Chapter Twenty-Nine (Part One)

News of Edwin's misfortune with Delilah O'Feefe at her party had reached Melody's ears via the ubiquitous Marla Biggs, who for being painfully shy was in possession of an incredibly big mouth -- a mouth she tended to use at inopportune times. Melody liked to sit alone on the dorm sofa sometimes to collect her thoughts and center herself. She was doing that when Marla approached her and told her.
"This happened at Delilah's party?" asked Melody absent-mindedly, her thoughts clearly focused elsewhere.
"Yeah, Edwin was pretty shaken up. I'm surprised you didn't see him, Mel."
"I was probably trying to catch up on my math homework or something."
Marla chuckled. "You are unbelievable, Melody Tinker -- doing homework at a party!"
"Well, excuse me for not thinking that sitting around Delilah and her stuffy friends is my idea of a good time," snapped Melody.
"It's better than moping around here. It was nothing but something to do and somewhere to go. Excuse me for suggesting we do something other than study and for thinking about someone other than myself. Goodness, Melody, you act like an old woman sometimes."
Melody took a deep breath and stared straight ahead. Marla was right. She'd always seemed older than she was. Neighbors in Bluewater Village used to comment that she was an 'old soul.' Back when she was seven, her mother had taken her to the local library. While other kids her age were reading picture books, she was tackling Shakespeare -- and she was proud of it. At recess, when the other kids were on the monkey bars or the swing set, she would sit underneath a tree, often with a pile of thick books next to her, reading. Even now, her sensibilities weren't those of a typical college freshman. She didn't drink and she hated parties.
Melody wrote down everything, every little detail of her life, no matter how insignificant. It had been a force of habit with her for as long as she could remember. She would record her thoughts and observations in first a journal, and then an online blog, and then she returned to a personal journal when she started college. One day, in a rush after recording some more of her thoughts, she had carelessly left her journal on her bed....
"So, what about Edwin again?" she asked, in the same singsong, distant voice.
Marla shook her head in disbelief. "You don't get it, do you, Mel?"
"I don't get what?"
"You've blocked people out again." Marla heaved a sigh. "You disappear for hours at a time, Mel. You don't sleep, you don't eat. You don't want me to call your mother."
"As if she can tell me anything at this point. Besides, she's got her own problems, trying to hold off Malcolm Landgraab." Melody stole a frown at Marla, who was adjusting her position on the couch. She suspected, from Marla's comments, that she had been reading her journal, but she wasn't entirely sure and needed more proof.
"And you're the only person I know who's totally nuts enough to attempt to grow a cowplant."
Melody was flabbergasted. Now she knew Marla had been reading her journal. Turning sharply towards her, Melody shouted, "You horrible little --"
Before Melody could finish her sentence, Marla countered, "You've turned this whole dorm into your own personal laboratory, and you're stringing poor Chester along like he's your guinea pig!"
"You had no business reading my journal, Marla! Those are my private thoughts!"
Marla sighed. "It's just -- I worry about you, Melody. You keep so much of yourself private. We know you and yet we don't know you."

Melody took a deep breath and shut the door behind her. The girls went to bed in silence, and Melody was still stewing the next morning when she woke up.
"I'm sorry for reading your journal, Mel," Marla muttered as she spotted Melody going toward their shared bathroom. Melody sighed. She would think about Marla's apology.
Marla hated this state of mind and hated even more that Melody was giving her the silent treatment. She knew this was a totally Melody thing to do, so she would have to come up with some way of making it up to her -- but she didn't know what. After all, Melody's interests weren't like those of other girls. She'd probably dig a new gadget more than a new dress. Could she purchase a book for her? After all, Melody did love books. That was always an option. How about a stationery set? A new mousepad for her computer? The wheels in Marla's head were still churning. Either of those items would see Melody more than she did. But she knew she had to do something, and soon.

