Melody's Song

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

“LOGAN, IF YOU DON’T GIVE ME BACK MY HAT RIGHT NOW I’M GOING TO PERSONALLY MAKE SURE THAT YOU CAN NEVER HAVE CHILDREN!”

   I screamed this at Logan as we ran through the streets of Oaks, Wyoming. Oaks is the small town that SPA is in, it’s also about as far northwest as you can go without going into Montana. We are running through town, screaming bloody murder- well, I am- and getting funny looks from the few residents of the town. Logan is running with my prized panda toboggan held captive. I’m running after him, but he’s inhumanly fast. I actually don’t think that this person is human; he’s impossibly good at all things athletic.

  We’ve gotten closer since our meeting a few months ago, he’s my best, and only, friend –Mr. Ron is more of a father figure- he actually got me most of the way out of my shell. We decided to visit Oaks to get more winter clothes before Thanksgiving break next week. The students of SPA are allowed to visit Oaks any time they want, as long as they are in their dorms between ten PM, and six AM. But, these hours are the curfew for all students. You can literally take a step off the campus and be in Oaks, it’s actually kind of hard to distinguish between the two, except in Oaks there are actually stores and such. There are only about 200 residents total, and about half of those have ties to the school. Pretty much the whole town is designed to fit the school.

     Logan is now running with my hat and two shopping bags, while I have one shopping bag and can’t keep up; I told you this boy is athletic. I turn the corner behind the Oaks General Store to see the hat thief sitting on a park bench without a care in the world, my panda hat sitting on his head. “What do you think, Mel; don’t you think it suits me?” He asks, sarcastically.

“No, I think it looks a lot better on me, now give it back if you want to keep your family jewels.”

“Take the hat back, then! It isn’t worth it!” He says very quickly, thrusting the hat back towards me.

“That’s what I thought.”

   I put the hat on my head very dramatically, and turn around to walk in the nearby park. Logan gets up and joins me. We walk in silence for a little bit, and then he asks me, “Where are you going for Thanksgiving?”

“The cafeteria.”

“You’re not going home?”

“I am going home; I’m going to my dorm.”

“You know what I mean; you’re not going to see your family?”

“No family to see, they all died a long time ago.”

   Logan stops walking and stares at me, waiting for an explanation, pity in his eyes. I don’t want pity, not after all this time. I want my family back but it’s not going to happen. I have to stop thinking about them before I repeat our first meeting. I instinctively grab at my locket and give Logan the best answer I can without breaking down, “They were in a car accident when I was little. I’m over it now.” I lie. “I don’t want pity, or sympathy. Let’s not talk about it, please? What about you, you have any big plans?” Most of the pity is wiped from his eyes, and he’s back to the Logan I know.

  “No, my dad’s a workaholic, and my mom died of cancer when I was ten. No sympathy or pity, please. Want to have Thanksgiving dinner together?”

“I’d be honored; the cafeteria’s turkey is to die for.”

“It’s a date.”

  We walk a little bit more and talk about our pile of homework that we are procrastinating. He has the exact same schedule as me, so we have the same homework, and we often do it together. He helps me with English and Science, and I help him with Algebra and World History. All our classes are honors, but I only really enjoy World History and Algebra. We eventually get tired and decide to go back to school. Well, I got tired and forced him to take me back to school.  After raiding the cafeteria we go back to my dorm to watch TV. There was literally nothing on besides documentaries, so we resorted to the news, I know how bored could we possibly be? I’ll tell you pretty bored. There were some of the normal CNN stories, which celebrity was pregnant, newest scandal, things like that.