Chapter 23: Video Girl

"Poison Ivy? really?!" Allyson shrilled, as if I were crazy. 

"What? It is posion ivy!" I retorted. It felt extremely cold in here, and this stupid uniform was only making it worse.

  "Why are you even talking to me right now? I thought you wanted nothing to do with me?" I asked her. Everyday she complained about being here. Everyday she complained about her mother. Everyday she complained about me, yet here she was trying to talk to me. Actually, she was just being nosey. Adrianne confronted me about the blemish on my neck when I got home last night and it was pretty obvious Allyson heard our conversation. Allyson scowled and threw a scarf at me.

"I'm just trying to help your ass!"  I held it out in my hands, perplexed. Why couldn't she mind her business?

"I told yo-" Allyson shook her head at me and proceeded to cut me off before I could even attempt to finish my sentence.

"You didn't tell me anything- the only thing you told me was a really bad lie...So now I'm going to teach you how to lie properly" 

Allyson threw herself onto my bed while sighing, taking full posession over my bed. 

"Okay first things first when you tell a lie you have to make sure it makes sense!" She laughed and kept going on, teaching me how to lie. 

"Secondly, say something that makes it seem as if it's obvious you wouldn't do what you're being accused of-like 'oh you really think I would do that?'... it makes you seem more innocent"  Allyson looked at me, expecting me to respond but I didn't.

 "Okay next, you have to make sure you're quick and whatever you do- don't say 'uhhh' or 'ummm' and don't look all around, keep eye contact with the person"  

Allyson was teaching me how to lie but I think she forgot the fact that by telling me all of this, she was unconciously teaching me more about herself and how she lies, like it's okay.

"And last but not least, say something that is true- even if it's a small thing just say it to cover your ass"

I looked down at her, grimacing  as I said "That sounds pretty dumb and I'm pretty sure I don't need your advice on how to lie because I'm telling the truth" I lied to her, while leaving the room, going upstairs to grab my backpack, ignoring her plea for me to stay in the room.

Perhaps that was a bad idea, maybe I should've stayed and listened to Allyson's absurdity a little longer. 

"There you are! I was wondering if you know what happened to this bottle of Bourbon Whiskey. Adrian got it for me-well the both of us and there's not much left" My uncle asked me while holding the bottle up in the air, studying it before he set it down on the counter and looked over at  me mystifyingly. That sudden eagerness in his voice made me a little skittish. 

"Um-" Shit, don't say that. Be quick, be fast. Say something!  I looked him in the eye, solemnly and tried not to look away from him. "No! Why would you ask me that? Did you take a second to even look at mom during the wedding? She was drinking everything in sight, she had bottles lined up on the freaking table! I went upstairs to go to the bathroom and she was in the kitchen getting more stuff to drink-I think she has a problem" He looked at me like he was pitying me after I said that, I hated that look  but  God damn, that felt incredible. I lied and he actually believed me. Okay, maybe I shouldn't have thrown my mother under the bus like that but it was the truth for the most part. 

"I'm sorry things are going this wa-" He started to talk but I cut him off.

"Don't be sorry for anything! I'm fine, Jess is fine, dad's fine, we're all fine...It's just mom who's acting crazy" 

"Well I'm sorry I questioned you, I guess I'm just more worried about you now that your parents split up. You know I'm always hear to listen if you want to talk..."

"Yes I know but you don't have to be worried about me, I'm fine. I should really get going now, I don't want to keep Adrianne waiting" 

"Well, I hope your day goes well" It was time to go back to that hell hole of place, called school.

I went outside to the Bmw that Adrianne and Allyson were impatiently sitting in. I opened the door, threw my bag in on the other side and as soon as I actually took a seat and closed the door Adrianne zipped off, driving like a bumble bee, fast yet intentive if that even makes any sense. The smell of the leather seats was enough to make me naeous, I hated that new car smell, it was too potent and I was pretty damn sure it was toxic too. Vrrmmm, my phone vibrated in my pocket. David sent me a text that said 'Video girl :p' whatever the hell that meant, he  hadn't exactly talked to me since last night yet he had the nerve to send me a dumb text like that.We reached a stop light, and Adrianne started talking to Allyson which ended up turning into an argument.

