Melissa’s Sweetheart
by G.P. Gadbois
www.RoanePublishing.com
Copyright ©2016 Roane Publishing
A Roane Publishing Free Read by G.P. Gadbois
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Chapter One
Melissa tucked her school uniform blouse into her pants and groaned. She’d rather stay in her pajamas under the covers and skip the entire day. The first day had always been exciting, but high school without Carl meant her senior year would be long and boring. She dragged her feet downstairs, drank a fruit smoothie, grabbed her new backpack, and headed out.
Great! It’s raining. She zipped her fleece hoodie and joined the others on the busy sidewalk.
Parents grasped young children’s hands, older students held their book bags over their heads, all following each other like ants. Melissa envied the spring in their steps, the smiles on their faces, the laughter. Why did Carl have to move away? She wished her crushed heart would stop beating, and immediately felt guilt as she remembered her dad’s words, “you’ll meet other boys.” She wanted to believe him. She quickened her pace and reached the school doors. Here goes nothing! She opened the door and entered hallway.
Melissa took off the soaked hoodie and shook her head. Rain droplets scattered over the tile floor. She moved ahead to let others in and noticed the freshly painted lockers bore no graffiti, hers and Carl’s initials would no longer be. Saddened by the loss of the symbol, she ignored her cell for the third time since she’d left home.
Ahead, Molly waved. “Mel, it’s about time you get here. I texted you, like five times. Why didn’t you answer?”
Melissa joined her friend. “It’s wet out there.”
“I offered you a ride, but you never answered my text.”
“Sorry. I didn’t feel like talking to anyone. Besides, you had to be here early to greet the newbies.”
“Not all newbies are grade nines. There was a tall, broad shouldered, out of this world cute, grade twelve who looked totally lost, but I made him feel right at home.”
Every girl’s probably saying the same thing at Carl’s new school. Melissa’s heart sank, and she wiped a tear from her cheek.
Molly nudged her. “Cheer up. I think you’ll really like Jonah Bright. He’s from the Maritimes or something. I forget where, but his parents split up, and his mom came back to her hometown.” Molly picked up Melissa’s bag, took her hand, and pulled Melissa after her. “We’re going to find him.”
“Not now. I’m a mess.”
Molly examined her from head to toe. “You always look great, even with the bad hair day. Makes me sick sometimes.”
Melissa smiled. The bell rang, the noise level dropped ten decibels and, like all the others, Melissa and Molly trudged through the crowd to their homeroom. They stood for the national anthem and compared their schedule during the announcements.
“See you at lunch.” Melissa stopped in the girl’s bathroom to check her hair. Wow! Humidity was her worst enemy. She brushed her shoulder-length brown tangles vigorously, trying her best to tame the curls. By the time she reached her room, the teacher was taking attendance.
“Old habits die hard. Nice of you to drop in, Melissa.” Mr. Bean motioned to an empty seat at the far end of the room.
“Thanks.” Melissa ignored the snickers of a few classmates and smiled at others as she made her way to the desk, then kept her head down until Mr. Bean called Joshua Bright. It had to be the newbie.
He raised his hand, and the teacher welcomed him without any sarcasm—an all-time first. The girls sitting nearby welcomed him too. The jet black haired boy turned, his dark brown eyes darting from one girl to the next, until they rested on Melissa’s. Their gazes met for a moment, then he faced the front and responded to Mr. Bean’s question about his last high school.
Each student was asked to summarize their summer in one word. Worked, partied, and travelled were mentioned often, then Joshua said moved.
Must be the same one.
Nothing positive came to mind when her turn arrived, so she blurted, “break-up” and held her breath. For the first time in three weeks, she didn’t cry after saying it out loud, but she didn’t feel like hearing how sorry her classmates were, so she rushed out as soon as class ended.
Melissa didn’t see Joshua again until lunch time and by then, everyone surrounded him. He lacked no attention. She found Molly and ate lunch with her while they shared details about their mornings.
“I can’t believe you have a class with him.” Molly took out her schedule. “If I drop Calculus, I can take that class, too.”
“But, you need Calculus if you’re going to study in engineering.”
“About that, I changed my mind.”
“Again? First it was graphic designer, then fire fighter, then nurse, then you had your heart set on engineer.”
“I think dental hygienist now.” Molly smiled from ear to ear. “Everybody needs clean teeth.”
“I bet you’ll change your mind before the semester is over.”
“No, I’m sure of this one. Hey, come with me to the office.” Molly folded her schedule and tucked it in her bag. She leaned across the table and whispered, “Don’t look now, but Jonah just walked in.”
“I told you, the teacher called him Joshua.”
“Maybe he doesn’t like his name.”
Melissa glanced over her shoulder and spied on Joshua until he noticed her. “Yep, it’s definitely the guy from my first class.”
“He’s staring at you and heading this way.”
“Molly, it’s a large cafeteria, and this is the main path.”
“And I say he’s coming to sit with us.” Molly waved. “Hi, how was your morning?”
Melissa leaned in and whispered, “You really take this greeting job seriously.”
Joshua stopped at their table. “Great. Courses are interesting and people are friendly. Thank you! Hi, Melissa.” He straddled the bench, faced her and slid his lengthy body closer.
Tongue tied, Melissa wiggled her fingers. His proximity made her tense. What the heck! She cleared her throat. “What other classes do you have?”
“Law, Physics and a spare. What about you?”
Her brain went all fuzzy. His timetable almost mirrored hers. She found her schedule and read it out loud, “English, Computer Engineering, a spare and Law.”
“My spare’s right after lunch, too. We’ll be able to study together.”
“Mine too,” Molly exclaimed. “I still need to change my first class though.” She stood. “Coming, Mel?”
Joshua’s puppy dog eyes pulled at Melissa’s emotions, but she picked up her stuff and faced him. “I’ll see you later.”
I think I like him. Her cell vibrated. ‘Say hi to everyone for me. Miss you.’ Melissa read and re-read Carl’s message.
Yeah right, tell them yourself.
Melissa slid the phone into her back pocket without sending a reply.