Melody

I looked away from the broken mirror after a while and then dragged on an oversized grey turtleneck and jeans. I finally took out my phone for the first time since yesterday and felt an instant migraine as I saw the amount of missed calls, text messages, and notifications I had.

Hey Mel, I'm sorry I told.

I was just worried about you.

Please call me back.

Emma Murphy; 4:30pm

Hey Mellie. I hope you're not mad at me.

Call me when you can.

Carson White; 5:43pm

Hey Mellie, please don't be mad at me.

Emma and I didn't plan anything...

She just texted me after she told Ms. Foster.

Please call me.

Carson White; 6:14pm

Mel, I hope we're okay.

I want to talk.

Please call me!

Emma Murphy; 6:33pm

Hey girl!

Just wanted to see how you were doing!

Alani Reynolds; 6:52pm

Mellie, are you sleeping?

Carson White; 7:08pm

If you want space, that's cool...

But if you need to talk, I'm here.

Alani Reynolds; 6:52pm

Hey, Mel! Emma is freaking out.

Are you cool?

Harvey Fuller; 7:22pm

Mellie, I'm a little worried.

Please call me.

Carson White; 7:31pm

Hope everything's okay...

Emma Murphy; 7:32pm

Hey friend! Just thought I'd send you a meme!

- Noah sent an attachment -

Noah Phillips; 8:13pm

Melody! Hope all is well.

I have a casting for you tomorrow morning.

Pick you up before school.

Gavin LeBlanc; 8:45pm

I sighed, feeling the stress rise in my chest. I took a deep breath and decided to text Gavin back first.

Sounds good.

See you soon.

Melody Reese; 7:38am

I then called Carson, while I took my sweater off and put a tighter fitting black long-sleeved top. The phone rang once before he picked up.

"Mellie!"

"Hi," I said quietly. I shoved my sweater into a little bag so I could throw that on if I went back to school today.

"How are you?" Carson asked.

"Fine. Sorry I worried you and everyone last night... I left my phone in my bag somewhere and didn't hear it," I explained as I rushed into the bathroom. I quickly brushed out my hair, leaving it in its natural waves before applying a light amount of makeup to my face. I had to make sure I didn't look so tired.

"That's alright. You just had such a rough day and I just didn't know if you were okay or not," he said.

"Sorry," I said, shoving my makeup pouch in the bag with my sweater. While I was allowed only a little bit of makeup for a casting, but I felt like just a little more was needed for school.

"You don't have to apologize at all; I just care about you," Carson said making me smile slightly. "I'm going to eat breakfast, and then I'll leave soon."

"Um, you actually don't have to pick me up today... I have a casting, so Gavin is coming to get me in a bit," I explained.

"Okay. I'll see you at school, though right?" Carson asked.

"Maybe," I said. My phone dinged, letting me know there was a call on the other line. I checked to see who it was. "Hey, I have to go. Gavin's calling."

"Oh! Okay. Good luck!" Carson said.

"Thank you. Bye!" I replied. I hung up and switched calls. "Hey!"

"Hi Melody! I'm outside," Gavin said.

***

It didn't take too long to get to Manhattan, as traffic was light today. The ride was quiet, besides Gavin playing the pop music he thought I liked. It was a small company, called Celeste Couture, who were casting, so there weren't too many girls at this casting. They were all so pretty, so I tried not to dwell on that and shake what little confidence I had. I tried on one of their dresses for them. It was a long, light pink gown that had billowy sleeves that were almost transparent. It synched in at the waist, where the deep v-neckline met it. From there it was fairly tight as it hugged my legs with fabric that was covered in lace and crystals. As it got to about my knees, the fabric became fur, and created a little train around me. I modelled it for them, doing my runway walk and left after changing out of their clothing and into my oversized sweater.

On the drive back to Greenwich, Gavin turned down the radio, making me pull my glance away from the window.

"To school or home?" he asked.

"School," I said quietly. I had nothing better to do at home, and I didn't want to spend any more time with Margot than I had to. While school was horrible, at least Carson was there.

"Sounds good," he replied. I took out my makeup pouch and prepared for the rest of my day at school.

