Party of One

Spring Break Special

2008-12-30T03:54:00.000-08:00

Author's note: I decided to do this not as a specific chapter but a special section in itself. I apologize for the delay in getting this out, but I got a new job, I bought a new computer, and I had to completely rebuild my game.

A few days later the van arrived in front of Aldrich Dormitory to pick up Melody and Marla. Edwin, and Chester were already in the van, along with two other students. “Ok, I don’t know about this,” Melody whispered.
“Relax, we all NEED this vacation,” Marla said. “After all, Chester’s graduating in a couple days.” Upon arrival at the tranquil Flaming Dragon hotel in Takemizu Village, Melody felt at home, comforted.... calm.... it was.... well words really couldn't describe how she felt at that precise moment. Maybe she did need this vacation after all. Take her away from the stresses and strains of college life and the fact that she STILL had to run Tinker Toys too. At least the dark cloud that was Malcolm Landgraab, had lifted for now.
Marla walked up to the check-in counter and put down the names of their college group. After she did, the group followed their concierge to their assigned hotel rooms.
A stunned bunch gazed in awe at Melody’s carefully crafted vacation itinerary. She had drawn a map of Takemizu and pointed out every nook and cranny in the village. She had planned every moment of the trip, even down to the times they would go to bed at night so they would go exploring the next day.
Chester, fed up with watching the sci-fi marathon in his hotel room, went in search of Melody. She'd been gone a while and he was getting more than concerned. He'd just turned the corner when he saw her, raking the Zen garden, her face a picture of concentration and contentment.
In the fading sunlight, where the rays caught the lines and contours of her face, he thought she looked radiant too. But in his eyes, she'd always been radiant. That was part of her charm. "Uh, Mel?"
He didn't want to disturb her, but he knew she hadn't eaten much all day.
"Want to join the rest of us for sushi? Marla's looking green at the thoughts of it, it'll be fun to see what she does."
Melody managed a slight chuckle at this. “It’d be fun to watch the expression on her face. That alone is worth the price of admission.”
After dinner, she joined them and a townie whose name they’d forgotten for a game of mahjong. He walked them through how the game was played and they assembled the pieces in companionable silence.
Chester kept looking up into Melody’s eyes, the laser focus so evident in her work showing up here at the mahjong table.

"Mel?" It was totally random and unexpected. Especially coming from Chester.
"Mhm?"
"Have you considered corrective eye surgery.... or contacts?"

"What on earth for? My eyes are fine."
"It's just that you have really pretty eyes, and they shouldn't be covered by those spectacles you keep wearing."
"I don't like anything touching my face.... besides, the surgery could go badly wrong and then what? I'd be blinded either partially or fully."
"You're just stalling and you know it."

"No I'm not."
"Then give it some thought, will you?"
Melody groaned. She was an independent person. She didn't need anybody to tell her what to do. However, Chester HAD hit a nerve.... as she HAD been considering doing something like this for a while herself.

The next morning, at the crack of dawn, before everyone else had even awakened, Melody set out on her own to explore the picturesque Far East tourist village. Her friends had been watching in wonderment as all her cares seemed to melt away in the steaming hot springs. She'd been able to enjoy herself, to truly let herself go. They knew how much Melody savored her solitude, so they spent the majority of the rest of the trip simply staying out of her way.

She found herself actually savoring the environment and the ambience, determined to immerse herself in the culture. Unlike her friends, who looked at this trip as simply a way to unwind from the pressures of college, Melody seemed resolved to soak in as much knowledge as she could.
Unfortunately, her early-morning rush to take in the sights led to her stepping into a hive full of ravenous bees, the sight of her seeming to them an oasis in a desert. Still before anyone awakened, she disappeared into a soaking shower and set off again.

Despite being in pain from the multiple bee-stings she took, she emanated a feeling of complete calm and tranquility, comfortable in her treasured solitude and content, finally, in her own skin. Her identity secure, Melody inhaled the sights and sounds of the Asian tourist village.

And her natural curiosity took over from here. She ate chirashi, an Eastern delicacy made from fish, learned the acupressure massage, learned to bow, and learned the Tai Chi, in addition to yoga. However, she had one disappointment on her first full day of exploring. When she sought the ninja, to learn how to teleport from place to place instead of merely walking, she was unable to find him. Perhaps she took it as a metaphor for her inability to solve some of the mysteries of being.

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, the two lovebirds Edwin and Marla remained blissfully in bed. When Melody returned, she teased, "Are you two going to sleep your vacation away?"

Edwin groggily turned over. "Haven't we been through this?"

"C'mon, you guys, there's SO much to do here! You haven't tried the chirashi yet, have you? It's delightful. And you haven't learned the Tai Chi or the acupressure."

"C'mon, Mel," Marla pleaded, "we just got here. After getting up at 6 am for morning classes, we deserve this sleep."

"Suit yourselves, then," Melody said. "But I'm going to make the most of this."

Chapter Thirty-Seven (Part Two)

2008-10-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

Author's note: My sincerest apologies for being gone so long, real life intervened, plus I'm still having difficulty staying motivated. This has, after all, gone on for over a year. Well, without further ado, here's my next update.

Melody tried to go through the next several weeks like normal. However, they were anything but normal. Relations between herself and Dr. Hyden were understandably strained. After all, DNA test results would determine whether or not he was her biological father. The fact that this was even possible made Melody uneasy.
On top of everything else, there was Stella. Stella seemed to be everywhere, even in Melody’s private papers. “So, you’re beaming reports about me to the mothership, am I correct?”
Stella nodded.
“Why am I the subject of this experiment?” she asked.
“Don’t ask me,” Stella snapped, “ask the pod leader. He shipped me down here to watch you. Frankly, I haven’t found anything interesting.”
“I don’t have time for this, Stella,” Melody shouted, “I’ve got school, and homework, and I’ve got a business to run.”
“Business?”
“My father’s toy company, Tinker Toys. When he passed away last fall, he left the business to me.”
“Okay, okay, don’t get all hyper about it. Who told you to beam a flashlight in the sky?”
“It was an experiment.”
“You all say that ‘an experiment’ like you’re playing with a toy. We’re not toys. We live and breathe just like you do.” Stella was aghast as she saw Melody's eyes wandering towards what she'd been writing. "What are you looking at?" she asked angrily.
“Well, you’re ‘toying’ with us the exact same way, aren’t you?” Melody left Stella’s room in a huff, slamming the door angrily.

Chester had woken up from a deep sleep when the doorbell rang. It was Melody, paying him an unexpected visit. “My class this morning got cancelled,” she said, “so I thought I should see how you were doing.”
He was glad to see her. While he turned on his Gamecube, she gently needled him about his expanding waistline. “Any more pizza and burgers and you’ll look like your buddy Ed,” she teased. “You probably should lay off of them.”
“And what do you eat, tofu and salads and bran cereal?”
“Well, yeah,” Melody said. "They're good for you. Did you know that one slice of pepperoni pizza has 366 calories, 15.6 grams of fat, 41 grams of carbohydrates, and 668 grams of sodium?"

"Really, Mel?" asked Chester.

"Do I need to go on with those burgers? They're worse, believe it or not."

"Um, nah, never mind," Chester grinned.
She’d brought over a new game, and Chester squealed. “No! Do NOT tell me that’s Fallout 3!”
“It sure is!” Melody exclaimed.
“How’d you get it? It’s not even out yet!”
“The folks at Microsoft sent me a copy when I told them I was from Tinker Toys.”
“Must be nice, to be able to snap your fingers and get whatever you want,” Chester mumbled, halfway laughing as he said it.
For Melody, though, it was just like old times -- no Jessica, no hangers on, no pressure. Just like it used to be. Just like it should be. She was just a girl hanging out with her best friend -- who just happened to be a guy.
But even she could feel the distance that had grown between them over these last several weeks -- a gulf had opened up that even this day couldn’t completely close. Sure, Jessica’s presence in Chester’s life was part of it, but so was the fact that Chester was nearing graduation and was spending a lot of time preparing for that inevitability. “You know, Chester, I haven’t been seeing very much of you. I mean, I know you’ve been busy -- but -- but you haven’t called or anything. I’ve -- I’ve been worried.”
Chester’s reaction was strange. “Worried? About me?”
Melody tried to laugh it off. “No, I don’t mean that -- I just mean -- you know, I’ve been concerned, that’s all. I thought maybe aliens might have abducted you or something --”
Managing a chuckle, Chester remembered that was a joke only they could comprehend. Turning his attention to the death ray flying across the TV screen, he shouted, “Aaaah! You’re dead, sucker!”
“I’ll get you next time!” promised Melody, shouting into Chester’s ear.
“You’re nervous about that paternity test, aren’t you?” Chester said.
Melody shook her head. “Nope,” she replied firmly as she pressed on her game controller. “I’ve taken it, I’m done. I’ve got it out of my mind.”
“Really, Mel? Seriously, finally knowing the truth about your father could answer some questions you’ve had for awhile.”
“I’ve known the answers to these questions for awhile. It doesn’t really matter anymore. Stephen Tinker was the one who raised me, therefore he was my father, whether by blood or not.”
The subject then turned to life at the dorm. "Now everyone in the dorm thinks I’ve gone coo-coo for cocoa puffs.”
“They’ve suspected that for awhile, Mel,” Chester teased, “but I know better.” He gave a sly wink.
“I wish things would be like they used to be. Things would be a lot easier that way.”
“Would you want to go back where YOU came from?” teased Chester.
“Bluewater Village?” Melody laughed. “Of course not! Maybe to visit, but to live --”
“Speaking of live --” Chester’s expression turned serious. “Would you like to live here?”
“Chester, are you serious?”
“I’m dead serious. It’s been too quiet in here lately. Sure, Jessica comes and visits, but most of the time I’ve been here alone. I like it sometimes, but sometimes it just gets lonely. I’ve even had a few visits from the social bunny.”
“C’mon, Ches, it can’t be that bad.”
“Believe me, it’s been that bad. Edwin’s been mostly with his fiancée --”
“Hey, what did you think about that, huh? When Marla told me, I was shocked.”
Chester then turned deadly serious. “The graduation ceremonies are next week.”
“I know. Time sure does fly, huh?”
“I’m thinking -- I’m thinking we ought to do something before then.”
“We?”
“Yes, we. All of us. We can bring Ed and Marla too.”
Melody was puzzled. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about one last blast, with all of us together. C’mon, Mel, say you’ll do it. Please? For me.”
Melody placed her index finger on her cheek in a thoughtful pose. Chester had always thought it looked adorable. “Mm -- I’ll think about it.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven (Part Two)

2008-09-23T12:49:00.000-07:00

By now Melody had to keep wondering why she seemed to be ‘chosen’ by these beings. Most had never been ‘abducted,’ and this was now her second time. After being beamed up to the spaceship’s control room, Melody looked around, part in disgust and part in wonder. “Where am I and what am I doing here?”
Stella Terrano stepped up. She was wearing a crisp white uniform and her short black hair was slicked back on her head. “You summoned us.”
“I did?” Melody said in disbelief.
“Yes, you did. With your flashlight.”
“Wait a minute, not anyone can just put a flashlight to a telescope and get whisked away on a spaceship.”
“No, they can’t. That takes a special talent, possessed by someone who’s done this before.”
“I’ve -- I’ve never done it before.”
Stella encircled Melody. “When you came the first time, we inserted a chip inside of you.”
“A chip?”
“A microchip that is undetectable by the naked human eye. You don’t even know it’s there.”
“How -- how did it get there?”
The alien pod leader stepped forward. “We put it in there. We sedated you while we inserted the chip in a covert operation. In human time it only took a few seconds, but it’s a few hours our time. We do it to every human who comes up here.”
“So, I’ve been walking around for five years with a microchip inside of me and I didn’t find out until tonight?”
“That’s correct. We’ve monitored your every move, your every motion, everything you do. We’ve even watched you bathe.”
“Watched me bathe? But -- why would you want to look at me bathe?”
“For the last four years, you have been one of the subjects of our experiments. And, I have to tell you, we have found you fascinating. So fascinating, in fact, that we’re sending one of our own to shadow you.”
When Melody was ejected from the ship, Stella Terrano followed. I can’t believe I have to babysit this brat, Stella thought to herself.
Hurtling back to terra firma at warp speed, Melody and Stella hit the asphalt with a mighty thud. Rubbing their heads in unison, they exchanged bewildered and disgusted glares. How on earth were they going to live with each other? How would Melody, accustomed to keeping her own company, adjust to having a green shadow around her all the time? And if that weren’t bad enough, the other denizens of the dorm crowded around the departing spaceship to see what was going on. Had they seen what they thought they saw -- or was it merely a mirage? Whatever it was, Melody had to do her best to keep her secret a secret, which would be much easier said than done.

Dr. Katherine Lyons was among the noted artists in the area, and as an adjunct professor of art at Academie Le Tour, she taught a couple of classes. One of them was advanced portraiture. Dr. Lyons' advanced portraiture class was among the most sought-after art classes at Le Tour. A student had to demonstrate substantial artistic ability just to get into the class, and most of the students in it were junior and senior art majors.
Dr. Lyons divided the students into pairs, one student to paint, the other to be the subject. She paired Melody with Allegra Gorey, and Melody couldn't help but steal a few extra glances at the lanky transfer student with the pasty white complexion and the frosty manner to match.
"Okay, which of us is going to be the artist and which of us is going to be the subject?" asked Melody.
Allegra turned away from her and didn't respond.
Just who does she think she is, Melody thought to herself. Whipping out her paintbrushes, Melody decided to paint Allegra, her arms resolutely folded, her profile fixed like granite.
"Portraiture is the most difficult of the artistic disciplines. One of the major tenets of portraiture is to pay attention to your subject," Dr. Lyons admonished. "A portrait artist cannot capture every single feature of his or her subject, but it is the duty of that artist to capture those elements that lend credence to the interpretation of the subject."
Melody glanced again at Allegra. Her straight black hair sat down on her head like a helmet, weighted down with heavy oils and conditioners. And she wore dark glasses that hid her eyes.
They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. But what if those windows were slammed shut? How can one tell what a person is like then?
Melody then remembered her summer painting lessons with Darren Dreamer. What Dr. Lyons had been saying wasn't new to her. Portraiture was a challenging discipline to master. Sure, she could paint as many moons and stars as she wanted, and do them well. But getting the hang of the nuances of people's faces was a great challenge to her. Especially since she really didn't like people very much. She could count on one hand how many people she actually tolerated.
Portraiture was all about perception, Melody decided. How was she going to perceive Allegra on the canvas?
Allegra kept shooting angry glances at Melody. What does she have against me? Melody wondered as she mixed up white and peach paints to produce an ocher porcelain for Allegra's skin.
Advanced portraiture was a three-hour seminar class, so the students had to paint as much as they could in the allotted time. "What are you doing here?" Melody asked.
"I was just about to ask you the same question," muttered Allegra as she washed her hands alongside Melody.
"I take this class."
"You're only a freshman, why are you here? Only juniors and seniors even get in here."
"How do you know I'm a freshman?"
"The campus directory says a lot about you -- who you are, where you stay on campus, what your major is --"
Melody took a deep breath. "Hey, this isn't a police interrogation, you know."
Reluctantly, Allegra extended her hand. "Allegra Gorey, I transferred here from Sim State."
Melody took it, just as reluctantly, and was briefly shocked when she felt the thin bony fingers and the hard calluses. Yes, this was indeed the hand of a true artist, as Melody's hands had the same callused ridges too, although a few more had been added, when she'd started working on the robot crafting workbench.
"You've got a man's hands," Allegra cracked.
Melody shot back, "I've got my father's hands. He was a toymaker. He spent all day at workbenches."
"A toymaker?" Allegra scoffed. "I thought those went by the wayside years ago."
"Well, he was a cop, but he and my mom both made wooden toys on the side."
"Kids don't play with those anymore."
Melody winced. "You'd be surprised."
"And how would you know?"
Melody was defensive. "Believe me, I -- I just know."
Allegra leaned over to see what Melody was doing.
"Hey, are you going to keep still so I can paint you or what?" Melody snapped.
Allegra reluctantly folded her arms as Melody continued to paint. Dr. Lyons nodded her head in approval as she passed by. When class disbursed for the day, Melody walked over to the sink to wash her hands.

The next afternoon Dr. Hyden paced nervously around Aspirational Laboratories. “Do you need anything, Doctor?” a lady bringing coffee mugs around asked.
“No, thanks,” the prof mumbled.
“Are you waiting for someone?”
No sooner had the lady asked that than Melody arrived at the door -- and she had Chester in tow. “Well if it isn’t Miss Tinker -- and she’s brought Mr. Gieke with her, what a surprise.”
“Let’s make one thing clear,” Melody said, stepping up to the professor. “I’m not here to play games.”
“Neither am I, Miss Tinker.”
“You told me to meet you here. Why?”
Dr. Hyden took a deep breath. “I know that you’re still in possession of the cowplant formula, and I know that you’re still doing experiments against nature. But that’s not why I’m here.”
“Really?”
“I’m here because this is where they do the DNA tests.”
Melody nodded. “So you agree this needs to be done?”
“Yes, if for no other reason than my own peace of mind.”
Dr. Hyden and Melody walked up to the machines. A lot of thoughts went through their minds. An accident of fate had brought them together, but what if they were actually related by blood?
The notion of her department head being her biological father left an uneasy sensation in her spine and a bad taste in her mouth. Melody stole a glance backward at Chester, who let loose a wan smile.
Dr. Hyden and Melody sat in chairs right next to each other. Neither of them could bear affording the other a mere peep as laboratory workers drew vials of blood from each of them. The answer wouldn’t come this afternoon, or the next, or the next. It would be a winding conclusion to an agonizing wait that began the September afternoon that Stephen Tinker was buried. The question of Melody’s paternity would finally be answered. Or would it?
They say that the truth should set you free. In Melody’s case, would the truth bind her even further? Or, at this point, did the truth even matter? What was the truth?
What Melody Tinker had known as ‘truth’ for eighteen years had been poked, prodded, ripped apart at the seams. She knew that she was raised by two people who loved and cared for her, that was all she knew. Many kids didn’t have two parents. Some had one -- or none. She should consider herself lucky.
So why was she here? Why was she sitting in a laboratory, next to a man she despised, in a half-assed effort to determine if he was her biological father? Why was she being poked and prodded with needles? She was supposed to be the one doing the experiments, not the one being experimented on. What was she seeking here?
Validation.
All this time, all this work, she wanted to know she was on the right course. But what course? Just where in fact was she going? It seemed so easy when she was younger. It was, study like mad, make the best grades, and then spend her free time learning more stuff. But now, it wasn’t so easy. Now she had to worry about a ‘social life.’ People wondering why, up to now, she’d never really had one. People whispering about her behind her back. Some, like Chaz Whippler, asking her uncomfortable questions right to her face.
Now, though, had Melody really gone too far? And, more importantly, what could she do about it?

Chapter Thirty-Seven (Part One)

2008-09-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

After Melody hung up with Chester, she thought a lot about what he'd said. Whenever she became lost in thought she'd reach for her journal and jot all of it down.
Just as she started to write, though, she heard a knock on the door. "Come in!"
In walked Marla, and she was giddy. Her smile was as broad as her shoulders. "Why are you so happy?" Melody asked brusquely.
All Marla did was show Melody a glittering diamond ring.
Melody was thrown for a loop. "What's all this?"
"Don't you get it, Mel?"
Melody shook her head. "Get what?"
"Ed and I are getting married!"
"Married? I didn't even know you two were dating. When did this happen?"
"Ed proposed tonight, but we'd been seeing each other since before you went back to Bluewater. Just one day we were talking, and everything just opened up. I mean, it just made sense."
"Um -- congratulations, I guess." Melody shrugged her shoulders.
Her nonchalance took Marla by surprise. "That's it?" she asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You're my best galpal, you're supposed to be hugging and kissing and be all happy and stuff like that."
Melody chuckled. "Marla -- I would be happier if this wasn't so sudden! I mean, I could see if you guys had been dating for six months or a year or so. I mean, you barely know each other!"
"Barely know each other? Melody, we've been dorm mates for 2 years. I know him as well as I know you. Probably better because he's around and you're not."
"You don't get it do you? I mean one day you're complaining about the lack of good men and the next you're engaged to another of my good friends. How am I supposed to react?"
"You think too much, Melody. Sometimes you just have to DO things."
Melody shook her head again and muttered to herself. Between Chester and Marla she sure had a lot to think about. And then there was Dr. Hyden. What in the world could he possibly want with her? And at Aspirational Labs too?
Melody tossed and turned in her bed, failing to receive even a wink's rest. So she tore the cover off her bed and did what she always did when she couldn't sleep.
She walked up to the balcony and stargazed with her telescope.
It had always come down to that for Melody. She remembered, right then and there, why she’d fallen in love with the study of the heavens. And now, stumbling on Pascal Curious' blog with explicit instructions for summoning, meant she could call them any time she felt like it.
Pascal, one of the famous Curious brothers, had written extensively about his journeys to the other dimension. He was very thorough in his findings, obviously getting all the details from his own first hand experiences. Pascal had even detailed the process by which aliens inseminate human subjects with their sperm.
In his journeys, Melody saw hers mirrored -- the only thing different was her age and her gender.
Intrigued by this new project, Melody took her notebook and a flashlight up to the balcony.
The night was perfect -- if a little chilly -- so she grabbed her bomber jacket to cover her arms while she stood outside. If the flashlight is held at the precise angle toward the Big and Little Dipper in the southeast sky, then just maybe, an alien spacecraft would recognize her. But, Melody knew, this scenario was farfetched at best and dependent largely on luck and timing."Hmm," Melody noted as she peered into her telescope, "Canis Major is tilted off its axis. I wonder why that is."
Every time she went to stargaze, from the time she was a little girl up to now, she'd carried a notebook with her, to diagram the positions of the constellations in the nighttime skies. There was, however, one page missing from the notebook -- the page from the night she was abducted. She’d wondered why that was -- and perhaps someone didn’t want her to know something that had happened that night.
Remembering Pascal’s notes, Melody held the flashlight over the viewing lens at the precise angle. She jotted down the positions of the constellations at that moment, in case something dramatic happened.
“Is this how Pascal Curious wrote it?” Melody asked as she continued to hold the flashlight over the viewing lens. About an hour later she could hear an odd noise in the distance. At first she thought it was someone whispering, but the sound grew louder and much more pronounced. It took awhile, but Melody recognized it. It couldn’t be that, right?
Melody took a step back and looked upward at the sky. It couldn’t be happening again? Could it? Had she actually succeeded in ‘summoning’ aliens?
Sure enough, a spaceship appeared in the sky, heading towards the balcony where Melody was standing. Was it going to crash land right on top of her?
By now, though, she was convinced something extraordinary was happening. She pulled her digital camera out of her pocket, trying to get a perfect picture.
But before she could get a good view, the spaceship had snatched her away.
It had happened again.

Meanwhile, back in Bluewater Village, Malcolm Landgraab and his paramour of the moment, Dina Caliente, were having a romantic candlelight dinner at his home. They touched on many different subjects, including Tinker Toys. “I don’t know if she thinks she has beaten me or not -”
“Are you talking about that dinky little toy shop?” Dina asked. “Give it a rest, Malcolm. What can you possibly do with a toy store anyway? You know nothing about toys.”
“First of all, it’s not a ‘dinky little toy shop,’ not anymore. Not since that girl took it over from her dead father.”
Dina looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“She’s expanded operations. My spies are telling me there are scheduled shop openings in Desiderata Valley and Belladonna Cove.” He then pulled out the Standard magazine cover, emblazoned with Melody’s picture on it.
“She made the cover of Standard?”
“With a three page spread.” Malcolm shook his head. “I tell you one thing. If she thinks she’s getting away with this, she’s got another thing coming.”
Dina shot a worried glance at Malcolm, whose smoky gray eyes smoldered with something she didn’t recognize. “What are you planning?” she asked.
Just as suddenly, though, Malcolm got down on bended knee, the expression on his face changing at the drop of a hat from anger to rapture. “First, though --”
“Malcolm!” Dina shouted in disbelief.
“Dina Rosalia Caliente Goth --” Pausing to catch his breath, Malcolm reached into his pocket for a black box. Inside was a glistening silver diamond ring, with the biggest diamond his considerable largesse could afford. “Will you marry me?”
Dina had been expecting Malcolm’s proposal for awhile, and invitations to the wedding had already been printed, but the timing of it definitely surprised her. After all, she had only just buried her husband, Mortimer Goth, on whom she’d been cheating the entire time.
Acting surprised, Dina shouted, “Yesss!” and flew into Malcolm’s arms. She then proceeded to press Malcolm for a wedding date.
“Soon, dear,” he promised. “The sooner we do this, the sooner I can deal with that bitch Melody Tinker. Nobody crosses Malcolm Landgraab and gets away with it. Nobody.”

Chapter Thirty-Six (Part Two)

2008-09-05T22:37:00.000-07:00

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."

Chapter Thirty-Six (Part One)

2008-08-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

Right before Melody's class in the big lecture hall, the phone rang, and she was surprised to hear a cheery, high-pitched voice on the other end.
"Harmony?" she asked, somewhat in disbelief. She openly wondered what made her call.
But Harmony supplied the answer soon enough. "It -- it's mom."
Melody's heart dropped to her shoes. It hadn't even been a year since her father passed, and the thought of her mother being ill was just too much to even think about. "What's happened?"
"She's gone crazy, I swear. That Mr. Landgraab came by after school with a package, and mom darn near ran him down the sidewalk with a brush in her hands!"
Melody burst out into laughter. "Mom chased down Malcolm Landgraab with a broom?" she asked in disbelief.
Harmony continued to speak in a rushed, breathy voice. "I've never seen mom so upset. She even said she was calling the cops if he didn't leave."
"Is she there now?" Melody asked.
"Yeah, hold on. Mommmmmm!" Harmony's blood-curdling scream shook Melody a little bit. Melody heard another little girl's voice in the background. Their laughter temporarily took her mind off of her very serious request.
Melody waited until Wanda came to the phone. "Hello?" she asked.
"Hey, sweetie," Wanda's warm, candy-coated voice rang in Melody's ears.
"Harmony said Malcolm Landgraab was there. Was he?" Melody's voice turned deadly serious.
"He came with some big box he said was donated toys."
Melody shook her head. "Knowing Malcolm, it was probably a bomb." She took a deep breath. "Mom, I'm serious. You've got to get a restraining order against him. You and Harmony are in grave danger."
Wanda let out a resigned sigh. "Florence said that, but --"
"You didn't believe her."
"No, it's not that, it's just that --"
"You didn't believe Malcolm could stoop that low."
"Well -- no, I don't think."
"C'mon, mom, we're talking about Malcolm Landgraab here. Of course he'll stoop that low. It's me he's after, not you. He thinks he can get to me by harming you. Mom, listen to me. I want you to go to the police and tell them you're Stephen Tinker's widow and you and your young daughter are being threatened. They'll listen. You might want to lay low awhile, too."

The next day Melody, carrying algebra and calculus books and a basketball, went over to Lam Plaza Dormitory to see Chaz Whippler. Unlike most days, Chaz was eager to see her. He greeted her with a big wide grin. "Guess what?" he boasted. "Thanks to you, I got an A on my remedial math test."
"Wow, that's great!"
As Chaz led her into the dormitory, and then the dorm cafeteria where they usually met, Melody put down her books and took her seat opposite him.
A thought crossed Chaz's mind, and it had nothing to do with applied mathematics. Instead, he'd thought a lot about his math tutor herself. To him, something was amiss. And he didn't dare wait.
"Melody," Chaz uncharacteristically stammered, preparing himself for a thunderous response, "are you a lesbian?"
Frowning in disbelief, Melody asked, "What? What do you mean?"
"It -- it's just something I've been wondering about for awhile now."
"Chaz," Melody managed to chuckle through her shock, "I don't understand. What do you mean 'if I'm a lesbian?' Why are you asking me this?"
"I don't know, it's just -- I've never seen you out around campus, you never --"
"Don't be silly, Chaz. I'm just real busy. My studies are very important to me."
"I know, gotta keep up that perfect 4.0," teased Chaz. Then he suddenly became serious again. "That's just it, you're not like other girls."
"In what way?" asked Melody. "I get up, brush my teeth, do my hair -- I'm exactly like everyone else."
Chaz shook his head. "No, you don't get it. That's not what I mean. You don't wear makeup, you don't wear perfume, you like sports and science and fooling around with mechanical stuff--"
Melody shook her head. "C'mon, Chaz. Just because I like those things doesn't mean I'm a lesbian."
"Your hands are as bad as my dad's, girl," Chaz teased again, examining Melody's cuts and calluses. "Is that from your tinkering -- pardon the pun?"
"I paint too," Melody revealed. "Haven't touched the canvas in awhile though, been so busy with my studies."
"Heck, you're just a regular old renaissance girl." Melody was somewhat taken aback. "Hey, I wasn't slumbering in my literature classes, you know."
Melody needled him gently. "Very good, Charles Whippler."
Chaz then thought of something else. He leaned over and closed Melody's textbook. "It's time to initiate you into some nightlife."
"What do you mean?"
"You and I are going to Romara Coffee House." He took Melody's hand, dragging her like a rag doll. "I haven't got much money, but I'm sure I can afford to buy you a coffee. Their specials are outstanding, especially the cinnamon flavored coffee with a danish pastry."
When they arrived at the coffee house, there was a fairly healthy crowd in line to sample the delicacies. Melody spied a cool, well-dressed flaxen blond girl with a newly roller-set bob, accompanied by an equally well-dressed, bespectacled blond gentleman. She recognized the girl but not the guy.
"Hey, who's the chick Phin's with?" Chaz asked.
"Phin?"
"Phineaus Furley. He lives in my dorm."
Melody nodded. "Oh. The girl, she's Tracy Glick, she went to my high school."
"They seem to be getting very cozy. I didn't even know he had a girlfriend."
Chaz and Melody continued to sit opposite each other in companionable silence. Their personalities were opposite in a lot of ways. Chaz was a slob, Melody a neat freak. Chaz was extraverted, Melody was introverted. Chaz was playful, Melody was serious. Chaz was paunchy, Melody was thin and trim. Still, though, he felt a comfort with her that he didn't really feel with anyone else.
And that's why he worried about her. He was concerned she was becoming 'all work and no play.' What he failed to understand was, her work WAS her play. She genuinely enjoyed her long hours at the laboratory and the observatory. She got her fun from performing experiments and studying the stars. With all the commotion at Aldrich over the cowplant, life at his dorm had gone on as usual.
"Hey, when did you figure out you wanted to be a scientist?" Chaz asked in an attempt to make conversation.
This question elicited a grin out of Melody and Chaz could see her eyes light up. "When I was about fourteen," she told him, careful not to mention her secret. "All of a sudden it became crystal clear what I wanted to do with my life."
"See, that's what I mean. Most girls, when they're fourteen, don't talk about wanting to be scientists."
Melody scoffed. "How do you know about most girls, Chaz?"
"Hey, I had sisters. Three of them to be exact. I know a lot about women."
"Really?" Melody raised an eyebrow and folded her arms.
"You know, Melody, you're not the total space cadet everyone thinks you are."
"Space cadet?" Melody laughed. "Now where would you get an idea like that?"
"I just wish -- I just wish you'd open yourself up a little more. Let people get to know the real you. Not the one that's hiding behind books. Like the one you show me."
"What do you mean?"
"Let's face it, Melody. I loosen you up in a way that no one else does."
"How so? How do you know that? You don't know how I am."
"C'mon, Melody. You're smart, attractive, witty -- there's really no reason why you should hide yourself behind your studies. There's a warm, playful person in there just waiting to come out."
Melody rubbed her hand along her arm, a somewhat familiar habit of hers, especially when she was in deep pensive thought.
"Hmm, I... don't ... know," she said slowly, nervously scanning the crowded coffee house.
The last thing she wanted to do, was to make an utter fool of herself. Especially in front of Tracy. "What about a game of darts?" Chaz offered, grasping at straws, "that's not too difficult is it?"
Melody pursed her lips in deep thought. "Mmm... I guess not."
Chaz took her hand, helping her up from her seat, and led her to the dart board, where a couple of other students had congregated. Watching them intently, Melody studied the angles they were throwing and tried to silently predict who would hit the center of the dartboard and who would miss badly. She couldn't help herself.
Then the other two students left, leaving Melody and Chaz at the dart board. "You first," Chaz said, ushering her to it.
"You'll regret it," laughed Melody. "I swear, you'll regret it." With the three darts she was given, she managed to hit the bullseye twice and just missed it fractionally, when the third dart veered slightly to the left.
Chaz was amazed. "How did you do that?"
Melody grinned. "Easy. You have to throw the dart at a ninety degree angle toward the center of the dart board. If it's not precisely at that ninety degree angle, it'll veer off course."
"Do you always think in angles and shapes?"
"Maybe. Depends on what I'm doing." Then she took the darts off the board and handed them to Chaz. "Your turn."
She watched as Chaz flailed wildly, his darts ending up all over the board and even on the adjacent wall.
After Chaz handed Melody the darts, she again tossed two darts in the red bullseye marker. But her third miss, this time, was high instead of left.
They went back to the table. Suddenly Melody got hungry, so Chaz stood in the long line and ordered her a coffee and a danish pastry.
"A danish pastry?" asked Melody. "I swear, those are murder on my diet. They are loaded with calories and sugar and saturated fat --"
"Goodness, do you eat anything that doesn't grow in the ground?" Chaz wondered.
"Not really," laughed Melody. "I've been a vegetarian since I was seven. Gave my parents no end of grief."
I bet, Chaz said to himself. "Can't you just this once, forget about your stinkin' diet?"
Melody shook her head and let out a deep sigh. "Oh, all right. But I'm going to have to work twice as hard to burn this off."
"You've got plenty of room for a few more danish pastries in there." In response, Melody playfully threw a piece right at Chaz's nose.

