Lost In Purple

Chapter 49: Avoid The Parent

Melanie's POV

The days grow longer and nature returns to its most beautiful state. The various colors of the leaves pierce my eyes once more and the flocculent clouds above drift steadily as winter begins to fade into a distant memory. The rebirth of all the satisfaction brought on by the rise of the worlds warmth only adds to the specialty of the arrival of spring, and I haven't felt this exhilarated for a change in seasons since I was a kid. Although, I can't enjoy it as much as I want to right now since the next Scare Games event happens in just a few minutes, and I have to be in them.

I could barely sleep last night due to the agonizing torment of paranoia that haunts my thoughts. All I could think about was the theoretical outcomes where I would let every down and ruin Johnny, Javier, and Chips last year in the Scare Games. They've only told me how much they love being a part of them and how much they want to end their last one with a bang. It figures that I'm the one who has to carry this burden atop my shoulders now. They all individually talked to me about this too and have claimed that they don't really care what happens, but I'm sure they care more than they're letting on. They all know that they're the best, so why should some freshman be the reason that they suffer? I don't know, maybe I'm just weird for thinking this way. It's hard to change that way of thinking after being that way for almost two decades though.

Just like the last event, we were sent a riddle that was really straight forward to me. This one didn't phase Johnny or Javier either, but it left Chip and Bruiser scratching their heads again. It's not like Scarers are supposed to be expert literary analyzers or anything, so I can't really judge them for not being able to come up with a solid answer. This events riddle was 'If a kid hears you coming, they'll call Mom or Dad, then you'd better run fast or things will get bad.' It's clearly a sneaking challenge that requires you to not alert the 'parent' by sneaking to achieve a certain goal. While I'm happy that I was able to solve the riddle, I don't know how capable I am at sneaking. I've only had a about a month of actual instruction in my Sneaking class compared to the three to four years that most of the others have, so I'm almost certain that I'm going to make the worst rookie mistake possible. This event is in the library too, which means there's many desk and chairs to run into, and many lamps and books to knock over.

"I need you to do your utmost best here Mel. This event is an integral part of Scaring so we can't have you losing focus," Johnny whispers to me as we near the crowds gathered around the library and adjacent river.

"Y-yeah…I'll try," I shiver with my hands on my elbows and my head down.

"Trying might not be enough," He responds seriously, "We can't afford any mistakes if we are to move on to the next event. You've shown yourself to be able to handle yourself in a real situation of stealth, but this time you actually can't be heard."

He's referring to our outing to Fear Tech a few weeks ago. While it may not seem like it, I made several mistakes that night, so I don't know how Johnny expects me to improve that enormously in a matter of a few minutes. He may have helped me practice my sneaking, and teach me many new things about sneaking, but I can tell that I'm going to buckle under the pressure and forget everything. I don't have the pre-requisite knowledge to understand the enigmas of advanced scaring, so this is just a disaster waiting to happen.

"Mel? What's happening? I need you to take this seriously," Johnny states while snapping his fingers in front of my eyes.

I shake my head, gulping out of fear. I was right a few weeks ago, I don't think I was meant to be a Scarer. A real Scarer, like my Dad, wouldn't afraid to do this. They would be living off of the thrill of putting themselves in imminent danger and maintaining their razor sharp focus for long periods of time. I seem to be the exact opposite right now, uncertain of whether I'll have an absolute breakdown or not as soon as the event begins.

"Just breathe Mel, you'll be fine, I know you will. This is just a really bad event to not be calm in. If you're not keeping your cool, you'll alert the ill-tempered fifty foot librarian who will literally throw you out the roof of the library and into the river. I can't have you go through that," Johnny explains.

I can't believe what I'm hearing. If I make even the slightest sound, I'll be thrown into the stratosphere and plunge into the river, humiliated in front of the whole school. I knew it…I just knew it! The one time I'm called up to participate and it happens to be the one that could send ripples through my reputation and possible future career! I hate everything about my life, I really do.

