Take A Chance

“Goodnight my sweet little angel.” Sara whispered to her daughter.

Melanie lay silently in her bed, feeling like a child. Her mother was always paranoid. She had a reason to be though. Sara’s youngest daughter was taken away during the night, and was found dead a month later. Of course that was years ago though.

A tear still passed through Melanie’s eye every once and a while, this being one of those times.

The last thing she could remember before her eyes closed were about Savannah.

Her eyes opened again and she could feel it, all of it.

The grass below Melanie made her itch. Its prickly essence touched her bare ankles and then she could see a figure. She tried squinting her eyes, but that didn’t seem to help.

The closer Melanie walked to him, the farther the boy walked back. She was starting to feel restless. Then he was in front of her.

His hair was dark and sleek, just the way she liked a guy to have. That wasn’t the best aspect of him though. His eyes were to die for. Those were the green you couldn’t dare to clone. The shine in them made him even more desirable.

“You need to stay away.” Those were the first words out of his perfect lips. Melanie gave him a confused look and stayed silent.

“I’m too dangerous for you.” he whispered.

‘How could someone of that beauty be dangerous?’ Melanie thought inwardly. “What’s your name?”

His head titled to the side as he debated telling her the truth. “Shawn,” and then he was gone.

The sun peeped out through the curtains and Melanie sighed. She wanted to touch him and she wanted him to touch her. That wasn’t going to happen though.

Standing up, Melanie slowly got ready for work. One day at a time, she thought.

Melanie had only one friend, only one person she could truly count on and that person was Kendra.

Once she arrived at work, a fake smile planted its way onto her face. She hated the job, but she got to see her best friend and made some money.

“Melanie!” instantly Kendra tackled her best friend into a hug. Only a few people actually stared, the rest knew them well enough.

The next few hours consisted of serving drinks, and random girl gossiping.

Five minutes before Melanie finished her shift, the bell rang. She was too bust texting Kendra that she didn’t look up at the person.

“Medium, Black.” The person had said.

“Just a minute,” Melanie was halfway through with finishing her text. She turned around, with her phone in hand, grabbed a medium sized cup, and poured the coffee in the cup.

When she finally looked up at the person, her eyes widened. Those were the eyes she couldn’t forget. He took the cup out of her hands, placed a five dollar bill on the counter, and that was the last of the guy.

Immediately as the guy left, Melanie grabbed her coat and clocked out. Her heart was racing as she rapidly made her way outside.

Hastily, Melanie took out her phone and called Kendra. It rang two times and she only said, “Meet me at my house.” Then hung up.

Twenty minutes later, Kendra had arrived at the McAdam's house. She opened Melanie’s door to see her sitting on her bed Indian style and looking off into space. “Melly?”

Melanie’s head snapped in the direction of her best friend and her face was blank. “Come in, I’ve been waiting for you.” Kendra was getting worried and anxious.

“Are you okay?” Kendra asked as her eyebrow rose. Melanie smirked and shook her head yes.

“I’m perfectly fine. I have a question and a weird problem though.” Kendra waited for her to continue. “So I had a dream last night about this mysterious boy and then he comes to the shop today and orders a coffee then leaves. I swear it was him too. What do I do?”

Kendra looked at her best friend and thought deeply about it. “You could always see if he comes back; you never know it may happen.”

Melanie nodded her head in agreement. “What if this is like destiny calling, like we’re supposed to be together? It could happen.” There was a pause on Kendra’s side.

“All I’m saying is that I want you to be careful, he could be a bad kind of person.” Melanie nodded her head. “And please don’t do anything stupid.”

[&&Chance]

A few days had passed, and Melanie was becoming restless. She was just about to give up hope, until she heard the bell ring. Her head rose up and her eyes widened and she smiled.

He sat down in a chair and looked around. Quickly, Melanie made his drink and walked it over to him. She froze just before getting there and he saw her.

His eyebrow raised and his lips formed at tight line. “I didn’t order anything yet.”

Sweat was forming on the back of Melanie’s palm. “I know.” That was all she could say. She still handed him the drink. He took a sip and looked at her questionably.

He didn’t know what she wanted. “Thank you.” his voice was lingering.

“You’re welcome Shawn.” Just then she stopped but it was too late, he had heard her.

“How do you know my name?’ His face looked like a variety of emotions were being placed on it.

Melanie looked at him without saying a word. All she was thinking about were her sweating palms and the guy in front of her. “This is going to sound really weird, but I had a dream and you were in it.”

Shawn didn’t say anything for a moment; he was too lost in his thoughts. “That is weird.”

He stood up and looked at her, without saying a word, and left. Melanie was confused beyond belief. What had just happened to her? She didn’t seem to know that answer.

Another week had passed and Melanie still hadn’t seen Shawn. She figured it was just the weirdness that she had told him she dreamed about him, but maybe there was more to the picture.

On Thursday, Melanie made her way across the street and to the library. It was silent, just the way she liked it in there. That’s when she saw him. He was wearing a dark blue shirt and reading some mysterious novel.

“Is that a good book?” Melanie asked. Shawn looked up to see her and froze. He shrugged his shoulders, not saying a word.

“Well that’s cool.” Melanie rocked her feet back and forth standing right in front of him.

Shawn looked back at her. “I’m sorry if I was so rude last week. I just was very busy, and needed to get some things done. Shawn Palmer.” He extended his hand out to her.

“Melanie McAdams.” She smiled and shook his hand. There was no shock, nothing special, just ordinary.

“So what do you like to do Melanie?” his voice was light, but there was something hidden deep into it.

She smiled widely, forgetting the suspicion. “Well, I only have one friend and she’s practically my sister, I love her, and on Thursdays I love going to the library and settling down with a good book. Yourself?”