"Allyson!" Adrianne hollered.

"What?!" Allyson asked, throwing her arms up in the air.

"Your uniform that's what! You look like you belong on the corner of an alleyway in the city. Why did you wear red fishnets? I swear if you get sent home for breaking the dress code, I'm not coming to get you!" Adrianne protested, like an enraged politician.

"Why not? Is it because you're going to be too busy laying in bed with Croy while your legs are open?" Gheez, Allyson really had no censor what so ever, thanks to her I now had a disturbing image floating around in my head.

My body became one of those crash dumbies you see on car commercials, jerking forward as Adrianne pulled into the parking spot, nearly assaulting the brakes with her foot.

"Watch your mouth! You know Allyson, I don't know what makes you think it's okay to talk to me that way"

"Because you're a fucking hypocrite that's why! You're so in denial to your own hypocrisy and it irritates me- the guy got you a brand new BMW for christ sakes it's obvious you're fucking him!  You're so worried about me wearing red fishnets, I think you should look in the mirror" Allyson was strange, why would she care about her own mothers sex life?

"That's enough! Shut your mouth Allyson, I won't hear your non sense anymore!" Adrianne yelled, and people in the parking lot were looking at us, but mostly me instead of Allyson and Adrianne. Why? I had no idea. "You need to work on getting your license because I'm tired of driving you around" Adrianne, turned back to me in the seat "You too honey, Croy told me you're going to be 16 soon, you should really start learning how to drive." She gasped before continuing "Oh! I have the perfect idea- I can teach you both how to drive on the weekends, that sounds like a plan to me" I looked at her after she said that and faked a smile, it was weird being around them. 

"Um you do realize we go to school on the weekends also? " I asked her and Adrianne tapped herself lightly on the forehead and mumbled something about having to make time for important things, which only sparked another argument to start with her and Allyson. 

Adrianne got tired of arguing with Allyson. She sighed and unlocked the car doors, telling us to have a good day. 

"Whatever" Allyson replied as she sighed, slamming the car door shut. We stood there watching  Adrianne drive off and as soon as the car was on the actual road Allyson rolled her eyes while flipping the bird at Adrianne, muttering under breath bitterly "Whore" .

"I can already tell this is going to be a long day" I whispered while covering my face, in embarrassment.

Walking into that tall and lavishing building was overwhelming all over again, it was like the beginning of the year all over again. This school was too much, sometimes I wished I could just go to a public school like all the other normal kids. Sitting in a room with your guidance counselor first thing in the morning isn't exactly the way anyone wants to start their morning yet here I was talking to my guidance counselor, Ms. Leer. "Welcome back, Ms.Wiggins...Everyone's excited to see you. How are you feeling?" She asked me, while smiling too widely. This school was weird, sometimes it felt like some kind of utopia.

"I'm fine, I just wanted to give you my clearance note" I said handing it over to her.

She looked it over and said "Hmm, yes I see. Let me just put that in the system" She started typing on the computer but that didn't stop her from trying to engage in conversation with me. "So how was your Thanksgiving?" She pried.

"Good" I answered quickly, just trying to get this over with.

"Are you cold?" She asked me as she slowly stopped typing, eyeing me up and down.

"Kind of..I guess. Why?" I asked her, she probably was wondering why I wasn't wearing those ugly khakis most of the students wore during this time of the year, I was probably the only one still wearing this silly skirt.

"Well, you have a scarf on and I don't think it's that cold in here...Outside, yeah but not in here-you do know that you are technically breaking the dress code?" She asked me sternly.

Was this lady serious? It was just a freaking scarf, it wasn't like I paraded in here wearing jeans. "Well, I find nothing wrong with it, it's just a scarf" I said casually.

She stood up, handed me back my clearance note, wrote me a pass and handed that over to me while she said. "Are you being snippy with me?" 

