iCan Keep Secrets Too

It took all of Melanie's energy to keep from skipping through the mall when it came time to meet Carly and Sam at the theater. She had spent an obscene amount of money in just under an hour, spending the intervening hour having her nails done in the salon not far from the food court.

"Pamper yourself, Girl… you've earned it." She told herself.

She fought a losing battle with her own muscles upon seeing the girls. She was beaming.

"Hey guys! How was the movie? See something good?"

Carly rattled off the title of the girliest movie on the marquee, The Ties That Bind. Melanie knew instantly that it wasn't a 'Sam' movie. It was pretty much as she'd hoped. She wanted Sam and Carly to have their own time, without having to feel like they were always on pins and needles around her. Carly's smudged lipstick betrayed her, proving Melanie right.

"That's an awful big bag… What is all that anyway?" Carly asked, eyeing Melanie's purchase from the bookstore on the first level.

"Just some books for class. I've already worked a few chapters ahead, so I figured why not look ahead to next semester…"

Melanie was a true Puckett. She could lie right to Carly's face and her pulse didn't quicken a beat.

She looked to Sam. She was expecting a snarky comment, but it didn't come. What did threw her for a loop.

"You know, Mel… You really rock those boots hardcore…"

Melanie wondered just what the hell was going on. Had Sam really complimented her, on something as girly as shoes, no less? No, she wasn't hallucinating, it had really just happened.

This time it was Melanie Puckett with the smart mouth.

"Sure you're feeling alright? Did Carly cut off the oxygen supply to your brain?" She flashed Sam the same lazy, crooked smile she'd learned from her sister years ago. Being a twin made you an excellent mimic.

Carly could feel the muscles in Sam's back tense. Sam truly had no conception of sarcasm when it was coming from other people. She gently placed her hand on Sam's shoulder, knowing exactly how to touch to relax her.

"Honey… She's kidding…" she whispered. "She's smiling; she's just having a little fun with you…"

If it were anyone other than Carly, there would be carnage befitting zoo animals. She figured Carly must be right. The moment over, Sam reconsidered and did another thing Melanie never saw coming. She broke from Carly and got close to her – uncomfortably close. The twins were now eye-to-eye, inches separating one from the other. Sam craned her neck to her sister's ear – like Melanie had seen done to Carly so many times before. She felt confused and nervous and strange. Sam whispered in her sister's ear.

"Who taught you to be such a goddamn smartass anyway, Kid?"

Melanie could sense pride in her sister's voice. She answered in kind.

"You did."

Sam's stone-faced demeanor immediately changed. She flashed the same goofy face she had used in childhood whenever she needed to make her sister smile. Both girls immediately erupted into a fit of laughter.

Carly could only stand there, at a loss, and stare.

"Um… Would somebody mind telling me what just happened?"

Melanie giggled. This time it fell to her.

"Inside joke… from when we were kids…"

She could barely contain her laughter. It had been a long time.

Her sudden urge for sentimentality having left her, Sam turned from Melanie and gave her an icy stare.

"Don't think this means I like you, Sweet Cheeks…"

Melanie blushed and smiled. She knew her sister too well.

Now back at Carly's side, Sam snaked her arm around the brunette's waist. It felt so good. It felt so good to be out in public with the woman she loved, rather than confining her feelings to four walls day after day. Taking Melanie's incredibly bulky shopping bag into account, the trio bypassed the escalator in favor of the elevator near the food court. Melanie felt emboldened. She and Sam had always bickered like an old married couple, but, by the same token, they always seemed to come back together in time. In a lot of ways, she wondered if her relationship with her sister wasn't eerily similar to Sam's relationship with Carly.

"Hey, Sam?"

"What ya want?" Her tone was abrupt, clipped.

Melanie knew that Sam was just keeping up appearances. She regretted being open – understanding – she always viewed it as a sign of weakness. Melanie knew how Sam felt, but she also knew that she could only tolerate it in small doses. Normalcy – at least by everyone else's definition – was a foreign concept to her sister. She completely understood and didn't begrudge her anything. She knew that Sam would come around in her own time.

"Just wanted to say 'Thanks'. Glad you liked the boots. Found them on sale last week."

"You're welcome. They make you look like a hooker, but they suit you…"

"SAM! You promised!" Carly was upset.

Melanie shot her the briefest glance, which seemed to say that it was okay, that she knew that this was Sam's way of teasing. Carly backed down. She turned her attention to Sam. If she wanted to be flippant, Mel could handle that, too.

"Whatever…" Her voice was sing-song.

Carly suppressed a chuckle, while still trying to be mad at Sam. She had promised she would behave and then she had been so hurtful to Melanie, who truly didn't seem to feel one way or the other about it. Carly trusted Melanie's judgment. If she didn't want to pick a fight with Sam, especially in light of recent events, she reasoned that that was Melanie's call. She wouldn't confront her love anymore, not unless she had to. If Mel wanted to drop it and go along with life as though it had never happened, it wasn't Carly's place to say otherwise. She loved them both – infinitely.

"Pick the fights you can win, Shay…" she told herself.

Reaching the far mall doors, Carly Shay, flanked by Pucketts on either side stepped out into the overcast, rainy Seattle afternoon.

The rest of the day went on without incident back at the house, primarily because Melanie had holed herself up in her room until the late evening, only spending time downstairs to help with cooking, having dinner, and to occasionally to help herself to one of Carly's Peppy Colas in the fridge. This was all by design. She wanted to appear distant. It was essential if what she'd planned the previous evening was to have the desired effect.

When she could no longer hear them, Melanie retrieved her shopping bag and purse from the closet and made her way down the stairs. This was no small task, as they creaked with every step, threatening to give her away. Her heart was doing somersaults. She needed this to work.

Reaching the main floor, she turned left, heading for the kitchen. Reaching the butcher block island – which Sam loved – she pulled a heavy set of hardcover volumes from her shopping bag and set them down on the wood as quietly as she could. These were no textbooks. Reaching for the sticky notepad nearby, Melanie drew a big loopy heart on the neon orange paper along with three little words, placing it on the still-shrink wrapped set.

Sam Loves Ham.

She had done this solely for her rough-and-tumble, mad at the world sister. Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volumes I and II.

What she had to do next scared her the most. It was so completely worth it, but considering what was going on in the next room, she wasn't sure if she dared.

She scribbled another note, sticking the entire pad into the pocket of her hoodie. She slid across the hardwood in stocking feet, trying her best to remain silent.

Reaching the living room, she knew what she had to do.

Carly and Sam were right there, asleep in one big tangled mass on the sofa. She was amazed that the movie they had been watching didn't wake them. Melanie moved slowly and deliberately, trying harder than ever not to make a sound. She reached into her purse and removed her wallet. Undoing the catch, she removed the small package that had cost her five hundred dollars just this morning. She set it on the table, where she was sure Carly would see it when she woke up. She fumbled for the note pad, sticking the bright orange note to the small envelope.

Love you both,

~ Mel

Inside the envelope were two tickets to the Cuttlefish concert at KeyArena on July 24 – Carly's birthday. It was only money. She wanted Carly and Sam to enjoy every minute. She hoped they would. She figured they had to – hard to not when you had floor seats in Section AA.

Thoroughly satisfied with herself, Melanie could only smile as she turned and headed upstairs to bed. It had been a wonderful day.