Chapter Twenty-Nine (Part One)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter Twenty-Eight (Part Two)

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)

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

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

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

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.