I froze dead in my tracks, like a deer in head lights. "No-not at all, I just think it's a bit ridiculous how a scarf is a violation to the dress code-it's fall and people are going to get cold" I said trying to sound as nice and logical as possible.

There was no getting through to this lady, she was like a soldier. "Take it off, now!" She nearly yelled at me. I sighed, and abided to her order, taking the scarf off. After I did that she examined me, her eyes focusing on my neck.  She rolled her eyes and  opened her mouth to say something but then stopped. "I'm cold!" I yelped "This is unfair" I added.

She frowned at me and gave me no mercy. "Well maybe next time you will wear the FALL uniform, which consists of actual pants instead of a skirt Ms.Wiggins. I will not keep squandering my time with you, get to class" After she said that to me, I shoved the scarf into my back pack on the ground, and picked it up throwing it over my shoulders and did as she said, not even bothering to say anything to her. I thought guidance counselors were supposed to be warm and friendly, not cold and bitchy.

I got to my first class of the day, history. I walked in, and everyone was practically staring at me Iike I was Jesus, I was late. "It's the video girl!" A kid in the back shouted out as he pointed towards me. What the hell? I walked over to Mr.Hillford and handed him my pass, he looked it over and nodded, going on with his lesson which was extremely boring beyond belief. All he was talking about was Chinese people and some Opium war. I sighed while he talked about Britain this and China that and heroin this and opiate that. 

"Oh my gosh how horrible, drugs are bad!" One girl cried out in the back.

Some random guy sitting in the back was shouting and I was still nealry half asleep. "I got it! That's why Chinese people look that way, all those years of using opium must have really fucked up their eye lids!"

I put my hands on my face, shaking my head back and forth. Everything was very confusing and boring, I had no idea what was going on. 

Rinnng! Saved by the bell. Thank god, this class was as tedious and dull as hell, if not more. Everyone left the class and that was when I stood up and walked over to Mr.Hillford.

"It's good to see you back Melody" He chirped. His voice was so out of the ordinary for a man, some of the kids debated over whether or not he was gay, I felt bad for him because he had a wife and 3 kids that would have to grow up hearing people talk bad about their own father.

"Yeah, I'm glad to be back" lie. I would rather be at home, staring at the wall instead of standing here right now. "I missed alot-" 

He cut me off and assured me not to worry about anything. "I excused all of the assignments you missed, just worry about what we're doing in class now and we'll worry about the stuff you missed at the end of the year when it's time for finals" A thousand pounds was lifted off my shoulders after he said that.

"Thanks, I will try my best" I said.

"No worries, I know you won't even need to try, you're smart" He said as other kids started to fill up the classroom. And with that, I walked out of the door, thanking him once more.

*********************************************************************

There were only 4 more periods left in the day, yet it felt like I had been here forever. I sat there looking up at the clock in the library, figuring out how much time I had left to read this book. I noticed some people look over in my direction and I sank down even lower in my seat, I was already in the most desolate part of the library, if I tried to hide anymore I would be nearly invinsible.  I was supposed to be in the cafe eating but I figured that would be a bad idea with all of the attention I had been getting. Everyone had been calling me "video girl" all freaking day.  Nearly everyone was obsessed with that silly video of me singing, and my neck. They asked me all kinds of crazy questions,the weirdos asked me about vampires and the normal people asked me questions that were quite innapropriate and intrusive.   I looked down at the book in my hands and fell back into reality. I focused on the words in the book until I was interrupted by a girl sitting down in front of me.

 "Hi!" She squealed, grinning away.

"Uh, hi?" I said, sluggishly.

"You're the video girl right?" She asked

"Look, I don't get why everyone keeps calling me that it was just a silly video of me singing who cares?" I said throwing my hands up in the air.

"Ummm 5,000 people care. Have you not checked the views on the video?" She asked. 

"5,000?" I asked her again, shockingly. I hadn't looked at the views on that silly video for a whole month but 5,000 was alot.

"Yeah, 5,000! And you're in a band with David right? That's all he talks about these days you know- I wouldn't be surprised if he quit football, he's a good player but he never seems enthusiastic about it...He goes through the motions, you know what I mean?" 