The crowds grow louder as we creep closer, and soon become enveloped by them cheering us all on, or I should say cheering the actual RORs on. All of the students ignore me like last time, reaching out to each of the other members in hopes that they'll be graced with their attention as if they were believers asking for attention from their gods. It starts getting on my nerves after I get blocked off from the rest of the boys and have to shove my way through the crowd to catch up with them. When I finally have them in my line of sight, I also see Johnny winking and pointing at some girls who are giving him goo goo eyes. The normal jealousy runs through my veins, causing my fists to clench as I move them to my sides. It seems like many of the students realize that one of the original members is missing and figure out that I'm taking his place. The usual degrading comments are followed by them, but the one that bothers me the most is the one that asks why I'm still around and how I haven't been kicked out yet. Seems like everyone's wondering the same thing as me.

I eventually find myself by their sides once more, and we gather around the entrance of the library where all the other groups are waiting for the event to start except for Oozma Kappa. I guess they're making it a habit to be fashionably late, but maybe that's for the better considering that nobody really wants them to be around other than me. I want them to be able to prove to everyone that they're worth something, that they're monsters just like them, but maybe that's not how the real world works. Maybe I've grown up thinking that the world is a much better place than it actually is, and that everyone has an equal chance at being who they want to be.

Johnny asks me to stay put as he has a talk with the other RORs. I let him do his thing and take a couple steps away to take the atmosphere in, hoping that I'm not missing anything important. The cheering is still as overwhelming as always, and that's really the only thing I can pay attention to. That is until I notice Faust in the crowd with his arms crossed, staring into my eyes as emotionlessly as he can. I can feel the air become heavier, and I can feel the stress build upon itself with every second that he faces my direction. It's like my body is a balloon and stress is the air that it's being filled up with up until it pops. I just don't know how close I am to exploding in anguish.

A tap on my shoulder is all it takes for me to break my terrifying stare-off with Faust, and I quickly look over to Johnny who's standing behind me. "We're going to start here soon, so I should probably tell you a few things so you don't go in blind," He disclosed.

I look back over to where Faust was standing, but see that he has vanished. I'll officially be freaked out for the rest of the day, but I apparently can't feel that way right now so I turn to Johnny again, hoping that I don't come face to face with the ultimatum of continuing to participate in this event or leaving. He kneels down and surprisingly is still tall enough to stay eye level with me.

"Look, I know that this is nerve wracking Mel, but this is something that you're going to have to used to sooner or later if you want to be on a Scare Floor," He states.

I don't know if this is his way at making me feel better or not. If anything, it only makes me more afraid to continue being a Scarer. I don't see myself ever getting used to something like this. All I can think about are the 'what ifs' and the nightmares that follow them.

"It's the hard part about becoming a Scarer, I understand that. This is where you have to overcome those fears though. You can't be a Scarer if you can't get yourself to enter a child's room, and you can't be a Scarer if you don't know what to do when a parent is alerted. You have to be fast, and you have to be clever. If you make a sound, stop everything you're doing and hide. I unfortunately can't be there for you in situations like this, so you have to pull your own weight," Johnny explains.

I can't even speak through all the trembling I'm experiencing. I want to speak my mind but life keeps me from doing one of life's most basic actions because I'm in a place I don't belong, with people I don't belong with. The regret I feel right now is immeasurable and sure as hell feels incurable. It's only going to get worse from here as more time and money is pumped into my education, but nobody can ever know that. Everyone's excitement lingers as Oozma Kappa arrived just as awkwardly as they did last time. They all have their heads down, trying their hardest to ignore everyone around them while glaring at the pavement below them. They're lost in thought, wishing all of this could be over… just like me. They take up position next to us RORs and give the Greek Council their chance at introducing the event. I don't really have any interest in listening though since I know exactly what it is I'm supposed to do. Be quiet, don't get caught, or suffer the consequences.

I see the Oozma Kappa boys huddling together, their arms over their shoulders and backs hunched over to ensure some sort of secrecy. All of them except Mike. He stares at the library with his eye bursting out of its' socket and his arms dangling lifelessly at his side. I think he's just as afraid as I am right now, wanting to just go home and wish that everything could go back to the way it was before life drastically changed. I know that I'm in a somewhat better position than he is, but I'm different in the fact that I still have a solid chance at becoming a Scarer...at least I think I do.

"M-Mike…" I whisper while still shivering ferociously.

I somehow grab his attention with such a weak vocalization and he twists his bulbous figure in my direction, looking a little confused when he sees me.

"Oh…hey Melody," He grunts.

I can tell he doesn't want to hear anything from me, but I might not get another chance like this again. "I-I know that I'm probably the last person you would w-want to talk to right now…B-but…do you know the best way to, um, c-calm yourself down in situations like these?" I manage to stutter.

