The day dragged on. At least for Melabee it did. She didn't want to do anything or rather she didn't feel that she would be able to do anything if she wanted to. Her mind was sick with worry. Where were her parents? Though it wasn't out of the ordinary for them to break their word, they would always call her and explain to her why they didn't come through. It had been almost a week since she last heard from her parents.
She dreaded staying at the house that lacked her family. The silence and loneliness were all over the place.
"Mel you have to eat," Ellie's voice faded in.
"I already ate," she made an excuse. The fact was, she just wasn't hungry anymore.
"At least have a piece of cake," Ellie offered.
Melabee stared at him for a moment before giving him a small smile. Finally, she ate a small piece of strawberry cake to sooth Ellie for the time being.
Ellie seemed to be satisfied with this response, for he didn't ask her to take another bite.
"What are you doing after school?" Max spoke after quietly watching Melabee with concerned eyes.
"Homework," Melabee replied. It was a one word reply that got both Ellie and Max unsure of whether or not to keep conversing.
There was a silence between the three that separated them from the rest of the cafeteria. Ellie, who decided it was best to try to lighten things up, broke the silence.
"There's gonna be a concert happening in Maverick today," Ellie said excitedly.
"Ooh, cool! Uh, who's performing?" Max joined in.
"Some new band called Glass Castle, I think. You guys wanna go after school?"
"Sure!" Max answered. She and Ellie stared hopefully at Melabee.
"I wish I could, guys," she finally replied. "But I really do have a lot of assignments I need to do. You guys should go, though."
Before Ellie and Max could further attempt to convince Melabee, the sound of the bell cut them off. Relieved, Melabee mumbled an apology and stalked ahead to her class.
She figured not even hanging out with her friends could cheer her up and she didn't want to spoil her friends' mood anymore. Staying home, she decided, wouldn't hurt them.
She decided to distract herself with homework after all then remembered the conversation she had with the turquoise-eyed merman.
"See you tomorrow," he'd said.
Melabee thought hard about those three words and whether or not it was a good idea to go see the merman again. Just as she was about to come to a conclusion, the doorbell rang.
She opened the door and looked quizzically at the suited man in front of her.
"Melabee Samuels?" the man asked.
"Yeah?" Melabee felt uneasy about the man.
"Is this a good time?" the man asked hesitatingly.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"It's, uh," he paused. "It's about your parents."
"My parents?" her voice grew urgent. Her heart began to beat faster. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"May I come in?"
"No," she responded quickly and held the door tighter. "Please, tell me what's going on."
The man's shoulders fell in defeat. There was a moment before he spoke.
"Your parents have been in a plane crash. They did not survive."
---
Everything moved too quickly. The man in front of her pulled some papers out of a briefcase that Melabee didn't see. It was black. He began talking but Melabee didn't hear him. His lips were moving but she couldn't understand. She couldn't look anywhere else but that damn mouth that kept moving.
She stared at it, trying to get it to slow down so she could hear. She made out only two words that he mouthed: plane crash.
"Plane crash," she mumbled. "I..."
He continued talking. Why couldn't he stop? Why couldn't he just-
"Shut up," she said in a small voice.
"Ms. Samuels-"
"Shut up!" she screamed at him. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Why can't you shut up!"
The man fell silent.
"I understand how difficult this must be for you," he continued. Melabee watched him with piercing eyes. She couldn't believe he was still talking.
"But it's important that you read these," he presented to her the papers. Melabee turned her glare to them.
Before he could say anything else, Melabee shut the door and snapped the lock into place.
"Ms. Samuels? Ms. Samuels?" his voice faded.
The suited man sounded a mile away. Melabee slid to the floor, her back against the door. No tear fell from her eyes as she stared unblinking ahead of her. She wasn't staring at anything. She didn't feel anything. Not the cold floor, not her empty stomach. She heard nothing. Even silence didn't seem so loud anymore. Everything was just...nothing.
The pounding at the door stopped and the man retreated from the big quiet house. The buzzing sound of his car faded into the street as he left the neighborhood.
Now there really was nothing.
And it was then that Melabee opened the door
And ran.
