All characters are the property of SNK/Playmore. I don't own them, the video games or the anime.
Chapter Nineteen: Crossroads
Tuesday, August 4th, 1998
A shining metal tray with a cup of steaming brown liquid that smells really good…
"Here, Mei Lin, I've got some yummy hot chocolate for you. Drink up…"
Shouting...
A loud pop that deafens her for a few seconds, followed by a bright red starburst appearing to open in the man's chest. Steaming gore splatters the wall, the bed, even her face, a sharp contrast to the cold, sterile white. An acrid smell of gunpowder hits her nostrils. A woman stands in the doorway…
"Mei Lin! You are in danger!"
A railing that she can't see over. But even through the gaps, she can see deep blue. It's all she can see, stretching to the horizon…
"Come inside now, dear one. It's safer if we stay in the cabin as much as possible."
The same woman sits at a table, the lamp on its surface providing the only light. She shines it on her shoulder, pours a clear, sharp-smelling liquid onto a jagged hole in her pale flesh, hisses in pain. The young blonde girl cannot clearly see the wound, but even from where she sits on the bed, she can smell what reminds her of something rotten.
The woman bites a towel, stifling screams of pain as her other hand grips a pair of tongs, probes the now-septic wound. A reassuring smile that doesn't feel like one.
"Look away, Mei Lin. Just watch some TV, okay? Everything will be fine, I promise."
"You are a survivor. It is in your blood."
"I love you, Mei Lin. I always will…"
Those amber eyes came open quite suddenly. Everything was a blur at first, then her retinas adjusted to the transition from REM sleep to morning, and the ceiling above her bed came into focus.
"Melanie?" She rolled over onto her side, facing her roommate, who was also on her side with a look of concern. "Were you dreaming again?"
There was a time when she would have told Kimberly to mind her own business, but that time had long passed. "Yeah." It had seemed like that was getting better. Since Field Day of last year, her dreams had been more… normal. Well, for the most part. Every now and then, there would be the odd one with a talking animal or something. But… none of her regular dreams, these fragments of something that might be memory, except she couldn't exactly recall.
The last few weeks, though, had seen a return of the old. And she was having them more frequently. Without another word, she rose from the bed, walked to the bathroom, and threw some cold water on her face at one of the sinks. Then she went back to the room, dabbed herself dry with a towel, and started to dress for the school day.
Kimberly said nothing the whole time, just watched her friend toss her nightshirt into the hamper, then select the components of her uniform from the closet, as well as clean undergarments from her dresser. She'd already asked Melanie about what she was dreaming, but… the small blonde couldn't tell her much, because she herself didn't know what they meant… who those people were, why she was in that room, and why she'd supposedly been in danger. After several tense minutes, she asked: "Have you ever thought about telling Landy or another grown-up?"
Melanie was buttoning up her blouse. "Nah. I don't think I need a shrink." She left out that the main reason she hadn't told Landy was because she still didn't trust the older woman. Also, she preferred to live in the present. Whatever those dreams meant, they were part of something that was done and over with. Whatever happened, happened. There was only now. This moment. And at this moment, she had to get ready for class. Today was Language Lab, and then in the afternoon, her tutoring session with Kimberly. Based on what Hartman had told her recently, that knife now seemed closer than ever. Tomorrow, she'd be sparring with the teacher again. But today, she had to prepare.
Kimberly still looked concerned, but Mel seemed to have other things on her mind. She finished buttoning her shirt and then moved to the mirror on their closet door and tried to do her necktie. At the start of this year, Joan had made the announcement at assembly that they would no longer be wearing clip-ons with their uniforms, and every girl would need to learn to put on a real tie.
Even now, Melanie still struggled with it. Kimberly watched her as she undid her third attempt at a Windsor knot and started over, then she got up and walked over to the mirror. "Here," she said, reaching out to flip up Melanie's collar, and help her with the necktie.
"Thanks, Kim," she said almost sheepishly. "I feel kinda stupid that I haven't figured this out yet."
