Chapter Thirty-Six (Part Two)

Author's note: This update is short and sweet due to my evacuation from Hurricane Gustav. I still don't have electricity or internet access at home, so I'm not sure when the next one will be.

Just then a girl walked by wearing a hip-hugging pair of jeans, and Melody's eyes wandered in that direction. "I saw you looking at that girl," Chaz noticed.
"I was not!" Melody squealed defensively. "She was wearing a nice pair of jeans. I was trying to figure out the design on the pocket."
Chaz chuckled. "Right, Mel. Since when do you take an interest in fashion? You've been staring at that girl's backside for the past five minutes."
"I was not!"
"Look at you! You can't even drink your coffee without sneaking a peek!"
"There was a loose thread dangling from the pocket of her jeans."
"Yeah, right."
"Oh, come on, Chaz, give me some credit here."
"Mhm," he mumbled while tearing into his danish pastry.
"I was just thinking about the poor workmanship that went into those jeans and I bet she paid a fortune for them too. All the angles are off."
"Mhm, right, Mel."
"Okay," Melody said, "I'll prove it to you. I'll go up to her and ask her how much she paid for them then."
Chaz chuckled in disbelief. "And I'll bet you can't."
"Is this a silly dare game Chaz?"
"Why, are you game?"
Melody straightened up her posture and dusted off her shirt. She was astonished when she looked up and the girl was none other than her ex-friend, Sarah Rodiek. She could have died of embarrassment.
Melody's cheeks grew red. Chaz motioned for her to come over, but Sarah wouldn't let her get off that easy. "Melody Tinker."
"Sarah."
"You haven't changed a bit."
"Actually, Sarah, I have changed. And, apparently, so have you."
Sarah motioned her companion, a striking auburn-haired girl wearing striped stockings and a leather skirt. "Lily, this is Mel. Mel, Lily."
"Nice to meet you," Lilith Pleasant said, flashing a wide grin. "So you're the famous Melody everyone keeps talking about. Funny, you seem so -- so -- plain."
Melody dismissed the comment. "So, Sarah, is this your new girlfriend?" she asked cattily.
"Raarrrr!" yelped Lilith, making fake cat noises.
"So," Sarah replied tersely, "what's it to you?"
"Touchy," Melody said, "I just asked. How are you? How have you been?"
Sarah nodded. "Okay. Not great, but okay. Could be better, and could be a lot worse."
"I see."
"So, Melody," Lilith asked, her curiosity now piqued, "how'd you meet Dirk?"
Why must these old memories be dredged up? Melody asked herself. "Um, I used to be his father's apprentice," she replied reluctantly.
"That's it?" Lilith asked, somewhat disappointed that Melody didn't have an arcane romantic story to tell her.
Melody shrugged. "Yeah, that's it. Nothing much to say, really."
"Did he or did he not take you to your senior prom?"
"Where'd you hear about that?"
"Dirk told me -- and Sarah. So, is it true or not?"
"Why do you want to know if it is?"
"Because Dirk is my boyfriend."
Melody shook her head. "I don't want him!" she shouted emphatically. "You can have your boyfriend, hell, marry him for all I care."
"Did you kiss him?"
"Heck no! I don't want to talk about that night, okay?" Melody turned away from Lilith and walked over to Chaz. "Let's go. I've suddenly lost my appetite."
Chaz was puzzled. "Melody -- you were having such a good time a moment ago. What happened?"
"I really don't want to talk about it."
Chaz shook his head. "It was that girl, wasn't it? Did she not tell you where she got the jeans?"
Melody sighed. It seemed like she'd been sighing all night. "Oh she told me where she got the jeans, all right."
"You knew her, didn't you?"
No words needed to be said as Melody's eyes found the floor.
"What was she to you, Melody?"
Melody didn't really want to tell Chaz Whippler the whole story. After all, she was only his math tutor. He was prying into her personal business, the things she'd kept well under wraps. "Can we change the subject?"
"Who was she, Melody?" Chaz demanded.
Melody pointed a finger right in his face. "Even though you might think you're my shrink, Chaz, you're not, so just leave me alone!"
Uncharacteristically, Chaz raised his voice. "I'm going nowhere, babe. Get used to it!" After taking a few deep breaths, he calmed down.
Finally Melody said, "She's - she's a girl I went to school with."
"Tracy?"
"No, not Tracy. Sarah."
"She treated you badly, didn't she?"
Melody's eyes suddenly found the floor. "How did you know?"
"Judging by your reaction."
Melody was distressed that Chaz had figured her out. "Okay, if you're not feeling comfortable, we can leave."
Melody walked away from the coffee house, alone with her thoughts. She liked to take walks like these to clear her mind. Finally she looked around the busy dormitory. For a strange reason, she liked the noise of the dormitory, even though she craved peace and quiet.

Just afterwards, he telephone rang. "Hello?" she asked in a muffled voice.
"Miss Tinker, we need to talk."
There was only one person who would refer to her as 'Miss Tinker' and one person who spoke in that rich distinguished baritone.
"Dr. Hyden."
"I know this must be a peculiar time for my call, but I would really like to have a private meeting with you."
Melody's heart sank. Her mother had told her just this story. He'd given her mother a phone call just like this one and asked for a private meeting, just like this one. The rest, her mother had said, was history. Was he luring her as he'd done to her mother all those years ago?
Melody paused, thinking about it a moment, then letting out a deep sigh. If Dr. Hyden did try to make any advances towards her in their private meeting, she'd know what to do. "Okay, Hyden," Melody decided, "when and where?"
"Aspirational Laboratories. Tomorrow, after class."
Melody wondered to herself why Dr. Hyden was doing this. Knowing him, she thought, he had to have an ulterior motive. She knew she had to tell this to Chester. After all, he'd been involved, too.
Pressing the speed dial button on her cell phone, Melody waited for a response. Chester, as it happened, was just getting out of the secret society limousine in front of the Volauvent house. "Hello?" he whispered, careful not to allow anyone to hear him.
"Chester, it's me."
"Mel?!?" he asked, immediately recognizing her voice and lighting up at the sound of it. "Hey, what's up?"
Melody gathered herself. "Listen, Chester, this is kind of important. Hyden called tonight."
"Dr. Hyden? But he never makes calls at night."
"I know, it's really strange."
Chester seemed to be reading Melody's mind at this point. Their connection was almost telepathic. "You're afraid of what he wants."
Taking a deep breath, Melody replied, "More than anything. I remember my mom's story, and he did just this."
"Mel, calm down. The situations are entirely different."
"I know, but still -- I can't help but think the worst. And then I agreed to it. As soon as I hung up the phone, I was like, what did I just do?"
"You know, Melody, you can't be a slave to the past."
"What do you mean?"
"You can't get all worked up about this meeting with Dr. Hyden just because of what happened with your mother."
"I still can't get it out of my mind."
"The past happened, you can't change it -- but you can change the future."