The soft winds flew by slowly and wrapped around the small gated community. The expensive, lavish houses stood proudly side by side, and a few children ran through the lawns. Water from sprinklers satiated the green grasses below and Melanie stood on the balcony that looked over the front lawn of Justin’s house. She stood is his embrace, enjoying the scenery and enjoying the extra warmth he gave her despite the weather that early morning. Melanie sighed with content- it was beautiful. Over the hills occupied by houses, the blue of the vast Pacific Ocean discretely made itself known, deceiving one that it was undersized while the wind blew once more, playing at the baby hairs on the sides of Melanie’s face.
The sun beamed down on the both of them, and Melanie was relaxed and at ease from the harsh Chicago cold. She extended her arms to the railing in front of her and looked down at the people working the landscaping of the large house. It amazed her how rich a person could actually be. Justin’s parents’ house was just as she had imagined-long, winding walkway leading to the front of the house adorned with Greek-like pillars. The house reminded her of Annie, and she was the guest. When she’d first gotten there, maids and butlers took she and Justin’s baggage and treated her like she was royalty of some sort. She’d hoped they’d sing and dance, but that would be a stretch.
“I can’t believe you live here, Justin,” She said quietly.
He watched her watch the people below her. It was obvious that she already felt like a princess, and he was content with that. That was what he wanted.
“Come, let me show you the rest of the house,” Justin said distantly.
Melanie turned and looked at him, giving him the biggest grin. He grinned back at her, and led her off of the balcony that was connected to his room, and into the house. They walked past his bed, and his huge walk in closet. Melanie stopped suddenly when she stepped on something and turned and looked at the tiger that was staring at her, its mouth hung open.
“You have a rug that’s a tiger?”
Justin chuckled, “Yeah. Her name’s Sibey.”
Melanie turned and looked at him incredulously. “You named your freakin’ rug?”
“Well, it’s a Siberian tiger. It fits.”
She widened her eyes and mouthed, ‘Okay’ slowly. Justin tugged at her hand again and led her into the large hallway. He pulled her into another room with double doors.
“This is my sitting room. It’s pretty self explanatory.”
Melanie walked in and looked at the vibrant color schemes that were used. The couches looked like something out of the 80’s, with the bright primary colors everywhere. There were eccentric paintings on the walls, and movie posters hung up. The carpet was bright blue, and on the back wall, there was a graffiti painting that read, ‘Justin’, in baby blue, black, and dark blue.
“Holy shit,” Melanie gawked.
Justin only laughed and pulled her out of the room. He showed her his brothers’ rooms, who both had cars as their beds and expensive gadgets all around. He showed her the entertainment room, and had a hard time pulling her out of there. Then, they ventured to the front of the second story and she looked over the stairwell and down at the marble floor beneath her. The floor had a brown, beige, and black design on it, and expensive tables scattered around. She watched as a maid mopped over it. Her mouth hung open when she looked up and saw a massive, glass chandelier hanging above her, and watched it twinkle through the sun’s illumination.
Justin began to make his way down the long, curved stairwell, and she quickly followed. She slid her hand down the expensive wood as she descended, and met Justin at the bottom. He led her into the brownish looking kitchen and introduced her to yet another maid. She was sure she was going to forget most of their names.
Then Justin and Melanie ventured through the kitchen, which had windows all around it from top to bottom, and found themselves in the living room. Beige and black leather couches sat idly on the carpeted floor, and the large entertainment system stood gloriously.
“To the outdoors,” Justin said.
Melanie followed him outside, grabbing his hand in the process. He pulled her past the pool and the Jacuzzi area. “We have to get in that later, Justin.”
“Of course,” He replied.
They walked down a couple of steps and reached his basketball and tennis courts.
“You play tennis?” she asked.
“Nope.” Justin shook his head and laughed. “My mom tries, but she sucks. Kelice always came over and played, but it’s just for decoration. Anyway, let’s go to the music room shall we?”
“Okay,” Melanie said distantly.
She was willing to let him take her anywhere he wanted, so she followed him diligently. “What if I get lost?”
“I’ll find you…trust me, I’ll find you.” Justin grinned sexily at her before putting his arm around her shoulder, and kissing her on top of the head.
