Chapter 46: Chapter 46:

Nicole POV:

We are currently at home and Trina is locked up in her bedroom not wanting to see anybody. Mom and dad have given up and I'm still glued behind the door urging her to open up.

"Trina please open the door" I yell behind.

No answer.

"Trina!" I yell and she doesn't answer. I'm afraid she will commit suicide.

"Open up you nosy creature" I say taunting her but she doesn't open.

I sigh. There is no way she's gonna open this door.

I trudge to my room and shut the door. My phone dings and there are many messages from my friends.

Kimberly: I heard. So sorry about that. Is Trina okay?

Aaron: how is Trina? Is she alright?

Danny: I warned you Nikki. But all the same, how is Trina?

Jenna: is Trina alright? I hope nothing bad happened! We are so sorry

Troy: I hope Trina is fine. I am to blame for what happened. I should have protected her.

Claire: I heard about Trina! I'm so sorry dear. Is she better now?

Melissa: I'm sorry about your sister. I hope she's fine.....

Alec: do you want me to come over?

Jake: how is Trina?

Jake's message surprised me the most but I answered anyway.

I replied all of them telling them she is depressed right now and needs some time alone. I told Alec not to come over and lay in bed miserable.

I stared at the bracelet she gave to me some weeks ago.  I deflate.

When it struck twelve noon, I left my bedroom to Trina's own. It was still shut with a no disturbance sign on it.

Mom walks towards me with a tray. There was  cannelloni in a plate on it together with a glass of water.

"She didn't open?" Mom asks.

"I haven't tried yet"

Mom sighs and knocks gently on the door.

"Trina! I prepared your  favourite meal. Please open the door" mom states but there is no answer.

An idea forms in my head and I rush to the backyard. Thankfully, Trina's window was open. With all my might, I climbed the wall and infiltrated into her room through the window. Her room was vacant but I heard sobs in the bathroom.

I quickly head there and I am shocked.

"Oh my God Trina! What are you doing?" I yell and snatch the knife from  her hands.

She was about to stab herself. She continues to sob and I successfully drag her into her room. I sit her on the bed and open the door for mom.

"How did you get in  here Nicole?" Mom asks and I shrug.

She sets the tray on Trina's cabinet and kneels in front of her. She wipes her tears.

"Don't cry hun! I know you are depressed but please be strong" mom tells her.

Trina sobs harder.

"Nicole! Can you please leave us alone for a moment?" Mom asks and I nod leaving the two of them in the room and shutting the door behind me.

"I called a therapist. I hope they will be able to cure Trina's depression" Dad says unexpectedly with a concerned look on his face.

"I'm so sorry dad! This is all my fault" I apologise and he hugs me.

"Its okay sweetheart" dad tells me and brushes my hair.

°~•~•°

Its Monday again and I still feel bad. I hope Trina has recovered now. I need to drop her off at school.

I knocked on her door nervously. She opens it and she still looks the same. Dull and unexciting. I noticed her hair has become much shorter now. It was only neck length.

"I'm not going to school today" she says simply.

I sigh. I understand. She cannot stand the stigma. Its a fresh case.

"I'll see you after school" I say softly to her and leave.

I drive down the road slowly feeling so sad. I finally pull up at our school's parking lot and get down. I walk into the building and begin to pack my books.

Someone shuts my locker forcefully and I look up to see Jake.

"Oh hey Jake! I just wanna say thank you for what you did yesterday"

"Its okay! I did it for your sister and not for you. Don't think you can use that as an excuse for us to become friends again" he states coldly.

"Excuse me? I wasn't using that as an excuse for us to become friends again! I was just being grateful" I spit quite angry.

"That's good because I have something to tell you" Jake states again and I furrow my eyebrows.

"I am going to overthrow you Nicole Anderson! Trust me!" he says confidently

I burst out laughing. This guy is really up for it.

"Well then! I am ready for your challenge" I answer.  He narrows his eyes at me and his jaw clenches.

"Oh really?" Jake asks puzzled.

"You are a heartless animal! At least you should feel sorry for my sister! You rather show up and tell me you want to overthrow me" I state with my blood boiling.

"I care about Trina okay? But then I need to put my priorities first" Jake says bluntly and I snort.

"Oh! So overthrowing me is a priority to you?" I ask but he doesn't utter a word.

"I don't understand you! You are so unpredictable. One minute you are a nice person and a hero then the next you are a completely different person" I yell in his face and he frowns.

