Hands of Time
Melissa was a quiet shy girl. She was born in New Hampshire to Paul and Patricia Levesque; she had an older sister (Lynn) and an older brother (Paul). Her brother and sister were a couple years older and they were never around. She was close with her family, but there was something missing for Melissa. Her sister got married and moved away and then her brother began wrestling. She loved watching him wrestle, but she always missed him.
The summer before her freshman year in high school tragedy struck. She remembered it like it was just yesterday. Her friends, Sarah and Emma, were coming over to spend the night. Emma's mom had driven her over, but Sarah had to ride her bike the 3 blocks over. After a couple of hours of waiting around for Sarah, Melissa's mom got a phone call.
"Hello?" she said answering the phone.
Melissa didn't hear any of the conversation, but she watched her mom's face turn from a happy smile to a look of horror and sadness. Melissa at first thought that something had happened to her brother, but then her brother walked into the house.
"Hey Shorty, what's up?" He asked walking into the living room.
"I don't know. Mom's on the phone with someone and she looks really scared." Right when she was done saying this, her mom hung up the phone. "Mom, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"
"Um, I…it is about Sarah." Melissa and Emma both turned towards her.
"Mom…" Melissa didn't know what to say. "Where is she? Can she not come over today? I thought she was on her way over here?"
"Um, there was an accident."
Paul saw the look in his mom's eyes and knew right away. He walked over and sat on the couch between Melissa and Emma (Emma and Sarah were like his little sisters).
"Um, Sarah was riding her bike over here and a car hit her. The man was drunk and never even saw her. She was thrown off the bike and…" she said with tears in her eyes.
"SHUT UP! NO! Sarah can't be dead. She's coming right now. She is going to walk through the door and say 'Surprise'." Melissa yelled interrupting her mom.
"Shorty…" Paul said trying to hug his sister, but she just pushed him away.
"NO! DON'T SAY THAT! HOW COULD SHE BE DEAD…SHE…" she couldn't hold back the tears. She couldn't believe that Sarah, one of her best friends, was gone.
She was 15 and death was still too hard for her to believe. She felt a hand go around her shoulder and she snuggled into Paul's shoulder and began crying. Emma just sat there with tears streaming down her face. Paul grabbed her into a hug and held both girls until they fell asleep.
The next morning Melissa woke up early and noticed that she had been sleeping on Paul on the couch. She thought about the day before and all the memories of what her mom had said came flooding back. She didn't want to wake Paul or Emma so she slipped off the couch and walked to her room. She grabbed a picture of her, Emma, and Sarah and made her way to the bed and then sank to the floor. She stared at the picture for what seemed like hours. She was interrupted from her thoughts when she heard a noise at the door. She looked up and saw Paul standing there holding milk and cookies.
"These always make me feel better. I thought we could talk about what happened."
"Well, you thought wrong. I don't want to talk about it Paul. Can you just leave it alone?"
"Melissa…I know it's hard, but you have to talk about it."
"I DON'T HAVE TO TALK ABOUT ANYTHING THAT I DON'T WANT TO! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?" She had never yelled at Paul before, but she didn't want to talk to anyone. "Paul, I'm sorry. I just don't want to talk about it, not right now."
"Shorty…I can understand. I am here if you need to talk to me." The next couple of days were insane. Melissa couldn't believe everything that went in to a funeral. Sarah was a very popular girl and they had a memorial at the school for her. Melissa and Emma were both surprised how many people actually came. Melissa and Emma never said anything about what had happened to each other. Melissa began keeping to herself. She never talked about Sarah and she barely talked at all. Paul had left the day before the funeral for a wrestling show and wouldn't be back for 2 weeks. A couple days after the funeral, Paul called.
"Hey Shorty…"
"Hi" She was mad at him for lying to her about being there if she needed to talk.
"How are you?"
"Okay" The phone line was silent.
"Hey…Melissa…what's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm fine. Why do you think something is wrong?" She couldn't help but snap.
"Maybe because you aren't talking to me…"
"Sorry…I'm just not in the mood to talk to you."
