Al and Mel

Chapter Eleven: Mel

I shook my head at Cameron, wondering what that evil witch had been feeding him. Her tongue? That's what it looked like. Oh. My. God. Cameron has turned into a tongue-eating zombie.

I looked at Al worriedly. "You okay?" I whispered.

She nodded, but there were tears in her eyes. Oh. My. God. That bitch was going to get it! And I'm on the woman's wrestling team, so I'm fully capable of whipping her ass.

"Yo, bitch!" I yelled, stomping over to Riley.

She broke away from Cameron to glare at me. "Baby, make her go away."

"What do you want, Mel?" he snapped angrily.

"Don't you get all snappy with me, Cameron," I said. "Now you better listen because Al has something to say to you!"

Al started stuttering, "I-I-I..."

I nudged her. "You can do it."

She sucked in a breath. "Your girlfriend ruined Mel's hair."

"What?" Cameron looked taken aback. Cammy never tolerated anyone messing up my hair. "Is this true?" He turned toward Riley.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, it looked stupid—"

"We're over."

"What?" Riley blinked repeatedly as she processed what Cameron had just said. "But, baby—"

"Nobody ruins Mel's hair on my watch." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Now get out of my sight, bitch."

He wrapped his arms around our shoulders, and led us into the building. "I'm sorry, guys. To make up for being such a dick, I'll be your personal servant for a month."

Al and I looked at each other in amazement. Cameron, the star quarterback of the football team, our personal assistant for an entire month. Oh, this is going to be too sweet.

"Okay," we said simultaneously.

I looked at Al. "You get him first." I looked around for Jake. "I've got a cute boy to stalk."

I skipped in Jake's direction. "Hi, Jake."

He looked up from his car, smirking. "Hey, Mel."

"I was wondering... What's your schedule?"

He handed me the piece of paper. I studied it. We had three periods together. I grinned, handing it back to him. "See you in Algebra." I winked as I skipped away.

~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~

I walked through the front door, dropping my bag to the ground. "Mom! I'm home!" I hollered into the silence. She was probably working again. She was always working.

I walked through the house idly. I had chores just like any other kid, and I liked to get them done before starting on my homework. I glanced at the list of chores my mom had laid out for me. At the top of the list was cleaning the house. I walked toward the closet where the cleaning supplies were stored. I was just about to get started when there was a knock at the door.

Confused, I went to answer it. A middle-aged man stood there with a briefcase. He had salt-and-pepper hair, and dark blue eyes.

"Good evening, ma'am," the man said. "Are your parents home?"

"No solicitation," I said immediately.

"No, no," he said quickly. "I'm not here to sell you something. I'm Darren, this is my daughter, Elizabeth, and my son, Jake." He gestured to Jake. My Jake. Standing next to him was who I'm assuming to be his sister. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. She was slim and tall. Very tall. Probably 5'8". Although, Darren was also pretty tall. He looked a little over six and a half feet tall.

"Okay..." I said unsurely.

"We're new to the neighborhood, and don't know anyone around here—"

"Sorry, but my mom won't be home for a couple of hours," I said, shrugging.

"And you're home alone?" Darren asked.

I nodded.

He smiled sympathetically. "Why don't you come have dinner with us?" he offered.

I thought it over. I was probably stupid for even considering it, but one look at the hottie called Jake and I knew I couldn't pass up a chance like this.

"I'll call my mom and ask her. Where's your house?"

"Right next door." Darren pointed to the house across the street.

I nodded. "I'll be just a minute."

They nodded and left the porch with Jake staying a moment behind, smiling. "I hope you can join us for dinner, Mel." With that he left, following his father and sister.

I closed the door, sighing dreamily. Jake. I'm so head over heels for that boy.

I quickly called my mother, explaining to her my situation. "Oh, Mel! You're so young! You don't know what love is!" my mother scolded.

"But, mom, Jake's so...wow! I can't stop thinking about him," I said, begging almost.

She sighed. "If you're so crazy about this boy then I'm sure I can't stop you from seeing him anyway."

I squealed. "Thank you, mom. Goodbye." We hung up.

I ran upstairs, changing my clothes into something more presentable, and doing my hair all over again. Then I did my makeup. Some bluish-purple-silvery eyeshadow layers, and some lip gloss. That was all I needed to look amazing.

I bounded down the steps, grabbing my jacket that matched my outfit of a blue button blouse and a pair of jeans without any holes. I strapped on my best heels, and began venturing across the street.

Jake sat on a swinging bench on the porch, and smiled when he saw me. "Your mom said yes?" he asked. I nodded, blushing at how hot he looked in his jeans and t-shirt. "Great."

He led me into his home, hollering, "Dad! Mel's here!"

"Who's Mel?" His dad appeared with an apron that said Kiss the chef. "Oh, I'm guessing you're Mel." He outstretched a hand in greeting. "Pleasure to meet you. Jake's told me so much about you."

I blushed. Jake talks about me?

"We're having a traditional Italian dinner. I hope you'll enjoy it."

I smiled. "I love Italian food."

"Great. My great grandparents came from Italy. Did you know that—"

"Dad," Jake said, blushing. Aw, hot. So very hot. "We don't need to bore Mel with the story on the boat."

"Ah, right." His dad turned sheepish. "Why don't you show Mel to your room? Dinner will be ready in just a moment."

He left us alone in the hallway. "Uh, would you like to see my room?" Jake asked nervously. Was I making him nervous? Oh, I think he just got hotter.

I nodded, uncertain of my voice.

He smiled, and grasped my hand, leading me up the steps. He either doesn't have a lot of stuff, or he unpacks fast because there was hardly any boxes when he led me in there. He led me to the bed, and I didn't have enough time to panic over the possibility of being in a hot guy's room, alone, and on his bed before I crashed on top of him with an, "Oof."

"Nice landing," he joked.

I glared playfully. "You pulled me off balance. I usually land more gracefully on my targets."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes."

He smiled as I rolled off of him. "Wanna watch some TV?"

I nodded. "There should be a NASCAR game on."

"You like NASCAR?"

I nodded. "Who doesn't?"

He smiled, switching the channel to the NASCAR race.

"Come on 88," I murmured just before Jake's dad yelled that dinner was ready. I groaned. Grr... Now I'll have to go online to find out who won.

"Or we could turn it on downstairs."

Did I say that aloud?

"Yes, yes you did."

I glared. "Quit answering my unspoken questions."

We started walking downstairs. "They're only unspoken when there are no words being said. But you spoke your thoughts."

I glared playfully. "Smarty-pants."

He smirked as we entered his dining room. He pulled out a chair, gesturing for me to sit. Oh. My. God. I just might faint. Hot and a gentleman. My two favorite things rolled into one.

"Thank you," I murmured as I sat down.

He smiled, and sat down beside me as his sister and father entered the room, both carrying trays of food.

"I hope you both are hungry. I poured my sweat and blood into this meal to make it absolutely perfect," Darren said, smiling.

"It smells amazing," I said, my mouth watering. I had had to miss lunch to stalk Jake during his study hall.

"Well, dig in."

And that I did, though I tried not to seem like the pig that I normally ate like.

All in all, I think I made a wonderful impression.