“Melissa,” JC sighed heavily. “Look. I know I started this, and I kind of pushed you into it.”
“You didn’t push--”
“Just let me finish,” he held up a hand. “I know this is right out of nowhere, and it makes me sound a little wishy-washy. Or fickle. Or something. But my emotions had taken over my brain these past few weeks. I can’t do this with you. It’s not fair. Not to me, because it’s just some random sex and I can’t really be with you. As much as I don’t give a shit about your man, it ain’t fair to him because you’re his fiancée and yet you’re screwing around with me!”
The last comment struck Melissa and she asked quietly, “What about me?”
“Yes, Melissa, what about you? Isn’t this already all about you? Here I am, tearing myself apart, and for what? For you. You have it all, don’t you? One guy wrapped around your finger, who trusts you for some reason and hasn’t a clue what goes on behind his back, and another guy you get your little fix from.” Anger and frustration made a deadly mix in JC, and he watched Melissa’s eyes and mouth grow bigger and rounder every second.
”Oh, shit. Oh God, Melissa. I didn’t mean that.”
“You said it.”
“But it’s not what I meant.”
“In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never once said something that you didn’t mean, Josh,” Melissa turned on one three-inch heel and strode back to her best friend’s prom.
Hearing the bow-and-arrow way Melissa said his name shot like a dart right through his heart. He was going about this the wrong way again. All he wanted was for Melissa to admit her love for him, and she had, twice. But he was less willing to confess his love for her, because that left him vulnerable. He had already said it though, unfortunately.
JC was scared. Here was a girl who’d become a beautiful woman without his knowledge. All along there’d been some attraction, but it was undeniable now. Every feeling one could ever have rushed into JC’s heart whenever he saw her. He loved Melissa with everything he had, and she could never be truly his while she was with Michael. Whether she loved the man or not, they were together, and the sneaking around she and JC were doing only made JC want her more. That hurt. He had taken a leave of his senses and created a fantasy world in which only he and Melissa existed. After time apart, the reality of it all hit him like a ton of bricks. Maybe Melissa did love him, but she was betrothed to another. This was wrong.
Wishing he could kick himself, JC thought about what Melissa had said all along. In those first few days of Melissa’s visit, when JC had told her of her affection, she had tried to tell him it was wrong. She was engaged, she said. This isn’t right, she said. Had JC listened? Of course not. He’d eventually won, for the time being, and while it was all well and good, now all the regret was on him. He couldn’t take anything back, and didn’t really want to, but he’d gladly start all over again, and listen to her protests.
Misting over, JC’s eyes blinked. Slowly he returned to the dance floor, where Melissa was dancing with Joey; Renee with Lance; Chris with himself; and Justin sitting at a table alone. The fast-paced rhythm softly died down, and was replaced once again with the first few chords of Everything I Do.
It was midnight, the magic hour.
It was also the last dance.
JC watched Melissa shake her head at Joey and retreat to the table where Justin sat. A slight look of anger with a hint of jealousy radiated from Justin’s face, aimed right at Renee and Lance. Melissa appeared to call him on it, and patted his shoulder with a small giggle. She took a sip of water and glanced around.
Their eyes locked on each other.
Melissa pulled her eyes away first, and JC started walking towards her.
“Melissa?”
“No.”
“You don’t even know why--”
“I don’t care. Whatever it is you want, the answer is no.”
JC sighed for the hundredth time that night. “I just wanted to ask you to dance.”
“Like I said, the answer is no. What makes you think I want to dance with you anyway?”
“Come on, Melissa. It’s the last dance. On top of that, Lance pulled this whole thing off to fix what we messed up. The least we could do is humor him.”
“First of all, we didn’t mess anything up. That was your doing. And, for your information, I was about to ask Justin to dance with me. Thanks for ruining that too.”
Having said that, Melissa rose from the table and stalked off. JC sat down in her place, dropping his face onto his hands. His shoulders began to tremble before Justin spoke up.
“Uh, J--”
“Dance with her,” came the muffled voice, cracking a little.
“What?”
JC looked up. “Go find her, and ask her to dance. This isn’t her prom, but she still doesn’t deserve to sit the last song out.”
“But I--”
“Find her.”
Justin stood uncertainly, and went off in search of Melissa. After a quick turn about the dance floor produced no sign, he ventured into the lobby and reception area. He found her pleading into the pay phone near the restrooms.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You were right, I don’t belong here.” After a pause she groaned, “I didn’t ask you for a lecture, I asked for a ride home...Michael, you’re really pissing me off. Why do you make things so difficult?...It doesn’t matter what happened. What matters is I can’t go out with everyone tonight, and I need to get home,” Melissa jumped when Justin laid a hand on her arm. The movement was reflected in her voice with a small gasp. “What?...No, I’m fine...I, uh, dropped something...What difference does it make what...Look, are you picking me up or not?”
