Chapter 10

- - - - - - - - - - - - -Jack's POV- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I woke up because Bobby shook me violently and as soon as I opened my eyes, I felt the strongest headache I had ever had. I had no idea that my headache would be the least important of my problems. I also had no idea where I was, but recognized Bobby, that at least was a good sign.

"Jack!"

"Argh! Keep your voice down Bobby! You have no idea how my head hurts."

"And it's gonna hurt even more if you don't get the fuck out of there now! What were you thinking? It's about 4:30am and I find you here all drugged and shit!"

"I'm not drugged."

"Oh no? And why would Mel lie about that?"

"Mel! Where's she?"

"It doesn't matter, let's go home." He helped me get up. I was walking like it was my first time doing it.

"What did Mel say to you?"

"Nothing, Ollie called me to tell about you and also said that Mel was really upset."

"Why?"

"I already told you that I don't fucking know!" He helped me get into the car with all the kindness that Bobby Mercer had, that means none. As soon as my ass touched the car's seat and I rested my head on it, I fell asleep.

…

I woke up again and looked around, now I knew where I was and it was my bedroom. I was still dressed with last night's clothes and my headache was less painful. I went downstairs and found Angel watching TV.

"Hey man." He gave me a low five look and turned his attention back to the TV. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Jack, I seriously thought you had turned into a more responsible person."

"And I did! I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Quit lying Jack! You know how much we all suffered to help you get through your abstinence crises, especially Bobby and Ollie! As if it wasn't enough to go to that fucking party and rock your ass off, you had to take some fucking drug! Why? 'Cause without it your party wouldn't be complete? What else you did apart from getting drugged and doing shit to Mel?"

"I did not take any drug! I just drank water the whole damn night! And I did nothing to Mel apart from singing that song to her, that I spent my whole fucking day rehearsing and trying to find the right beat so it'd sound perfect to her!"

"So why would she lie about what happened?"

"Where's she? I need to talk to her." I asked, already leaving the house. I had no idea of what was going on.

"Jack wait!" I didn't…

When I crossed the street, I found Ollie talking to someone outside the house. When he saw me, he also gave me a low five look and turned his head back to the girl who he was talking to. She also gave me a look, but it wasn't a low five one, I could see pity on her eyes. I knew who she was… She works at the video store!

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but Ollie, is Mel there?"

"No…she went back to New York."

"What!?!" I felt like my head was being smashed against a brick wall and my heart stopped beating, my entire body froze. "Why?"

"Why? Come on Jack, don't come here with this 'I remember nothing' bullshit! Why did you have to take drugs? If you don't give a fuck about your life, it's your fucking problem! But don't fuck with my little sister's life! She has nothing to do with your addictions!"

"But I didn't take any fucking drug! I just drank water the whole damn night! And the last thing I can remember is waking up in some strange room with Bobby shaking me!"

"That's what I was about to tell you Oliver!" The girl said.

Rachel! Her name is Rachel!

"Some chick, called Victoria, put the drug in Jack's water bottle. He was drinking from it every break, and the girl took advantage of the water left there to drug him. I didn't have the chance to stop him from drinking it, 'cause he drank it all once and actually noticed the strange taste in his mouth, I could see in on his face, but it was too late."

"That's right! My last gulp tasted awful!"

"Then he ran to Mel, who was outside and…" She looked at me asking permission to say what she was about to. I nodded 'yes' and she continued "…and kissed her really deeply."

I couldn't help but smile when I heard that, but also felt huge misery when I realized that I didn't remember anything. I couldn't believe that our first kiss was like that, she deserved much more than that and I screwed it, now I was mad at myself.

"Until there, everything was normal, but then… Jack started to act crazily. Mel asked him to stop but he didn't, she got rid of him but he grabbed her arm."

She turned to me. "You said awful things to her Jack. I don't know what her story is, but it obviously hurt a lot. You guys were yelling and she finally got fed up with all that, punched you in the nose and ran off. Apart from me, two or more people were paying attention to what was happening but none, including me did anything. I thought you were having a boyfriend/girlfriend argument, just then realized it was more serious than that. She bumped into me really hard and asked if I could give her a ride, so I brought her back home. We didn't talk or anything. That's why I came here today, to see how she was and I'm really sorry that she went away."

