Mallory's Melody

Chapter 38

EVERYTHING FELT RIGHT AGAIN WHEN Mallory got to Starlight Academy. The deep, unending grief that whirred within her heart was gone, as was the tormenting fear which had its tentacles wrapped around her, such fear which came with not knowing what the future held. Now the future was certain, as firm as how strongly fixed she was to the grounds of Starlight. Nothing, not even the strongest of winds, could detach her from Starlight Academy again.

She inhaled the air. It smelt of victory. She looked around, at the glass structure looming over, and the people who walked by, some stopping to smile and wave at her. It was as if they too were sharing in her joy, as though they knew she would finally become Starlight star. She walked into the building, carefully, like the ground was glass that could crack if she exerted too much impact on it. Everything felt brittle now. It all felt like a dream that could easily disperse into nothingness if she wasn't careful enough, subtle enough, as if the dream would gain consciousness and be aware of her presence and would, with bitter animosity, cut her engagement with it.

"The receptionist was too nice when I came," Mallory said, as Kathy accompanied her to William's office. She'd grown more beautiful than Mallory last saw, her face devoid of pimples, blonde hair lacking that unkempt shade of brown it always had.

"Mrs Jenny?" Kathy asked, laughing aloud. "It's expected. She just got married, like—I think—last month? It's true that marriage changes people, and that goes for peevish witches too, I guess. A lot of things have changed since you left."

"Speaking of change..." Mallory eyed Kathy playfully from head to toe. She was donned in a dress Mallory wouldn't even have envisioned her wearing months ago when they last saw each other. She'd always had that air of deficiency about her, always had the desperate look of someone who was always lacking, always wishing for more than they could ever get. She'd apparently gotten a lot more than she'd thought. Kathy had filled out in all the right places, and her skin looked fresher, healthier, more vibrant.

"Oh." Kathy giggled. "Around the time you left, I got involved with this guy."

"Sounds spicy."

"Just wait until you hear he's ten years older than me."

Mallory backed away. "Wait what? You mean like..."

"Yes, 27." Kathy rolled her eyes. "He's William's younger brother. Arthur. He saw me singing one time when I was cleaning the halls, and he thought I was very talented. Sold me on a deal. But it wasn't just a deal, we fell in—"

"Yeah, take it from me." Mallory looked away from Kathy. "I really don't want to hear about love right now."

"Oh," Kathy said, "I-I understand."

Mallory stopped walking. "No, you don't! You don't understand what's its like for a guy you love to care so little about you, that he would watch you walk off without making an effort."

Kathy stared at her, no sympathy or care in her eyes, but a cold accusation. "I warned you about Jason, Mal. I told you he was going to hurt you. He has that history, of breaking hearts wherever he goes. You didn't have to dabble with him."

Mallory stared at Kathy, suddenly overwhelmed by the compunction to slap her. What Kathy said was the truth, and perhaps it was that the truth, that made her so angry, so ireful, not with Kathy specifically, but with her for revealing how stupid Mallory was to have not spotted Jason's red flags, his refusal to be loyal, to be fully transparent with her. "You don't choose who you fall in love with Kathy."

Kathy drew offensively close to Mallory, the tip of their noses almost touching. Her eyes glimmered with a hatred Mallory didn't think Kathy was ever capable of. "Of course not, Mallory Trent, but you can choose not to fall. And you fell right in, right into the ditch like the little blind bat you are. And sure enough, you're about to fall into another one."