• 79: Moral Support •

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Melody

I went straight to art after history class, as avoiding the cafeteria at all costs seemed like the best course of action. I was shocked to see Alani, Emma, and Noah waiting at the door.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked.

"Moral support," Noah grinned. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, making my friends smile.

"People are saying really crappy things about you, and we just thought you'd like some friends around," Alani explained.

"Thanks," I said, quietly. I opened the door to the art room and smiled at Ms. Foster. "I, um, brought friends... if that's okay?"

"That's awesome! No worries," she smiled. "Just make sure to clean up after you eat," she added before going back to her papers.

I sat down at my usual spot, and Alani, Emma and Noah sat around the table. They pulled out their lunches, Emma with a sandwich, Noah spaghetti, and Alani a rice bowl. I simply took out my sketchbook, water and phone, and sipped my water bottle every so often.

"How are you holding up?" Emma asked, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

"I'm fine," I said shrugging. What else was I going to say? Nothing was going to change despite my pathetic New Year hopes.

"That's good. Honestly, they all just need to brush their teeth before they rot from all the trash flying out of their mouths," Alani said, making everyone laugh. Even I smirked a little. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out, to see a text from Gavin.


Check Instagram!

The Scarlett Noir spread is out.

Gavin LeBlanc; 12:10pm


I opened the app and went to my profile to see that Gavin had posted another picture of me, this one from the Scarlett Noir shoot. I could feel my lips spreading into a smile as I zoomed into the photo.

"What's got you smiling so big?" Noah asked, startling me, as I had almost forgotten there were other people in the room.

"She's happy to see me!" Carson said, entering the classroom. I raised an eyebrow.

"Am I though?" I teased as he walked over to me. A small chorus of 'oohs' erupted from my friends.

"Ouch. I'm wounded," Carson said sitting down next to me.

"Kidding," I said, poking him playfully.

"But really, what's up?" he asked.

"Scarlett Noir is out!" I showed him the picture and his eyes widened.

"Holy crap! Melody you are so beautiful it's unreal," Carson said, making my cheeks heat.

"Okay let me in on this love fest! Is this one of the pictures from your magazine shoot?" Emma chimed in. I nodded and she grabbed the phone from my hands, excitedly, leaning so that Alani could see. "Melody! Oh my God!"

"Wow, I'm literally sobbing," Alani sighed.

"This is such a good picture and you're actually perfect," Emma said, pouting jokingly.

"Um, excuse me! Feeling a tad left out over here," Noah said, pushing his pasta to the side and reaching for my phone. "Damn! This is a fire photo!" He passed it back to Emma and Alani.

"Miss! Come see this!" Emma called, waving Ms. Foster over. She walked over and looked at my phone.

"Wow! Wow! And wow again! This is gorgeous!" she exclaimed. "You do modelling?"

"Yeah, I guess so," I mumbled shyly. I felt uncomfortable with all the attention and outpouring of compliments. It didn't feel like I could own them, especially with all the negativity floating around the school.

"You are just too cool," Ms. Foster grinned, heading back to her desk.

***

When I got home, Margot was on her way up the stairs. She stopped and looked down at me as I took my jacket and snow-covered shoes off.

"Your father has a bit of time tonight, so we are doing a family dinner," she said. "Get changed and be down soon." I nodded as she continued up the stairs.

I went up to my room and flopped down on my bed, feeling both mentally and physically drained. I didn't want to move much less muster up the energy to look nice for a stupid family dinner. I didn't want to deal with Mia's snide comments, with Margot's glares, or compete for my father's attention. At the same time, I knew that if I didn't go, I'd get all that plus more. Damned if I did, damned if I didn't.

So, I dragged myself off the welcoming mattress and stepped over to my closet. I pulled out a little khaki-coloured plaid skirt, that buttoned up at the front, then matched it with a cropped, brownish-red sweater. I put them on and decided to braid the back of my hair and throw everything up into a bun. Not feeling the fancy footwear, I slipped on a cute pair of flats and then headed downstairs.

I was the first one to the table, so I pulled out my phone and looked at my Instagram account. There were about three hundred people following me, which was interesting because I had no clue who they were. The number had gone up a little since the Scarlett Noir picture came out and I wondered if it would continue to grow. I looked down at the tiny notification sign that showed forty likes and five new followers, I opened it.

It read:

'spooky.alani.reynolds followed you'

'jack-jk followed you'

'emma-mariemurphy followed you'

'noah.phillips_iam followed you'

'megzzz followed you'

I was most concerned about my friends following me. Especially now. If everyone at my school found it. Would there be horrible comments? Would they plaster my pictures around the school and draw mean things on it? Would Diesel be creepily messaging me? What if–

"No phones at the table!" Margot snapped, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, I was just looking at– "

"I said no phones," she said, cutting me off. As she sat down, I put my phone on my chair, and I watched as Mia and my dad came one by one to the dinner table. They sat down in their usual seats and began reaching for the food that was set out by Leslie.

"So, Mia, how's school going?" Margot asked.

"Good. The new semester is easy so far," she said digging her fork into her chicken breast.

"What about you Melody?" my dad asked.

"School's fine," I said.

"Is it?" Mia asked, slyly. My father's eyebrows furrowed, and he looked to me for clarification. Margot raised an eyebrow at me but said nothing as she chewed her food.

"It is," I said firmly, throwing a harsh look towards Mia. "My teacher entered one of my art projects into a contest, but we'll see how that goes."

"That's good," my dad replied.

"One of the pictures for the photo shoot I did for that magazine is up," I said, shyly. "If you'd like to see it."

"Show him after we finish eating, Melody," Margot said, her voice sickly sweet. It was so fake and unlike her. As always, she was putting on a show my father.

"Yes, after we eat, dear," my dad agreed with a smile.

Margot then started telling my father about this lovely resort she saw online, taking his attention away... predictable. Another thing that was predictable was that the phone would ring shortly after he finished eating and he would probably not see the picture tonight. Or any other night.

But it didn't matter. I was used to it.



_____________

Author's Note: Hey! Hey! Hey friends! Another day, another chapter! Haha! I hope you enjoyed this one! Melody's picture is out and everyone seems to love it! What do you think it means for Melody now that people know about her instagram?  And isn't Margot a little sassy one? What do you think might happen next?

Also, who saw Paper Thin made it to 200,000 reads and 8000 votes a couple days ago?! I am beyond thrilled! Thank you so so much! :D

This chapter's shoutouts go to:   Tuck_me_up,  TheGazillionthWriter,  breezyskyepuppy,  i_luv_coffee,  ashleygirl10191, and baekhyun_exohoe for voting and/or commenting! Thank you!

And of course, thank you to everyone who keeps reading, voting and commenting! The support warms my heart and I am so grateful! :) 

Melody's dinner outfit:

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