His expression goes somewhat soft. "You're scared? Why?" He asks.

"I h-have to participate in this event…and I don't want to," I answer.

He furrows his brow and seems to be unable to fathom what I just said. "I'm sorry, I'm confused. Did one of your ROR buddies quit or something, or are you just trying to mess with me and see if I'm too weak and gullible for this?" Mike suddenly snaps back.

"N-no, I just…" I whimper.

"Look, just leave me be. If you want me to be friendly with you, then you should leave that arrogant fraternity you've joined," Mike says while turning back towards the library entrance and crossing his arms.

I try to spit out what's in my head by saying, "B-bu-"

"Don't talk to me," Mike scorns.

I don't know what I was expecting. Everything bad that's happened to him started with the RORs, and seeing that I'm now a part of them only fuels his fire further. His rage will only build to monumental proportions until the red in his eyes turns to black. He will never want anything to do with me for as long he lives, I can just tell. I understand that it's not my place to continue speaking with him, so it's not even worth trying anymore. What upsets me more is the fact that this is the second person that I considered to be a friend, or at least an acquaintance, that no longer wishes to talk to me. Everyone's always said that it's a part of life to lose friends, but I feel like the people who say that are the people with numerous amounts of friends regardless. I've only just made them after having none, and have returned to square one.

The Greek Council members turn us loose, leaving us to wait a minute or two before they open the library doors and allow us inside. We have to all enter at the same time, but have to make sure that everything is set up. From what Johnny and Javier said, we have to collect something at the back of the library and keep ourselves from being caught by the librarian, so the Greek Council asks us to wait for a minute so that they can make sure everything is set up correctly. Nobody seems to care though considering they're all silent and giving themselves time to stretch.

"You alright Miss Everett?" Javier asks as I join back up with the group.

"Yeah, you look like you're going to be sick," Chip chimes in with worry.

The rest of them look at me with worry as well, noticing that I'm shaking violently with no end in sight. I feel like I'm losing control of myself, and I feel a unexpected wave of warmth move throughout my body as gravity feels like it inverts. I think I accidentally triggered my ghostly abilities.

"W-Woah," Randall spouts, "Do you need to sit down?"

I close my eyes and stand there to deal with all the emotions I'm dealing with at once. Misery, vexation, and trepidation drown my body as I clench my teeth, and suffer as my stomach hypothetically flips in unimaginable ways. My bones also crack with each small jerk they make as well. I couldn't feel worse even if I were on my death bed, waiting to encounter my calamitous end to this harrowing existence.

"Mel, you have to tell us what's going on with you," Johnny states as I feel the tears starting to develop behind my eyes.

I breathe in shakily before whimpering, "It's too late for that."

The Greek Council reveals themselves from the library once again, and begins counting down. Everyone's senses are heightened and ready themselves to make a swift dash into the building, and once they scream 'go,' all the fraternities and sororities enter the building without hesitation. Chip, Bruiser, and Javier can't decide whether to run or wait for me as I wallow in fear, but ultimately choose to run into the library. Randall and Johnny remain out here with me.

"I'm sorry you two, but we have to go," Randall chuckles nervously to the both of us.

Johnny keeps his eyes strictly on me, seemingly having to decide what to do with me. I don't know why, there's no reason he should be struggling right now. I just run and never look back, entering the dim and dusty library hallways and finding the three RORs that are hugging the wall. All the other fraternities and sororities are waiting for the perfect time to run into the main seating area, revealing themselves to the masses on the second floor as they all look out to the libraries entranceway. It seems that the librarian is slithering around and has yet to give us an opportunity to sneak around. One of the number one rules of Scaring is to never leave hiding when an 'adult human' is around, and the librarian just so happens to be the adult human.

As Johnny and Randall slide into the wall behind me and the rest of the RORs, I crouch down and listen carefully for any kind of movement that suggests that the librarian isn't paying attention. I can hear a near silent rumble on the other side of the wall and a couple of unsettling grunts followed by a couple of wooden creaks. She's definitely sat down at her desk at this point. I luckily remember how the librarian acts when I took the orientation tour at the beginning of the school year, so I know she's using her handheld glasses to carefully read without disturbance. I reach behind me and clasp onto Johnny's arm, pulling him with me and sending the rest of the participants into panic. They all jerk their bodies thinking it's time to go, but then suppress their action potentials and stay right where they were.