Chapter Thirty-Five

2008-08-06T15:48:00.000-07:00

The annual Sim City Collegiate Mathematics competition had just gotten underway at Sim State University. Chester, Melody, and Edwin got out of the taxicab that pulled up at the Sim State University gymnasium. They'd heard the host school, Sim State, was considering not fielding a team this year, till at the last minute they got someone to commit. They looked around at the other teams competing. The home team, the Llamas from Sim State, featured Martin Ruben, Daryl Deppiesse, and Ashley Pitts, who said he was only there to check out any available females. The La Fiesta Tech team consisted of William Williamson, Guy Wrightley, and Klara Vonderstein. Two other schools sent teams.
The host sent them to their assigned table as the individual competition was going to begin. The individual contest consisted of a test that had thirty math problems and questions, ranging from basic algebraic calculations to complex quadratic equations. Chester and Edwin stole a few loose glances at Melody, who was zipping through her test. "Dang," Edwin thought to himself, "she's gonna win medalist."
A medalist prize would be awarded for the individual student with the top score in that section of the competition. The medalist would receive a $500 simolean cash award.
After the individual tests ended came the team competitions. Teams were pitted against each other in a round robin quiz show format, answering problems. The first team to score three hundred points would win.
Several hours of competition and the final two schools came to face each other in a live televised event. The Academie Le Tour team would face the squad from La Fiesta Tech. Before they took their seats, Chester gathered the group together. "We have a chance to do something special," he told them. "We have a chance to make something happen."
Chester looked at Melody with a twinkle in his eye. Edwin nodded his approval.
"We can beat these guys," Melody added. "They don't scare me in the least."
"Here's something for you," piped Edwin. "We've been together for months. And we're all friends. These other teams, they probably have been together a few weeks at the most and barely know each other."
As they took their seats, they looked over at the other team. A tight contest came down to the last question. A student from each school would have to face each other in sudden death. Chester and Edwin didn't think twice. They chose Melody.
"Me?" she asked in disbelief, pointing at herself.
"Why not you?" Chester asked.
"But you're the captain!"
"And I've made my choice."
Reluctantly Melody walked up to the podium and looked into the eyes of a girl she didn't know and had never seen before. The task before her was simple. Solve one mathematical problem before she did, and the team prize was theirs.
Melody watched the contest proctor, listening for his every syllable. And he looked at both competitors. "And now for the final question. If x and y are real numbers such that x squared and y squared equals one, find the maximum value of y and x."
Melody observed the other girl, furiously scrambling on her sheet of paper, to figure out the solution to this word equation. Is this the final question? she thought to herself. Before the girl could finish scratching out numbers, Melody pressed her lever so that the proctor could recognize her.
"The maximum value of y and x is the square root of 2."
The proctor alternated glances at Melody and the other girl and announced, "That is correct! The Academie Le Tour team has won the competition."
Dr. Young, Chester, and Edwin flanked Melody with congratulatory hugs and high fives. "We did it!" exclaimed Dr. Young. "Let's do this again next year."
A shudder shot down Melody's spine. The thought of doing this again never crossed her mind.

There was a knock on Chester's front door. He was having a study session with his girlfriend, Jessica McClellan, and Jessica was, to put it mildly, a little peeved. "Who is that?" she asked, looking up from her book.
Shuffling toward the door, Chester realized that it was Melody. "Doesn't she tell you when she's coming?" Jessica asked.
Chester glared at her. "She's my best friend, I can't say no to her." Ushering Melody inside, Chester returned to fixing hamburgers.
Melody walked right to the bookcase next to Chester's door and grabbed a volume from it. She remained as quiet as a mouse while Chester fixed the hamburgers.
Melody gave Jessica a sharp glance. The only sounds that could be heard in the entire room was the turning of the book pages and the frying of the hamburgers in the frying pan.
"The hamburgers smell good," Jessica finally said, "but I'm leaving! I can't take this anymore. I'll call you tomorrow."
A shudder ran through Chester's spine as he heard the door slam shut. How had he gotten himself in this position in the first place?
Trying to push what had happened out of his mind, Chester placed a freshly cooked plate of hamburgers in front of him, and then took a plate for himself. "What do you want out of life?" he asked Melody as he stole a glance at her, tongue slightly askew, concentrating on what she was reading. He couldn't help himself. His heart skipped more than a few beats.
Melody, for her part, was staggered and surprised by the question. She'd known since at least her teens that she wanted to become a scientist, and her interest in the subject crystallized after her abduction. But she hadn't really thought beyond that. Marriage, children, none of that had ever crossed her mind. She had been single-minded in the pursuit of her eventual goal of becoming a scientist.
Chester's question really forced Melody to think hard. Why was she doing this? Why was she pushing herself to exhaustion, with everything she did in her life? Finally she looked up at him and said wistfully, "I want to know everything."
Chester's jaw dropped to the floor. He had to quit eating his hamburger when he heard her say that. "Everything, Melody?"
"Everything there is to know." Melody took a deep breath. Looking over at her, Chester saw an almost dreamlike, childlike glint in her eyes. "I want to know everything that's possible in the entire realm of knowledge."
"You understand that that's an impossible task you've set yourself, Mel?"
Melody shook her head. "Nothing's impossible," she replied simply, "just look at us and what we've achieved."
By now, there was a manic gleam in her eyes and Chester broke out in a cold sweat. He'd seen that look before, and felt the presence of the man behind it.
Melody leaned forward. "Didn't you EVER want to know everything?"
"I did.... once."
"And how did you feel? Honestly?"
"It felt..... wonderful.....but..."
"Aha!" Melody felt triumphant, she'd finally cracked the code that was Chester Gieke. "What happened? Didn't you feel that rush of power you felt when you first unlocked a mystery?"
"Um --" Chester stammered a moment.
"Don't tell me you didn't feel it."
Chester shook his head. "You don't get it, do you, Mel?"
"Get what?"
"This life, Mel, it's dangerous!"
"You lock yourself in labs."
"Yes, but I'm trying to get myself out of it." Chester decided to change the subject. "While you were gone, Mel, I got more messages. They looked like gobbledygook."
"It looks as though a child's been playing with their dad's computer," Melody sighed bitterly as she perused Chester's saved screens, "pay them no heed."
Chester looked down at her.
"You sound disappointed Mel," he said casually, "what's on your mind? Is there something else I should know about?"
"I thought..... I thought......" She shook her head and raised herself from the seat. "Never mind. I'll go get us some coffee."
She'd barely reached the kitchen when Chester gasped out loud.
"It's here again!" he said, his eyes wider than saucers, "and I've just checked out it's source."
"I don't believe it..."
"Don't believe what?"
"It's coming from that last place I ever expected to see...."
"Which is.....?"
"1 Tesla Court..... dammit!"
"Chester, you're not making any sense. Can you please enlighten me here?"
Chester turned to look at her, his face pale and drawn. Within minutes, he'd visibly aged before her.
"Strangetown....." he barely choked the words out "......the Beakers."
"What have they got to do with anything?"
"Actually, quite a lot. They were in cahoots with the military, watching our every move. What I can't understand is, how did they find me? And more to the point, what's with all this stupid coding?"
"Perhaps it isn't them?"
"Oh, but it is." Chester took the steaming mug of coffee from Melody with trembling hands and gulped it down quickly. This was the last thing he wanted to see.
"But why would they do this? I mean, it's been years since you've even set foot in Strangetown."
"Who knows." Chester decided to change the subject. "Anyway, what were you up to? I hear you caused quite a splash at the shareholders meeting."
"How'd you hear about that?"
"Bad news travels fast -- especially when it happens to Malcolm Landgraab."
Melody shook her head. "I hate him!" she shouted in-between sips of coffee.
"I know well you do."
"You should've seen the looks he gave me, Chester. It was like he could see right through me. I had to do my best to fight them off."
"You know, Mel, I wish you'd have told me you were going to that meeting. I should've been there."
"Chester, I know. I'm sorry. I know I said I was going home to my little sister's party. But -- I needed to lay low awhile and take care of this little business. I needed to do this on my own. I hope you understand."

Chapter Thirty-Four (Part Two)

2008-07-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

Melody decided she needed some alone time after the shareholders' meeting to recharge her batteries. She took a jog down to Hunter's Park, to the pond where she and her father had spent their last quiet moments together. Tossing a few loose pebbles into the water, she watched the ripples spread outward and disappear. She thought a lot about Stephen, about what he'd told her before he died...
They had spent all day at Hunter's Park, just the pair of them -- no distractions, no one approaching them, no babies crying, no yelling and nagging, nothing. They'd cast their own lines, hardly looking at each other but feeling each other's presence just the same. "You know, Melody, I don't want to tell your mother this -- I don't want to worry her -- but I've been having heart issues for some time."
"Father!" shouted Melody in disbelief.
"My doctor says that if I avoid stress and follow a healthy regimen I should prolong my life." Stephen then changed the subject. "Listen, sweetheart, about the toy shop -- I know you don't really like toys and toymaking, and I know you've never set foot in the shop. That fact disappoints me, but it's the choice you've made. I still think you'd be a great toymaker, the way you like to take apart things. I had just bought your new computer and I passed by your room and there you were, with a screwdriver in your hands, taking it apart. I had to laugh, I couldn't help myself. It wouldn't be so funny if that Alienware hadn't been special-ordered and it didn't cost 4000 simoleans."
"I've always liked to try to figure out how things worked."
"While I was on the phone with Alienware, I had to explain to them that I'd bought the computer for my daughter and that her curiosity had caused her to take it apart. I know about your fascination with machines. You've been that way since you were little. That's why I wasn't surprised when you asked for the robot crafter."
"I'd seen one and read up on what could be done with them. I decided I wanted to learn how to do that."
Stephen gazed fondly at his daughter. "I know about the situation with the jack-in-the-box and about what happened when our store Inner Child opened. Melody, dear, there's more to making a toy than a piece of wood and a hammer. I'm pretty sure that if you tried it, you'd enjoy it. It even involves painting, and I know you like to do that." Stephen took a deep breath. "I want you to promise me something. In the event of my death, I'd like you to keep Tinker Toys in the Tinker family."
Snapping back to the present time, Melody realized that she had never truly had time to grieve Stephen's passing. No matter what the DNA test results would ultimately reveal, she felt a connection to him. Right then and there, she buried her face in her hands and sobbed. The fact that he was now dead had altered the fortunes and priorities of her whole family -- herself included. Her kid sister, Harmony, would never know her father -- the kind, loving, generous man she knew.

The next morning, Melody awoke to the smells of Wanda's fresh-brewed coffee and omelettes. "Hey, sweetheart," Wanda smiled, looking up at her daughter. "I see you've been rummaging through Stephen's things again."
"Yeah, this was one of his shirts. Kinda reminds me of him."
"You know," Wanda said while flipping the omelettes over, "he'd be so proud of you, the way you took over that meeting room yesterday."
"You were there?" Melody asked, somewhat surprised by this revelation. "I thought you'd gone to pick up Harmony."
"Harmony stayed after school for ballet classes, so I stuck around the meeting room."
After a brief pause, Melody stopped Wanda for a second. "Mom -- " she began in a hushed, halting voice, with the sepia-toned Polaroid of a young man with glasses, dreadlocks, and glasses, "who is this?"
Wanda nearly burnt her omelettes. "What? Where did you find that?"
"In the box with daddy's stuff."
"Oh, that's sweet little Billy -- my beloved little brother."
Melody's eyes bulged in disbelief. "Mom! You never told me you had a brother! And he kinda looks like me!" "There's a lot of things I haven't told you, dear. I wanted to wait until you were old enough to know."
"I think I'm old enough to know now."
Wanda managed a chuckle. "Yeah, you sure are, I guess. If you're old enough to positively take over a boardroom with Malcolm Landgraab in it, then you're old enough to hear about your uncle Billy."
After serving breakfast, Wanda proceeded to tell Melody everything about her younger brother, William Zarubin. Of the two of them, William, or 'Billy' was unquestionably their parents' favorite -- and no wonder. He was their shining light, the overachiever, the golden boy. He made straight A's without trying. "Meanwhile, I -- I just struggled," Wanda revealed, "I did everything I could do to try to outdo him, but nothing I did helped. In fact, everything I did made things worse."
Like his niece would do many years later, William -- he hated being called Billy, even though Wanda insisted on it -- got into Academie Le Tour early due to his excellent grades.
"What happened to him?" Melody asked, her curiosity growing with every word Wanda uttered.
"After graduation from ALT Billy got a job as a chemist at Sim City General. His bosses were pushing for a deadline for an antidote to a specific poison, and he rushed it through, testing it on himself -- " Wanda struggled to fight through tears.
"So Uncle Billy was a scientist?"
Wanda took a deep breath. "Yes, he was. The lab was shut down, there was a huge investigation and the whole project was scrapped."
Melody shook her head. Wanda wiped her tears long enough to recognize that the wheels were churning in her oldest daughter's mind. "Do you know what poison they were trying to make an antidote for?"
"Melody!" This was why Wanda worried. This was the source of her sleepless nights, nearly every night, since her daughter left for college. And this was why she was afraid to let her go. She didn't know when the next time she saw her oldest daughter would be her last.

The Tinkers' late-model grey sedan pulled onto the curb beside Aldrich Dorm. "Melody," Wanda called to the tall, lithe girl, "could you give me a hand?"
"Sure, mom," Melody replied obediently as she walked toward the trunk of the car.
Wanda cut an authoritative presence as she carried boxes toward the entrance of the dormitory. She was playing the part of the wealthy widow and playing it well. Other dormies leaned forth to see what was happening. "Is that Melody's mother?" they whispered to each other. "Funny, but they look nothing alike."
Wanda shot them a glance, and their whispering immediately stopped.

Melody kept a low profile -- or at least as low a profile as she could -- as she returned to the campus grind and the routine she so loved. She was back to waking up at the crack of dawn to jog, going to classes, then the library, then the lab, then the observatory. She was glad to know that the reporters who had camped around the dormitory had moved on to some other story, so she could return to something resembling normal student activities. She glided within her air-tight inner circle, trying to maintain the privacy she cherished.
"Stop playing him like a marionette!" warned Jessica, pointing her finger as Melody entered the secret society house.
"What are you talking about?" asked Melody, wondering what she did to get accosted in this manner.
Jessica shook her head. "You know darn well what I'm talking about. There's only so much he can take, and keeping him dangling there isn't helping matters at all." Jessica stood as close as she dared, their noses almost touching and feeling Melody's hot breath on her chin.
"How the heck do you know how Chester feels?" Melody asked in an accusatory tone, feeling the bile rise from her throat.
"I want to know," Jessica said slowly, emphasizing every word that came from her mouth, "do you love him or not?"
"It's none of your business how I feel about him."
"Actually, Melody, you're wrong. It is my business because he's my boyfriend. And because I've seen him look at you in a way he'll never look at me."
Melody was puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"He follows you around like a little puppy dog, he takes your orders, bends over backwards, is available at your every beck and call, and does he complain? No! Whenever we're talking, it's always Mel this and Mel that. Do you know how hurtful that is? Especially coming out of the mouth of the man you love? Or do you even care?" Jessica heaved a heavy, deep sigh. "There's no way I can compare to the great and glorious Melody Tinker. I don't have a billion and a half IQ, but what I do have is love and lots of it. I love Chester with all my heart and soul, but I know that he doesn't love me back. There's a piece of him that I cannot take for myself, and that's the piece that loves you."
Tears started flowing down Jessica's face as her voice failed her. Wiping her hand angrily across her wet, flushed cheeks, she turned and ran out of the room, away from the ice princess herself.
Melody was left alone in the darkened room, forced to ponder Jessica's words. She buried her head in her hands, and if one came close, they could hear a couple of loose sobs. What was happening here? Her whole perfect world was crumbling around her ears. A young woman who prided herself on knowing things suddenly didn't know anything at all.

Chapter Thirty-Four (Part One)

2008-07-08T10:31:00.000-07:00

At the Goth residence, Dina did the only thing she could do. She dialed Malcolm.
"Malcolm," Dina cried, her voice quavering as she spoke, "Malcolm, I need your help."
Malcolm heaved a deep sigh. "What's happening?"
"My husband passed away tonight."
"I'm sorry."
"Not as sorry as I am. His bratty daughter showed up tonight and tossed me and my son out onto the street. She kept railing on and on about how my son isn't a Goth baby --"
"He's not, he's a Landgraab."
"That's not the point! The point is, he was born in this house, he was born as a Goth, and therefore should be entitled to at least a piece of the estate."
"Look, Dina," Malcolm said, turning off his radio, "I'm on my way over there as soon as I can."

A half hour later, Malcolm drove from Bluewater Village over to the Goth mansion in Pleasantview. Dina emerged from the house in the fur coat Checo Ramirez had bought her and met Malcolm outside, planting a passionate kiss on his lips. "I am so glad to see you," she finally whispered, wiping her tears long enough to sound sincere.
After leading Malcolm into the house, Dina got him a glass of Mortimer's perfectly aged wine while she disappeared upstairs. When she returned, her young son, Manuel, with lungs the size of a furnace bellows and a voice that could crack glass, screamed for his favorite toy -- a tattered teddy bear that had belonged to Alexander.
Malcolm looked up in disbelief as Dina, saying nothing and holding a bottle, handed the toddler over to him. "So," he said, looking at the glowing bottle, "what do you want me do then?"
"Feed him," came the curt reply.
"What? With THAT stuff? I don't think so."
"It's fine, he's had no problems with it at all."
"It's glowing green, do you have any idea where that's been?"
"SO? It's not hurting him."
Malcolm shook his head and gazed down at the now, extremely quiet boy, snuggled contentedly in his arms. He stroked the fine blond hair and smiled gently. His heart soared when Manuel beamed a big toothy grin right back.
"We're going to get you some REAL food young man," Malcolm crooned, "Not this potentially radioactive crap she's been feeding you."

"Mom!" Harmony squealed, "look at this letter they passed around in school. I wanna sign up for ballet!"
"Ballet, really?" Wanda smiled as she took the note and read through it. "How nice for you."
Meanwhile, Melody rolled her eyes in obvious disapproval. My god, can she be any more annoying? she thought.
"I'm going to take Harmony to sign up, be back soon-ish," Wanda said as she kissed Melody on her forehead. "Be right back."
Melody walked out to the mailbox to get the mail, and one envelope caught her eye. It was addressed to "the Tinker family" in calligraphy, and sealed with a gold seal with the letters "MLIV."
With hands trembling from rage, Melody carefully pulled the seal open to reveal a beautifully filigreed invitation to the forthcoming nuptials of Mr. Malcolm Charles Landgraab IV and Mrs. Dina Rosalia Goth, nee Caliente.
Melody seethed. After all he'd done to the family, the nerve of him to let drop that he was marrying! She also did a double take when she saw the name Dina Goth. Her husband's grave was not yet cold and already she'd moved on. She'd also known that Dina had also been responsible for the breakup of the Ramirez marriage. In her mind, they were two of a kind. They deserved each other.

The first meeting of the shareholders of Tinker Toys since Stephen's death was held in one of the back employee rooms at Inner Child Toys and Gifts. Wanda had never been to one of these board meetings -- Stephen usually went -- but she decided to come today in support of her daughter. She held Melody's hand tight as they walked in together. "The last time I held your hand, you were starting your first day of school," reminisced Wanda. "You were so shy, you held on to my leg as it was time for me to let you go."
Melody simply smiled serenely, although her nerves were literally rattling her teeth in her skull. She felt a gentle squeeze and looked at her mother, who smiled warmly. "You go get 'em," she whispered, before letting go and giving her daughter a gentle, guiding push. 'I have faith in you,' she continued, "Show 'em what you're made of."
The night before, Wanda had blown-dry Melody's naturally curly hair and roller-set it to look professional. Melody was looking particularly sharp, wearing a black pantsuit with a satiny maroon top, accented with a heart-shaped necklace that belonged to her grandmother.
The grizzled gentlemen sitting around the table waiting for Melody's arrival were astonished to see her. Melody herself could not believe she was in the position she was in. Here she was facing her father's shareholders for the first time. The realization gave her a rush of both dread and excitement.
But then she happened upon -- him. Malcolm Landgraab himself. What was HE doing here? He didn't own any part of Tinker Toys -- did he? Besides, he had his finger in every pie in town, quite literally. Melody knew he had bilked the Jacquets out of their own family bakery. She also knew -- from Chester -- that he had stolen the Giekes' electronics store from underneath them and was working on the former Ramirez furniture store as well.
By this time, though, Melody was seething. But Malcolm was undaunted. "There she is," he said with his slick-sounding voice, his words slipping like oil off his tongue as he walked towards her, pretending to 'present' her to the men. "Your president and CEO. Would you really want a sexual deviant representing you, dear shareholders?"
Melody hoisted her shoulders up and strode boldly to the center of the boardroom, where she felt several pairs of eyes scrutinizing everything about her. Turning sharply towards Malcolm, she pulled herself up to her full magnificent height and stared him straight in the face.
Their eyes locked, and had it not been for the bad atmosphere between them, you could have sworn that the air in that room crackled with sexual tension.
This was the first time Malcolm had laid eyes on Melody in all her glory, and it took all his power not to grab her and draw her gasping into his arms, right there and then. Such was the force between them.
He'd never laid eyes on such a magnetic person such as Melody Tinker. She had that 'don't look, don't touch' quality about her and it drove him wild. Malcolm had been hypnotized in a way he'd never been hypnotized before -- not even by Dina.
As a sign of bravado and sheer recklessness, Melody, tired of Malcolm's ridiculous heckling, stood up and glared at him. This time he'd pushed too far and he knew it. "I could take you on myself," she shouted, slamming her fist on the table, "if you didn't spend all your time holed up in your office in your mansion, counting your money!"
He grinned malevolently, watching every muscle twitch in her face. "Sell me your part of Tinker Toys and I'll leave you and your family alone."
"Never!" spat back Melody, expecting this move, "not even if you and I were the last two Sims on earth. Besides, I have something here that may be of interest to our shareholders."
Malcolm went slightly pale. His grin vanished. "You're bluffing," he whispered, sitting down hard. Melody just smiled knowingly and reached into her briefcase.
She brought out a sheaf of papers, and distributed them all around. Malcolm picked one up and leapt to his feet. "How did you get hold of this?" he spluttered, his hands shaking badly and his composure rattled briefly.
"The same way you got information about my father's company,' she replied, a hint of victory in her voice, 'and all the other companies you've managed to acquire -- legally and/or illegally."
A balding gentleman peered through his spectacles at the sheet of paper in front of him. Perusing it carefully, he sat forward and folded his hands on the table. "Is this true, Mr Landgraab?" he asked, his dulcet tenor voice rumbling in the eerie silence of the board room.
For once, Malcolm was at a complete loss for words, and remained seated, glancing nervously around the room.
"Gentlemen," the old man continued, "it appears that Landgraab Enterprises is on the verge of collapse."
Melody continued. "The massive amounts of money and resources Landgraab Enterprises has committed to acquiring Tinker Toys, J'Adore Bakery, the Electronics Superstore, and other businesses in and around Sim City has depleted its capital to the point where its very solvency remains in question."
"Also," she continued, "it appears that his fledgling nightclub, Club Dante, has posted the biggest losses of all."
She turned back towards Malcolm and riveted him to the spot with a withering glare.
"Does that sound like a conglomerate you'd trust to take over a successful company like Tinker Toys? A company my grandfather, Ron Tinker, built from the ground up?"
She paused, taking a sip of water before continuing. "The figures from the last three fiscal terms show revenue declining at an alarming rate each year. In the last fiscal term, which ended about two weeks ago, Landgraab Enterprises' losses amounted to about one billion simoleans. In addition, the costs of his own extravagant wedding --"
Finally, Malcolm had had enough. "Stop!" he screamed. "Don't you dare bring my wedding into this! That expense did not come from company coffers."
"Oh really, Malcolm?" asked Melody. "You are such a simpleton. What about your wedding plans? You paid the caterer, the limousine driver, the travel agency? What about that? Or are you going to say that wasn't your expenditure either? Because the records show that clearly --"
"Tell me how you got hold of my financial records."
Melody grinned. "They ain't top secret, you know. They're readily available through the SCSE -- Sim City Stock Exchange. All I had to do was go to their website."
Then she wrapped her presentation with a final statement. "So, dear shareholders, I move to reject Malcolm Landgraab's takeover bid of Tinker Toys, on the grounds of Landgraab Enterprises' financial insolvency. All in favor signify by 'I.'"
One by one, the shareholders rose their hands. Melody pumped both fists in silent victory. Tinker Toys was hers. Finally hers.

Chapter Thirty-Three (Part One)

2008-06-13T09:32:00.000-07:00

Melody was in the kitchen, helping her mother clean up after the guests left. "What kind of books were they this time?" Wanda teased playfully.
Melody shrugged. "Children's stories," she replied.
"I'm trying to remember when YOU actually read kids' books." Wanda laughed. "It seemed like, by the time you started kindergarten you were in the adult stacks. You curled up with dictionaries and encyclopedias, not kids' books."
Just then Harmony, with two puffed ponytails, gaily skipped into the living room, wearing a pastel yellow and pink dress. She was anxious to start school for the first time. Melody stole a glance at her and couldn't believe it. Who was this stranger and what had happened to her cute little kid sister?
"Melody, sweetheart, I'm going to take Harmony to school and meet her teachers. Be back soon." Wanda leaned over and gave Melody a kiss before taking Harmony out.
Melody could hardly believe what her mother was saying. Her kid sister was starting school. The baby that needed so much was now an able-bodied schoolgirl who could mostly care for herself.
Harmony grabbed Wanda's hand, and the pair of them disappeared out the front door.
Meanwhile, Melody suddenly felt lightheaded and dizzy, so she took a nap on the living room sofa. When she woke up, though, she thought she saw Stephen, white robes and all, in all his glory, standing in front of her.
Melody rubbed her eyes. It was a comforting sight, seeing him standing there. But then she thought about it. It couldn't be, right? Her eyes were playing tricks with her. But she looked again and the apparition was still standing there.
"Daddy?" she called, searching around, waiting for someone to answer. But all she heard was an echo of her own voice. Thinking she was losing her mind, she burst into tears.

A few moments later, Melody decided to take her first official steps out into Bluewater -- the first since her infamous outburst at the Christmas party. Was she nervous? Hell yes. She didn't know what to expect........... who she'd bump into...or what kind of reception she'd get. But her feet took her along a well trodden, familiar route.....
...... straight to J'Adore Bakery, where the delicious aroma of sweet pastries brought back memories and made her mouth water. They were happy times indeed. Swallowing hard, she decided to give the bakery a miss. After all, she DID publicly humiliate Gilbert.....
... even though he DID deserve it.
Dropping her head down, she walked away, so deep in thought that she never heard the sound of hasty footfall speedily approaching
"Melody?" a soft, breathless voice called out.
The accent was all too familiar, a husky, unmistakable French undertone.
It could be all too easy to walk on and ignore it but her instincts told her to stop.
She halted, turning around and coming face to face with Denise Jacquet.
The years had been hard on this woman, but there was no mistaking the gentleness and laughter that still remained in her eyes.
Hesitantly, Denise touched Melody's upper arm, the creases in her already lined face deepening slightly with an uncertain smile.
"Melody?" she asked, finally catching her breath, "is that you?.... Oh my..... how you've grown."
Yes, it was an inane observation, but Denise hoped that it would be enough to break the uneasy tension between them
Denise stepped back. Before her was a tall young woman, a far cry from the small girl who followed her around in the bakery.
"Please, have a seat," she said. "I've got some teas going and your favorite blueberry pie in the oven."
Melody took a deep breath as she sat in Denise's spacious living room. It was just as she'd remembered it, cozy and warm, forever with the scent of something cooking.
"You used to love blueberry pie. You came every day after school and on Saturdays too."
Denise returned from the kitchen with a slice of blueberry pie and a ceramic pitcher, filled with the scent of flavorful lemon tea.
"I remember this," Melody said, unable to suppress a grin. "Your pies were the best."
Melody was surprised at this hospitality. But there again, she'd always known how hospitable Mrs Jacquet was. Freshly baked pies and cakes at the ready and a softly cushioned chair - Melody's favorite by far - to snuggle into as she listened to Mrs Jacquet's culinary stories --
how, at her first lessson in cookery school, she'd had a sneezing session from using too much flour and almost set the classroom oven alight.
Melody broke the ice by telling her own story, about how she'd tried -- and failed miserably -- to bake a pie for Hanover's fall festival.
She remembered that growing up in Bluewater Village wasn't all bad. No matter how she tried, she just couldn't tear herself completely away from this place -- it was home.
Denise took her seat right next to Melody. "How's school?" she asked. "I hear you got into Academie Le Tour on scholarship. I always knew you had a good head on your shoulders."
Melody took a deep breath. She dreaded this question and dreaded its answer too. "Um, well, I'm taking some time off."
"Really, sweetheart? Why?"
Melody hesitated before answering. "Well, um, you know last fall my dad died, and my mom has been running the shop by herself all this time --"
"She's suffered so much since he's been gone," Denise noted. "They truly were soulmates. Reminded me of me and my dear sweet Yves."
Nodding in agreement, Melody took a sip of her tea. "This is delicious, you really put your foot into it!" exclaimed Melody.
"Well, I had to do something special for my favorite customer."
Melody couldn't suppress a grin. "Nothing's changed after all these years," she mused.
"Well, some things have changed," Denise replied. "In fact, a lot of things have changed. Last Christmas, at the party --"
Melody dreaded this. She didn't want to hear about what happened. She had said her piece and she was done with it.
"I know about what happened last Christmas. And I understand. You were frustrated and upset. I couldn't say anything then, everyone was just so dumbfounded by what happened -- I mean, you hadn't uttered a syllable in ages and now suddenly you just lashed out at everybody." Denise shook her head and let out a heavy sigh. "Well, you know, since the party, Gilbert's completely changed his life around. He got a job at an art gallery and he's engaged."
Melody stopped herself. "Um, really?" she asked. "Wow, when did this happen?"
"Last month, to his girlfriend, Sandy Miller. They've moved to an apartment downtown, so now it's just me."
Melody nodded. "I see."
"Oh, and the bakery --"
Leaping forward, Melody asked, "What about the bakery?"
"Malcolm Landgraab tried to buy it from Gilbert."
"It always boils down to HIM, doesn't it?" The words felt like bile in her throat, angry and festering. But they didn't begin to explain the disdain she felt for him.
"I know how much you don't like him, dear. I'm indifferent toward him myself. But Gilbert is actually friends with him."
Melody tried hard to suppress tears. "You can't let him sell the bakery, Mrs. Jacquet! You just can't!"
"I'm getting old, dear," Denise said, "and Gilbert is starting his new life. He's decided to follow a different life path. I did some thinking and I realized that you're right about me holding on to him. I'm not going to hold him back any longer."
Melody couldn't help but shed tears herself. "This can't be happening!" she screamed. "You sound like you've given up!"
"Life is too short for petty squabbles, dear, you'll learn that when you're older." Denise forced a wan smile. "I know I don't have much time before the Reaper comes for me. All I want to do is live out the remainder of my life as peacefully as possible."

Out the corner of her eye, Wanda spied a striking brunette woman in a low-cut red dress, walking toward the backyard workshop. She knew, from previous experience, that she was Elise Livingston, who wrote the consumer column for the Times, and that she was a spy for Malcolm Landgraab. She didn't want Melody to have to deal with her this soon after returning, so she went back to see what Elise wanted.
When Wanda got there, she found Elise had started scribbling some information. When she tried to find out what she was writing, Elise turned her back to hide her note pad. Malcolm sent her back here, she thought.
"Elise Livingston?" asked Wanda, eyeing her cautiously.
"You must be Mrs. Tinker," Elise replied with her sugary smile as she extended her hand. "How do you do?"
Elise proceeded to walk around the workshop as Wanda watched. "I must say, Mrs. Tinker, you've done a commendable job with the shop since your husband's passing. The operation is streamlined like a well-oiled machine."
"Well, I kinda can't take the credit," Wanda admitted, "the multiple employees working was my daughter's idea."
"Your daughter?" asked Elise.
"Yes, my oldest daughter, she's at ALT."
Closing her notepad, Elise picked up a fire truck and examined it. "These fire trucks are exceptionally well made."
"Thanks, well, we don't consider Tinker Toys a business or a company -- for us, it's a labor of love." For the cynical, Wanda's statement could have easily been taken as rehearsed or a public relations stunt, but in her case she really meant it.

Harmony skipped gaily into the front door, carrying a notebook in hand and having brought a friend home. Arms folded, she stared at her older sister sitting off to herself in a corner. "What's the matter with you?" Harmony asked.
Melody, meanwhile, had contented herself with a stack of papers she had found in Stephen's file cabinet. "Mom?" she asked Wanda while she was in the kitchen preparing a feast. "Did you know Dad was writing children's stories?"
Wanda looked up from her chopping board. "Children's stories?"
"Yeah, I found this stack of papers in his file cabinet. They were supposed to be a collection of children's stories."
"Really? May I see them?"
"Sure, mom, when I'm done."
What's this business about children's stories? Wanda muttered to herself as she returned to chopping onions for the afternoon meal. It occurred to Wanda that even though she knew her husband well, there was a lot about him that she didn't know.

The death of Mortimer Goth, the lion of Pleasantview, came as a surprise to no one. After all, he'd been ill for awhile and had come to an advanced age. And to no one's surprise, he accepted his fate with grace and aplomb.

His widow, Dina, cried buckets of tears in her son's bedroom.

"Just look at him!" hissed a very pregnant Cassandra at the Goth mansion, pointing her bony finger at the blond haired, grey eyed child, "THAT'S no Goth child."

Little Manuel, Dina's son, flailed his arms in the air in obvious distress.
"Mama!" he wailed, a distinct aroma emanating from his diaper.
Dina ignored him, standing face to face with her step daughter.
"You can keep your nose out of my business young lady," she snarled through clenched teeth, "I got what your father wanted.... a son."
"Young lady?" Cassandra scoffed, "who are you to call ME young lady? I'm not an errant teenager any more. And for your information, we're practically the same age......"
"Besides..." she pursed her lips and looked down at the distressed child, ".... aren't you going to change his diaper?"
Dina grumbled under her breath, pulling disgusted faces as she bent down to scoop Manuel up into her arms.
"I was hoping the nanny would have intervened by now," she said, partly to herself, "it's her job NOT mine."
She coughed and spluttered as she dusted Manuel a little too heavily with baby powder, some of it getting onto her expensive silk top. Her perfectly manicured nails shredded through the first diaper as she struggled to make it fit.
Cassandra stood watching her, amused at the performance.
This was a golden opportunity, she had Dina where she wanted her, and it was too good to miss.
"Oh," she began nonchalantly, "as we're on the topic...."
Dina was too preoccupied with a struggling, squalling Manuel to pick up on Cassandra's trap.
"Who is the father?"

Dina shot Cassandra a look that could melt steel. "None of your damned business!"

"It's not Father, is it?"

"Like I said, it's none of your business. Now leave me the hell alone!"

Cassandra straightened up. "Get out!" she shouted with all the authority she could muster.

Dina grimaced in disbelief. "What?" she asked.

"You heard me. I said get out. Take your kid and get out of my father's house before I get the cops to escort you out."

"What am I going to do about the furniture?"

"We'll figure it out. But right now, get your stuff and get out! NOW!"