“I don’t really have a lot about me. I just like reading and spending my time trying to keep myself busy.” His smile sent Melanie into a frenzy. She couldn’t help but smile too. “I’m sorry to cut this short again Melanie, but I have to go. My friend and I have some plans and he hates when I’m late.” Melanie loved the way he said her name. She just smiled and nodded her head. Shawn grabbed his backpack and felt.

Melanie was just about to call out that he had dropped something, but he was already out of the door.

There on the ground laid something that Melanie didn’t want to see. It was a picture of Shawn, but there was a girl on his lap and they were smiling happily. The two had been in a photo booth and you could tell they were in love, whether they were friends or lovers.

[&&Chance]

“Kendra what do I do?” both girls were at work and socializing.

“What do you want me to do Mel? So what if he has a girlfriend? You could be his friend and then wait to see what happens. Or you could ask him who the girl is?”

Melanie shook her head. “I can’t do that, it’s too personal. I really like him, and I want to get to know him, but if he has a girlfriend then I’m kind of screwed.”

Kendra groaned loudly. “Really Melly? We’re going to go over this again; I thought you conquered that problem. If you don’t do anything then you’re always going to be wondering ‘what if...’ Don’t be afraid of what could go wrong, because in the end all you need are the rights. Life is all about taking chances and getting hurt, but if you don’t then you’re just going to regret your whole life. Now do you really want to know if he likes you?”

Melanie stood there for a second, deliberating what she really wanted to do. “Yes, but-.”

“Well, looks like your time is now.” Instantly Kendra gave her best friend a push and Melanie was off. A body crashed into hers and she was apologizing quickly.

“I am so sorry.” She looked up at the guy and froze. “Shawn?”

He smiled weakly at her, but his lips were still in a tight line. “Melanie? How are you today?”

She smiled at him nervously. “I’m great actually, I need to talk to you though.” he glanced at her cautiously then nodded his head. “I know this place where we could go.” Melanie’s voice shook a little as they were walking.

Above her work, they had an open space. Melanie took Shawn there and immediately into talking. “How are you?” Her palms were sweating again and her words were blurred.

Shawn raised one of his eyebrows and looked and the girl in front of him. “Fine. Are you okay?” Melanie nodded her head quickly.

“Actually no, when you left the library something dropped out of your backpack and I’ve been analyzing it ever since. I know it was wrong, but I couldn’t help it.”

“What was it?” Shawn’s jaw became hard as well as the rest of his face. Melanie pulled the pictures out of her pocket and handed them to him. Shawn sucked in a breath and his whole body became rigid, like jagged glass.

It had been a minute or so and neither Shawn nor Melanie had talked. The room was tense and she couldn’t handle it. “I’m sorry if I intruded on anything. If it counts for anything you two looked perfect together.”

“I thought the same thing.” Shawn mumbled to himself lowly. Melanie didn’t catch what he said.

“Shawn,” he looked back up at Melanie. “Um…I know that this is a wrong time to say this, but I really like you a lot Shawn.”

There was silence for a moment, and then Shawn opened his mouth. “I’m sorry Melanie, but I don’t feel the same way.”

Melanie’s heart dropped twenty below and she started walking away. “Wait, I want to explain why?” Melanie thought he was joking, but apparently he wasn’t.

“If this is some sick way to make me feel bad about myself then the mission is accomplished. You don’t have to make it even worse.” Melanie was wiping away her tears quickly so that he couldn’t see.

“This is no joke Melanie, just sit down.” His voice was stern, almost menacing, she cringed.

Shawn sighed and sat down across from her.

“The girl in the pictures, her name was Naomi.” He took a deep breath. “We started out as best friend, but I always liked her. Finally one day I told her and she told me that she had liked me too. We took those a month into our relationship. I felt as if I was on top of the world and that with her by my side I could do anything. To bad I have my father’s genes.”

Shawn’s breath was staggered and tears were welling into his eyes. “I was slowly killing my girlfriend day by day.”

Melanie’s eyes widened and a quiet gasp passed though her lips. “What? How is that?” she questioned.

“Let me finish,” Shawn coughed.

“My father was the aggressive type, especially when alcohol was involved. I haven’t drank since after the death, I barely even drank when Naomi was…back to before, Well I would start getting upset about the littlest things and I would take it out on her. I didn’t even notice when she started losing weight, it wasn’t because she wanted to, and it was because she couldn’t find her appetite anymore. The bruises formed easier and it seemed like she was becoming translucent. I was the reason why she was dying.” Tears were now spilling over Shawn’s eyes and hitting the table.

Shawn took in and let out another deep breath. “Sometimes I would actually loose control and become physical with the abuse. I was a monster, just like my father. When I came home from work one day she was on the living room floor passed out and there was not even a faint pulse. I killed the only person I had ever loved deeply, dearly, and truly.”

Melanie was in shock at all the information that she had heard. She didn’t know what to say and in what way to say anything.

It was silent for a couple of minutes and surprisingly Melanie hadn’t said anything. “You don’t deserve to be alone, Shawn.” He snapped his head in her direction.

“Of course I do! I killed someone I loved; I’m going to hell anyways!” he yelled in her face and grabbed her wrist tightly. Melanie tried backing away and Shawn’s eyes widened as he backed away from her. “See I’m a monster.”

“Shawn, no-.” Melanie didn’t get to finish her sentence before Shawn was out into the world. His barrier had crashed all because of himself, maybe he could one day let go and be happy for himself, and maybe one person could make him feel like Naomi did, but Melanie knew that she wasn’t the girl right for the job.

Sighing, she walked down the stairs and back to work where Kendra was silently eying her. Melanie slowly smiled, satisfied at herself and made the next order of coffee.