Melody's Crush

Chapter 5

Back at home, I paced back and forth in the living room. The clock was ticking and for some reason my nerves became more on edge with each passing second.

It wasn't until I was in the car driving home that I realized that my fear of failing the grade provided me with false courage.

If Kyle Warner wasn't such an ass, I would have handled things differently.

Repeating that mantra over and over on the drive home helped a little to justify my actions. By the time I had gotten home, I was practically cheering for myself.

But that cheering section was losing its enthusiasm.

You did the right thing. You did good. WELL...I mean you did well!

Argh!

Oh dear lord, I was correcting my inner dialogue. What next?

Looking at the clock again for like the thousandth time, the face read five minutes to nine and now that cheering section was nowhere to be found. My confidence was shattering with every second passing. It was clear to me Kyle was going to spite me to prove a point.

Argh. I want to kick him so hard!

Picking up the pillow and blanket my mother left out on the couch, I opened the front door and waited as the final seconds counted down. At exactly nine o'clock, headlights could be seen as a car pulled up in the drive. Another minute passed before my eyes caught sight of Kyle moseying up the path toward the house.

My blood began to boil as he was completely ignorant to the fact of me standing there, waiting.

"Kyle!" I yelled. Either he didn't hear me or he was just flat out ignoring me. The latter being the most likely.

His head jerked upward when the pillow and blanket hit him in the chest before falling to the ground causing him to nearly trip. Satisfied with seeing the look of disbelief taint his egotistical face, I stepped backward, smiled and slammed the door across his stunned expression. Locking it, I finally let out the air I was surprisingly holding.

Just as I expected, within a few short seconds Kyle began pounding on the door demanding that I open it. The door rattled and I wasn't sure at first if the thing would hold. But, it held up with great resistance to his obsessive pounding and proved to be a great muffle to his string of obscenities.

Placing the chain on the door, I cracked it open slightly. Immediately he pushed against it scaring the crap out of me. However, the chain held... thank God.

"Let me in!" he demanded.

"When I say nine o'clock or else, I mean nine o'clock or else!"

Pushing away from the door, he growled before kicking the blanket and pillow out onto the pristine lawn. Marching back and forth on the porch like a caged lion, he cursed out loud with every possible vulgarity in the book and some I was pretty sure to be in foreign languages.

It was actually quite comical. My lips twitched with amusement despite the situation.

Mentally slapping myself back to reality, I stated, "There's a hammock to the right of the porch." I thumbed through the crack before quickly pulling it back through as he reached to grab it. "You can sleep there tonight." Then I slammed the door shut locking the deadbolt for good measure.

"Argh!" he screamed before slamming his fists on the door. "I won't forget this, Melody Jenkins." His voice muffled through the wood.

"Good, Kyle Warner. It was meant for you not to forget," I yelled equally as loud at the door. "Every night, the door will be locked at nine o'clock. If you're not here, you'll sleep in the hammock." I waited. He didn't respond. "Do you think your peon brain can remember this? Or has your head been hit one too many times for you to comprehend?" I smiled to myself at the small victory. "Growl once if you understand."