Chapter 11
Melissa walked back and forth about her bedroom anxiously. The bonfire was less than an hour away. She was looking forward to seeing Gabriel there, couldn’t wait, in fact. Anticipation had kept her daydreaming about him during many of her classes. She’d imagined him with her at the bonfire, focusing all of his attention on her, holding her hand, kissing her. She’d wondered often that day what his lips would feel like against hers, how they would taste, and wondered still. She wanted to believe that he might actually be interested in her, that what her friends had said was true. But inevitably, self-doubt crept in. She worried she was getting her hopes up for nothing. And then there was Kevin. Kevin presented a possible problem for her evening with Gabriel. She had promised him some of her time after the bonfire. But she knew that a lot of drinking took place both before and after it. Kevin was belligerent in general. Popularity and privilege had fostered it. But when he drank, his personality worsened. If she were to snub him in favor of Gabriel, she worried how aggressive his response would be. Especially since Kevin was much bigger than Gabriel. If he started a fight with Gabriel, she would never forgive herself. She started to think that going wasn’t such a good idea. She crossed her room to her phone and was about to call Daniella and cancel when the doorbell startled her. She glanced at her alarm clock and realized that it was likely Daniella at her door, that she’d spent longer than she’d thought worrying and that canceling was no longer an option.
She left her room and dashed down the steep staircase. She opened the door and saw that Daniella waited beyond it.
“Hey Daniella,” she said. “You look great!”
And her friend did look great. Wearing her favorite red sweater and impeccably tailored jeans, Daniella was radiant. She smiled brightly at the compliment.
“Thanks!” Daneilla said cheerfully. “I’m so excited about tonight! But you, you must be freaking out! What are you going to wear?”
“I have no idea, which is not exactly helping with the freaking out as you can imagine. I couldn’t eat. I’m starving, but the thought of eating makes me nauseous. Ugh! I’m a mess!”
“Well, that’s why I’m here, and Alex. By the way, where is Alex?”
“Who knows? You know her. She’s always late. She’ll be here.”
“We’re here to help was my point, but since there is no we, just me, then I’m here to help,” Daniella said and she followed Melissa upstairs. “I hear the band is supposed to be good this year.”
“Yeah, I heard that, too. I’m really excited.”
“You should be! I know I’d be. Just picture it: you, Gabriel, the romantic lighting of the bonfire. It’s perfect!”
“I’d love to believe that. In fact, it’s all I imagined all day. But the reality is, he’ll probably show up, say hi to me and bail.”
“What? Why would you say that?” Daniella asked with a shocked expression.
“Come on, really? I mean, you have eyes don’t you? Look at him and look at me. We don’t exactly match up, you know?”
“No. I don’t know. Look Melissa, you’re beautiful. Everyone sees it but you. And he likes you! If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have asked you to the bonfire in the first place, right?”
“I don’t know,” she hesitated.
“Well I do!” Daniella said sharply. “So stop it with the ‘he’s too good looking’ crap, got it?”
“Whoa, calm down there Daniella. Crap? Really? That’s some tough talk there,” Melissa joked.
“What can I say? I’m not exactly Alex in the swear department!”
“No, you’re not. And I’m glad,” Melissa said and the doorbell rang again. “Speak of the devil. Let me go get the door.”
Melissa went back downstairs and opened the front door. Alexandra stood, framed by the doorway, and looked like a model that had fallen from the pages of a magazine and onto her doorstep. Clad from head to toe in black form-fitting clothes, she looked stunning.
“Wow Alex. You look amazing,” Melissa said.
“Thanks, but can I use your bathroom. I have to take a mean dump,” Alexandra announced.
And with those words, the spell was broken.
“Sure. Umm, go right upstairs,” Melissa muttered.
“Great. I hope you have matches in there.”
Alexandra climbed the staircase slightly hunched and clutching her stomach.
From Melissa’s bedroom, Daniella called out to Alexandra, “Hello to you, too, Alex,” just as the bathroom door slammed shut.
“Nature is calling pretty loudly. My guess is she had Mexican fast food after school again,” Melissa offered.
“God help me, she’s sleeping at my house tonight,” Daniella fretted aloud.
Melissa laughed so hard her eyes began to tear.
