The New Neighbor

Chapter 13: Cuttings

A/N: Sorry it's been so long since I updated. I've just gone through the editing and publication process with another book. Very interesting! I've made my first dollars as an author! Yeah! :)

Mellie went to school on Monday morning very curious to see if there would be any changes. Of course Jake smiled at her in homeroom. This time, she smiled back. The first change she noticed was that Jake's friends no longer gave her mean looks. Rebecca still sat with her genus nerd friends in Psychology and lunch. Nothing felt different at lunch. When she got to practice, Lauren said, "Hi," to her without any attitude attached. It was only one word, and she didn't stick around for a response, but it was still a little shocking.

It was now April, and the weather was warmer, so the garage door was completely open as Mellie approached. The band stopped playing as they noticed her coming, and they all smiled. Marissa popped up from the sofa and nearly ran at Mellie. She looked so excited and sounded even more so as she said, "Mellie! We've been waiting for you. You'll never guess what happened today!"

Mellie smiled and said, "Okay. What happened?"

Marissa slipped her arm around Mellie's and led her closer to the guys as she said, "Jake caught Ryan and Jax after school."

"Okay... You all look happy, so I'm assuming by caught, you don't mean jumped."

They all laughed and shook their heads. Ryan said, "He came up to us by himself, and he a-pol-o-gized." He dragged out and enunciated the last word.

Mellie's eyes flew wide. "Apologized?" Everyone nodded. "For what exactly?"

Ryan grinned. "Being an asshole. His words!"

With a laugh, Mellie said, "No way."

Jax was grinning as well. He said, "He really did. I was there, or I wouldn't believe it either. He said he was sorry for being an asshole and threatening Ryan. He even said he was over the whole Marissa thing and hoped she and Ryan would be happy together. He no longer has any intention of trying to make her life miserable and said he told the cheerleaders to be nicer to her."

Marissa squealed and shook Mellie's arm. "Can you believe it?"

Mellie laughed and said, "Hmm... Not really. Maybe he was abducted by aliens?"

Laughter erupted. Keyon said, "Yeah, and they replaced him with a nice guy. I like the change. I hope the aliens don't bring the real Jake back." Everyone happily agreed.

On Tuesday, genus jock people said hello to various outcasts in the hallways. Eric said it was like the Twilight Zone. On Wednesday, Rebecca sat next to Mellie in Psychology. She smiled and said, "Hey, Mellie."

Mellie nodded and said, "Hi, Rebecca."

"Sorry I haven't been talking to you very much lately. Things have finally calmed down."

Mellie smiled. "That's great."

"You still want to do dinner sometime?"

"Sure, whenever you like."

"I'll be at band practice today. I can come over and visit a while with you before dinner tonight."