"Cyrano de Bergerac stands in the shadows, whispering poetry to the lovely Roxanna, but she thinks it's the good-looking guy speaking to her." Melanie watched in awe as Mr. Turner walked around the room, explaining the story. So far, Melanie loved this story because of all the angst it seemed to hold, and Melanie loved angst. She loved the feeling of the two characters' hearts breaking (and gosh, did she sound morbid) only to come back together as the two settled the odds that defied them. She also loved when they never did settle the odds and instead, went their own separate way. Heartbreaking, yes, but worth the agony as the two characters came to a final stance—. "So, our poor, big-nosed lug wins the heart of the woman he loves, but he wins it for somebody else."
Melanie could practically hear Topanga's sigh as Mr. Turner walked to the front of the room, "That is so sweet and so noble, that he would sacrifice his own happiness to help his friend."
"Other opinions?" Mr. Turner asked with a shrug and the class responded with a collected loser while Melanie's 'I loved it' rang loud and clear. Blushing, Melanie sank further into her seat as she felt the swarm of eyes on her.
"Okay, okay," Melanie mentally thanked Mr. Turner as all the eyes turned to him, "Define loser."
"Big dip." Shawn stated, making sure to punctuate his words, and Melanie rolled her eyes. Obviously men have no appreciation for good books, she thought as she tugged at her hair and frowned as she gave it a look. She had been thinking about cutting it but wasn't sure. She loved her long hair and dreaded on what to think it may look like short.
"It makes no sense," Cory went further into his explanation, "I mean, he likes this girl and then he passes her on to another guy."
"Dip," Shawn nodded, "The biggest."
"Topanga, Melanie, can you refute the dip theory." Mr. Turner asked, for those were his only students that disagreed with the class.
Turning around, Topanga made eye contact with Melanie and the two had a silent conversation before Topanga turned back around and started speaking, "Cyrano preforms a totally selfless act and he does it for the sake of love. That is so romantic."
"Why?" Shawn asked exasperated, not understanding why Melanie and Topanga liked this story so much, "What does he get out of it? He knocks himself out spewing poetry, his friend gets the girl. All he can do is go home and blow his big nose."
"Rebuttal from the estrogen section." Mr. Turner stated and Melanie rolled her eyes.
"Boys don't understand passion and romance, and never will understand women." Topanga turned around to face the class, "And that's why all of you will spend half your lives confused and the other half paying alimony."
"This is interesting." Mr. Turner pondered aloud as he got up and walked towards the back of the room, "The women here find Cyrano compelling and romantic, and yet the men find him misguided and dip like. What does this tell us?"
"Women like dips?" Cory guessed and Melanie scoffed and shared an eyeroll with Topanga.
"Sorry, Matthews, no luck." Mr. Turner said and Melanie raised her hand, "Yes, Melanie?"
"It shows us that men don't understand what women find romantic." Melanie explained, trying to ignore the class stares, "Men often think that being tall, having muscles, and just being masculine in general is enough to attract a women's interest and…love." Melanie glanced at Mr. Turner who gave her an encouraging nod, "But in reality, women appreciate small gestures like holding their hands and opening the door for them."
Unbeknownst to her, Shawn had been writing a mental list of what she had just said because, hey, if women liked it, then Melanie was also bound to like it. Shawn smiled to himself, he knew Melanie would like small gestures, he did catch her reading all those romance novels (which she had denied and said they were action but he knew Rome and Julietwhen he saw it).
"Will this be on the test?" He asked and Mr. Turner turned and gave him a sly smile.
"Oh, yeah. In ways you cannot yet imagine."
~8~
Melanie happily laughed as she walked down the stairs next to Cory and Shawn. They were just coming back from lunch and, even though she didn't buy, the three of them were making fun of the lunch food and Harley.
"I'm telling you, the macaroni and cheese had more grease than Harley's hair." Cory stated and Melanie let out another laugh, silently agreeing. She had seen a literal pool of grease in Cory's mac and cheese. So much so, that it actually looked like the food was swimming in it.
"I think that's how they made it," Shawn smiled and laughed as he heard Melanie laugh even harder, "They just turned him over and wrung him out."
Looking forward, the three of them stopped as they came face-to-face with Harley and his gang, their mouths dropping and their fingers pointing as they gave a horrified gasp. All traces of humor had been erased from their face.
"And I thought it was gonna be a slow day," Melanie stumbled lightly over her own feet as Harley walked towards them, causing them to back up. Thankfully, Shawn had quickly steadied her before turning his attention back to Harley.
"What? You think we were talking about your hair?" Cory laughed nervously as Harley cornered then against the locker, "No, no. Everyone knows that your hair is not greasy."