"When will you be in the mood?"
"I don't know. Why don't you just back off and go talk to one of your wrestling buddies? I don't need you to feel sorry for me!"
"Fine…if you wanna be a bitch about it, let me talk to mom or dad." She handed the phone to her parents. Her brother had never snapped at talked to her like that before, but she knew that she deserved that. After she handed the phone to her parents she walked to her room and slammed the door. She turned on the radio and it didn't take her long to hear a song that Sarah had jokingly sung to her. She didn't know what to do. It was killing her that she couldn't talk to anyone about it, not even Emma. Yea, Sarah was Emma's friend too, but it wasn't Emma's house that Sarah was riding to. She figured that Emma wasn't going through the same thing that she was.
She couldn't stand the pain anymore so she walked over to the cupboard and grabbed the bottle of Advil. She popped a couple pills in and swallowed them with a mouthful of water. She found herself getting tired and soon fell asleep. Melissa stayed to herself for the rest of the summer. She rarely ever left her room. Her parents didn't know what to do. They had tried everything to get her to open up, but nothing seemed to work. Melissa had no intention of talking to anyone about her problem because she didn't have one. She figured no one understood the pain she was going through.
The summer ended all too quickly and Melissa had to start high school. She didn't know how she was going to handle school without Sarah and Emma by her side. Emma and Melissa hadn't talked for at least a month, which was probably Melissa's fault because the last time they had talked Melissa had yelled at Emma and told her that she didn't know what she was going through. When she got to school that first day, she kept to herself. She avoided eye contact with everyone and she spoke only when a teacher spoke to her. She had stopped taking the Advil because she knew that it didn't actually do anything for her and she didn't want to become addicted to them.
During lunch time, she was walking up the stairs to talk to a teacher when a kid from her 4th period English class, which was made up of mainly sophomores and some freshman, came up to her.
"You're a freshman right?" Melissa shook her head. "Why aren't you at lunch right now?" Melissa shrugged.
"I guess I'm not hungry and I have to talk to a teacher."
"What's your name?"
"Melissa Levesque…yours?"
"Clyde Monray, I'm a sophomore."
"Nice to meet you Clyde." Melissa said as she started her trek up the stairs.
"Wait, um, I wanted to ask you a question." Clyde said as he grabbed her arm. "Aren't you related to Triple H from WWE?" Melissa looked at Clyde.
"Yea, I am."
"Cool, I was wondering if you wanted to come eat lunch with me and my friends. We eat outside…" he said hoping that she would agree.
"Um, I guess so…my meeting shouldn't take that long."
"Sweet…I'll wait for you." He walked her up the stairs and sat outside the door waiting for her to come out. Ten minutes later Melissa walked outside looking as if she was going to cry, but Clyde didn't even notice.
"All right…let's go eat some lunch."
They walked outside and towards a group of kids. When she got closer to them she noticed that they were smoking. She didn't care though. She needed to feel like she belonged and she figured this group wouldn't ask her 3 million times a day if she was okay.
"Hey guys, this here is Melissa. She's a frosh, but she is cool. Her brother is Triple H, the professional wrestler. She is going to eat with us." The entire group nodded at Melissa. "Melissa, this is the gang." He said, pointing everyone out. "That is George, Tami, Gary, Sue, Tyler, and Bridget. George and Sue are going out and Tyler and Tami are going out. Bridget has a boyfriend who is at the university and Gary and I are flying solo right now."
"What about you Melissa? Do you have a boyfriend?" Sue asked. Well, she thought it was Sue, it could have been Tami though.
"No"
"You don't talk much do you?" Bridget asked.
Melissa felt her face start getting red. She wasn't too much of a talker until she got to know people real well.
"Hey, it's okay. You don't have to talk if you don't…teacher…quick…" Everyone threw their cigarettes in a bottle just in time for the teacher to walk up. She looked around at the group and then headed into the cafeteria. The bell rang a couple minutes later and they all walked slowly to their class. The day crept along and finally, the last bell rang. As Melissa was walking out of the school Clyde walked up behind her.
