn't move, he shoved me hard against the wall. I fell against something and I felt pain in my head. I reached my hand behind my head and there was blood. The door slammed again and he was gone. Charity stood there, like a little angel, trying to talk to me but I couldn't hear a word she said.

"Call 911," my request was intended to be soft-spoken but I could barely hear the words come out nonetheless the fact that I had shouted.

Out came my father in all his rage and he grabbed Charity by her long hair and into the bathroom they went. The toilet kept flushing, that little I could hear. My ears seemed as if they were filled with water and I found my strength to get up. I knocked something over and by God's good grace the cordless phone fell right at my feet.

I tried to kick at the door as I dialed the three numbers. I must have been screaming again, this time into the phone and the bathroom door opened. I didn't see him; I must have blanked him out. All I saw was her limp body, bent over the toilet, her head face down in the toilet.

Pain overcame me and her dead body was the last thing I saw before the paramedics pulled me back into a conscious state. Ethan said I was sobbing the second my eyes opened, but I don't really remember much after that. Poor Ethan…he couldn't do anything.

There was a flood at her feet by the time Travis arrived. At least one period must have passed while she was sitting there. His mouth dropped open and he did the best thing he could at the moment. He knelt down and scooped her into his arms, letting her bury my head in his chest and sob. "Charity…" it was the only word she said as he held her.