Chapter Thirty-Two (Part Two)

2008-05-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

Chester returned from his final exam the next day, and did a quick check of his computer. He decided he wanted to trace the origin of the Latin messages that Melody had translated on his computer, so he did a quick run of his message tracer software. "1 Tesla Court, Strangetown," he said in disbelief. "This isn't good at all. How on earth did they manage to find me?"
He knew there was no way he could return there, and this lent more urgency to his campaign to graduate from ALT. He had to leave as soon as he could, for his own safety.
And he had to let Melody know just where those messages had come from. Since her number was on speed dial on his cell phone, all he had to do was press one button to reach her. And now that they were BFFs, she was going to answer his call regardless of the time of day or night.
Melody was furiously scribbling notes in her diary when the phone rang. Ever since that incident when she'd caught Marla reading it, she kept it under lock and key, in a chest in her bedroom, and wrote in it whenever she had a private moment -- which were few and far between these days.
"Hello?" she droned in her cell phone receiver.
"It's me, Chester. I found out where those messages were coming from."
As Chester proceeded to tell her, Melody's eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you sure it was you they were looking for?"
"Why else would they attack my computer? And in Latin, no less."
"Ches, I'm not so sure it was an attack."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the messages themselves, about an obstruction in the front and a pack of wolves behind -- and the other one about people plotting against him -- seems like someone's in some kind of trouble."
"Who?"
"I'm not sure. You've only told me bits and pieces of what went on in Strangetown when you were a teenager. Perhaps it's the person you say the Beakers are holding hostage."
"But why would he reach out to me? I don't know him from Adam."
"The world wide web is a big place. It's how we met, isn't it?"
Chester managed a chuckle. "I suppose you're right," he said. "Still, why would he pick me? How would he get my ISP and IP protocol?"
"Who knows?" Melody replied. "There has to be some reason he wants to get in touch with you, and he chose the only way he knew how."

A media crush like Academie Le Tour had never seen before had enveloped the campus. People crowded around the cordoned off greenhouse to marvel at the 'strange new plant' sitting there. Television news cameras and reporters surrounded Aldrich dormitory twenty-four hours a day, shoving microphones into the faces of the students who lived there. In the midst of the circus, however, Chester and Melody stayed tight-lipped, only issuing blanket statements whenever they were asked questions.
Among the reporters was a particularly persistent woman who appeared to be of Indian ancestry. Melody had never seen her before and was so fascinated by her dark blue sari that she leaned forth to read her name tag, which read 'Priya Ramaswami.' Melody watched Priya walk around the dormitory, taking notes here and there.
It was the third day of the reporters' siege upon Aldrich Hall, and the atmosphere had become more stultifying than ever. Finally, Marla had had enough. "Mel," she said gently, "we need to talk."
Melody's smile was frozen like a grimace on her face. Her hand stung like crazy and she could feel her nerves still tingling beneath the skin.
"We've seen all the scars and lacerations, Mel." Edwin took Melody's hand gently, and pulled up her sleeve. A livid red bite mark shone from her rapidly swelling fingers. "We can't keep pretending any more."
"How did you know?" Melody asked, her lip trembling in unison to her entire body.
Edwin shot a glance at Marla and cleared his throat. "I was trying to catch some bugs for my pin board," he explained, blushing deep crimson, "I just happened to walk past that greenhouse, and....and..."
Marla gestured encouragement.
"It lashed out at me."
"What?!??" Melody was astounded. She was the only one with a key. "How did you get in?"
"I didn't. It slammed itself against the glass. It looked hungry and scared the pants off me."
"Are you serious?"
"C'mon, Mel. Would I lie to you?"
"I can't believe you people!" shouted Melody in disbelief. "First Chester, now you guys. Don't you get it?"
"We get it, Mel," Marla said. "We definitely get it. And we're worried."
Melody shrugged. "Worried? About what?"
"We're worried for you, Mel. We know after your classes you retreat to your laboratory and spend long hours down there."
"I enjoy it, it's what I enjoy doing. It's fun for me."
"That's the problem, Mel. You're enjoying it too much. You don't eat, you don't sleep, all you do is go to class and then go downstairs to the basement."
"Why are you so concerned?" snapped Melody.
"You're going to pass out from exhaustion. Look at you, you're pencil thin --"
Melody laughed. "I've always been thin, this isn't new."
"No, you're even thinner than usual," reminded Edwin. "This is serious, Mel. We're really worried about you."
Melody shrugged both of them off. "It's nothing I'm not used to. Besides, I think I might be on the verge of a breakthrough."

The Burbs, newly arrived to Bluewater from downtown, had no idea they were being pulled in different directions as a result of the titanic struggle of Malcolm Landgraab versus the Tinker family. Or that they were unwittingly taking sides in the matter. Jennifer, by working at Lawson & Lawson, was siding with Malcolm -- and then there was John. He saw a want ad put out by the Tinkers and decided to act.
After seeing Lucy off to school, John walked across the street to Wanda Tinker's porch and rang her doorbell. Wanda was in the middle of cleaning Harmony off when it rang, and looked somewhat bewildered. "May I help you, sir?" she asked in her politest voice.
"Yes," John began, "I've come in response to your ad."
"What ad?" Wanda asked absentmindedly as Harmony tugged at her hair.
"The one you put out in the paper asking for help."
"Oh yes, that," replied Wanda, as if she'd suddenly remembered. "Please, do, come in."
John was taken by Wanda's charming, graceful manner as he followed her into the living room. "I remember when mine was that small," he said wistfully as he reached over to tickle Harmony. "How fast they grow."
"Tell me about it," Wanda replied. "Her transition is coming up soon."
"Good," John says, "she should be going to school with my daughter. They could become great friends."
"I have another daughter in college," added Wanda.
John was surprised. "Really?" He was surprised Wanda was actually old enough to have a daughter in college.
Wanda ushered John to the backyard, where the register and the toy bench were, along with some half-empty shelves. "Ever since my husband died and Melody went back to school, we've been having some issues keeping toys in stock."
"I don't mind making toys," John said. "Gives me something to do with my time while my wife is at work and Lucy is at school."
"Good. Do you know how to make a toy brick?"
John laughed. "Um, I can try. They probably won't be the best."
"They don't need to be, it's a start. After I'm done cleaning up Harmony, I'm coming down. My employees should be here any second now."

Meanwhile, Melody walked to her bedroom and decided to check her messages. She played her mother's recording over and over in her mind. Ordinarily she wouldn't consider a trip back to Bluewater, but perhaps, she thought, a trip home was just what she needed.
Wanda approached Lisa in the checkout line of Amelia's Closet. Lisa was still in her hospital scrubs from working the night shift at Sim City General. She looked worn and haggard. Extending her arms wide, Wanda smiled, "How are you doing?"
Lisa reluctantly walked toward them and leaned her head on Wanda's shoulder. "I didn't think the divorce was going to be this hard," she sighed, "and Tessa is really struggling. There are only so many ways you can say 'Daddy's not coming home' without getting teary-eyed. She and he used to do everything together."
Wanda nodded. "Melody won't tell me, but she's suffering without Stephen too. I could see it in her eyes. Harmony, poor dear, it's almost a blessing that she's too young to understand what happened." Wanda took a deep breath. "The past few months have been hard -- on both of us. And I think it's strained our friendship."
Nodding agreement, Lisa walked up to the counter and put her purchases up so the young cashier could ring them up.
"But, I think it's time for a new beginning. Life is too short for grudges anyway. Hey, Harmony's transition party is coming up, you want to come?"
Lisa shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, Tessa's busy with her lemonade stand and with school and with her friends --"
"I know it's not going to be easy, but think about it. Okay? You have my number if you decide." With that Wanda left.
As much as Lisa wanted to hate Wanda, she couldn't help feeling that familiar warmth radiating from this woman.
If she hadn't spread all those malicious rumors around.
If she'd kept her mouth shut when Wanda spilled her fears about Melody.
If she'd only been more understanding.
Perhaps this would never have happened in the first place.
But there again, she should have seen the signs with Checo.
The long trips away without any contact. The expensive gifts lavished without a single glance...
Lisa sat in the car and wept. A heavy pall of desolation fell on her slender shoulders. It was true what they say... "Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you cry alone."
She'd never felt so lonely in all her life. That horrendous feeling of abandonment crashed over her. And she realized just who her friends were and how much she'd hurt them.
How could Wanda forgive her, after all she'd done? All the gossip, innuendoes? While all this time, her perfect life was crumbling down around her?

Melody was early, as usual -- punctual to the very second and carrying a small parcel under her arm. Gaily wrapped, it appeared to be a pile of books.
"How predictable," mused Wanda, a wry smile on her face, "every birthday, and she sends books as presents."
Melody couldn't help noticing the effort that had been made. The streamers, balloons, even the homemade cake. Florence grinned widely.
"We spent all afternoon," she said, licking a dollop of frosting off her finger, "blowing up all these balloons."
The doorbell rang and Wanda cast a worried frown across at Flo who shrugged her shoulders in reply.
Easing the door slightly ajar, she was stunned to see Lisa Ramirez stood at the threshold, with a hastily wrapped present in her hands.
She shuffled uncomfortably.
"I.... er.....I," for once in her life, words failed her as she looked upon the wide smiling face of Wanda.
"Here," she finally said, shoving the present into Wanda's hands, "it's not much, just a pretty little sweater for Harmony, that's all."
"Why don't you come in?" Wanda offered, stepping back.
The warm lighting pooled on the doorstep as Lisa hesitated.
"Um, I'm not su....."
Wanda hooked an arm around Lisa's bony shoulders and guided her indoors. Grabbing a plate, she stuffed it full to the brim with food.
"Here," she said, "you're awfully thin. You remind me of Melody. You need some meat on those bones of yours."
The old grandfather clock, the one Melody used to love winding up, struck six. Wanda put a homemade lemon meringue cake with four candles on it on top of their counter, while everyone gathered around it, tossing streamers and blowing party favors. Though Melody was not predisposed to parties, she attended anyway -- for her mother.
Melody felt a prickling sensation on the back of her neck. But she was far too preoccupied to turn around. IF she had, she'd have been face to face with the one person she least expected to see here... Lisa Ramirez.
"What are you doing here?" Lisa asked.
"I used to live here, and it's my sister's birthday," replied Melody tartly. "What are YOU doing here?"
Finally it was time for Harmony to blow out her candles and transform from a small toddler to an independent child.
Snuggled safely in Wanda's arms, Harmony gazed adoringly up into her mother's face -- the picture of pure innocence. Wanda smiled as she leaned over the counter and helped Harmony blow out the candles. Wanda set the child on the floor, surrounded by everyone who loved her, and wished her husband could be here to see this.

Chapter Thirty-Two (Part One)

2008-05-05T08:15:00.000-07:00

Marla approached Melody just as she walked back into Aldrich. "How was it?" she asked in her sweet, cheery voice.
"How was what?"
"The dinner."
"Heh, you don't want to know," Melody replied.
"Try me." Marla managed a chuckle. "Was it that bad?"
Shaking her head, Melody answered, "Well, it wasn't necessarily bad, just different."
"What do you mean by 'different'?"
"Depends on your point of view, actually."
Marla shook her head. This was typical Melody, she decided, not revealing anything.

Meanwhile, Chester had gone back to his apartment. He suddenly realized his final exam was just hours away. He didn't need to cram, he'd already turned in his term paper and all his assignments. So he decided that in lieu of sleep, he wanted to fix one of the broken computers on his lot. Suddenly, though, an odd screen appeared on his lone functioning computer, with a strange series of numbers and letters. Unable to think of anything else, he pressed the speed dial on his cell phone and called Melody.
"Hey Mel," he said, "I think you should come see this."
"I'll be over in a few, I want to check something out first. Don't touch anything, I'll be right there."
Chester looked again at his screen. "The sequence has changed, it seems like someone is trying to talk to me in some arcane language."
"I'll be over there in a few."
True to her word, Melody arrived a few moments later and shook her head as she cleaned up Chester's fly-ridden dinner plate. "You know you risk all those flies ganging up on you, don't you?" she muttered to herself.
Chester took the steaming mug of coffee from Melody with trembling hands and gulped it down quickly. This was the last thing he wanted to see right before his final.

But Melody shoved him aside. "Here, let me have a look." she said, squinting at the screen. Her serious frown suddenly vanished and she smiled broadly. "I think I've cracked it!" she said suddenly. "Judging by the repetition of many verbs and adverbs, I'm sure that this is a jumbled form of Latin!"
"How do you know all that?"
"Simple," Melody smirked proudly, "from books."

"Figures.... but hey! Isn't that a dead language?"
"Yep, only used in the medical, religious, and scholarly communities nowadays."
"Circe!"
"Actually, no.....it's more of a plea for help."
"I wouldn't help her if she was on fire!"
"Chester!!!"
"No, seriously, she's one evil person -- if you can call her that -- she's totally inhumane, just like her husband --"
"Loki Beaker, that scientist in Strangetown -- yeah, I've read about him. He dabbles in some really dangerous hard-core stuff, using live subjects for his experiments."
His voice trailed off and he looked thoughtful for a moment. "I wonder if they're true?"
"What's that?"
"The rumors."
"Huh?"
"Apparently they're supposed to have a 'creature' locked in the basement of their castle."
"A creature?" Melody was intrigued. "Do you mean they're holding a person hostage?"
"He isn't the first, I'm sorry to say."
Melody's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"
"I was lucky to escape their clutches by coming to college, lest I would be the next victim."
Leaning forth with decided interest, Melody asked, "Do you know who he is? I mean, have you seen him?"
"No, I haven't exactly seen him, at least not that I know. But when I used to pass by the Beakers I used to hear noises coming from their basement."
Melody continued to read what was on the screen. "A fronte praecipitum a tergo lupi," she read. "A precipice in front, wolves behind. It's supposed to be cryptic. Whoever's talking, they're not really talking about wolves, they used it as a metaphor. It means they're in some kind of trouble."
She decided to sit at the terminal and try communicating with the entity sending messages through Chester's computer screen. "Quid fit?" she asked no one in particular.
"What did you just type?"
"Oh, it's a Latin greeting, something like 'what's happening?'" She waited a few seconds for a response. And she got one. "Sentio aliquos contra me conspirare."
"The person is saying some people are plotting against him," replied Melody.
"Are you serious?" Chester asked.
Melody shrugged. "Do I look like I'm joking?"

Sighing heavily, Chester stole another glance at Melody. "I'm not liking the looks of this," he said. "How much Latin do you know?"
"Enough to get around Ancient Rome if I ever needed to." She laughed. "I took it in high school. Lots of Simlish is based upon it."
The person asked Melody if she spoke Latin, and she typed, "Sane, paululum linguae Latinae dico. Id legi modo hic modo illic. Vero, Latine loqui non est difficilissimum." (Sure, I speak a little bit. I picked it up here and there, but really, it isn't that hard.)
Chester looked over at Melody with longing and took a deep breath. Sure, he liked Jessica, but the woman he truly loved was in his presence right now. And he realized she was making a mistake.
The notion had been gnawing at him for awhile, eating at the very fiber of his being. "You can't do this," he said.
"Do what?"
Chester turned deadly serious. "You can't follow the path of Loki Beaker. You just can't. It's not you."
"What do you mean, follow the path of Loki Beaker?"
"I understand you love science and all, but there's a limit. You've cultivated that plant in the back of Aldrich and now look, it's already claimed a life."
"C'mon, Chester, he had no business being there in the first place, and he paid the price. Besides, Loki isn't my guide. I've got no desire to go into his line of work."
"If you ask me, you're already in it."
Shudders scooted down Melody's spine as Chester spoke. He was her best friend, how could he be saying these things to her? Why didn't he support her?
"It's just not you, Mel. I know you a lot better than that, and it's not you. It's not the woman I've come to know and love."

"My plan is to follow the paths of the Goths and the Curious brothers," she said, unsure if Chester was listening.
She turned to face Chester, her lips pressed tightly together, forming a pale line, determination written on her face.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked, her resolve fading as she read the pained expression on Chester's face.
"What?"
"Why are you, all of a sudden, trying to stop me from following my predestined path?"
Chester took a deep breath and turned away from her.
"It's because I care for you," he muttered, unable to meet her challenging glare. "It's because -- because -- I'm really worried for you."
At that precise moment, Chester was very aware of his hands, and began to pick at his fingernails, awaiting Melody's reply. There was a stunned silence as the gravity of his words began to sink in. Melody opened, then closed her mouth, as words failed her.
It was then that Chester finally turned and looked at her, his eyes locking with hers. Of all this time, he'd never once challenged or stood up to her, allowing her free rein to do as she wished.

But now, he knew he had to intervene. He'd recognized the fervor in her face, the flush in her cheeks and the manic glint in her eyes as she worked on her experiments. And he wasn't the only one who noticed this.

Could he be right? she wondered. Had she gone too far with her experiment? And had she reached the point of no return?

Wanda Tinker dreaded her upcoming elder transition. She knew it meant her mortality was near, and that one day soon she would join her husband in that unmentionable place. All she'd ever wanted was to become a mother, and now all she wanted was a bright future for her daughters. She worried about them constantly -- the one who was in college and the other who was in diapers. After all, it had been her job as a mother, to worry about them. And yet... and yet.. she constantly feared that she'd failed as a parent. She'd failed at the one thing she'd ever wanted to do. What she wanted, above all, was for her daughters to forge an unbreakable sisterly bond. Upon her departure, she knew, they were all they were going to have left.
If there was one thing her daughters had inherited from her, it was their stubbornness -- a trait each expressed in different ways. She hoped they would somehow get to know each other better. Now, pressing on her mind, was the fact that Harmony's transition was coming up soon, too, and that would bring a new set of challenges. How would she, as an elder with far less energy, take to raising a child who would be teeming with it?
She decided to dial Melody at Academie Le Tour in hopes of convincing her to return to Bluewater over spring break to attend Harmony's transition party. She decided Harmony would have a quiet transition, with Melody and Florence as the only invited guests.
What she didn't know was that Melody was dealing with her own issue, namely her bloodstained hand as a result of the death of the cow mascot. It was the last thing she wanted her mother to hear about.
When Wanda picked up the receiver, she got a recorded message, "This is Melody's answering machine, leave a message at the tone. Bye."
Wanda took a deep breath. "Hey sweetheart, it's me, mom. Your little sister's birthday is coming up, and I'm hoping you'd come home for that. You can bring a friend, too, if you like. But I'll understand if you don't return to Bluewater, after all, I can't say you're exactly on anyone's favorite persons list here except mine and maybe Flo's. Call me back when you get a chance, love. Talk to you soon."
She looked at the grandfather clock in the living room. Where could Melody be at this time of the night? Surely she knew her oldest daughter was a night owl but hoped that she was at least in the relative safety of the dorm.

Wanda realized that all that mollycoddling she gave Harmony, would soon end, as this little bundle of mischief would soon grow up into an independent little girl, and then what would happen in the future? Would she turn into her sister and alienate herself from the family?

Interrupting Wanda from her reverie was a phone call from Jennifer Burb, who'd moved in the empty house across the street with her husband John and young daughter Lucy. She'd told Wanda she was a paralegal at Lawson and Lawson, the firm that was handling Malcolm Landgraab's affairs. This meant, Wanda thought, she knew all about the attempted takeover of Tinker Toys by Malcolm.

Wanda made attempts to grill Jennifer, but Jennifer wouldn't divulge any information. "Listen," Jennifer replied tartly, "I understand that it's in your best interests, but it's my job and reputation on the line here. It's taken a lot of sim hours to get where I am today. And I'm not prepared to lose it all. Sorry."

Lisa Ramirez had parked her silver and black Lexus in the parking lot of Amelia's Closet, the swanky clothing store in Bluewater. It was the last gift that Checo had given her, and now, she wouldn't be without it. It represented a token of her former life. After a great deal of thought, she realized it was one of Checo's guilt gifts, just to keep her happy.
She had just returned from the grocery store. There was no food in the house. Thanks to Checo's furniture business, she'd never known what it was like to be hungry. She and Tessa never wanted for anything. They'd lived the good life.
While at Amelia's, she spotted a woman who seemed familiar to her, but somehow also seemed different. Her brown hair, which used to be blunt cut and covered with a dumpy black hat, was now loose and full. Gone was her long housedresses and stooped posture. She'd even dropped thirty pounds. Lisa had to admit, she looked great. It was none other than Wanda Tinker.
Wanda was flourishing, no doubt about it. And yet, here was Lisa, struggling with two jobs to make ends meet. Already she'd had to sell off some of her more expensive pieces of furniture, and the clothes she wore had seen better days.
It occurred to Lisa to approach Wanda, to try to apologize. Would Wanda accept? Would Wanda even talk to her? After all, so much time had passed, and so many things had happened.
Lisa was now destitute. She hardly saw Tessa because she was working so much. Checo had vanished without a trace, and while she was thinking about walking toward Wanda, she caught a whiff of perfume. Her perfume. The special perfume Checo had always bought for her. And now, some other woman had breezed past her wearing it.
Lisa looked up. It was none other than the scarlet woman herself -- Dina Caliente, the curvaceous blonde her husband had the affair with. She was picking out designer wear for herself. It took a lot of restraint for Lisa, flushing with rage, for her not to walk over and slap the woman in the face.
Her perfect little life had fallen apart. But was it really perfect to begin with? Was it all a lie?

Chapter Thirty-One (Part Two)

2008-04-13T17:18:00.000-07:00

When Dr. Hyden walked into his office from his last class of the day, Melody was waiting on him. "Miss Tinker?" he asked, looking around with a bewildered look on his face. "How long have you been here?"
Melody shrugged. "Not long at all."
"How did you get in? I lock my door at all times."
Melody shrugged again. "You left it open," she lied. Chester had taught her how to pick the lock. Dr. Hyden let out a deep sigh. "You haven't been poking around in my files, have you?"
"No," Melody frowned. "How am I supposed to know your password?"
Dr. Hyden took a long look at Melody, and suddenly decided she was attractive. "You know, Miss Tinker," he said, circling her uncomfortably, "if you weren't my student --"
Melody bristled. "Get your hands off my -- god, you're so disgusting!"
Startled by Melody's tone of voice, Dr. Hyden backed away.
"You know, I can have you reported to the chancellor for doing this." Melody was firm. "And don't think I don't know about you and Roxie Sharpe too."
"Who is Roxie Sharpe?" Dr. Hyden asked. "I don't have a student by that name."
"She isn't even one of your students? That makes it even worse."
"Seriously, Miss Tinker, I don't have an idea what you're talking about."
Melody turned around to face him. Inhaling deeply, she pieced together exactly what she was going to say. "I'm going to make a deal with you, Hyden."
Dr. Hyden didn't like the sound of that, but he listened anyway.
"I won't report these indiscretions of yours to the campus authorities -- if you agree to take my DNA test."
Dr. Hyden could do nothing but laugh. He knew he'd been backed into a corner. Either way, he was going to do something he didn't want to do.
"You're a smart lass, eh, Tinker?" Dr. Hyden managed to mutter.
"Yeah, well, I didn't steal it from anywhere." She took a deep breath. "So, what are you going to do?"
"I can't believe that you're still holding this over my head."
"Dr. Hyden, this charade has gone on long enough, it's time to find out the truth once and for all."

Chester Gieke rose from his bed the next day. He needed this time, this space, and discovered that he liked his own company. He needed to think about some things -- mostly the mess his love life had degenerated into. He'd wanted an understanding of women's motivations, but found that he was more confused than ever. And what Melody had said really made his head spin. He secretly (and not-so-secretly) hoped that what happened wouldn't damage his hopes of finally graduating from ALT.
So, with a heavy heart and a heavy mind -- he paid a visit to Aldrich. He found he MISSED living there -- missed the constant movement, missed the busy-ness, missed the noise. More importantly, he missed his friends. His apartment was usually silent, except for the noises from his computer game.
He and Melody walked straight toward the back greenhouse, unaware that they were being watched.
"Chester, we've got a problem," Melody whispered, with the cowplant seemingly listening to their every word.
"What do you mean?" wondered Chester, rubbing his chin.
"Well, the plant -- it -- it ate a sim just like we would eat a meal."
Shaking his head, Chester replied, "No, wait a minute, that's impossible. No way the plant could actually eat a simian. The only thing it takes in as nourishment is special fertilizer. That's what the instructions said."
"Well, it's clear this isn't an ordinary plant," Melody confirmed.
"No shit, Sherlock," laughed Chester. "Look at it, the thing has a cow head and fangs, for chrissakes! It's not supposed to look like that is it?"
Melody took a step back. Had the plant's chemistry changed when Chester's blood accidentally got onto the seeds? There was only one way for her to find out. After swabbing Chester's tongue, Melody peered into the powerful microscope. She pulled away, rubbing her eyes. 'I must be getting tired,' she thought, wiping the lens of her glasses.
Leaning forward again, she peered down onto the sliver of glass and shook her head. "It can't be," she whispered.
"Anything wrong?" Chester asked, approaching.
"Give me your hand," she demanded, grabbing a sterilized needle.
"Whoa!!" Chester protested, stepping back.
"Aww, c'mon," she said, grabbing his fingers.
Chester yelped as he felt the pin prick on the fleshiest part of his thumb.
"Owwww!! THAT HURT!"
"Wuss," she grinned, "all I wanted was a drop of blood."
Chester took one look at the smear of blood on his thumb, and promptly vomited.
Melody shook her head and let out a deep sigh. "You are worse than my kid sister," she said as she closed her eyes and cleaned Chester off with a towel.
"It's not my fault needles give me the creeps. When I was little I actually ran from the doctor. My parents had to hold me down to have my shots."
Chester looked up, into Melody's eyes. He couldn't forget those eyes, those big, piercing, can't-miss-anything brown eyes. He'd already decided they were her most noteworthy feature. They stood in sharp contrast to his own -- so inconspicuous that his glasses could very well substitute for them.
He knew instantly where he'd seen those eyes -- on a portrait of Dr. Hyden hanging in his office. They were the same ones, the same large, piercing brown eyes. He couldn't help but think -- was it really true? Could it be?

"An invite to the Goth mansion?" Edwin asked Melody over dinner. "You cannot be serious! Do you realize how big a deal this is?"
Melody shrugged. "It's not really that big of a deal."
"Do you know who he is?!?" Marla exclaimed. "He's only the most important man in all of Sim City. And the fact that you and Chester have been granted a private audience with him -- I mean that doesn't happen, like, ever. Especially not to lowly college students like us."
"Do you know what you're going to say to him?" Edwin asked.
"I guess, we're going to explain our project --"
Edwin took a deep breath. "That thing in the greenhouse out back?"
Melody sighed. "How do you know about that?"
"C'mon, Mel, it's not that big of a secret, you know. I know you and Chester have been up all night, every night, and you sneak out back every morning with a notepad."
Melody bristled. "How do you know all that?"
"Hey, you forget I lived in an apartment with the two loudest people on the face of the earth. You kind of get used to certain things after awhile."

Melody had asked Marla to help her pick out something to wear to the Goth mansion. "I'm no good at this," she complained.
"You'll find something to put on," Marla smiled.
"But I only own one dress!"
"Wear it."
"But it's not right, I mean, this is the Goth mansion we're talking about. And you know a whole lot more about clothes than I do."

Inside the Goth mansion, Melody and Chester jostled each other, shuffling uncomfortably. They were here by special invitation. Even though this elderly man barely reached their shoulders, with his stooped posture, he still commanded an air of authority. His watery eyes missed nothing.
"You CAN enter you know," he grumbled, rubbing at his lower back, "and make sure you close that door. The damp air plays havoc with my old joints."
Slowly they peered in. "You first," Chester whispered, nudging Melody on her shoulder. Melody took a deep breath. This was THE Mortimer Goth, who'd made his living with fabulous gadgets and years of studying extraterrestrial and paranormal phenomena. He'd amassed the most impressive fortune in all of Sim City, making Landgraab look like a pauper in comparison.
"I've heard you young'uns have been doing some good work." Mortimer chewed on his mustache and patted his head.
Melody could remember only two other occasions during which she'd truly been awestruck -- first, by meeting Darren Dreamer, and second, by meeting Dr. Hyden. This one, however, dwarfed them both.
Mortimer Goth managed to be both frail and imposing at the same time. The crotchety old CEO of Goth Industries told the pair to sit in his elegant, spacious dining room.
Melody, sharp eyed as usual, instantly spotted the pain in Mortimer's eyes, the accentuated gruffness in his voice and the slow way he moved from A to B. His spine, once straight as an arrow, now slightly curved, with his shoulders hunched in an exaggerated stoop "Alexander?" Mortimer called softly, "our guests are here."
From nowhere, creeping spectrally silent into the hallway, a tall, lanky, bespectacled boy appeared. "He's such a shy boy," Mortimer shook his head. "Completely withdrawn himself from everything, ever since his mother vanished."
Melody picked up the tone of regret in this elderly gent's voice. She and Chester already knew the story by memory. Several years ago, when Alexander was but a tot, Mortimer's wife, the legendary beauty Bella Bachelor Goth, had vanished. The current theory was that she'd been stargazing on Don Lothario's condo deck and been abducted by aliens. In his spare time (when he wasn't running and hiding from everyone) Chester spent a great deal of time researching the 'Bella Goth' conspiracies.
No one knew for sure what had happened to her. Ever since he saw (or thought he saw) a perfect lookalike wandering through Strangetown, he himself had many unproven theories of his own. Not renowned for being a 'sensitive soul' (Chester concluded that Edwin and Marla fit that bill) he himself saw the deep aura of sadness circling Mortimer.
Alexander stopped short, his mouth hung open at the sight of two strangers sitting at his dinner table.
"Alexander," his father called softly, "why don't you join us?"
Alexander flushed brightly before turning and fleeing.
Alexander was always in awe of his father. Keeping silent all the time but overhearing these two discussing his father's sorrow, an overwhelming urge crept over him. After all, wasn't he himself a witness to the wanton debauchery of his step mother Dina? She was always on the phone, calling all her 'conquests.' It was common knowledge that they didn't always get on. Actually, that was an understatement -- they hated each other on sight. Alexander didn't like Dina the moment he first saw her. Tall, blond, and beautiful, Dina slithered her way into his father's life like a snake. He hated the way she wrapped her slinky arms around him, how she told him everything she thought he wanted to hear. Especially after the disappearance of Bella, Dina was a ray of sunshine in his dark, dreary life. Or so he thought.
Why were they here? Alexander wondered. Were they here to pry? Were they spies?
Meanwhile, Mortimer's excellent turkey dish sat on the table. Melody, not usually one to eat, was famished after spending hours buried underneath stacks of yellowing texts in the Le Tour library.
Melody glanced over at Chester and saw him hyperventilating as he took his seat. Which meant, as usual, it would be up to her to explain the experiment.
Chester couldn't believe where he was, or where his journey with Melody had taken him. A year ago he wouldn't have dared to set foot in the Goth mansion, in the presence of a man he admired greatly. Now he was there, in his presence, explaining his work.
There was a definite air of hostility, when Melody and Chester came face to face with Dina.
Narrowing her eyes suspiciously, she shifted Manuel's heavy weight from one hip to the other.
Melody couldn't help noticing the resemblance to his mother.
His chubby fingers played with Dina's own hair as he nodded to sleep, his tiny little head lolling on her chest.
"Please excuse me," said Dina turning abruptly, "I'd better get this little man to bed."
His eyes were tight shut, so they couldn't quite see if he had Dina's or Mortimer's eye colour, but the resemblance to Dina was indeed very striking.
Meanwhile, the phone rang. "I'm sorry," Mortimer said, his tone regretful, "I've got to take this." Chester and Melody watched in awe as Mortimer disappeared toward the kitchen, where the phone was located. "Alexander, be a good host until I return."
Alexander inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. He didn't know these two, had never seen them before in his life, but yet they seemed strangely familiar to him, like he'd seen them before in another dimension.
Alexander slid into his chair, his eyes alternating between Chester and Melody, his face hopeful and expectant. But soon enough, his attention strayed to Melody. The easy going attitude she had, the way she gave him her full attention when he asked questions. It could have been his fertile imagination, or even his raging teen hormones. But he felt that Melody made him appear the single most important person at that table.
Melody herself, was flattered by the rapt attention this soft-spoken teenage boy gave her. How his pallid complexion flushed whenever she answered his questions and smiled at him.
Chester waited until the taxi pulled toward the curb. Then he pounced. "He was flirting with you," he declared loudly.
"What?" Melody was stunned.
"He was hanging on every word you said."
"C'mon, Chester, he's a kid. When kids see grownups around them, they're gonna mimic everything they say."
"Not the way he was 'mimicing.' He couldn't keep his eyes off of you." They walked into the taxi and rode back to Le Tour, jostling and needling each other the whole way.

Chapter Thirty-One (Part One)

2008-03-27T15:06:00.000-07:00

Back in Bluewater Village, Malcolm Landgraab IV spent the morning screaming into his receiver -- this time, at one of the contractors he'd hired to finish the strip mall he was building. "What?" he yelled. "You mean you can't finish the project because I can't procure the land? It's not my damn fault! I've done everything I can from my end. Can't you evict the Tinkers?"
He buried his face in his hands. He couldn't believe what was happening to him. He'd grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth -- and the lofty legacy of his family to protect -- and for the first time in his life he'd heard the word 'no.' For the first time in his professional career, someone had told him he didn't have permission to bulldoze their property. And it was a mere slip of a girl, too, barely out of her teens. Sure, he secretly admired her gumption, but did it have to happen to him? Why? And why now?
He reflected on the events that had taken place since that fateful Christmas party when everything as he'd known it in Bluewater Village had changed. Even the Bluewater to which he'd first arrived had changed, too, in no small part because of him. There were more businesses here now than full-time residences. The people had sacrificed their lives and lifestyles for, as he put it, the 'betterment of Bluewater.' But was it really?
His reverie was interrupted by the ringing doorbell. Ah, pleasurable company, the Missus Goth, née Dina Caliente. She'd recently wed the retired mad scientist, Mortimer Goth.
Malcolm took a look at Dina. She was certainly attractive, with blond waves that dusted her shoulders and cheery green eyes. Her red dress hugged her considerable curves in all the right places.
He had a weakness for this sort, and he knew he would need to check his lust at the door. After all, she was a married woman, and women married to men like Mr. Goth just didn't embark on relationships with him.
"What brings you here?" Malcolm asked almost breathlessly, attempting to hide his passion. His grandfather had warned him about Jezebels -- not to fall into their trap.
Dina was quite forthcoming. "I want a baby," she said outright, "and my husband is infertile."
"Have you tried fertility treatments?" Malcolm asked tersely.
"You, Mr. Landgraab, are the only fertility treatment I need," Dina said, "young and handsome and virile."
Malcolm sighed. "There's one minor flaw in your plan, Mrs. Goth," he said, "we're both blond haired and the Goth family is dark."
In a seductive voice Dina replied, after changing into another stunning outfit, "I'm -- sure -- we could work something out."
Malcolm marvelled at this striking woman's bravado. "Look," she said, her voice low, her gaze direct, "I don't care if it's from outer space. If I don't bear a child, I don't get a red cent of that massive fortune of his." She stroked her fingers lightly up his sleeve.
"So, what do you say?"
She was a woman after his own heart, determined, money driven. In a different scenario, this would have been perfect. But he realized how desperate she was. The Goths and the Landgraabs had always been society rivals, with the Goths always pipping the Landgraabs at the post for the biggest fortune accumulated in Simland. Dina wasn't exactly 'mother' material, and she knew it. Swallowing her pride, she had decided to 'make a go of it' on her wedding night. With a few grunts, and groans, and the fear that her poor husband's heart would give out before the night was over, Dina was deeply disappointed when she wasn't successful at conceiving a child.
Malcolm smirked at Dina. "Why didn't you try for that Ramirez guy you were banging?"
Dina blanched at the thought. "I did," she replied dryly, "but he was always 'careful.' Apparently, he was thinking about his 'family.'"
"And what happened?"
"He dropped me like a brick," Dina pouted, "some snot of a kid, went and blabbed about us to his wife."
Malcolm sighed. It all had come back to him now. Melody Tinker's stunning rant at the Bluewater Village Christmas party, during which she'd railed on everyone in town, himself included. Everything had come full circle. How the heck had she known about the affair? Malcolm wondered. With her obvious knack for finding out things, if they weren't bitter enemies, Malcolm would have put her on the pay roll.
Malcolm ushered Dina into his spacious living room and then led her to his hot tub. Without knowing it he'd fallen right into her trap.