The dark-haired girl finished adjusting the tie, then turned the collar back down. "Don't worry about it, Mel. I mean, you're better at shaving your legs than I am." She pointed down at her bare shins, which still had a few small red nicks in them from her last shower. Melanie, by contrast, never seemed to get a scratch. "We've all got strengths and weaknesses."
"I guess," Melanie said, managing a smile. "But, I mean, I've got more experience with razor blades. They had other uses when I was growing up on the streets. I'm sure you'll get better at shaving."
"Just like you'll learn the trick to knotting a necktie."
Melanie gave a nervous laugh. "Kim, you really are…" She faltered, then, and her roommate saw a strange light in those amber eyes she wasn't used to seeing.
"What?" Kimberly asked her.
You really are a good friend, Melanie finished in her head, the compulsion she'd felt to say it out loud leaving her as fast as it had come. If anything, these dreams she'd started having again lately only reminded her that maybe she didn't belong anywhere, and was meant to wander. She'd made up her mind to leave after getting her knife, and would rather not make things difficult.
The silence between them was stretching to the point of discomfort, so the small blonde finished by saying: "Special. You're… special."
Kimberly managed a half smile, and patted her on the shoulder. "Thanks, Mel. So are you. But… is that all you wanted to say? You look bothered by something."
She gave an absent shake of her head. "Just got a lot on my mind. I'm a little nervous about gym class tomorrow. The last few times I've sparred with him, he's disarmed me pretty quickly."
"You'll do fine, Mel. Just remember the lessons, and everything you've been reading. Be the river: flow, and adapt."
"You're right."
Kimberly nodded, but could tell something else was wrong. Still, she said nothing, instead pulled off her nightshirt and went to her own dresser to start her morning routine.
The next day…
The blade came at her, singing through the air towards her breastbone. Melanie deflected it with her own blade, attempted a feint towards her opponent's right flank, which he'd left exposed. If the knives they were using were sharper, it would have bit into the flesh of his thigh. But the blades lacked an edge or point, though they were still made from steel, giving them weight.
They were a step up from the rubber knives, and for the last few months, Melanie had been using them in both her sessions with Kimberly, and also in gym class, with the other girls. It had been a little shaky at first, swinging them at another person, but the small blonde soon grew accustomed to the weight, and had started incorporating everything she'd read and learned over the last few years.
But unlike her spars with classmates, Hartman was not to be underestimated. He picked up on Melanie's move and swung his own knife back down in a quick jab, blocking the young girl's strike. Melanie backed off, her steps light, always shifting weight from one foot to the other, left forearm raised in a defensive stance while her right hand remained partially extended, holding the blade out, keeping her wrist loose.
Be the river…
Her amber eyes flicked out to the rest of the class, watching from the sidelines, then forward again, trying to guess his next move. After her first sparring match with the sarge, she'd learned to fight more defensively. His strategy seemed to involve hanging back to let Melanie make the first move, closing the distance between them so that he could bring his own weapon forward into what would have been a killing blow with only a minimum of force or reach.
Kim had told her about this technique, which had also come up in some of her reading. So this time, she decided to try and wait him out. She circled left, holding her knife in the tried and true position she'd learned on her first day of practice with her roommate. But Hartman circled the same direction, neither flinching nor blinking. He also was not moving forward, his patience that of a hawk.
Finally, Mel's youthful compulsion got the best of her, and she moved towards him, swinging the knife in her right hand down to what would have been a stab in the left side. Hartman moved to block, but halfway through the motion, the plucky blonde girl tossed the knife from her right hand to her left, and tried a blow at his kidney.
This time, the teacher had to pivot to avoid, and was now the one moving backwards, deflecting Melanie's stabs with his own weapon. The girl continued to alternate between hands, psyching him out as long as she could with a pretend stab from one before switching to the other hand and trying with that one. Hartman soon picked up on this, though, and as Melanie tried to move the weapon from the left hand back to the right, he lashed out with the flat of his blade and struck her on the right wrist.
Her knife clattered into the dirt, and Melanie stood there, breathing hard, with Hartman at arm's length, the tip of his own knife hovering inches from her heart. "Do you yield?" He asked her.