They soon came to a small building that was painted wildly on the outside. Some of it was graffiti and some of it was actual art, while most of it was peoples’ messages to Justin and his friends. To see a lavish, large mansion, and then go to a little shed with graffiti all over it was a drastic change. Melanie walked in the warehouse-type garage when Justin held the door for her. The shed contradicted everything in the house.
She looked around at the instruments in the dimly lit room. A large drum set was in the back, to the right of it, two large keyboards. Across the way were horns set up on stands and percussion stands. About five different guitars were on display strategically, and there was a black piano with a microphone on the top off it, in the middle of everything.
“Wow. This stuff is nice. Is it all yours?” Melanie asked.
Justin looked at her and smiled, “Nope. Some of the guitars are, we all bought the piano, but the rest of it is theirs. They all have keys to get in here, so they’ve probably come in here a couple of times and had a jam session or two.”
Melanie nodded her head and walked to some of the guitars quietly. She fingered one of them and noticed that the strap had the initials ‘JT’ on it in rhinestones. “So this is yours?”
Justin nodded at her, “Yeah…I have two or three of them.”
“So, how do you like…play music and basketball at the same time?” she asked.
He shrugged her shoulders and led her outside now. They slowly made their way up the hill and past the tennis courts and basketball courts before he finally answered. “I don’t know. Music is something that I do when I’m stressed out, or I’m just feeling really creative.” He shook his head. “I don’t really talk about it that much though.”
Melanie looked up at him, squinting her eyes from the sun. “Why not? I think it’s cool that you have a creative side to you.”
“I just never thought it would be something that people would be interested in hearing about. I’ve played at clubs and little gigs here and there with my friends, but that’s it.”
They entered the large house now and began to make their way up the stairs. “Well, when you lived out here, did the people you went to school with know about your music?”
Justin looked at her skeptically, and wondered why she was asking so many questions. “Yeah. Why do you wanna know so badly?”
“Why, when I asked you to sing a song for me, you got all amnesiac and stuff?” Melanie grinned.
“Because…I don’t know. I still sang the song for you didn’t I?”
“Yeah, but you didn’t want to. You were upset when I asked you to.”
“That’s because you were going through my stuff!” Justin whined and followed her into his room and furrowed his eyebrows at the back of her head. He watched her plop down on his bed and bounce happily.
“Wanna know what I think?”
“I think you need to get some rest.” Justin avoided her answer.
“I think you’re just as scared of what other people think as I am. That’s why a lot of people don’t know that you lived here. You don’t want them to know that you really are the white rich kid that they labeled you as when you first came to Calumet.” Melanie grinned arrogantly at her discovery. “Oh…the rich white kid that plays in a band too!”
“That’s bullshit.” Justin scoffed. “Everyone labeled me as the new kid when I first came to Calumet. No one cared about me until I started to play ball.” He rolled his eyes.
“No, you were Victoria’s boyfriend. Victoria is popular and white-the type of girl that goes to parties to listen to bands. The type of girl that goes shopping ever weekend because she has money from her parents falling out of her ass. You ARE that type of person, Justin. Don’t think because you go to an ‘urban’ place you should just drop all of that. Do you have to be the center every time?.”
“Look, I really don’t care. None of what you’re saying has any significance.” Justin left her with a roll of his eyes, before dragging his suitcase into his massive walk in closet. “You’re lucky I’m calm, and relaxed because I’m at home.”
Melanie followed him through the large, white double door, and looked at all the clothing he possessed. Clothes were everywhere, on racks, in cabinets, on shelves, and some even dangled above her. She watched quietly as Justin took off the shoes he was wearing and placed them neatly on the shelf and among the other 50 pair he had. “Oh really? How lucky am I?”
Justin walked to a different part of his closet, one that held all of his kick-back clothing and rummaged through the racks. “Melanie…don’t do this.” His voice was muffled as he dug deep through his sea of clothes. “You’re pissing me off.”
“So, why did you come to California for Spring Break? I heard that the school was doing a little basketball camp, for the kids. Did you hear about that? You know the one y’all were supposed to help with?” She changed to another prying subject.
Justin looked at her and gave her another bored expression, still showing a little bit of his anger. “Yeah, I did hear about it, but I told coach I had already made plans. He didn’t care. Is there something you’re trying to get at here? Oh and another thing. Why are you complaining about me being here and not helping in Chicago, when Damien’s in New York? Did you give him a lecture too?”
“No. Damien’s going to New York for education purposes. You just came here to play.”