Melody heard the sound of tinkling glass and her heart sank. She knew that meant only one thing. Her precious hybrid was about to suffer a swift and painful death. She'd kept that greenhouse at a constant 90 degree temperature while propagating the seedlings. But when she got to the greenhouse, there was nobody there. The only clue was the head of the plant lolling indulgently, its udders under it's chin slightly swollen. By the roots of the plant, there was a scrap of fleece, which by Melody's quick deductions, could only come from the costume of the cow mascot.
Quick as a flash, she pocketed the scrap of fabric. And waited for an opportune moment to dispose of it properly. The cow mascot was nowhere to be seen.
She grabbed her cell phone and buzzed Chester.
Chester was eating pizza with Jessica McClellan, his girlfriend, when the phone rang. "Hello?" Chester droned.
"Ches, it's me, Mel. Look, could you come over to Aldrich? Something's -- happened -- with the plant."
Chester didn't like the tone of Melody's voice. "I'm on my way as soon as I can," he told her, wiping the pizza crumbs from his mouth.
Jessica made a face. "Who was that?"
Chester didn't want to lie to her, but he didn't want to tell her the truth either.
"That was that psycho Melody, wasn't it? I tell you, Chester, with a friend like that who needs enemies?"
Chester let out a deep groan as he returned to his seat.

Dr. Marcel Hyden stepped out of a taxi and surveyed the exterior of Aldrich Honors Dormitory. A redhaired guy he knew well stepped outside, on his way to his night class. "Mr. Gieke!" Dr. Hyden called.
Chester was surprised. "Hello, Dr. Hyden," he greeted, "how are you today?"
Dr. Hyden rubbed his chin. He had no time for small talk. "Have you seen Miss Tinker?" he asked.
Frowning, Chester replied, "I don't live here. And if you're looking for Melody, she isn't here either."
Shaking his head, Dr. Hyden said, "Well, I'm sure you know what time she'll be back."
"If I did know," Chester told Dr. Hyden, "I sure as heck wouldn't tell you."
"Are you being smart with me, Gieke?" asked Dr. Hyden.
"I'm just telling you, I wouldn't know. I don't live here."
"I'd like to come in anyway, to inspect the premises."
Chester folded his arms. "Dr. Hyden, I know why you're coming. You're looking for that formula aren't you?"
"Look, Gieke, I don't know what you and Miss Tinker are trying to hide, but you can't hide too much longer. I'm on to you, the pair of you."
I dodged the military every day while I was in Strangetown, Chester thought, an aged, bespectacled professor doesn't frighten me at all. "You've got nothing on me or Melody," he shot back.
"Tinker's got you thinking you're both bullet proof. Well, you're sadly mistaken."
"Dr. Hyden, I realize you're a tenured professor who's been in your field for years, but can't you admit for once that someone has you beat?" Chester realized that it was six in the evening and it was time for him to go to his nuclear physics class. He was tempted to leave to go to his class, but he didn't trust Dr. Hyden to keep his nose out of Aldrich while he was gone.

Chapter Thirty (Part Two)

2008-03-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

Edwin was awakened by the sounds of hammer, screwdriver, and nails coming from across the hallway. He drowsily rose from his bed to see what was the racket -- although he suspected he knew what was causing it. It was Melody at her workbench. He shook his head in disbelief. "What are you doing?" he asked. "It's three-thirty in the morning!"
Melody grinned. "I couldn't sleep," she said.
"And you have to wake up the whole dorm?" As he said it, he couldn't hide the chuckle on his face. "Couldn't you pick a quieter activity, like reading a book or something?"
Melody grinned again. "I'm trying to build us a sentry bot."
"What's a sentry bot?" Edwin wondered.
"Think of what a sentry does. It's a guard," Melody explained. "Well, this is a robot that kind of does the same thing. It uses laser technology to zap its victims."
"Oh," Edwin mused. "Why are you making a sentry bot?"
"For the silly cow mascots and cheerleaders. They're so annoying!" Then Melody added, "The cheerleaders scream the school cheer in your face and the cow mascots play all kinds of tricks."
For Edwin, the sight of a woman happily hunched over a gray bench with a screwdriver and a hammer was a bit jarring, even if he knew Melody was a different sort of woman with a different background from the ones he'd met. Oh, he knew about her family, the famed toymakers the Tinkers. He figured they probably spent hours hunched over benches. But still, to him, seeing it was a bit surprising.

Dr. Hyden was sitting in his classroom going over his assignments when he stopped Melody as she was leaving. "Melody Tinker," he called as she was heading for the exit, "may I see you, please?"
Melody shrugged. "Sure, Dr. Hyden." She motioned to Chester, waiting at the door, that she was coming in a few seconds.
"I've carefully examined your profile and have discovered some very interesting things in it."
Leaning forward with interest, Melody asked, "What do you mean, interesting things?"
"I didn't realize you were an artist as well. My niece Delilah is an art major here and is also quite talented."
"I wish I still had time to paint," Melody admitted. "I'm so busy now I hardly have time to breathe. What I wouldn't give to commune with my canvas again."
Dr. Hyden continued. "A few years ago you were the Quigley award winner, and the winning painting is very interesting to me."
"Oh? In what way?"
Dr. Hyden leaned forth with a color-printed copy of Melody's painting on a sheet of paper. She barely recognized the girl in the painting -- the only way she realized it was her was the Hanover uniform she was wearing. But there were other details too, like the telescope and the bright blue beam and her backyard in the background.
Melody took a deep breath as she knew she'd been found out. Now would her dean be astute enough to discern her big secret?
"Is this your painting, Miss Tinker?"
Melody closed her eyes briefly before opening them again. "Yes."
"I must say myself, it's an intriguing painting. It seems to depict an abduction, am I correct?"
Melody reluctantly nodded her head.
"Are you the girl in the painting?"
Melody couldn't lie to her dean, but she couldn't tell him the whole truth, either. "Not exactly," she fibbed.
"What do you mean, 'not exactly'?"
"Well," Melody began, shocked that she'd have to answer this question again, "the whole scene is a dream sequence, a 'what if' type scenario. It's asking the question, what happens if aliens are out there? Would they want to establish a line of communication with humans?"
Dr. Hyden shook his head. "An interesting take on the age-old question, Miss Tinker," he said. But he wasn't sure he believed her story. "You say it does, in fact, depict an abduction -- is this one of your own imagination, or does it have basis in reality?"
"There really is no additional analysis needed," Melody said, getting more irritated. "It's just a painting depicting a dream sequence. Nothing more, nothing less. Why, did you think it was real?"
Dr. Hyden decided to change the subject. Filing his suspicion in the back of his mind for now, he had another matter he wanted to discuss with his star pupil. "Miss Tinker, I'm well aware of your demands for a DNA test."
Melody was firm. "It's the only way we're going to answer the question once and for all."
"I'm hearing you've been doing your own experiments with DNA."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, the plant growing at the back of your dormitory. I did a check of the list of students staying at Aldrich, and you're the only one I teach -- and the only one I could see doing something like this."
Melody shook her head. "So you think I'm growing this plant?"
"Miss Tinker, I've questioned everyone else who lives in your dorm. There's a girl who says she's actually seen you go off in the direction of the greenhouse in the back, so I know the plant is yours."
Melody immediately knew who had been the snitch -- Jessica McClellan. And she knew why, too. She knew Jessica was the only person in Aldrich who hated her enough to snitch on her.Just then Chester emerged. He had been at the door, listening. He couldn't allow Melody to take the fall for this alone, it wouldn't sit right with him.
"It's my plant," Chester said, with surety. "We grew it together as an experiment."
Melody was astonished. "Chester!" she exclaimed, half-whispering. "You don't --"
He put his finger over her mouth, looking into her eyes and grabbing her hand. The gesture did not go unnoticed by Dr. Hyden.
"How did you -- how did you come across such a strange hybrid?"
Melody spoke up. "I cannot disclose that information."
"You are going to tell me where you got the instructions to grow that plant -- or you will be expelled from school."
Melody and Chester looked at each other and took deep breaths. "We were doing this as a research project," Melody began. "We were attempting to see if plant and animal DNA could be combined to create something else entirely."
Dr. Hyden shook his head. "I have been teaching for many years, and I don't think I've ever encountered students like you two."
"What do you mean?" asked Chester.
"I've had students with curiosity and a passion for learning, but not on the level of you two."
"Coming from you," Melody said, "I'm not sure whether to take that as a compliment or not."
Dr. Hyden shook his head. "I'm having the biology dean, Dr. Straight, take a trip to Aldrich to get a look at the plant. But since the two of you are in my department, I'm the one who's going to ultimately decide what to do with you." His tone grew more ominous as he directly addressed Melody. "But I will say this -- it would be in your best interest to hand over your notes."
"Can we at least have time to consider our options?" asked Chester, acutely aware of Melody trembling beside him.
Dr. Hyden removed his bifocals and wiped them thoughtfully, apparently weighing up the odds. "And give you two the time to hide or destroy the evidence?" he replied squinting at them, "I think not."

Later that afternoon, Chester decided to play pinball in the Le Tour student union. Melody, coming from the press room, spotted him and decided to join him. Seeing her out of the corner of his eye, he broke out into a wide grin. But Melody was deadly serious. "Hyden's outrageous!" she cried. "He thinks he can beat me."
"Well," Chester replied, "he's got the doctoral degrees and the position as dean of the department. He can do whatever he wants."
"Not if I can help it," Melody sighed.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you see what he's doing, Chester?" asked Melody. "He's trying to blackmail us into giving up our work. You think I'm going to allow him to get the credit? That's not going to happen. I don't care what I have to do."
Chester stopped and looked at Melody. He knew she was serious and he knew her tone was ominous. He knew the last time he saw that look -- just before she returned to Bluewater Village over Christmas break. She hadn't told him what happened there, but he knew something had occurred. He put his hand on hers. "Don't do anything rash," he warned.

Melody had a hard time paying attention in Dr. Hyden's Principles of Astronomy class. While listening to him lecture on quasars, she realized that this was the same man attempting to blackmail her into giving up her pet project. Not in this lifetime, she said to herself. She also wondered how many other students he'd done this to over the years.
Chester, sitting in front of her, had hastily scribbled a note and passed it to her. "Hey Mel," it began, "meet me in the student press room after your next class."
Folding it up and putting it in her notebook, she looked again at the diagrams and formulas Dr. Hyden had put on the chalkboard. She decided she was going to focus on the material and not on the person teaching it.
"Tonight's the lunar eclipse, isn't it?" asked Melody.
Chester shook his head. "Goodness, Mel, are you a computer? I forgot all about that."
"How could you have forgotten? They've been saying it on the news for the last two weeks. We're not going to see another one for two more years."
"You've been looking forward to it for the last two weeks, I bet," Chester chuckled.

That evening Chester and Melody had found their way to the top of the observatory tower in the astronomy building. "What time did they say the lunar eclipse was going to start?" Chester asked.
"The almanac said it starts at eight seventeen and ends at ten thirty."
"Two whole hours." Chester took a deep breath. "Is that how long it takes for the sun's shadow to completely obscure the moon?"
Melody adjusted the knobs on the telescope. "Hey, this is one of those that's supposed to take pictures, right? Is there a way to set that up?"
"Dr. Hyden was showing us," Chester said, leaning over to press a button on the bottom, "I think you turn that knob there and press that button to take pictures."
"Oh," Melody said, shaking her head. "I think I'll take a few practice shots of the Milky Way."
Chester gazed longingly at Melody, thinking to himself that on a night like tonight, he'd like to wrap his arms around her. But right now he wanted to wrap his hands around one of the tuna fish sandwiches he'd packed. "I'm hungry," Chester said between bites. "Do you want one?"
Melody looked at Chester holding the soggy sandwich in his hand. She liked him -- liked him a lot, but sometimes she found him ingratiating. "Uh, no thanks," she replied. "I'm not hungry. Besides, according to my watch the eclipse is supposed to start in two minutes and twenty seconds."
"How about a drink?" Chester popped open a can of soda and the fizz could be heard for awhile afterward. While he took a sip, he managed to spill some on his shirt.
Shaking her head, Melody responded, "Two minutes."
Chester hurriedly packed his food, but left out his tuna fish sandwich. Between bites, he couldn't help but glance back at Melody. My goodness, she's the brightest star out here, he thought to himself.
"One minute," Melody said, aiming the telescope to the northwest sky. Satisfied that the sky wasn't going to be cloudy, as forecasted on the news, Melody decided to sit on the blanket, next to Chester, and watch this natural light show. Her hand briefly brushed against Chester's, causing an electric bolt through his arm, straight to his heart.
He gasped weakly, and glanced across at her.
She drew her hand away. "Oops, sorry," she muttered distractedly, "did I catch you just then?"
"No," he panted, feeling his fair skin tingling as the blood rushed through to his scalp. Thank goodness for the velvety darkness surrounding them.
He leaned towards her, lightly brushing against her arm, the excuse being that his leg was in cramp.
Her skin felt soft, yet cold.
"Oh my," he exclaimed loudly, "you're freezing. Let me get you something to keep you warm."
Touched by his generosity, Melody only smiled. "I'm fine, really," she replied, her hands slid up and down her arms.
Realizing they'd only brought the blanket they sat upon, and it would take at least an hour to run back to the dorm, Chester removed his favorite sweater and draped it over Melody's shoulders. There was a moment, just then, when their eyes locked. He peered through his glasses and past hers.
He leaned forward only fractionally, hoping that she wasn't about to skitter away. When she didn't move, he tried again,using the excuse that his sweater was falling off her shoulder and needed adjusting. Those brown eyes were intense, deep pools of determination he could drown in. He could feel her warm breath in short gasps as he kept approaching. "SQUELCH!!"
As Chester had leaned across, he needed a little balance and he'd put his hand out to steady himself right into the middle of his now soggy tuna sandwiches. "EWWW," he groaned, sitting back, trying to inspect his hand.
Melody stifled a nervous giggle, quite out of character for her. She got up, dusted herself off, and returned to the telescope to get pictures of the eclipse.

Melody was still stargazing when a limousine pulled up in front of the astronomy building. She stopped and looked around, and a blond girl with braids got out and eyed her warily. "Okay, hands up!" said the girl in a meek voice.
Melody was perplexed. What's going on here? she wondered. When she tried to return to her telescope, the blond girl cleared her throat. "You're coming with me."

"Me?" Melody asked, shrugging her shoulders. "What did I do? I'm telling you, I didn't do anything!"
The blond girl jammed her hands firmly on her hips and scowled. "Yeah, right," she muttered, "where've I heard THAT one before? Just come with me, Tinker." The girl struggled to handcuff Melody, who was fit and strong from working out and lifting weights, but managed to lead her to the limousine.
They rode in silence until Melody's insatiable curiosity kicked in. "Where are we going?" asked Melody.
A man's voice from behind a tinted black window responded, "You shall see for yourself."
Finally they arrived at an imposing older building that resembled a castle, complete with a moat. It was like Melody had stepped backwards in time. Waiting to greet her were Robin Simpson from one of her math classes and another girl she didn't know, who wore her hair in two black buns. As the rain drops began falling steadily, Robin stepped up to Melody and handed her a black blazer with a llama crest on it.
"Go ahead, put it on," squealed the other girl. "You're one of us now!" Melody squinched, but eventually she put on her blazer.
Her mind began to wander. Examining the medieval decor, she gazed upon the grim reaper phone, a special phone with an amber glow. Could it be possible, she thought, rubbing her chin, that one had the power to control death itself? Melody was familiar with itches, and like all the rest, this one tickled at her, refusing to go away.
"Don't even think about it," came a whisper.
Melody whipped around to come face to face with none other than Jessica McClellan, Chester's girlfriend.
"What do you want?" Jessica asked, her voice taking on a sinister cadence. "I've been watching you, Tinker."
"Likewise," came the tart reply.
Jessica blanched at the thoughts of being 'observed.' Even though they were wearing the same colors, there was no love lost between them.
"I love him," Jessica replied, "and there's nothing you can do or say about it."
"I know your type," Melody shot back, "you don't love anyone but yourself. Does he know about you and Chaz?"
"Oh, please!" Jessica cried. "I wouldn't touch Chaz Whippler with a ten foot pole!"
"That's not what I've heard."
"Oh really. And where exactly did you get your information? The guy himself?" Jessica chuckled. "He's so in love his his car, I'm surprised he hasn't married it by now."
It was a cruel shot, and Melody winced at Jessica's crudeness. But she was not done. "And what the heck do you know? You're no different. You're so in love with your robots and telescope, you make no time for anything or anyone else."
Melody took a deep breath. Her mind flashed back, to the insults hurled at her by Sarah and the girls at Hanover Academy. Jessica's rant and Sarah's became indistinguishable. "That was harsh, Jessica."
"Demi told me, she found you stargazing!"
Melody shrugged. "What can I say, I love astronomy. Have since I was a little girl."
"You're an oddball, Tinker," Jessica chuckled. "I wonder what the heck Chester sees in you, he talks about you constantly."
"Just because Chester's your boyfriend and all, doesn't give you the excuse to belittle everyone else in his life!"
"Because I'm his girlfriend, who else does he need?"
Melody fumed. "Listen, sister. I've been in his life long before you even sauntered into the picture, and I'll be around long after you've sashayed your little way out of it. So let me give you a little piece of advice. Get used to it, okay?"

Chapter Thirty (Part One)

2008-03-06T16:18:00.000-08:00

While Wanda and Florence were busy digging up the Tinker homestead, Melody and Chester had made their way downstairs, to their secret laboratory in the basement of Aldrich dormitory, in the dead of night. Chester couldn't believe he'd agreed to this. Why was he following her, again? What was it about this tall, dark, lanky, bespectacled woman that intrigued him so?
She told him to take a seat in the contraption of wires she called a chair. As he waited, a wave of apprehension came over him and he felt nauseous.
He wasn't too good with blood at the best of times. And there was yet another fear that crept up his spine.
Something that had been niggling at the back of his mind for a while now. He was relieved, however, when Melody approached him, carrying a wooden spatula.
"Stick your tongue out," she said, matter of factly.
If it wasn't for the seriousness of the situation, Chester would have laughed out loud. But there was something about the determination in Melody's face that stopped him. As she handed him her notes on the plant's progress and growth, he chopped hybrid seedlings to examine them under the microscope. They wanted to make sure every seedling had developed to their exacting standards.
But Melody noticed that Chester had cut his finger. Leaning over towards him, she sprayed an antibacterial and covered the wound with a bandage. Chester couldn't help himself. He was grinning from ear to ear.
Then Melody examined some of the seedlings again. She noticed their cellular structure had been changed because of the droplets of Chester's blood that had made it onto them. "Chester," Melody called, "could you come see this?"
Chester shuffled over to where Melody had the seedlings underneath the microscope. "Hmm, I really can't discern a difference."
"There's definitely a difference, Chester. I'm wondering if there's something in that blood that made that cell structure change."
Melody decided to try something. She made an incision in her own finger and smeared the blood on another seedling, afterwards covering it with a bandage and spraying an antibacterial.
"What are you doing?" asked Chester.
"I'm trying to see if my blood will make a difference in the cell structure of the seedling."
Chester chuckled silently to himself as he shook his head. A few moments later, Melody checked to see if there was any noticeable changes to the cell structure of the seedlings she'd contaminated with her blood. Even though there were changes, they weren't as dramatic as the ones that had been contaminated with Chester's blood.
But Melody was serious. Folding her arms, she looked him in the eye. "Tell me the truth, Chester. I feel like you're hiding something from me. We should have no secrets, as long as we've known each other."
Chester had to admit, Melody could be intimidating at times. He felt like she could see right through him. Must be the heiress in her, he thought to himself. Taking a deep breath, Chester sadly admitted, "I'm part alien."
Melody shook her head in astonishment. "No, wait, Ches, you didn't just say that. You're not telling me you have alien ancestry, are you? That's impossible."
"Anything's possible when you're from Strangetown."
Melody turned away from Chester, trying to process this new information. "We've been chatting for four years about abductions and conspiracies, and you never once told me someone in your own family had been abducted."
"Well, it's not something you entirely feel comfortable about admitting."
"I felt comfortable enough with you to tell you about my abduction!"
"Yes, but that was different."
"How, Chester? How?" Melody took a deep breath, realizing this should be no big deal and she needed to calm down. "You're still the only person in the world who knows about that. I don't tell my secrets to just anybody."
When Melody looked away, Chester recognized that look. It was the one she got when she wanted to be left alone.
"Melody -- " Chester put his hand on her shoulder. "Melody, I'm sorry, really, I am. I really should have told you."

"I remember this box," Wanda said wistfully. "It's all of Melody's stuff from when she was little." "You kept everything?" Florence asked.
"Yep. Stephen and I kept everything -- her old drawings, her report cards, even her cute little baby dresses." Wanda held out one of them for Florence to see. "I wonder if Harmony could fit this now."
Florence shook her head. "Melody does seem to have been very small. Just look at her now."
"Look, here's her black and blue striped sleeper. She loved that one, she never wanted to wear anything else." Wanda sighed. "You remember, Florence, me telling you that we had a hard time getting Melody to play with toys, till we just gave up on it?"
Florence nodded.
"Before my mother died I took Melody to see her. They bonded immediately, in a way that my mother and I never did. I believe they communicated with each other even back then, even though my mother was aged and my daughter could barely talk. Melody doesn't remember this, but my mom bought her all kinds of little things. Curiously, she knew not to buy Melody any toys, no dolls or teddy bears and such, even though I'd never told her about the jack-in-the-box incident. She'd bought her books and stuff."
"Did your mother know Melody was going to be knowledge-oriented?"
"I think she suspected it. Melody was always asking her to read to her, she said. Sometimes I think if Melody were their child, my parents would have adored her."
Florence nodded again. "We are supposed to be looking for those papers."

Meanwhile, Melody had slept in the next morning, which was highly unusual for her. She shuffled out of bed as the moonlight filtered through her bedroom window. She'd taken a dump, a shower, and gone out to her greenhouse to check on her 'baby', the cowplant she was growing as an experiment.
She couldn't get over what Chester had told her the night before. Her best friend, himself, was part-alien. That explained why, when he touched the computers in the laboratory, electric voltage shot through them. She felt a slight tinge of jealousy towards him -- if only there were people that exciting in HER family tree. Of course, she wasn't entirely sure of the other half of it yet. Only the DNA could tell her for sure, whether the astronomy professor or the policeman toymaker was her biological father.
She knew she was risking getting found out, but she didn't care. She needed to check it out, to see how it was progressing. Whipping out her notepad, she measured its height and circumference, and carefully pulled weeds around it and watered it.
It seemed like the more she knew, the more she wanted to learn.
"I can't believe you, Chester Gieke," Melody said, approaching him for breakfast. "I can't believe after all this time, you'd keep a secret like that from me."
Chester sighed. "Mel -- I'm sorry, really. It's just -- I wasn't sure --"
"C'mon, Chester, I spilt my guts out about that night to you -- or what I remember about that night."
"My heritage is not something I take lightly, and you're the only person I've told so far. Not even Jessica knows." Chester took a deep breath. "It was my great-great-grandfather. He'd been abducted back in Strangetown."
Melody sighed. "So your great-grandfather was half-alien."
"Pollination Technician #6," Chester said, "was my great-great-great grandfather."
"How did you find this out?"
Chester looked away. "I hacked into the Strangetown Town Hall archives, which had been put on computer." He went on to tell her his family's sorry story. He told her he'd been born in Bluewater as an only child, and after his parents died, he was shipped to Strangetown to his only remaining living adult relative -- his uncle, Dieter. Dieter Gieke had been a robot maker and surrounded himself with gadgets of all kinds. Dieter also had two children -- a boy and a girl. Chester didn't get along as well with the male cousin -- who was his age -- as he did the female, who was younger.
"My uncle Dieter believed the military -- led by one infamous General Buzz Grunt -- was watching us. There were these tanks that would roll down our street all the time. Then helicopters circled our house all the time."
"I can't imagine what that would be like. Were you scared?"
Chester took a deep breath. "I was, kinda. Then there was that Loki Beaker guy. Frankly he gave me the creeps."
Melody made a face. "I've heard of him. Wasn't he the one who did those experiments on --"
"Yeah, that's him." Chester continued. "My uncle was under a lot of pressure. Not only did he have to deal with the authorities breathing down his neck, but then there was the electronics shop he ran in Bluewater after my dad died."
Melody's eyes flew open as she gasped. "You mean the Electronics Superstore -- it belonged -- to YOUR family?"
Chester nodded sadly.
Melody could feel herself filling with rage. "Malcolm Landgraab -- that greedy, selfish bastard! I kind of figured he wouldn't be interested in any electronics -- except to make money off of them."
"I didn't find out what had happened until much later, too late for me to have done anything about it. After my uncle died everything got scattered, sort of what happened after your dad passed." Chester heaved a deep sigh. "My uncle was very cryptic about my heritage. He had to be, really. He'd only said bits and pieces to me, about us Giekes having a kinship with aliens and an interest in astronomy -- that was pretty much all I had to go on until I came here. I still have no idea where my cousins are, I haven't seen or heard from them since I left Strangetown to attend school here."
Melody put a hand on Chester's shoulder. "We're going to find them," she vowed.
Chester was desperate to change the subject. "Did you lock up the remaining seeds?"
Melody smiled. "Of course I did. You know those seeds absolutely cannot get into the wrong hands."

Meanwhile, Dr. Joseph Young, faculty adviser of the Le Tour math team, walked into a nearly empty classroom, save for two mop-haired guys who were talking amongst themselves. "Where's your third wheel, Gieke?" he asked Chester, eyeing him. "I see you've brought Mr. Sharpe here, excellent."
"She's coming," Chester said, and no sooner had he said it than Melody barged into the door, dropping her books all over. "Sorry I'm late," she said as Chester and Edwin rushed to help her pick up her mess. "I got caught up in my research project on the time and space continuum and lost track of the time."
The boys shrugged. That was the Melody they knew, all right.
Dr. Young took his index card off his desk and read it aloud. "You are Melody Tinker, right?"
Melody nodded.
"And you're double-majoring in astronomy and mathematics and minoring in art and anthropology."
Melody nodded again.
"That's quite a courseload, young lady." Dr. Young managed a chuckle. "Can't say you're not making the most of your time here."
The three friends sat in the front row of the classroom while Dr. Young handed them a sheet of sample questions. For the next hour they bantered back and forth about word problems, quadratic equations, sines and cosines, and other such mathematical terms. Dr. Young hardly did anything. He sat most of the time with his arms folded and his mouth gaped open. He felt satisfied that these were the right students to represent Academie Le Tour in the upcoming collegiate math competition.

It was the middle of the night and it was unseasonably warm. Chester could hardly sleep, so his legs carried him, unconsciously, towards Aldrich Hall. How or why, he simply couldn't understand, but he found himself stood at the front entrance.
Normally he would ring, but it was pretty late and he guessed the others were either asleep or out partying. The air conditioning was working a lot better here than at his place and he found it easier to concentrate. As he was busy working on his assignment, he felt a sudden surge of electricity. That meant only one thing.
Melody was in the basement.
Chester guessed that she couldn't sleep either, but he also knew the basement wasn't exactly the ideal place to cool down.
Trotting down the steep stairs, Chester opened the door and peered in. Slumped over a desk fast asleep was Melody. Judging by the notes on the computer, she'd been here for hours.
He was beginning to get worried for her. This 'project' was beginning to consume her. If she wasn't careful, she'd burn herself out, just like his uncle. He'd witnessed Dieter Gieke, a powerfully built man with fabulous ideas who worked on complicated machinery, reduced to a fair shell of himself.
Dieter was a strapping man. Melody was tall, but slight.
Shaking Melody gently, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her back to her suite, where he laid her gently down on the bed. Even though he was slightly built, he was astonished at how light Melody felt in his arms.
Leaning down, Chester gently rubbed her forehead, leaving the comforter neatly folded at the foot of the bed. He knew that she was stubborn and wouldn't listen, but he also knew that if she didn't slow down and take on so much responsibility, then the Melody he knew and loved would soon vanish before his very eyes.
He couldn't let that happen. And he wasn't the only person who noticed, either.

Very early the next morning, after Melody had gotten her bearings, she stared at her computer, at a foreign series of numbers and letters on the screen. She knew this had been her dream and she knew this was why she'd put up her paintbrushes, but the urge was still there, still latent. She could not help herself.
Turning off the machine, Melody went hunting for her painting supplies. She found her watercolors, a few stray canvases, and her old trusty folding easel she'd had since she was eight. Maybe it was time for a new one, she thought.
Staring at the blank canvas, Melody wondered to herself, what am I doing? What the heck am I doing? Did I still have it? Or have my painting days passed me by?
Like she used to, Melody dipped her brush into the palette and dashes of color appeared on the canvas. She wasn't sure what she was doing or why she was doing it, all she knew was she was doing one of the things she loved. Just like old times. And just like old times, she'd managed to forget everything that was happening around her -- tuned it out -- and concentrated on her piece.
Just then Marla walked in. "I was just putting this right --" She then looked up at Melody's painting. "Wow. I didn't know you painted. You're REALLY good."
Melody didn't pay any attention to her. Engrossed in her canvas, she'd lost herself in what she was doing.
"Why don't you paint more often?" asked Marla, still astonished at Melody's obvious talent.
Halfway through her UFO painting, and hiding it just the same, risking smearing the paints all over the back of her shirt, Melody finally muttered, somewhat absent-mindedly, "I wish I had time. I'm so busy, frankly --" Hastily attempting to cover her easel with a blanket, Melody stumbled.
All of this made Marla even more suspicious. "Melody, what are you hiding from me? We're supposed to be best friends, why do we have secrets? Before today, I didn't even know you painted. What can't you do?"
"Fly," Melody shot back sarcastically.
"And I bet you're working on that." Marla took a deep breath. "Mel, I'm really sorry for reading your journal. It was just sitting there on the bed and I couldn't help myself. Besides, I was worried about how much time you were spending away from the dorm."
Melody let out a deep sigh. "Pardon me, Marla, but it's not really any of your business what I do."
"I know, but it's just that I care about you a lot and I worry about you. I worry about all my friends. That's how I am." Marla set a small wrapped gift box on top of Melody's bed and walked out.
Getting herself together, Melody uncovered her canvas. Her curiosity getting the better of her again, she picked up Marla's package and untied the bow. Carefully she unsealed the wrapping paper, discovering the volume. 'The Blind Watchmaker' by Richard Dawkins. Inside was a note. "I picked this up when I was in the used bookstore downtown. I know you're going to go through this in one evening, but I figured since you're into science, this would be something that interested you. Marla."
Melody put her copy of The Blind Watchmaker in her bookcase and returned to her set of numbers. "I feel like I'm close," she muttered to herself, "I feel like I'm close to a breakthrough."

Chaz Whippler sat down in front of his dormitory when he spotted Melody, her curly ponytail flying, walking up to the entrance. She was cradling a basketball in her arm. Chaz shook his head. "What, are you kidding? I thought we were supposed to be going over sines and cosines today."
Melody couldn't help herself. "We will," she kidded, "on the court." As Chaz gave her a confused look, Melody twirled the basketball on top of her middle finger.
"I didn't know you were into sports," he said.
Laughing heartily, Melody replied, "I used to play a lot with my dad in the backyard when I was younger. Soccer, baseball, football, basketball. My mom used to fuss because I'd come in the house having ripped my dresses. Did you think I spent all day in the house reading?"
Chaz again shook his head. This Melody Tinker was one surprise after another.
After changing to her exercise gear, Melody sprinted to the newly-installed basketball hoop in front of Lam Plaza Dormitory and began bouncing her basketball. "Hey Chaz," she shouted, "Michael Jordan didn't wait for his competition."
He came out of the dorm with his tennis shoes on and met Melody at the basketball hoop. "I'll beat you yet."
"You couldn't beat a dead man, Chaz," joked Melody.
"I may not be super fit like you but I play a little bit." Bouncing the ball, Chaz tried to demonstrate his dead-eye shooting prowess, but his underhanded shot bounced off the rim.
Melody tried to stifle giggles. "Here, Chaz, let me show you." She placed the basketball in his hand. "Bouncing the basketball allows you to get maximum lift on your shot. You're supposed to shoot over your head at precisely a forty-five-degree angle. One little bit off and your shot doesn't go through the net. It either bounces left or right off the iron, depending on the direction your shot angle misses." She shot the ball ten times, and each time the basketball went through the netting.
Chaz was amazed. What other surprises would the ponytailed wonder hold for him? They stood outside shooting baskets on that brisk winter day, the breezes cutting their cheeks and warming their hands by blowing into them. The game ended when Chaz received yet another phone call from a female companion, and Melody remained outside the dorm, practicing her free throw stroke.