Johnny and I sneak onto the main floor, and showing to us the entire wooden library. The floors are hardwood and alternate between vertical oriented squares and horizontal orientated squares every few feet. The walls are wooden and are almost never symmetrical as many archways open up into several different rooms full of books, making it feel like this place is nothing more than a maze. There are stairs that lead up to second and even third floors that house rooms that look like they're collecting tons of dust and haven't been touched in years. The ceiling above is white and curves to a giant skylight that has one of its windows propped open for the outside air to swirl into, and the trims along the ceiling have these intricate wooden cubes. It seems like most of the people here are on the second and third floors, overlooking the seating area from the various balconies while a few other students who are actually trying to work sit on the main floor desks with the green lamps shining onto their books.

Right as we pass by the librarians desk, where she sits reading uninterrupted, Johnny plants his feet into the ground and keeps me from running any further. His feet don't scrape or make any kind of aggressive noise, but instead make a very subtle sound that reminds me of when you put a pillow on a smooth surface and drag it. He pulls me back towards him with the intent to get me to stop what I'm doing, but we have no reason to be crouching at the entrance in silence any more. I forcefully pull myself out of his grasp and nearly tumble backwards, but catch myself before my body mass pounds into the ground with a painful amount of force.

Johnny looks at me in fury, with a glare that says 'what in the hell are doing.' As a matter of fact, I don't know what I'm doing, he should know this and have prepared himself in advance for me ruining his chance to shine once again.

"Stop!" Johnny says moving his mouth without any vocalization.

I shake my head in denial and point at the flags that hang on the marble statue that's pointing high above and to our left. One of the flags that shows the ROR logo is clearly our target and we're only a minute away from grabbing it.

"STOP! NOW!" He mouths before baring his teeth at me.

Since he's the boss, I stop what I'm doing and stand firmly in place, understanding that I've already caused problems only a few seconds into the event. My legs are still shaking frenziedly, getting to a point where they're nearly about to make me collapse on the floor. Johnny doesn't seem to care though as he turns around and sneaks on all fours back to the entrance so he can grab the rest of the fraternity. I watch as each of his steps are thought out carefully, and placed in spots that never even make a creak. I didn't even think about that! God Melanie you're such a moron! We've been taught that wooden floors are one of a monsters worst enemy since they creak and crack constantly! John is obviously going to be furious with you because of that! How dare you just run out onto the floor all willy-nilly!

I see him round the corner with speed, jumping onto the wall, and pushing himself further back into the entrance so that I can't see him. It only takes a couple of seconds before he swiftly sneaks back out with the rest of the group tailing behind him. It's crazy to see since they're all basically running while crouching and they don't even make a single thump. I guess being the best of the best includes being able to act like ghosts in areas that are well populated.

I turn my head to look back to the statue with the flags but notice a bright color shine into my retinas on the way there. When I look back I see Faust in his bright yellow and orange jersey staring at me from the other side of the library, far underneath the balconies within the shadows, with a book in his right hand and a ominous smile on his face. I see his shoulder leisurely move backwards before his entire body twists to his right. His right arm winds back as he takes one large step forward, and sends the book flying into the air as if it were a football. I see the RORs fully stop out the corner of my eye as my body freezes up completely, and a couple of near silent gasps can be heard from above as the boom reaches its peak and begins to be pulled down to the floor. My eyes follow it as the desk besides me appears in my vision, and the book crashes into the desk before colliding with a lamp, both being sent into the ground after skimming on the table.

An absolutely gut-wrenching ache fills my stomach as a booming growl comes from the librarian. She's looking in my general direction but not directly at me, slowly rising into the air to reveal how much of a monstrosity she is. She slithers over her desk and lunges towards me as I dash into one of the closest alcoves of books that travels very deep into the library. I can see Johnny try to reach out towards me, unsure of whether or not he sure run after me, but stays where he is when the librarian nearly knocks into him. The alcove I entered is only about ten feet tall, so the librarian can't necessarily go into it, but it's her wrinkly tentacles that make me shudder when they slip into the room, causing some books to fall off their shelves. There's an opening to the far left that houses a couple staircases to the second floor and connects back into the seating area, so I sprint to it and turn, hearing the librarians tentacles smash into the bookshelf against the wall.

