Bright Angel
Chapter 25
Melissa: I yawned and stretched as I clumsily moved my foot around searching for the floor with my eyes closed from the tall bed in Hillary’s room. I finally found the ground and pushed myself up and out of bed. “Tired,” Hillary asked as I rubbed my eyes for the hundredth time. “Very,” I responded to the former question. I stumbled to my red bag, grabbed a handful of clothes and walked like a zombie into the bathroom. As I changed from my pj pants and faded t-shirt into my tattered old blue jeans and green tie-dyed tank top, Hillary talked to me through the door. “I still can’t believe this whole thing,” she explained. “Me neither.” “I mean, you and Taylor, actually a couple. This is something that only happens in the movies. It just doesn’t seem real.” I knew what she meant. It was real; it just didn’t seem likely. We had never even had boyfriends before. When everyone else was out dating around, we would mope around the house complaining about missing out on life and being young. Now, as quick as a wave rolling onto shore, we were living that life we had wanted so much only a few days ago. It was a dream come true. Maybe everyone was right when they told me, “your time will come.” I opened the bathroom door and the two of us hobbled down the stairs and into the kitchen. We discussed the agenda for the day over a breakfast, consisting of scrabbled eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast. Within 30 minutes, we were on the road again headed towards the roller rink. Our plan: chaos. This was our usual Saturday thing, but since we were booked with a trip to the mall, it had to be postponed till Tuesday. After strapping on old faded and worn roller skates, Hillary and I stumbled onto the rink almost knocking down a group of little kids holding hands like dominos. Laughing, we made our rounds around the tiny rink, skating fast and out of control, with a few wrecks here and there. We also accomplished our goal: scare as many people as possible. Our strategy: running up behind people very quietly then as soon as you pass them on the side, yell out the lyrics to whatever song was playing over the load speaker. Cruel? Maybe. Fun? Yes, especially when ya get people jumping about 3 feet in the air as if someone invisible bit them of the ass. In the middle of our chaotic spree that we’re lame enough to call fun (yes, this is how stupid...and bored we are), I spotted a tall girl with pink hair on the opposite side of the rink. Without a moment’s hesitation, I grabbed Hillary’s hand pulling her with me as I raced around the rink to catch up with the girl, as she was about to step off of the rink and onto the puke green carpet. The wind flew by my face, chilling me to the bone as I yelled out, “hey, Macarena!” Our pink haired victim jumped a foot, eyes widened, grabbed my chest as if in shock, and let out a load gasp followed by, “omg!” Hillary and I fell to the floor in laughter. “Melissa! I told you not to scare me like that,” the pink haired victim yelled in my direction. “Hehe! You’re just so easy to scare, Lillie,” I laughed while taking a step back to avoid her hand reaching to strangle my tiny wrist. “You won’t be laughing next time when I shove that skate up your ass!” After a while, all three of us calmed down claiming a picnic table without the balloons marking the ones saved for birthday parties. We talked for about 30 minutes before I looked at my watch and realized I was due home in an hour, giving me just enough time to drop Hillary off and make it to the front door by 3. An hour later, I pulled into the long driveway. Upon opening the door, I heard my mom yell, “I think there’s a package at the front door for you, Melissa.” Setting my keys down on the kitchen counter, I scratched my head as I opened the front door. On the bench lay a fairly large white box. I started at it for a second. “Present…for me? What the…? I don’t get mail…or any packages,” I thought as I slowly picked up the white box and walked upstairs into my room. I placed the box on my bed and opened the lid. A note read, “I know somewhere you can wear this. I’ll pick you up at 7.” I paused for a moment as I withdrew from the box, a small black dress, the one I had seen at the mall on Saturday.
Chapter 26