"Hey, you mind if I walk with you?" Melissa shook her head. As they walked they asked each other questions. They soon found themselves starting to like each other. That night, Melissa couldn't stop thinking about Clyde and how sweet he was. He had never mentioned the accident and he even walked her home. The next day at school Clyde asked her out and that was the start of their relationship. No one in the Levesque family like Clyde, but Melissa wouldn't listen to them. She didn't care what they said and she soon found herself withdrawing farther and farther from her family. She began hanging out with Clyde and the gang whenever she had free time. She didn't agree with their choices of smoking and drinking, but she still liked hanging out with them.
One night Paul had come home from a long 2 week wrestling stint to find Clyde and Melissa lying on the couch watching a movie. He had heard things from his parents and sister, Lynn, about this guy, but he had never met him. He was surprised to find his baby sister was actually allowed to be alone with this guy in the house.
"Melissa…" Melissa shot up as soon as she heard her brother's voice.
"Paul, what are you doing here? Mom and dad said that you wouldn't be back until tomorrow." She said sounding a little nervous.
"Well, I decided that I wanted to sleep in my own bed tonight, so I drove the entire way. Is that a problem?" He asked hearing the nervousness in her voice.
"No, I'm just a little surprised to see you. Um, I want you to meet my boyfriend. Clyde, this is my brother, Paul, and Paul, this is Clyde, my boyfriend." She said.
"It's nice to meet you Clyde." He said extending his hand.
"Yea, same to you." Clyde said not even getting off the couch.
"Well, it is getting late, so maybe you two should call it a night." Melissa glared at her brother.
"Paul, we are watching a movie. And besides, you can't tell me what to do…your not my dad."
"No, I'm not…come here." He said grabbing Melissa's arm and pulling her into the kitchen.
"You're right…I'm not dad, but I doubt that mom and dad said it is okay for you to be alone with your boyfriend in their house. Now, either you tell him he has to go or I call mom and dad."
"YOU ARE SUCH A JERK!" Melissa screamed as she walked into the living room.
"What has gotten into her?"Paul said to himself.
Paul had never seen her like this and it scared him because they were usually really close. He walked out of the kitchen and saw his sister kissing the kid that had disrespected him. He cleared his throat as he sat on the couch. Melissa and Clyde broke apart and Clyde left the house. Melissa watched him get into his car and leave the driveway. After she couldn't see him anymore she turned to her brother.
"I REALLY HATE YOU RIGHT NOW!" She ran to her room and slammed the door.
The next couple of days were tense between the two, but Melissa finally realized that she had broken the rules and Paul had not deserved to be put in the situation she had put him in. She walked to his room and sat in the doorway. He was packing all his things in a box.
"What are you doing?" She asked. He turned around and saw a peaceful look on her face.
"What are you talking to me now?" He asked.
"Um, yea…I'm sorry about that. I have been thinking and I know you didn't deserve me yelling at you. I put you in a tough spot. I'm really sorry."
"You are right. I didn't need to be put in that spot, but I'm sorry I embarrassed you in front of your boyfriend." She smiled at him and then walked over and gave him a hug.
"So, are you going to answer my question?"
"Oh, I'm moving out."
"WHAT?"
"Yea, I am moving in with Joanie."
"You're leaving me?"
"I'm only moving to another house. I will still be in the city whenever I am in the city. I just want to move in with Joanie. I love her." Melissa couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her brother had been going out with Joanie (aka Chyna) for a little over a year and she was surprised to hear that they were moving in together.
"Well, you're a big boy. You can do whatever you want to do. Do you need help with anything?" He smiled at his little sister. She was taking it better than he had expected.
"Yea, if you want to help…you can grab that box and start putting some of my clothes in it."
She walked over and started putting her brother's clothes in the box. When he wasn't looking she grabbed her favorite sweatshirt of his and threw it in her room. She knew he wasn't going too far away, but she still felt like she needed a part of him close to her at all times. They finished packing and then went out for lunch. They had to eat quickly because a couple of Paul's wrestling friends were coming to help move him and Joanie into their new house.
