I can feel my brow crease as I stare at Edward's pixie-like sister. She dances out of the trees and stops right in front of me.
"Do you need some help?" she asks in a high tinkling voice.
"I will be fine, I just needed to stop for a minute," I say in the most normal voice I can muster.
"Your lying Mel. You can trust me you know," she says, watching me with sad eyes.
"I don't mean any offense, but I really don't know you at all," I point out.
"Not yet, but you will. I am Alice Cullen, Edward's sister," she says.
"Nice to meet you, I'm," I begin but she cuts me off.
"I know who you are. Your Melody Strong, but you go by Mel. We have Math and Science together," she says and her whole demeanor is so bubbly and kind that I can't help but like her.
"Well, this has been fun, but I have to get home. I will see you at school tomorrow," I tell her.
"Don't be silly, you are a mess. You cant walk into your house like that, you would start a panic. You are coming to my house to clean up," says Alice matter-of-factly and she leaves no room for argument.
"Um, I really do need to get home," I say and it is the truth. I want to play with Sy for a little bit before I have to get him ready for bed.
"It won't take long, I don't live far from here," says Alice and without waiting for an answer, she hops on the back of my bike. Though I am a little worried she will fall off, I am grateful that she doesn't grab my waist. Deciding she is probably right, I start the bike back up and follow the directions she shouts over the howling wind. Pretty soon, we pull to a stop outside a beautiful white house surrounded by towering oak trees. I can hear a stream rushing just out of sight and I have never been somewhere so peaceful. When I look back at the house, Edward is standing on the porch with a blank look on his face.
"Come on in Mel," says Alice, sliding gracefully off the bike and dancing up the stairs.
"Are you okay?" asks Edward as I struggle off the bike and try not to limp up the stairs.
"I am fine, just stiff. I hit some wet pavement and fell off my bike," I lie with the ease of much practice.
"Come on Mel," calls Alice from inside and, turning away from the skeptical looking Edward I stride inside.
I follow Alice through a huge, open living room up the stairs to the third floor where we walk into her bedroom. There is a large stereo in one corner and a high tech computer in another. Along the wall is a futon with a throw blanket on the back. Then I see her closet. It is bigger than my entire living room at home and stuffed with clothes. She disappears for a minute and returns with a pair of dark, designer jeans and a white cashmere v-neck sweater. This one outfit probably cost more than my entire summer wardrobe.
I feel a bit uncomfortable changing while Alice sits at the computer and watches. She doesn't say anything about the light yellow bruises on my chest and shoulders, but I can sense her unease. I pull on the borrowed clothes as quickly as my throbbing body will allow, but I can tell Alice doesn't miss a thing. When I am done she points to the futon, obviously telling me to sit.
"I know what happened Mel, where you got those bruises," she says quietly.
"I fell off my bike, that's all. I should have been more careful," I shrug, but I can tell she doesn't believe me.
"I was serious before. You really can trust me," she says and an overwhelming urge to tell her the truth floods through me. I try to squash it back and open my mouth to lie, but then, I decide why bother? She obviously knows what is going on and I am sick of lying.
"You can't tell anyone Alice, it will only make things worse," I beg and she looks at me with wide eyes. She obviously didn't expect me to come clean.
"Why do you stay Mel?" she asks.
"I don't have a choice Alice. If I try to leave... it will be bad. I tried it once, I cant do it again Alice. Please, promise me you will just leave this alone," I beg.
"You expect me to just let him wail on you any time he wants and get away with it?" asks Alice.
"Yes, because if he ever finds out that I told you, he will kill me," I say without a shred of doubt.
"No, he won't," says Edward, striding into the room. Hell, this is bad. Now not only does Alice know, but Edward does too. And he looks determined to help. If only I could let him, but it is impossible.
"No, you guys need to stop before you even begin. I should never have said anything," I say and stand.
"We can help Mel, you don't have to put up with what he is doing," says Alice as I head for the door, desperate to escape.
"No, you can't. Please, I need to get home," I say and shove past Edward out into the hall. Just the brush of his shoulder against mine sends an electrical shock through me, followed by a warm heat.
"Mel, wait," says Alice, trying to catch up and looking frustrated.
"Thanks for the clothes Alice, I will get them back to you tomorrow," I say over my shoulder and them I am climbing onto my bike.
"Mel, wait," says Edward from the stairs.
"Please Edward, just stop, you are only going to make things worse," I say and pull on my helmet.
Without another word, I bite my lip against the pain and start the bike. The big white house shrinks and then disappears as I speed away. A few minutes later I pull into my garage and head into the house. As soon as Sy sees me from where he is playing on the floor, he smiles a big, toothless smile and holds out his hands. I walk over and scoop him up.
"Thank goodness you are home, he has been fussy all day. I think he missed you," says my grandma. She looks very tired and I promise myself that I will try and get home earlier to help her out.
"Sorry, I got held up. Has he eaten dinner?" I ask and she shakes her head. "Alright, I will feed him and get him ready for bed. You can have the rest of the night off."
"Don't you have homework," asks my grandma, walking over and kissing us both on the cheek.
"Just a little. He can sit in my room and help me. I missed him," I tell her and she smiles.
"How was your first day of your senior year? Do you feel old?" asks grandma.
"It was pretty quiet, and I definitely feel old," I say and she smiles again.
"You are too young to feel old Melody. Now I cooked your dinner. It is in the stove. Sylus has a bottle in the fridge and you make sure you get a good nights sleep," says my grandma and then she heads upstairs to her room.
"Alright Sy, let's get some dinner," I say and shifting him to my hip, head for the kitchen. I grab my dinner and his bottle and follow grandma upstairs.
Once in my room, I drop my backpack on the floor and sit on my bed. Sylus sits against my pillow and plays with his toys while I eat the fried chicken and mashed potatoes my grandma fixed. Once I am done, I pull out the one page of homework I got in math and work through the 15 problems. Once that is done I pack my stuff away and carry Sylus into his room where I change his diaper and put on his pajamas. I can tell he isn't tired enough to sleep yet so I bring him back into my room. He plays on my bed while I pull off my borrowed clothes and assess my injuries. A deep purple bruise is spreading over my left side and a have a long cut across my stomach that has stopped bleeding. The rest of my skin is dotted with yellow bruises that will eventually turn purple. It hasn't been this bad since I tried to leave him and it scares me. I know he did it because I was with Edward and I know that if I refuse to see Edward again and just ignore him that things will go back to normal. But there is something about him that wont let me ignore him. Even as I look at my beaten body, I know that I can't stay away from Edward Cullen, and I don't want to.
Sighing, I pull on a t-shirt and pajama pants and crawl in bed next to Sy. I play with him for another fifteen minutes until he is fighting to keep his eyes open. I know I should go put him in his crib to sleep, but I don't want to. I just reach over, shut off the light next to my bed and let him curl up against my side. I give him his bottle and he sucks slowly, fighting sleep. Eventually he loses the battle and he drifts off cuddled against my side. It is still fairly early, so I am not too tired. Now that I am alone, I let the tears that I have been fighting all day flow. Only after my eyes run dry do I follow Sy into a fitful slumber.