Chapter 5: Chapter 5

MELODY

I woke up with a start, jumping up in bed. I whipped around to look, wondering where I was. Beside me, Matt was staring at me, smiling gently.

“Good morning,” I said to Matt.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

I smiled. “Just forgot where I was for a second.”

He nodded. “Do you regret last night?”

I leaned down to peck his lips. “No.” Cupping my face, he kissed me tenderly.

He rolled over on the bed, and I saw my nail marks on his back. I winced. “Sorry,” I said.

He turned, and I cocked my head to his back. He smirked. “I liked it. I mean, we both were pretty wild last night.”

He scratched the back of his neck, blushing. “I’m sorry, too,” he said with a shy smile.

I looked at him blankly, then I looked down at my body.

My eyes widened with horror. My whole body was covered with hickeys. I ran to a long mirror. I didn’t bother to cover myself.

~Fuck!~

~

Every part of my body was covered with hickeys. I turned slightly to look at my hips. There were red handprints on both of my butt cheeks.

~Shit.~

~

I hadn’t realized we’d been that wild last night.

Matt came up behind me, naked. His body was also covered with several bruises and hickeys.

~God… Kill me now.~

~

~What will he think about me??~

~

“We both indeed were wild last night,” I said, and we burst out laughing.

“Yeah, we were,” he whispered and closed the distance between us. Grabbing me by my waist, he pulled me into a long kiss.

We pulled back, but his hands were still on my waist.

“Listen, Matt. I want you to know, if things didn’t work out between us, promise me there will not be any hard feelings. If one of us feels things are going south, we will confess our feelings.

“If we feel attractions toward others, we will come clean, and we will break up mutually.

“I don’t want any more cheaters in my life,” I said, meeting his eyes so he would know I was serious about what I said.

He looked at me. “I promise.” He kissed my forehead once and leaned down to capture my lips with his.

We made love again. After a shower, I asked Matt for his long jacket to cover my body. I went to my dorm. I knew Mia, Sandy, Dan, Jacob, and Rick were waiting for me to get every juicy detail.

My bad luck. I’d worn a short black backless dress with a low neck last night. I didn’t know they were still in the living hall, and as I entered the hall, I dropped Matt’s long jacket from my body.

I heard a few gasps behind me, and I quickly turned and saw them staring at me from my neck to my toes. I was red as a tomato.

“Yo, girl. Looks like you had a hell of a night, huh?” Dan wiggled his eyebrows.

I could feel the flush creeping up my chest to my neck before settling in my cheeks.

They looked at him like he’d lost his mind.

Last night he’d confessed his love for me; today he was cheering for me.

“What? I love her. It doesn’t mean I can’t be happy for her.” He shrugged and turned to me again.

The next few days were worse. I couldn’t wear any short dresses. I could hide the hickeys on my neck and shoulders with makeup, but what about the other parts?

In the hot summer, I had to wear full clothes. It was even worse for Matt. He couldn’t practice football in shorts and a tank top; he wore pants and heavy pads.

We were the hot gossip on campus for a few days.

***

Days—or I can say months—passed more quickly than we expected. As we’d vowed from the start, we’d made every day, every second memorable.

Dan and I were closer than before, Jacob proposed to Mia on her birthday, and Sandy and Rick broke up.

Matt and I were good friends now. We’d broken up after six months of dating. We’d broken up mutually because he’d found the love of his life, Layla.

Like we’d promised each other, he’d told me everything when I’d asked if something was bothering him. He’d become distant; we hadn’t slept together for a week, but he hadn’t cheated on me either.

He’d told me everything, and I’d let him go. I knew we only liked each other, and we both knew there was no future for us because we couldn’t see ourselves falling for each other.

A knock on my door startled me from my thoughts.

I opened the door and saw Mia standing there. She looked me up and down a few times and frowned.

“You are not coming to the party?” she asked, frowning.

I shook my head and went back to bed. “I don’t want to go,” I said.

“Come on. It’s our fucking graduation party.”

~Duh! I know it’s our graduation party.~

~

But I wasn’t in the mood for a party. I wanted to be alone for a while.

“Yeah, Mia, I know, but I don’t want to go.” I sighed and lay in bed again.

“Please, it’s our fucking graduation party.” she whined.

“Everyone will be there. It’ll be weird if you don’t come. It’s the last chance for all of us to be together before we go our separate ways.”

I sighed. I knew she was right. I nodded. “Only because you’re my best friend.” I hugged her tightly and climbed out of bed.

“Come on, girls. We’re going to be late.” Dan came in and frowned when he saw me.

“What the fuck, Mel? You aren’t ready yet,” he snapped.

“I’m sorry. Just give me two minutes,” I said and walked into the bathroom to change.

I wore my short red dress with a halter neck. I left my hair down and put on minimum makeup. I walked out wearing my heels.

We arrived at the party, and we all sat at the bar for shots.

Some people were dancing, some were kissing, and some were busy in private rooms with their partners. Matt and Layla and Mia and Jacob were dancing.

I sat with Dan.

“What’s going on in your pretty mind, baby girl?” he asked.

I took another shot. “Nothing.” I shrugged.

He gave me a look to say, “I know you’re lying.”

I sighed and took a deep breath. “Remember I went to New York to surprise that dick on his birthday?”

He nodded but stayed silent, so I continued. “That night, I went to a club alone for a drink. I met someone.” His ears perked up, and he moved his stool closer, like he was interested in listening.

“So?”

“I was already drinking when he approached me, offering me a drink. We drank and danced. While we were dancing, he kissed me.

“I was drunk, but I knew what I was doing. I did something I shouldn’t have done that night.” I paused.

“But I don’t regret it. The regret is that I can’t seem to get him out of my mind. I always try to distract myself with something, but he always pops in my mind.”

“So what did you do that you shouldn’t?” he asked.

I glared at him. “One-night stand.” The words left my mouth, and he choked on his drink, coughing loudly.

“What the fuck? You should have warned me before saying a thing like that,” he said, coughing.

I rolled my eyes. “How should I have warned you, Dan? ‘I am going to say I had a one-night stand; be prepared?’”

“Okay, okay. Now tell me who was he, what does he look like, and how was he?” he said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“I’m not going to answer those questions. I told you because I thought you would give me some suggestions about what to do,” I huffed and took another shot.

“Okay, sorry. Let’s dance. It’s our last year.”

He took my hand and dragged me onto the dance floor. We all went wild. Next week, we would graduate and go different ways to follow our careers.