1 year later
Melissa and Clyde were sitting in Melissa's room. Summer was half over and the anniversary of Sarah's death was fast approaching. Melissa couldn't believe that it had been a year since she found out that her best friend was dead. No one brought up anything about the accident, which was fine with her because she didn't want to talk about it. She hadn't even talked to Emma for a year.
"So, what are we doing tonight Cly?" Melissa asked her half-sleeping boyfriend.
"Um, I don't know…I think I was going to hang out with the guys tonight. Feel free to tag along if you want." Melissa was getting angry. She couldn't believe how much time Clyde had been hanging out with the 'guys'.
"Why are you always hanging out with the guys? Why don't we do something by ourselves tonight? It will be fun." She said trying to get him to agree.
"Look, I promised the guys earlier that I would hang out with them. I want to hang out with you, but my friends are important too. Just hang out with us tonight and then we can do something tomorrow night." Melissa didn't want to upset him, so she just agreed.
"What are we going to be doing with them then?" Clyde shrugged.
"I don't know…probably just hang out in 'the spot'."
'The spot' was the parking lot of an abandoned warehouse, right next to a convenient store. So that night Melissa snuck out of the house, like almost every other night that past year, and walked with Clyde to 'the spot'. When they got to 'the spot', she noticed the entire gang was there.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the two lovebirds. They finally decided that they were good enough to join us."
"Put a sock in it Gary." Melissa warned.
She didn't really like the group of people that Clyde hung out with, but she figured that she had to be nice to them if she was going out with Clyde.
"Well, are we ready then?" Clyde asked. This confused Melissa, but she figured Clyde would explain in a minute.
"You all know what to do. Melissa you stay with me, I'll carry your bag for you."
"Thank you. Where are we going?"
"We are going to get some food."
"Oh, we are going to go buy food from Mr. Wheelock." Clyde shook his head and laughed.
"Of course we are going to buy food from Mr. Wheelock." They walked to the convenient store, which was empty except for two cashiers who were talking. Melissa had decided to stay in the front and read a magazine, while the others went back and got food. About 10 minutes later, they all came up to the front and Clyde handed Melissa her backpack.
"Wow that was pretty quick." They started to walk out of the store when the alarm went on and the doors locked. Melissa couldn't believe it. They hadn't paid for the things and she was the one carrying the bag. The cops were there in a matter of minutes. Mr. Wheelock came out of the back room and noticed Melissa in with the group of kids. He couldn't believe that she was there and actually carrying the bag. He knew Melissa because he had went to school with her parents, but he couldn't believe that she would steal anything.
"So, what is going on here?" Officer Beachton asked the kids.
"Well, we were just in here to buy a candy bar, which they were out of, and so we as we were leaving. This girl just ran up to us and started walking with us. We don't even know who it is?" Clyde said.
"What are you talking about Clyde? We're going out!" Melissa said trying to defend herself.
"Is this your backpack?" The other officer asked Melissa.
"Yes, it is."
"Well, then, you are under arrest for stealing. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…" Melissa knew he was saying the Miranda act, but she became oblivious to the fact that he wasn't done. She couldn't believe that her boyfriend and 'friends' would do that to her. They got off because Melissa couldn't bust them. It wasn't that she didn't want to, but it was 7 against one. When Melissa got to the station, she was given a chance to call someone. She picked up the phone and started dialing Paul's number.
"Hello…" a groggy voice said.
"Joanie, its Melissa. Is Paul there?" She heard Joanie talking to Paul and then heard Paul pick up the phone.
"Shorty…what's wrong? Are you okay?" She could hear the fear in his voice.
"Um, I'm fine. But can you come pick me up?"
"Yea, where are you?"
"I'm in jail."
"WHAT? What do you mean you are in jail? What happened?"