The librarian doesn't move anymore after that though. She just keeps moving her tentacles around in the alcove, not quite yet knowing what it was that made that made such a disturbing sound. It hurts to breathe…you know what, it hurts to just move in general because of the shock that blasted through my limbs. My legs finally buckle and I collapse onto the floor, feeling nothing but resentment towards everyone and everything around me. Every part of my body starts quaking at a higher intensity and I see that blue glow peek through my scales as if my body was glass and it just shattered. I think about what Professor King told me about myself, and notice that all feelings but pure resentment and sorrow vanish completely. I feel gravity shift within my body, and everything feels a little better. It's a wave of euphoria that's similar to when a dose of morphine is given to a hospital patient in agony. I can exhale without struggle, and I can move without shaking. Everything feels better, but I soon feel a bit of pain oozing out of my heart with each beat.

I stand on my two feet, and notice tears starting to fall out my eyes involuntarily. I don't have the need to sob or cough or anything, it's just happening…I can't explain it. I saunter back to the seating area, noting that the librarian is no longer searching for me and has probably given up searching for the source of such a aggressive noise. As I move closer to the light, I still see Johnny and the rest of the RORs in the same spot as they were when I left them. They're watching the librarian as she slowly sits back down in front of her desk, bringing her glasses and her book back up to her face, angry that she let me run amok. I take a single step out into the light and see the audience on the other side of the library nudge their friends and point down at me in terror. I try my best to turn my head towards the RORs but everything is stiff and feels frozen. When I finally turn my head completely, I see the RORs glare at me with pale faces, pupils constricted, and mouths agape. I see Faust doing the same thing when I see him peeking around a bookshelf and nearly regretting what he just did. He's, in fact, about to regret living here a minute.

I painfully look down at myself, seeing that my scales have become a little bit transparent and iridescent, and show the wooden floor through my body. My chest also looks like it's been ripped open as my cardigan caves into it, curving around the tips of my ribs. My claws have grown abnormally large and stick out of my fingertips like nails, and I see my hair float in front of my face as if I were underwater and needs a lot of force to move.

It's time to stop observing myself, there's a job to do. A book lays on one of the desks in front of me, so I stiffly creep over while standing up straight and drag it off the desk, pull my arm back, aim at Faust, and absolutely send it across the library and into the bookshelf next to him. My mane invades my face, so I don't see anything what happens next. However, I can hear the librarian arise from her desk and violently crawl over to where the book collided with the shelf, and a deep scream rapidly moves from the floor and to the ceiling before disappearing completely. Everything remains silent after that.

My mane finally moves away from my field of vision, and all I see is a blurry environment caused by the tears that are falling out, looking like a super intense form of astigmatism. As much as I want to just fall to the floor and cry, we still have to get the flag, and I'm sure as hell going to get it without a single other sound being made.

Johnny's POV

I've never been as mesmerized as this in my life. Melanie looks like something straight out some kind of myth, and I can decide if I should be wary or if I should be overwhelmingly happy. Even though I've seen her like this before, this is a new kind of mesmerizing. Everytime she uses this ghostly defense mechanism of hers, she looks more and more like something out of an urban legend. Everyone on the second floor looks like they've seen something they shouldn't have and they all seem like they want to run out of the library screaming in terror. I knew Melanie had what it takes! Only she could create a response like this, and get revenge on Faust for trying to screw us out of our fourth consecutive win!

I watch as the librarian returns to her desk, I sneak over to Melanie. I take her hand as she stares angrily at the flag above. She doesn't squeeze her hand which is somewhat concerning to me because she always puts some sort of force into our hand holding. It's almost like she isn't fully there…but is at the same time. I really don't know how to feel because it's terrifying and unpredictable, but sexy and fascinating.

We inch closer to the wall, making me think about what her plan is because I wouldn't climb from the bottom up to the top. I would go up the stairs and try to shimmy my way across because we can't risk pulling any books off the shelf. She reaches out the grab the first shelf she sees, but I push her arm downwards, put my hand underneath her thighs while placing my other on her chest, and send her soaring upwards to the foot of the statue. She digs her claws into the stone, not even making a single scratch on the statue and scales the rest of it. Javier and the rest of my brothers sneak up next to me looking up at Melanie and creating a net with all their arms as she grabs our flag and putting us in first place once again.

