The Life and Lies of Elyse Roche

One

Melly's POV- 4 Years Ago

I walked down the long hallway. There was a crumpled piece of paper in my hand and my eyes scanned the numbers on the mahogany doors.

107.

109.

111.

112.

I looked at room 112.

Behind the number on these double doors was Dean Andrew Perry.

I knocked once.

Twice.

"Come in," The gravelly voice told me. I obeyed it.

"Dean Perry," I said defiantly. A round balding man sits at the polished desk. Plaques line the wall behind him.

"Sit down, Miss Crawford." He says, and I obey. Dean Perry stands up and waddles around the room slowly. I can hear the shuffling of his wide trousers. "Do you know why you are in this room?"

"No sir," I reply with genuine truthfulness.

"Then maybe this will strike a chord." Dean Perry sits back down. He slides a piece of photograph across the desk and it makes a squeaking noise.

The picture is of a black locker with neon pink spray paint all over it. A heart had been drawn on it and scribbled on the locker was the word 'slut!'.

"Never seen it in my entire life, sir." I told him. I relaxed in the wooden chair and kicked my feet up on his shiny desk.

"Six people have claimed to see you drawing on this locker. Are you calling all six of them liars?" I feel my eyebrows pop up in surprise. I didn't know I'd been seen by six people that night.

"Yes sir, I am. And now that we're on the subject of liars, I think I should tell you that Chandler Smith was smuggling alcohol and drugs into the school." I whispered the last part loudly.

Dean Perry looks bored. He drums his nails across his desk. "Come on, Miss Crawford. We both know that you're lying, and I haven't forgotten about the vandalism of the locker."

"Just wait until this Friday night in the restricted section of the library. Dean Perry, I'm never wrong. I can guarantee you'll find Chandler Smith there, selling drugs and drinks, at midnight."

I don't think he heard me. Or did he just choose to forgive and forget? "Detention for one week, after you've scrubbed that spray paint off Samantha Barton's locker. You're dismissed,"

That's his way of saying get your ass out of here.

"Look forward to seeing you again Dean Perry!" I called jovially as I left his office smiling.

"I don't!" He called back as I shut the door.

I smirk at Mrs. Henry, the secretary. A row of four wooden chairs connects her desk to Dean Perry's door.

"Mrs. Henry, it went great!" I give her the thumbs up. "He gave me detention for a week! That's worse than the regular month he gives!"

Mrs. Henry glares at me through her cat eye glasses and goes back to typing on the vintage computer. I wink at the three boys sitting in the first three chairs. The first one gets up and enters Dean Perry's office.

Nobody has ever sat in that fourth chair because it's reserved. There's a small paper sign on it.

It says that it's reserved for me.

I smile at the sign that's been tacked on the chair and rush back to my dorm room. The homework calls to me.

"Elyse!" I scream as I barge into the room. "Elyse!" I burst into laughter and collapse onto my bed.

"What the hell is wrong with you today, Amelia Madelyn Crawford?" Elyse asks me. She sits in front of her desk and focuses on writing something down. I think she started to write a new song this week.

"How's the song coming?"

"You didn't answer my question. What is wrong with you today?"

"Dean Perry and I had another meeting. We love them so much. We can't even go a week without them."

Elyse frowns at my sarcasm.

"Clearwater Academy has no room for loud pranksters!" She pinches her nose and mimics the dean.

"Clearwater Academy has no room for songwriting either!" I echo her. We both burst into maniacal laughter.

Maniacal.

Nonsensical.

Hysterical.

Laughter. 

"Show," I tell her and hold out my hand for her notebook. Elyse is very private about her songwriting, and I think I'm the only one whom she confides in other than her teacher in the songwriting club. 

"Fine, but it's still a work in progress." She flips a few pages back and gives it to me. The song is titled The Problem.

I'm the problem, I don't deny

But at least I'm living life, feeling high

Caught up in the spotlight, under the sky

Trouble follows me, don't even try

I wear my crown of flaws, my imperfections showing,

But deep down I just want to be truly knowing,

If I'm the one to blame, or if it's all just in their minds,

I'm the problem, but is it wrong to leave it all behind?

"Whoa," I sit up and toss the notebook back to her and she cradles it like a baby. "Is this one about me?"

"Yes ma'am," She salutes me and goes back to writing. Another reason why I love Elyse so much. She writes about the people and experiences in her life, not the boyfriends like all the Taylors, Olivias, and Arianas out there in the world. 

"So, you working on an album or anything?"

"This one's going to be from High School Dropout." She swivels in her chair and grins. 

"You're in high school and I don't think you're dropping out anytime soon." I point out. "I still don't understand why you're calling it that."

"Too bad. Learn to deal with it and get your head around it." Elyse raises an eyebrow and her French accent slips out. I love it when it does. "So, what did you do this time to get in trouble with old Dean Perry?"

"I may or may not have written the word slut on Samantha Barton's locker and vandalized it." 

"What?" Elyse stares at me incredulously. "Why on earth would you do that?"

"You know what happened between her and Drew." I whisper the name of Elyse's ex boyfriend under my breath. 

"No you didn't!" My best friend gasps.

"Well, she deserved it for sucking up to him and stealing him." Horrified, she goes back to writing the lyrics of her song. Probably lyrics that have something to do with what I did. 

"Melly," She says. "Promise me you'll never do something like that again."

"I swear on Samantha Barton's life that I'll never do something like that again." 

Four Months Later:

"Carline? What's wrong?" Pranika asks. Her normally straight black hair had become a cloud surrounding her face. 

"It's Sam," Carline says. I can tell she's going to faint soon. I position myself so I can catch her when she does. 

"What happened?" Elyse asks. We all come closer to her. 

"It's Sam," I echo. "She's dead." 

And Carline falls into my waiting arms.