It was getting dark quickly. Melanie had been sitting in the forest for a few hours now, and was getting pretty cold. Her clothes hadn't dried properly from her swim in the river, as the sun didn't make an appearance.
It was starting to rain, and Melanie cursed under her breath. Could this day get any worse? She was already wet, so what harm could the rain do? But she decided she'd best make a shelter, as it looked like she was there for the night.
She gathered some leaves and branches, and started to build them up like a tent. It took her a while, but soon enough, Melanie was fast asleep under the protection of her newly made cover.
The rain stopped not long after Melanie had fallen asleep, and about an hour later, Melanie was awoken by a ripping sound. At first, she couldn't place what it was, but then she looked out from her tent, and could see a girl around her age and height, but she was facing the opposite way.
Melanie squinted her eyes to get a better look, and saw she was wearing a light blue tie-dye belly-top, a longish lilac skirt, and cream sandals where the lace was tied around her ankle before going up her leg. It certainly looked like she wasn't supposed to be out in the forest, not with the way she was dressed.
The ripping sound turned out to be a Beyblade spinning, and tearing off chunks from a nearby tree. Melanie rooted in her bag and pulled out her camera phone, taking pictures of the Beyblade in action.
Because it was dark, the camera on Melanie's phone flashed as the picture took, causing the girl to turn around. She had short dark brown hair, brown eyes and a golden hoop ring through her lip. Melanie couldn't tell if it was real or fake, but it looked pretty cool. Up both of the girl's arms were multi-coloured rubber bangles; red, blue, green, yellow, black, silver, orange, brown and pink.
"What are you doing out here?" Asked the girl.
"Camping, what does it look like?" Melanie asked. "What are you doing out here?"
"True enough. I'm just practising. I'm Natalie by the way. Natalie Woods." The girl greeted, walking over to Melanie and holding out her hand.
"Melanie Hunt, but everyone calls me Mel," Melanie said, shaking her hand. "No offence or anything, but you don't look as though you should be out here blading. I mean, you'd be wearing more sensible clothes if you were coming out into the forest."
"There's no fooling you, is there?" Natalie said, grinning. She held out her hand and her blade flew into the palm of it. "Truthfully, I was going to a friend's house, but then I thought 'Sod it.' and I came out here. It's a good place for training." She said.
"Loads of people are blading, aren't they?" Melanie said, feeling a little left out. Everybody else could talk about Beyblading, but all she could do was listen in.
"Yeah, I know. Don't you blade then?" Natalie asked.
"You catch on fast. No, I don't Beyblade, but I do all the other sports." Melanie said.
"Cool. Changing the subject, why are you camping on your own?" Natalie asked. It was obvious she was very inquisitive.
"Well . . ." Melanie started, and then she indicated for Natalie to come and sit down next to her. Melanie had a jacket lain out on the floor, which she'd been sleeping on. She always kept a waterproof jacket in her bag in case it rained, and now she was using it as a blanket.
Natalie sat down next to Melanie under the tent of leaves and branches, and Melanie told Natalie about her running away from her friends because they didn't believe her and she couldn't go home because she was staying with her friend because she'd been kicked out of her boarding school.
"Right. I see where you're coming from now. Do you wanna come and stay with me? Cos I got loads of space at home." Natalie offered.
"No, I'll be OK, thanks." Melanie said, smiling in appreciation. "Anyway, why would you invite me back to your house. I mean, you've only known me for ten minutes. I could be a serial murderer, or a burglar." Melanie asked.
"There you go. That proves you're not. If you were, you wouldn't have said that you could be one, and you would've said OK and came back to my house straight away. But I would've run off if you did follow me. So you've passed my tiny initiation test to stay with me. Come on," Natalie said. She grabbed Melanie's wrist and dragged her off, after Melanie had gathered up her stuff.
On the way to Natalie's house, Melanie was still trying to figure out how Natalie had used like a reverse-psychology technique to get her to stay with her. Her head was pretty messed up.
As they turned down a short road, a gang of four boys were standing outside one of the houses. They looked about 16 or 17, and Melanie always felt a bit intimidated by groups of older boys.
One of them, the one with short wild teal hair and bright purple eyes, who was wearing a white shirt with a peace gesture on the front, bright blue trousers, and white and blue trainers, wolf whistled as the two walked past. So Natalie stopped, and Melanie had to as well, as she didn't know where exactly she was going.
"Get a life, Tyler." Natalie said.
