A short, uneventful chapter,
But I felt this was something I had to do.
I wanted to show that Melody wasn't as unwanted as she thought.
THe people around her truly care for her,
She just doesn't and refuses to realise it.
But I apologise for all disappointments you may have.
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“Mom, I’m back!” I hollered up the stair where my other was humming a show tune and presumably doing some housework.
“I’m in my room, Melody.”
Dumping my sling bag carelessly on the kitchen counter, I trudged up to the second floor and knocked on the slightly ajar door of my parents’ room.
“Come on in, dear.” I strolled in and made myself comfortable on the bed, planting myself beside my mother. Seeing her with a mountain pile of clothes, I grabbed a few pieces of washed laundry and helped fold them neatly, stacking them up.
I knew precisely what my mother was going to ask. “The teachers are quite nice. My form teacher, Mister Francis Reynolds teaches us English and Literature as well.”
“… And?” She pressed on, as the most important ‘mystery’ remained unanswered.
“Naturally, with my non-existent luck, I ended up becoming his classmate and sharing all my lessons with him. Plus, I sit two tables down from him. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.” I lowered my voice dramatically at the last sentence.
My mother automatically leaned closer to me. “Ooooh… what???” She chirped expectantly, like a girl eagerly waiting to hear the latest hot piece of gossip. I regarded my mother with a highly amused expression.
“Well don’t keep your poor mother waiting!” She remarked impatiently, halting her clothes-folding.
“Nathaniel’s full name, is Nathaniel Peyton.” I sighed, a hint of sourness seeping into my voice. Even though Nathaniel and I had agreed to try to be friends before Biology lesson, that still did not mean that I’d forget the years back when he picked on me.
My mother’s hand flew to her chest. “Peyton?” She breathed, stunned and instantly recognising the famous surname. “As in Nathaniel Peyton, son of Mister Wes Peyton of the Peyton hotel, that Peyton?”
“Mom, you just said ‘Peyton’ an excessive five times.” I let out a short laugh. “And yeah, Nathaniel is Mister Wes Peyton’s son. It’s not like there’s another Peyton family in this small town, let alone one that everyone is familiar with.”
“My goodness,”
“That’s not the only thing.” I rubbed my forehead, “Two other classmates of mine, who sit on either side of me in class, Nate and Nathan, are Nathaniel’s brothers.”
“Nate, Nathan and Nathaniel Peyton? I didn’t know Mister Peyton had three sons!” Apparently my mother had not caught the ‘two other classmates of mine’ hint.
“Triplets to be exact,” I added dryly.
My mother gasped and gripped onto the bed frame for support. Well, look at it this way: at least she didn’t faint like I did.
“T-t-triplets?!”
“As much as I would love to say ‘no’, yes. Triplets. The Peyton triplets.”
Shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts, she continued, “So what are they like? Nathaniel’s brothers, I mean.”
I blinked, digesting her question and carefully churning out an answer. “Umm… Nathan is really friendly and charming. Nate is…” I paused, biting my bottom lip, trying to find a suitable term to describe the oldest Peyton child. “He’s reserved.”
“So did you make any other friends?”
“Erm, sort of. Her name is Helen Keeane. She’s the Peyton triplets’ best friend.”
“Did she go to Velentia Junior High?”
“Yup, she was in the school choir. I would never have guessed from her somewhat boyish persona.”
“So did Jessica make it into Velentia High?”
I took me a moment to remember who Jessica was. “Oh, Twiddles.” I had come up with the nickname for my imaginary friend, to make the whole charade more convincing. Wearing a countenance matching one of desolation, I threw in a sorrowful tone. “Her parents sent her to a boarding school somewhere in London.”
My mother gave me a sympathetic look, patting my back reassuringly. I hated lying to her like this, but I also hated my parents making a fuss of me being a loner, easing my guilt considerably.
“Did you have lunch?” My mother abruptly narrowed her eyes suspiciously at me. I was hoping she would not bring this up.
“I went to the library. Wasn’t hungry.” I mumbled, averting my gaze from my mother, pretending to be very preoccupied with folding clothes all of a sudden. Truthfully, I just wanted to steer clear of the daunting cafeteria crowd.
“Melody, you-“
“Mom, I really wasn’t hungry.” I sighed, “And I really wanted to check out the library. You know that I love books.”
She eyed me for a moment and you could almost hear the gears moving in her head as she tried to decide whether I could be trusted. Finally, she spoke, “Very well, but you’d better not put off lunch everyday.”
Silently, I exhaled in relief.
“Anything else I should know?”
I contemplated whether I should tell her what happened in the morning. She’ll definitely want to know this. Better tell her now than risk her finding out later.
“I… I…” Unable to bring myself to say it, knowing how hysterical my mother would get, I looked down and quickly mumbled, “fainted.”
“WHAT?!” She shrieked, almost bursting my eardrums. My hands quickly flew to my ears to shield them.
“I’m fine now, mom.” I tried to reassure her, “It was just a mild dizzy spell, that’s all. Nothing to panic about. I wasn’t out for long.”
“Nothing to panic about?!” she growled, “Why didn’t the school inform me?”
“Mom, I wasn’t even unconscious for at least half an hour.”
“It doesn’t matter! You still fainted!” She was off the bed, feeling my forehead’s temperature and scrambling to fetch the medicine box.
“Mom!” I yelled, starting to get a bit annoyed. “I said I’m fine, okay? Relax. I was just shocked about the Nathaniel thing. No big deal.”
“You fainted! Fainted!!!” She snapped, flinging bottles of pills out of the box, digging for something. “That’s serious!”
“Melina,” I interrupted, gnashing my teeth. “I. Am. Perfectly. Fine. Can you please understand that? There is nothing serious about me fainting just now. I’m not ill or anything, so can we please drop this subject?”
I almost never called my mother by her name, but when I did, it meant that I was on the brink of exploding. I understood that she only meant well as a concerned parent, but when I said I was fine, I was fine.
She regarded me briefly, a scowl plastered on her face.
“Alright. I’ll stop.” She sulked like a little child, folding her arms. “But if anything else happens to you, I’m not going to let you off.”
“There won’t be anything happening to me.” I replied camly. “I know you care for me, but I truly am well, so please stop worrying, okay?” I smiled at her, resting a hand on her shoulder.
She bent towards me, cupping my face tenderly. “Melody, you mean a lot to Steven and I. We don’t want anything bad to happen to you and we’re not taking any chances. Remember what happened to Aunt Kayla and Uncle Jerome?”
I nodded, grimacing. Uncle Jerome was Aunt Kayla’s husband, and Steven’s younger brother. They had a son around my age, Shayne. According to my parents, my cousin and used to play together quite often when we were very young. One day while I was still in the fourth grade, my parents made a call to the school, asking me to wait for them.
We were going to attend Shayne’s funeral. He had suffered a sudden seizure and fainted during lunch time. The school and his parents were quick to send him to the hospital, but he never woke up.
A few years after Shayne’s passing, Aunt Kayla gave birth to another child. A little girl called ‘Hope’. It stills pains them deeply, whenever they recall memories of the beloved son that they’ve lost.
“I don’t want to lose you.” My mother whispered, hugging me tightly.
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The chapters are coming slowly because my teachers are really trying to overdose my with work. Sorry.