He chuckles slightly

"I know your  crazy girlfriend is the one feeding your mind with all those stupid ideas! But I don't care! I don't care if you  want to overthrow me!"I state raucously and everyone in the hall glares at us. I sashay away. I strut far away from there and file into class. I had History.

Melissa sat at the back with a dull expression on. My heart beat is skyrocketing. Couldn't this get any worse? How dare he forcefully slam my locker and tell me he is about to overthrow me? Not when my sister is in a bad condition right now! I cannot face that challenge! No one has tried to overthrow me! Absolutely no one!

" Err hem"Melissa coughs to get my attention. A smirk appears on  her face.

"Did someone freeze you or what? You've been standing over there for like five minutes staring at the wall behind me"Melissa says and I shake my head.

" I was just thinking."I reply and sit next to her at the back.

"You said in your text that your sister is depressed" Melissa states calmly.

"Unfortunately yes" I reply sadly.

"That's sad to hear! But she will be okay. I  suffered from depression once" Melissa states and I'm shocked to the bone.

I chuckle not believing what I just heard. Melissa once suffered from depression? Its not true. Maybe she's saying it to make me feel better or so. She's like Tigress in a way. Cold and kind of heartless. And really sassy!

"I know you don't believe me! No one does. You are the first person to know!  Kimberly, Claire and Jenna do not know because I prefer not to talk about it. You are lucky to know about it Nikki" she says and draws a thin line with her pen on a sheet of paper.

"So what got you depressed if I may ask?" I ask her. I know its a touchy subject but I wonder what got her so depressed.

She sighs deeply and opens a packet of gum.

"Want one?" She asks me and I nod.

She hands me one and I throw it  into my mouth. It tastes like bananas.

She throws one into her own mouth and chews it. A perfect frown etched on her face. I realized she had a huge fancy ring on her left index finger for the first time.

"My parents abandoned me when I was barely a year old in some ....let's say trash can" she states coldly and I gasp.

She nods and chews her gum boisterously.

"So I was sent to the orphanage. The only thing, they left me with was a paper with a necklace on it. My name was scribbled on that paper in block letters, MELISSA"

"When I was eight, I used to wonder why they abandoned me. I loved the orphanage though but I wanted to see my parents. It hurt me when I saw parents bring their kids to school and shower them with loads of gifts and toys. I wished my parents would someday come back for me" Melissa rattles and her voice begins to break. She wanted to cry. Thinking about it, I am grateful I have got parents who didn't abandon me like Melissa's.

"But they never came! Even though I wished they did! I began to feel depressed. I felt like they didn't want me! They hated me. That's why they placed me in a trash can! I felt like ending my life right there! It was useless to live if you aren't loved" Melissa states and tears roll down her cheeks.

I don't know what to do.

"When I was fifteen, I heard rumours. People said I looked a lot like a woman and they said she could be my mother. They said she was gang raped when she was around eighteen and she got pregnant. She  couldn't bear the humiliation so she gave birth to me and disposed me off so that I could just die" Melissa says and releases fresh tears soaking her cheeks.

"Thankfully, an old man found me crying in the trash can and took me to the orphanage" she adds and wipes her tears.

"So was that woman really your mom?" I ask her

"Seemed like it! But she denied it even though we had a lot in common"

"When I was sixteen, I was adopted by a noble couple. They couldn't give birth so they decided to adopt and they found me okay because I had red hair like the woman. They wanted people to think I was the woman's biological daughter"

"So did people believe?"

"Yes they did! They gave me their surname,  De Broglie." Melissa says and a small smile appears on her face.

Melissa De Broglie. I never knew her surname but it sounded nice on my tongue. I felt like I hadn't known her at all and I had judged her wrongly but her past was really awful

"They have been my parents till now. They helped me come out of my depression. I went through psychotherapy, light therapy and i took lots of medication. It wasn't easy but i went through it and now l'm alright. They showered me with presents and treated me like their own child and I love them with all my heart"

"So you don't know anything about your original parents?"

She shakes her head.

"I don't want anything to do with them anymore! Besides, I've got real parents who care for me even if they aren't my biological parents"

"Don't you wanna find them?" I ask her and she chuckles

"Come on Nicole! Did they look for me?"

I sigh. She has a point there.

"So you see, you can deal with it! It can be cured in a way. She just needs people by  her side who adore her and she will be fine like me" Melissa says with a casual smile.

