My Life As A Sophomore

I am an ordinary girl. Maybe a little too ordinary. Okay, before I go into too many details, let me introduce myself.

My name is Melody and I go to Sea View High in Los Angeles. I'm fifteen and a sophomore with straight C's. So I'm not the brightest one, but I'm average right?
Today has followed the same routine; it was average, boring, and a waste of every body's time. Just like me. After lunch, I went to my sixth period science class and was late as usual. Looks like another day in detention. I don't really mind though; it's not like I have anything else better to do.

We were reassigned lab partners, and I was stunned when Mrs. Burton told me to sit with Cameron Duncan. I'd had a crush on him since we were in the first grade. He was cute, smart, and funny. Everything I had ever wanted was now sitting next to me. I started to imagine what it would be like if he asked me out. My daze was quickly broken when Cameron faced me and held out his hand.
"Hi, I'm Cameron. You must be new this year," he stated with a flawless smile.

He thinks I'm new here? We went to preschool together!

"Um...no. We went to preschool together, Cameron. Remember now?"
Cameron's cheeks get a slight pink tint to them.

"Oh, yeah." He turns quickly back to his work. I quietly sigh. Looks like my dreams will never come true. I guess it's better like this anyway. He's amazing and I'm just plain...me.

Science went by slowly as usual. Once we were dismissed, I heard arguing down the hall. I walked down there because my next class was there anyway.

It was a guy and a girl, but I couldn't figure out who. A locker slammed and the girl stomped into a classroom, while the guy started walking in my direction.

As he got closer, I saw that it was Cameron. That must have been his girlfriend, Sarah. From the looks of it, they broke up. Cameron's eyes were planted on the floor until he almost ran into me.

"Oh, Melody. Hi. Sorry, I didn't see you there." He glued his eyes back onto the floor.

"It's fine. Are you okay? You look upset. Anything I can help you with?" I asked.

"Um, it's just my girlfriend Sarah dumped me. She's jealous of another girl because she thinks that I'm going to start spending a lot of time with her," he told me.

"Really? Who?"

"You."

"What? Why?"

"Sarah and I used to be lab partners; that's how we got to know each other.
She thinks you are going to replace her. But don't worry about it because we were having problems anyway." The final bell for seventh period rang. "You think we should get to class?" he asked.

"I have detention for being late anyway," I replied. He began to walk toward a janitor's closet.

"Well if we're gonna talk, we should at least do it in private," he said. Cameron opened the door and let me go in first. He shut the door then turned on the light. When we could see, I realized how close our faces were. Our mouths were centimeters apart. Cameron looked into my eyes and smiled.

"You wanna sit down?" He cleared a spot for both of us to sit. We plopped down on the floor next to each other.

"Seems like a stupid reason to get jealous," I continued our conversation from the hallway.

"It was. She took you as competition. I mean, you are beautiful."

"Really? You think I'm beautiful? Nobody has told me that before," I responded.
He now faced me and our faces were once again centimeters apart.

"You're extremely beautiful. I don't see why nobody has told you that before." Cameron leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek. I was so surprised. This is all happening so fast. I didn't say anything about him kissing me, but I did throw my arms around him. It was the first real hug I'd had in years.

"I've liked you since the first grade," I blurted out. I couldn't believe I had just said that. He pulled away and looked at me.

"Then maybe we should go to the movies Friday night," he said.

"I'd like that."

"Good." He pulled me up into his lap and grabbed my hand. We sat like this for what seemed like minutes, but was actually about an hour because the final bell rang. Lockers began to slam and voices in the hall grew louder. I wrapped my arms around him one last time then I stood up. We both went out the door but we were spotted by our seventh period geometry teacher.

"Melody Carter and Cameron Duncan. Skipped class I see." She pulled out detention slips. "Both of you. Detention. Now!" I could have told her I already had detention, but that would mean that I would have it the next day, so I went without telling her.

Cameron and I walked hand-in-hand to the detention room. I knew this room all too well.

"Wait, Cameron." I stopped him. "Does this mean we're dating now?"

"Only if you want to be." He kissed me again, but this time on the lips.

"Then I guess we're dating," I said, with an added smile.

After detention, I waited half an hour for my dad to come pick me up. Since he didn't come, I started to walk home. It wasn't too far because we live seven blocks away. I walked into the yard and saw my dad standing on the porch tapping his foot. He didn't look too happy.

"Why were you in detention?" he questioned. Every time I talked to him it felt as if I were being interrogated.

"I was late for class. No big deal." I started to walk in the house but Dad grabbed my arm and stopped me. "Ow, let go. That really hurts!" I said. He didn't reply.

"You better not get detention again. Do you hear me Melody?" he asked through clenched teeth. I quickly nodded my head. "Now get up to your room and don't you dare come out!" He shoved me so hard that I fell flat on the ground. I slowly got up and limped to my room.

This is what I've had to live with since my mom died seven years ago in a car crash. Ever since we got the news he had drank hardcore alcohol day and night.

I picked up a picture of my mom, Dad, and I at the zoo. We were so happy. I was so happy. What I wouldn't give to be that happy again. I can hardly bare the memories that we shared. The memories are so distant anyway; they all happened so long ago.

I don't know what I was thinking when I told Cameron that I could go to the movies with him. Dad will never let me. He'd kill me before I even walked out the door. Sneaking out seems like the only way I could go, but my luck I'd get caught. I get grounded for two weeks when I spill a cup of soda on a hardwood floor. I can't imagine what would happen to me if he caught me sneaking out. No matter what I do I get in trouble. The abuse is only getting worse. One of us is going to end up dead soon, and I don't think it's going to be Dad. Thinking about all of this caused me to cry myself to sleep.
I woke up the next morning sore. Being thrown around isn't a nice feeling, but it's something you get used to. I took a shower and got ready for school and then got some breakfast. After eating, I ran to the bus stop, afraid that I would miss the bus and get detention again. The bus pulled up as soon as I stopped to sit on the bench for a minute. The driver opened the doors and I got on and sat in my usual. The ride was boring and short, and I was glad when we arrived at school. Waiting next to my locker was Cameron. I smiled when he waved. He was the only joy I had left in my life. He gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Are you still up for tonight?" he asked. I can't go. Dad will kill me!

"Yeah, of course!" My response shocked me.

"Great." He grabbed my hand and was looking down for a little while. He looked like he was trying to figure something out.

"What?" I asked. Cameron picked up my arm and examined it closer.

"Where did this bruise come from?"

"I, uh, fell. Last night."

"Then why is it in the shape of a hand print?" he questioned.

"Um...coincidence?"

"Melody, is there something wrong? You can tell me," he said. The bell for first period rang.

"Gotta go. Don't want to be late for class!" I said, changing the subject.

"Um, yeah." He hugged me again and we went our separate ways until forth period when we have geography together.