Star Crossed

Chapter 37: Dreams

Melanie

I wrap Amber's arm around my shoulder more, snuggling into her side. We're currently sitting on my couch, just hanging out. Amber said that she can't come back home for a while since her school's becoming really busy, so I'm savouring this time.

"I wish you didn't have to go back," I say, peering up at the brunette beside me. Amber smiles down at me.

"I know, but I should probably focus more on my school work, I've been kind of neglecting it recently," she states, giving me a look that says that she's sorry. I nod, although I don't want to. I sigh quietly, looking over to the blank TV in front of us.

"Melanie, something came in the mail for you," my Mom says as she walks in the house, having been out shopping this morning. I perk up, looking over my shoulder to her. I notice a large yellow envelope in her hand. I'm confused, but go to open it anyway.

I stand up from my spot beside Amber, and take the envelope out of my Mom's hand. I tear it open at the top, still completely confused as to what this is. I mean, there's no way this is a letter from a university. It's too early.

I slide a few papers out of the envelope, and my mouth hangs open, unable to form words right now.

"What is it?" My Mom asks, raising an eyebrow at me as she takes her coat off. I blink a few times to ground myself.

"I got in," I whisper. "I was accepted into the Junior Fashion and Arts Program at the International Fashion Academy...in Paris!" I exclaim, my face lighting up.

"What?" My Mom questions, and I hand her the letter, her face present with confusion.

"I didn't even know you entered something like this," she mumbles, scanning over the papers.

"Well...I kind of didn't tell you," I explain, looking down slightly. "But that's only because the acceptance rate is so low that I didn't think I would actually get in."

"Melanie, this is incredible."

"I know! I'll get to spend a month in Paris this summer working with fashion designers!" I squeal, unable to keep my happiness to myself anymore. I look over to Amber -who's now getting up from the couch to read the letter as well.

"This is unbelievable," she says, then wraps her arm around my shoulders, hugging me. "I'm so happy for you."

"This is- I can't- there aren't any words!" I shout, my mind feeling hazy. I haven't felt this excited since Amber asked me to be her girlfriend. It's so weird, I had forgotten all about my submission. I'm pretty sure I even submitted it last summer, so no wonder I don't remember. I also just figured that I didn't make it after a while. Turns out I did make it.

"Melanie, this program is very prestigious, it states that they've only accepted twenty students this year, out of almost three thousand applicants," my Mom says, reading the letter. I snatch it out of her hands, my eyes bulging.

"No way!" I exclaim, not able to comprehend any of this.

"My girlfriend's going to be the next big fashion designer," Amber states, smiling widely at me. I return the look, my cheeks hurting from how much I'm smiling. I can't believe this. I mean, I hadn't even tried that hard when I was making my portfolio for the admission. Turns out, I'm a lot better than I thought.

After we celebrated my acceptance for a while, I called Mason and Hawk over to join Amber and I, wanting to share this day with them. Hawk also brought the Jayden guy that we all met at New Years, I wonder how that's going.

"Wow, so you're really going to Paris?" Mason asks, beaming. I nod eagerly, with barely contained excitement.

"Hey, thank me when you make it big," Hawk says teasingly, punching me lightly in the shoulder. I only now notice that Hawk is acting differently than usual. Almost...happier. I shrug it off, and continue fan-girling over the fact that I'm going to be spending half of my summer in France. I should really brush up on my French.

"So, I know this is Melanie's big day," Hawk starts, looking at everyone. "But...I have an announcement." Now this catches my attention. I give him a confused look, wondering if maybe he's going on another tour or releasing a new album.

"Jayden and I are a couple," he states proudly, then takes Jayden's hand in his. We all stand there for bit, not saying anything.

"Congrats!" I finally say. "I'm so happy for you two!" I wrap my arms around both of them, suffocating them slightly in my hug.

"I don't really like romance," Mason says, staring at us. "But it's not fair that I'm now a fifth wheel, like come on!"

"Yes, Mason, I'm sure you're very happy for us too," Hawk says sarcastically, and I pull Mason and Amber into our hug. We part after a few seconds. I'm so, so happy for Hawk. He's only told me a bit about his love life while he was in LA, but it wasn't good. I don't even think I could call it a love life. It was more an emotionally manipulative sex life. When Hawk came back to Brooke's Valley in November, I could tell that he was different. He hardly every smiled genuinely, mostly just smirks. It wasn't until he met Jayden that I began to see the Hawk that I have always loved. And I'm so glad that Jayden was able to bring him back to us.

"I say this calls for some food, who wants cake?" I ask everyone, peering around. Everyone nods, 'cause who doesn't like cake? I lead them all into the kitchen where I cut into a coconut cake that I had made yesterday. I was saving this for later on in the week, but right now we need some kind of food to celebrate with, so cake it is.

"You know," Mason says. "Jayden kind of reminds me of a your typical cool guy."

"What?" Jayden questions, his mouth full of cake.

"Yeah, I guess so," I add in.

"How?" Jayden asks again, looking between Mason and I.

"Well, you dress like a modern day greaser, you smoke, you drink a lot, you're kind of cold and closed off," Hawk explains to his boyfriend, and Jayden just shrugs.

"Well you," Jayden begins, pointing to Mason. "Dress like a lumberjack, but you act like a dork." He then turns to me.

"And you, you act like one of those anime girls that no one really likes, but you're also somehow a slut."

Mason and I stare wide-eyed at him for a few moments, and then burst out laughing.

"Was that you're idea of a comeback? Telling us exactly who we are?" I tease, trying to contain my laughter.

"Yeah, I mean, I know I dress woods-ish and act weird, but that's just who I am," Mason says. Jayden goes quiet after this, but Hawk tells him that it's alright (and that Mason and I are just salty 'cause they're a cuter couple than Amber and I, and that Jayden dresses better than Mason).

Somehow we made our way into my basement, where we take turns playing different video games. I'm not much of a gamer, but I have an Xbox. My brother used to spend hours down here everyday just playing video games, I never really got the appeal. Mason also likes to play video games, but he's a sore loser, so it's not much fun if he doesn't win.

It's weird to think that just five months ago it was just Mason and I. I didn't have Amber, and Hawk would only visit once in a while. Hell, I didn't even know that Jayden existed. But now look at us, hanging out together. Hawk and I both in relationships. And I'm going to go to Paris to study fashion. My life is going to become a bit crazier, but I can't wait. I couldn't have dreamed of a better way to spend my senior year.