As for Chester, he was spending his evening out on the town with the girl who'd answered his SimSpace dating profile. She was tall and blond, with porcelain skin, green eyes, and a sunny demeanor. "Jessica McClellan," she'd said as she extended her hand to greet Chester. "I'm SweetiePie from the boards."
"Chester Gieke, Ubergieke," Chester shrugged as he managed a chuckle.
Jessica studied his face. "You have an -- interesting -- visage."
"I've been told that many times," Chester mused, "you're not the first."
Now that he had the girl with him, he wasn't sure where he'd take her. Noisy night clubs weren't his thing -- many times because of his lack of coordination he'd been laughed off the dance floor, but it wasn't for lack of trying. If only he could talk to Melody -- she'd know what to do.
He decided, finally, to take her to the local internet cafe, a perfectly safe geek hangout. They ordered a meal and began to chat. "It's a nice evening outside," Jessica said, making small talk. "The air is cool and crisp. I grabbed my jacket."
Chester looked into Jessica's eyes. But his thoughts were clearly focused elsewhere.
Jessica began telling him that her mother was a psychic and she really didn't know who her father was. "My mother told me she thought he was one of the guys who was in the artist commune where she lived, but there were so many guys she's not really sure which one it was." She added that she was a history major who was thinking about switching to psychology.
Chester couldn't tell her he was studying to be a career criminal, so he said he was a physics major and going to work in one of the technology firms in the area.
The date ended wth them exchanging phone numbers. This was a far cry from the way most of Chester's other dates had ended. He was encouraged, if not downright over the moon, as he turned the key to his apartment.

Sarah Rodiek had settled into a comfortable life at Sim State University. Even though it wasn't her first-choice school, she was determined to make the best of her situation.
She found herself in the same dorm as Dirk Dreamer and the infamous Pleasant twins, Angela and Lilith, who were always fighting. She liked to call them the Un-Pleasants because they argued all the time.
Getting back into contact with the girl she had been madly in love with was not an easy thing. Time -- and her own personality -- had changed a lot of things between them. Sarah had become more outgoing and wanted badly to be 'cool.'
Sarah was sitting in the common area in the large Sim State dormitory with Lilith and Lilith's longtime boyfriend, Dirk Dreamer. Dirk was aghast when Sarah mentioned she'd gone to school with Melody Tinker.
"Hey, Dirk," asked Lilith, "why are you so curious about this Melody character? You keep talking about her like she's some goddess or something."
What would it be like for Sarah to see Melody again? And deep down, was she still in love with her after all this time?
"Mel and I were best friends," Sarah began, "practically inseparable. The running joke at Hanover was that we were one person because we were together so much."
"So what happened?" Lilith asked.
Sarah was incredibly frank. "I fell in love with her."
Dirk and Lilith's mouths dropped to the floor. "So you guys were an item?" asked Lilith, chewing on her brand-new tongue ring.
"Sort of," Sarah said. "But Mel didn't want to admit it. I think she was scared to admit that deep down, she loved me too."
So Melody's a lesbian, Dirk thought. That's what's going on with her. I figured it was something. But I never would have guessed she was gay. Oh well.
To Lilith, though, the idea of lesbians sounded pretty cool. She'd never met a lesbian in real life before Sarah, but had seen shows on TV featuring them.
"I think I'd like to meet this Melody," Lilith said to herself, "what is it about this chick that's got everybody captivated?"
"Something about her --" Dirk wondered to himself. He would be happy to introduce the two of them to each other, but he was apprehensive, knowing Lilith's vile temper. Still, nonetheless, he thought it would be a pretty good idea.
The problem was time -- and distance. Lilith was at Sim State, Melody at Academie Le Tour.
There was a backlog of assignments. And Lilith loved to party -- a lot.
Dirk was more serious and liked to hit the books. At times he wondered whether he'd chosen the wrong twin, but his love for Lilith was confirmed every time he peered over at her while she concentrated on her homework and she would wink at him slightly. He was her rock of ages, and she was determined to prove everyone who said she wouldn't succeed wrong.
Meanwhile, Lilith and Sarah were seriously bonding, and Dirk liked that Lilith finally had a galpal. Other girls were put off by Lilith's frankness and fearlessness.
But still, Dirk had to wonder himself. If he had a girlfriend and he cared deeply about her, why was he so intrigued by Melody Tinker? And why, even after two years, had this feeling not abated? He should have long forgotten about her by now. So why hadn't he? Why couldn't he get her out of his mind?