My entire body was as cold as the snow around us. I couldn't believe I'd done that. Ollie looked at me, his expression wasn't like the one before, it was sad now.

"Ollie, I swear to God, I didn't know I was doing that. As far as I can see, I was in fact drugged, but it wasn't my fault! You know I'd never do something like that to Mel! You know how much I care about her, how much I wanna help her to forget what happened and to move on! You know how much I… Oh my God, what have I done?"

I felt like I'd break down right there. Ollie placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it lightly, now the truth was revealed and I had to fix the shit I had done.

"Ollie, I need to talk to her. She's thinking that I got drugged because I wanted to and meant what I said. I had no idea why the hell I said those things, but clearly I wasn't myself. I need to talk to her."

I searched for my cell phone in one of my pockets and found it.

"Jack, I think you should wait, give her some time…"

"I can't! I can't let her have the wrong idea of what happened. Ollie… I can't loose her."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -End of Jack's POV- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I spent the entire trip to New York listening to music because I couldn't get any sleep. I mostly thought of Ollie, I thought I'd finally spent some real time with my big brother, but things turned in a different way.

I got out of the bus. Home sweet home. And started looking for a familiar face, actually for red hair.

"Melly!" I heard someone squealing and turned smiling.

"Andy!" I hugged her tightly.

"Welcome back!"

"Thanks. It's good to be back."

The grin on her face turned into a worried look.

"Shit girl, you look tired, you have bags under your eyes and they look kinda purple."

"That's because Detroit turned me into a purple monster."

"But it didn't take your sense of humor away. I can stand a purple monster with a sense of humor."

"Sounds good to me." We both laughed and walked to her car. I threw my black bag on the back sit and took my cell phone.

"Aaaww are you already missing Jack boy?"

The grin on my face was gone. "I'm gonna call Ollie." I didn't have to say much else, Andy already caught what this whole thing was about.

"Right."

I talked to Ollie, said that I was fine and hung up. I honestly didn't want to talk too much 'cause it'd make me miss him even more, and he probably had the same idea. He just asked me to leave the cell phone turned on.

Andy drove us home. "Go get some sleep, you seriously need that. We can talk later… and no need to start with all your polite crap, you're not a guest anymore, you never were!"

"Alright ma'am!" I found the guest room, dropped my bag on the floor and fell onto the bed. As soon as I did that and closed my eyes, I slept.

…

I woke up a bit after lunch time.

"Hey there Sleeping Beauty! What a shame, you took purple's monster place!"

"Sorry to disappoint you… but this body belongs to me!" I said with a weird voice, which made her laugh.

We sat on the couch and began to eat something she had cooked. I started telling her everything that had happened since I went to Detroit. I was just telling her about my job search in the mall when imy cell phone rang, I ran to the room to get it, I always get excited when it rings. But I didn't answer, I hung up and made my way back to the living room, placing the phone on the coffee table.

"Who was it?"

"Jack." I simply stated.

"Oh, so, continue telling me what happened." I did as I was told.

Andy's opinion about Jack changed from 'oh, my God, he's so cute!' to 'son of a bitch' when I told the final happening. Meanwhile, my cell phone rang three more times, I didn't pick any of the calls.

"Let this motherfucker call again, I'll tell him what he needs to hear!"

I couldn't help but laugh. "It seems like I always end up with the wrong guy."

"Wrong but hot!" I looked seriously at her. "What? Come on, tell me it isn't true!"

"Whatever! What about you and Evan?" I changed the subject and she smiled.

"He's cute."

"But?"

"I don't know… I like him, but…"

"Not enough."

"Exactly! To hell with him, I'm here with my little friend and the last thing I want is to have him annoying my ass!"

I laughed. "I'm here with little friend and the last thing I want is to be annoyed. Put some music on!"

Andy got up and put her CD on, the loudest possible. We started singing and dancing crazily when Vibrate by Petey Pablo came on, we both loved this song. It was like every boy's dream, two girls wearing short skirts and tops doing dirty dancing but we weren't giving a shit about that, we were just enjoying our time together and laughing our asses off. We spent the rest of the day dancing, watching movies and talking about everything.

…

One week passed since I came back to New York, I talked to Ollie a couple of times and every time he tried to get into the 'Jack subject' I changed it. Everything was going fine. One afternoon I turned to Andy and said.