"Um, I snuck out of the house tonight and went to 'the spot' with Clyde and the gang. Then, we went to Mr. Wheelock's store and they stole some things and put it in my backpack. I thought they had paid for the stuff until the alarm went off and the doors locked us in. Then Clyde and the rest turned on me and said that they didn't even know who I was." Melissa started crying. She couldn't believe that the person she loved would turn his back on her.
"Mel…listen to me. Stop crying…I'll be over to get you soon, but I have to take you home. The police have probably already called mom and dad, so I will call them and tell them I am picking you up."
"Thanks Paul…"
"Hey, I didn't say that it would be best if I picked you up…" He hung up the phone and continued to call his parents. Just as he suspected they had just gotten off the phone with the police.
"Mom, I know you are beyond pissed at Melissa right now, but let me pick her up and talk to her first."
"Fine, maybe you can talk some sense into her head. I don't know what has gotten into that kid. We are going to call George and ask him what happened. If he wants to press charges then she is going to take the punishment." Paul hung up the phone and got dressed. He made it down to the station in record time. He walked over to his sister and asked what bail was.
"There is no bail because we cannot press charges." Officer Beachman told Paul.
"What are you talking about?"
"Mr. Wheelock has decided that there will be no charges against Miss Levesque. He is letting her parents take care of it. What relation are you to Miss Levesque?"
"I'm her brother." The officer nodded and let Melissa go.
Melissa walked to the car slowly following her brother. He didn't say anything to her the entire car ride. They finally stopped at the house and sat in the car.
"Thanks for coming to get me…" she started to say.
"We're not done yet." She looked down at her hands. "Melissa…what in the hell were you thinking?"
"I didn't do anything Paul. I was an innocent bystander in this whole thing. Clyde and the gang set me up. I was in the front of the store reading a magazine."
"I don't mean just tonight. Why would you hang out with a group like that anyway? You know better than that, well, at least you used to. You have been such a little brat lately and no one knows what has gotten into you. We never see Emma around and…"
"GOD LEAVE ME ALONE PAUL! YOU ARE NOT ONE OF MY PARENTS…AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU ARE SO GOD DAMN NOSY!"
"Watch your language Melissa."
"Give me a break. You cannot talk to me about morals of any kind here. You swear all the time, you swear on TV in front of millions of people! You live with your girlfriend…wait…you sleep with your girlfriend."
"This is not about me what so ever. You snuck out of the house tonight and went with your 'boyfriend' on a stealing spree."
"You are blowing this way out of proportion. I went to the store with him and I didn't know he was trying to steal things. And don't be such an ass to my boyfriend."
"No, that is the least of your problems, but since we're on the topic. How can you even say that he is your boyfriend when he ditched you and made you take the blame for something, that you keep telling me, he did? What a great boyfriend he is." Paul said sarcastically.
Melissa ran out of the car crying. As soon as she entered the house she knew she was in for another long conversation, especially when she heard Paul shut his car door. Now, she was not only going to be in trouble for the night's events, but also for dragging Paul into this. She walked into her room and saw her parents sitting on her bed.
"You know what we expect to find when we walk into our daughter's room at 2:00 in the morning?" Melissa shook her head but didn't say anything.
"We expect to find our daughter. So you can imagine our shock when the phone wakes us up and we come in to find our daughter missing." Melissa looked down at the floor.
She didn't want to cry again, but she felt the tears. Her parents weren't going to yell at her. They were going to use the disappointed approach. And that was a lot harder to deal with.
"How could you Melissa? We trusted you and you just threw it away." Her mom and Paul were silent through the entire speech her dad gave her.
"Maybe you should just go to bed and we will talk about this in the morning." Her mom and dad walked out of the room leaving Paul and Melissa standing there in silence.
"Just yell at me Paul. I know you want to…plus I deserve it." Paul walked over to her bed and sat down motioning for her to follow.
"You are right. You deserve to get yelled at, but I already did my yelling and it didn't help our situation at all. Listen Shorty, I love you and I am just trying to look out for you, but something has gotten into you and I don't like it. You really should get some sleep because I have a feeling mom and dad are going to be punishing you tomorrow."