After several flushes, Alexandra emerged from the upstairs bathroom looking relieved.
“Oh my Lord, if I ever say I’m getting drive-thru Mexican food again, shoot me!” she proclaimed.
Pinching her nose between her thumb and index finger, Daniella said, “You may want to go light another match or something.”
“Shut up, bitch,” Alexandra answered playfully and plopped down onto Melissa’s lavender-swathed bed.
“So we’re here to help. Put us to work,” Daniella said.
“I guess I need an outfit first,” Melissa began.
“I’ll cover that,” Alexandra interrupted. “Just pick something tight, something that hugs your curves.”
“That’s easy for you to say. You actually have curves,” Melissa replied and looked down at her small chest.
“Well, then your ass, you have an ass, so play it up!”
“Again, not much there either.”
“What do you want me to tell you? You’re a boy with no curves to play up?”
“Why are you being like that?” Daniella asked. “You know she’s nervous and not in the mood for you brand of, I don’t even know what you call it, humor?”
“Don’t lecture me! I’m trying to loosen her up! She knows she’s not a boy and what she lacks in boobs she makes up for in other ways. She has a small ass, but it’s a great ass, am I right?”
“God Alex!”
“What? Her boobs are fine too. Guys just need a little something to grab hold of. She’s fine.”
Melissa stepped into her closed and considered shutting the door to muffle the sound of her friends bickering. She did not. Instead, she called out to them, “Please stop discussing my boobs and my butt!” They both apologized like scolded children and turned their conversation to the band playing at the bonfire. With more gentle talk at hand, Melissa came out of her closet and glimpsed her reflection in the mirror. As it turned out, nothing Alexandra had said was untrue. At five-foot-five inches tall and one hundred pounds, Melissa was by no means curvy. She was the opposite of curvy really. Her arms and legs were long and thin. Her hips were slim but her waist was slimmer. She did have a figure, just a slight one. Many cautioned her to enjoy her stick-thin body as they called it, that it was a genetic gift. But Melissa sometimes wished to be fuller-figured, particularly on nights like this one. Being around Alexandra did not help matters either. Although she never felt jealous of her amply endowed friend, it was hard not to notice the attention she commanded from men of every age. Her voluptuousness had universal appeal. And while Melissa did not categorize herself as ugly by any means, she merely yearned at times to fill her clothes out a bit more. She returned to her closet and picked an outfit that suited her small shape, one she felt comfortable and confident in then looked in the mirror again.
Her blue, long-sleeved T-shirt clung to what little curves she had. Rather than focusing on what she lacked, however, she chose to focus on her attributes, how the blue of her top reflected in her eyes giving them a teal hue, how her long hair cooperated fully, and fell in golden-brown waves down her back. She was not entirely displeased with her reflection
and began to feel slightly less nervous. She even began to feel buoyed by possibility, by hope.
She strode away from the mirror to her bureau and selected a cosmetic in a long slender tube. She opened it and quickly applied a coat of the blush-colored gloss to her lips before spritzing herself with her favorite body mist.
“Yeah baby! Shake that ass!” Alexandra said and sat up and slapped Melissa on her backside. “Look Daniella, she’s rocking her good ass jeans.”
“And she should. Tonight is a special night. She’s going to get rid of Kevin and reel in Gabriel,” Daniella added.
“I was just starting to calm down a bit, but thanks for reminding me about the whole Kevin thing,” Melissa said sarcastically.
“Oh God! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it,” Daniella apologized. “I just wanted to join in, and the whole Gabriel thing is so exciting. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize. The Kevin thing is my fault. I should have just told him no in the first place, but I don’t know what happened. I froze I guess. I didn’t think for a second that Gabriel was into me; I’d just met him. And Kevin did the whole persistent thing,” Melissa agonized and raked a hand through her hair.
“You don’t have to explain. We get it,” Alexandra said. “Kevin is a dick and doesn’t take no for an answer.”
“Uh, yeah, that pretty much sums it up.”
“And you thought Gabriel would never be into you because you’re an idiot,” she continued.
“Wow, Alex. That was a fine forensic analysis. Really,” Daniella joked.
“A what?” Alexandra asked confusedly.
“Never mind,” Daniella replied. “We’ve got to go. Are you guys ready?”
