Prologue: Memories Of The Past

A Chapter by deeja

Even after alot of time has passed but the wounds of the past are still fresh. This chapter is describing the rough past of the girl (Melanie) and how it still hurts her.

THIRD PERSON POV

I was playing with Mr. Tango when suddenly I heard screaming and shouting coming from downstairs. I tried to ignore it, but it was happening again. I tried to shut these noises distract my mind but, after some time, I couldn't bear it. I went downstairs to see dad all set with suitcases. At first I thought that it's some trip.

I hugged him, "When are you gonna come back daddy?"

"Mils, I am never going to come back but you can always visit me at my new place."

I didn't understand. What does he mean by his new place? Isn't this his home? But, then, it occurred to me that he's leaving us alone. I hugged him and started crying, "P-please don't go, Dad. You promised me that we will always be a family."

I could see from his face that it was hurting him too. "Sweetheart, it's better for all of us if I leave."

With that, he walked out of the door, not realizing the pain he had caused. I could see my world falling apart.

She woke up from the dream that had been haunting her since her father left. Suddenly, her alarm went off, telling her it was time to go to that hell called her school again. Why are nights so short? She thought to herself. Groaning, she got off the bed and decided to take bath. Something that refreshed both her mind and body. She was enjoying her warm, bubble bath and her imaginary thoughts when she got interrupted.

"Melanie, breakfast is ready are you coming?"

"Coming, Mom," she shouted. She got up, wrapped a towel around herself and went into her room. Luckily, she had already picked her outfit for the day.

After getting dressed, she brushed her hair, applied some lip gloss and went down.

Melanie was quite pretty for her age. All the guys in her school flirted with and had their eyes on her, but she knew that they just wanted to get into bed with her. In fact, she was quite annoyed and sick of these guys. She wanted someone who would love her for not only her looks but for her broken past and, above all, he would never walk out on her.

But, now, she couldn't just trust guys that easily anymore because of what her father and Ryder, her ex-boyfriend, did. She just wished she could leave this school or maybe run away, for it was quite upsetting for her to see all those people who had broken her trust and were having fun.

As she entered the kitchen, the delicious smell of pancakes filled her nostrils. One thing she couldn't resist. She smiled at the sad thought that when her mother, her father and herself used to have pancakes as a family for breakfast and how her dad would tell her these amazing stories about wonderland. She still wasn't over the fact that her father walked out on them and now he was married to one of his employees. Was it that easy for him? She asked herself.

"How was the night? Did you sleep well?" Her mom asked, waking Melanie up from her thoughts.

"It was okay. How was yours?"

"Good," Her mom paused, looking over at Melanie, "Mils, what's wrong? You seem a bit down. Is everything all right?"

"Don't worry, mom, I'm fine just... tired, I guess. Nights are too short for me," She said with a small smile.

Melanie knew she couldn't bother her mother with her issues regarding her dad, school work or whatever other petty problems she had.

"Oh well, you can take a nap after coming from school. I'm leaving for office. I've put the money on the counter and make sure all the doors are locked before leaving. Have a good day at school," Her mom said while walking out of the door towards her car.

After finishing her breakfast, Melanie left for school. Numerous thoughts crossed her mind while she was walking. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't even know that she was in school. Melanie didn't have a group of friends and she didn't socialize that much. She went to her locker and started putting her stuff.

"Hey, baby, wanna hang out at my place today? We will have lots of fun," Evan asked, with a smirk on his face.

He was one of the schools players. Gosh, I hate him so much.

"No thanks, Evan, I'm pretty sure there are number of girls who would accept this offer and would even give you a good time in bed," She snidely replied and, with that, she headed to her first class.

As she entered the class she saw her ex-best friend Chloe and Ryder making out. Backstabbers, she thought to herself. It angered her that Chloe went behind her back to date Ryder. What kind of best friend does that? She asked herself. Not bothered, she sat in her usual place and stared out of the window.

The rest of the day passed slowly. When she returned home she knew her mom was gonna come home in evening so she decided to take a nap.

After a good nap, Melanie woke up and went down to see her mother working on her laptop.

"Good evening," She said while sitting on the couch.

"Good evening. How was your day at school?"

"The usual. Nothing much. How was office today?"

"It was good. Reminding of which, Melanie, I need to tell you something. Come here." Her mom motioned for Melanie to come and sit next to her, "Mills you know how hard I've been working for both of us after your dad walked out, but this job isn't paying enough."

"Mom I-"

Janet interrupted her daughter, "Melanie, first listen to me. Today, I got a better job offer at in California, Which pays well and is more established so, I was thinking, we should move there and you would have a change of environment and school both and the best part is we'll be staying at Angela's home."

"Really? That's amazing.", she said beaming with happiness.

Angela was her old childhood friend. They had been bestfriends since kindergarten, but then their families moved to different countries. Melanie moved to Seattle while Angela moved to Los Angeles. Even though they were far away from each other but still they never gave up on their friendship. It was their friendship that made Melanie survive through the storm of miseries.

"Yea," Her mom looks at her, "So you want to go?"

"Mom, I would love to go as long as you're happy," She said, with a smile.

Little did Melanie know that California was going to change her life forever.