I wonder what got Melissa De Broglie to be a sassy cold hearted person.

"So what turned you into this? So sassy and cold hearted?" I ask her and she chuckles.

"People do not understand me but my mom told me people cannot be trusted. Sometimes its worth it to be that way Nikki or else people will walkover you"

I swallow hard. She had a point there but it still didn't make sense to me. I shrugged and dropped the subject.

"I'm so sorry for telling you my sob story! I'm sure you're already bored" Melissa apologises and I shake my head.

"I'm not bored! I understand you now"

She smiles in return and continues to scribble on her notepad. She was drawing something. Like a girl in some kind of cloudy environment.

"So who saved her from her rapist?" Melissa asks out of the blue.

"Jake" I reply simply.

"Oh! " Melissa says and the tocsin goes for start lesson.

"Are you an artist?" I ask her incredulously and she chuckles.

"Yes I am" she admits. "Jenna too is an artist! She actually loves art and she learnt from me"

"What about Claire?"

"Claire loves to cook. She likes making those coffees and stuff like that and she really does well in doing the art design on top but when she doesn't have the time, she doesn't do it at all"

"So do you take art classes?"

"Yes of course" Melissa pipes up.

"So can you draw me?" I mock and she smiles.

"Maybe"

"But I really want to see your works"

"No prob! I'll show them to you one day"

A few students file in including Jake. I exhale heavily and try not to look at him as our history teacher begins to speak.

°~•~•°

"Do you want Pepsi or Dr Pepper?" Melissa asks me and I'm in deep thoughts.

"I'll take Dr Pepper" I reply and she orders for the two of us in the snack bar. Our first class has come to an end and we are buying some refreshments before going for our next class.

After she told me about her past, we have become close in a way and I think I know her now.

"Here you go" she says interrupting my thoughts. I smile and take the drink in her hand.

She slurps on her Pepsi as we trudge to our next class together.

She escorted me to my locker. I opened it and a piece of paper fell down. I took it. There was a sentence scribbled on it.

Overthrowing you is revenge for lying to me Nicole Anderson.

I shudder and shatter the paper into pieces throwing it into the nearest trash can

"What did the damn paper say?" Melissa asks me and my heart races.

"Nothing important. Just a whole lotta shit" I reply and take my books for my next class, Physics.

"Oh Nicole! I haven't seen you today! How are you?" A sickly sweet voice says and I know its Kate. I roll my eyes and face her.

"I'm in good shape as you can see" I reply in a sickly sweet tone as well.

"I heard about your sister! Its rather unfortunate. What kind of a big sister are you? Leaving your sister alone at the mercy of sex-morons"she states and my blood boils making me feel guilty even more. I felt tears sting my eyes.

" It wasn't her fault! Don't blame her for that Kate!"Melissa says defensively and Kate scoffs.

" Shut up Melissa De Broglie! I didn't ask for your opinion! Who even dragged you into this conversation?"Kate sneers and Melissa has a stern face on.

"I don't care if you didn't ask for my opinion! But you cannot accuse Nicole!"

"Can't you shut your big mouth! You are just a whore---" Kate gets interrupted by a loud resounding slap on her face and she is astounded and so am I.

"Don't call me that you moron! You know nothing about me or my life!" Melissa yells in her face.

Kate chuckles and faces Melissa.

"How dare you lay your filthy hands on me?!" She sneers at Melissa.

"And how dare you call me a whore?!" Melissa asks indignant.

"Everyone knows that! You have slept with over half of the boys football team"

"It is just a rumour! I'm not like you! Everyone knows you are a pest who jumps from one guy to another!" Melissa snaps.

"Don't deny it! You are also a pest Melissa! Just admit it" Kate yells and Melissa glares hard at her.

"I'm not gonna argue with you! Enough" Melissa states firmly and continues to slurp on the remaining of her Pepsi. Kate smirks in response. Her gaze comes back to me.

"You were so busy dancing with Prince Charming that you forgot to take care of your own sister!" Kate sneers at me and it pricks my bleeding heart the more.

"Oh come on! Aren't you done yet?Go away Kate!" Melissa yells at her and Kate continues to be stubborn.

"I hope Jake told you this morning! You are going down Nikki!" Kate says before sashaying away.

I take a deep breath trying to calm my pounding heart.

"Don't dwell on what she's said! She is a psycho" Melissa tells me.

I nod and give her my drink. I can't take it right now. I feel too guilty.