“We are. Are you?” Alexandra asked.
“I hope so,” Melissa said and shut the light and door to her room.
She walked down the steps with her friends behind her at stopped at the door to say good-bye to her father.
Daniella was the designated driver and helmed her peppy, silver Toyota Prius. Their drive was short and energized by upbeat music and lively chatter. She had almost relaxed completely when they turned in to the driveway of Harbingers High School. As they navigated the paved path and approached the rear parking lot, the smell of burning timber infused the crisp autumn air, and her stomach began to quaver.
The bonfire, responsible for the aromatic scent, was an annual homecoming tradition at their high school, and tonight, would be the backdrop for what she hoped would be a romantic evening with Gabriel. Daniella parked and they all walked toward the back of the school.
In a grassy clearing between two separate wings of the school that met and formed an L shape, wooden pallets had been gathered and piled high, then ignited. Off to the left of the blaze, Sorrowful Rejects, a local band comprised of five high school students in various states of disarray, strummed, plucked and banged away at their instruments while the lead singer crooned angst-riddled lyrics. Groups of admirers had congregated and bobbed their heads to the rhythmic beat.
The local fire department and several officers from the Harbingers Police Department were stationed on the campus to deter alcohol-induced injuries.
Melissa scanned the crowd for Gabriel. She did not see him. Alexandra and Daniella ushered her toward a spot closer to the bonfire. Each student appeared mesmerized by the bonfire. Melissa was unsure to whom the accolades belonged, whether it was the atmospheric conditions or the way the wooden pallets had been arranged by the fire department, but the fire staged a more theatrical presentation than in previous years. She looked on as it spawned tornadoes of smoke.
She stared in amazement as pillars of spinning clouds, small and large, emerged. They started on the ground and began their rolling, whirling dance before disappearing into the night sky.
The bonfire was breathtaking. Yet despite the awe-inspiring spectacle, something or someone, rather, was missing. Alternating between scanning the crowd and glancing at her watch, Melissa eagerly awaited Gabriel’s arrival.
An hour passed, then another, and then thirty more minutes. Still, Gabriel had not arrived.
The longer Melissa waited, the more completely her hopes were dashed, until finally she concluded that Gabriel must have come to his senses and realized she was simply not good enough for him.
Dejected, she decided that two and a half hours was long enough to wait for him and told Daniella and Alexandra she wanted to leave. Her friends agreed that it was time to go.
As they were leaving, Kevin was arriving.
He strode confidently toward the girls. His broad, cocky smile displayed his over-bleached teeth.
“Ladies, ladies, what’s the hurry? You guys aren’t leaving now, are you?” Kevin asked. “The real party is after this lame, campfire stupidity is over. Melissa, we’re supposed to hang tonight, remember? Me and the guys already set up the keg in the woods.”
“Yeah, about that, umm, my head is killing me. It must be a migraine or something,” Melissa lied hoping to make a swift, uncomplicated exit.
“Hey, I think I have some Tylenol in my car. If not, I’m sure one of the firefighter dudes has a first-aid kit with something that will help.
“Uh, no thanks. I’m just going to go home and sleep.”
“Come on, I thought we were gonna hang tonight,” Kevin whined. “Just stay for an hour. How about that? I’ll get you some Tylenol. Take one or two and we can hang out.”
“You can’t be fucking serious after last time!” Alexandra began, but Melissa shot her a look.
She had no desire whatsoever to spend time with Kevin. The thought, in fact, made her head begin to ache for real. But it couldn’t hurt to hang around a while longer. Gabriel might show up after all. And she wouldn’t look pathetic if she were talking with a group of people rather than just waiting around with her two best friends.
After exchanging a number of furtive glances with her friends and receiving the crystal-clear message indicated by Alexandra’s erected middle finger behind Kevin’s back, Melissa decided that an additional hour of her time would not kill her.
“Fine, Alex and Daniella and I will stay for an hour. But that’s it,” Melissa said firmly.
Much to their annoyance and with protests that ranged from eye-rolling to obscene utterances expressed exclusively by Alexandra, Melissa’s friends agreed to stay with her, acting as chaperones.
“Great. I’m so glad. Let me go get a couple of Tylenols for you, okay.”
“Sure.”