Chapter 9

Three weeks later...

"Melody, what's wrong?" Alan asked when he saw the small girl standing in a corner, with her back to the hallway.

"Oh, Alan, I didn't see you." She sniffed, wiping her eyes with her finger.

"Why are you crying?" He questioned her, looking down at her. He realized he had grown a few inches in the past few weeks. He could only tell things like that with people shorter than him. And that was only a very few people.

"Umm," Melody didn't answer, avoiding meeting Alan's eyes.

"Tell me please." Alan commanded her, touching her arm gently. Melody looked at the spot where he had touched her for a minute and then she looked up at him.

"Ronnie and I..." She trailed off, looking at the stream of people going bye.

Oh no! Alan thought, they had a fight or something.

"We broke up." She said simply.

Alan's eyes widened in wonder. He had considered them the perfect couple. He had been responsible for bringing them together and he felt responsible that they had broken up.

"He doesn't feel anything for me anymore." Melody whispered, her eyes filling with tears. "After 5 weeks he doesn't like me very much."

Alan wondered, Do you still like him?

"I don't know Alan," she said, still distracted.

"What? Did I say that?" Alan asked, I didn't think I had.

"No." Melody answered.

Alan looked at her suspiciously. "Well then how...?" he waited for her to answer.

"Your face gives away how you feel all the time." She responded, looking up at him.

"Oh," Alan said, slightly subdued. Did It really? Could you always see how he felt?

"So if I wanted to ask a girl out, you think I could just look at her and she'd know the time and place?" Alan joked, then wished he hadn't. "Sorry..." he started to say but stopped when Melody started laughing.

"Thanks Alan," she said when she had finished laughing, "You can always make me laugh."

Alan smiled back, "No problem."

Melody smiled and then wandered down the hall. Alan checked his watch. It was 3:14. He was late for practice!

"Alan!" Coach Boone yelled, "Decided to join us have you?" Alan finished running the remainder of the field over,

"Sorry, I didn't realize what time it was." After he finished his sentence, he added, "Sir."

"Well, look at what time it is now." Coach Boone said, "And then, when you are done running a mile, tell me what time it is."

Alan nodded, starting around the field. When he had run a mile, he joined the defensive players doing up downs. After doing them for a very long time, the team brought it in, going in circles around Gary and Julius. Everyone breathed "Ha-ha ha-ha" moving their legs in time. He found himself standing next to Ronnie for the first time in a long time. Both stopped moving and looked at each other.

"I heard about you and Melody," Alan said slowly.

"Yeah. We decided it was over between us. We didn't really get along with each other." Ronnie sighed, taking his helmet off.

"Oh," Alan answered, "So when do you think you're going to start dating again?" He asked after a little break.

"Not for a while. I know that I will hate the next guy that dates Melody and I don't want her to hate anyone."

Ronnie explained, "We were together for a little over a month."

"5 weeks," Alan whispered before he could stop himself.

The rest of the team, exploded, jumping all over each other, banging helmets, basically going wild. Ronnie and Alan were still, talking to each other.

"How did you know that?" Ronnie asked with a little smile.

"I, um, talked to Melody earlier," Alan said slowly, following the other members of the team off the field.

"Hey, you know, don't be afraid to still be friends with her and stuff." Ronnie told Alan. "We both decided to break up. And I know she likes having you as a friend, a lot." Ronnie patted Alan's shoulder. They walked up to Melody together.

"Hey Alan. Hey Ronnie," Melody greeted them, courteously.

"Hey," Ronnie smiled, like they were just friends, and had only been friends. "You still have a few books in my locker."

Melody nodded, "Can I get them when Alan and I are done stretching?" Ronnie thought for a moment,

"Yeah. Look, here's my combination." Ronnie scribbled his combination on a piece of paper in the girl's notebook. "Just go in there tonight okay?"

Melody nodded again, "Thanks Ronnie."

"No problem," he smiled and walked away slowly.

"All right Alan," Melody said, turning to him, "Down on the ground, leg up."

"Alan, will you please come with me?" Melody asked as she helped him up from the ground where he had been stretching.

"But I really need to shower," he answered, waiting for her to leave.

"I can wait." She said. Then she continued in a low voice, "Honestly, I'm afraid of the school at night. Who knows what could be around every corner."

Alan had to stop himself from laughing, though he did smile, "You're afraid of the school?" he teased.

"Only at night," She reminded him. "Oh, okay, only at night."

He turned and jogged into the locker room where he would shower, but halfway there, he ran back to Melody.

"You're going to be freezing out here," he told her. It was only November, but at night, when the wind was blowing, it still got very cold. Melody just looked at him waiting for what he was going to say or do next.

"I would invite you into the locker room, but I'd get detention for a month." He thought for a second, "Hold on!" A

lan ran inside the locker room and to where he had put his clothes from that day. He found his letterman's jacket and ran back outside. "Here, wear this," he told her, handing it to her.

"Thanks Alan," she smiled. As Melody took the jacket and put it on, Alan realized what this was sometimes a symbol of. Sometimes, guys on the football team gave their jackets to their girlfriends to wear. Alan sighed, hoping no one would see Melody with his jacket on and get any ideas. Sunshine said he was going to hate the first guy who dated Melody again, and if there was a rumor going around that he was.... Alan gulped, hoping that was never going to happen.

Alan ran a comb through his wet hair, trying to keep the bangs from hanging down in his eyes. Unless he slicked it back, which looked absolutely horrible, his hair always did flop into his face, as it did now. Alan shrugged, he would live. He stuffed all his sweaty football equipment into a bag and took it home so he could wash it. Then, he grabbed his book bag and started out the locker room door. He remembered to twist the lock on the inside so that the door would be locked.

When he stepped outside, the cold wind hit him like he had just opened up the freezer. Melody was standing, facing away from him, staring out at the football field, obviously thinking. The wind was playing relentlessly with her hair and skirt, and she shivered into his jacket. Alan shrugged again, Melody could keep his jacket on, he wasn't that cold.

"Ready?" he asked when he was close to her.

"Yeah," Melody bent down to pick up her things, and then she realized that Alan had on no coat.

"Oh Alan, take your jacket back, I have one." She insisted, starting to remove his jacket.

"No, I'm fine." He told her, just as the cold wind whipped past him, making goose bumps rise on his skin.

"Are you sure?" She asked, her face concerned.

"Yeah, positive." He answered.

"You're a great friend Alan." She said suddenly. "A real great friend."

Alan smiled as they started walking towards the school together. He felt like telling her that she was one of his real good friends, but he couldn't figure out how. So instead, he just walked to the empty school with her.