Soul Searching

Chapter Four

"Change your thoughts and you change your world."
-Norman Vincent Peale

Melanie blew out the nine candles on her large cake, smiling briefly at the applause from her friends.

"Who wants a slice?" her mother asked, holding up a knife and plates. "And Melanie, you get to cut." She smiled, and in her smile she begged Melanie to forget.

And Melanie did what she was asked. She forgot.

"I would be honored," She curtsied, giggling. She was pretending to be a princess, wrapping her manicured fingers carefully around the hilt of the knife, cutting into the cake with precision.

"I would like to thank you all for being here." She raised her voice an octave, and her friends laughed, playing along.

"Oh, Princess Melanie, we would like to thank you. You allowed us into your home, and we're only peasants." Nicole jumped in, mimicking her slight accent.

Melanie giggled, handing out cake to everyone. When she was done, she sat down at the head of the table.

"Mother, may I say the blessing?" She played with the trim of her dress.

"Of course," her mother replied, bowing her head and clasping her hands together. Everyone else did the same, and Melanie thanked God for the wonderful food, her lulling voice dominating the silence.

"Amen," they all chorused at the end.

"Let's eat!" Nicole shouted, grinning. They all dug into their cake, hardly any words passing over them.

Bridget-who had turned nine a few months ago-finally spoke up. "This cake is absolutely delicious, Mrs. Dumont."

Smiling, Mrs. Dumont took a seat beside her husband. "Thank you."

They all ate quietly, and Melanie was glad for the silence. The food was gone in a matter of minutes, and everybody pulled the chairs into a circle, just one in the middle.

"Present time!" Nicole sang. "And you're opening mine first!" She ran around, gathering up gift after gift, putting them in front of the person who bought it.

"We'll go in a circle," she explained, "I'll start, then we'll go around to the right. Everyone got it?"

They all shook their heads in agreement, laughing. Nicole may have been younger than most of them, but she was a real leader.

Nicole passed her gift forward to Melanie. She opened it with care, holding up the gift for everybody to see.

"It's darling," she breathed.

A sparkling ruby heart hung from a golden chain. The heart was about as big as her pinky finger, and outlined with more gold.

It looked expensive.

"Nicole!" Melanie exclaimed. "You didn't have to!"

And Melanie felt a pang in her chest. If Nicole knew what she knew, there was no chance that she would ever speak to her again.

"Yes I did," Nicole reasoned, flashing a bright smile. "You're my best friend. You mean the world to me. No matter what."

Melanie smiled, and this time it reached her eyes.

***

"Pick a song," Melanie told the rest of her friends, holding out her iPod.

They all gathered around, searching through the list.

"Gosh, that's a lot of songs," someone said. Melanie nodded.

"Let's do Worth It!" Nicole shrieked, jumping up and down. Melanie chuckled, taking it from her hand and plugging it up to the speaker. Her parents had retired to their room, saying "they could do whatever they want as long as they cleaned up the mess."

They had moved all the furniture to a corner of the room, making a dance floor. They had dressed insisted on dressing Melanie up as the "dance queen" and stole her mother's makeup from the bathroom. Melanie was positive she wouldn't mind. She hardly ever wore it.

Melanie had on a knee length dress drenched in sparkles. The sleeves were three quarters long, just so they hid where her Mark should've been. They had left her hair down, saying that her "to die for" golden waves went perfectly with her outfit.

The music started, and they all looked towards Melanie for guidance. She was the one who had taken all the dance classes. Ballet, pointe, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, tap. But then, all the knowledge flew from her mind. They wanted her guidance.

The one without a Mark.

"Are you alright?" Nicole laid a hand on her shoulder. She knew something was up.

"Just tired, is all."

"Don't lie to me," Nicole warned, looking hurt. Melanie took a deep breath, closing her eyes.

"Grandmother is sick," she bluffed, trying to keep from fidgeting.

Nicole eyes flashed with disbelief, but she didn't press any further, knowing it was a bigger issue, and that Melanie would talk if she desired to.

Melanie faked a yawn, and the others took the hint. They made a pallet on the floor and took turns changing into their pajamas.

Nicole pulled her aside, Melanie's sky blue nightgown swishing around her feet. She looked down and played with the fringes on her sleeves-which came all the way down and inch past her wrists.

"Will you please tell me what's wrong?" Nicole looked down at her-seeing as she was almost a foot taller-with sad eyes.

"I'm nervous," she whispered, her voice cracking. She truly was-and fearful too, that someone would find out. Her hand trailed nervously to the top of her right arm, but she caught herself just in time, fidgeting under Nicole's scrutinizing gaze.

"You have nothing to be nervous about. You're going to be absolutely fine. We'll be in the same class."

Melanie realized this was true. You were always in the same class with everybody who was born in the same month as you. And Melanie was lucky she had an early birthday-January. She'd start school on the first of February.

"Yes," she said, acting as if the thought made her feel better. And it did-to an extent. "We will."

Nicole breathed out a soft laugh, wrapping her arm around Melanie's shoulders. "C'mon. I know you're tired. You've had a busy day. But tomorrow, I demand you to help me with my back handspring. You have it perfected. I'm so jealous."

Melanie nodded. "While we're at it, let's choreograph a dance for the talent show."

"Oh, Melanie," Nicole sighed dramatically, "you and your words."

They giggled all the way back to the living room.