“You don’t have to leave,” Justin said.
Melissa moved the phone a little bit away from her mouth. “Yes, I do...No, I’m not talking to you...A friend...For Christ’s sake, relax...Yes, he’s of the male persuasion...No, he’s not the reason I wanted to come here.”
Justin grabbed the phone away, “Hello, who is this?” he held Melissa back with one arm and leaned out of her reach. “No, I asked you first...Michael?...Melissa’s fiancé?...Interesting...Oh, I just would have thought someone who has the nerve to call himself my friend’s fiancé would be a little more caring and understanding.”
Melissa could hear Michael sputtering over the line. She let a little smile show. Justin sure told him.
“Well, listen, Mr. Fiancé, Melissa won’t be needing your services anymore. I’ll be seeing to it that she returns home safely,” and with that, he hung up the phone with a flourish.
The wide-eyed stare Melissa now sported gave Justin something to chuckle about. “JC ordered me to dance with you. He said you don’t deserve to be alone for the last dance. I think he’s right.”
“The song’s almost over.”
“Ah, almost, but not quite,” Justin pulled Melissa back into the main room and to the dance floor, where he placed his hands on her hips. She, in turn, laid one hand on his shoulder, and let the other rest against his upper arm. “So what’s this new fight about?” he asked cautiously.
Melissa rolled her eyes. “Now, he wants us to stop. He got so mad at me when I wanted to, and now he wants to. What the hell is that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he feels...I don’t know.”
“Thanks for the insight.”
“Not a problem. Really, JC’s a moron. Let him sort through his screwed-up mind for awhile. Give him some time. He is truly an idiot.”
“I’m with you on that one.”
“So what did you plan on doing now? Just going home by yourself? Not going out and having some fun?”
“My idea of fun after tonight is going home, watching some movies, eating...doing a lot of eating...a bag of cookies...maybe a whole thing of cookie dough...yeah, that sounds good...Lots of chocolate. An all-around great night if you ask me.”
The corners of Justin’s mouth had been turning up higher and higher with each word Melissa spoke. Now he laughed out loud. “You are too much.”
“Yeah, too much for JC.”
“Ouch.”
“Damn right, ouch.”
“Melissa, you have to come out with us tonight.”
“Like hell I do.”
“We’re gonna have tons of fun.”
“Riiiight.”
“We’ll go to the falls. We can throw JC over.”
“Now that’s an idea I can work with.”
“Melissa, this too will pass.”
“Isn’t that a proverb of some sort?”
“I believe so.”
Melissa sighed and leaned her head against Justin’s shoulder. “We were doomed from the start.”
“How do you figure?”
“The first time we meet up after years and I’m engaged? And he doesn’t know? And there was always something there between us that we never noticed?”
“I’m telling you, if you just give it time, it’ll all work out. JC loves you. And you love him too, or else you wouldn’t be getting so bent out of shape. You care, Melissa, and that’s a start. He cares too, just look at him,” Justin spun them around so she could see JC over his shoulder. He hadn’t moved from his see-no-evil position.
“Is he...crying?” Melissa’s face softened.
“I think so.”
That brought a tear down Melissa’s cheek, but she brushed it away fiercely. “God, why is there all this crying? This isn’t how love is supposed to be. You ain’t supposed to cry every ten seconds!”
Justin kissed her cheek. “Like I said, you care. Or else you wouldn’t be crying. You’re confused.” He pulled his hand up and held her face. “Listen to me. You’re my friend, and so is JC, and when you’re both hurting, I’m hurting. Now here’s how I see it. You love JC, right?”
Melissa nodded, and responded with a barely audible whisper, “Yes.”
“And JC loves you?”
“So he says.”
“And for whatever reason, you love this -what’s his name?- Michael?”
Melissa hesitated. “I’m not so sure anymore.”
Justin gave a snort. “Can’t say I blame you. You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression, and let me tell you, I never met the guy, but I’m in no hurry to.”
“Well, it’s just, he’s on edge with the playoffs. It’s something I’m used to, but I don’t know if I could live with it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, remember when you were in the hospital?”
“Yeah. The fight.”
“Right. Anyway, being in hospitals kind of bothers me, ‘cause I think of how a hospital nearly ruined Michael’s career. When we were all there with you, it got me thinking about how scared I was when Michael was in the hospital...and, well, I realized how much he meant. But now, with the playoffs here, he’s all moody, and I realize what faults I can’t deal with. And of course JC’s in the picture now, and I’m comparing the two,” Melissa shook her head. “I’m so confused.” She leaned her head down and Justin rested his chin on top of it.
“Listen to me, little girl.”
“Who you callin’ little girl?”