"Aww, come on Nats, you know you like him really!" Said another one, laughing. He had short spiky black hair, black eyes, and pale skin, so he was clearly a Goth. His clothes also added to the Goth style, as he was wearing a black muscle shirt, black flared jeans and black trainers. Around his waist was a heavy silver chain, and a thick silver ring with three spikes took place on his right middle finger.
"Like he'd have a chance, Rudy." Natalie retorted.
"Who's your friend, then?" asked the third one. He had short neat navy blue hair, and navy blue eyes. He was wearing a plain white shirt with a pen in the chest pocket, navy blue trousers, and white trainers, so he looked very smart.
"Since when do you take interest in who my friends are, Tom?" Natalie asked, cocking her head on the side.
"Like anyone cares who your friends are!" said the last of the four. He looked the strangest, according to his hair. It was spiky and icy blue in colour. His eyes were a bluey-grey, and he was wearing a white shirt with ripped sleeves, to make him look a bit more menacing. He had sky blue trousers on and grey trainers.
"Well obviously your brother does, Trent." Natalie snapped.
"So, answer his question. Who's your friend?" Asked Tyler.
"Guys, this is Melanie Hunt. Mel, these are Tyler, Thomas and Trent LaVelle, and Rudy Nixon. They're always hanging out down here." Natalie said.
"Hey," Melanie greeted. She kept very quiet, and just kept her eyes fixed on the floor.
"What's up with her? Don't she talk much?" Asked Trent.
"Not sure. I've only just met her." Natalie said.
"Pure Natalie. Making friends with someone in just 2 seconds of meeting them." Laughed Rudy.
"Not just that. She's staying at mine tonight as well." Natalie grinned.
"What if she's a serial murderer or a burglar or an escaped mental patient?" Asked Thomas.
"Don't you think I asked her that?" She said, jokingly. "But seriously, I wouldn't invite someone home if they could be dangerous." Then she turned to Melanie. "So, Mel, do you talk much?"
Melanie just shrugged. "I suppose."
"Doesn't sound like it to me." Said Trent.
"Oh, shut up." Natalie said to Trent, but it actually only sounded like 'shup', due to the speed Natalie had said it, and then she turned and faced Melanie again. "So, why the sudden quietness then?"
Melanie didn't really want to tell Natalie, let alone in front of all the boys, three of which were related to the problem. Literally. The three brothers, Tyler, Thomas and Trent, all had the surname LaVelle, the same as Kelly's. Which meant . . . they were Toni's brothers? How come she hadn't told her about them?
"Come on, purple head." Said Rudy.
"The name's Mel!" Snapped Melanie. He hadn't got anything to do with it, so he might as well butt his head out.
"Whatever," he said, rolling his eyes.
"Just tell us," Natalie said. "I think we'll be able to handle anything. We're used to stuff." She said, smiling.
"Nothing like this." Melanie said under her breath, but Tyler caught it.
"Try us."
"You truthfully wanna know why I'm not talking to you guys?" Melanie said, folding her arms.
They all nodded. There must be a good reason for her being so quiet if she was normally talkative, and they wanted to know.
"Fine." She said. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Then she opened them again and said, "I was your sister's best friend." She said.
"What do you mean, 'was'? Have you and Toni had a fall out?" Thomas asked.
"Not that sister." Melanie replied.
Each of the three brother's mouths dropped open. They'd managed to overcome their youngest sister's passing, but now it was being brought back up, Trent flared.
"You little bitch! Don't you know how stupid a thing that was to say?" he said, lunging forward, but Melanie dodged it.
"You wanted to know why I was so quiet! Now you can understand why it was awkward to talk to my dead best friend's brothers!" She yelled, and ran off.
Natalie told Rudy to calm them down and that she'd see them around, then took her shoes off quickly and she ran off after Melanie. She took her shoes off so it was easier to run, as her cream sandals weren't exactly the smallest of heels. She was shouting to Melanie to slow down; she doesn't know where she's going. Natalie was very surprised at how fast Melanie was running.
Melanie ran right past Natalie's house, even though she didn't know it. Natalie quickly ran to her house and opened the front door, before calling three names: Star, Portia and Skye.
Then Natalie ran back down the road after Melanie, followed by three dogs: a black Labrador, a Rottweiler and a greyhound. They all ran by Natalie's side, and Melanie looked back when she heard barking. She saw Natalie running with three dogs at her side, and no shoes on. It must have hurt, as the pavement wasn't exactly smooth. Then, Melanie realised how much Natalie must want her to stop, and she slowed down, just as Natalie's dogs ran up to her side.