"Why don't you test it and tell me." Harley dared and Cory reached out and swiped his hand over Harley's hair.
"Wow," Cory pulled his hand back, "Dry as a bone."
Melanie held back a laugh as Cory tried to rest against the locker, but his hand slipped because it was that greasy. Maybe Harley shouldn't dare someone unless he knew that what he was opposing was true, Melanie thought as she watched Harley angrily shuffle and Cory scramble up, apologizing, it would save him from embarrassment.
"Here's a quarter, Baboon." Melanie watched as Cory shakily took the quarter, "Call your parents and say goodbye."
"Uh, Harley, you know, in many countries, what I said about your hair, it might be considered a compliment." Cory stuttered as he clumsily made his way over to the phone, "For example, Greece."
A shrill laugh caused Melanie to flinch and stare at the woman next to Harley. Whoever she was, Melanie immediately didn't like her. Melanie watched as Shawn strolled towards them, and she knew what his intentions were… well, the other half of his intentions. Standing in front of her lockers, Melanie willed herself not to be jealous as she watched Shawn flirt with Cory, and soon, she left. Sure, it wasn't the nicest thing to do, but Shawn seemed to have everything under control. Obviously, her help wasn't needed when Shawn's flirting was there.
She obviously missed Shawn's panicked look for her as Frankie dragged him and Cory into the cafeteria.
~8~
"They're just so infuriating!" Melanie exclaimed as she sat on Topanga's bed, Stephanie in front of her. She hadn't spoken with Cory or Shawn for the rest of the week because she couldn't find them anywhere. She wouldn't be lying when she said it hurt her feelings, immensely.
"I completely understand what you're saying." Topanga agreed as she pulled the brush through her hair and turned to face Melanie, "It concerns me that men have such a hard time understanding what women want, especially since they are so simple."
"I couldn't agree more," Melanie winced as Stephanie pulled on her hair, "My mother never looks happy when my father hands her a new wallet or a new pair of shoes." Melanie sighed and leaned back against the wall, "Sometimes, when she gets really drunk, she comes into my room and tells me how much she misses him. All she wants him to do is stop showing her off as a trophy wife. She said that no materialistic present will ever satisfy what she truly yearns for, a hug and kiss every day."
"I'm sorry," Topanga said as she squeezed Melanie's knee and Melanie gave a light laugh, pulling her hair out of Stephanie's grasp.
"Why are you sorry, Peaches?" Topanga let out a light laugh as Melanie brought back her childhood nickname she gave her, "It's not your fault."
"I know, but I feel bad that your parents aren't happily married." Topanga confessed as she went back to brushing her hair.
"Yeah, but they're not home enough to really bother me and Steph." Melanie pointed out before she changed the subject, the topic getting too deep and knowing that she was going to have to start lying if Topanga continued to talk about it, "Anyway, what do you want to do tonight? I brought my mother's makeup kit if you wanted to play around with that."
"Definitely." Topanga tied her hair back as she jumped onto her bed, sitting so that she was facing Melanie. "Let's do a princess look this time."
Smiling and nodding, Melanie pulled the giant box out of her bag before laying it on the bed and opening it. Every sort of makeup laid in the box, all used. She had been bringing this makeup kit over since she was in elementary school and her mother never seemed to mind or care.
"I have the perfect color for you. Close your eyes," Topanga did as Melanie asked and Melanie pulled out a light pink color before brushing it onto Topanga's eyelids.
"Are you going to be coming over for Christmas this year?"
"I… I don't know."
"You can't let him dictate what you do with your life."
"I know, but it's been thirteen years since he- "
"Left you, I know. Come on, where's that strong independent woman I know and love?"
"Hiding in the shell of her former self."
"Oh, stop being so dramatic. You were fine yesterday."
"Yeah, but that's because I didn't know that he'd be coming."
"You're acting like a teenager."
"I live with a teenager. What do you expect."
Sorry it's not the best sneak peak. I really don't want to give a lot away. This chapter was shorter for a reason. I did NOT want Melanie to be in the plot a lot for this chapter.
Thanks for the reviews!
MarvelWorksWonders: Thank you for your list of actresses! I really, really appreciate it! I've been looking through and deciding who I like and so far I've narrowed it down to three!
narelclollie: I'm glad you liked the past chapter! Honestly, I'm glad Melanie asked Shawn too. At first, I wasn't gonna make her but I changed my mind haha.
Guest (Pippythewriter): No problem! I'm glad that you told me that you were confused and didn't have to wonder about what I had meant. I'll try doing career day as the next sneak peak.
vampangel25: I'm glad you like this story!
giuliaguimaraes2002: Haha! Thank you! I don't think I've ever had anyone comment from Brazil! Thanks you!
Please review, guys.
See you soon,
Ana