For a moment, Melanie looked downtrodden at the prospect of another defeat, her gaze moving towards the dirt. Then she got an idea. "Not yet, sarge," she answered, looking back up again with a defiant smirk on her face.
Hartman raised one gray eyebrow. "But you're disarmed."
"But not helpless." As she'd been talking, Melanie let one hand drift behind her back, releasing the catch on her black hip satchel. Then, in a swift, agile movement, she jumped backwards out of stabbing range and brought her left arm forward, tossing the bag at her opponent. Hartman instinctively moved to swat it out of midair, and Melanie used the distraction to pitch forward to the ground, rolling across the dirt and grabbing her knife back in the process.
She continued her roll, lashing out with her knife hand as she passed the ex-Marine, the dull blade striking him on the back of his left ankle. "That's a hit!" She said, springing back to her feet.
As she'd expected, Hartman had dropped down to one knee, faking what the corresponding injury would be. Without hesitating, Melanie reversed her grip on the knife and closed the distance between them, bringing it downward in a stabbing motion, stopping right at the juncture of his neck and collarbone.
"And now you're dead," she laughed, her smirk changing to one of triumph.
Hartman didn't even flinch. "So are you," he answered. The small blonde flicked her gaze down, saw the sarge's own knife being held right-handed in a reverse grip, his arm bent backwards so that the tip of his blade hovered under Mel's breastbone, poised to be driven up into her heart, which is what would have happened had the knives had an edge, and also if Melanie had continued her downward stab.
The look of triumph shifted to disappointment in an instant. Both combatants lowered their weapons, and Hartman rose to his feet. "But this was still our best sparring match. You're improving, learning to think on your feet, and even to use your natural ambidexterity to your advantage. That move with the bag took me by surprise."
The girl's mood lightened just a little from the praise, though she remained cautious. "Really? You aren't gonna call me on fighting dirty?"
"It all depends on context, Melanie. Kicking dirt in your opponent's eyes when you're both unarmed is one thing. Improvising using only what you have on your person when facing someone who's disarmed you: that's something different. From what I've seen today, your skills in both armed and unarmed combat are improving, but at the moment, I feel you've hit an impasse."
Her brow furrowed. "Wait, what do you…"
"What you need to learn moving forward from this point, you can't. At least not with replicas and rubber toys. And you are ready to move forward."
At first, Melanie had been preparing to tear him a new one, thinking he was insulting her. Now she could feel her heart start to race. She almost dared not ask. "Sir… does this mean… ?"
The gruff man nodded. "This time next week, you will be training on the north side of the field… you and five others. You've all earned your weapons."
Melanie could barely contain her excitement at hearing those words from his mouth. But she was determined not to show it in front of an adult. Instead, she simply saluted him and said: "Thank you, sir!"
He gave a curt nod, and returned the salute. "I told you already: thank Kimberly. She's taught you well, as I knew she would. You've progressed more than I thought possible in a few years' time, because of her."
"Yes, sir!" Melanie said with a nod. About half the girls assembled gave her a round of applause. As expected, Regina, her crew, and most of those loyal to them, remained silent. After handing her weapon back to Hartman, the small blonde returned to her seat in the circle next to Kimberly, who couldn't resist giving her a big hug, and Melanie, who normally hated showing affection in public, couldn't resist letting her.
Class was dismissed a short time later, and the girls who'd all earned their knives still milled about on the practice field: Melanie, Zoey, Andrea, Ramona, and another girl named Nicole. Jaclyn had also earned her knife, but chose to head off in the direction of the shed, trailing along behind Regina's pack.
The girls spent several minutes congratulating each other, and Kimberly, who was also there, congratulated them, but couldn't help notice that her roommate was strangely silent, wearing an odd grin. "I gotta say, Mel," she told her, "I thought you'd be more excited by this."
"Oh, I am," Melanie answered her. "I just didn't want to say or do anything in front of the sarge."
"Well, he's gone now," Zoey pointed out. "So how do you feel?"