***

When I got to school, I noticed two things. One was that there were students loitering outside, so it was lunch. The other was that those students were glancing curiously at a police car parked in front of our school. My heart sank in my chest and I considered asking Gavin to take me home. The only reason I didn't was because I didn't want him to question to me.

So, I got out of the car when he pulled over and walked inside the doors of Alcott High. I figured the best place to go would be my art classroom, and I could just hope my friends would not be there. I didn't want to talk to anyone except for Carson. I sent him a quick text that I was at school and walked right to art.

As I got to the art room, a sudden hand on mine as I opened the door made me jump. I glanced up to see Diesel and my heart stopped for a moment. I ripped my hand away from his and stumbled back a few steps.

"Melody. Can I to talk to you?" Diesel asked.

"N-no," I spat out.

"Please, I just want to talk."

"No!" I said much louder than before.

"Just hear me ou–"

The door suddenly swung open and Ms. Foster's voice made my body fill with relief. "Leave. Now." Diesel sighed before walking away and I closed my eyes and took a shaky breath. "Here, come in."

"Okay," I mumbled, walking into the art room. When she closed the door, I rested at the nearest table. "I shouldn't have come today."

"I was surprised to see you," Ms. Foster said, softly.

"Yeah, I just had nowhere else to go so..." I muttered.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I – uh – nothing," I said quickly. I could tell my lack of sleep was certainly getting the best of me and my mouth. I ran a hand through my hair nervously.

"How are you doing?" Ms. Foster asked.

"Fine," I lied. I took a deep breath. "Can-can I paint?"

"Of course, you can," Ms. Foster said with a soft smile. "I'll even play some music."

I grabbed some paint and a canvas as soft music poured through Ms. Foster's speakers. The colours I picked were black, blue, green, and white. I put the canvas up on an easel and stared at it.

I didn't filter myself as I painted. Swift and fluid. It seemed as if the paintbrush was guiding my hands rather than the other way around. I was so into the painting that everything felt surreal. I was seeing the black outline I had created against white. Blotches of greens and blues. The darkness creeping in towards it all. Threatening to engulf it.

I moved my hand to push hair out of my face and noticed tears were running down my cheeks. Quickly, I put the paintbrush down and wiped them away. I took a step back and decided to really look at what I was painting. It was a little abstract, but it was a bruised female body. I glared at the body. It was ugly. Used. Broken. Too fat. Pathetic.

"The police are here to take a statement from me or whatever right?" My voice sounded far away. Detached from my body.

"Yes." Ms. Foster said quietly. She was watching me closely, as if I might break at any moment.

"When?"

"Probably during art."

"I don't have anything to say to them." It came out sharper than I intended it to.

"Tell them what you told me," she replied. I sighed and sat down on the table.

The door opened and Carson walked in. He smiled when he saw me then approached me slowly, as if he was worried that I might vanish before his eyes.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," I said quietly. His eyes flickered over my shoulder to the painting, and I felt fresh tears well up in my eyes. I blinked them away. "How was your chemistry quiz?"

"Easy," Carson shrugged. He took my hand. "Did you eat lunch?"

"Um, yeah, with Gavin," I mumbled.

"Good," he said wrapping his arms around me. It was a flat out lie and made my stomach churn uneasily to do it, but I wasn't the least bit hungry. I couldn't even think about food when all I could do was imagine myself being interrogated by police for something that I didn't want to talk about in the first place. I buried my face in Carson's chest and breathed deeply, hoping to feel an ounce of calmness.

_______

Author's Note: I AM OFFICIALLY DONE MY UNDERGRAD! YAY! That means you all get a chapter!! I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think! And what you think might happen next!

Shout outs this chapter go to:

VickyS022004

derinamystery

chocolatechip4764

walletxofxwishes

Jliolf

txmxrxs

Reann_Con

You're all amazing!

Melody's school outfit:

Melody's model outfit:

PS. Super random but I made a youtube video of my trip to Michigan this past weekend! If y'all want to check it out and see a little bit of me then here it is! If anyone's from Michigan then this one's for you ahah

https://youtu.be/neJ52HSd2BM

If you watch let me know what you think! Aha :)