Chapter 1- Melody
"Who was that boy? A friend from school?"
The question took Melody by surprise. Her mother was standing in the kitchen when she walked in, putting away dishes from the sink. She looked exactly like her daughter: small, pretty, with long straight white hair and golden eyes and a soft expression on her face.
Melody hesitated for a moment. She wasn't sure how to respond. He definately wasn't a friend from school, but she wasn't really sure who he was. She knew his name, that was all, and that's what she went with.
"His name is Daniel." She said, leaving her mother to make whatever asusmptions she wanted. "Are there any leftovers?"
Her mother smiled as she dried a plate. "In the fridge."
Melody thanked her mother and rummaged in the fridge, finding a plate of food that she had made. Melody had already eaten but she felt bad when her mother cooked enough for four and she never ate anything. She knew it made her mother happy when she ate.
Just then a little girl wearing a pink dress bounded into the kitchen carrying a colouring book in one hand and a bundle of crayons in the other. She looked the same as Melody and her mother.
"Mama! Mama look!" She cried joyfuly as she held up the book for her mother to look at. Scribbles of red, pink, and orange crayon covered the black outlines of a cartoon rabbit.
"It's lovely Bunny! Why don't you show your sister?"
The little girl giggled happily and shoved the book into Melody's hands. "Look Melly! It's a bunny, like me!"
Melody laughed and placed the book back in her little sister's hand. "It's beautiful. Why don't you go draw mom another picture?"
"K!" The little girl clutched the book to her chest and climbed up onto one of the kitchen chairs to colour. She had to kneel to reach the table top.
Melody took the plate of food she had taken out of the fridge and thanked her mother before she walked out, patting her little sister's head on the way. She made her way up the stairs and to her room to eat while she did her homework.
The door creaked slightly as she opened it, revealing lavender coloured walls and bed sheets, a tall wooden book shelf stacked with books, a matching wooden computer desk and chair, and a keyboard in the corner cluttered with sheet music. A piece of paper was taped over the computer desk. It was a child's crayon drawing. There were three white haired people with the smallest one in the middle, all holding hands. Melody looked at it and smiled a tiny smile before she sat down at the desk and pulled out her homework.
It was about twenty minutes before she realized she hadn't even started her homework. Her paper was covered with musical scales and trebble cleffs, each with the same notes on them. Her mind was wandering and she had no idea why. The notes of that song kept playing in her head over and over again. She had written them down before, so that was nothing new, so why was it that she couldn't get them out of her head? Was it that boy, Daniel? How was it that she he had recognized a song that she herself didn't know how she knew? She thought she had made it up.
Giving up on her homework, Melody made her way to the keyboard and moved the sheet music onto the floor. Maybe if she played it... that was something new. Why hadn't she thought to play it before?
She took a deep breath and placed her finger on the first key and pushed down gently, letting the note ring out for a moment before she pushed the next key. Soon the notes were flowing into eachother like a river, gently rolling, twisting and turning, churning up sand at the bottom and smoothing it out. Melody didn't know where she was going, but she let the river take her where ever it wanted. Inside her head, the song had sounded nice and familliar, on her fingertips the music sounded beautiful and different.
For a moment, she wondered what Daniel was doing at that moment, if he had the song stuck in his head as well.
It was the sound of her alarm clock that woke Melody from her sleep. She lifted her head off her desk and glanced at the time, letting her conciousness wash over her. She had fallen asleep writing down the song from the night before, all of it. While she had been playing new notes had come into her head, new verses. She had been up late and fallen asleep on her desk as soon as she had finished writing the last note. She had no idea what they meant, but they seemed to fit the melody, like they were meant to be.
Sighing, she rose and began to get ready for school. She was still wearing her dress from yesterday, and her jacket and hat had been tossed onto her still made bed. She was stiff from sitting in the chair and her hair was all over the place.