"Yea, I know. Are you going to be here tomorrow?" She asked hoping that if he was there her dad would be a little happier and her punishment would be a little more bearable.
The next day
"Melissa Marie, it's time to wake up." Melissa turned over and looked at the clock.
"It's 6:00 in the morning…"
"Yea, it is. Now, get up and get dressed. We have to go talk to Mr. Wheelock and figure out your punishment." Her dad walked out and she got dressed. As they drove to the car, it was pretty silent, but her dad broke it.
"Melissa, what has gotten into you?" He looked at her, but she remained silent staring out the window. "You have been withdrawn and distant for the past year. You haven't talked to your mother and I and Paul says that you have even been short with him lately. I know this past year has been hard for you, it has been hard for all of us. I don't know everything that has been going on in your life, but I want to. I need you to know that no matter how bad you screw up or what you do I will always be there for you if you need to talk. I will love you no matter what. You are my little girl and nothing will ever change that."
Melissa didn't know what to say. She couldn't remember the last time her and her dad had a real talk. She was surprised that he wasn't yelling because that is what she had grown accustomed to between the where were you and the you better get your grades up or else speeches.
"Thanks Dad" was all she could say. She wanted to tell him, but she couldn't let herself believe that she actually had a problem that she could talk about. The rest of the way was driven in silence.
They made it to the convenient store by 7:00 and walked in to find Mr. Wheelock sitting at his desk.
"Good morning George."
"Morning Paul" Mr. Wheelock said without looking up from his computer. He finally got up from his desk and walked over to Melissa.
"How are you Melissa?" Melissa couldn't even look at him. "Well, we should better get this over with? First, do you have anything to say?"
"Um, I am really sorry for everything that happened last night. I know neither of you have reason to believe anything that I say, but I am going to say it anyway. Yesterday, I snuck out of the house and went to 'the spot' with Clyde and the rest of the gang. They decided that they were going to come here and get some supplies. Clyde said he would carry my bag for me, so while they were in the back I was reading a magazine in the front. They handed me my backpack and we walked out. Then the alarm went off. That is the story. I am very sorry about everything and I wish I could change, but I can't. That is all I have to say."
"Melissa I am sorry that we have to be here discussing this, but we caught you with the stolen items. And I have to do something."
"Mr. Wheelock, please, I know that you have to do this, but don't explain. I just want to hear what I need to do."
"All right, I have been thinking about this all night." They talked for about an hour and when Melissa and her dad left the store, they had decided that a year of community service and talking to a psychologist would help. It wasn't that Melissa was a bad kid, but she had gotten into the wrong group. Her parents had also decided that as long as she had community service she would also be grounded.
She started her community service working off the money that she would have owed the convenient store. She went in there everyday for 3 hours and cleaned the floors and bathrooms. However, her therapy sessions were another story entirely. She hated the sessions and she hated talking about herself, but she found that it did help to talk about Sarah and what had been going on in her life. Even though no one really knew how much she had actually put herself through, it still made her feel better to talk about it with people.
The year seemed to fly by for Melissa. She would go to school and then head over to the convenience store for a couple hours. The summer was finally over, which meant so was Melissa's community service and therapy sessions. She hadn't talked to Clyde or any of the 'gang' since the night she got in trouble. She had avoided them like the plague, but that was because it still hurt her to know that Clyde had lied and she loved him.
On the first night of her freedom she noticed that it was classic movie night at the local theatre and her favorite movie 'Fried Green Tomatoes' was playing. She went to the theatre and grabbed popcorn, nachos, and Pepsi. She remembered the nights that she would come with Emma and Sarah. She hadn't talked to Emma in over two years. She sat down and waited for the movie to start.
2 hours later Melissa walked out of the movie theatre and started towards home. She still had an hour before she had to be home for curfew so she decided to stop and get some ice cream. As she started walking, she heard a faint cry. She walked to the place where she thought the noise had come from. When she reached the alley she saw two people towards the end. She couldn't see who it was at the end of the alley, but she recognized the voices. She grabbed her cell phone.