Chapter Twenty-Nine (Part Two)

2008-03-02T14:29:00.000-08:00

Edwin flopped down on one of the chairs in the Le Tour library. Marla looked up from her book. "Something wrong?" she asked.
Sighing, he took his glasses off and wiped them roughly on his tee shirt.
"It's Roxie and that creep Jonah again," he said, rolling his eyes.
"I thought you'd left there for good."
"I got a call from Roxie, asking to pick up a package from mom and dad. When I got there, you could hear them from outside."
Marla shook her head.
"I wish they'd stop, or at least she'd dump him."
Melody raised her eyes only ever so slightly, she was used to hearing about Edwin's sister and the massive rows that she had with her boyfriend. They were the reason Edwin had come back to live in the dorms in the first place.
"What was it this time?" asked Marla, the draw of Edwin's family life far more important than the research she was supposed to be working on.
"The same as always." he sighed, putting his glasses back on. "Now creep face is accusing her of sleeping around."
"That sucks."
"Yeah, apparently she's been spending a lot of time getting extra tutoring from one of the professors."
Marla slammed the book down.
"There's nothing wrong with that," she said, defensively.... "especially if she's falling behind with her course work. Anyway, from what I gathered, he needn't talk, he's worse than her. I've heard rumors..."
Melody raised her head from her studies. "Out of curiosity," she said softly.
Everybody turned to look at her. It was rare for Melody to get involved in anybody's business.
"Which professor was it?"
"Oh, Dr. Hyden."
Edwin's offhand remark felt harmless enough, but Melody felt sick. So, the other day, it was Roxie who'd been in Dr Hyden's office. It wasn't some random female after all. "Erm," Melody put her book down carefully and tried to compose herself, "Ed, how long has this been going on for?"
Edwin didn't say anything. He didn't have to. Melody had already made a mad dash away from the table, toward the nearest restroom.
While he and Marla sat dumbfounded, Melody locked herself in the restroom and proceeded to throw up her dinner. After wiping her mouth, she collapsed in a heap near the toilet and enveloped herself in her arms, sobbing.
Finally Marla gathered up the courage to knock on the door. "Melody?" she asked in her sweet voice. "Melody, are you okay?"
Pressing her ears closer to the door, Marla listened to another round of purging. "Can I take you to the campus infirmary?"
Motioning for Edwin to come forth, Marla shook her head. "Ed, she's locked herself in the bathroom --"
"I'll talk to her." Edwin joined Marla at the doorway to the main bathroom on the first floor. "Mel?" he asked, knocking gently. "Mel, are you all right?"
"Leave me alone!" shouted Melody from behind the doorway.
Edwin and Marla looked at each other. "Yep, she's okay," Marla told Edwin.
Just then they turned around after hearing the click of the doorknob. Melody emerged as if nothing had happened, dusting herself off.

Melody sprang from her bed before sunrise one morning, before even the dorm cook arrived. She turned the key on the padlock to her secret laboratory and walked inside, flicking the light switch. Immediately she walked to where she and Chester had placed the seeds they were making. "Yes! They're ready!" she squealed excitedly like a little girl getting her Christmas gifts.
Putting on her lab gloves, she removed the seeds from the container they'd been kept in and ran to the greenhouse in the back of the dormitory she and Chester had built specifically for this experiment. Humming to herself, she prepared a spot of ground for the seeds to be planted. She'd never gardened before, but she found that she liked tilling the earth, preparing it to bring life forth.
Next she dropped the seeds into the hole that she'd dug, covered them back up with dirt, and watered them. Now all she could do was wait. Would their experiment be a success -- or crash and burn?

Edwin joined Melody for a late-night cup of coffee. "I hate her," Melody muttered between sips, shaking her head in disgust.
Edwin knew instantly she was referring to Jessica McClellan, Chester's new girlfriend. Lightly touching her on the shoulder, he responded, with his soft calm voice, "Calm down, Mel. You hardly know her."
"I know enough about her to know that I can't stand that bimbo. He's so enamored with this girl that he can't see that she's only using him."
"How do you know that?" Edwin asked. As Melody washed the cups up, a dim realization crept through his caffeine-fogged brain. Listening to her caffeine-tinged rant, he wondered, is it possible? He shook his head, trying to remove the thought, but it stuck there, unwilling to go away. What if he was wrong? Quite out of character, Edwin asked, "You like Chester, don't you, Mel?"
Melody's jaw dropped to the floor. "C'mon, Edwin, he's my best friend in the whole world. Of course I like him."
"You know what I mean -- you know, a different kind of like. For a boyfriend."
As Melody continued to categorically deny that she liked Chester 'that way,' Edwin realized that the more he thought about it, the more he realized Chester felt that way towards Melody. He thought about the amount of times he'd seen Chester following her around like a puppy, and the way his face lit up whenever she was in the room and darkened when she left it. Could he possibly dare to intervene and knock their heads together? Or should he leave matters be and see what happens next?
Melody sighed heavily, dark rings beginning to appear under her eyes. "I'm turning in now," she said, a defeated tone in her voice.
Edwin raised his eyebrows. Mel? Tired? It was never heard of.
This left him alone in the dorm, alone with his thoughts and feelings. Sure, he loved and respected Melody, but he also realized she was wearing herself thin too. Oh, he knew about the late night trysts. Being a light sleeper, thanks to Roxie and Jonah's loud music, he often heard Melody's soft footfalls and hand claps as she passed his door. He also heard the low whispers of two voices -- one was distinctly Melody's, raspy and throaty but with a distinctly feminine cadence, and the other, a lot more muffled, he was sure, belonged to Chester.
He also wondered about the fluctuations in the dorm's power grid that occurred at about midnight every night, and the sudden appearance of a greenhouse out back. He knew something was going on, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Melody found herself face-to-face with Chester's girlfriend, Jessica McClellan, over the starchy macaroni and cheese served in Aldrich that evening. Melody stared Jessica in the eye and waited for her to blink.
"Just who do you think you are?" Jessica asked, staring straight into Melody's brown eyes.
"That's funny," retorted Melody, "I was just about to ask you the same question."
"This is about Chester, isn't it?"
"So what if it is?" Melody was adamant. "He's my best friend in the whole world, and I don't want to see him get hurt. Especially not by the likes of you."
Jessica's cheeks turned beet red through her porcelain skin. "What makes you think I'm going to actually hurt Chester?"
"I know your type, Jessica. Girls like you are a dime a dozen. You tease guys into thinking they're your one and only when it turns out you've got 3 or 4 others on the side."
"Why are you sitting here making all kinds of assumptions about me? Is it because of my blond hair? Or my outfit? Well, all your assumptions are wrong. I love him and he loves me."
"Oh, don't give me that bull, Jessica! You wouldn't know what love is if it stared you in the face and made you beg for mercy!"
"As if you can talk, Melody Tinker. I've heard all the rumors. Everyone around campus has. Everyone around here knows you've never been on a date."
"That's none of your business anyway! Remember what you just said about assumptions, Jessica? Just because you hear something, doesn't mean it's true. And besides, you're belaboring the point. The point is, I know you've been a notch on Chaz Whippler's bedpost."
Jessica was aghast. "Who told you that?"
"Doesn't matter who told me, just that I know. Besides, I'm tutoring Whippler in math. Now, if I tell that to Chester, you're finished. Case closed."

Back in Bluewater Village, Malcolm Landgraab IV was in his mansion on the telephone, screaming to his lawyer. "Lawson, we have got to act now! Time is money, and we're wasting a lot of both with this kid and her little toy store. Do you have something, anything you can use to try to force them off the property?" Banging his fist on the table, Malcolm screamed louder. "Well, Lawson, you've got to do something. Say anything! Say something to make these people wake up!" Slamming the receiver on the hook, Malcolm vowed, "Tinker Toys will be mine if it's the last thing I do."
Meanwhile Wanda Tinker had gone to her mailbox, like she always had done every three days. Among her stack of bills was a thick package coming from the law offices of M. Quincy Lawson. "Oh boy, I hope it's not jury duty again," she sighed. She opened the letter and read its contents: "Dear Mrs. Tinker, according to city council records, there have been a few land disputes in and around Bluewater Village. In order to clarify your land rights, we suggest you hand in a copy of your registry documents as proof that you are, indeed, the rightful owner of both your residence and your business...Sincerely, M. Quincy Lawson, Attorney at Law."
Puzzled, Wanda wondered what the attorney's words meant. She didn't understand the legal language of the letter, so she called someone who she thought might know more. "Florence?" she asked, listening to the Delarosa phone ring once, twice, three times.
Florence was busy dealing with customers in her flower shop who'd mostly come in to seek the new shipment that had arrived. But the tone in Wanda's voice told her something was wrong. Discreetly she tried to carry on the conversation while tending to the customers. "So you got a suspicious letter today in the mail?" she asked while showing a customer a blooming lily plant.
"Really strange, Florence. From some lawyer."
Florence frowned. "A lawyer, huh?" she replied while talking to a customer. "This is trouble. I knew he'd try this."
"Who?" asked Wanda.
"This is the handiwork of none other than the man himself."
Wanda, warming a jar of toddler food for Harmony in the kitchen, heaved a sigh. "Malcolm Landgraab."
Florence's voice was sweet, but firm. "You've got to tell her."
"Call Melody at college?" asked Wanda while feeding Harmony her strained carrots. "No way! I can't bother her with this. She deserves to have a normal college life, free from all this stuff."
Florence nodded. "I know she does. Heaven knows the child's been through more stuff than people twice her age -- and she's handled it a whole heck of a lot better than I would, that's for sure." Managing a chuckle, Florence suddenly turned serious. "This is as important to her as it is to you. Perhaps more so." Taking a deep breath as she rang up a customer with the phone in her ear, she then asked about the contents of the letter.
"I didn't understand it really. Something about land rights."
"Oh, no!" exclaimed Florence while ringing up another customer. "He's disputing your claim to your property. He wants copies of your deed. Do you know where they are?"
Wanda whispered "no" sadly.
"That's the point. He thinks you don't know where the papers are, so he's putting pressure on you to find them. Typical."
"Okay, so now what do I do?"
"I'm coming over to help you as soon as I'm done over here."
The phone rang in Aldrich again. "Hello?" asked Melody, bewildered.
"Hi sweetie, it's me, Florence."
Melody piped up at Florence's sweet-sounding voice. "Hi, Ms. Florence, what's up?"
"Melody dear, Malcolm is turning up the heat again. He's asked your mother for proof the land the toy store is built on is actually your family's land."
Melody shook her head. "Un-believable!" she shouted. "He'll stop at nothing, won't he?"
"And as you can probably understand, your mother is freaking out about it."
"Is she there right now? Can I talk to her?"
"I'm in the flower shop. She doesn't know I called you."
Melody sighed. "I see. So in other words he wants the deed to the property."
"Basically, yes."
"And she's freaking out because she can't find it and she doesn't know where it is."
"Basically, yes."
Melody took a deep breath. "Could you tell her to look in the file cabinet by the computer in the master bedroom? I'm sure that's where Daddy kept his files."
Wanda had just put Harmony to sleep when the doorbell rang. "Knock, knock, it's me, Florence." Florence let herself in because Wanda had left the door open. "Do you have any idea where to find those papers?"
"What papers?" asked Wanda absentmindedly, but then she remembered. "Oh, yes, those."
"I talked to Melody on the phone right after I closed down the shop for the afternoon."
Wanda was surprised. "What? I thought we said --"
"Wanda, she's so calm and reasonable."
"Isn't she?" reminisced Wanda with a deep, wistful sigh. "She doesn't get it from me, that's for sure. I'm a quivering wreck most of the time -- but there she is. I can't take any credit because it's all her."
"She says to look in the file cabinet in the master bedroom." The two of them went upstairs to try to locate the paperwork.

Chapter Twenty-Nine (Part One)

2008-02-20T08:54:00.000-08:00

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."

Chapter Twenty-Eight (Part Two)

2008-02-12T17:02:00.000-08:00

Author's note: Thanks all of you for being very patient with me while I went through my life issues (my computer going kaput, my dental drama, my flu drama, and my work drama). I don't know what I'd have done without your support. I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming, already in progress. Don't worry, our geek chick hasn't gone anywhere ;-)

The diffuse sunlight beamed over Chester Gieke's off-campus apartment, filtering in through his bedroom window, illuminating the leaves outside. He had come to college to study the vagaries of science and the technology of robotics, but had recently found himself spending more time studying the mysteries of the fairer sex. He understood a lot of things he'd read in books, but he didn't understand women, he concluded.
Chester didn't have any illusions about his appearance. His stringy red hair and thick glasses turned off a lot of potential targets. Or so he thought. But, what did he know? He'd spent most of his spare time in the company of electronic creatures made of metal and wires, not real human beings with human feelings.
He spent his teen years in Strangetown with his uncle, Dieter, a master robot maker and gadget head, and his cousins.
Of course, Chester had made the acquaintance of a few females during his time at Le Tour, but he didn't have any "special friends." They often called him to complain about their loser boyfriends, and he'd calmly listen and even commiserate. He didn't understand why they continued to date these "jerks."
That day he woke up, as usual, and did his assignment from the day before, and ate his usual bacon and cheese omelette for breakfast. He attempted to watch a little TV to pass the time until his physics class started. Failing that, he walked upstairs to one of his computers and checked his online personals. "Hi Ubergieke, SweetiePie here. I got your last message. I'm a Pisces of the knowledge aspiration. I have blond hair and green eyes. My interests include weather, travel, sports, and paranormal. If you're interested, give me a holler back."
I wonder who this girl is? Chester wondered. Perhaps I've seen her before. She certainly sounds like she's familiar.
Chester had not had much luck with the opposite sex. He'd never had a steady girlfriend, because most of the girls he'd ever met had regarded him as too 'geeky' for their tastes.
Just then the phone rang. It was his buddy Edwin Sharpe. And he sounded upset. "What's going on?" Chester asked.
In a rushed manner, Edwin proceeded to tell Chester all about what happened with Delilah.
"Dang!" Chester exclaimed. "And I thought I had bad luck when it comes to women. Welcome to the club."
"I really thought it would be different this time," Edwin said sadly.
"Geeks like us don't get hot girls," Chester said. "Hey, Mel just picked up Command and Conquer, wanna come see?"
Edwin couldn't believe his ears. "How'd she manage to get that? That's been sold out for ages."
"Hah, you forget she's the Tinker toy heir. She can get what she wants."
"I'll be right over, as soon as my class is done."
Like clockwork, Edwin showed up. Chester greeted him with a high five that missed badly. After they laughed it off, they sat down in front of the TV. Edwin leaned over and picked up the empty cartridge. "Command and Conquer, eh?" he asked.
"Yeah, I've been trying to figure it out all morning."
Edwin picked up the controller. "Why are women so complicated?" he asked, out of the blue.
Chester shook his head. "I wish I knew. I guess I'll never be able to get them." He proceeded to tell Edwin about his last date, which ended with a flaming bag of poo in his mailbox.
After a few minutes Edwin commented, "Melody's a girl," his thumb hurting from the constant pressure of pressing the red button on his controller.
Chester grinned, determined to win this round. "Yeah," he replied, watching yet another beast disintegrate under his character's mighty weapon, "but Mel's different, you know. She's cool."
"Cool?" Edwin asked, laughing. "You two are Siamese twins, practically inseparable. What's up with that?"
Chester grinned again. "Mel and I met in a chat room, ages ago it seems. We started chatting to each other."
"What chat room was that?" Edwin wondered.
"It was the alien conspiracy chatroom on SimSpace."
Edwin laughed. "I used to go to that chatroom and I never met girls like Mel in there."
"Well you didn't go in there at the right times, it seems. She was in there a lot." He then proceeded to tell Edwin how he ran into Melody face to face.
"So she applied for your assistant position at the Ledger."
"I didn't think she was serious," Chester said. "But she was. Then we started talking, and it just seemed like we'd known each other for years. Then it dawned on me who she was. Tinkerbell from the chatroom. I was positively bowled over. Here she was, this tall dark beauty. I expected someone completely different."
Edwin laughed. "You sound like you like her."
"Of course I like her."
"You know what I mean -- I mean like, like, her. Like you have a crush on her."
Chester sighed. "Mel and I have a deep connection," he said, without revealing to him their experiments with the cowplant.
Edwin gazed over at Chester. "Oooh, somebody's got a crush on somebody!"
"I do not!" Chester protested weakly. But he had to wonder to himself. Did he?

Meanwhile, unlike Chester and Edwin, Chaz Whippler had a different problem when it came to women. He juggled many of them at once -- yet, in a way, he, too had bad luck. His tendency was to go after girls who were way out of his league. Granted, with his grant money he'd only managed to recently purchase a double bed to lure them, and he was doing all this in the confines of the dormitory, but if he was anything he was resourceful. He was most intrigued by the scent of ladies' perfume, and he liked to follow it as far as he could.
Occasionally, Chaz's mind would drift towards Melody. Melody? Now, that girl was a mystery if there ever was one. But for some reason he couldn't do anything to her. Was it just because she was tutoring him in math and had helped him to pass that semester? He already figured she had a great body underneath that T-shirt and jeans. And her geeky glasses concealed lovely brown eyes. But still, Chaz thought, there was something else about her that caught his eye.
Realizing that Melody was a health freak (he'd never seen her eat anything more than a salad), he knew that inviting her for a burger at the local 'greasy spoon' would definitely never win her over. Besides, he'd watched as she ate, hardly picking at her plate and shoving it aside with a grimace. He'd had no difficulty approaching women. But how on earth was he going to approach THIS woman?
On this day, though, he was entertaining Ellie Frost, a pretty, tanned, long-legged stunner he'd been chasing, but he'd so far been unable to lure to his bed. Why are you after Ellie? he asked himself. She's nothing like you, she's money-aspired.
"Charles," Ellie called, sitting along the side of the bed. "I told you, you've got to make yourself more presentable!"
"Ellie, babe, if you've been dealing with cars all day, how are you supposed to look?"
Ellie haughtily dusted herself off. "Look, Charles," she demanded, refusing to call him by his nickname Chaz, "I really like you. You're fun and charming. But --"
"What's the 'but' about it?"
Ellie was brutally honest. "You're not my type."
Chaz scoffed. "What is your 'type' then? Stuffy suits like Fin Furley?"
Ellie shook her head. "Charles, Fin and I are friends, that's all."
"I see the way you look at him."
"I don't 'look' at Fin any differently than anybody else around here. Besides, you know what I'm after. I want to get out of here as soon as I can so I can start building my business empire."

Chapter Twenty-Eight (Part One)

2007-12-26T11:26:00.000-08:00

The phone rang in Aldrich again. This time, Melody answered, but a girl's voice was on the other end of the line. "May I speak to Edwin, please?" she asked in her most proper voice.
Melody knew this had to be the infamous Delilah, the object of Edwin's considerable affection. She was tempted to lie to Delilah and say Edwin wasn't there, but she couldn't do that. So she handed the phone to him.
"I had to call you. I couldn't wait to tell you the news. Guess what, Edwin? I sold my first masterpiece today!"
"Wow, really? Congratulations!" replied Edwin. "So, how are you going to celebrate?"
"That's why I called. I'm having a little get-together at my place. You can come if you like. Maybe bring some of your dorm mates."
"You -- having a party?" Edwin asked Delilah. "But I thought the reason you got your uncle to get you that apartment was so you wouldn't have to live in this crazy dorm."
"Well," Delilah laughed, "a special occasion calls for special activities. So why not a little get-together?"
Edwin sighed. "Okay, I'm there. What time does it start?"
"Eight-thirty. I'm ordering takeout."
"Sounds good. See you then?" As Edwin hung up the phone, he gathered the others around. "Delilah's having a get-together at her place, and she's invited us to come."
Melody scoffed. "You think I'm going to set foot in that snooty girl's house?"
Edwin managed a chuckle. "It's only for a couple of hours. Besides, it's something different to do."
"I can't," Chester said, remembering one of his physics classes was from 7 to 10 at night, "I've got night class. Sorry."
"I'll go," piped Marla. "Better than milling around here. Melody?"
Shaking her head, Melody replied, "I'll think about it. Besides, if Marla's going, I don't see why not."
Edwin smiled. "Excellent. I'll call the cab at eight-fifteen."

Delilah's apartment on Bundt Way stood out in a lot of ways. Her favorite color was yellow, so she'd decorated it both inside and out in that color. Its cheery exterior reminded Melody a bit of her girlhood home. When they arrived, Edwin saw a bunch of students had already made it there, a couple of whom they recognized from their dorm. He also recognized Mitch Indie and Max Flexor, the guys who lived in the apartments across the street from Delilah.
Meanwhile, Edwin quickly decided that this little get-together was a bona fide party, so many people here, so he walked up to Delilah's bookcase and started reading. Marla had discovered the food and parked herself right by the Chinese boxes. And Melody? Mitch Indie and Max Flexor had rounded her up and started playing a game of kicky bag.
Delilah herself walked around and made the party rounds. "Hey Edwin," she teased, "what are you doing reading a book at a party?"
"You said a get-together. You didn't say a party, Dee."
"More people showed up than I thought would come. People just walked in off the street."
After Marla finished eating her Chinese takeout, Melody had her in stitches bragging about what she'd done to Gilbert Jacquet at the last party she'd attended -- of course the annual Christmas bash down in Bluewater. "I can't believe you actually hit that guy," an astonished Marla replied, half-giggling.
"If he'd have done it again I would have hit him again," Melody said matter-of-factly. "That's how angry I was that night."
As Melody turned away, Marla came closer. She had a faraway look in her big brown eyes as she stood, deep in thought. "Penny for them?" she asked, touching Melody's shoulder slightly.
"Hmm?" To say Melody was distracted was an understatement. She had a lot on her mind.
"You're miles away," chuckled Marla. "Care to share?"
Melody wrapped her arms around her body, feeling chilled. "I'm worried about mom," she muttered, her eyes downcast. "She's not getting any younger and even though she said she'd be okay in the shop, I still don't trust that creep."
"Malcolm Landgraab." Marla nodded.
"Yep, the one and only. If he knew she was there, he'd be there like a vulture, turning the thumbscrews until she finally caved in to him."
"But the company is yours, not hers."
Melody let out a sarcastic chuckle. "Since when has that stopped him before? It certainly won't stop him from trying."
Marla stood thinking a little while. Then she brightened up with an idea. "I know!" she said, her whole face lighting up. "How about me dropping out of college to help your mom around the house and shop?"
Melody looked at her with horror. "Do you realize what you're saying?" she said, grabbing both of Marla's forearms and shaking her.
"Yes."
Marla's certainty forced tears out of Melody's eyes. "I can't let you do that! Especially not on account of me! What about college? And your future? You'd be throwing it all away!"
"I know, but I really want to help out as much as possible. Besides, I know you've got your own dreams. Learning you'd inherited your dad's toy shop was a big shock to you."
"Yeah, it was, but..." Melody was incredulous. Marla was completely and totally selfless, asking for nothing in return. Deep down Melody wished she could be that way -- it was an admirable quality. She couldn't believe Marla was perfectly willing to sacrifice her own future for hers. "Besides, who am I going to tease over their obsession with Harry Potter?"
Melody's comment forced a smile out of Marla.
A while later, Delilah walked outside with Mitch and a couple of the other guests. While Edwin was leaving, he caught Mitch and Delilah locking themselves in an embrace, to his horror. Too stunned to say anything, Edwin ran away from Delilah's house as fast as he could.
Meanwhile, Melody decided that she'd had enough of kicky bag and started doing her math assignment, all the while Delilah was entertaining her guests. Nobody seemed to realize Edwin was gone.
Or did they? Marla, normally in a little world of her own, just happened to be clearing away a few empty cartons when she saw Edwin dashing off in the dark. Turning around, she saw Delilah and Mitch in a lip lock. She shrugged it off. They were just kissing...nothing wrong with that. She wondered why Edwin left so early and so quickly. Perhaps it was some bad Chinese food he'd eaten. There again, he'd hardly touched any of it at all. Normally he'd wolf down at least two helpings and gaze longingly at everybody else's, hoping they'd leave some behind. Something was up, but she wasn't entirely sure what it was.

Across campus, Edwin's sister, Roxie, was having an argument with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Jonah Powers, who'd approached her after she was taking her bath. "What's the big idea?" Jonah shouted to the top of his voice. "You come home late from your classes, the phone rings off the hook --"
"Dr. Hyden is helping me with physics. I was considering dropping his class until he offered to help."
"Perhaps he's giving you more 'help' than he needs to."
Roxie was aghast. "What are you talking about, Jonah? You're being silly!"
"I'm not being silly, Rox, I'm just being real. And what about all those phone calls?"
Roxie fell to her knees. "I'm not allowed to have friends, Jonah?"
"Nope, none other than me."
"And what about my brother? You practically forced him to leave here."
"He was getting in the way, Rox, you said so yourself."
"I didn't say anything, Jonah, you did."
"Besides, dorks have no place here." Jonah began posturing and flexing his muscles.
Roxie straightened up and rose. "He may be a dork, but he's still my brother -- the only one I have."
"What, are you going to let him back in here?"
"Well, the least I can do is let him get his stuff that he left here."
"I'll tell you one thing," Jonah demanded, "if he as much as sets foot in this apartment, I'm leaving!"
Just as their argument had reached a boiling point, the doorbell rang. "Who could that be?" wondered Roxie as she walked to the door to see who was there. Her brother Edwin was standing there, his face as green as the shirt he was wearing.
"Whoever it is," yelled Jonah from the bedroom they shared, "tell them to get lost."
"Ed?" said Roxie, concerned about her younger brother. Edwin said nothing, but walked into the house and headed straight for the fridge. Emerging from their shared bedroom, Jonah shouted, "What's that little creep doing here? I thought I told you he wasn't welcome!"
Roxie watched as Edwin reached into the fridge and brought out the chocolate milk. She instantly knew what that meant... he was troubled.
"Leave him alone," she said, pushing past Jonah.
"Ed?" she asked, sitting down on the sofa next to Edwin, "is everything okay?"
"I warned you," bellowed Jonah, wagging a finger, his face turning a deep purple, "if he stays, I go."
Roxie spun around and flashed an evil look at Jonah. Standing up, she walked up to him and glared straight into his eyes. "Fine," she said harshly, "just go then."
Jonah looked stunned, his mouth agape.
"Well?" demanded Roxie, her arms folded defensively, "what are you waiting for? Nobody's stopping you."
Jonah walked out the door without another word to anyone.
Meanwhile, Edwin continued to spill his guts to his sister, a year his senior, but in his youth acted like a mother figure to him. "I had a crush on this girl, Delilah O'Feefe. Long, tall, legs for miles."
Roxie scratched her head. "I think I know who you're talking about."
"I was in love with her, I think," Edwin said simply, "and she betrayed me."
"Maybe she didn't feel the same way about you, little brother," Roxie replied. "Perhaps you jumped the gun a little bit too quickly."
"No, I didn't do anything," Edwin insisted, "except I happened to be walking outside and I caught her in the arms of another guy."
Roxie put her hand on Edwin's shoulder. "Ed -- Ed, I'm really sorry." Even as a romance-oriented person, accustomed to loving 'em and leaving 'em, this stung. Edwin buried his face in his hands. "Well, where are you staying now?"
"Aldrich."
Roxie was intrigued. "And you like it there?"
"Yeah," Edwin answered without hesitation. "I've made a few friends, too." He managed a smile. This was strange, Roxie decided. Her brother had never liked being in the dorms, that was why he'd come to live with her. And he'd made friends there? "Do I know any of these new friends of yours?"
Edwin shook his head. "Nope, I don't think so."
Roxie smiled. "Well, you can crash here for the night. I don't want you walking back to the dorm by yourself. Besides, I'd like to meet these new friends of yours one day."
Jonah, in the meantime, raged inwardly as he trudged around campus. Roxie was his meal ticket and the roof over his head. He'd been kicked out of a couple of dorms for fighting and general troublemaking.
He would lay the puppy dog act and she'd fall for it, hook, line, and sinker. The only thing that got in his way was that dorky kid brother of hers. Driving him out, in his mind, would make his life a living hell.
Life had been good so far, thought Jonah. He went where he pleased and did what he wanted. But now, that little creep was back, and he was the one who had nowhere to stay. Perhaps one of his bed companions could put him up for the night?

Chapter Twenty-Seven

2007-11-20T08:17:00.000-08:00

While everyone was home for the holidays, a couple of the dormitories flooded, but the only one the janitor couldn't get to was Aldrich, because the basement had been locked. So shortly after Melody and her friends returned from their very eventful Christmas break, Melody herself couldn't help but notice the janitor disappearing from view. She'd never been to this part of the dorm before. Peering down the stairs with her curious eyes, she saw him using a pair of bolt cutters on a rusty old padlock. There was a humming noise as he switched on all the lights, but she couldn't see much from her vantage point. Nevertheless, her curiosity was piqued.
"Chester," Melody said, tapping him on the shoulder, "do you know anything about a secret basement, here in the dorm?"
Chester turned away from his programming project, peering at her through the thick lenses of his glasses. "Secret basement? he asked, shaking his head. "No, not really, why do you ask?"
"Well, I think I might have found one," she replied, "but I need your help with the lock."
Chester grinned. "Picking locks is my specialty," he said, pulling open his desk drawer and bringing out a small tin box.
"I thought it was computers," retorted Melody, pointing at the screen of text.
Chester shot back, "Aha, you're not the only multi faceted one here," which forced a wry smile out of Melody. "Okay, boss, just tell me where it is and I'll see what I can do."
They reached the bottom of the stairs, where a bright shiny new padlock was in place. After a quick inspection, Chester opened the tin box and brought out a tiny little pick. "Can you pick it?" Melody asked, waiting nervously.
"It's a standard hard steel combination padlock," Chester replied, "easy as pie, nothing to it at all."
The busy sounds of dorm life above them seemed muffled as the two co-conspirators set to work on this padlock. Melody's heart leapt as the padlock snapped open, echoing in the narrow vestibule. She was certain that someone had heard and she held her breath. But no one appeared at the top of the stairs.
With a loud groan, the door swung open. Feeling for a light switch, Chester groped around in the dark. "Damn," he muttered, "I wish I'd have brought a torch now." His fingers finally found the switch and he snapped it on.
The whole room flooded with light as Melody and Chester gasped. Dusty and draped with cobwebs, their eyes feasted on a disused laboratory.
While Melody straightened up around the place, Chester tinkered with the equipment. "Look at this stuff!" he exclaimed. "There's a veritable pharmacy down here. A medicine making apparatus, a chocolate making machine, and god knows what else."
As Melody brushed away a thick layer of dust, she came across a file. The leaves were brittle and yellowing, but what intrigued her were the carefully handwritten notes inside. Someone had taken a lot of care and attention, jotting down every minute detail, supported by beautiful handwritten sketches. Her heart gave a jolt as she skimmed the first page and saw the elegant signature on the bottom -- Victor Alexander Goth.
From her textbooks, she knew exactly who he'd been -- the founder of a lengthy line of Goth scientists, the most prominent brains in all of Sim Nation.
Apparently, on reading these notes, Victor Goth had been working on a secret project. He'd unsuccessfully attempted to splice the DNA of a bovine and assimilate it into the cell structure of many plants. Every attempt was a failure -- until he discovered one plant that was compatible, the Venus flytrap.
They could not believe such an enormous secret had been hidden in the basement right below them. Here were the origins of the ubiquitous and infamous cow plant. "Hey," suggested Melody, "maybe we could use these instructions to try to grow one ourselves."
"I'm game," replied Chester, grinning, "and then we can report the results of our experiments to Dr. Straight, the biology dean."
Melody shook her head. "Maybe we don't need to tell Dr. Straight about this -- not yet. Not until we're done."
Chester pulled Melody closer. "Not a word of this to anyone, Melody Tinker, you understand?"
Melody laughed softly, careful not to let anyone hear her. "I know how to keep secrets, Chester Gieke," she said deviously, with a twinkle in her eye as she walked away from him. "Do you?"
Chester shook his head in disbelief. "Dang -- that close."
Meanwhile, back in Bluewater Village, two employees were in the Tinkers' toy shop -- one was making jack-in-the-boxes while the other was at the register -- when Wanda spotted a woman wearing a low-cut red dress heading toward the shed. What's she doing wanting to buy a toy? Wanda wondered, peering outside through a window.
Trying to put this out of her mind, Wanda hurriedly called the local childcare service, told them she wanted someone to keep an eye on Harmony while she tended to business in the shop.
As soon as the elderly woman arrived, Wanda ran as fast as she could to the shed, only to discover the suspicious-looking woman in the red dress was searching around. "May I help you?" Wanda asked in her sweetest voice.
"Yes," Elise Livingston asked, "I was actually looking for your twirl, spin, and wobbles."
Wanda smiled. "Well, my employees are making some now, and as soon as they're done, I'll have them put them out on the shelf."
"Thank you," Elise said as she whipped out her notepad.
Wanda thought about it. What is she doing with a notepad? she wondered. She narrowed her eyes at this brazen woman. But she kept a fixed smile on her face, hoping this was enough to mask her suspicions. "We can preorder one for you if you wish," she said, gently guiding Elise out of the workshop. "Can I take your name and address?"
Elise stiffened slightly. Wanda realized she could be rumbled at any time, so she had to think fast on her feet, as did Elise. "Oh, don't worry," Wanda assured her, "it's standard procedure. We do that to everybody."
While Wanda pretended to search for a pen and a slip of paper, Elise had a chance to scan the rest of the shop. At the far end of the building was a door. Elise assumed it was an office. If she could distract Wanda long enough, she could sneak in there.
But Wanda was sharp. Within minutes she'd located a pen and a notepad and looked hopefully at Elise. "Now, then, what's your first name?" she asked.
Elise promptly gave Wanda a fake name and address and left the toy shop empty handed.
After Wanda closed the shop that night, she decided to use the home computer. Luckily for her, those computer classes she'd been taking had come in handy as she checked out the name and address Elise had given her.
She picked up the phone and dialed Florence's number. "Hi Wanda," Florence said, her soft voice soothing to Wanda's ears, "what's on your mind?"
It was eerie, the connection between them. Florence always seemed to know when something was wrong.
"I had a strange woman come into the shop today," said Wanda, fixing the collar on her sweater. She proceeded to give Florence a fairly accurate description of Elise.
Florence smiled. "That's Elise Livingston, the local snoop," she replied. "She's paid to check out all the businesses in the area."
"Oh," Wanda said, not quite letting go of her suspicions.
Continued Florence, "And she's been spotted coming out of Malcolm Landgraab's mansion."
Wanda's heart skipped a beat. "How do you know?" she breathed.
"I saw them myself while I was tending to my nursery." Florence's voice became more urgent. "I think you've got to be super careful. If this Elise character is tied to Malcolm Landgraab as I suspect, you and Melody could be in a world of hurt."
A chill ran down Wanda's spine at Florence's last words.
Dr. Joseph Young, dean of the mathematics department at Le Tour, approached Chester as he was walking from his class. "We're trying to put together a math team for the annual William Lloyd Wright Math Competition."
Chester was befuddled. "What's that?"
"It's an annual national collegiate mathematics competition, where students from all over compete for cash prizes and notoriety. There are individual and team competitions. We used to win these contests a lot in the past. We've had a lot of turnover on our math teams recently, and we'd like to establish some continuity."
"What are you trying to say?"
"What I'm trying to say, Chester, is I'd like you to captain our math team this year."
Chester was stunned. "But Dr. Young -- I'm a physics major."
"Yes I know this, Gieke. But you're a good student and I've chosen you as our captain. I'm sure you'll do a good job putting together a team. Now you need two others to fill out your team."
Chester gave Dr. Young a sly grin. He knew just who to ask.
Melody, Edwin, and Marla were eating macaroni and cheese in the dorm cafeteria when they got involved in a spirited political discussion. "The Simocrats are now in control of Congress," began Melody. "I can't say I'm sure how I feel about that."
"Well, it probably means some of the legislation that's been pushed back by the Simpublicans may finally go through."
"I'm not so sure about that, either, Edwin," replied Melody. "The Simocrats filibuster as much as the Simpublicans do. It's a fact of life."
"Yeah, I suppose that's true. I guess it's a lesser of two evils kind of thing."
Marla, who'd been listening, and waiting patiently for her turn to talk, finally did. She volunteered that she'd been raised in a conservative, Simpublican farm household.
"My parents weren't very political, they could care less about politics," Melody added, "but I was. I read up on everything, including about the presidents and their policies."
"You too?" said Edwin. "I had committed the names, birthdates, death dates, and important milestones of each president to memory."
Just then Chester came in from his night class. He had been spending most of his time recently at the dorm, even though he had an apartment on campus. "Dr. Young talked to me today," Chester announced, "and he's made me captain of Le Tour's math team."
"Really?" asked Marla. "Wow, that's great! What an honor, congratulations."
Grinning, Chester shook his head. "Dr. Young wants me to put together a team for the Will Lloyd Wright math competition."
"I've heard of that," Edwin said. "Bunch of college kids have to solve problems."
Chester nodded. "You sound interested already, Edwin."
"Well, I was on my high school's math team. I think I can do it." Edwin then looked at Melody pleadingly. "You're real good at math."
Chester agreed with a nod.
Melody tried to laugh it off. "Guys, I'm flattered, but -- I've got a lot on my plate right now."
"It's not like the math team is going to need you 24-7, Mel," laughed Chester. "We all have tough schedules. The math team is only going to assemble once a week with Dr. Young for practice, and then we'll get ready for the competition, which is in March."
"It sounds interesting," Melody decided, "but I'm not sure if I want to be answering math questions in front of an audience."
Chester had a reassuring tone in his voice. "Well, not every question will be answered in front of an audience, as I understand it. The way Dr. Young explained it to me, there's a written individual examination and the group oral competition."
"Well hopefully I can clear up this crap with the DNA test --"
Chester's eyes popped open. "You asked Dr. Hyden for a DNA test?"
"Yeah. And it seems like he's -- I don't know -- he's really avoiding it for some reason."
Chester decided to change the subject. "Now, about the math team --"
"Well," Melody decided, "since it's in March and hopefully I can get everything straight by then -- I'll do it."
Loud applause rang from the table, followed by hugs and high-fives all around.
A heavy thunderstorm parked itself seemingly right over Academie Le Tour. With frequent lightning and heavy rain, it was the kind of evening most people spent reading or in bed. Marla had done just that -- she hit the sack just after 9 pm, saying she was tired. Edwin did the same about an hour later, which left Melody and Chester milling around Aldrich -- and that could mean only one thing these days.
Melody approached Chester while he was at the pool table bilking money out of a couple of random dormie guys. "Say, it's a dark and stormy night," she whispered, leaning toward his ear, to the astonished glances of her dorm mates. "Let's go downstairs." Chester knew exactly what she meant -- the secret laboratory they'd discovered in the basement of Aldrich Dormitory. Dark and stormy nights were Melody's passion. As a girl she'd run outside on the few summer evenings it rained in eternally sunny Bluewater Village. "Melody!" her mother would cry, "you'll catch your death out there!"
But Melody paid her no mind. Outside she ran, often barefoot, with the faint hope that one day a lightning bolt would strike her. She'd even taken one of her father's kites outside in hopes of replicating the Benjamin Franklin kite experiment.
Wanda shook her head as Melody would return to the house, drenched and cold but worst of all dejected that she didn't get struck. "My dear child," she would say as she took her to get changed and dried. "Why do you do these things?"
Melody and Chester had this unspoken language. Their bond was so complete and so true, they finished each other's thoughts and knew what the other was saying before they even said it.
Chester knew Melody by now -- perhaps better than anyone else, even her mother. He understood her highs and lows, and that when she got interested in something, it wasn't an interest -- it was an obsession.
Chester followed Melody down to the basement like a little puppy dog following its master. The month they'd spent together in Bluewater, with the toy shop and the Tinker family, only strengthened their bond. To tell the truth, he was captivated by every fiber of her being. Her intelligence, her beauty, her inner strength, her quirkiness and obsessive traits -- all deeply appealed to him and his personal sense of partnership. They were two peas in a pod. They could go far, just the two of them. With their high intelligence anything was possible. The world, according to Chester Gieke and Melody Tinker, was quite literally their oyster. In his quest to find the female form, the perfect one in his eyes was right in front of him.
But he knew -- and understood -- his limits. Even if Melody were, in point of fact, the girl of his dreams and fantasies, he believed didn't stand a chance with her -- and there was no way he was ruining his deep friendship with her to take a chance at love.
They got to the basement, where another clap of thunder jolted the equipment but not the fearless pair -- in fact, it seemed to energize them. Sifting through the folder where she'd found Victor Goth's instructions, she walked to one of the beakers and began to read through it. "Okay, so what do we do first?" Chester asked.
Melody grinned. She may have been uncomfortable in the toy store, but here she was in her element. At her core she was a scientist, and she knew it. Even when she was Darren Dreamer's apprentice he used to gently chide her about her scientific approach to art. "Well, here are the DNA charts of the bovine and the Venus flytrap plant."
"Excellent, excellent." As he read the numbers aloud to Melody, she typed them into the computer, where a graphic of a DNA molecule came up. Little did anyone know it except Chester, but Melody was truly cutting her scientific teeth right here, right now. She liked to challenge herself, push herself to her mental limits. Her coursework was not enough for her inquisitive mind. She was always seeking to learn more -- about everything.
Chester realized while he was working with her -- that he was captivated by every fiber of her being. He knew, better than anyone, that she pushed herself far harder than she pushed anyone else or anyone else pushed her.
After they mixed up the DNA, Chester wondered what was next. "Well, I think the seeds have to harden before we can plant them."
Chester let out a deep guttural yawn. "I'm getting sleepy," he said. "I'm going to bed. G'night, see ya tomorrow." He crashed on the dorm sofa on the first floor.
Meanwhile Melody turned out all the lights in the lab and went all the way up to the balcony to stargaze. One of the dormies marveled at her stamina. "Do you ever get tired?" he asked.
"Tired?" Melody asked. "I haven't got time to be tired. It just isn't in my vocabulary."
Malcolm Landgraab was resting comfortably in his mansion when the doorbell rang. "Ah, Elise," he said, greeting her with an affectionate hug. "I trust you've been to the Tinkers?"
"Yes, Malcolm, and they're being particularly evasive about what's going on there."
"Did you see little miss Melody?" Malcolm asked, the evil tone of his voice frighteningly evident.
"No, but I saw her mother. She kept me out of the shop."
Malcolm shook his head. "I wonder what they're hiding over there."