"Why don't we go to IC?"

"Don't you think it's too cold to have ice-cream? Oh wait, I forgot that I'm talking to Mel-ice-cream-anie."

"Duh! Come on, IC is like, our favorite ice-cream shop! We've been going there since we were born, do you want me to come back here and not go to IC?"

"Alright! Let's get our asses warmer first".

We changed into warm clothes and made our way to the ice-cream shop on foot, but I forgot one thing. To get there, we'd have to pass in front of my old house. As we saw it, I stopped in my tracks and looked at it. My expression wasn't showing the pain I was feeling, all the memories I had flashed in front of my eyes like a movie, the happy and the sad ones. I remained silent for about three minutes, until Andy carefully intervened.

"Mel? Are you ok?"

"Yes." I sounded relieved and I really was. The feeling I had back there was like if I had rewound a movie, put it back in the box and taken it back to the video store. Except that this one I didn't take back to the video store. It remained in my brain and I decided to keep only the good parts of this movie, that's what I had to do, and what I did. My parent's love would always be with me, no matter where I'd go or where they were, they'd always be taking care of me. The first step was taken.

We resumed our walk, joking about things we did when we were kids until we got to the shop. I ordered the biggest ice cream,yelling happily and the lady who worked there since a long time smiled.

"You didn't change one bit Mel. You're the same kid who always came here screaming for ice-cream and would always get in front of everyone to get yours first. Except that you're all grown up now." I smiled when I heard that. "How's your brother, honey?"

"He's good Mrs. Andrew."

"He's really good." Andy added and I elbowed her, making her laugh.

"Good! Here you go girls, enjoy your ice-cream!"

"We will! Your ice-cream is the best one of the whole world Mrs. Andrew!"

"Aw, sweetie."

"How much do we owe you?"

"Nah, nothing! It's my welcome back gift to you!"

"No, way Mrs. Andrew I…"

"Take it Mel! You're still very stubborn!" She laughed.

"Alright, thanks!"

"Have a nice day!"

We were walking back home and Andy mocked of me, in a girly voice. "Your ice-cream is the best one of the whole world Mrs. Andrew!"

"What?"

"You didn't want to pay!"

"How dare you?! You know that's not true!"

"Bullshit! Damn Mel, how can you fool everyone with this sweet face of yours?"

"That's a God given gift, baby." I grinned.

"If people only new your dirty mind."

"I don't have a dirty mind!"

"Oh no? Do you wanna me to prove that?"

"No, leave it alone."

She broke into laughter. "See?"

When we got home, I said. "Hey, I'll take a bath"

"Alright, you need that."

"I don't smell!"

"Yes you do!"

"Maybe… but not as bad as you!" I ran off, 'cause I knew she'd threw something at me.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - Andy's POV- - - - - - - - - - - -

Mel went upstairs to take a bath, I turned the TV on and sat on the couch to finish my ice-cream. I was really happy to have her back home, we had a lot of fun together, which I hadn't had too much since she left. Evan was a nice boy and I had fun with him, but it wasn't the same thing.

I was watching The Amazing Race, when Mel's cell phone started ringing, I looked to see who it was. "Ollie." Oh my God! It's Ollie! I didn't wait to pick it up.

"Hey Ollie!"

"Who's this?" A deep voice asked.

"Who are you?"

"I asked first."

"I'm Andy and you?"

"Jack."

"Jack? Jack Mercer?"

"Yeah, is Mel there? 'Cause I…"

"How dare you ask for her? You are a sick bastard! Don't you know what she went though? Don't deny it, I know you do! You couldn't have said that to her you son of a bitch! You made her feel all bad again! You fucker! Did you…"

"Wait!" He yelled.

"What?"

"I know what you must be thinking."

"The truth maybe?"

"It isn't!"

"Aaaah right! So the Easter bunny made you act like that, right? No wait, you changed bodies with someone? No, no, I know what happened… you got fucking drugged and hurt my friend!"

"Yes I did, but please, listen to me! Someone drugged me! I wasn't myself when I said all those things! No way in hell I'd do that to Mel!"

"And who drugged you? Santa?"

"A girl called Victoria."

"A girl called Victoria? Don't you have a better excuse? You need to be more fucking creative man!"

