Manipulation

Beach Party - Sat Lunchtime

(Trigger: Psychological abuse)

Doug had arrived back at the beach, near the end of the setup. He was met by one of the chaperones and a few football players who helped get the truck unloaded along with himself. He didn't want to help but was trying to keep up an image.

Melissa had seen Doug coming through with some of the items. She just watched him trying to judge his mood and wondering how much she needed to be concerned about before he came to talk to her.

Doug put down the last load, glanced down at this phone, and suddenly tensed up. Melissa saw it and was wanting to run in the other direction but it was too late as Doug's head looked up and his eyes landed directly on her.

Doug walked towards her, when he got close enough he said. "Let's go out for lunch."

Oh, that sounded bad. Whenever he was alone with her it was bad. She quickly said. "I have to be back by tw0, rehearsal."

"I thought you were done with rehearsals." He said.

"I was but David hurt his wrist, surfing," Mel explained. "I have to work with a new drummer."

Doug looked around and noticed no one close by moved in close to her and said. "You better not be lying to me."

"I'm not." She glanced around. "Look," Pointing out David, the boy that was supposed to drum for her, and his wrapped wrist. David spotted them and headed over towards the couple.

"Hey," She said to David.

Doug, who hadn't been too happy with Mel being asked to perform or being paired with a boy, in the first place covered any of those feelings and gave the boy a "Hi," As well. "What happened to your wrist?"

"Hurt it surfing. Wiped out. Sprained it." David said, then turned to Mel. "Did Ms. Kopper get in touch with you?"

"Yes, she found me another drummer," Mel responded.

"Ok, glad to hear it. Sorry about this." Dave said.

"Accidents happen, it's ok," Mel said honestly.

Dave said he'd see them later and walked off.

"Fine, I'll have you back by two. Come on. " He led her to the food stands where they got some food and then to his car.

They drove down the road for a while before he turned off of the main road and headed to a secluded area. Melissa was getting more nervous the further away from the school's beach they got. He pulled into a parking area and they got out of the car, it was a private alcove area, which Mel had no idea how Doug would have found but apparently he had.

It was a short walk and he put down the blanket and the food and told her to sit down. She did. He sat down as well. "Let's eat," Doug commented.

It was weird, he wasn't exactly being nice but he wasn't being exactly mean either. It was like the always impatient, abusive, foul-tempered Doug had been replaced by a clone or something. Melissa wasn't sure what to think but she didn't want to break the fragileness of the moment so she said nothing.

"So, how was helping out?" He asked.

"It was fine." She responded, quietly. Was it a trap? Did he know she had talked to Dante? Was he trying to catch her in a lie?

"Fine? Hmm..." Doug took a bite of his sandwich. "Eat more. It's a salad, after all, it's fine."

What the hell was going on? What was Doug up to? She picked up her fork and realized her hand was shaking, he had thrown her so completely off, that his hand was shaking. She ate her salad and drank from her bottle of water.

When lunch was done Doug spoke up again. "You know no one can see us here."

'Oh, no.' Melissa thought. Suddenly, understanding. He wasn't being nice to her to be nice. Of course, that would be too much to ask. He wanted something from her and she knew exactly where he was headed with this. "I don't think ..."

"You don't think?" He mocked her. "You don't have to think you just have to make me happy."

"We don't have enough time." Melissa was trying to come with any excuse to not have to do that with him.

Doug stood up, walked over to her, towering over her. He then said, "Lay down."

She shook her head. "No, please Doug we can't not here or now."

"I said lay down." He reached back his hand and held it there.

She was worried he'd hit her, so she did as he asked and he got on top of her. "Kiss me."

She did. His hand pulled her hands over her head and he said. "Don't ever forget who owns you. I can have you anytime, anyplace." He then proceeded to get off of her. He acted like he was going to hit her again and she tensed up. "Good." That was all he said.

The two drove back to the beach in silence. Doug knew he had her, she wouldn't dare disobey him again, would she? Melissa was scared and the whole thing just felt weirder than it already had.

When they got back to the beach. Melissa went directly to the girls' guest house and showered for 20 minutes. He hadn't actually done anything to her, physically, but she felt like she needed a shower anyway. She got changed and texted Ms. Kopper to make sure she could have the practice area at two and make sure the practice could be closed. She then deleted the texts.

Doug walked with Mel to the practice area and they were met by Ms. Kopper who said it was a close practice. Doug gave Mel a kiss and squeezed her waist. She watched him walk away. Ms. Kopper then said. "Is everything alright? Your new drummer will be here at 2:30. "

"Yes, it's fine. I just wanted some alone time before meeting my new drummer," Not sure if the woman believed her. "Thank you.'

Melissa walked on to the stage, the curtain was closed so she could be behind it, alone, where no one could see her. She took a breath and sat down on the bench behind the piano. She messed around with a few cords, feeling a tear come to her eye. It dropped onto the keys. 'Pull yourself together' she thought to herself She didn't need anyone seeing her like this. She took a few breathes, wiped her eyes, and played a few more notes. This circle of a few notes, a few tears, a few breathes, back to a few notes went on for several minutes before she managed to pull herself together enough to actually let the notes become a song.