Chapter Sixteen (Part Three)

Melody was in the school auditorium practicing piano when she noticed Miss Hanover escorting a tall red-haired gentleman and an Asian woman wearing a gray business suit. The man appeared tired and uncomfortable, his shoulders slouching as he half-heartedly attempted to be interested. His wife, however, appeared to cast a critical eye at the decor. From Melody's vantage point, this woman was looking her nose down at the place. She was snooty and haughty.
"Two daughters?" asked Miss Hanover excitedly. "Yes," said the Asian woman with a stiff upper lip, "they're identical twins -- in looks. But their personalities are as different as can be."
"Now what did you say you did for a living, Mr. Pleasant?" asked Miss Hanover.
"I'm the assistant coach of the Llamas, the semi-professional baseball team. My wife," the gentleman added, pointing to the Asian woman, "works in the Mayor's office."
"My husband and I have talked about this, we think Hanover will be the best place for our daughters."
"Well," explained Miss Hanover, "they'll have to submit an application, and they'll have to write an admissions essay. Same as anyone else who gets in here. We have a waiting list to get in."
Melody turned to listen to the couple. They spoke of one girl dating a boy they didn't approve of and the other girl constantly in trouble with the law.
"Mrs. Pleasant," said Miss Hanover gently, "we're not a correctional facility. We're a college-preparatory institution with a focus on academics and skill building for the future."
"Yes, I'm aware of this," replied the Asian woman. "I just want them to get back on the right track."

Miss Hanover was in her usual position, behind her computer, going over her students' records, when she saw Melody come in. "Please, have a seat."
Melody did as she was told, and once again looked around at the cavernous cubicle.
"Melody Autumn Tinker, highest grade point average in the class --"
Melody shook her head.
"Do you realize you have enough credits now to graduate?"
Melody couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Are you serious?"
"The state requirement is seventeen credits and you currently have nineteen. You're probably eligible to take the advanced placement test and simply test out of high school. The next test date is December 3, right before the holidays."
Melody couldn't wait to get started preparing for her test date. She wanted to get away from Hanover Academy as soon as she possibly could.

The Asian woman was back, and this time, she brought two redhaired girls with her. Melody, Tracy, Mallory, and Shannon peered outside Mariel Simwell's windows and watched them come in. Miss Hanover instructed Tracy to take the girls while she talked to their mother. "What are your names?" Tracy asked, showing them the dormitory kitchen, library, and entertainment areas.
"Angela," said the first girl, wearing a green sundress. "That is my evil twin sister Lilith."
"If you ask me, you're the one who's evil," shot back Lilith, who was dressed head to toe in black, including her lipstick.
Shannon gave Melody a nudge. "Are they the ones you were telling me about?"
"Seems like it," Melody shrugged.
"Isn't their dad some kind of bigshot baseball coach?" asked Mallory.
"I don't know, I only heard bits and pieces of their conversation while I was practicing." Melody's curiosity had gotten the better of her and, stopping her homework assignment, peered around to see what was going on.

Miss Hanover and the girls spent the night before Thanksgving cooking a fabulous feast, consisting of everything Tracy had put forth in her menu more than a month earlier. Laughter rang out from the school kitchen as powder from dough scattered across noses, letting out sneezes from more than one girl. "Doesn't it feel good that you're helping someone else?" Miss Hanover asked the girls in between sneezes.
The next morning, Miss Hanover and a group of girls, carrying crates of food plates individually wrapped in aluminum foil, boarded the school charter to set out to deliver their plates on the town.
She divided the girls into groups of 2, and, as expected, she paired Melody with Tracy and sent them to the Broke residence, a pink mobile home on the outskirts of Pleasantview. Brandi Broke, a single mom, lived here with her two sons -- and she was pregnant again. She struggled to make ends meet, working nights at a no-count convenience store. She'd given birth to her first son, Dustin, while still in her teens.
Skipping forth toward the front door, Tracy rang the doorbell. Melody stood off to the side, hoping to blend in with the scenery.
As his younger brother screamed, Dustin walked to the door. He had a pained expression as he stared at Tracy's perky face. Tracy studied Dustin carefully. He was ruggedly handsome, she'd decided as she smiled at him and reached him the plate she had in her hands. But Dustin was looking at the bespectacled, dark-skinned girl who seemed vaguely familiar to him. Melody hung her head and folded her arms as she walked back into the school van.

One early morning before classes Melody went to the mailbox at Mariel Simwell. In her haste she forgot to leave the packages for the other girls and they went upstairs along with hers. "Dear Miss Tinker," read the letter, "Congratulations on being accepted into Academie Le Tour's incoming freshman class. Enclosed are a description of your dormitory assignment fees and a schedule of courses for the upcoming fall semester." In addition to the acceptance letter, she also learned she had received a full scholarship.
Melody pored over the papers. So many intriguing class choices, she wanted to take them all! Nuclear astrophysics, marine biology, art history, political science, computer programming, parapsychology -- any and everything was interesting to her. In her indecision she put the packet away, she would whittle down her choices some other time.

Meanwhile, Miss Hanover walked into the school auditorium, which served as homeroom for all the students, with one of the redhaired girls. "I'd like to introduce everyone to a new student," she announced cheerfully as Angela stood next to her, wearing her spanking-new Hanover uniform. "This is Angela. She'll be moving into Simwell tonight."

