Melody

In English class, Carson sat beside me once again. Mr. Garcia gave us a curious look, but decided against saying anything, before he handed out work sheets on essay writing.

"Oh, right I'm supposed to send people down to the auditorium for the costume contest!" Our teacher exclaimed suddenly. "Hmm..." he mused looking around the classroom. "Jackson, Elijah, Kylee, and Nora stand up."

The four had very interesting and different costumes. Jackson was dressed as a serial killer, with a play on the words. He was a 'cereal' killer; as in he wore a bunch of cereal boxes with fake knifes stuck in them and fake blood dripping out of them. Elijah was a very convincing astronaut, which looked awesome. I wondered if he'd made the costume himself or bought it. Kylee was a paper bag princess, which was cute. Though I'd be very stressed to wear a brown paper bag to school, but her red hair cascaded down her back and across her shoulders and was crowned by a pink and yellow paper crown. Nora was wearing a blue jumpsuit with her hair tied back and a red bandana. She was the 'We Can Do It!' girl and it was quite cute.

"Okay, now that everyone's had a good look, who are we sending down for the single competition. Votes for Jackson raise your hands." Mr. Garcia stopped to count. "Votes for Elijah raise your hands... okay votes for Kylee? And votes for Nora." Our teacher smiled and continued. "Awesome! Elijah and Nora are the winners, so you guys can go down now. For pairs..." Mr. Garcia looked around and stopped at Carson and I. "That's clever." And he looked over at another pair. "Okay, Carson and Melody versus Zoe and Owen." They were dressed as Jack and Jill with buckets that said their names on them and overalls. It was cute, but in the end Carson and I ended up going down to the auditorium.

I rubbed my hands together anxiously. "Are you okay?" Carson asked. I nodded and smiled. Carson slipped his arm around my waist. I held my breath slightly, hoping he wouldn't feel my fat or anything unpleasant. "Don't be nervous," he said softly. "It'll be over before you know it."

And it was. We got second place to a couple that was dressed as Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake at the 2001 AMA Awards in their matching denim outfits. An iconic tragedy. It was a very clever outfit, which had everyone smiling from ear to ear. We got a little pumpkin bucket filled with various candies and a fifty-dollar gift card to Olive Garden.

As we headed back to class, I mumbled, "I, um, brought a lunch today." I glanced at Carson, to see that he looked a little surprised, but his features settled into a small smile.

"That's good. Do you want to sit in the cafeteria today? I would say we could go outside, but I don't want you to ruin your white dress."

"O-okay."

"It won't be too bad. We can observe the colourful costumes people wore today... and hold hands under the table." Carson took my hand in his, making my lips curve into a smile. "We can even sit with your friends. It makes sense since we're going over to Emma's house today."

"Okay." I forced a smile. Eating with a crowd? I wondered how good or bad this would be.

***

"Oh my gosh is that Melody and Carson?" Emma exclaimed as we walked towards their table at lunch. Noah, Alani and Cora were also seated at the table dressed as a group of hippies. It was pretty neat, though I felt a pang of jealousy that they were so close knit. I smiled and waved, as I sat down next to Emma. Carson slid in beside me. I looked around quickly at the cafeteria to see surprised glances aimed towards us.

"What have we done to have your grace us with your presence?" Alani teased us.

"No, really what have we done?" Cora muttered, glaring down at her rice. Noah nudged her slightly and Emma and Alani glared in her direction.

"Um, I'm excited for tonight!" Emma said quickly.

"Yeah, I've picked out some pretty great films. The Conjuring and Saw are my first options, but there are more on the list," Alani added.

"Sounds good!" Carson said pulling his lunch out of his knapsack. After putting a pretty looking sandwich on the table, he placed his bag on the back of his chair.

The popular table was glaring at us without any shame. The girls in variations of scantily dressed characters like Princess Jasmine, Harley Quinn, Red Riding Hood and more. Rose and her friends had traded their leotards for t-shirt dresses and different animals. Rose was a unicorn, and though her outfit was simple, I had to hand it to her for the elaborate makeup she had. As I met eyes with her, I looked away instantly and went to pull my lunch out.