There were many things she wanted to say, like how she owed it all to Kimberly, or how strange it felt to actually earn something in life instead of just stealing it. Instead, she jumped at least three feet in the air, pumping her fist and letting out a raucous: "YYYYYYYYYYES!"
Sunday, August 9th
The ceremony had ended not too long ago. The girls had all assembled on the Quad in their gym uniforms, along with the faculty. The six new initiates into Hartman's more elite training program sat in chairs on a makeshift stage, along with Joan and their gym teacher. After a brief speech from the headmistress, each girl was called by name to receive their weapon, with their name engraved on it, from Hartman.
"I knew from the moment I saw you that you had great potential in you, Melanie," Joan said as she shook the blonde girl's hand. "Continue to strive for excellence!"
For once, Melanie was able to push her distrustful nature to the back of her mind. Largely because she'd never taken part in something like this before. True, the medals after Field Day had been a celebration of accomplishment, but those were just for cheap tin awards painted to look like other colors. This carried more weight to it, since it was something Melanie actually cared about.
So she went through the motions. She answered Landy with a hearty: "I will, ma'am. Thank you!" She saluted Hartman with her right hand and accepted her knife (her knife) with the left. This time, everyone applauded, even Regina and her crew, largely due to the presence of Joan Landy. But Melanie wasn't even looking at that. Instead, her gaze moved first to Kimberly, who gave her a thumbs up, and then to Nikolai, sitting in the front row with faculty, who gave a small nod, though his gray eyes had something that looked almost like fatherly pride. Melanie nodded back, and then reclaimed her seat.
Now, she was hanging out with those girls she had gotten to know during her time here. Kimberly was holding Mel's new knife flat in the palm of her hand, the small hilt at center. "Nice balance," the girl said, bobbing her arm up and down to test it further. Her fingers then closed around the handle, and she flicked her wrist, reversing the grip. She gave it a small toss in the air, catching it by the handle. Then another flick, and she was carefully holding the blade by its sides. "It's a good weapon, Mel." She held it handle first to its owner.
Melanie accepted it, took a moment to just hold and stare at it in awe. It felt almost like a dream, and if it was, she hoped she never woke up. Then, finally, she slipped the knife (her knife… she still couldn't believe she was even thinking that) back into its sheath. "Yeah, and it's mine."
"You deserve it," Kimberly said.
This earned her a blush from the other girl, prompting Layla to ask: "What's the matter?"
"Nothing," Melanie answered. "I'm just… usually when people tell me I deserve something, it's always punishment or… fake parents sending me back to the orphanage. It's… never been attached to something good before."
"Well, I meant it," her roommate told her, choosing not to go any deeper into Mel's remark with others present. "I mean, you worked your ass off for that knife. Did everything me and the sarge asked, and even more than that. I think Hartman may have doubted you a few times, but I never did."
Melanie continued to show red in her cheeks. "Well, I'm not the only one who got a knife today. Zoey earned hers, too."
"True," the brown-haired girl said with a nod, her own knife tucked into her belt. "But we've all been getting training since we were five. You had to take a crash course, condensing things we learned back in kindergarten and elementary school into the course of a few years. In addition to all the stuff we're learning at regular gym classes, just to get caught up. So the fact that the sarge felt you were ready… that's pretty awesome."
Melanie nodded, though the red didn't leave her cheeks. "Thanks, girls," she said. Then she got up from the couch, and started towards the rec room exit.
"Where are you going?" Niko asked her.
"Nowhere, really," Melanie said in an absent tone they weren't used to hearing. "Just wanted to take a little walk."
Kimberly started to get up. "You okay?"
"Fine," the blonde girl tried to assure her. "Just… it's been a busy day. I need some air."
Her friend looked unconvinced by the answer, but still she didn't follow. Melanie left the dorm and stepped out into the bright afternoon sun. Surprisingly, there had been few clouds in the sky, and the weather should have been reflecting the small blonde's mood. She had no idea what came over her. She'd started out the day so full of pride, and had spent most of breakfast gloating about the upcoming ceremony. But Kimberly's remark had reopened old wounds, reminded her that she had joined a community that was well set-up before her arrival. So maybe she still felt like an outsider in it?
