Melani stood by her locker at after Lunch. She had already decorated her it with Kelli and was now looking for her Algebra II book. Kelli and Bradin walked down the hall toward her.
Just before they got to her, James came out of the classroom near her and walked over to her locker "Hey sweetie" he said, leaning against the locker next to hers. She glared at him; then proceeded to slam her locker, which was about 2 inches from his face, and started down the hall. "Come on baby, talk to me!" he called after her
Melani turned around in pure anger "Don't baby me! You gave my friend a very ugly accessory last night; don't think you can sweet-talk your way out of this one!"
"Are you still mad about that, come on, get over it" he said
"Leave it to you to get on my bad side when I'm pissed at you" she said angrily
"I'm not trying to, you just won't listen!" he yelled back
"We are not having this discussion here. I am not making a scene in the middle of the hall on our first day of school. Half the teachers here hate me anyway; I don't want to add more to the list. If you want to talk about your immaturity, then we can go somewhere else" she turned and started walking down the hall.
James ran after her "I want to talk. Please Mel; you have to listen to me"
She turned around and looked at him "Fine" she pulled him into the junior lounge.
"What I did last night was stupid. I don't know what got over me, I was just so jealous. Please find it in your heart to forgive me. I really care about you, and I'd hate to loose you because of a stupid action"
Melani looked him in the eyes. He seemed so sincere, but she knew this routine so well. He continually hurt her, both emotionally and physically and he always came back with these lines "How do I know this time will be different James? You promised me you'd never hurt me again before you left, and you were here all of 10 minutes before you broke that promise"
"I know; it was stupid. I'll apologize to Bradin; just don't give up on me. Please Mel" He looked at her with pleading eyes
"You'll really apologize, and mean it?"
"Yeah, I will"
"James we've been here before. At least now I know why all the guys I meet when you're gone suddenly don't talk to me anymore. If you apologize and are truly sincere about it, then yes, I'll stay with you, but if I even detect a hint of anything, I'm out" she looked at him seriously.
"Thank you baby, you don't know how much this means to me! I love you Mel, I really do. I missed you" he kissed her on the head
"I missed you too. Now go, you're class is in the other building, I don't want you to be late." He leaned over kissed her and then ran down the hall. She sighed and rolled her eyes as Kelli walked in
"How can you forgive him Mel?" Kelli asked, angrily "after all the shit he puts you through, how can you forgive him for everything? If you hadn't stopped him, Bradin would look a hell of a lot worse than he does now. How can you just write him off?"
"First off, you shouldn't eavesdrop, it's bad. Secondly, what shit has he put me through?"
"He abuses you Mel, whether you want to admit it or not, he does, both emotionally and physically!" she yelled
"You're supposed to be my best friend. I told you he doesn't, why the hell can't you believe me? He loves me!"
"That's not what I said Mel, I know you're really defensive about this, but he does, I've seen him do it." Her voice got quiet "I saw him hit you last year"
Melani grew silent. "When" she said quietly
"At Alexis' pre-rally party in May. Remember I confronted you after it but you…"
"I told you that you didn't have a clue what you were talking about" she sighed and sat on one of the couches.
Kelli came and sat down next to her "Why didn't you just tell me? And why are you still with him. He's horrible to you"
"You want to know the truth; I stay with him because I'm afraid what will happen if I break up with him. At least now I know what to expect, I try really, really hard to not make him mad, he only hits me when he is or really drunk. If I break up with him, then I run the risk of him getting a new girlfriend and hurting her. At least I know how to deal with him" she sighed
"Bradin really cares about you, why don't you just date him?"
"Did you just miss my whole speech? Plus if I ditch James and date him, James will make his life miserable, I couldn't live with that on my conscience. I just stay where I am, ya know, keep the status quo."
"No one deserves to be hit Mel, no one" she said sadly
"I know, but at least I know how to deal with it. I'm staying with him. Period" she got up and walked out of the room, head hanging.
Kelli sighed I have to get them together, they'd be so perfect together. They have to be together, whether she's with James or not.
A/N: Sorry this chapter is bad, I just wanted the background out there. The next ones will be much more interesting as Melani's feelings for Bradin grow. -Steph