Melody

"It's nice to see you still live here."

The words barely left my mouth before my eyes widened in shock. I was surprised they left my lips before I couldn't stop it from happening. I tensed, waiting for my dad's reaction.

"Did you say something Melody?" My father said pressing the Bluetooth device in the ear facing away from me. "I was on the phone." His face was tired and his eyes bloodshot, likely from lack of sleep. "I'm sorry I didn't come home...yesterday. I was pulled away on business."

I swallowed hard; my nerve suddenly gone.

"Oh, I was just saying good morning..." I started. Carson's car pulled up and I cleared my throat. "Um, Margot is probably wondering where you've been," I added.

"Right," my dad said, brushing past me.

"Right," I repeated quietly as I walked towards the car. I slid into the vehicle, hands shaking with pent up anger that I didn't know where to put. I balled my long fingers into a fist, not caring that my nails dug into my palms. Carson frowned and glanced out the window as my dad closed the front door.

"What happened?" Carson asked.

"Nothing." As the word left my mouth, my anger seemed to dissipate as realization kicked in. "Nothing at all."

I glared out the window as we pulled into the road. We drove for a little bit before I noticed we weren't driving towards the school. I glanced over at Carson in confusion.

"I think we can do without first period today," Carson said with a small smile. He turned another corner and we were headed for the coffee shop.

When we got inside the warm café, the smell of coffee beans and vanilla made my lips curve up into a smile. I went over to the beanbags and sat down, cross-legged as Carson went to get us drinks. Staring out the frosted window, I felt more relaxed here than I was at school or at home. There was no judgement here, just caffeine and conversation.

Carson sat down with two drinks in his hands. He passed me one with pretty latte art on top. I smiled and wrapped my fingers around the white mug, letting its warmth radiate through my body.

"Thank you," I said, softly. There was a pause before I said, "sorry you had to go last night." There was this weird lingering feeling on the subject of my family in the air. I wasn't sure how to address it, or if I even wanted to.

"You don't have to apologize," Carson started.

"I do. Margot is just –"

"You don't. She is a mean person who doesn't treat you the way she should," Carson said. I stared down at my hot drink, unsure of how to respond to that. There was a slight pause before Carson spoke once again. "Did your dad say something to you this morning?"

"Quite the opposite," I mumbled. "I'm pretty much invisible to him. The only way anyone in my house would notice if I disappeared was if I was off destroying the family name." Carson's eyebrows furrowed as my words sunk in and my cheeks heated. "I mean, not that I would disappear, I mean, I just... This morning I was so ready to yell at my father and he didn't even hear me because his Bluetooth was in."

I was a mosquito buzzing in the back of his ears and saying it out loud made my stomach twist uncomfortably.

"Is it always like that?" Carson asked. I nodded.

"Between Margot and work, I just fade into the background," I mumbled. My stomach twisted again, and I got up feeling suddenly nauseous.

"Melody?" Carson said, the alarm on his face clear as crystal.

"I'm fine," I said quickly.

I rushed over to the bathroom and entered one of the stalls. I bent down and held back my hair and I gagged over the toilet. Nothing. My stomach was still empty. I took a deep breath trying to stop the nausea.

I stood up straight, feeling slightly dizzy. I sighed as I stumbled over to the sink and washed my hands. I sprinkled a little cold water on my neck, cursing the side effects of these seemingly wonderful pills.

Stepping out of the bathroom, I bumped into Carson and he caught me by the arms, steadying me.

"Are you okay?" Carson asked.

I nodded so hard I thought my head might fall off.

"I'm fine."

"What just happened?"

"I felt sick, but I'm not. I'm okay," I said as nonchalantly as possible. Carson frowned as he held me there, observing me. I squirmed under his gaze, feeling uncomfortable with his scrutiny. Like if he stared too long, he'd see 'I'm taking diet pills' written across my forehead. I broke eye contact with him and stared at the floor.

"You know you can talk to me," Carson said.

"I know," I said, shifting my feet. He sighed, knowing he wasn't getting any more out of me, and let go of my arms.

Trust me to always screw everything up.

We walked back over to our beanbags and he went to pick up his coffee mug. I sat down in my previous seat, and pulled out my phone, waiting for the awkwardness of what just happened to pass.

I frowned as I opened up the Instagram account that Gavin had set up from me, the little icon popping up over the notifications. Thirty new followers.

Thirty.

Thirty new people following me?

"What?" Carson asked, noticing my facial expression.

"All these new people are following me," I said. Looking at some of the profiles, my frown deepened as names I recognized came up.

'harveyf.inurlife followed you'

'bobbyxx1 followed you'

'lillykthompson followed you'

'mynamesjeff followed you'

There were some more random names to the list of followers. The ones that made my heart stop soon came up.

'itstherealdiesel followed you'

'xsummerscottx followed you'

'xxserenascottxx followed you'

'theoneandonlyrosemitchell followed you'

I didn't follow them back. I just handed my phone to Carson and stood up once again. I rushed to the bathroom and found my place next to the toilet, calling up the half-sip of coffee that I had.

The end of life as I knew it was near, and my stomach seemed to agree.

_______________

Author's Note: The moment you've all been waiting for! Sorry that Melody didn't quite wig out at her dad... but we've got other plans! All these people following her? YIKES! What do you think will happen next? What do you think Carson will say?

Sorry that this chapter took SO long to write! Everything has been crazy! I've been making appearances, doing fundraisers and writing blogs with my title Miss King City World 2018! I am leaving for a week to compete in the Miss World Canada pageant! I'm so excited (and nervous lol)!

Follow me on instagram (@brittany.p.w) for more of my life! 

Shoutouts this chapter go to:

CrazySince2001 

Marvelishparker

Wispycat

ZanyRebelStylist83

Erose1022

Thank you all sooooo much! I hope I will have new chapters out for you very soon!