That, plus the return of her dreams, left her pondering if it was time to move on now that she'd gotten what she wanted. As she wandered the sidewalk, she found herself looking down at the ground. She didn't know how long she'd been walking when she saw several pairs of sneakers in her vision. She looked up, and as expected, saw they belonged to Regina, and the rest of her crew.
"The girls and I haven't gotten a chance to congratulate you yet, runt," Regina said with a sneer, arms folded across her chest, which Melanie was annoyed to see was still developing faster than her own. The Alpha was one of the few who was already in bras.
Melanie pushed that out of her mind and tried to sound defiant. "That's okay, I don't really need any more."
She tried to go back the way she came, but the five girls moved into a circle, surrounding her. "We insist," said Regina.
For a moment, Melanie's hand reached for the weapon sheathed at her side, but then she remembered the rules Hartman had told her, and the chief one was: no using the knives outside of class. So she stopped, lowered her hands, which did not go unnoticed by Regina.
"You're a smart runt, when you wanna be."
"You too," Melanie shot back. "Problem is, you never wanna be smart."
Regina held both hands to her chest in a mock-wounded expression. "Hey, I told you, we're here to congratulate you."
"Don't sugar-coat it," Melanie growled. "Let's just get this over with." So saying, she dropped her arms to her sides, allowed her frame to sag, head bowed.
"Wow, maybe she is getting smarter," Sunako said. Bolstered by this, Regina started towards her…
And as soon as she was close enough, Melanie's head came up, slamming into Regina's chin. She then grabbed her opponent by the arms and brought her had down again. She had to jump due to their height difference, but her forehead still smashed hard against the other girl's nose. Regina coughed and staggered backwards several paces.
"Nice little trick you've got," Melanie told her with a smirk. "So I thought I'd borrow it. You know, the same way you borrowed my property."
The now enraged Regina managed to hang back instead of rushing blindly forward. "You know what, girls?" She told her entourage. "This is a special occasion. Let's all congratulate her at the same time."
"Sounds like fun," Amanda said with a cackle, and so they all advanced on her. A few minutes later, Melanie was lying in the grass, battered and bleeding, with Regina speaking into her ear.
"You may have earned your knife, but you'll never be one of us," she whispered. "This changes nothing! A runt will always be a runt." And then, she and her crew left the small girl there to catch her breath.
After several minutes, Melanie got up, and against her better judgment, decided to pay a visit to the infirmary. She didn't say who did it to her, as always, and this time she endured the painful fire of the antiseptics without any cursing, mainly because she didn't want to miss dinner, since Kimberly had told her what was in store.
The girls who'd earned their knives all sat at one table in the dining hall, and while their classmates all ate meatloaf and mashed potatoes, they were served a special meal: steak and fried shrimp, with their potatoes served au gratin, and some vegetable called broccoli rabe which was actually pretty good. Melanie hadn't had a dinner like this since the meals that Joan had given her before she'd come to this school.
The blonde girl could count on one hand the number of times in her life she'd had steak, but it had always been cooked to death. This time, it was seared on the outside, warm and pink on the inside, and incredibly good with some sort of garlic butter melted on top. She tried her best to enjoy it, but it was soured by the presence of Jaclyn at the table, who mentioned Regina every chance she got, despite Zoey telling her to cram it.
Hearing the Alpha's name only reminded Melanie of her fight, and the final words to her. That, more than anything, had cemented her final decision. But at the moment, she was going to try and enjoy dinner. The next time I eat a meal like this, I'll have to steal it, she thought as she forked another piece of tender steak.
Saturday, August 15th
The rest of the week seemed to pass by like one of her dreams, with Melanie only half paying attention to things, and remembering just fragments of her days. If Kimberly thought something was wrong, she took no notice.
But now it was after sunset, and long after lights out, and Melanie, who'd been awake the whole time, heard the familiar footsteps of Ms. Wallace heading down the stairwell towards the first floor. Moving fast yet whisper quiet, Melanie got out of bed (already fully dressed in jeans and a black hoodie) and stuffed some of her laundry under the blankets as a decoy, a tried and true tactic that had been working ever since she started getting lessons from Nikolai.