I guess alot of things can change in a month. I looked at her and then I looked down at the book in my hands and said "Well, that's great and all but nothing is that serious, the band, the video, none of it so you can keep raving about it all you want but I'm trying to read this book and I would really appreciate it if you'd just leave me alone. I haven't had a moment to myself all day"

The girl slowly rose up from the seat and put her hands up, like she were surrendering to a cop. "No problem, I was just trying to talk to you. But David's looking for a drummer, if that doesn't sound serious to you then you're indenial. Oh and by the way! You've got a little something on your neck"  She said as she walked away from me, staring at my neck before she turned around the corner. How embarrasing, fuck Ms.Leer that old hag was the reason why people had been questioning me about my neck all freaking day. I placed my hand over the blemish on my neck. An image of two plush pillows filled my mind as I thought about those lips, David's lips. We did need a drummer for our band but David never told me he was actually looking for one. He drove me crazy, he was so random sometimes and it just got on my nerves even though we did make some beautiful music together.

I shook all of those thoughts out of my head, trying to focus on the black and white text in front of me, I started reading. ' Tyler was running from the beast behind him. The beast was roaring behind him and chasing him like a lion, Tyler knew he was no match for this beast. Tyler knew he couldn't even possibly escape this beast so now it was time for him to choose his fate. Should he keep running or stop. It was life or-'  Boom! My heart sunk to the pit of my stomach, I gasped for air as my eyes followed  the bronze arms all the way up the face of the person standing in front of me, David. "Ugh! You fucker! Why would you do that?! You almost gave me a heart attack!" I blared out to him, but he just kept laughing as if possibly giving someone a heart attack was actually funny.

"Man, you're too funny, video girl" He teased.

"Don't you dare! My name is Melody, get it right" I retorted.

"But every calls you video girl now" He said, trying to push me further over the edge.

"Screw everyone else! Video girl sounds innapropriate..." I said quietly, looking over to the side.

"No, you just have a dirty mind" He said ,laughing all throughout his sentence.

"It's not funny David! I hate attention- a warning would've been nice" I said and he quickly fired back at me.

"Hey, hey hey! I texted you this morning, that was your warning" He said, sarcastically.

I heaved a sigh and rolled my eyes at him. "Look, I'm trying to read what do you want? How did you even find me back here anyways? Don't you have a class to be in?" I asked him defensively.

"Oh please! It's not hard to find you anywhere, some girls walked out of here talking about the 'video girl' and that's how I knew you were in here and no I'm not going to class, that's actually why I came here. I wanted to know if you would want to ditch with me?" He asked me. What the hell was wrong with the universe these days? The stars definitely weren't in line with the moon because never in a million years would David had asked me a question like this 3 months ago. 

"Ditch? Like ditch school...Right here? Right now?" I asked, trying to make sure this wasn't some joke. I looked him in the eye, he wasn't smiling or anything. Shit, he was serious.

"Uh- yeah you know what, nevermind. It was a stupid idea anyways, I don't know what I was thinking" He said as he backed away from the table and said "Enjoy your book I'll just go to class" He started to walk away and it felt like a year was passing by as he did so.

"Wait!" I yelped, and he turned around looking at me.

"Yeah?" He asked casually, with his face somewhat drawn downwards as if he were truly upset that I declined his invitation a few seconds ago.

"I- I wanna go...With you" I stuttered, nervously like a child who was just learning how to speak.

"Really?" He said, frowning at me. "This isn't a joke, right?" He asked.

"No! It's not a joke David. Let's get out of here!" I said with anticipation ringing all throughout my voice. 

David smiled and looked at me, it felt like the world stopped spinning right in that very moment. "Well? What are you waiting for? Let's go, I don't have all day!" He said trying to sound serious but it didn't work because he started laughing and I did too. I didn't hesitate any longer, I got up from my chair, threw all of my books into my backpack as quickly as I could and we walked out of there. To where? I had no idea but I didn't care. I didn't care if we were going to a nursing home, I didn't care if we were going to a garbage ridden landfill. Somehow, and someway I knew this was going to be a memorable day.