Chapter Twenty-Six

2007-11-20T07:21:00.000-08:00

Melody knew after her tirade at the Christmas party that she was no longer completely welcome in her hometown. And that was all right with her. She had burned far too many bridges, made far too many enemies, and had far too many bad memories to go back now. She had said exactly what she wanted to, to whom she wanted to say it, and she didn't care what they thought of her or if they ever spoke to her again.

The month in Bluewater had also strengthened the bonds Melody held with her closest friends, so that now they considered themselves a family in and of itself. They were a tight-knit bunch who would go to the ends of the earth to protect each other.
Wanda and Harmony waved good-bye to Melody and her friends, and Melody to them. "Make us proud," was Wanda's last words to her in the midst of a tearful embrace. If she could just take her mother and sister with her, it would be perfect.
Melody had returned to Academie Le Tour from Bluewater a changed person. That much was clear to most of the people who stayed in her dorm. And it was a lot more than the fact that she'd grown out her hair and the shape and style of her glasses was different. Something monumental had occurred there, even though Melody herself wouldn't tell. But they knew.
She waltzed back to the dorm with her head held high and more confident than ever before. It was a confidence born of struggle and pain and aided by the security of her high intelligence and her new status as the Tinker toy heiress. She happily immersed herself in her coursework and research, and faithfully attended her classes. After facing down the whole of Bluewater and learning she was heiress to a growing toy company, surely facing the esteemed Dr. Hyden was no longer beyond her grasp.

Her growing confidence caused her to one day, after seminar, to walk into Dr. Hyden's office.
"Ah, yes, Melody --" the dean greeted beneath his paperwork, his lips pursing into a sudden smile.
"Dr. Hyden --"
"I know our situation is quite unusual and quite uncomfortable --"
"When are we going to take the DNA test?"
Dr. Hyden sighed. "Melody." He had noticed the changes in her too. No longer shy and awkward, a determined young woman now stood before him, demanding answers.
"When are we going to take the DNA test?" Melody repeated her question, even more forcefully than before.
"I've told you, the astronomers' convention is next week, probably after that."
"I want the test done this week. All you need to do is submit your DNA. It won't take long at all." "Melody, I'm sorry, that's impossible --" Just then the phone rang, and Dr. Hyden answered, disappearing into the world of his telephone call. "I've got to take this."
"I'll be back later," Melody vowed as she walked down the hall to her next class.

The phone rang in Aldrich Dormitory that evening, and Marla answered it. "Hello, may I speak to Melody?" said the female voice on the other end.
Marla was confused. "May I ask who's calling?"
"I'm -- an old friend -- of Melody's. Is she there?"
Marla hesitated. "Yeah, she just walked in from class." She then called Melody to the telephone and walked away.
Melody, walking toward the phone, picked up the receiver. "Hey, Mel, do you know who this is?"
Melody shook her head. She didn't recognize the voice right away.
"It's me, Sarah. Sarah Rodiek."
Melody took deep breaths in disbelief. On the other end of the phone was the only person on the planet she'd completely, totally surrendered her heart to.
"I can't hear you. You're not saying anything."
"What am I supposed to say, Sarah?" asked Melody.
"A simple, 'hi, how have you been?' would suffice. You haven't changed a bit, have you, Mel?"
Melody was frozen. "I ask again, Sarah, what am I supposed to say? I'm supposed to welcome you with open arms back into my life after you hurt me?"
"Oooh, Mel, touchy!" Sarah said. "But if anyone hurt anybody, you hurt me first."
Melody was puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"You stubbornly refused to admit that you loved me, even in the face of overwhelming evidence."
Why does Sarah always do this to me? Melody asked herself, choking back tears.
"That was all I needed you to do, Melody Tinker, was to say you loved me -- the way that I loved you." Sarah's tears were evident on the phone, but she calmed down. "I just started at Sim State. It's okay so far. How's Academie Le Tour?" Sarah asked, careful to enunciate 'Academie Le Tour' in a snotty manner.
"Oh, it's great, wonderful. I've made quite a few new friends."
"Any new girlfriends? What about that chick who answered the phone?"
"She's my suite mate. Sweet girl."
"I see. Well, I'm gonna let you go, we'll keep in touch. Bye."
As Melody hung up the receiver, Marla grilled her. "Who was that?"
"Who was what?"
"That was your old girlfriend, wasn't it, Melody?"
Melody shook her head. It wasn't an accusatory tone in Marla's voice, just matter-of-fact, but it sent uncomfortable tingles through her body. "We -- kissed, but we never went out or anything like that."
Marla was amazed. "You kissed a girl? Wow."
"It was nothing." Melody shrugged it off.
But Marla was emboldened. "What would you do if I kissed you?"
Melody couldn't help but chuckle at this notion. "You?" she asked Marla, amazed. "I never would have thought. I'd have imagined you the wholesome white-picket-fence with a dog, a husband, and 2 kids type of person."
"But you're so beautiful!" Marla cried. "And you don't even know it."
Melody looked at Marla with disgust. "What is it you see in me? I'm skinny, I wear glasses, I'm a geek to my core --"
Marla shook her head. "I'm in awe of you, Melody."
Melody laughed a sarcastic laugh. "You -- in awe of me?"
"Have been since the day we first met. I'm so plain -- and you're gorgeous without even trying. Then there's the fact that you started college at sixteen, and you're into stuff I'd never be able to understand in a million years. I've seen you buried in those quantum physics and calculus books. You gobble them up like candy."
"Believe me, Marla, they're not as easy as they look."
"No, Mel, they're definitely not as easy as you make them look. The point is, you're on the dean's list despite taking 22 credit hours of coursework and some honors courses."
Melody couldn't believe Sarah had contacted her. And she was even more incredulous over the mousy Marla's brazen admission that she was attracted to her. For the second time in her life she found herself the object of another girl's adoration and affection. And like the first time, she wasn't exactly sure how she felt about it.
She hadn't come to college for this type of attention. All she'd wanted to do was learn everything she could, about as much as she could, while she was there.
Melody tried hard to figure out how on earth she'd gotten herself in this mess to begin with. She'd dealt with Sarah in high school, but that was high school -- and this was college. Too much time had passed, too much pain had been inflicted. And then there was Marla. Marla was a sweetheart, Melody thought. But she knew, deep down, that a romantic relationship would make both of them feel incomplete, and they were better off being just friends.
She needed to call someone to help her sort out this complicated situation -- and all of a sudden the answer came to her: her mother.
This was a notion that would have been improbable just a year earlier, but such was the progress the pair had been making on their relationship that nightly chats over the phone were now commonplace.
"Hi, mom," Melody began, walking through the common area in the dorm.
"Hey, sweetie. How are you doing?"
Melody took a deep breath. This was not the kind of thing she wanted to be discussing in the common area of Aldrich Dorm. "I -- I just got off the phone with Sarah."
Heaving a sigh, Wanda shuddered at that name's significance. She knew Melody meant "that" Sarah, the one who had hurt her so badly. What was Sarah doing trying to weasel her way back into her daughter's life all of a sudden?
"She started at Sim State this semester," Melody began.
"That's nice. Glad to hear she's getting her life together."
"She wants to see me again."
"Are you going to let her?"
"I don't know -- I don't feel like dredging up all those memories. But that's not why I'm calling. I'm calling about Marla."
"Marla -- the girl that was here?"
"Yes. Marla just said -- Marla just said she was attracted to me."
Melody could hear Wanda drop the receiver. "Marla?"
"I know, it's a shock to me too. I surely was not expecting that. I didn't know what to say -- and I certainly don't know what to do."
"Well, have you talked to Marla about this?"
"No, she just said it, right after I got off the phone with Sarah."
"Well, first of all, love, you need to sort out how you feel about both Sarah and Marla."
Melody sighed. "That's the problem, I don't know how I feel."
"Well, there are several ways you can interpret Marla's comment. It doesn't have to necessarily mean she's in love with you. She could just mean she admires you."
Melody nodded. "I'll try to talk to Marla and figure out what she means. It's definitely got me confuddled."
"Okay, sweetheart, I'm gonna let you go. I love you."
"I love you, too, mom." Melody tentatively hung up the phone.

Melody returned to Dr. Hyden's office the next day after class. This time, he wasn't as charitable. He pretended to be busy in order not to see her.
Melody decided that this was unusual behavior for him, so she waited for him to look up and see her before she said anything. "Shoot," he muttered to himself amidst his papers.
"You still haven't answered my question," Melody said.
"Not now, you know about the convention. I have to present my findings on black holes."
You're the only black hole I see here, Melody thought to herself.
Dr. Hyden looked up finally, this time with a smile. "Which reminds me, I can take a student representative to the convention. Would you like to go?"
Ordinarily Melody would leap at the chance to attend this convention, and especially with Dr. Hyden, who had been one of her idols growing up. But now, with all she had on her plate, she could only mutter, "I'll think about it," to him.
Dr. Hyden made an attempt to convince Melody to come with him. "It'll be a great opportunity for you to present your research on paranormal activity."
The website, Melody thought. I've been so busy I haven't checked up on it in ages. "I would need to compile all my data before presenting it to anyone."
"Well, when you've thought about it, please tell me so I can prepare accordingly."
Melody still wouldn't budge from her position. "So after the convention we'll do the DNA test, right?"
Dr. Hyden shook his head and sighed. "Well, we'll see, Melody." He tersely returned to his work.

Because of a central heating malfunction in the lecture hall where Melody was supposed to have her class, Melody stayed in the relative warmth and comfort of Aldrich Dormitory with Marla, whose biology class came much later. Melody plucked the glossy magazine, Sim City Living that usually came with the Sunday editions of the Sim City Times, from Marla's hands. "I can't believe you read all this rubbish," she said, shaking her head.
"It's got some really good stories in it," protested Marla, blushing furiously.
"Gossip, more likely," came Melody's tart reply. "Look, if you wanted gossip, you should have lived in Bluewater. The place is teeming with it."
Melody's eyes fell on an article that stood out from the rest. It announced the wedding of actress Emily Livingston, one of the 'in-girls' from her old school. Apparently the man she'd married, Ricky Cormier -- the former school heartthrob no less -- had been caught cheating on her. It had been a messy divorce indeed, complete with a nasty custody battle over their two children. "Hmm," mused Melody, "I guess she had it coming to her after all. She chased after that guy all through school even though she knew about his reputation."
Melody turned to Marla, and without thinking about it, opened up a little bit to the astounded girl. "I was in the seventh grade at Sim City Junior High..."
Melody's mind traveled back. She was peacefully doodling in her sketchbook underneath a shady tree. When she wasn't in the library, art room, or science lab during her lunch and recess breaks, this tree was where she'd be. On most days she'd be alone, but on this day a group of kids with perfect hair, perfect makeup, and perfect clothes encircled her. "What do you want?" she asked them, looking up at them.
"Let us see what's in that notebook, weirdo," asked Meadow Thayer, flinging her shiny blond hair back.
"No!" Melody cried, holding it close to her chest. "I'm not letting you see it!" She showed them the word "private" scrawled on the front of it.
"Oooh, touchy!" whispered Emily Livingston.
"If you don't let us see what's in that notebook," Brittany Lipman threatened, "we'll yank it from you and show it to the entire school."
Melody refused, so the girls ganged up against her. She hadn't yet started working out, so she was hopelessly outnumbered, and her notebook was taken from her. "Hmmph," decided Emily, flipping through the pages, "nothing in here but drawings of ghosts and aliens and machines."
"Drop dead, lesbo," shouted Meadow as she tossed the notebook into one of the muddy puddles.
"Give it back to me!" pleaded Melody, rising in anger against the girls. Later, after the girls left, Melody walked to the puddle to pick up her notebook to try to salvage the pages within.
Returning to the present day, Marla grabbed her hand. "Melody."
Melody hesitated in reciprocating, freezing a bit, but then placed her hand right underneath Marla's. It was difficult for Marla to fathom such incredible isolation, having grown up in a household of five burly brothers plus her father. Marla had gone through her own fair share of teasing in school for being shy, wearing glasses, burying her nose in books, and being overweight, but even her struggles seemingly paled in comparison with Melody's.
What she didn't realize was that at least some of Melody's struggles had been her own doing.

The rain fell down in sheets as Malcolm Landgraab left his mansion to go to the electronics store he'd inherited from his father and grandfather. "So the kid wants to play hardball, eh?" he muttered to himself as he strode to a waiting cab, trying in vain to avoid getting himself wet. "Well, we'll just see about that."
When he reached his shop, a striking woman with brown hair in an upsweep and a red spandex dress that hugged every curve on her body walked in. She introduced herself as Elise Livingston, the consumer affairs editor for the Sim City Times. Coming in the guise of an average customer, Elise had come to review the electronics store.
Malcolm watched and waited as Elise took out her notepad and began writing. Working his considerable charm on her, he broached the subject of Tinker Toys.
"Its owner died last September, right?" asked Elise.
"That's it," replied Malcolm. "I gave the Tinkers a generous buyout offer a few months ago, but Stephen's meddling daughter got in the way of that."
"You're kidding!" Elise exclaimed. "I thought she was just a teenager."
"Apparently this teenager is in charge over there." Malcolm sighed, half in frustration and half in disbelief. "I'm hearing she reopened the toy shop too. Here's what I need you to do. I need you to go down to the Tinkers and find out what you can. I need to know everything that's going on there."
"They would have been wise to take you up on your offer, Malcolm."
"Yes," he agreed, scratching his chin, "and now, they shall have hell to pay. Especially that meddling little Melody."

Chapter Twenty-Five

2007-11-11T19:56:00.000-08:00

Malcolm Landgraab IV sat in his cushy mansion overlooking Bluewater Village, going over his books. From his office window he could see the entire neighborhood, including the Tinker house, which rose from prime land right across the way. He was flabbergasted that Wanda Tinker had the gall to refuse his generous buyout offer for Tinker Toys. And it hadn't taken him long to figure out why -- Melody, her oldest daughter.
It had become clear to Malcolm that Melody was now in charge at the Tinker house. Her angry tirade at the village Christmas party was fresh on his mind, but he'd laughed it off and dismissed it as a temper tantrum from a spoiled little brat. He remembered the girl, too. On occasion she wandered into his electronics shop to buy a new video game or to check out the latest gadgetry. She would even ask questions about how some of the machinery worked, to which he'd respond, "Like hell I know how they work? I just sell 'em."
Now, though, she was all grown up. And she was getting in his way. He had to do something to get rid of her. But what?
Malcolm got on the telephone and made several phone calls to his various contacts in different areas of Sim City society -- including the seedier aspects like organized crime. "I need you to find out anything you can on Melody Tinker," he shouted to anyone who would listen. "I don't care if she puts her panties on backwards. I want to know about it!"
Meanwhile, Melody and the boys were spending their days between the backyard toy shop and Inner Child Toys and Gifts, rearranging and redesigning the decor, building a website, arranging mail-order service, and going over the accounts. She realized the boys were at her disposal, willing to do anything and everything to please her. And she was learning to like it.
Marla, meanwhile, had chosen to stay back at the house, helping Wanda with Harmony and listening to Wanda tell childhood stories about Melody. "I signed up to live in the dorms so I could try to meet new people," Marla began. "I was happy, though, when I got assigned to Aldrich, but dreaded finding out who my suite mate was going to be. When I learned her name -- Melody Tinker -- I got all kinds of mental images, constantly wondering what she'd be like. But she's been one surprise after another so far."
Then Wanda reminisced, "We took Melody to the pediatrician one time, she was running a fever. While he was examining her, she peppered him with all kinds of questions. 'How does this work?' 'How does that work?' 'What does this do?' He laughed and told us he'd never had a child like her, and he finally relented and gave her this book to read. Well, she'd finished the book by the time we got home."
"I figured she was like that," Marla said. "When we're at school, she usually has her nose in a book, and it's usually something with physics or math. She keeps a stack of books by her bed."
"We didn't need a maid. There were times when we wondered if we were raising a daughter or a drill sergeant." Wanda laughed, and so did Marla. "Her bed was so neatly made up every morning you could bounce a ball on it!"
"I don't worry too much about cleaning in our suite," Marla said, "not with her around. She pretty much keeps everything spotless."
"We didn't need an alarm clock, either. We knew she would be up at 6 in the morning, every morning, because we could hear the clanging of the weightlifting machine in the exercise room. There was no way we could keep up with her pace. If we stayed up past nine at night we were good. She stayed up all night stargazing and still managed to wake up at 6 am."
"I don't know how she does it either," Marla confessed. "I get tired very easily. The other day she made me go along with her for one of her runs, I got tired before we turned the first corner."
"And we definitely didn't need a mechanic. She took apart everything that had a plug. Clocks, radios, telephones. Even the brand new computer my husband bought for her. Yep, it got taken apart too. I can't tell you how many times I'd come in her room and find her with a screwdriver in her hands. Stephen often complained of his tools 'mysteriously disappearing.'"
Marla laughed. "If something breaks in the dorm we usually call her to fix it. And when she and those boys get together -- I don't understand what they're talking about half of the time, they speak a language I don't recognize.
"You mean those two shaggy-haired boys with the glasses?"
"That's them. Edwin Sharpe and Chester Gieke. Techno heads both. They know all about the latest gadgets."
That evening Melody walked in, with Chester and Edwin following like puppy dogs behind her. Wanda, handing Marla Harmony, walked up to Melody and confronted her, her hands on her hips, glaring purposefully. "What's the big idea?" she asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Mom," replied Melody, flabbergasted. She really thought she and her mother had made a breakthrough, but it looked as though they were back to square one again.
"I saw the lights on in the workshop last night," Wanda replied, dangling the keys in her fingers. "What's going on? I have a right to know. All these years, you've never set foot in the place. Now, all of a sudden, you're interested. Would you care to enlighten me?"
Her questions were fired like bullets, staggering Melody from all angles. "Mom, please, let me explain."
"Explain what? Why are you so interested all of a sudden?" Wanda was trying to make sense of her daughter's perplexing behavior.
Melody took a deep breath. "Can we sit down?" she said, pointing to the chair. "We really need to talk."
Wanda was unconvinced, but sat down anyway.
"I couldn't sleep last night," Melody began, "all I could think about was the workshop..." Her voice trailed off.
Wanda opened her mouth, but Melody raised her hand to silence her.
"I know," she continued, "it's weird, really. I've never given it a single thought....until now. So I decided to take a look around. It was while I was looking at a few blueprints and marvelling at how clever Stephen was -- that I found this."
Handing Wanda a folded sheet of paper, Melody said, "It's Stephen's last will and testament. I think you'd better take a look at it."
While reading, Wanda's eyes fell on a clause near the bottom of the first page. "So he left the toy shop to you after all," she said in disbelief.
"Yeah," Melody thought. "I was stunned. This has come as a complete shock to me too."
"Stephen and I talked about this," Wanda said to no one in particular, "I tried to talk him out of it, and I wasn't sure if he was going to go through with it. Apparently he did."
"I would never have expected him to leave it to me, only to you."
"What are you going to do?" Wanda realized that whatever Melody had decided to do, she had already decided to do it, and it was utterly pointless to stop her from doing it.
Melody hesitated. "I'm not sure yet. I don't exactly have a head for business, Mom."
"You could start by sifting through everything first before you take the plunge. Stephen was always the organized type, so everything should be there at your disposal."
"The boys and I have been down at Inner Child the last couple of days cleaning up and applying fresh coats of paint."
"That's a start." Wanda sighed. "I'm not forcing anything onto you at all, Melody. I learned that a long time ago."
"I know that," Melody smiled. Then, turning serious, she vowed, "I'm not letting Malcolm Landgraab get a single piece of my father's company."
Melody brought in the account book and a lengthy list of back-ordered items, orders that hadn't been filled since Stephen died. She and her friends went in what used to be her bedroom to discuss them. "Here's the deal," Melody announced. "People have ordered handcrafted toys and they haven't gotten them."
"Like I said before," Chester said, "Edwin and I can make the toy bricks, those are pretty easy. Maybe you could get your mom to make some of the other things."
Melody shook her head. "She hasn't set foot in the shop since Stephen died either."
"She'd have to help at some point, I would think," suggested Edwin. "After all, she's more experienced in this stuff than anyone here."
Marla added, "The kids would be so disappointed that they didn't get their stuff. We have to find some kind of way to get them their things."
After their meeting, the group split up. Marla went downstairs to help Wanda out with Harmony while Melody and the boys went out back to the workshop to fill the back orders.
The Tinkers celebrated a quiet Christmas with the laughter and good cheer that had been missing from the household for far too long. Wanda and Marla got together to cook a fabulous holiday feast rivaling that served by Lisa Ramirez and Denise Jacquet at the village Christmas party, and everyone else exchanged gifts. Wanda even got to work her pipes again while Melody played Christmas carols on the piano, which she hadn't touched in awhile. And when everyone else sang Christmas carols, Melody joined right in instead of balking at it like she had when she was younger.
"Oh, my God, it's snowing!" Marla cried, rushing to the window to look. The rest of the gang followed, even Melody. She'd secretly prayed for snow as a girl -- growing up, Christmases had always been warm enough to wear shorts. Not this year.
"Let's wait for the snow to pile up, we can go out and build snowmen," suggested Chester.
Edwin was reticent. "I -- I don't know. It is kind of cold out there."
"Relax, it'll be fun!" Marla replied, muffling his stringy blond hair.
Sure enough, the snow piled up, and the four of them scurried outside to build snowmen. The snow felt cold on their hands, but as Melody had never seen snow except on television, even frostbitten hands was well worth it.
On the day after Christmas Edwin came up with a suggestion. "Remember that website I helped you make for tracking paranormal activity?"
Melody frowned. "Which reminds me, I've been so busy with the toy store, I've got to check my email for that site. That'll probably be another all-nighter."
"No, I mean a website for Tinker Toys. Does the company have a website?"
Melody shook her head. "I -- I don't think so. Edwin, that's a splendid idea! I don't know why I didn't think of it."
Edwin grinned. "You can't think of everything, Mel." Just like that the pair of them went into her parents' bedroom, spending hours on developing a website for Tinker Toys. "You're going to need to purchase a domain name, too. And maybe do something like a statement from the owner or CEO or something. Gonna need a good professional looking pic."
Melody made a face. "Where am I going to find a camera?" she asked him.
"Well, don't you guys keep an old camera around somewhere?" asked Edwin.
Meanwhile, Chester and Wanda were down in the shop furiously making toys to try to fill some of those last-minute orders. Chester read the daunting list aloud. "Forty clown-in-the-boxes, twenty water wigglers, sixty Little Heroes fire trucks --"
"And that's just for Tower Toys here in Bluewater. The shop downtown is asking for even more items."
"Maybe -- perhaps -- we could hire temporary staff to help out?"
"Wouldn't we have to put out an advertisement?"
"An advertisement would be a great idea. It would show everyone that Tinker Toys is serious about coming back."
The rest of the holiday was filled with trips to Inner Child and assorted delivery runs in the Tinkers' rented van, fulfilling backorders, and general good humor in the household. The boys took turns tossing Harmony in the air, to Wanda's horror. "She'll puke!" the Tinker widow screeched.
Chester laughed. "Harmony likes it. Look, she's laughing!"
Marla kept the house clean and minded Harmony while Wanda found it in her heart to set foot in the shop again, interviewing potential staff members and even, picking up a hammer to carve out a few items. "Let's see if I've forgotten how to do this," she thought to herself.
Melody was right, Wanda mused. Stephen's spirit is all over this place. Wanda stepped to the bench and proceeded to make a twirl, spin, and wobble. After hammering together the handles, she took some tempera paints and lovingly handpainted the ladybug design on it.
Just then Melody joined Wanda in the toy shop, setting foot in the place in Wanda's presence for the first time. "What have you decided to do?" Wanda asked.
"I think we can give this a go, while I'm here," Melody replied.
Wanda unleashed a broad smile. "What are you saying, child -- that you want to reopen the shop?"
Melody smiled nervously. "I -- I think so, while I'm still here on break," she said, bobbing her head yes. "Besides, it's what Daddy would have wanted."
At the Landgraab mansion, Malcolm was 'entertaining' a female companion in his hot tub. She was quite tall, with luscious lips, blond hair, and blue eyes. After entertaining her with good conversation, he plied her with alcohol and they disappeared underneath the bubbling water.
After they emerged, Malcolm said, "You're pretty good -- Barbara."
"It's Brenda," replied the woman. "Brenda Rodiek. But thanks, anyway. You know, I had a pretty good teacher."
"Really?" Malcolm decided to change the subject. "You mentioned your daughter was at Hanover Academy."
"Yes, she's about to graduate. She's talking about trying to get into Academie Le Tour."
"Academie Le Tour, eh?" Malcolm scratched his chin, a devilish train of thought crossing his mind.
"Academie Le Tour. That's where her friend went. Melody Tinker. I think that's why she's trying to get there."
"Melody Tinker eh? So how does your daughter know Melody?"
Brenda wondered about Malcolm's leading questions, but she continued to talk glibly. "She met her at school when they were assigned as roommates. They grew quite close from there."
"How close?"
"Sarah came home to me crying. I asked her why she was crying, and she said it was because she liked this girl Melody at school and Melody refused her affections."
Malcolm was bemused. "So your daughter and Melody Tinker had a thing going on there, eh?"
At six the next morning Melody arose, again before everyone else in the household, and went for a jog around the neighborhood. Then, when no one was looking, she took a cab to the Bluewater post office to pick up packages of toys and supplies she'd ordered from the internet, and walked straight to the workshop to assemble and set them up.
Chester arose awhile later. He spotted the light on in the workshop and woke up Edwin. Rubbing his eyes, Edwin shook his head in disbelief. "Dang," he muttered to himself. He knew full well what that light meant. Melody was fiddling around in there.
Hastily putting on his jeans and hoodie, Edwin ran as fast as he could to the toy shed, and Chester followed him. There, they saw Melody trying to unpack boxes and assemble items, but trying to hide the fact that she was frozen in fear. "You need any help with anything?" Edwin asked.
Melody said nothing, but pointed to several more boxes that needed unpacking.
Chester chuckled. "Yes, boss," he teased as he tore open one of the boxes, and Edwin did so likewise.
At eight in the morning, the Tinkers reopened the doors to the backyard workshop of Tinker Toys for the first time since Stephen's death. And the timing could not have been better for some of its most loyal customers. Melody shuddered a bit when she recognized a couple of raven-haired girls in Hanover uniforms. Even though she didn't know these girls individually, she knew she was glad to be away from there.
The customers wasted little time in arriving, and they gazed in awe at some of the new toys. In addition to the bricks and fire trucks, the old standbys, there were new items, such as rag dolls (courtesy of Marla) and toddler televisions (courtesy of Chester). They'd certainly pulled out all the stops on this one, just in time to complete nearly every back order.
While Chester took to the bench making bricks, Melody went to the register. At first, because there was no one in line, she was fine, she could stand up and intake the scene. But once customers lined up, and she had to look at them and collect money from them, that was when she got nervous. After taking a break and taking stock of things, she returned to the register. But that wasn't to say the rest of the day was easy for her.
It cost Melody a fortune in taxi fares, delivering completed orders to houses, but it was worth it just to see her customers' faces. It made her heart jolt with unexpected pride when they all complimented her on the 'personal touch.'
She took note of this and decided to add home deliveries to the new look agenda.
While checking out the store's annual budget, she noted how carefully Stephen had accounted everything, from the blocks of wood right down to the smallest tacks. Everything had been carefully costed out and there was no room for any mistakes at all. It was going to be tight, but Melody vowed that once she passed her driving test, she would purchase a small van and begin the delivery service. It always had been the little things that mattered with Tinker Toys.
It was while she was traveling back home in the taxi that she came up with the perfect new slogan that defined Tinker Toys' new approach to business -- Bringing Toymaking Into the 21st Century.
As she drifted off to sleep that night, Melody realized how easily she'd slipped into Stephen's shoes as owner/manager of the toy shop. The only thing holding her back was her paralyzing fear of the toys themselves.
When the crew finally packed up to return to Academie Le Tour, Marla discovered, tucked away in the back of a closet, a badly chipped wooden brick. Melody recognized it straight away -- it was Maddy. Her paint was faded, her lips missing and she was well beyond repair. Memories rushed back as she recalled the many nights she cupped Maddy in her hands as she slept.
Now Maddy was a toy she wasn't afraid of at all. So why was she scared out of her wits by the others -- even other toy bricks? Surely it wasn't just that horrible clown-in-a-box that had caused it.
She remembered how Maddy had slipped into her possession, too. It was among many toy bricks in a shipment Stephen had made for one of the big toy stores downtown, and somehow it had fallen from the rest of the pack. For some unknown reason, Melody formed an attachment to it, and even though Stephen wanted to take the brick from her, he hadn't had the heart to.
"I can't have my daughter locking herself in her room talking to a toy brick!" Wanda had shouted.
"Wanda, you of all people should know -- you can't take a toy from a child! That's like taking milk from a baby! Let her have her brick, if she feels comfortable with it."
At any rate, Melody, meanwhile, was upstairs in her room, rocking back and forth, clutching Maddy in her hands. Somehow, Maddy had become more than a toy to her. She would confide in Maddy all of her fears and frustrations. It had even gotten to the point where Maddy fit snugly in a special pocket in Melody's school bag.
One day, when Melody was in school, she'd somehow left the bag unattended as she sat underneath her favorite tree, reading a book. Some mean kids had found the special pocket where Melody had kept Maddy. "Put it back!" Melody cried, mostly in vain as one of the kids dangled the brick in front of her and threatened to throw it away.
The girl ran as fast as she could, as far away from Melody as she could. Melody did not return home with the brick, and she had difficulty sleeping that night and several subsequent nights. She had given up hope that she would ever see Maddy again.
Days later, in gym class, Melody wandered into the bleachers and discovered her precious Maddy had been thrown near the top. Reunited with her beloved, she locked herself in the girls' bathroom and promised she would never leave her alone again. That day, Melody decided to lock Maddy away in a safe place and only take her out whenever she felt comfortable -- which was usually in the relative safety of her bedroom.
Just as Melody was preparing to leave, Wanda walked in the toy shop and found her in there, staring once more at the blueprints. For a few seconds, she stood there watching, marveling at the woman her daughter was becoming. Despite her childlike nature, she had a muscular sense of responsibility, drummed in her by her success-oriented parents. "You gotta do what you gotta do," she said finally as Melody, hearing her voice, turned around.
"Yeah. But what about the shop?"
"I can handle the shop." For the first time, Wanda sounded confident and had seemingly developed a belief in herself and her abilities.
But Melody wasn't completely convinced. "Are you sure?" she asked.
"Yeah, dear. I can handle it." Wanda grabbed Melody's face. "I can't hold on to you much longer, love, as much as I'd like to. You've got your whole new life now. I've got to let you sprout your wings and fly."
The hardest thing for a parent -- is letting their child go.