Nikolai… someone else Melanie was actually going to miss. She'd learned a lot from him over the last year…
She shook her head, forcing down the memories. Don't think about that now. You might lose your nerve. This is really the best course of action. At the end of the day, you don't belong here.
She shouldered her backpack, which contained one of her gym uniforms and some other changes of clothes, her notebook, her yo-yo, and… her knife. She was sorry that she hadn't been able to get her locket back from Regina, but then… it would just be another reminder of Kimberly, and she didn't need that. Her amber-eyed gaze flicked over to the other girl, asleep in her bed.
"I'll miss you, Kim," she whispered, and then, before her attachment caused her resolve to waiver, she turned and climbed out her window, using the vines to get down to the ground. She evaded the guards and searchlights as she always did, and soon found herself standing in front of the vehicle garage. She couldn't remember when she'd first noticed this discrepancy, and now it didn't matter. All that mattered was that it provided a means for getting over the fence.
She scrambled up onto the roof of the garage with little effort. The back corner of it was closest to the fence, and just on the other side, Melanie had noticed a low hanging branch from one of the pines. Low enough for her to grab. Taking a running jump, she managed to clear the fence, then grabbed hold of the branch and pulled herself up onto it. Soon she was back on the ground, leaving the Clemency School far behind her.
She wondered: would Landy pull out all the stops to try and find her? If so, Melanie was sure she could evade the searchers. She was already good at sneaking, and her lessons here had made her even better.
"Going somewhere?" A familiar voice called down from the branches, startling the blonde girl so badly that she tripped and fell forward into the dirt and pine needles. She got up and brushed herself off, and after a quick scan saw Kimberly sitting on a bough ten feet above the forest floor, head cocked to the side in a quizzical expression.
For a moment, Melanie was too startled to speak. Then: "How did you…"
"You showed me your notebook, so I already knew about how to avoid the searchlights," was the answer. "And this escape route."
Melanie tried not to look her in the eyes. "Don't try to stop me, Kim," she said. "Please don't make this any harder than it already is.
"But it doesn't have to be hard. Why do you have to go?" The girl's tone was not pleading. If anything, it was simply curious.
"Because I did what I set out to do," Melanie answered. "And now it's time to move on. Regina is right when she says I don't belong here. I'm… I'm not one of you. Maybe I never have been." She gave a broad, sweeping gesture with her arm at the dark woods behind her. "Out there… that's the world I come from. The only one I know."
Kimberly dropped off the bough, landed on her feet a few yards from her roommate. "You know, I envy you, Mel. I think it must be nice to be able to just run from your problems when they get to be too much for you to handle. But I don't have that luxury, because this school is all I've ever known."
"If you think I'm running because I can't handle Regina…"
"I don't think that at all. I have a very good idea what you're afraid of."
Her amber eyes narrowed into slits. "You calling me a coward, Kim? Because I don't care how much I owe you, I'll fucking deck you if you're saying…"
"I said you were afraid, Mel. That doesn't mean I think you're a coward. You're honestly one of the bravest girls I know. But we all have things we're afraid of. And in this case, I think you're afraid of the fact that you're wrong."
Mel grew red in the face and turned her gaze towards the ground, her teeth clenched. "Please don't try to analyze me, Kim. You don't know…"
While she was speaking, Kimberly had stepped around Mel, so that she was now standing on the other side of her, between the small girl and the path to freedom. "Look what you've accomplished here so far, Mel. They say this is a school for gifted girls, and if anything, the knife in your backpack tells me that you're gifted. I think you do belong here, and that's what's scaring you. Because you've never actually had a home before.
"You've told me about the nuns and the foster parents, how they'd take you in with promises of caring for you, and then throw you out when you became an inconvenience or a bother. You've never known what it's like to truly belong somewhere. It's new, and because of that, it's scary. But it doesn't have to be. Just accept that this school is where you belong, and stick it out until graduation. That way, you can prove to Regina, and the nuns, and the foster parents, and everyone in your life who ever made you feel like you were nothing… that they were WRONG."