"911, what's the emergency?" The operator asked.
"Um, there are a couple people at the end of the alley at Broad Street right next to Hoyt's Cinema. All I know is that I heard a scream. I think that the guy might be trying something."
"All right, we will send someone over. Just stay out of that alley." Melissa didn't hear what the operator said because she had already started walking down the alley.
"Clyde…get off of her!"
"Well, well, if it isn't Melissa Levesque. Can't you see that Emma and I are a little busy?" Emma tried to get away, but Clyde was still hanging on.
"Leave Emma alone, she hasn't done anything to you. Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Clyde got an evil look in his eye and began walking towards her. Out of the corner of her eye, Melissa say Emma fall to the ground crying. She started backing up, but soon found herself against a wall with Clyde inching closer.
"You know how long I've wanted this? Since the first day I met you, all I could think about was how I was gonna be the first one to nail Melissa Levesque, Triple H's little sister. I thought I had it, but then you decide that you don't want to do anything. You are a little bitch, but I was surprised you didn't tell the cops that you actually were the innocent one. I can't believe you didn't rat us out. That took guts. I have waited a long time for this."
Melissa could smell the alcohol and felt his breathe on her neck. She tried pushing him away, but he was too strong. She started yelling for help, but Clyde covered her mouth quickly.
"This is going to be…" Before he could finish his sentence the cops stormed into the alley.
"Freeze…put your hands where we can see them." Clyde looked over to Melissa and then back at the cops.
"You little bitch." He whispered to Melissa before he slapped her. The cops ran over and grabbed Clyde.
"You are under arrest for assault, battery, and attempted rape. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be given to you." The cop said as he put the handcuffs on Clyde's wrists. Melissa couldn't help but smile. Clyde had finally gotten what was coming to him.
"Are you okay Miss Levesque?" Melissa nodded and watched as the officer walked Clyde to the police car. She turned and watched Emma talking to another officer. After the officers left Melissa walked up to her and stood there.
"Are you okay?" Melissa could tell that Emma was upset, but she was not ready for the next thing.
"YOU WANT TO KNOW IF I'M OKAY!" Melissa was in shock. She had never heard Emma yell before.
"NO, I'M NOT OKAY! YOUR BOYFRIEND JUST TRIED TO RAPE ME!"
"I'm sorry about Clyde, but we broke up a year ago."
"WHATEVER…I DON'T CARE ANYMORE." The silence that followed was uncomfortable for both girls and Melissa couldn't handle it.
"Can we go get some ice cream or pizza or something and talk?" Emma looked at Melissa and shook her head. She walked over to Emma and put her arm around her shoulder and led her out of the alley. They walked to The City Room Café and sat down. The waitress walked over and they ordered hot chocolate and pie. They sat and ate in silence. Melissa couldn't take the silence anymore, it was driving her nuts.
"So, how have you been lately?"
"HOW HAVE I BEEN? YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW I'M FEELING! LET ME TELL YOU HOW I'M FEELING MELISSA. I'M FEELING LIKE SHIT! DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT WAS FOR ME? YEA, I KNOW THAT YOU TOLD ME THAT IT COULDN'T BE AS HARD FOR ME BECAUSE SHE WASN'T RIDING OVER TO MY HOUSE, BUT IT STILL HURT. SHE WAS MY BEST FRIEND TOO!" Melissa started to say apologize when Emma continued with tears in her eyes.
"SARAH AND I MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN AS CLOSE AS YOU TWO WERE, BUT WE WERE STILL VERY CLOSE. HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT IT DIDN'T HURT ME AS MUCH! I DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND HOW YOU COULD JUST PUSH THE ONE REAL FRIEND YOU HAD OUT OF YOUR LIFE." She stopped to catch her breath and then continued in a quieter voice.