Chapter Twenty-Four

2007-11-02T11:09:00.000-07:00

Author's note: I've been experimenting a little with hair, etc, so if the characters you know and love look different, that's why. :D

Unbeknownst to Wanda, Melody had found the keys to Stephen's toy shed.
After Wanda and Harmony had gone to bed, Melody took the walk from the main house to Stephen's toy shed, which had been locked and untouched since his death. When she looked around, she could feel his spirit all over the place. She saw unfinished toys littering the shed. She saw careful, exact blueprints of toys yet to be made. Picking up one of the diagrams, she marveled at its precision. Angles had to be perfect. So much thought and loving detail had gone into each and every one of his toys. Maybe toymaking isn't as elementary as I thought it was, she wondered as she removed the cobwebs and dust from Stephen's bench.
While locating a hammer, some tempera paints, and a wooden cinder block, she stumbled onto Stephen's account book. Here, too, she was surprised by the amount of detail. As she flipped through it, she realized that in the entire history of Tinker Toys, not one single toy had ever been returned as defective. In that moment she gained a new respect for Stephen Tinker, and in the process realized what it truly meant to be a Tinker.
Suddenly the DNA results didn't matter much anymore, not in the grand scheme of things. Melody had been raised a Tinker, therefore, even if she were only one by association, she was still a Tinker, and to be one meant that she was a part of a longstanding tradition of toymaking excellence. As she hammered away at one of the toy bricks she had watched Stephen make long ago, a memory flashed in her mind...
She was twelve years old, and the Tinkers had just purchased Inner Child Toys and Gifts. To celebrate, the family had planned on going to the shop to officially open it to the public. When they got there, everyone was excited -- but Melody was nearly hyperventilating in fright. All the toys seemed to spin around in a circle, with one thing in mind....
Only one lady, who had been Inner Child's very first customer, seemed to notice. "This child's having a panic attack," she'd told Wanda.
"She wants to go home," Wanda told her, "and I'm not leaving her in the house by herself, that's what she wants." Stephen intervened, taking Melody outside and getting her a drink of water to try to calm her down.
Then, returning to the present day, suddenly, as she picked up the hammer, it happened again. Melody's heart began racing, her breathing became frantic, she wrung her hands and stepped away from the bench.
I thought I was over this, she thought to herself.
Taking off her glasses, she wiped the sweat dripping from her forehead and into her eyes. Okay, Mel, calm down, she told herself, calm down. She walked back outside, sitting on the steps of the toy shed, burying her face in her hands.
Giving herself a pep talk, Melody told herself she could go back inside and finish the brick she was making.
Melody walked back into the living room, where Wanda was watching an old romantic movie. Then Wanda surprised her with a small announcement. "I'm going to Florence's for awhile. Could you keep an eye on Harmony for me?"
"Sure, mom," Melody said with mixed feelings. She was glad her mother had finally decided to get out of the house, but at the same time, she was mortified. She had never spent any significant time with her kid sister. How was she going to relate to a three-year-old?
Melody inhaled deeply as she walked upstairs to her kid sister's bedroom, which used to be the exercise room. There she saw little Harmony happily playing with -- toys! In particular, a see and say-like rabbit that a toddler pushes the ear of and it 'talks' in a mechanical voice and the little dots it had for eyes ran around in circles every time Harmony pushed its ear. She wished deep down that it could be that easy for her. But she knew it wasn't.
"Armi poop," said Harmony, raising her arms to Melody.
"What?" asked Melody, confused.
"Armi poop!" repeated Harmony.
This time Melody's face turned beet red and she started to cry. She wasn't sure what to do!
Wanda spent the afternoon at Florence's place on Lake Meadow Circle. "It's good to see you again, dear," Florence said, reaching for Wanda to give her a hug. "Melody's return sure seems to have done you a lot of good."
"I'm glad to have her back," Wanda admitted, "I wish I could keep her around forever."
"Speaking of which," Florence said, leaning forth conspiratorially, "she sure made quite a big splash at the Christmas party. People in town still can't stop talking about it. Frankly, I can't say I blame her for what happened. It was all boiling over underneath the surface."
"She doesn't really like to talk much about what's bothering her. She never did, really. Always kept everything in. I told her the other night that she can't keep doing that."
Florence had a thought. She grabbed the latest edition of the Sim City Times off the coffee table. "Um, Wanda, dear, I think you'd better take a look at this," she said as she handed the paper to Wanda, who was sitting on the sofa, sipping her chamomile tea.
Casting a quick glance at the open page, Wanda gasped in shock. Printed in bold letters, glaring out at her was this article: WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO TINKER TOYS?
"For years, Tinker Toys has been the pinnacle of Bluewater Village and the surrounding area. But now, its closed doors and halted production line are sparking numerous rumors. Is it possible that this once busy company is at risk of closure, disappointing millions of children nationwide?"
As Wanda read the article, a deep knot developed in her stomach. She knew that she hadn't the heart to maintain the shop or even make more toys since Stephen's death. But Melody's vehement refusal to sell the company remained fresh in her mind. This was a girl, she remembered, who had such a deep and paralyzing fear of all toys that she wouldn't even set foot in the shop. Who knew, Wanda wondered, the workings of her eldest daughter's brain?
"Malcolm Landgraab offered to buy the company," Wanda casually mentioned to Florence.
"And you refused, right?"
"Well, Melody did. She was upset with me for even considering it."
"And she was right. Do you realize who Malcolm Landgraab is? He owns half of Sim City and is constantly looking for more lambs for the slaughter."
"You don't understand why I'm so confused, Florence. This girl wouldn't even set foot in the toy shop. My husband and I begged and pleaded with her to come in and help us but she refused at every turn. And now all of a sudden, now that Stephen is dead, she decides that she doesn't want to sell the company?"
Florence laughed. "The girl has a plan, Wanda."
"If she's got a plan," Wanda wondered, "what?"
Sipping her tea, Florence mused, "Maybe -- maybe she wants to reopen the toy shop."
Wanda shook her head in astonishment. "What? But why? She never showed any interest in toys or toymaking. She was from one project to another --"
"She wants to keep his memory alive, Wanda. Even if he's not her biological father, he raised her, so he's her dad. Reopening the toy shop is her way of paying tribute to him."
Tears began flowing down Wanda's cheeks. "I had no idea she felt this way."
"She may go about things differently than what you're used to, but you've got to admit, her heart's in the right place here."
"Sometimes, Flo," Wanda thought, "I think you understand Melody better than I do."
When Wanda returned home, Harmony leapt over to her and yelled, "Armi poop! Armi poop!"
"Melody! You were supposed to change her diaper!" shouted Wanda as she scooped Harmony up.
"I didn't know I was supposed to change her diaper!" Melody hung her head in embarrassment. "I'm not cut out to be a parent."
Wanda took a deep breath. Instead of launching into a tirade, she lifted Melody's chin and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "Neither was I, when you were born. Some things you just can't learn from books, love." She walked upstairs with Harmony in tow.
Melody decided to play a little chess. She hadn't touched a chess board in awhile and needed to refresh her skills.
With Wanda and Harmony both asleep, Melody wandered into her parents' bedroom, searching through her father's records on his computer and through crates of papers. She discovered something she probably should have seen months earlier -- a copy of Stephen's last will and testament.
There it was in black and white. "I, Stephen Ronald Tinker, being of sound mind and body... do, in the event of my death, hereby leave my backyard toy shop and my community lot business, Inner Child Toys and Gifts, both collectively designated as Tinker Toys, to my darling daughter, Melody Autumn Tinker..."
Melody took another gander at the words printed on the page. She wasn't entirely sure she'd read them correctly, so she went over them again. They read the same thing. She had become president and chief executive officer of Tinker Toys immediately upon her father's death. The news was, to put it lightly, a stunner to her, especially since she'd spent much of her young life running from the fact that she was a Tinker.
Melody returned to the backyard toy shop, soaking everything in. It belonged to her now, all of it. The bench, the shelves, the cash register, the record books, even the community-lot business, Inner Child Toys and Gifts -- was hers. And she wasn't exactly sure how to handle this new situation -- and the new responsibilities the situation created.
Walking up to some of Stephen's blueprints, Melody examined them again, and ideas began to churn in her head. With the cell phone Wanda had bought her for Christmas, Melody dialed the one person she knew could help -- her best friend in the world, Chester Gieke.
Chester had decided to stay behind at Le Tour rather than return to Bluewater for the holiday. And boy, she decided, he didn't know what he missed.
"Hey Ches --""Mel!" Chester's jocose voice scratched through the receiver. "Merry Christmas! How's it going?"
"Pretty good -- and you?"
"Bored out of my mind."
Melody laughed. "I told you, you should've come to Bluewater with me. There's been enough entertainment here to fill a year's worth of programming on SBN."
"That wild, huh?"
"Yep." Melody suddenly turned serious. "Something else has happened, too. I found out my father left me the company."
Chester let out a loud gasp. "Your dad left you Tinker Toys?"
"You got it." Melody let out a deep sigh.
"Do you realize you're a bona fide heiress?" Chester joked. "Can I call you Paris Hilton?"
"I thought he would have left it to my mom, but he left it to me instead. I don't know what to do. I can't just leave the company here. And I certainly don't want to leave college. I worked too hard to get there. If I knew my dad was going to die and leave me the company --"
"Mel, I'm on my way there first thing in the morning. And I'm sure I could convince Edwin to come too, and maybe Marla as well."
"You know where my house is, right?"
"Sure I do, it's the yellow two-story one on Eagle Lane."
"Yep, that's it. See ya tomorrow then?"
"We'll try not to get there too early in the morning, maybe ten-ish."
"Don't worry about it, I get up early anyway. And my mom might be up with Harmony." With that Chester hung up the phone, and Melody locked up the toy shop for the evening. She knew the next day was a big day.
Melody had difficulty sleeping that night in anticipation of Chester's arrival. That also meant she would have to introduce her friends to her mother -- her two worlds would now be colliding. How would her mother respond to her friends? Would she like them?
Like she used to do, she rose at precisely six in the morning and put on her workout gear to take a jog around the neighborhood. A fitness freak, she liked to keep herself in shape by lifting weights and running, either on the treadmill or around campus.
While coming back from her jog, she saw a bright yellow cab pull up in front of the house. "Oh my gosh!" Melody exclaimed. "Already?" Sure enough, out of the cab came Chester, Edwin, and Marla. How was she going to explain all this to her mother?
Turns out, she didn't need to -- at least, not for the moment. "You must be Melody's college friends," Wanda said sweetly, greeting the group at the door with Harmony in her arms.
"Mom," Melody breathed, "these are my college roommates, Chester Gieke, Edwin Sharpe, and Marla Biggs."
Wanda smiled. "How do you all do? I'm pleased to meet you."
"I'm happy to meet you, too, Mrs. Tinker," Marla said. "Melody doesn't talk a lot about you, but everything she's said has been good." Marla then gushed over Harmony. "Oh, my goodness, is this cutie Mel's kid sister?"
Meanwhile, the boys followed Melody to the backyard toy shop, and Wanda looked outside in disbelief. "Goodness, what is she up to?" she wondered.
"Gosh, I remember playing with Tinker toys," Chester recalled as the three of them walked to the backyard toy shop. "I had a little red fire truck, it was the Little Heroes --"
"That's it." Melody smiled at the memory. Just then she had a vision, of Stephen back in the shed, working on a Little Heroes fire truck.
Edwin's eyes widened with disbelief. "You're Melody Tinker -- of THOSE Tinkers? The guys who made all the toys? Even the water wiggler my sister and I played with?"
"You got it." For the first time, Melody glowed with pride at being a Tinker.
"Didn't you ever sneak in here, sneak a peek at what was in here?"
"Not really --" Melody said it with a tinge of regret.
"Man, if it were me, I'd have been in here for hours."
"I sneaked in here the other night for the first time."
Chester shook his head in astonishment. "I'd have thought, with your creativity, that this would be right up your alley."
Melody took a deep breath. Little by little she offered the astonished guys a glimpse into her soul. "I'm afraid of toys," she whispered sadly. Then she finally mentioned the jack-in-the-box incident to them.
Seeing her stiffen at the mention of it, Chester and Edwin wrapped their arms around her. They didn't judge her or try to understand why she felt this way.
"Well," Chester suggested, "there are plenty of things you can do in the toy shop besides make toys. You can design them -- I'm sure you have tons of ideas for new products swimming in that cute little head of yours. Designing stuff would be right up your alley, I think. Other people can actually make the toys."
Melody chuckled. "And just who exactly did you have in mind?"
Chester playfully batted his eyelashes in a fake diva pose.
"You -- make toys?" Melody shook her head. "I thought the only toys you messed around with were of the electronic variety. These are made with wood and tempera paints."
"There was a time when I didn't play with electronic toys." Chester grinned.
"Last person to the shed is a rotten egg," Melody called to the boys, knowing full well that in her great physical shape, she would win any footrace. With legs like the wind, her curly ponytail flying, she beat the boys to the toyshop door, leaving Chester muttering and Edwin huffing and puffing.

Chapter Twenty-Three

2007-11-02T10:57:00.000-07:00

Wanda stroked Melody's hair and pressed her close to her bosom, cooing softly and rocking her gently. "There, there, love," she said quietly, taking off Melody's glasses and putting them in her pocket. She wiped the tears that had been steadily streaming down her face.
Why had her little girl been so angry with everyone for so long? She didn't understand. If only she could understand.
But now the anger was out, all out. She had said everything she'd wanted to, everything she'd held inside for, apparently, a very long time. It was over now, all over.
"You can't keep doing this to yourself, love. Can't hold things in until you burst."
Pulling away, Wanda grabbed Melody's face in both her hands and smiled widely. "You remind me so much of myself when I was your age. I had a fire too, but I never had any courage to use it. What you did at that party would have made your father just as proud as myself." Wanda let her face go.
Melody stiffened, hearing her mother speak about her father, but Wanda shook her head.
"I'm talking about Stephen," said Wanda. "He may not have been your biological father, but he loved you all the same. And that's what matters most. Now, dry those eyes and let's go into the kitchen for some Santa cookies. You used to love those when you were little."
Wanda handed Melody back her glasses and the pair of them walked, arm in arm, into the kitchen. "I remember when you were little," Wanda began wistfully, "and you were sick and you missed school. You were so depressed because you hated to miss school. I felt bad because you felt bad. So I went to the school to get your assignments."
Melody brightened. "Really?"
"Yeah. All the teachers could rave about was your intelligence and how you were always ahead of the rest of the class. When I got back, I baked you these cookies and you felt better."
Wanda and Melody sat down in front of the fireplace, facing the Christmas tree in the living room, drinking milk and eating Santa cookies. "Sweetheart -- remember back when you were, about eight years old, when you first asked for the easel -- you stayed up all night working on a painting of the solar system. Your dad called me up to see, and it was so beautiful, it looked like Picasso himself had painted it." Wanda took a deep breath. "Have you lost interest in painting, dear?"
Melody thought about her mother's question. "No, I haven't lost interest in it, just haven't had time to indulge, really, what with my coursework and all."
"Speaking of which, Melody, you never told me what you're majoring in."
"Astronomy."
Wanda frowned. "Astronomy?" she asked.
"The study of the stars, the planets, and the solar system -- with a concentration in applied mathematics. I have art as a minor."
So much like her father, Wanda thought to herself. "Anyway, dear, why was there such a sudden change of heart? You used to love to paint. Even got that internship with Darren Dreamer."
Melody took a deep breath. "Mom -- can I tell you something?"
"Sure, sweetie."
"Mom -- I -- I was abducted."
"By aliens?"
"Yes."
Wanda was stunned. "What? When did this happen?"
"When I was fourteen. It happened when I was home on my first visit from school."
"What -- I mean -- how long --"
"I was gone about four hours. But you didn't know about it because you were asleep."
"You were gone? Where did you go, honey?"
"I don't know, exactly. There isn't much I remember about that night. All I know was after that happened I was filled with questions -- about the universe, about life, about everything. I just needed to know. I still need to know, to understand. To make sense out of everything."
"Melody --" Wanda whispered.
"I didn't say anything at the time because I was sure nobody would believe me."
"I believe you, darling." Wanda stroked Melody's chin. "Now that I think about it, it was a different Melody after that. You'd changed. I didn't know you anymore."
"I was trying to figure out some things -- I guess I'm still trying to figure out some things."
"Sweetheart -- take as long as you want to figure out as much as you want. I'll be waiting." After they finished their cookies and milk, they walked upstairs. Melody crawled in her mother's bed, the other side of which had been empty since Stephen's death. She opened a book and started to read. However, she never finished what she was reading as she fell asleep in the midst of it.
Coming back to the bedroom, Wanda chuckled silently as she saw Melody fast asleep, her book stretched across her chest, her glasses still on her eyes. The more things change, Wanda thought, the more they stay the same. Carefully Wanda removed Melody's spectacles and book and placed them both on the nightstand beside the bed. Tucking her in, Wanda kissed her on her forehead. "Good night, love. I love you more than you'll ever know."
The next morning Wanda woke up. "Honey, I found this on the floor," Wanda began, pointing at a hardcover copy of the last Harry Potter book.
"You can have it," Melody had said, groggily wiping her eyes, "I don't want it."
Wanda shook her head in disbelief. "But I thought you loved books. I've seen the way you used to treat them. You used to freak out if any of the pages were folded over or if the spines were bent out of shape."
"I have my reasons."
"You can tell me, I'm your mom."
"You won't understand.""Try me."
Melody sighed, plucking the book out of her mother's hand. An electric jolt passed through her at its significance. "It's from Sarah."
There was a deafening silence as Wanda wracked her brain over who this Sarah character was. The name sounded somewhat familiar. As Wanda looked directly at her daughter, she could see Melody trying to avoid her gaze, looking down at the book as bitter tears clouded her vision. "Melody, honey?" she asked sweetly as she lifted her daughter's chin and forced Melody to look at her. "Was Sarah that girl -- that girl you kissed?"
Immediately Melody's defenses sprang into action. "I don't want to talk about it!" she shouted.
Wanda nodded. "I understand." She stood up, reaching forward and squeezing her daughter's shoulder gently. "I'm making a cup of coffee now, would you like one?"
Melody nodded, surprised at her mother's calmness. She half-expected her to rise up like a monstrous bull, raging and snorting, ready to go on a rampage.
After filling the coffee pot up, Wanda turned to Melody. "Sweetheart, you know you can always talk to me," she said.
Melody looked at her, unsure how to handle this new scenario.
Wanda sensed her silence, but continued. "After your father, I mean Stephen's, untimely death, I've had time to reflect. And life's far too short for anger and frustration."
The coffeepot percolated and Wanda poured out two cups of decaffeinated coffee, with a spoonful of creamer in Melody's just the way she liked it. Putting both cups on the table, she gently took the book from Melody's hand and opened it up to the first page. "Let me know when you're ready."
As she put the book down on the table, Wanda remembered she had to go and check on Harmony. Squeezing Melody's shoulder again, she stood up and walked away.
Melody couldn't help but notice how much slower her mother walked now, her shoulders slumped, her sprightly step now a slow gait. "Mom?"
Wanda paused and turned. Springing out of her seat, Melody ran to her mother and hugged her tightly. "Thanks," she whispered.
"No, honey, thank you," Wanda replied, "for showing me the way. For letting me see what a truly wonderful daughter I have."
Melody smiled broadly, not quite believing the fulsome compliments her mother, with whom she'd fought for so long, was now paying her.
But Wanda suddenly turned serious. "You still have feelings for this Sarah, don't you, sweetheart?"
Melody's sudden silence and bubbling tears were all Wanda needed to see to confirm her maternal suspicion.
"And she's hurt you deeply."
Again Melody looked away, the tears in her eyes beginning to overflow.
"Do you know where she lives?"
"I -- I haven't heard from her in a couple years, that was, till she sent me this book." Melody gazed again at the Harry Potter volume.
Wanda cradled Melody's head on her chest, all the while trying to make sense of her daughter's pain and confusion. "I know you hurt, love, and I want so badly to heal every one of your wounds. I want even badder to shield you from getting hurt ever again, because when you hurt, I hurt." Wanda wanted to know more about this Sarah who had hurt her daughter so -- this Sarah who Melody obviously still cared deeply about. But she didn't want to press, now that she had an idea of the depths of Melody's pain. She hadn't forgotten that despite being a freshman in college, her Melody had only barely turned seventeen. "Tell me more about Sarah. Her background, where she's from."
Melody hesitated. "She -- she was -- she was from the city."
"From Sim City?"
Melody nodded. "She lived downtown. She had short blond hair and big blue eyes. But I don't think I was attracted to her looks."
"Honey, falling in love for the first time isn't easy, for anyone. If we understood the way love works we'd all be rich and wise beyond our wildest dreams." Wanda then waxed rhapsodic on her late husband. "Stephen and I grew up together. Our parents lived next door to each other and they were friends and it was kind of a fated thing that we'd get together. We were best friends as kids, high school sweethearts as teenagers, and we went to college together where Stephen was one of the llama mascots for the Sim State football team. Then I met Dr. Hyden and my whole world turned upside down. He was so smart and charismatic and unbelievably charming. He literally swept me off my feet."
Melody nodded. "What about -- what happened between the two of you?"
"Everything was a blur. The night after Marcel and I went out, Steve proposed to me. I didn't think about anything, I just said yes."
"I guess it was the same way when I met Sarah. She was so ebullient, so full of life, and before I knew it I was kissing her. And I was dreaming constantly about just being with her. I really didn't understand what was happening, and I couldn't figure out for the life of me why it was happening."
"You were in love with her," Wanda said, wiping a loose tear from Melody's eye. "You're still in love with her, after all this time."
"I couldn't say any of these things to you or Dad. I didn't want to disappoint either of you guys, with me -- you know, liking a girl."
"You could never disappoint me, love," Wanda smiled. "So that was why you all of a sudden clammed up after you'd told me. That was why you ran away that night, too."
"What night?"
"That night you disappeared. I was so worried about you, I didn't know where you'd gone."
"I took a walk," Melody said. "A long, solitary walk. Thought about some things. I came back in after midnight." She heaved a deep sigh. "So much time has passed."
"And so much pain, too, love." Melody nodded at this comment, knowing in her heart that it was absolutely correct. "The day you were born, I told my mom that you were the prettiest, sweetest looking child I'd ever seen in my life. When I held you in my arms for the first time, looked inside those big brown eyes, I just lost it. I think I was doing more crying than you were. The midwife took you away from me for awhile, gave you your bath and your diaper, and handed you back to me. When she handed you back to me, I cried some more, wondering what on earth I did to deserve this little miracle. Then I watched you grow, and kept wondering what I did to deserve this perfect child -- so well-behaved and smart. Then I watched helplessly as those big cheery brown eyes became cold and angry. You became a total stranger, someone I didn't even know. You weren't Melody. You were -- someone else. I didn't know why it happened, but I knew I wanted it to stop."
After Wanda wiped away her tears, she changed her subject to a much happier one. "Hey, I saw what you did to Gilbert Jacquet."
Melody giggled. A deep, guttural, hearty giggle. Wanda was glad to hear it -- a sound she hadn't heard in a long time, music to her ears. "He deserved it," she whispered conspiratorially, leaning closer to Wanda's ear.
"Yeah, he did." Wanda was glowing all over. She was glad to have her daughter back.

Chapter Twenty-Two

2007-10-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

The phone rang in the dormitory just before Christmas break was to begin at Le Tour. At this time, Melody's plans for the month-long break in between the fall and spring semesters were uncertain. Truth be told, she'd rather stay at Le Tour and work rather than face the gossip hounds in Bluewater.
"Melody?"
She recognized the woman's voice on the other end of the line. It was Florence Delarosa, the florist who lived around the bend from her mother. "Hi, Ms. Florence."
"Hey, sweetheart. How's college?"
"Great. I'm doing great."
"Listen, Melody -- I'm really worried about your mother."
Melody was confused. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I haven't seen her in about a week. She's not coming out of the house. She doesn't return any phone calls. I think you should to come down and see what's going on."
Florence's words reverberated through Melody's ears as she went upstairs to pack her things. This was not what she wanted to hear.

The winter break found Melody exactly where she didn't want to be -- back in Bluewater for an entire month. If she'd have had her druthers, she'd have been back at Le Tour, staying in the dorms, burying herself in some kind of research project or other.
Arriving at her girlhood home, she barely recognized the place. Its formerly cheery yellow exterior had become a dingy beige. The formerly well-tended flowers had wilted and become overrun with weeds. When she walked in the house, an incredible stench consisting of dirty diapers and rotting formula bottles filled the air. She saw Wanda seated at the dining room table, staring blankly out of a nearby window, while dirty diapers littered the floor. Growing more incensed by the minute, Melody disposed of the diapers and went upstairs to bathe Harmony.
A girlhood memory flashed through her mind. Melody groaned and pulled the covers over her head, wishing her mother didn't have to sing those godawful Christmas carols. Yes, she knew it was Christmas Day, but did everybody have to be so cheerful and happy? Besides, she already knew what she was getting this year (as always).
She'd sneaked down the stairs and carefully slit open the presents to take a peek inside. Then, almost as carefully, she'd attach more scotch tape, just to make it look as though they'd never been opened at all.
Grinning broadly to herself, she'd close her eyes and try to go back to sleep. Then the baritone of her father joined in. As if her mother's caterwauling weren't bad enough, her dad had to join in too.
She remembered when her parents dressed up as Santa and Mrs. Claus to work in the toy shop. She remembered when despite not having as much money as some of the other families, they had the most lavish Christmas light display in town. She even remembered when her parents wanted her to join in dressing up in Christmas colors for their annual family portraits.
Now, as she looked about the gloomy room, it seemed Christmas had bypassed the Tinker house completely. And it hurt. Deeply.
"Melody, dear," Wanda droned absently, "could you run down to J'Adore's and pick up a couple of cakes for me and Harmony please?"
Melody sighed. "Sure, mom," and she called a cab to pick her up. She still wasn't entirely sure of herself behind the wheel of a car.
"Say, isn't that Wanda Tinker's girl? What's she doing back here?" hissed one of the patrons to Denise Jacquet as Melody walked into J'Adore Bakery. "I thought she left."
"Yeah, that must be the kid Wanda had for the professor. Can you believe she hid the truth about that girl from her husband all this time?"
"I don't know how we didn't guess she wasn't Stephen's. She didn't look or act like him at all."
Filing this in her mind, Melody narrowed her eyes like slits, glaring at Denise and her companion. They were essentially calling her mother a slut right in front of her! Right then and there, she decided that the townsfolk's vicious attacks on her mother had to stop. They had sapped her mother of her energy and her will to live.
She walked up to the counter and requested two cakes, one that read "Happy Birthday Wanda" and another that read "Happy Birthday Harmony." After paying for the cakes, Melody left, but continued to hear the talk from inside the bakery.
Lisa Ramirez had rented the Bluewater Town Hall, like she did every year, for the annual village holiday party. The weather added to the festive atmosphere, delivering cold weather and intermittent light snow flurries. Just about every regular year-round resident of the Village had showed up here -- the Jacquets, Malcolm Landgraab, Florence Delarosa, and of course Lisa herself. Noticeably absent, however, were the Tinkers. "Where's Wanda?" Florence asked Lisa after pulling her aside.
"Oops, it must have slipped my mind to invite her," Lisa said. "Well, she knows we do this holiday party every year, so nothing's stopping her from coming again this year."
Without anyone noticing, and without uttering another syllable, Florence slipped out the back door.
Meanwhile, back at the Tinkers, Wanda, still staring blankly out the window, heard the commotion coming from the town hall, the festive holiday music and the laughter reverberating through the air. "What's going on at the town hall?" she asked, not even looking at Melody, who was holding her kid sister in her arms.
"Mom, you know it's the holiday party, they do it every year."
Wanda shook her head. "Oh, that's right."
Melody came up with an idea. "Mom, let's go over there, the three of us."
Wanda shook her head again. "No, it's not a good idea. Besides, we didn't get an invite."
"Since when do you need an invite to go to the Village holiday party?" Melody was incensed. "So this is what it's come down to, right? Dirty diapers, bottles all over, not taking a bath, not eating -- Mom, this isn't you."
"I don't know how much more of this I can take." Wanda heaved a sigh. "This was our favorite time of the year in the toy shop. We used to dress up as Santa and Mrs. Claus for the children --"
Just then Florence arrived. "Dear, the holiday party is going on --"
"I'm not going."
"Yes you are." Florence took Harmony upstairs and gave her a bath and dressed her. After bathing and dressing herself, Melody took Harmony from Florence and curled the toddler's jet black hair.
Melody helped her mother up from her chair, her blood continuing to boil the entire time. She told her mother to clean herself up, change into some decent clothes, and come along with her to the holiday festival. Reluctantly, Wanda listened, showing the first signs of climbing out of her abyss.
After Florence Delarosa slipped back into the gathering unnoticed, she heard Lisa Ramirez talking to Denise Jacquet and another lady over sparkling drinks. Everything stopped, though, with the entrance of the Tinkers -- Wanda, Melody, and baby Harmony. "You mean she bothered to show her face here after everything that's happened?" one lady whispered within earshot.
"You know wild horses can't keep her away," added Lisa. "She's a glutton for punishment."
Melody took a deep breath and examined the room. Her head started to spin in ten thousand different directions. Then, suddenly, she couldn't take it anymore. A lifetime of pent-up anger and rage had finally come to a boiling point.
With fire in her eyes, Melody first turned her attention to the Jacquets. "What kind of voodoo spell do you have on your son, Denise? You talk about everyone else but the sun shines out of his butt, he could do no wrong. I bet you don't know that besides the 2 women he's seeing here, he goes downtown to the gay bars too. He needs to grow up and be a man instead of sticking up under mama all the time."
"Hah, I knew it!" Lisa said to herself, "and it finally comes out of her mouth. She's the one who's gay!"
The whole gathering stopped, their eyes falling on Melody. But she wasn't fazed. And Gilbert was even less so, even to the point of walking up to Melody and trying to flirt with her. "I remember that gangly awkward little girl in the green sunglasses who used to wander in the bakery. You sure did grow up nicely. Mind if we cut out of here and take a spin downtown?"
Melody shook her head. How dare he try to hit on her! By this point, though, her anger was palpable. And there was no controlling it. Melody raised her right fist and smacked Gilbert right in the jaw. With fire in her eyes, she shouted, "Try it again and your other side is going to be busted too."
Wanda was astonished. "Melody!" she cried in disbelief. "Oh, my dear sweet child."
Gilbert, for his part, scampered away toward the men's room, with bruises to his jaw and his pride.
Then she sharpened her fangs for Malcolm Landgraab. "And you, you greedy vulture, you came here with no connections to anyone who lives here and now all of a sudden you want to take over every damn thing."
"What are you talking about?" Malcolm shouted.
"You know damn well what I'm talking about, Malcolm. My mother told me, you offered to buy my father's toy shop. He worked his hiney off for that shop. I'd rather see the place rot than to see it in your dirty filthy hands!"
"I'm just looking out for your family's best interests, Melody. You know that." He flashed her a sly smile.
Melody scoffed. "Oh, spare me the drama," she shouted. "The only person's best interests you're looking out for, Malcolm, is your own."
"Melody Tinker!" someone shouted from the crowd. "What's gotten into you? Must be the punch!"
"Yeah, what the hell brought you back here in the first place? To cause more trouble, it seems like."
"I'm not finished. This whole town has been built on a foundation of lies. That's all, I say, lies! Nobody here is living the life they profess to live. It's time somebody in this god-forsaken place wises up to the truth."
Melody saved her sharpest knife, however, for Lisa Ramirez. "You!" Melody shouted, directing a sharp finger at her. "You pretended to be my mother's friend and confidante but instead went around town spreading vicious lies about her!"
"I did not!" Lisa yelled. "How dare you accuse me of something as blatantly disrespectful as that?"
"Oh don't give me that bull, Lisa. You run around with your smiley face, saying hi to everybody, pretending you've got so much, and yet you go around stabbing the knife in their backs. What you did to my mother was absolutely inexcusable! The only thing she did wrong -- was trust you."
"I didn't do anything to your mother that she didn't do to herself."
"You don't get it, do you?" retorted Melody. "With friends like you, who the hell needs enemies? Is that why you conveniently forgot to invite her to this, the town Christmas party?"
"I didn't forget to invite anyone. We have an open-door policy here, Melody, you know that, as long as you've lived here. Anyone is welcome here."
Melody then tried a different tack. "Where's your husband?" she asked.
"Business trip," Lisa replied, "some convention for the furniture shop."
"No, he isn't. He's at a hotel with his mistress, Dina Caliente from Pleasantview. Just yesterday he withdrew six thousand four hundred and fifty-three simoleans from his bank account and placed them in hers. Apparently it's been happening for quite awhile, Lisa. There's a whole slew of debits charged to his account on Dina's behalf. Diamond necklaces, fur coats, even a Mercedes."
The whole gathering stopped to hear everything. Lisa turned around to see them, and see her entire world crashing down around her. "Is this true?" she asked, trying to hold back tears. "If it is true, how do you know all this?"
Melody flashed Lisa a devious grin. "I have my sources." After a brief pause, Melody's tone suddenly turned reflective and she was on the verge of tears. "All my mother and father have done the entire time they've been here is make your children happy with their lovingly crafted, handmade toys. And this is the thanks they get? My father is six feet under, working himself literally to the grave so that he could produce this year's Christmas shipment. My mother is a nervous wreck now, thanks to all of you. She won't eat, she can't step outside to pick up the newspaper or to water the flowers, and she can barely even look at my baby sister, much less care for her. All the stuff you people are saying about her, it's all lies. You don't know a damn thing about what happened that night. And you shouldn't know, because it's none of your damned business!" Tears began to flow down Melody's cheeks, and she was powerless to stop them.
Collapsing to the floor in a heap beside the drink bar, her glasses fogging with her tears, Melody took hard, deep breaths while rocking back and forth. She was joined -- and comforted -- by Wanda and Florence. "It's okay, baby," Wanda whispered in her ear, rubbing her shoulder, "it's over now."
Lisa came forth, looking highly affronted. "Hmmph," she muttered, disgusted at what had just taken place. "I would never have expected that from her, the dyke."
Wanda's eyes narrowed in slits as she glared at Lisa, gaining the fury of a mother bear protecting her cub. "You called my daughter a dyke?"
"Well," Lisa said in a snotty tone, "she is, isn't she?"
"So what if she is?" Wanda asked. "That doesn't mean anything. She's still my daughter and I love her, no matter what."
A soft cough made Lisa spin around. Florence stepped forward. "Considering how you've all treated her family since her father died, you all had it coming to you."
Wanda, Melody, Florence, and Harmony left the party without saying another word. Melody's head rested on Wanda's shoulder.