Kimberly jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "Or, you can keep running. I won't stop you. I've said my peace. I want you to stay, and I'll miss you if you go, but at the end of day, it's your decision. It's your life."
Melanie paused, considering her options. She found herself remembering the first time she was removed from a foster home, how the social worker had handed her a black trash-bag to put her things in. Not that she had many at that point. And she remembered her fake dad's remark: It's fitting they gave you that, since you are garbage.
Every foster parent had been like that, even the ones she hadn't told Kimberly about yet. Maybe she was afraid of that rejection happening again, but at the same time… she thought about everything she had achieved since she got here. All the training, all the make-up school work, bullshitting her way through book reports. And against her better judgment, she'd let herself get attached, despite her fear that Kimberly would be like everyone else in her life who'd ever smiled at her and said they were her friend. But no… she was different. Better than those fakes. And then there was Niko, and Layla, and Zoey…
Several minutes passed as the small blonde mulled over her thoughts. Then she stepped towards Kimberly, and wrapped her arms around the girl, pulling her into the biggest hug she'd ever given anyone in her life. The dark-haired girl smiled, and hugged her back.
"Okay, Kim," she said. "I'll stay."
They stood there, with their arms still around each other. "Fuck 'em, okay, Mel?" She whispered in her friend's ear. "Fuck all the naysayers you've ever known. You can do this. I believe in you. And don't ever forget you have true friends, who'll always be here for you."
"I know," Melanie whispered back. "You… you are… a good friend, Kim. You always have been."
"I'm happy to hear you say that, Mel. I mean, I always knew I was your friend, even though you never said it out loud until now." The two girls separated from their hug at last, and Kimberly clapped her on the shoulder. "Come on. Let's go home."
So they started back towards the school. As they walked, Kim heard Melanie remark: "You know, I see through your bullshit. Self-preservation is the real reason you want me to stay. Because if I leave, you become Regina's punching bag again."
Kimberly turned her head to Mel with a startled expression, thinking the blonde girl had already forgotten their moment, and was running inside herself again. Then she saw Melanie grinning broadly at her. "Gotcha!" She said.
Kimberly smiled, as well, and told her: "Well, I mean, what I said was true, to a degree. I was only twenty percent motivated by self-preservation." Both girls then laughed at that.
They were close to the fences when Melanie noticed something out of the corner of her eye: what looked like a small, run-down wood shed. "Hey, Kim, what's that?"
The other girl followed Mel's gaze. "That? Oh, just some shed that's always been there. I think it belonged to the people who used to own the property that the school was built on."
Melanie started walking towards it. "I wanna check it out."
"Come on, Mel, it's late. There's nothing in there. Let's just get back to our room before anyone notices we're gone."
"No, this'll just take a second." Melanie reached the shed, pulled the rickety door open, and entered. It was dark inside, so she pulled out her lighter and flicked the flame into existence.
The dust had to be an inch thick on the workbenches, and the blonde girl was slightly unnerved when she saw the spider webs filling the windows, the rafters, and any place where there was a right angle. But she also noticed a few tools left behind by whoever had been here last. Some were so chipped and rusted they were useless, but Melanie saw a few that might still function.
"Okay, you saw it," she heard Kimberly's voice behind her. "Can we go now?"
"Just a sec," Mel said, taking stock of what was there. On one bench, she saw an old power drill which did not have batteries, but also did not appear corroded. With lighter in hand, she walked over to it, picked it up, and turned towards her roommate, holding the drill so the bit was parallel to her own head. "Hey, Kim… iss eet safe?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" The other girl answered.
Melanie laughed and put the drill back down. "Ah, right. You haven't seen that movie either. Well, now that we have a black box, I can show you all sorts of good movies."
"Um, okay," Kim said. Though she looked more spooked by all the webs than Melanie was. "Can we go now?"
