Melody looked at the clock. She had been waiting for two hours for another boat to come by. Finally in the distance, she saw one. Melody jumped up and down, yelling, trying to get the persons attention. The boat pulled closer and she noticed who the driver was.
"Nick!" She called, relieved.
"What's up?" he asked.
"My engine died."
"Need me to tow your boat back?"
"That would be nice," she replied. Nick tossed her a rope to hook to the front of her boat. As they headed towards her house, Melody got an idea. She started to cough.
"You okay?" Nick asked.
"Yeah, I guess. I'm not feeling that well," Melody lied. She turned away so he couldn't see her smile. She coughed and sneezed occasionally the whole way back. As Melody roped the boat back to the pier, she thanked Nick.
"No problem," he said, "hope you feel better." Melody waved goody-bye before walking up to the house.
"Mom, Dad, you home?" she yelled. She heard a yes come form the kitchen. Melody purposely staggered into the kitchen. Her Mom rushed over and grabbed her arm to lead her to the small, round, glass table.
"Are you okay? Did something happen?" her mom questioned.
"I…I don't feel well. I think I might be getting sick."
"Ok, to bed with you, right now young lady. I'll bring you some soup then it's nighty-night. Got it."
"But Mom…"
"No buts missy. Now," her mom said, pointing to her room. Melody got up and slowly made her way to the room. I'm good, Melody thought, so good. A few minutes later Melody had a fresh, hot bowl of chicken noodle soup.
"Thanks," she said. Her mom smiled and kissed her on the forehead.
"I love you, see you in the morning."
"Love you," she said, the yelled, "love you too Daddy!" She heard him yell back from his den. Melody grinned, she was glad to have such great parents. She turned on her radio and relaxed in bed. After finishing her dinner, she curled up in her bed and just listened to the music. A slow, sad song came on. The lyrics drifted into her ears as she began to fall asleep.
Eyes of stone, observe the trends,
They never say, forever gaze upon me.
Guilty roads, to an endless love.
There's no control, are you with me now.
You're every wish, will be done, they tell me
The next morning Melody slowly opened her eyes. The song she had heard stayed in her head. A beautiful, sad song, that she could definitely relate to. Melody stayed in bed and cried. Her mom walked in and sat down on the bed next to her.
"Honey, are you feeling that bad?" her mom asked, pushing the hair out of Melody's eyes. Melody carefully sat up and reached over to her desk. She grabbed a pen and a piece of paper. After she finished writing she handed it to her mom.
I lost my voice. Could you please call Vallery and have her cancel my plans with Aj. Just tell her I'm sick and she will know what to do.
"Sure. Now get some more sleep." She said before heading to the kitchen and picking up the phone. Melody turned on her radio again, the same song played. That's weird, Melody thought. Again the song brought a wave of sadness over her. She listened carefully to the radio Dj.
"This is Dj Freaky D. That was the Backstreet Boys' latest single from Millennium, Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely. Next up, we have an older song. I'm sure everyone will recognize it, her is All-4-One, I Swear," he said. Melody grabbed the same piece of paper and scribbled down the group and the CD name. Next chance she got, she wanted to get the CD. She hadn't bought many things like CD's because she had been saving up for collage. Since she wouldn't be going to collage, it wouldn't matter what she used her money for. Melody ate some toast for breakfast before settling down to take a nap. She wasn't sick, but she could always use some extra sleep.
Two hours later, she felt someone shaking her gently. She turned over and opened her eyes to find her Dad standing by the bed. She groaned and yawned, stretching out.
"Hey there sleepy head," her Dad laughed. "A young man just dropped by, I didn't catch his name. He said to tell you he hopes you get well soon and asked me to give this to you." He handed Melody a shoebox sized present, wrapped in shinny silver paper.
She smiled at her Dad before he left the room. She stared at the package for a minute, knowing whom it was from. Finally she decided to open it. Melody looked into the box, immediately recognizing what it was. She pulled out the leopard print cowboy hat from the box. A note was in the bottom of the box. Melody pulled out the note and read it.
Dear Melody,
I'm sorry you're not felling well. I was really looking forward to seeing you today. When I was thinking about you I remembered how good this hat looked on you. So, I decided to go back and buy it. I hope it helps cheer you up. I won't be happy unless I know you are happy.
Love Always,
AJ
Melody realized she had been holding her breath
the whole time she was reading the note. She slowly
let it out, and trying to calm down. Guilt washed
over her as she ran her hand over the house. He has
been nothing but nice to me, she thought sadly.
Melody pushed the hat onto the floor; she couldn't
look at it. She covered her face, sobbing silently
into her hands.