Chapter Twenty-One (Part Two)

2007-10-25T10:23:00.000-07:00

Going back to the dorm, she met Edwin for lunch. The group's class schedules meant they seldom saw each other together, but when they did, it was often magical and memorable. She knew Edwin was taking a lot of her same classes, so they would have roughly the same schedule. At the tail end of a conversation about recent ghost sightings, she was surprised to see him in a bomber jacket. "I borrowed it from Chester," Edwin cracked. "Who knows what else he's got stashed away in that apartment of his?"

"Yeah, that's true. He doesn't want me to go in there and clean it up."

"You would go clean up his apartment."

"I sure would. I made up my parents' bed at home. Cleaning up Ches's apartment -- that's a cinch. Besides, he already gave me a key."

Edwin's eyes popped open. "He gave you a key to his apartment?"

"Sure."

"You two aren't doing anything I don't know about, right?"

"Don't be silly, Edwin, of course not. And hey, even I know about those love letters you write to that girl Delilah on your computer," teased Melody.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Edwin shouted.

But Melody was already gone. "Later, I've got to pick up some things from the library."

Before Melody went to the library, though, she went over to the offices of the Le Tour Ledger where she met up with Chester. "You said you needed something?" she asked him.

"Well, if you can write just a summary of the goings on with your website, that'll be good for this week's column," he told her.

Chester couldn't help himself. Melody was different from any other girl he'd ever encountered. She shared his interests in astronomy, alien conspiracies, robotics, and all things paranormal. He kept thinking to himself that she was a dream creature, sent to mock him.

Melody could not have fathomed that she'd be anywhere near a campus newspaper, let alone writing for one. She knew that back at Hanover Academy, she would not have dreamed of doing this.

"I can't reveal all my research!" Melody exclaimed, "that's top secret."

Chester shrugged. "Just give a brief summary. You don't have to reveal the names of the people who sent you emails, you can just say, well, on Tuesday, November 3, a flying saucer was located...and then give an approximation of the location."

Melody was returning from the library when she saw a light still on in Dr. Hyden's place. "Thank you, Dr. Hyden," a random female student said as she was leaving his office. Curious, she positioned herself right by the entrance door, and peered inside with her head. She saw him straightening out his tie, with a slight flush to his face. She thought it strange for him to be in his office with a student well after hours. Filing this away in her mind, and being especially careful not to let Dr. Hyden or his female student see her, Melody ran away from the scene in embarrassment, taking deep breaths in between her steps, and found her way back to the dorm.

"Oh my gosh, is that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?" Marla asked, seeing the seventh and final Harry Potter book sitting on the cafeteria table.

Melody shrugged. "Yeah, so?"

"Do you know how hard that one is to get? It's like super rare now, the stores have been out for ages. I've been trying to get it, but I keep missing it."
Melody shook her head. "I didn't know you liked Harry Potter."

"Oh my gosh, I love Harry Potter!" Marla exclaimed. "I've read all the books many times over. Except this last one." Thinking about what she'd said, Marla then asked, "Could I borrow this? I promise I'll give it right back to you."

Melody, looking up from her macaroni and cheese, waved Marla off. "Go ahead, knock yourself out."

"Oh, thanks so much! I promise I'll get this back to you right away!"
"It's no rush, really," Melody told her.

Later on Melody, her eyes hurting from staring at the screen, took a break from writing her freshman thesis, and looked behind her at Marla. Curled up in the nook of the sofa, cushions stuffed everywhere, Marla had her nose buried deep in the Harry Potter book Melody had given to her. Her lips moved soundlessly as her eyes swung rapidly from side to side. Melody couldn't help but thinking how alike she and Marla were in their love of reading. But that's where the similarities ended. While Melody took pleasure in theories and facts, Marla escaped into the realms of fantasy. They were separated by two and a half years, but they were worlds apart on that issue.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite niece." Dr. Hyden's serious countenance brightened at the sight of Delilah, who'd come to visit his office.
Delilah laughed. "I'm your only niece, Uncle Marcel."
"So. How are you today?"
"Uncle Marcel -- can I ask you something?"
"Sure, sweetheart. Fire away."
"The other day I met this girl, Melody Tinker. She was passing out flyers for the Astronomy Club."
Dr. Hyden scratched his chin and couldn't hide a chuckle. "Melody Tinker? Astronomy club?"
"She kind of looks like you, Uncle Marcel. Actually, she looks a lot like you."
"I've noticed."
"She kind of acts like you, too, Uncle Marcel. We talked for a long time."
"Good to hear, darling."
"Anyway, Uncle Marcel, I was kind of wondering --"
Dr. Hyden shook his head. "She came by the office today -- and said she might be my daughter." Delilah's mouth flew open. "Are you serious?"
"I told her it was impossible." Dr. Hyden buried his face in his hands.
"I can't believe this, Uncle Marcel. I mean, I don't remember you ever having any relationship, except maybe with your books." Delilah sighed. "But I'm definitely wondering, though. She sure does look a heck of a lot like you, that's for sure."
"She wants a DNA test."
"Well, you've got nothing to lose now. Might as well go for it. Hey, who knows? I might even have a cousin."
Delilah's offhand comment elicited a chuckle out of the very serious Dr. Hyden.
"I definitely can't have this getting out, not with the astronomy convention coming up."
"Did you have a relationship with her mother?" asked Delilah.
Dr. Hyden rose in thunder from his seat. "I don't even remember the woman! How could I have possibly had a relationship with her?" Her uncle's sudden burst of temper frightened Delilah, revealing a side of him she'd seldom seen.

Melody rang the doorbell at Chester's apartment. Chester came and answered the door, and immediately gave her a high-five. She didn't realize Edwin Sharpe was here, too. Chester's pet womrat, Sparky, ran around in his cage. While the boys were engaged in SSX3 on the console, she sneaked upstairs to Chester's computer and started chatting. Unbeknownst to her, the boys came upstairs with her and looked over her shoulder.
TINKERBELL: Where do you live?
CHATTERBOX: Bluewater Village.
TINKERBELL: Bluewater Village?
CHATTERBOX: It's a pretty place. Lots of trees and the ocean breezes too. We live just behind that toy shop. My daddy owns that big furniture store.
TINKERBELL: The furniture store?
CHATTERBOX: Ramirez's Fine Furniture.
TINKERBELL: Oh. I see.
CHATTERBOX: My daddy's away a lot, and every time he comes back he buys me something. Last time it was a computer. Then he set me up online so I could chat to people.
TINKERBELL: That's good.
CHATTERBOX: I hear my mom talking. That Tinker lady across the highway, she slept with some teacher! And she had his baby!
TINKERBELL: Really?
CHATTERBOX: Yeah, that's what everybody's saying.
TINKERBELL: I see.
CHATTERBOX: Well, I've got to go. Mommy's cooking dinner. See ya later. (signs off)
Melody turned off the computer. "Rumors going around Bluewater about my mom?" she asked herself. "The only thing she told me over the phone was that Malcolm Landgraab offered to buy the toy shop. She never mentioned anything about any rumors going around Bluewater about her."
"Malcolm Landgraab?" Chester asked. "THE Malcolm Landgraab?"
Melody winced. "You got it. I just knew he'd slime his way into the picture somehow."
Edwin shook his head. "I can't believe he'd do this. I mean, he walked up to your mother's front door and asked to buy your father's toy shop? I mean, that's pretty brazen of him."
"You're not from Bluewater, Ed. You don't know Malcolm Landgraab," Melody said. "He'd sell your mother if he thought he could make a profit."
"Dang," Edwin said to nobody in particular.
Melody instantly knew who "Chatterbox" was -- Tessa Ramirez, the little daughter of Checo and Lisa Ramirez who lived behind her mom. She had also gleaned -- from Tessa -- that Lisa, her mother's sworn confidante, was behind the nasty rumors going around Bluewater. But she needed more ammunition to fire at the woman. And she knew just how to get it.
"Chester --" He looked up from SSX3. He'd been heavily involved in an online tournament.
"You look worried, Mel, what's going on?"
"There's nasty rumors going around Bluewater about my mother. And I know who's behind them. I just need a little more info."
Chester leaned in with decided interest. "Who do you want me to dig up?"
"The Ramirezes."
"The furniture store people?"
"Yeah. Find out whatever you could. I'll deal with them when I get back there." Melody's tone was ominous.
Chester had never heard her like this, so he knew something was up. Getting out of his game, Chester went online, to the Sim City Bank website. He typed in a code he'd apparently typed in many times before, and accessed the personal accounts section. He then typed in Ramirez, which brought up a list of Ramirezes in Sim City. He picked out Checo Ramirez, which brought up a list of all his deposits and withdrawals.
Melody, leaning over, read, "He made a withdrawal last week in the amount of four thousand simoleans and placed the money in the account of a woman named Dina Caliente? Who the heck is she?"
"Something's going on there," Chester said to himself.
"Wait, Ches, there are more of these. Dina's name sure appears a lot in these records. There's another check, written November thirtieth, in the amount of six thousand four hundred and fifty-three simoleans, placed in her account."
Chester scratched his head. "Who is this Dina character?"
"Ches, who else could she be? She has to be his mistress."
Chester looked at Melody in disbelief. "Oh, my god."

Chapter Twenty-One (Part One)

2007-10-20T12:36:00.000-07:00

The doorbell rang at the Tinker place at about lunchtime. Standing in front of Wanda was Malcolm Landgraab IV, a tall, tanned, muscular blond with a furrowed brow and piercing gray-blue eyes. Malcolm, the latest scion of the Landgraab dynasty, owned a mansion not too far from the Tinker residence, and indeed there was a view of it from what was Melody's bedroom window.
"How do you do, Mrs. Tinker?" asked Malcolm as he shook her hand.
"Do, please, come in," Wanda said, ushering him inside. "I was just about to cook some chili con carne. Would you like some?"
Refusing Wanda's kind offer of a meal, Malcolm got right down to business. "My board of trustees and I have been discussing the possibility of acquiring Tinker Toys."
"Really?" Wanda asked. "You mean like making a brand out of it?"
"That's something like what we have in mind. You see, we'd like to make Tinker Toys part of Landgraab Enterprises."
Wanda piped up. "How much?"
"Well, we haven't completed the paperwork yet, but all the day-to-day handling of Tinker Toys, all the franchising fees, all the business operations, would be handled by Landgraab Enterprises."
Wanda nodded her overwhelming approval. "I would say yes immediately but I would have to contact my daughter first. She's at Academie Le Tour, you know."
After Malcolm left, Wanda immediately dialed Melody. "Hey, sweetie. How are you today?"
Melody replied, "I'm doing okay, but I was on my way to class. What's up?"
"I got an offer to buy the toy shop. And I told him I would accept, pending approval from you."
Melody, amidst the hustle and bustle of her dorm, was aghast. "Mom! How could you?"
Wanda couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Melody!"
"How could you just give up like that? Stephen Tinker worked his hiney off for that shop, and you're just going to throw it away? Just like that?"
"Melody!" Wanda shouted in amazement, hearing her daughter's words ring over the receiver. "The guy promised he'd make an international brand out of it."
Melody shook her head. "Well who was the guy?"
"Malcolm something or other, he said his name was."
"Malcolm Landgraab, that snake! Mom, selling to him would be like selling your soul to the devil!"
"Melody!" Wanda shouted, "I don't believe you!"

"Don't make a mistake like this, mom. You just can't do it. Selling the toyshop would be a huge mistake you would never be able to forgive yourself for."
"Melody!" Wanda continued to scream, almost merely to hear herself scream. She could not believe Melody was objecting so vehemently. But then again, thought Wanda, this was Melody, always getting in the way of what needed to be done.
"I knew Malcolm would worm himself in here somehow. You just knew the minute daddy's death certificate got signed he'd show up to try to snatch up the pieces. He's like a vulture waiting to pounce on the ashes of our family. And as long as I'm alive I'm not going to let him. Look, I've got to go to class, we'll talk more about this later."
Wanda put the receiver down and sighed. "Melody." She couldn't believe Melody felt this way, especially about the toy shop which she'd never shown any interest in before. She had never heard her daughter emote such passion in an argument before. What was going on? What was behind Melody's tirade? Wanda knew there was something else going on, something Melody wasn't telling her about.

Even though she had taken a couple lessons from Chaz Whippler, Melody still didn't feel entirely comfortable behind the wheel. So after her seminars at Le Tour, she took classes at the Sim City Driving Academy (SCDA) twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, lugging home books on automobile safety and cars in general. There were times when she wondered if she would ever learn to drive.
Melody walked in the dorm and immediately crashed on the sofa in front of the television. Marla, sitting next to her, thought she was napping peacefully, but then saw her eyelids were still moving behind her thick glasses and her eyes were partially open. Lost in thought, Marla realized. I wonder what she's thinking about. Despite having become more outgoing at college, Melody was still an introvert at her core and prone to brooding, and sometimes liked to recharge her batteries by just thinking, shutting off the world and everyone around her.
Marla knew not to pry and just continued to watch her, with Melody unaware that she was being watched. She looks at peace, Marla thought, unaware of the internal turmoil concealed within.

Dr. Hyden was busy at his desk, typing up notes for his next lecture, when he heard a knock on his door. "Come in, Miss Tinker."
Melody laughed. "How did you know who I was?" "Because you're the only one of my students who would come knocking right after I've done my day's classes.
"Dr. Hyden," Melody began, taking a deep breath before beginning, "for one of my term papers, I've got to profile an influential person in the world of astronomy, and I chose you."
"I'm flattered, Miss Tinker, but -- why did you choose me?"
"Your studies on the origins of the universe and the possibility of life on other planets intrigued me."
"I see." Taking out her tape recorder, Melody proceeded to ask him general questions on where he was born, if he had siblings, where he went to college, how he got interested in astronomy, and Dr. Hyden answered them in his calm but commanding voice. "I was actually born in Strangetown, and I had one younger sister. I attended La Fiesta Tech..."
Then Melody got serious and personal. "Have you ever gotten married?" she asked him.
Dr. Hyden wondered about that question but answered it anyway. "No," he said, "but I came close a couple times."
Melody realized that Dr. Hyden had fallen right into her trap. Hardly daring to breathe, she asked, "Do you remember a student named Wanda Zarubin?"
Stroking his chin thoughtfully, Dr. Hyden replied, eyeing her beadily, "Hmm, can't say that I do. Why?" He leaned forward, his hands clasped together. "Exactly where are you going with these leading questions, young lady?"
Melody's heart sank, he'd ratted her out. She realized she had to go in for the kill now. "She's my mother."
"Interesting," Dr. Hyden said, "I've had only a couple sets of mother-daughter students before this."
"Anyway, Dr. Hyden, my mother says that -- while she was a student at Sim State -- you and she had a relationship -- and that I'm -- I'm -- I'm the fruit of that relationship."
Dr. Hyden's mouth fell to the floor. "Are you saying I'm your father?" he asked in astonishment.
"That's what my mother says."
"Impossible!" Dr. Hyden shouted. "I can't have anything like this over my head, not with the annual astronomers' meeting coming up. I have to present the findings of my latest study on black holes."
Melody glared at him. "My mother would have no reason to lie to me."
"Oh, I believe she probably was a student at Sim State. Sim State is a large school, much bigger than this. It's just that, well, it was quite a number of years ago, and I've had so many students since then, I can't possibly remember them all by name."
Melody paused for a moment, deep in thought. "I'd like to take a DNA test."
"A DNA test?"
"It's the only way we'll know the truth once and for all. They can take it with your DNA, my DNA, and Stephen's DNA that's on file at the police station."
Dr. Hyden shook his head. "Stephen?"
"Stephen Tinker, my mother's husband and the man who raised me. He died a couple weeks ago, and that's when my mother told me about you."
"I see." Dr. Hyden thought about it for a moment. "Well, it'll have to be after the holidays and the convention," he told her. Satisfied with his response for the moment, Melody got up from her chair and left, leaving Dr. Hyden deep in thought as to who this Wanda Zarubin character could have been. He thought even more about Melody and her physical similarities to him.

Chapter Twenty

2007-10-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

Back in Bluewater, the gossip and innuendo had reached a crescendo. It seemed everywhere Wanda turned these days, she couldn't escape it. All she heard in town was that she'd slept with a college professor and had his baby, then hidden it from her loving and devoted husband. Sweet, kind-hearted little Wanda Tinker, the dutiful toymaker's wife, had hidden a deep dark secret for many years. Now pretty much all of Bluewater knew Melody was not the late Stephen Tinker's child, making Wanda feel even worse about the situation than she already did.
The rumors also persisted about Melody's sexuality and general all-around "oddness," another hot topic of conversation in the Village. Wanda tried her best to diffuse them, but they spread like wildfire despite her denials.
It was a bittersweet moment for her as she reflected on the changes that had taken place in the lives of her family -- Stephen's death, Melody's departure, and the revelation that Stephen wasn't Melody's father after all. Deep down, Wanda feared for Harmony's life and future. Would she end up like Melody -- defiant, rebellious, and generally a royal thorn in Wanda's side?
Wanda's thoughts also turned to the man she believed was Melody's biological father, her former physics professor Dr. Marcel Hyden. She wondered what he was doing, where he was, how he was doing. Was he married? Did he have other children? How had his life turned out? How might her life have been different had she been with him instead of Stephen?
After her trip to Bluewater Baths and Salon in a last-ditch effort to recapture some of her lost youth, Wanda walked into Le Magnifique Restaurant to treat herself to a meal. There she got a host of dirty looks from the patrons as she was led to her seat.
The only thing keeping Wanda's sanity intact was her weekly chats over tea, coffee, and pastries with Florence Delarosa. Florence, out of the entire town, was the only person who refused to turn her back on the suddenly lonely widow. She truly felt sorry for Wanda, felt that a woman like Wanda did not deserve the hand she'd been dealt. Her daughter ran off to college, then her husband passed away, then the house of cards that had been her charmed little life came crashing down around her. Wanda would even take little Harmony with her, and the child would happily play around in the flower beds.
"My husband used to say all the time, he thought Melody might have been a nun in a previous life, for all the time she spent studying and working on her projects," Wanda said while sipping coffee. "He used to call her his little sky princess."
"I'd love to have a child someday," Florence said wistfully. "Unfortunately, I spend so much time with the flower shop that I don't really have much time to socialize. But if I were to have a child, I'd want her to be just like your Melody."
Wanda brightened. "Seriously?"
"Seriously. You know, I was on the Sim City Arts Council, the committee that determined the winner of the student art contest a couple years back. I saw your daughter's painting."
Wanda was stunned. "Really?" she asked.
"She has a lot of talent and a lot of potential. Too much potential as an artist for it to go to waste, if you ask me. You think it's at all possible -- I know she's wrapped up in school and her scientific interests -- but is it at all possible you could convince her to take up painting again?"
"I don't know, Florence. She just seems to want to know as much as she can about as many different things as she can. She just loves to learn, always has. She gets that from her father. That's why I think Le Tour is perfect for her."
"A girl as gifted as she is," Florence smiled, "can probably do absolutely anything."

Melody, meanwhile, was blossoming at Academie Le Tour. Through her hard work, she had made the dean's list, and found herself surrounded by a steady group of loyal friends for the first time in her life, friends who were willing to help her and protect her at all costs. She was amazed and mystified as to how this happened. She was the same person she always was, and she wondered why all of a sudden people were drawn to her, instead of running away from her like they did in high school. These new friends understood that she preferred to keep her own company, and gave her her space when she requested it, but at the same time she was learning that research was much more fun with a group.
Melody involved herself even deeper in her paranormal activities. Besides maintaining her website, she and Chester Gieke started the Astronomy Club for like-minded students. The pair, along with Marla, Edwin, and other students they'd enlisted, went around campus passing flyers everywhere. All they needed was a faculty sponsor. Not to mention, besides investigating paranormal activity and studying mathematics and astronomy, she had resumed her robot building hobby and taken up computer programming. Not bad for a young woman whose ever-present thirst for knowledge was such that she used to lock herself in libraries just to learn more. She could feel her mind expanding more than it ever had before. She found there was so much to do, so much she wanted to do -- and so little time for her to do it.
On the notices section right by Dr. Hyden's office, he had posted an advertisement for a student assistant, someone who would help him with students, grade papers, and also do some speaking in public. "You know the dean's looking for an assistant," Melody muttered during a research session.
"I heard about that," Edwin answered. "I think you should go for it."
"Me?" Melody asked, pointing at herself with disgust.
"Why not?" replied Chester, looking at her. "You'd be perfect. You already know the material."
"But it requires public speaking."
"So? You can't talk in public?"
"I freeze out when I'm practicing charisma in front of a mirror, what do you think would happen if I'm talking in a room full of people?"
Marla smiled. "You'll do fine, Mel. You'll see."
Chester, the jokester of the bunch, added, "Imagine all those suits in their underwear. That should loosen you up."
"Seriously though, if the topic is something you're interested in," said Edwin, "it should just flow. You'll forget you're talking in public."

The popularity of Melody's website captured the attention of Dr. Marcel Hyden, dean of the astronomy department at Le Tour, and he called Melody into his office right after class. "We were able to trace the website address to you, Miss Tinker," he said, stroking his chin.
Melody's heart beat about four thousand times a minute as she realized that she was in the presence of the man her mother said was her biological father. She looked upon him with awe and reverence as her cheeks blushed. As she looked around his office, all the telltale signs of his profession were glaringly evident -- walls lined with books, ungraded papers on his desk, posters of aliens and the solar system, and unfinished scientific experiments. Tongue-tied and fidgety, Melody took deep breaths as she reluctantly sat down opposite him.
"A very intriguing project you've embarked on," he said, looking directly into her face. "Is there any -- personal reason you've started this?"
"No special reason," replied Melody, taking deep breaths in between her deliberate statements, "I'm -- I'm just wanting to find out how many alien abductions there have been and how many people are scared to come forward."
Dr. Hyden smiled. "Have you always had this interest?"
"Yes," Melody replied. "I've always felt that we weren't alone in the universe."
Dr. Hyden forced himself to gaze into the eyes of the young woman seated before him. They were hauntingly, strangely familiar. The two of them stared at each other a good long while. The physical resemblance was apparent and obvious. And so, too, thought Melody, was the similarity in interests. The situation was awkward, to say the least.
Filing this in the back of his mind, Dr. Hyden changed the subject. "Have you selected a major, Miss Tinker?" he asked.
"Yes," she said. "I've decided to major in astronomy."
"You want to study the stars?"
Melody nodded her head yes.
"There's more to astronomy than just stargazing, Miss Tinker," he told her.
"I know that," she smiled. "That's what I'd love to learn. All the little nuances, even about extraterrestrial life."
Dr. Hyden shook his head. This Melody Tinker intrigued him. At first, she was shy and awkward, stuttering over her words, shuffling her feet and avoiding his gaze. But as soon as the topic turned to astronomy, it was as if a beam of light had cut through the awkwardness as she lit up within. He remembered that feeling. It was the exact one he'd had, when he'd first discovered the universe and all its possibilities. She reminded him a lot of his favorite niece Delilah, also a student at the Academie, who possessed this same otherworldly passion -- only it was for art.
After Melody left, Dr. Hyden templed his fingers and gazed down at Melody's profile, pondering. Looking back at his life, he wondered how things could have been. Was he so single-minded in the pursuit of one goal, only to have it consume his entire life?
He had never found his heart. He'd spent too many years analyzing every possible nuance, that the part of his heart that stored away love, had shrunken and withered away to dust. Or had it?
Was there someone out there who would show him the way after all? He shook his head, his heart and soul belonged to Academie Le Tour now. Besides, he decided, he was far too old to chase dreams and fantasies.

Every day after classes Chaz met Melody in the parking lot of Aldrich dorm for driving lessons. Obediently, Melody pulled into the curb at the end of Aldrich Avenue where her dorm was, turned the ignition off, and glared hard at Chaz. Immediately he pulled his hand from her knee. "Are you going to teach me to drive or not?" she asked angrily, her eyes hard as stones beneath her glasses.
Chaz blushed crimson. "Sorry," he murmured. He definitely wasn't going to get anywhere with this ice queen at all.
And right after driving lessons there was math tutoring. As time went on, Melody became pleased with the progress Chaz was making -- and, secretly, with the fact that she was able to help. This 'odd pairing' certainly had dorm residents shaking their heads, even more so when, after dinner, they were playing rock-paper-scissors in the dorm cafeteria. Even more shocking was that Chaz had managed to elicit laughter out of the usually dour Melody with his playfulness. "You know, you're not half bad," Chaz said. "It isn't often I can play rock-paper-scissors with a girl."
Melody flashed him a surreptitious, mischievous grin. "Well, you obviously haven't met me yet."
"Hah!" Chaz chuckled. There was a wicked glint in his eyes. "Is that a challenge?" he asked.
Normally Melody wouldn't try to rise to the occasion, but she needed a welcome break. "I can beat you hands down," she said, grinning broadly.
"Try me."
"Okay, what's first?"
"How about a game of pool."
"Heh," sniggered Chaz, "easy peasy. I learned from the best. You're on."
The pair of them walked to the pool table. Melody watched intently as Chaz set up the balls in a rhythmic order. "You first," she said.
"Nah, I'm a gentleman. It's always ladies first."
"Fine, if you say so," Melody grinned. Walking toward the cue ball, she aimed her pool stick right at it. She watched Chaz land the first shot. "Not bad," she murmured.
"Like I said," he bluffed, "I learned from the best. My dad was a world-class hustler."
We'll just see about that, Melody thought to herself. Over the course of the next half-hour, Chaz could not believe what he was seeing. This girl, this 'geeky' girl, was taking him to the cleaners. His face fell to the floor as he watched Melody pot the final ball. "That was a fluke!" he protested. "My dad taught me all the moves!"
Melody just smiled as he handed over the money. Grumbling under his breath, he turned away.
"You could always have a rematch," called Melody, feeling slightly guilty.
Chaz slouched off, waving his hand dismissively, "Nah, you're okay," he said, "I don't fancy getting slaughtered by you a second time. I'll take my chances with someone else."
Melody stepped up to Chaz, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's okay," she said, handing the money back to him. "It was a simple question of mathematics. That's all. Once I worked out all the angles, it was pretty straightforward. Besides, I really don't need this. I just wanted to take a break from studying." She continued to explain the different angles of the pool balls. "So, when I cued the balls, they scattered in all sorts of different directions. It looks chaotic, but there's a simple pattern to it all, one where angles play a key role. Let's take the six ball for instance. It was located perpendicular to the five-ball but was at a forty-five-degree angle to the pot...."
Chaz shrugged his shoulders and looked directly at her, a broad smile spread across his face. "I guess I don't really know you at all," he said, curling her fingers over the bunch of simoleans in her hand. "You take it."
"No," replied Melody, taken slightly aback, "I don't need it."
"Listen kid," came the reply, "you won it, fair and square." Chaz crossed the room, then turned to look at Melody. "I guess there's a lot to learn from you." He winked, sticking his thumbs up and vanished out the door. His wallet was a little lighter but his respect for Melody had grown a little deeper.

It so happened that Melody was passing by Delilah O'Feefe's rental house and handed her a flyer advertising the latest Astronomy Club meeting. Delilah, like Melody, was tall and beautiful, with dark, silky hair. Melody caught Delilah's eye, and she invited her in.
"Your apartment looks cozy," Melody said, warming herself with a cup of Delilah's hot coffee. "Thanks." Delilah gave Melody a warm smile. "So, your name's Melody, right? Edwin was telling me, you're in his calculus class."
Melody nodded.
"So, what are you majoring in?" Delilah couldn't help but notice the physical similarities between herself and the girl she'd invited in her apartment.
"Astronomy, with a concentration in applied mathematics."
Delilah was impressed. "I'm an art major." The girls spoke for quite a long while about their chosen interests. When Delilah talked about loving to paint, and wanting to become an artist, Melody couldn't resist telling her about her experiences with art, even to the point of bragging that she'd been Darren Dreamer's apprentice. "You were Darren Dreamer's apprentice?" Delilah asked, astonished. "God!" Melody gazed at Delilah in awe. Delilah had the sophistication and worldliness that Melody wished she had, and Delilah herself longed for Melody's innocence about the way the world worked.
"Dr. Hyden's doing a lecture series on the big bang theory of the origin of the universe."
"Uncle Marcel and his silly theories about aliens." Delilah laughed.
But she looked over at Melody and saw her frown. "Uncle Marcel?" Melody asked.
"Yeah, Dr. Hyden is my uncle. His sister, Dahlia Hyden O'Feefe, was my mother."

The name Dahlia O'Feefe sounded familiar to Melody. When she was studying art history, she'd seen some of Dahlia's abstract paintings. Just then she got a mental image, of a tall and stunningly beautiful woman in a foreign country, surrounded by bohemian artists and philosophers. I don't believe this, she thought, this girl and I are cousins! And Dahlia O'Feefe was my aunt!
"After my mom died, Uncle Marcel took me in, and then took me here, where he taught, says he wanted to keep an eye on me."

Wires and motherboards littered the landscape at Chester Gieke's off campus apartment at Focaccia Place. Moldy pizza boxes and cartons of day-old Chinese food were also scattered about, along with the distinctive smell of a soldering iron mixing with sweaty socks. It was this atmosphere to which Melody had come, again. The pair of them constantly together definitely had tongues wagging around Academie Le Tour. And the fact that she'd be there until four in the morning -- that really had them talking.
Mostly, though, she wanted to tinker with his brand-new toy, a Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer from the early 1980s that he'd purchased with his grant money off Simbay for his computer science class, that he had bragged about in chat.
"I didn't know you took up programming," Chester asked.
Melody's insatiable curiosity was piqued as she sat down in front of the Spectrum, examining its keys and wondering what every function was. "I dabbled in it a little bit, yeah, what with the toy robots. I'm also taking computer science, learning BASIC and stuff."
"Sounds fascinating." Chester grinned. "Hey, you never finished telling me what happened that night."
"What night?" Melody asked.
"The night you were abducted."
Melody looked back at Chester, stopping her typing for one moment. "There isn't much I remember about it, actually. All I remember is going out to stargaze after I'd had an argument with my mom, and being beamed up on the mothership --"
"Well, what happened when you got on the mothership?"
Melody briefly changed the subject. "You had to program every single BASIC command by hand?"
Chester leaned over. "Yeah, quite a challenge, and you'd need plenty of patience. Now, what happened on the mothership again?"
"All I could see were green bipeds with huge black eyes, all staring at me. It was like they could see right through me. There I was, standing in my school uniform. I must have been quite a sight for them to see."
"And then what happened?"
"I don't remember much else, except there was this extremely bright light shining in my eyes. I didn't know where I was or if I'd ever return. I couldn't see the ground below because I was so far above everything. It was like I'd prepared my whole life for it to happen, I'd wanted it to happen so badly, I'd known it would happen because I'd believed it would happen, and when it did happen, I didn't know how to react. And I knew nobody would believe me because everyone in Bluewater thought I was a kook anyway. Especially my parents. They'd have had me committed to an asylum if I'd have told them."
"So they blocked your memory."
"And pretty much as soon as they'd picked me up, I was ejected from the ship back onto Eagle Lane, right in front of my house. The entire trip had taken about four earth hours, but only a few minutes in their time. I was looking at the clock, it was about two in the morning. My parents and baby sister were asleep. So I got onto the computer and I told you."
Chester grinned again. "Hey, how's your website going?"
Melody chuckled as she turned off the Spectrum and switched to his much more modern Moneywell. "I'm getting so many hits on it, I can hardly keep up. There's obviously an interest in this sort of thing."
"How many people have reported abductions -- or at least paranormal activity?"
"I've gotten at least a thousand e-mails. I can't separate my website mail from my regular mail." Chester laughed. "Perhaps you should get a separate e-mail address for your website."
"I didn't think about it, that's a good idea. That way, I can separate my regular mail from the mail I'm getting because of the website." Melody sat down and read her letters. "Most of them are about seeing spaceships circling the sky at night, as if they're spying on them."
"You mean the aliens?"
Melody nodded as she answered email. "They're canvassing neighborhoods seeking more potential victims." She stopped for a moment. "Hey, here's this one letter, it's from a teenage girl. She says her parents don't like her interest in astronomy, they want her to 'get her head out of the clouds.' Unfortunately this scenario sounds very familiar."
"You should write a book," suggested Chester. Melody stopped typing her email and looked at Chester behind her, thinking he would burst out laughing. But his facial expression never changed. "I mean, your abduction, this website, all your research -- "
"Nah, I don't know. I wouldn't want people to know who I am. Especially the gossip hounds in Bluewater."
"Hey, maybe the folks in Bluewater won't read your book."
"Yeah, but they'd know about it from the book shows on TV."
"You could use a pen name. All you'd have to do in your book is detail your experiences with extraterrestrial activity, maybe add in some autobiographical anecdotes. I'm telling you, Mel, people would gobble this up. You've got a story to tell."