They all loudly whisper, "Jump!"

She puts the flag in her mouth, and lets go of the statue, plummeting to the ground before they all catch her flawlessly, and place her back onto her feet. She's become more opaque, and shows signs of returning back to her magenta appearance but still has a bluish tint, so she has this bright purple color to her scales. Her bones aren't showing anymore too, so I guess that's a plus. I wouldn't of been surprised if she ended up paranormally plummeting through their arms since she basically was a ghost, but I'm glad realism is a thing and proved me wrong.

I can tell she wants to just be done, so I do our usual thing and swing her onto my back as we turn around to make our silent escape. The silence is deafening up until we reach the entrance hallways where every single other fraternity and sorority are still hugging the walls, waiting for their opportunity to grab their flags. I originally didn't like how Melanie just went without warning, but now I see how that worked in our favor by blocking the others from getting their flags. However, I regret making things unintentionally hard for her now. She really didn't want to face the wrath of the librarian and ended up being forced to because I told her to stop what she was doing and got in the way. I'll be sure to apologize once we're back outside. And speaking of outside, Chip opens one of the doors for us to flood out of. Randall and Bruiser go first, followed by Javier, Melanie, and I. The cheers outside roar loudly when all of our feet touch the grass, and the orange aura of the afternoon sun shines against the scales or fur of all the monsters awaiting the results outside. I set Melanie down and all of us raise our arms in excitement, glad to have this event over and done with since this was quite the overexaggeration of a true Scaring environment. The rhythmic chants start up like they normally do and echo down the pathways of the campus; Many even grunt, "ROR, ROR, ROR!"

The excitement soon dies down and everyone returns to conversing with each other. The guys all pat each other on the back like usual, and go in for brotherly handshakes before the school paper photographers take pictures of them all individually. We eventually turn to Melanie, who is obviously our MVP this event, and I take the flag out of her mouth as her ravishing magenta color returns. I put my arm around her waist but she swings her palm right into my chest and pushes me away.

I snarl in pain, feeling the hollow thump resonate through my chest cavity and a throbbing ache shoot through my sternum. All the guys immediately lose their smiles.

"What the hell Melanie?! We're trying to congratulate you!" I growl.

She turns away as tears start rolling down her face like waterfalls before saying, "Well don't!"

She proceeds to stride away, leaving us all confused and worried about her. I don't know what I did to deserve that, but I do know that she wasn't very privy to the idea of being in the Scare Games and probably had a build up of emotion that she couldn't get out. As I'm about to go after her I hear a voice call out to me.

"Jonathan! There you are!"

Oh…it's Melanie's grandmother Hazel. I forgot that I called both her grandparents and her father to come watch her. Now I'm going to have to do a lot of explaining.

"Oh Jonathan, you and our little Melody did so well together!" Hazel beams as she opens her arms and jumps into me.

Ambrose and Ronan stand next to each other with their arms crossed and their smiles. Ronan looks terrifying as always with his electric blue fur, full mane, and withered looking hands. Ambrose just looks like the same old walking skeleton that he is, but still has the vibe of some Halloween version of Santa Claus which makes me just want to smile. They all look good and I wish I could see them more often.

"Oh, uh, thanks Ms. Everett," I mumble.

Hazel takes her hand and guides my head down to look at her. The entrancing brown eyes of hers are nothing less than beautiful and I almost stop paying attention to what she's saying entirely. "Is everything alright sweetheart?"

Her claws scratch my lower jaw as she calls me that, and all I can feel is a shiver up my spine. It feels surreal having someone call me that after never having my own parents around.

"Um…to be honest, I'm a little upset because Melanie's mad at me for making her participate in this event" I admit ashamedly.

"She's mad at you?" Ronan asks while raising his eyebrow.

I look back down but this time at the ground, hoping that they won't get frustrated with me. "Y-yeah. One of our other memebrs had to leave town and we would have been disqualified if she didn't join, and I ended up forcing this upon her," I respond.

Ambrose steps closer and pulls Hazel off of me. "Don't beat yourself up Jonathan, she's always had issues with dealing with her emotions. I'm sure you know that already anyways," He chuckles.

Ronan moves over to me and pats me on the shoulder as well. "Yeah don't worry about it, I'll go talk to her. Did she head that way?" He asks while pointing in the direction of the fountain at the center of campus.

