Melody's Crush

Final Chapter

Jake and I drove around in silence for about an hour until my body gave in to the gentle rocking of the car causing my eyelids to droop heavily. Pulling into his parent's drive, he helped me out of the car and pulled me toward the front door of his house.

After washing all the stickiness and make-up off my face using something Jake stole from his mother's room, we slowly headed toward my house.

Stopping near the door, I shook my head not wanting to go in. I didn't want to face my mother. She would be excited to hear how wonderful it was for me and how she was right about me finding prince charming. However the truth would only be a huge disappointment.

Jake tugged at my hand pulling me to the side of the house toward my bedroom window. Like a pro, he lifted himself over the ledge before helping me over. Walking over to my bedroom door, he dipped his head into the hall before stepping back in, slowly closing the door until it sealed within the frame.

"Lock it," I requested under my breath.

A small click sounded like a cannon going off causing us both to freeze. When no movement came from the hall, Jake tiptoed over to me smiling, his teeth shining in the small spilt moonlight coming in through the window.

Suddenly, I felt a pain in my chest. Just a week ago, I would have been falling over backwards doing summersaults to have him in my room looking down at me like that. But now, it truly felt like he was merely a friend. My best friend and we were just hanging out.

"You need to change," he whispered in the dark. "Here, turn around." His hands moved to my shoulders as he turned me around. Pulling his jacket off my shoulders, it suddenly felt cold in the room causing a chill to race through me.

Tossing the jacket to the bed, his fingers came up to tuck under the clasp holding my dress together causing me to suck in my breath. Feeling the fabric give way, I pressed my elbows tight against my sides as his hands moved toward the zipper. Only, he didn't move to unzip it.

"Maybe you should do that," he said, his voice taking on a huskiness that had me scooting quickly toward my closet.

Closing the door, I finally let out the breath I was holding. Placing my back against the shelves, I let my breathing get under control before lifting my elbows, unzipping the skirt and allowing the chiffon fabric to fall to the floor into a billowy pool at my feet while kicking it to the side. My hands moved around in the dark. At this point, I was cursing myself for not changing the light bulb during the thousand chances I had before. Finally finding a bra, I punched my arms through the looped straps and had one heck of a time trying to get the clasps hooked with my shaking hands.

Just as I got the little hooks into the eyelets, I heard muffled sounds and scuffling coming from my room. Placing my ear to the door, it sounded like Jake was talking to someone in a heated discussion. Was he on the phone with Chasity? Or worse, did my mother walk in on him?

Cracking the door, I whispered, "Jake?"

"What?" he said with a curt tone throwing me off a little.

"I... I thought I heard you talking to someone. Is everything alright? Did you and Chasity get into a fight?"

He didn't answer at first. "Are you almost done?"

"Wha... oh, yeah." I shrunk back into the closet a little forgetting I was only in my skivvies. "Just gotta remove all the metal from my head and I will be out. You staying tonight?"

I heard his sharp intake of breath. Maybe it wasn't a good idea for him to stay. "You can have the bed. I'll take the floor," I promised but knew he would refuse.