Stuffed peppers. Not pizza like Alani, or chicken and fries like Emma. Healthy. I could handle this. I opened the container slowly; feeling as if everyone in the cafeteria was staring at me. I doubted it was true, but I couldn't bring myself to look up and erase the thought. I didn't want to confirm it.

"Harvey!" Carson's voice surprised me and looked up. There were more eyes on our table now, as the basketball player with light brown hair began walking over to us. He wore a large grin on his face as he stepped towards us.

The people at my table shifted to create a space next to Carson. Harvey sat down next him. "Thank you for letting me know you changed tables! The heads up was great," Harvey said sarcastically as he shoved Carson playfully.

"At least I got your attention," Carson laughed.

"Not a moment too soon. I thought I was going sit through another lesson of cuticles 101." Harvey mimed shooting himself in the head making Alani and Emma crack up.

"Aw, did we steal you away from an episode of Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse?" Noah asked with a laugh. I couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"By the looks of her face, Barbie does not appreciate it," Alani chimed in making Carson and Harvey laugh too.

"What are you talking about?" Cora asked.

"You have not spent enough time on Netflix or Tumblr," Emma giggled, dipping her fries into some ketchup. "Hey, are you coming tonight?" she asked Harvey.

"Hell yeah! We better be watching something terrifying," Harvey said.

"Well, Alani is bringing the movies so..." Noah smirked.

As they went back and forth, I quietly cut my peppers into tiny little bites, making sure to laugh and 'mhm' at the right moments. Every once in a while, I glance up and Cora and I would make eye contact, so I looked back down at my food. It was as if she was waiting for me to eat, not eat, or run away crying.

"So, when the trick-or-treaters show up, we have to scare them," Alani said with a wicked grin.

So, I did the opposite of what I normally did at lunch. I smiled and joined the conversation. Maybe if talked enough, I'd draw less attention to my eating habits. Maybe I could feel like I was somewhat able to eat in peace.

"Okay, so we'll need a scream mask, a bowl of candy with a hole in the bottom, and a large box to fit a person in," I suggested, making everyone look at me with a little bit of surprise.

"Ooh, Melody, is this a dark side I see?" Noah asked making everyone but Cora laugh.

"I like it," Alani said taking a large bite of her pizza. She continued to make plans with everyone, allowing me to eat a couple bites of the food I had brought.

"You should probably play scary music outside too... this way they won't come disrupting the movies we watch," Emma grinned.

"I love you people," Alani said as she wiped away fake tears.

After our laughter died down from Alani's antics, Harvey glanced to Carson and asked him about their upcoming game on Thursday.

"It's here at the school thankfully. But it's going to suck driving all the way to Bridgeport for the away game," Carson said.

"Ugh!" Harvey sighed. "You're right."

"What, you guys don't like road trips?" Emma asked, picking up a fry.

"Who does?" Cora said rolling her eyes. I took the opportunity to take another bite.

"I do!" Emma responded, batting Noah's hands away from her fries.

"Same, they are actually a lot of fun!" I said after swallowing.

"Not with the eleventh-grade basketball players," Harvey chimed in. "They are particularly annoying this year." Another bite. Was anyone staring at me?

"Bridgeport hardly classifies as a road trip," Noah smirked.

"Yeah, that's like forty-five minutes, tops!" Alani laughed.

"It's an hour," Carson and I said at the same time.

"Not if you drive like she does," Emma replied with a grin.

By the end of lunch, I had finished half of my food and managed to talk my way through the rest of time. Carson and Harvey walked Emma and I to our art class, the three of them talking about what we actually learned in this class. I nodded, but said nothing, too mentally exhausted from keeping up with the fast-paced banter from lunch. It was way too much pressure sitting in the cafeteria. It was fun, but I wasn't sure I could do it again.

We stopped at the door of my classroom, and Emma waved goodbye to the guys before sliding into the room. Carson kissed my forehead softly, before brushing his hand along my cheek softly.

"See you later," he said. My heart skipped a beat as he smiled, leaving me standing in the hallway staring after him.

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Author's Note: Its a short chapter, but its only 4 days after my last upload! YAY! :D I hope you liked it! If so vote and comment! It's very appreciated! :)