Show Them What it Means To Be Alive

welcome to my paradise

A silence took over the room. Melanie made a sighing noise as she let herself fall from the arm of the chair onto its plush cushion, legs draped over where she was previously seated.

“What do you think’s taking them so long?” She turned to the boy who was now a bit too close to her, desperate for conversation.

He laughed. “It’s Jack. It could be anything. For all we know, he could’ve made Zack drive him to the nearest town for ice cream.”

Melanie couldn’t help but smile; from what she had learned about Jack so far, this was definitely a possibility.
Alex shifted around a bit and let out a pained groan.

“What’s wrong?” Melanie tilted head up towards to boy still sitting on the arm of the chair.
“My butt hurts. Stupid uncomfortable chair.”
His bluntness caused the brunette to laugh.
“Don’t laugh at my pain!” Alex fake scolded Melanie.
“Sorry,” She giggled. “What can I do to help with your …problem?”
“Kiss it and make it better!” He smirked.
“…no.”
“Why not?” Alex pushed his bottom lip out, making a pouting face.
“Cause you have no ass to kiss.” She jokingly retorted
“TAKE THAT BACK,” He scowled.
“Make me”

And like that, Alex leapt down from his spot on the chairs arms and began to tickle Melanie’s sides. She kicked. She rolled over. She squirmed. She laughed – a lot. He wouldn’t stop.

“Alex … I can’t …breathe!”
“Good.”
“You’re …evil”
“Say it!”
“Fine! … You have … a butt?”
“More…”
“WHAT ELSE?!”
Alex didn’t respond. The kid was determined.
“You … have a cute butt. I … don’t know … Now stop I’m …gonna piss my pants!”

Alex finally pulled his weight off of brunette, who had resorted to curling up in the chair, arms crossed over her sides. She wasn’t sure if he stopped because that was what he wanted to hear, or that he didn’t want her to pee herself. But regardless, it all worked out.

“… It still hurts”
“Would it make you feel better if I let you sit on my lap?” She sighed, although still in a joking manner, while running thin fingers through her mess of golden brown hair.

That was all I had to say for Alex to sprawl himself out on top of her, with a look of excitement comparable to that of a five year old sitting on Santa’s lap, asking for Christmas presents.

“Jeez,” The younger girl joked. “For a kid with no ass, you sure are heavy.”
Alex shot her a fake glare in return, but said nothing. The room fell into a comfortable silence.

The silence aspect left as quickly as it came.

“Honey, I’m hooome!” Jack yelled as the door flew open, Zack behind him, holding something the two of them couldn’t quite make out. “And we brought ice cream!”

That was all that was necessary to send Melanie onto the floor, choking on a fit of laughter. And with a thud , Alex was right next to the girl, fighting to catch his breath.

The giggile fit ensued for a good five minutes. Jack looked confused for the first twenty seconds or so, but soon got distracted and dug into one of the three tubs of ice cream he made Zack carry in. Zack didn’t seem phased by the outburst; he probably knew better than to question ‘what the hell’s wrong with Alex this time?’.

“Oooh! Cookies n’ Cream! Gimme some!” Melanie squealed not even a second after she had regained composure, grabbing the whole pint of ice cream and a spoon. Jack wasn’t phased, seeing as he was too absorbed into his mint-chocolate chip. Melanie threw her legs over the chair she had been in all night and laid back, enjoying her frozen treat.

Jack’s tall and lanky body was sprawled out across the couch, his head propped up on the arm-rest just enough for him to be able to shovel ice cream into his mouth. And the remainder of the room on the sofa was taken up by Zack, who was sitting on the cushion closest to her chair. Alex, noticing there was no more seats, looked at the couch, then back at Melanie, shooting her puppy-dog eyes.

“Why not,” She sighed, a smile tugging at her lips. She swung her legs around and scooted over to one side while the skinny boy effortlessly fit in next to her.

Alex had since claimed Melanie’s tub of ice cream as his own. They wordlessly fought over it as they took turns stuffing themselves.

“Did you guys even get us drinks?” Alex randomly asked, probably brought on by Jack taking a sip of his bucket of soda.
“I suggested it, but Jack thought spending all our money on ice cream would be better.” Zack laughed
“FAT. ASS.” Alex yelled, laughter evident in his voice, throwing his plastic spoon at Jack.

*

“Hey,” Melanie mumbled. The boys stopped their conversations to look at her. “Do you guys think you could show me back to my cabin now? I’m really *yawn* tired.”

“Sure,” Alex smiled down at the girl while standing up, Jack and Zack following. “They’re gonna make us go back soon anyway,” He continued, looking at the clock, “Sorry we made you stay so long…”

“S’okay” She lightly smiled. “You guys weren’t too terrible.”

The whole time, Jack was skipping like a little kid on a sugar high, Zack was chasing after him, and Alex and Melanie were following far behind, too lazy to bother. The group eventually made it to the cabin; This time Melanie was fairly certain she knew where she was.

“Thank you so much, for everything.” She told them, waking up slightly from moving for the first time in 5 hours. “I’ll see you around?”

“Definitely. Next time we see Kara I expect you there!” Alex told her, while turning around to follow the other two who had left a few seconds earlier.

“Count on it.” She responded, heading towards the door. But as she pushed down to pull the handle, it wouldn’t open. She tried a few more times, in case it was jammed, but no luck.

Melanie knocked on the door. No response. Pulling her cell phone out of her back pocket, she read the time: 12:09 AM.

“That’s probably why…” She mumbled, mentally cursing the locked door and trying to think of what to do.