Angela flashed a saccharine smile at everyone in the audience and took a seat next to Alecia Charvat, who flicked her blond hair back.
Melody watched as Angela's suitcases full of clothes were brought upstairs by the redhaired gentleman she'd seen the first day. He must be her dad, she decided, they look alike. Angela had been assigned the empty room right next to Sarah's.

In nearly no time at all, Angela was scooped up by the popular girls in school. She was sitting with them at every turn, an active participant in the merciless teasing that made Melody's second year at Hanover far worse than her first.

Wanda came to pick Melody up from the dormitory at seven-thirty that evening, and mother and daughter made their way to Amelia's Closet, the swanky clothing store on the other side of Bluewater Village. "I want an uneventful mother-daughter shopping trip, Melody," Wanda had said. "You know your prom is coming up, and I figure you need a new dress."
"I'm not going." Melody folded her arms defiantly.
"C'mon, Melody, every girl your age goes to her prom. What would the high school experience be without it?"
"Forget it, I'm not going."
Wanda sighed. "Melody, goodness, you're so doggone stubborn!"
"Mom, I have better things to do with my time than to stand around in high heels and be bored for four hours while people dance around and get drunk and woohoo all over the place."
"Melody -- let's just find you a new formal." The two of them combed through an endless array of shelves in silence.

"Hey Dirk," Darren called from his studio, "could you come see for a second?"
"Sure Dad." Dirk bounded up the staircase toward where his father was at his easel, trying to work up an idea for another painting.
"Hey, Dad," Dirk noted, "that's a portrait of Melody."
"Yeah, I was working on giving it to her for her graduation gift."
"That's sweet."
"Speaking of which, her prom at Hanover Academy is coming up. Do you think you could do me a favor and -- accompany her there?"
Dirk couldn't believe his father's request. "Dad, you know I have a --"
"Yes, I know about Lilith. But this should only be a one-time thing. Just make sure she doesn't get herself into any kind of trouble there and -- well, protect her."
Dirk was confused. "Protect her -- from what?"
Darren sighed. "She's a smart girl but she's socially isolated." Dirk gave Darren his word and promised he'd take care of her for him.
"Hey, why do you care so much about this girl, anyway?" Dirk asked.
Darren thought about it for a second. "She's a lost soul," he said, taking another glance at his painting, "just like I was."

Dirk had arrived at the Tinker residence in Bluewater at eight-fifteen that Saturday evening in late May. With a little apprehension, he rang the doorbell. Stephen came. Clearing his throat, Dirk asked, "Is Melody ready? I'm here to take her to her prom."

Melody gave herself a once-over in the mirror. She really didn't want to go, but was only going to please her mother.
Wanda, coming in from the back, studied Dirk's chiseled face carefully and nodded her overwhelming approval. He's handsome, she thought to herself.
Soon afterward, Melody descended the staircase, and Stephen had difficulty containing tears. Moving out of the way, he allowed Melody to greet her date.
Dirk could not believe what he was seeing. She's a vision, he thought as he studied her iridescent chiffon dress. My goodness, she's even prettier than I thought she was. "You're beautiful," Dirk stammered as he gave her a corsage, "do you know that?"
As much as Dirk tried to fight it, he knew he was attracted to this girl and everything about her. Her shyness, her innocence, her deliberate manner were so different from that of the wild and crazy Lilith. If he hadn't met Lilith first this was probably the girl he should have dated, and he knew it.
And she seemed to know everything. During the limo ride to Hanover the two teens had a stirring conversation about current events, politics, and the stock market. Dirk couldn't talk about those things with Lilith. But with Melody, no problem.
The prom committee had spent days on the decorations. Balloons and streamers were everywhere, all to the "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" theme. The Hanover auditorium looked more radiant than it had ever looked before.
Girls arrived with their dates and immediately began to dance and have a good time. Miss Hanover sat in the background, observing the festivities, trying to make sure nobody got out of hand.
"Who's that guy with Melody?" Alecia asked Sarah. "He's actually kind of cute. And I thought she wasn't into guys."
Meanwhile, Dirk, for a while, did as he'd been instructed by his father, never leaving Melody's side. And he didn't want to -- he felt she was the prettiest girl at that dance. He grabbed a drink and asked her if she wanted one. She refused. "I don't drink," she said.
"You mind if we go outside?" Dirk asked her. "Too crowded in here."
Melody nodded and walked outside with him. She should have been on top of the world, with such a handsome fellow on her shoulder, the envy of every girl there. Instead she was miserable. Her heels were too tight, her contacts hurt her eyes, and her dress kept slipping up and down. Even more, she'd rather be home.
After a couple more drinks, which had apparently been spiked, Dirk suddenly found himself unable to control his urges. When he touched Melody on her cheek, she jerked away, and when he tried to kiss her, she slapped his face.
She ran away as fast as she could, until she found a marble waterfall on the other side of the school grounds. While sitting here, she allowed her tears to collect with the running water.
Then she heard a voice. "Melody."
It was Dirk. He had found her.
"Get away from me," she shouted.
"I'm sorry, Melody. I -- I just got carried away."
"Dirk, could you take me home?" Melody looked up at Dirk, her face stained from her tears mixing with her mascara.
At that moment Dirk couldn't help but feel sorry for the sheltered young woman he had in his charge. To him, she was as fragile as a china doll, and he had to protect her -- even from himself.