"You were like a sister to me and it hurt when you didn't talk to me. It hurt even more when you told me to just leave you alone. I needed someone to talk to…I needed to talk to the one person that I figured would understand the best. And that person was you. But you had to be selfish and decide that no one else was in as much pain as you were. No one else knew how it felt. Try losing two people you care about Melissa…because I lost Sarah AND I lost you…" Melissa looked at Emma with tears streaming down her face.
"Emma, I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say. I didn't want to believe that it was hard for other people, when in reality I made it hard for people. I didn't want to believe that Sarah was gone and then when I stopped talking to you it just hurt me even more."
"You didn't have to stop talking to me. I wanted…no, I needed to talk to you. But you pushed me further and further away. You pushed everyone that you needed away from you. You were my best friend…"
"I want to be your friend again. I know that it isn't going to be easy, but I miss you so much. I cannot begin to tell you how truly sorry I am and I know that it will be hard for you to forgive me, but I will do anything to show you that I can…"
"Melissa, I want to be your friend, but things aren't going to be like they used to be, at least not for a little while." Melissa looked at Emma with a tear-stained face and smiled. Emma smiled back and then reached across the table and gave Melissa a big hug which made both girls start crying. The rest of the night they spent at Melissa's house talking about everything that had happened to them the past 2 years.
The next year seemed to fly by for Melissa and Emma. They had mended their friendship and were in the fast lane to becoming best friends. They usually hung out after school doing homework and chatting about the usual high school girl topics.
The one thing that they never talked about was the last night they had seen Clyde. He had been charged with assault and battery, attempted rape, and underage drinking. Neither Melissa nor Emma had seen him after the trial and neither girl was the least bit upsetThe last they heard he was in a minimum security prison and wouldn't be released for at least 15 more years and then probably some probation.
Melissa was finally able to put Sarah's death behind her. She knew that she would never forget her friend, but she also knew that she couldn't keep pushing it behind her.
The school year finally came to a close and Melissa had graduated in the top half of her class plus she had been accepted to Fayetteville State University in North Carolina. Her parents didn't want her going too far for school, but that was because they had trouble trusting her. She had lost their trust and it was hard for her to gain it back again. When she wanted to go somewhere she had to ask her parents and they needed to know who she was going with, where she was going, when she was going to be back (it had to be around midnight), and she had to check in. Melissa knew why her parents made those rules for her and she wasn't even mad at them. She knew what she had done was worth mistrust, but she also knew that she would be able to gain her parents' trust back in time. They finally decided to let her go to Fayetteville for school. Melissa was super excited to be going to college, but as the time approached for her to go she was getting nervous.
August 28th
"MELISSA! EARTH TO MELISSA!" Melissa was jolted from her thoughts.
"What?"
"Are you going to answer my question? Geez, you haven't heard a word I have said have you?"
"No, I'm sorry. What was your question?"
"What were you thinking about?" Emma asked again speaking slowly and loud enough for Melissa.
"Hahaha…you are so funny! I'm not deaf Emma, I was just remembering the past couple years."
"What do you mean?" Melissa just shrugged.
"Just about everything that happened since Sarah died."
"Yea, a lot of things happened during high school, but I think it only made us better friends." Melissa smiled at her best friend.
"You're right Em. I'm just glad you took me back." Emma just smiled. She was happy that Melissa had finally come to her senses. They were both silent as they finished packing Melissa's things.
"Emma, I am so excited that we are going to the same school, but I am so nervous about leaving. Everything that I know is here. What if I don't make any new friends? What if I…"
"Mel, chill out, you will be fine. I will be there with you and we will meet new people. You just really need to take a couple deep breaths and relax. You are going to be fine." Emma said grabbing her best friend's shoulders trying to calm her down.
"I know, but I am so nervous. I have never been this far away from home before. Did you know that it is like 13 hours from here? I don't even know how I chose this school!" Melissa looked at her friend and then decided that it would be in her best interest to stop freaking out.
"Look Mel, we are going to be fine. I have relatives that live down there, so if we ever get homesick they will be right there for us. Now, let's go! We have a long drive down there." The girls hopped into the car and started the long drive to Fayetteville, North Carolina.