Tick Tock ➙ Edward Cullen

Chapter Sixteen

Melinda had caught a flight back to Washington where she was reunited with the silver Acura that still sat in the airport's parking lot. The sun had returned once again and the girl was happy to be home, away from all the chaos that Phoenix had brought into her life. Seeing a vampire being turned to ash, passing out from watching her soulmate suck venom out of his girlfriend's body, and telling her soulmate her life story, was enough excitement for one night.

It didn't take long for Melinda to pull the Acura into the gravel driveway that extended along the side of her house and front yard. The girl inhaled heavily as she turned the engine off, now having to prepare herself for Cindy's reaction after she was gone all night. It seemed like the woman wasn't giving Melinda much time to prepare as she came running out of the house with sweatpants and a hoodie on, the exact same outfit she had been wearing for almost two days now. Her hair was in a low ponytail and there were deepset dark circles under her eyes.

"Melinda Porter, where have you been? Do you know how worried I've been? Get out of my car, now." Cindy exclaimed after pulling open the driver's side door of the Acura and moved out of the way for Melinda to get out. The redhead was engulfed in a tight hug as soon as she was out of the car and unintentionally leaned all of her weight onto the older woman, who didn't seem to mind.

"I'm sorry, I'll explain everything." Melinda shut the door of the car with one arm still wrapped around Cindy before heading inside the house.

After spending nearly two hours telling Cindy about what the past two days had consistented of, with leaving out the part that Edward was a vampire, Melinda decided that it would be best for her to leave Forks. Cindy tried talking her out of it but the girl had successfully found her soulmate after almost eighty years of searching, and couldn't stand the idea of living in the same town with him and the girl he had chosen over her. Melinda wanted to move on with her life now that she felt like it had finally begun. She was no longer stuck in a world where time stood still and even though Edward Cullen was her soulmate, she wanted to spend every last second of her life away from him. Melinda had spent more than enough time feeling sorry for herself over the fact that Edward and Bella were together and she figured the best way to move on was to escape the small town of Forks.

Melinda was in her room packing up as much stuff as she could with some boxes and a suitcase she found in the basement. Some had been left over from when she moved to Forks six months ago and Cindy happened to keep them just in case. Cindy and Melinda had a good system going in the bedroom with the younger female packing up all her knick knacks and books, while Cindy threw clothing into the suitcase.

"Someone's calling you." Cindy pointed out and sure enough, Melinda's phone was vibrating away on her bed. The girl walked over and picked up the small device before dropping it back down on the mattress at the sight of who it was.

"It's just Edward, I'm sure he'll leave a voicemail." Melinda grumbled as she went back to one of her bookshelves. This wasn't the first time Edward had tried reaching the redhead and he had left a voicemail after every call that went unanswered. The phone stopped vibrating before there was one short buzz, meaning Edward sent a text instead.

"I think you should talk to him. It's obvious he wants to talk to you." Cindy pointed out as she playfully threw a t-shirt at Melinda as she walked back to her phone.

"I don't have anything to say to him." Melinda replied. A message from Edward Cullen flashed across the screen that read 'Prom is coming up, I hope to see you there.'

"What did he say?" Cindy asked after hearing Melinda sigh heavily. The girl showed her the phone screen and Cindy's aged face twisted up in annoyance. "So he wants you to come to prom but isn't taking you? That just adds salt to the wound."