"Finally!" Panted Natalie, catching up to her. "I thought you were never going to stop!" She sat down on the kerb, breathing heavily. Then, when she'd got her breath back, she put her shoes back on and stood up.
"Sorry. I guess meeting Kelly's brothers was a bit too uncomfortable for me. I only met her sister after I found out she was gone." Melanie said, putting on a brave face and holding back the tears.
"I'm lost." Natalie said.
So, walking back to Natalie's house with Star, Portia and Skye, Melanie explained to Natalie about Kelly and Madame Luton's, and the whole ordeal she'd been through since she left.
When they reached Natalie's house, Melanie was introduced to Natalie's parents, and then they went into Natalie's bedroom, which was home to not just Natalie.
"Whoa! How many pets do you have?" Melanie asked in awe, looking around the room.
There were 5 small cages dotted around, but they each had 2 different levels in them, a hutch that was placed by the window on the floor, and inside were two smallish igloos and one bigger igloo, one big bird cage, with different swinging toys, mirrors and treats, and a huge tank that was sitting on top of Natalie's desk.
"Thirty." Replied Natalie, as though Melanie had just asked her to add two and two. Melanie's mouth dropped open. Thirty animals living under one roof? That was madness!
"How the hell do you get thirty animals in here?" Melanie asked, looking around.
"Well, I'll give you the tour. First stop, the tropical fish tank. In here are 14 tropical fish, and they do have names, I just forget them. I haven't had these long, only a couple of months. Next, these five cages. In here are Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie." Natalie said, pointing at each of the different cages. "They're Russian hamsters, and I've had them for just over a year. This birdcage. Four canaries. Danny, Harry, Tom and Dougie, and I've had them for about two years." She pointed at each of the yellow birds as she named them, but to Melanie they all looked the same.
"How can you tell the difference?" Melanie asked.
"Just trust me, I can." Natalie laughed. "Next stop on the tour is this, the biggest house in the bedroom, and home to the largest member in this room, the hutch. It homes three, two guinea pigs, that one is Buffy, and that one's Willow." Said Natalie, pointing at a ginger guinea pig first, and then a black one. "It's also home to Lightning, my rabbit." Natalie actually opened the hutch, and out jumped a white rabbit. It was pure white, except from a small black dash between its eyes. She hopped around the room for a bit, until Natalie picked her up and put her back.
"Well, that's only . . ." started Melanie, doing a quick calculation in her head. "Twenty six. What about the other four?"
"They don't come up here that often, as there isn't really enough room for them. So, we'll go down to them." Natalie said.
She grabbed Melanie's wrist and dragged her down the stairs, and into the living room. Lying on the windowsill was a black and white cat, sleeping peacefully, yet purring.
"This is Ash. He's so lazy. The only time we see him is when it's time to eat!" Laughed Natalie. "And you've only half met the last three members. Come on, we gotta go into the garden now."
And Natalie led the way into the back garden. It was very neat, and very big. It was really long, and Melanie could've sworn it was about 150 metres easy. She'd learnt to estimate lengths due to her practising her running. Then, bounding towards Melanie were three big bundles of fur.
Natalie laughed as they all pounced on her and knocked her to the floor. They all started licking Melanie's face, and Melanie was half laughing, half crying out in disgust.
"Here!" Said Natalie sternly, and all three dogs jumped off Melanie and walked obediently to Natalie.
Melanie sat up, wiping her face. "Let me guess. The last three members."
"Yup!" Grinned Natalie. "This is Star, she's the middley dog, at just over two years old." And she pointed at the red collared black Labrador. "Next is Skye, the youngest. She's eighteen months." The yellow collared greyhound panted happily, and sat down on the floor. "Then last but not least, Portia. We've had her for nearly six years, and she wasn't a puppy then. We think she's about seven or eight." The chubby Rottweiler wagged its little stump of a tail at hearing her name, and there was a light blue collar was around her neck.
"Aww! They're all so cute!" Melanie said, walking over to them all stroking them all.
"Now, the facts. Portia's the laziest, Skye's the fastest, and Star's the greediest." Said Natalie.
"My parents would've never let me have one pet, let alone thirty. You're so lucky." Melanie said.
"I'm not lucky, just really grateful. Without my mom and dad, I wouldn't have any of this." Natalie replied, and waved her hand around in a circle.
