Chapter 01: Melanie
"Hey, Nick."
I looked up from where I was stacking my books, preparing to leave Economics class, and Melanie was standing by my desk.
Melanie could have been a model, if you like them on the thin side. Maybe half an inch shorter than me, which would put her at 5' 10", slender without being gaunt, she had brown hair that fell midway down her back, intense brown eyes, and a serious expression. She was wearing low-rise jeans and a button-down shirt of some kind that left three inches of her stomach bare. The top three buttons were undone and I could see quite a lot of her modest cleavage, even from a sitting position. I stared uncomprehendingly; I hadn't even known she knew my name.
"Melanie?" I made it a question.
"Look, we're having this test in two days and I really need to pass it, so could you come by my place and help me study for it?"
"Well, I'm happy to try and help, but you should know I'm not too great at this stuff, either."
"Even better. We can help each other, then. You got anything to do after class?"
"Errr - no, not really. You want to study
now
for a test that comes up in two days?"
"Nick, I really need the help. If you have the time, I may ask you to drop by tomorrow, too, and help me some more."
"Okay, I guess. The library?"
"No, I thought we'd go to my apartment. We can study and kill some junk food at the same time."
I gave her a slow, obvious once-over. "You eat junk food? Hell, do you eat at all?"
"Smartass," she grinned. "Yes, I eat junk food, I just get a lot of exercise. So, you coming?"
"Lead the way."
Melanie was uncharacteristically voluble for someone who'd never spoken two words to me before. She kept up a running fire of questions while we walked to her apartment. What was I majoring in? (Journalism) What did I think of various rock bands? (I didn't follow music much.) Was I dating anyone? (Are you kidding?) What happened to that redhead I used to see you with, the one with the big boobs?
That one stopped me cold - like liquid-nitrogen cold. Sarah and I had broken up at the beginning of the summer session and the wound was still red and raw. It pulsed with pain with every beat of my heart, and I was seeing her everywhere. (Though on closer inspection, it always turned out to be someone else.) My eyes were alive with pain and fury as I turned them on Melanie.
"Why do you ask?," I said in a voice colder than the Arctic Circle.
She flinched when she saw my eyes. "Whoa! Sorry, Nick, I didn't know. Was it a bad breakup?"
My voice was hoarse with pain and unshed tears. "She's the only girl I ever loved. What do
you
think?"
"Damn, Nick, I'm sorry. Maybe I should just shut up?"
"No." My breathing was returning to normal, though I still saw the world through a red mist of pain. "No, it's okay. I think... I think maybe I
need
to talk about it, though I sure as hell don't want to."
"I'm a pretty good listener, I think."
I sighed. "Can you handle crying? Because I don't think I can get through this without it."
"Then that's what you need to do. Let's get to my place and you can tell me whatever you need to."
"Thanks, Melanie."
"Call me Mel."
Mel's place turned out to be an efficiency with a kitchenette. She sat on the bed while I sat on the floor and talked. I talked for two hours, and when I was done, I had to excuse myself and go wash my face. When I came back in, Mel waved me over to the bed. I sat on the corner opposite her.
She gave me a wry smile. "You can sit next to me. I don't bite, you know."
I gave her a weary look. "Mel, why am I here,
really
?"
"To help me study -"
I cur her off. "Bullshit. If that were the case, we'd have been studying instead of you listening to me talk about my nonexistent love life. You didn't know I was alive before today. What's the
real
reason?"
She hesitated. "You may not like this."
"I already don't like it. Talk."
She gave me a long searching look. "Can you keep a secret?"
"If there's reason."
"Oh, there's reason." Her eyes bored into mine. "Did you know I'm vice-president of Sigma Epsilon Chi?"
"No, but then I don't know a lot about the Greek organizations on campus. Not my thing."
"So you don't know what Sigma Eps is about?"
"How many times do I have to say it? No."
"Maybe this will explain." She flipped a cushion on the bed. On the reverse side were the Greek letters for Sigma Epsilon Chi.
S E X
I stared, then got up and headed for the door.
"Nick, wait!"
My voice was hoarse with rage. "Why? Haven't you done enough? You sit there while I bawl like a baby, then you pull this shit? What kind of idiot do you think I am?"
"Nick, I'm sorry. But this isn't bullshit. It's real. Sit down and listen, then you can leave if you like."
"I've heard enough."
"I knew Sarah."
That stopped me dead in my tracks. My voice was a thin whisper of grief when I spoke.
"Mel, don't do this. Please."
She went on as if I hadn't spoken. "I didn't know her well, just to talk to, you know? One day I saw her after she'd dropped you off at class, and we stood there talking for awhile. I asked her about you - you know, what did she see in you? You were such a geek back in high school."