When she got downstairs Melody's mother was busy trying to shove a shirt onto her little sister, who was running about the kitchen protesting loudly about it. The little girl made a dash for the door and crashed right into Melody's legs. She flopped down onto her bottom and began to giggle while Melody picked her up and carried her to the kitchen table, placing her gently on a chair.
"Good morning." She said to her mother as she took the shirt and managed to get it over her sister's head.
"Thanks honey." Her mother let out a sigh of relief and busied herself getting breakfast ready. "I heared you playing last night. Have you written a new song? I've never heard it before."
"Yes." Melody said.
It wasn't strange that her mother hadn't heared the melody before; Nobody else knew it outside of herself. That is, until Daniel came along. And why was it that she had never thought of actualy playing it before?
Melody glanced at the time and quickly swollowed a bowl of cereal and a mug of coffee. She gave her mother a hug and kissed her sister on the cheek, then grabbed her bag and hung it over her shoulder and said good bye to her family before walking out the door.
The day promised to be warm and breezy with the morning sun shining brightly on the front yard. It was early june and the school year was comming to a close, with exams peeping around the corner. Melody was studying hard, just as she always did, and the way her teacher's faces brightened when she handed something in gave her confidence in her school work. She was in her second last year of highschool and despite her stellar grades she wasn't sure where she wanted to go afterwards. She hoped she would figure it out soon as there wasn't much time left.
She reached her school in no time and met her friends in the front gate. They were laughing and telling stories and Melody smiled as she walked beside them into the school.
It turned out school seemed to take much longer than she thought it would.
Melody did not want to hang around with her friends that night. She didn't even feel like going to the library to study. She was frustrated and a little confused at herself. She had spent the entire time she was at school daydreaming, humming the song she had played, scribbling down different lyrics. She had been called on by a teacher and caught off guard more than once. Her teachers had noticed something was up, because a number of them had stopped her after class and asked her if everything was alright with her friends or at home. Each time she had appologised and told them everything was fine, but each time her mind flew back to Daniel and the song she hummed.
Now she wandered down the street towards her house, staring at the ground, not paying attention to where she was going, mulling over all the thoughts and questions that poured into her head. She turned a corner and suddenly smacked into something that yelped in reply.
It wasn't something, it was someone. Melody jumped back and barked out, "I'm so sorry!"
The person she bumped into jumped back too, and was about to reply, his face red as a beet, when he paused and took her in. It was Daniel.
"Oh! It's you!" He exclaimed.
Melody felt her face and chest get hot and thought she must have been even more red than he was. "I'm so sorry." She mumbled again. "I should have been watching where I was going."
"No no, it's fine." Daniel told her. "Are you alright?"
Melody nodded.
Silence followed as Daniel and Melody stared at eachother. Melody felt like she should say something but she found it hard to pick her words. She waited for him to speak instead, drawing out the pause a little longer than she would have liked.
It wasn't that it was awkward. Strangely enough, Melody felt like she should feel awkward staring in silence at the total stranger, but she couldn't. She felt a strange curiosity towards the orange haired boy. It was a big city she lived in, so what were the chances she would meet one guy twice in two days, and actualy have a reason to talk to him both times? It was like something out of a cheesy romance novel where fate brings soulmates together. Not that she believed in that stuff. In her experiance, love either didn't work out or it wasn't something to get exited over.
"I've gotta run, I'm late for something." Daniel said, breaking the silence. He smiled a quick, shy little smile and added, "Sorry again. I'll see you around."
Melody nodded and with that, he stepped towards the crosswalk and pushed the button.
Melody didn't move though. She waited until the light changed and he began to cross the street. Again she felt that strange tug of curiosity. Even if it wasn't a cheesy romance novel, Melody wondered if she really would see him around. She wondered if they could be friends.
As he reached the other side of the street and Melody was about to begin her long walk home, Daniel turned his head. When he noticed she was still standing there he smiled and waved a bit before turning away again, this time without looking back.
