Melody woke up; she felt the sunshine on her
face. She smiled at the warm comforting feeling of
the sun. Then everything that had happened the day
before came back to her. She groaned and sat up in
bed. Her strength had returned, but that didn't make
her feel any better. She remembered what a jerk she
had been, to Aj, to the police officer, to everyone.
I'm not usually like that, she thought, I guess that's
what happens to you when you know you are going to
die. The only thing she didn't regret was walking
away from Aj, she really liked him, but she was in no
position to get involved with anyone. She got up,
stretched, and sat down at her desk to write in her
journal.
Dear Journal,
Nine more days left. I realized last night what it means to only have a few days left. It doesn't mean it's time to party, to do everything you never have done before. It means the exact opposite. It means no more fun. Last night I met a great guy, Aj. He was cute, and nice, everything I want in a guy. Instead of enjoying my time with him, I was rude and blew him off. Not only did I ruin his night, but all of my friends too. I know I can apologize to my friends, and they will probably forgive me. I don't know what to do about Aj though. I desperately want to talk to him, to say I'm sorry, but I'm scared to see him again. He is the type of guy that I could easily fall in love with. I don't want anymore hurt. I don't want to hurt anyone else, to hurt him. I just don't know what to do. If only I had more time, but time is running out.
-Melody
Melody sat down her pen and stared at what she
wrote. She slid the journal back into her desk before
getting dressed and walking to the kitchen for
breakfast. She noticed a note on the counter from her
parents saying they would be gone for the day. Good,
she thought, now I can do whatever I want to today.
She quickly ate some toast before heading to her room
to get her keys. Melody searched her room for her
keys, but couldn't find them. Suddenly, she realized
where her keys were. Aj still had them, he had never
given them back last night, and she hadn't given him
the chance. She grabbed the phone and dialed Suzy's
number; there was no answer. Melody tried Vallery,
she picked up.
"Hello, Vallery?" Melody asked.
"Yeah, hey Mel," Vallery answered. "How are you? I heard about everything that happened last night. About the car and the cop."
"I'm fine now, I guess I just lost my head last
night. You don't know everything though."
"What else possibly could have gone wrong?"
"I'll tell you, but you have to come pick me up
from my house."
"Why don't you just drive your car?"
"I'll explain that too, once you get here."
"Ok, be there in a little while. Bye, Mel."
"Bye," Melody said, hanging up the phone. She
went to her room to grab her wallet before stepping
outside to wait for Vallery. Ten minutes later she
pulled into the driveway. Melody walked over and got
into the car.
"Where to?" Vallery asked.
"How about the mall?" Melody suggested.
"Sounds good to me. Alright, now you have to
tell me what else happened last night," she said,
backing out onto the road. Melody told her about what
happened on the pier, the kiss, her walking away, and
leaving her keys with him.
"So that's why you couldn't drive. Wow, how do
you plan on getting your keys back?"
"I could have you ask Nick to get them from him,
or I could just find Aj."
"Good luck."
"Good luck with what, finding him?"
"No, I meant having to see him and talk to him.
I'm sure you hurt his feelings pretty bad last night."
Melody knew Vallery was right. She remembered the
look on his face as she walked away. It was the right
thing to do, she told herself. No matter how many
times Melody told herself, she couldn't fully believe
it was true. It was a twenty minutes drive to the
mall. Once they got there, the two girls cruised the
mall for a while. They saw a store with all kinds of
funky, unique cloths. After going in and looking at
all the cloths they picked out the one they thought
was the worst. It was an all leopard print outfit,
and they hated leopard print. The shirt was a
short-sleeved, belly shirt, and the skirt was very
short. It also came with a leopard print cowboy hat
and high boots.
"I dare you to try that on," Vallery laughed. Melody grabbed the outfit and headed to the dressing room. She could hear Vallery laughing across the store. Melody tried on the outfit and started laughing herself. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't leopard print, she thought. She opened up the door and ventured into the store to find Vallery. Where did she go, Melody wondered. While looking for her, Melody bumped into someone. She looked up and saw it was Aj. He took a step back to look at her and the outfit. She waited for him to start laughing, but he didn't.
"I like it." He told her. Melody could feel her face turn bright red. She heard hysterical laughter behind her. Melody turned to find Vallery bent over, laughing so hard she was crying.
"Um, hi Aj. Can you wait here for a minute, I have to ask you something," Melody stammered, before she turned and almost ran back to the dressing room.