Meanwhile, Melody got a cab to take her across campus to the Le Tour Lecture Theater for her astronomy class. She'd never been in the lecture theater, but had heard a lot of things about it from the dormies. She snuck a peek at her sheet. Was she supposed to be in the main lecture hall, or one of the seminar rooms?
Climbing up the staircase, Melody pushed up her glasses and made a sharp right-hand turn towards the main lecture hall. There, she saw Dr. Hyden sitting in his desk, waiting for students to arrive. He gave her a sharp smile. "Ah, Miss Tinker, good on you to arrive."
"Since when do you teach an entry-level astronomy class?" she asked him.
He shook his head. "This isn't an entry-level class," he told her. "I usually reserve this for third-year students, but you're obviously advanced."
Hmm, Melody thought as she turned around and walked away. Chester, sitting in the front row, saw her come in and motioned for her to come and sit in the empty seat behind him, which she did.

Why now? Melody wondered. Why was Sarah trying to weasel her way back into her life? Surely lightning in a bottle didn't strike twice. Only Sarah had ever made Melody feel the way she felt around her -- positively giddy to be around her, making her forget herself and who she was and what she was. Whenever Sarah was around Melody got butterflies in her stomach. She'd never had these feelings around anyone else -- not even Chester or Marla or Edwin, who were her three best friends in the world.
Melody couldn't make the same mistake again.
Once upon a time, Sarah had ripped Melody's heart out of her chest.
She couldn't let Sarah do it again. Not this time. Besides, she had more important things on her mind -- like the toy shop that she'd inherited. And the DNA results that would determine her paternity once and for all. And her driving lessons, which would give her peace of mind and more independence. And of course her astronomy and mathematics classwork. She couldn't allow her grades to slip, or else she'd lose the scholarship she came to college on.
Since she returned to Le Tour from her holiday in Bluewater, Melody's life had settled into a nice little rhythm. A young woman who thrived on routine and balance, Melody had even started taking up meditation and yoga just to keep herself centered. And yet, here was Sarah, disrupting it all -- just like she always had. Why does Sarah do this to her?
"Hey Mel," greeted Sarah's voice over the phone. "What's up?"
Melody was clearly blindsided by Sarah's latest phone call. "Um, not much really. Just putting the finishing touches on my homework."
After a long silence Sarah said, "I ran into your prom date in the dorms."
A thunderbolt shot through Melody's heart. "Dirk Dreamer."
"We're roommates now. He and his girlfriend and his girlfriend's twin sister."
"Really?" Melody asked dismissively.
"Dirk keeps asking about you, keeps asking a lot of questions."
"I wonder what the heck he wants?" Melody wondered. "I had one date with him -- if you could call it that -- and that was at our prom. The only reason he went with me was because his dad wanted someone to go with me to make sure I was safe. Remember, I was working there that summer."
"Mel, I don't know." Again there was a long pause. "Mel, we need to talk."
"Sarah, there's nothing to talk about, really."
"You're avoiding the issue, as usual. Nothing has changed, Mel."
Tears began to flow from Melody's eyes, fogging her glasses. "Everything has changed now, Sarah. I'm at a different place in my life. I'm comfortable and content."
"Really, Mel?" Sarah took a deep breath. "You're just telling yourself that to make yourself feel better."
Melody rose her voice. "Sarah, why do you do this to me?"
"You need to come to terms with yourself, Mel. You need to admit the truth. And the truth is that I loved you and you loved me, and that we should still be together now."
"Sarah," Melody said, heaving a deep sigh and wiping her tears, "you're the one who needs to face facts. That part of our lives is over. Okay, I've moved on. And, frankly, so should you."