“Listen to me, big girl,” he tried again. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “This is a good start. You need to figure out which one you really love. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life with Michael? If you do, you have to end this thing with JC. It’s breaking you down. But if you don’t, you need to end this engagement. But before you do that, think about your reasons for it. Is it because of JC? Or because you really don’t love him anymore?”
Justin felt Melissa’s body tremble, and he lifted her face, intending to dry her tears, only to find her laughing. “What’s so funny?”
“The last time I had this conversation was the morning we left Florida. I spent the whole morning unloading on Chris.”
“And have you thought about any of it since then?”
“A little.”
“Come to any conclusions?”
Melissa shrugged. “I love them both.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that. You just need to pick one to be with, and leave the other be.”
“What me and JC had was so special,” Melissa moaned. “We were such good friends. We were perfect. And now we had to go and fall for each other. When? After I get engaged.”
“You’ll figure something out. I think that the fact that JC was your first and it wasn’t the guy you planned on marrying says it all,” Justin said.
Melissa stepped back. “How’d you know JC was my first?”
“I, uh, well...,” Justin racked his brain for an excuse, but Melissa’s eyes bore into him. He sighed. “Renee told me.”
“That little rat. Oh well. No bigs. It’s the truth anyway.”
Justin smiled. “And here the whole time I wanted to be the one. Can I at least be your second?”
“Hell, no. I don’t know where your boyish good looks have gotten you. You could be infected with every known STD and then some.”
“I am not!”
Melissa threw her head back and laughed heartily at Justin's protesting face. Just then a familiar but unwelcome face twirled by.
“My, my, my, if it isn’t Melissa Brown. You certainly know how to work a boy band. First the old one, now the baby,” Kat Neche said.
“First of all, I happen to be friends with them. Secondly, it’s none of your business anyway.”
“Testy, testy. Hi,” she said to Justin, “I’m Kathleen, known to most as Kat.”
“Or Bitch. Whore. Skank. Did I mention Bitch?” Melissa ticked off the names on her fingers.
“Well, well, aren’t we cranky?” Kat replied smoothly. “Little tiff with a friend?“
“Once again, I don’t see where you come in.”
“Hey, I’m just here to pick up the pieces.”
“You better not lay a hand on his pieces!”
“And what if I do?”
Melissa lunged at Kat but Justin grabbed her around her waist before she could get very far.
“Mel, you’d ruin your dress,” he said jokingly, trying to lighten to mood.
“She wouldn’t care. Her rich hockey player boyfriend would just by her a new one,” Kat jabbed.
“No, unlike you, bitch, I have to work for things I want. I don’t whine to mommy and daddy or the current boyfriend. So who is he this week?”
“Melissa,” Justin said sharply, and pointed at the rest of their crew. “We’re all going now.”
“Well, smarty-pants, in case you don’t remember, I said I wasn’t going. And if I recall correctly, you said, what were your exact words, ‘I’ll be seeing to it that she returns home safely’? I believe that means you.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let’s get outside and we’ll work something out. Good-bye Kat.”
“Bye-bye. See you around, Melissa,” Kat turned away.
Melissa growled, and Justin looked at her funny. “What was that all about?”
“Long story,” Melissa answered, reaching for her coat and purse. “Let’s just get out of here.”
The two walked into the reception area, where they found the others waiting. “What took you so long?” Lance asked, Renee on his arm.
“Uh, we have a difficulty here,” Justin said. “Melissa here doesn’t want to go out with us, and I don’t know how we wanna work this.”
“You’re not coming with us, Mel?” Renee asked worriedly, casting a glance at JC, who was making a point of looking anywhere but at Melissa.
“Nah. Not now. Not...tonight. It’s been one hell of a night, and it was great while it lasted, but then...I dunno. And I just had a little run-in with Kat.”
Renee rolled her eyes. “Oh God. What did she have to say?”
“Nothing of importance, which is all that ever comes out of her mouth. But no, I gotta get out of here. I just need a way to get out of here,” Melissa pulled her coat around herself against the cold air.
“Well, we have the car,” Chris said. He knew something was up. “Our driver could take you. But I want someone to be with you.”
“I could go,” JC spoke up, still not looking at Melissa.
After a moment of silence, Chris objected. “It doesn’t look like that would be such a good idea. I would go, but someone needs to keep an eye on El Drunko,” he nodded towards Joey.
“Hey, I didn’t know what it was,” Joey complained, wobbling sideways.
“Even more reason not to drink it, moron.”
“I’ll go,” Lance offered. “It was my idea for this surprise reunion, so I should go.”
“Are you sure?” Melissa asked.
“Yeah. You go on ahead,” he said to Renee. “I’ll meet you guys up there.”
“Okay,” Renee answered, and they shared a quick kiss on the lips. “See you there.”
Lance held out his elbow to Melissa, "Your chariot awaits, fair lady.”
“More like damsel pissed off,” Melissa cracked, taking his arm.