Melissa lay awake on her bed, not having any purpose of getting up. She had wanted to introduce Jackson to her parents, but when she saw that cop car she just knew. As she saw Jackson getting off that plane, she could tell he was putting on a brave face. She was pretty sure she was the only one who could really tell he was scared. And just as the cop locked him up in those handcuffs, he slipped for just a moment. Exposing the sheer terror of the unknown in his eyes. She couldn't get that image out of her head. It had kept her up all night.
There was a quiet knock on her bedroom door. " Melissa wake up sweetie, you're home." her mother said warmly.
She could feel the love in her mom's voice, but she was still bummed. " I already am." she said flatly.
" Then come downstairs for breakfast, Melissa."
She groaned, rolling out of bed lazily. Her mother was cheerful at the breakfast table. " So Melissa, what would you like to do today?"
She knew her parents would hate this, but it was true, " Umm.. Can I go see my friend Jackson, from the plane crash?"
" Who was that Honey?" her father asked, chewing on a waffle.
She took in a deep breath, " He was the one who got.. Arrested." She tried to say it as calmly as possible.
The waffle bite flew across the room. Her father was steaming. " I do not ever want you associating with the likes of that punk, do you hear me?! Never!" She gulped, he was really mad.
She tried to reason with him, " But dad, Jackson's arrest was all a big misunderstanding. I mean, they just thought that he did it because he was seen fleeing from an attempted murder, and has a record." Her father was red, her mother concerned. Alright, maybe she shouldn't have mentioned murder, or his record. " But he's a good guy, honest, and he was like, my best friend on the island.
" Maybe because he had nowhere to sharpen his knife." Mr. Wu muttered.
" Dad!" she screamed. " You just think that... You don't know him... You'll never understand... You're so close minded!" she ran up the stairs to her bedroom, locking the door. She cried into her pillow. Her dad was just like everybody else, assuming he was some kind of monster. He had a rough past, so what? Nobody ever cared, nobody ever even tried to open their eyes and notice. Nobody was ever nice enough to get to know, to try to befriend. Nobody ever saw the personality behind the hard shell. Nobody saw the Real, cody Jackson.