I nod and watch him as he leaves us here to wait for him and Melanie to return. I feel guilty for having Melanie go through all of this, I would have chosen to have her never participate, but she was the only sensible option for us. I knew that anyone else would have been damaging to the ROR name and drug us into an embarrassing loss, so I didn't know why else so could do. I couldn't let all the guys down by just giving up our position in the games, because they've been waiting for this event all year. It wouldn't have been fair and it would have selfish. All these justifiable reasons should be good enough for me to feel better…but I don't. Why do I still feel remorse for everything that happened?

Hazel laughs and takes my right hand, patting the top of it. "Everything will be alright Jonathan, there's nothing to be scared of."

"Wh-scared?! What are you talking about?" I exclaim.

"Hehe, you can't fool us. Everyone can be scared sometimes, and it's obvious that you're terrified of Melanie being mad at you," Ambrose laughs, "It's normal. I feel the same way with Hazel here."

"Yeah! We know that a sweetheart like yourself isn't stone cold. It's just your profession that keeps you from being emotional and it's your profession that required her to step up," Hazel chimes in.

Ambrose gives Hazel a tight hug and picks her up to swing her around from side to side. "Everything works itself out in the end. She'll be upset for a little while, realize that you don't deserve to be ignored, and then come to apologize," Hazel chimes in, "We taught her to be an apologetic person, so just know that it's fine to be a little pushy here and there."

"Alright," I sigh, "I'll believe you."

It's nice to hear that Melanie isn't the kind of person to hold grudges. I haven't once had an experience with her so far where I've made her actually angry, so I don't know the best way to deal with this right now. Usually I don't care when someone is mad at me, but I actually care for Melanie and it just so happens that she's the first monster that I've cared for in years. I then just realize something. Hazel had a cane the last time I saw her, and had a noticeable limp. She's just as nimble as Melanie and Evelyn are. Now I know where they get their kicks. "May I ask how you two are? I notice you don't have your cane anymore Ms. Everett," I point out.

"Oh we're fine. Ambrose and I have just been taking it easy by going where life takes us. As for me, the last time you saw me was just a few days after I had knee surgery. Me being old and all, I fell on it and ended up damaging it to the point where they had to go in there and fix everything," Hazel smiles.

I chuckle while putting my hand to the back of my neck. "Well then, as long as you're not in pain, I'm happy for you two."

"Oh we're far from pain. Having you ask us to come and watch you and Melanie do your spooky stuff…couldn't ask for anything more," Ambrose says laughing in a jolly manner.

They must really love Melanie to have the motivation and energy to drive all the way down here for this. Normally grandparents are the ones who can never make it to outings like this, but now it just makes me jealous of Melanie to have such loving family members. It's not like I don't know who Ambrose and Hazel are, but they just make me love them more after every little thing they say or do.

"I, uh, I hope it wasn't to boring. This event happened to be the quietest one we've ever had, and I hope it didn't stress you out considering someone cheated and tried to target Melanie," I mention.

Ambrose and Hazel both get fairly frustrated and look at each other as they furrow their brows. "Oh so that's what happened?" Hazel mumbles.

"Yeah, the guy who did that has had this unnecessary conflict with Melanie and will most likely caused his fraternity to lose the ability to watch the rest of the Scare Games. Everything that happened was kind of…unforeseeable," I sneer.

"Then it's a good thing that we're here to make everything right again. Oh! Jonathan, would you introduce us to your friends? I don't think we've met them. Everyone's talked so positively about them too!" Hazel questions while pointing the the rest of my brothers as they start walking in the direction of Frat Row.

How could I forget that she never met them. They left before they showed up for Christmas, and there's no way she didn't hear about them from Melanie's gigantic family. "Oh! Yes, yes, of course! I'm sure they would love to meet you as well!"

Melanie's POV

"Come on Moondrop, talk to me," Dad says as he hugs me from behind, right in front of the amphitheater.

There's so much I want to talk about, but I know he already has so much to worry about. I can't possibly burden him with petty relationship drama that I've started for no reason.

"I know you know that Jonathan didn't want to upset you. He just had to do what was best for your fraternity," Dad reasons.

