Babydoll|Courtney Love

Guilt

As I walked out of school, my face turned hot and I felt almost a secondhand frustration for what happened to Melanie.
I met Courtney in the parking lot.

"How was it?" Courtney exclaimed.
She had met me in a parking lot a bit away from the school, so it wouldn't attract attention.
"It was alright. I made a good friend who really likes your music."
"Oh nice! You should bring her over sometime. What's her name?"
"Melanie." I answered
"That's a cute name."
We then went on to pick Frances up from school, and then went home.

As soon as we got in, I went straight to my room and went through all my notebooks, Melanie wrote her phone number in one of them.
  Once I found it, I dialed the number on the pink rotary phone on my nightstand.
"Hello ma'am, is Melanie home?" I asked.
"No, she's probably on her way home from school. Could I pass on a message?" The lady answered.
"Okay, tell Melanie that Mona from school called and to call this number when she can."
We then hung up, and I saw Courtney at my door.
"Hey, you look anxious about something." She gave a sympathetic half-smile.
"Yeah, just something that happened with Melanie in last period.."
"Well, let's go talk about it."
I went with Courtney into the living room and sat on the couch next to her.
"Well, in gym class she got picked last. And then she snuck off pretty quickly after the bell rang, but I could tell she was upset. I just want to make sure she's alright." I explained the events the day's held.
"Oh no, poor girl." Courtney sighed, "She'll be okay, I bet she'd appreciate a phone call of you just letting her know you're there for her though."
I nodded in agreement.
"It's just that those kind of things happened to me all the time the last time I was in school, and I know how bad it hurts."
I hugged Courtney while she affirmed me that everything would be alright.
"I'm gonna go order us some Chinese food for dinner." She got up.
Just as she went into the kitchen, the phone rang.
Hoping it was Melanie, I picked it up right away.
"Courtney? It's Brian." I was alarmed by the man's voice and called for Courtney.
She picked up the phone and began talking, I went into my bedroom.

I unzipped my skirt. As gorgeous as it was, it was horribly uncomfortable.
I changed into some Juicy Couture sweatpants and put my hair into a bun.
"Mona, I ordered you some chicken lo mein, it'll be here in 20 minutes!" Courtney called from the kitchen.
I went into the bathroom and removed my makeup, knowing I'd probably fall asleep after dinner.
On my way to the living room I saw Frances in her bedroom, playing with Barbie dolls.
It reminded me of how simple my life used to be. My life before my dad left, before my mom turned to drugs. Life prior to hormones, when you could just give little girls dolls and they would get along.
I decided to join her on the floor and picked up a Barbie doll.

  *Time Skip to After Dinner*

"Mona, Melanie is calling!" I woke up on the couch, Courtney holding a phone in my face. I had fallen asleep after dinner.
Melanie is calling!
The words finally occurred to me, and I picked up the phone.
"Hi Mona." I heard Melanie's soft voice on the end of the line.
"Hi! Sorry I just woke up." I giggled.
"I had tried to call you earlier, I just wanted to make sure you were okay after what happened in gym class, you looked upset."
"Oh, thanks. I'm alright now. I was just a little embarrassed, but that stuff happens to me all the time." Melanie told me.
"It used to happen to me a lot too."
"Really? But you're so pretty."
"It isn't about that, though. Those bullies, they just take out whatever personal frustrations they have on someone they think isn't gonna talk back to them." I explained.
"Yeah, but I'm far too shy to ever speak up for myself."
"Then I'll help you."
We continued talking for the next few minutes.
"Hey, do you wanna come over after school tomorrow?" I asked her.
"Definitely."