Holding her lighter high, Melanie cast one more look around, taking stock of what tools looked useful and what didn't, also noting an oil lamp that sat at a workspace. Then she doused the flame and slipped the lighter back in her pocket. "Okay, let's go."
The two girls continued on through the woods, and Kimberly asked her: "Why did you wanna stop there, anyway?"
"I just wanted to see what was in it," Melanie told her. "I honestly did. How come we never saw this while playing Capture the Flag?"
"Probably because we play in a different part of the woods, closer to the side of the front gate," Kimberly answered. "Why are you so interested?"
"I honestly don't know," Melanie said with a laugh. "But I'm glad I know it's there. I don't know why, I'm just glad I know." She placed an arm over Kimberly's shoulders. "But for right now, you have the right idea. Let's go home."
Kimberly thought about pressing the matter further, but something in Melanie's demeanor suggested that things were different between them now, that the blonde girl would no longer try to hide what she was thinking or feeling. Mel had seen the shed, it interested her, but she didn't know why just yet. So Kimberly put an arm around her, and they continued back towards the school.
The next morning…
Despite having been out so late, Melanie awoke at seven with an appetite, and after she and Kimberly had showered and put on their school uniforms, they went to the dining hall for breakfast. The dark-haired girl smiled as she watched her friend eat with vigor, chowing down on some eggs and a bowl of cereal.
"New day, huh, Mel?" She asked.
"You can say that again," the blonde answered with her mouth full. "The eggs actually don't taste so bad today."
Kimberly laughed, and munched on a banana. "Amazing what a change of perspective will do. Maybe when I grow up, I should consider a career in motivational speech."
"Or teaching," said Mel. "You'd be good at that." Still, hearing her friend say those words just reminded Mel that she'd actually never given any thought to what she wanted to do with her own life, when she reached adulthood. She also remembered what Kim had said in the food court only a few months ago, that they likely wouldn't be living at this school forever, only until they were eighteen.
She shook her head and resumed eating. She wasn't going to think about that now. At the moment, this school was home. But like any home, it wasn't perfect. A reminder she received a few minutes later when Regina walked over to their table.
"Just wanted to let you know that we enjoyed congratulating you yesterday, runt," the taller blonde said with a smirk. "And we look forward to giving you more congratulations later on. After all, such an accomplishment deserves more than just one round."
"You're probably right," Melanie said with a bored shrug.
Regina turned and started out of the dining hall with her cronies in tow. Next to Mel, Kimberly popped the last bite of banana in her mouth and offered her roommate the peel. "Just this once, I'll look the other way," she said.
Melanie gave a wicked smile, and after making sure no adults were watching, flicked her wrist and discreetly tossed the peel at Regina's feet. As on the first day of school, the Alpha slipped and fell flat on her backside. She got back to her feet with murder in her eyes and gazed at Melanie, who shrugged again.
"Hey, it worked before," she said. "And such a huge bitch deserves more than one banana peel."
Regina cast a quick look around the dining hall, and decided to continue this later with fewer witnesses. "You're gonna pay for that, runt," she snarled.
"Check's in the mail," Mel shot back.
With that, Regina turned and stalked out of the room with the rest of her crew. At their table, Melanie and Kimberly exchanged a low five.
"Nicely handled," Kimberly said.
"I thought so, too." She laughed and continued eating her breakfast. "It will totally make the beating I'll get later on worth it."
Kimberly laughed as well, clapped her on the shoulder. "No place like home, eh, Mel?"
It was funny. Melanie had heard that saying before, but for the first time in her life, she felt like she understood it. "You can say that again, my friend."
ADDITIONAL NOTES
So, I've been doing a lot of research, making sure I write tween and teenage girls accurately. And one of my sources told me they were twelve years old when they started shaving their legs. So I adapted it here.
"Iss eet safe?" is a reference to another R-Rated movie called Marathon Man. Yes, Melanie has seen more R-Rated movies than a girl her age should have, because several of her foster parents would park her in front of the TV, turn it on, leave the room, and let it do their job. And Melanie would usually change the channel after they left.
And there you have it, folks. Melanie has hit a milestone. But there's still more adventures in store for her. Until next time...
