Through Thick And Thin

Chapter 7

Melody yawned as she took notes for her intro class.

Ever since Christmas, she'd been unable to sleep. Her little outburst had her paranoid every time she stepped foot out of the house. She no longer answered blocked calls, because she was sure it was Joshua trying to get inside her head again. The day of her outburst was the day Sky went through the house, pouring all the alcohol down the drain. No one stopped her. They all knew how dangerous Joshua was, and they couldn't risk Melody antagonizing him again.

She was grateful that classes began not long after the New Year, because she desperately needed the distraction. The less time she spent thinking about Josh, the less stressed she was. The less stressed she was, the better everything else seemed to look.

Her schedule now was pretty basic. Classes until two, then work from three to nine. Someone was always ready to take her where she needed to go.

The bell rang, signaling the end of classes. Melody put her things in her bag slowly, noting that her phone was ringing once again, and, again, it was a blocked number.

"Everything alright, Ms. Rosario?" the professor asked, noting that she was the only one left in his classroom.

"Yes, sir," she replied, tossing her phone back in her bag. "Just annoying telemarketers calling. Have a nice day."

She hurried out of the class and walked towards the quad, where she always spent time before her final class of the day. She found herself a quiet place by one of the fountains. She took a seat and began to study for a test she had later in the week.

"Hey you," Melody heard a little while later. She looked up with a smile, knowing it could only be David. He was the only person she really knew on campus.

"Hey yourself," she replied, shutting her book. "What are you up to?"

David shrugged as he took a seat next to her.

"Not much," he admitted. "My teacher isn't here today so I have a free class."

"What are you majoring in?" she asked, realizing she didn't know much about him.

"Business," he replied with a shrug. "I want to own my own mechanic place, so I need to know how to run it."

"Sounds interesting," she said.

"Not as interesting as psychology," David replied, nodding to the book. "Interesting choice."

"Yeah," Melody said with a smile. "I figured I want to help others who went through what I did, so why not study to become a counselor?"

David nodded.

"I get it," he said.  "Good choice."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying the quiet. Finally David spoke.

"Listen, I was wondering if you'd go out with me sometime?" he asked. "I know it's sudden, and you have a ton of shit going on, but I think you're pretty cool, and I'd love to get to know you more."

Melody's first instinct was to say no, but something stopped her.

It's just a date. You can't be this way forever.

"Um, I'm off Saturday," she replied hesitantly.

"Wow, I wasn't expecting you to say yes," he said, looking taken aback.

"Yeah, well I'm full of surprises," she saod, jokingly.

David laughed, his eyes crinkling as he did.

"I'll pick you up at six, then," he said, still looking pleasantly surprised that she'd agreed. The bell rang before she could answer, so she just nodded as she picked up her books.