I wipe my eyes as the tears slide down my cheeks and make them itch. It's a little hard to breathe as well, and I cough here and there which is embarrassing. I'm supposed to be a grown up, but here I am crying with my Dad, in college, as he tries his best to console me. "I…I-I know…," I whimper.

"Then what's bothering you?" Dad asks further, "I thought you would have been happy to be a part of this competition. I mean you've dreamt of doing this for years."

I feel my eyes water a bit more, and everything in my body becomes increasingly more tense. I want to tell him that I'm not scary, that I hate the stress that comes along with Scaring and how I can't handle it anymore. I want to tell him that I can't see myself being happy while being a Scarer anymore. If he heard me say that though, I know he would be more than disappointed. He would know that we wouldn't ever be able to leave poverty and he would have to work all day, everyday, for the rest of his life until he dies, and he would know that my Mom and I wouldn't be happy too, and that would destroy him.

"I just…wasn't r-ready to do something like that. I was terrified…the entire time," I respond while hiding how I truly feel.

"That's it? You got angry for something like that?" Dad questions.

I put the palm of my hands in my eye sockets and wipe all the tears away once more. "I know…I'm a child," I whimper.

"No no no no, don't say that about yourself moondrop. You have the right to feel the way you do about this, but you should know better than to push Jonathan away like that. You know you can just talk to him about what's bothering you without judgement," Dad says interrupting my self loathing.

It may seem like that would be simple, but I know he would see me differently if I told him that I don't want to be a Scarer anymore as well; He lives and breathes Scaring, so he wouldn't know who I am anymore. I aslo know how his family is, they would cast me aside as some insignificant girl who has no right to even talk to him. I wish I could just explain how I feel when I'm certain that I would lose the only real friend I ever had. I don't think I could live any longer if I lost him.

"I know," I reply vaguely.

Dad takes my hands and turns me around, probably so that he can get me to look at him. "…Then why are you over here all alone and crying while your friends are celebrating the victory you gave them? I'm confused."

I don't really know how to answer that question so I just say whatever it is that comes to my head."Because I'm stupid and weird and shouldn't have gotten emotional in the first place, and it was better to justcomeoverhereandcryandletthem-,"

"Woah woah woah, Mel..." He laughs sweetly, "You sound like your mother right now. Just take a few deep breaths."

Like I predicted, Dad tries to get me to raise my head, telling me to look at him while he wipes away more tears with his thumb. "Why must you say these things about yourself? The Melanie that your describing is the exact opposite of the Melanie that I know and love."

I say those things because that's what I've pretty much been labeled as my whole life, a nuisance to society that just causes problems. I don't want to become a nuisance on campus and a nuisance to the fraternity, but maybe that's how things are starting to become. After finally finding a place that I felt safe in, I find myself feeling like I'm coming close to losing it.

"Ever since you were born you've been trying to become worthy in everyone's eyes but you're not trying to become worthy in your own. You keep listening to what others say, and independently turning it into something you should become. Be your own self, Moondrop. I know the real you would want everything to be ok again, and I'm sure Mr. Worthington would want everything to be ok again as well," Dad explains further, "You just have to let yourself go."

My loathing fades away into nothingness, and I feel like I don't hate the world I live in anymore. I don't know how Dad does it, but he always makes everything return to normal when I'm upset. He's the best father anyone could ask for, and I wish I could go home with him right now and relax with him like I did after a rough day of elementary school. "Thanks Dad," I mumble with a smile on my face.

He gives me his signature hug and envelopes me with his soft grip. I can feel him kiss me right in top of my head too. "You're not weird, you're not stupid either. It's just the motions of finding where you belong. I was in the same boat as you before I met your mother, so you're not alone."

I stay in his embrace for a while longer and don't feel the need to cry anymore. He takes deep breaths with me and rubs my back which is exactly what I needed during a time like this. He finally leans away a little bit and I'm able to gain enough courage to look at him in his eyes. His smile is warm and filled with nostalgia.

"Melanieeee!" My grandma screams in the distance.

I let go of my Dad and turn towards her, my grandpa, and the RORs as they walk up to us with warm smiles too. My grandpa seems engrossed in Scaring conversations with Javier and Chip, while Bruiser and Randall quietly converse. Then there's my grandma who has her arms wrapped around Johnny's. He somehow makes everyone seem like royalty.

Grandma lets go of him and reaches her hands out to me. "Come here! I want to see my strong and beautiful granddaughter!"