"Well, I think you're amazingly lucky. I just got sent off to a boarding school." Melanie said, shrugging.
"It can't have been that bad. I bet you had loads of sleepovers in your dormitories and stuff." Natalie said.
"We managed to have one, but we got busted and we were deprived of any fun activities for nearly 2 months, so we didn't bother trying again. Trust me, it's not like any of the boarding schools you read about in books." Melanie said.
Natalie said that Melanie could stay as long as she wanted, and then they went back inside, as it was getting very dark and very cold.
"Aw, man. Where could she be?" Amber said, pacing through her bedroom.
Cassidy was sitting on the end of Amber's bed, watching as Amber walked back and forth through her room. She had returned to Amber's house with her, as she wanted to be there for both of her friends: Melanie, when she did return; and Amber, to comfort her.
"I'm sure she's OK. Don't worry Amber," Cassidy said, her voice as soft as possible, to try and soothe Amber.
"How can I not worry? She dived off the bridge, and then swam off. Who knows what could've happened?" Amber said.
"You've got to stop thinking of the worst case scenario. She knows how to fend for herself."
"We don't know that. For all we know, she could've been kidnapped, and none of us know. Cass, I'm really concerned." Amber said. "And it's all my fault. I pressed her and she ran off. If only we believed her, I wouldn't be going through this at the moment." Amber looked close to tears.
Cassidy wanted to comfort her friend, but each time she tried, Amber would just turn what Cassidy had just said upside-down so it would be the worst case.
The phone rang, and Amber leapt to get it. Her hands were shaking that much she could barely hold the phone to her ear.
Amber: Hello?
?: Amber, it's me, Toni.
Amber: Oh. I thought it would've been Mel . . .
Toni: Yeah, but I know where she is!
Amber: Where is she?!
Toni: Well, my brothers just came home . . .
Amber: Wait. Your brothers?
Toni: Yeah. I guess I forgot to tell you. I've got three brothers.
Amber: What?!
Toni: Yeah, well anyway . . .
Amber: You can't just say 'Well anyway,'! You've got three brothers and you didn't bother to tell us!
Toni: Since you're going to have a go at me as well as everyone else because I'm guessing that no one else knows that I've got brothers so when I tell them they'll all have a spaz, I'll tell you all tomorrow before school, OK? That way, you can all have a major spaz at once, rather than loads of mini spazzes.
Amber: No! You can't just tell me you know where she is then not tell me! Do you know how upset I've been?
Toni: Well, no I . . .
Amber: Exactly. Cass was that worried about me being worried that she came here with me to try and calm me down but it didn't work because when the phone rang I could barely hold the phone without dropping it and . . .
Toni: Amber! Listen, I promise you, Melanie's safe. She's with a very good friend, and she's fine. I'll give you the rest of the details tomorrow, OK?
Amber: No. Tone, come on . . . I need to know where she is . . .
Toni: No Amber. Bye.
Amber: No, don't . . .
But Toni had already hung up. Amber was left holding the phone in her hand, just staring at it.
"What happened?" Cassidy asked. She hadn't really heard any of the conversation, as Toni was quiet on her end of the phone, and Amber was talking that quickly, it was nearly impossible to understand what she was saying.
Amber just slammed the phone back onto the receiver and cursed under her breath.
"She won't tell me where she is!" Amber yelled, and her bedroom door opened.
"Who won't tell you where who is?" someone said.
"Bog off, Mol. And get out of my room." Said Amber, rolling her eyes as she recognised her sister's voice.
"I'm not in your room." Molly said, inspecting her long, black nails.
Amber growled, and then leapt at Molly, who took a step back, and Amber slammed the door shut. Then she pushed her heavy beanbag chair in front of the door, as she didn't have a lock on her door.
"Amber, if Toni said Mel's OK, then you have got to believe her. You can't take out your anger on your sister." Cassidy said.
"Who said I was taking my anger out on my sister? I'm not angry. I'm always like that to her." Amber said. She flopped back onto the bed next to Cassidy. "The least Toni could've done was tell me the name of who Mel's staying with."
"Listen, I bet that tomorrow, Toni will tell us all where Mel's been, or maybe Mel will be there and tell us anyway. But if she is, I don't think that it would be wise to bring up the incident yesterday. If we just forget about it if Mel doesn't say anything, then that'll probably be best." Cassidy said.
Amber shrugged, and stared up at the mobile hanging from the ceiling.