Justin laughed out loud. “You have your head WAY up his ass if you honestly think he’s in New York for ‘educational’ purposes.” He laughed again and walked past Melanie. “I came here to relax. To get away from all the haters and bull shitters in Chicago.”
Justin plopped onto his bed and lay back. He didn’t look at Melanie, who was standing over him and looking at him with the most penetrating stare. He grabbed his remote, pressed a button and watched the flat screen TV, that was mounted on the wall, reveal itself when two panels on the wall opened.
“Where’s your dad at?” Melanie asked.
Justin looked at her like she was crazy. “What’s it to you?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m just surprised that we’re staying here with all the beef you and your dad have.”
“He’s in Sacramento. He’ll be there most of the time.” He said distantly.
“Does he even know we’re here?”
“Nope. If he finds out-he finds out. It’s my house too.”
“Justin, why did you want me to come out here? I want the truth.” She didn’t wait for an answer for her question.
“You can’t handle the truth.” Justin said and stared at the television.
“Yes, I can.” She said, still standing by the closet.
He laughed out loud. “Why do you lie to yourself so much? Melanie, you couldn’t take the truth if it was handed to you on a fucking silver platter and practically FED to your ass. Why? Because the truth hurts…and you can’t take pain, or anything hard. YOU RUN. And, if I told you why I brought you out here, your ass would try to be on the first plane to Chi…New York.”
“What? You have some type of hidden agenda?” She inquired.
“Don’t play games with me, Melanie.”
“I thought you liked games, Justin?” A smug smile slowly spread across her mocha face as she watched Justin give her a dead stare.
Melanie walked over, making sure to step over the tiger, and sat on the other side of his high, king-sized bed. She grinned lazily at her confused friend as he watched the figures play across the flat screen. Slowly, she slid down so that she was laying next to Justin, lay on her side, and stared at him. She continued to stare and laughed slightly when he began to become frustrated. His blue eyes cut to their corners, where they glared at the gleeful girl lying next to their master’s body.
Melanie then scooted closer to him so that her nose was merely inches away from his pale cheek. She stared at the intricacies of his face, the baby hairs, and a blemish that had oh-so-gracefully settled in an open spot. Soft giggles passed through her slightly parted lips, and the air through her nose was audible as she giggled. She then took her bare foot, ran it up and down his leg after checking for any signs of change of attitude. Her feet tangled and dangled with his large ones as he tried his best to ignore the beautiful girl beside him. Melanie then brought her small hand to his chest, and her manicured fingers made little spastic shapes on his shirt. A soft tune was beginning to hum through her full lips.
She was cut off by his lips moving. “Stop it.” He was calm, but stern with his imperative phrase, trying his best to feign boredom.
“Stop what?” She feigned innocence; “I’m not doing anything.”
“You’re bugging me. I’m trying to watch TV.” Justin spoke with the same monotone ring.
Melanie looked up at the shiny TV. “It’s just music videos. Keep me company, Justin. I thought I was more important than those music videos.”
“Wanna know the difference between you and a music video? A music video makes sounds that I like.” He grinned at her hurt facial expression.
Her expression abruptly changed. “I can make sounds that you like,” She seductively offered into his ear.
Justin’s eyes bulged and his breath caught in his throat, while Melanie tried her best not to laugh. Was he hearing correctly? After all the direct and obnoxious sexual comments that he threw to her, but she didn’t make an effort to catch, he was now getting one thrown to him? Different sides of his body were arguing with each other at that moment, so he slowly looked her way. Her eyebrows had been risen, and her tongue slid across her lips. He squinted his eyes when realization hit him. She was playing another mind game, and he knew it- it was a gut feeling. She wouldn’t and couldn’t possibly go through with her own offer. She had been offered so many times, and never did anything about it.
So, Justin leaned in after licking his lips also. He looked into her brown eyes- the colors mixed into a confused one, for both of them had different emotions flowing through their systems. And that’s when Justin realized that he could wrap her around his finger just like she had him wrapped around hers. Justin then grabbed the back of her neck, and pulled her closer to him slowly.
Their lips slightly grazed before Justin pulled away and said, “You have a boyfriend. Get off of me.”
His same, uninterested tone rang loud and clear through her ears. The sarcasm and empathy that dropped off of every one of his words landed right where it hurt her most-her ego. Melanie had just been turned down, more like shot down, by Justin, a boy that had been trying to get at her for the last span of months.
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