"Let me talk to Mel!"

"She's not available!"

"Please!"

"Leave her alone you freak!" I yelled and hung up. Less than thirty seconds later it rang again.

"Look you bastard, I already told you that…"

"Andy it's Ollie!" Oops!

"Oh, hi Ollie! How are you?"

"I'm ok. Where's Mel?"

"She's in the shower."

"Look, I need a favor."

"Anything…" For you, hottie.

"I need you to pay attention to what I'm gonna say."

"I'm listening."

"You just talked, well sort of, to Jack. What he said is true, some crazy girl drugged him. He has no fault in it. He was drinking water the whole night, and this girl, Victoria, was really jealous of Mel so she did this to break them up. A girl called Rachel, saw everything and told me."

"You serious? What a bitch!"

"I know! I need you to tell Mel that."

"I don't think she'll listen."

"You gotta make her to, Andy!"

"Alright. I'll do my best."

"How's she?"

"She's good. We passed in front of your house earlier today, I thought she was going to cry, but she didn't. She stood there for some minutes, then smiled and walked on."

I couldn't see Ollie's smile. "She's doing what is necessary to move on."

"Yeah."

"Well, I gotta go. Thanks for the help! Don't forget to tell her!"

"I won't… hey Ollie!"

"What?"

"Won't you, by any chance, come to visit us?"

He laughed. "No… but you can come to visit us anytime you want."

"I will." We hung up and I started dancing around.

- - - - - - - End of Andy's POV- - - - - - - -

When I got into the shower, I started to sing a random song, like I always do.

What hurts the most

Was being so close

And having so much to say

I noticed what I was singing, but kept with it.

And never knowing what could've been

And not seeing that loving you,

It was what I was trying to do

I didn't forget what Jack said and did, I was upset but I couldn't get over the fact that I liked him. All he said really didn't make sense, he wouldn't write me a song and sing it in front of everyone if he didn't like me, so why would he get drugged and come after me to say all that? The truth is, I missed him, I missed his voice, his smile, his arms around my shoulders… Shit! I really do like him.

I got changed and went downstairs, Andy sat on the couch watching TV.

"Missed me?" I sat down next to her.

"Like crazy!" I laughed. "Mel, I need to talk to you." She said seriously.

"Spill it out."

"Just listen to me, don't say anything until I'm done and don't go way."

"What happened?" I got worried, the first thought that passed through my mind was that something had happened to Ollie. "Is Ollie ok?"

"Yeah, he's fine. I talked to him about ten minutes ago." I sighed in relieve.

"How come you talked to him?"

"Well, Jack called you and…" I stood up and she grabbed my leg. "Sit! I told you to not go way, just listen!"

"Whatever." I replied annoyed and sat down again. She told me how her conversation with Jack had been and then with Ollie and what each one had said. I was speechless.

"Victoria drugged Jack?"

"Yes. A girl called Rachel saw everything, but didn't have time to stop it."

"Man… that's…crazy. I mean, I know Victoria is crazy about him and shit, but I didn't think she'd go that far."

"She's a fucking bitch."

"She really is. She can't see that Jack doesn't want her, that he doesn't like her, he…"

"He likes you." She finished my sentence for me. "Mel, he desperately wanted to talk to you! If Ollie hadn't talked to me, I wouldn't have believed him either. But since Ollie did and confirmed what he said… I mean, he's your tough brother, he wouldn't let Jack use his phone if it wasn't the truth!" She has a point.

"I think you're right."

"I am. Why don't you call him?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because the fact that someone drugged him, doesn't change the fact that he said those things to me."

"Mel, stop being fussy! You know he didn't mean it! What guy in the world would refuse a fuck with a girl who's willing?" I didn't answer and kept staring at the floor. "A guy who's in love, Mel…"

"He's not in love with me."

"No? So he wrote the song for you because he thinks you're a good friend? Do you seriously think that a friend would sing 'it's really good to hear your voice saying my name' to the other?"

"No…"

"So! Wake up Mel! It was all Vic-bitch-toria's fault!"

That's what I was waiting for. I wanted to believe that Jack wasn't back on drugs, that he didn't mean what he said and that he missed me. Now someone confirmed to me that's what was happening, I couldn't help but smile.