Mel's Announcement

Yesterday afternoon had been long, spent in a conference with her parents, brother, and Dr. Williams; at one point Dawn, Zander, and their parents had been brought in. They discussed Doug, or more how much of a danger he was and what might happen to him. One thing was clear, none of Doug’s family thought the boy would show up on campus, not with the guards everywhere.

Surprisingly, enough Doug’s parents made no excuses for their son’s behavior. Melissa didn’t know what she expected but it wasn’t that. They instead explained a few things, one of which was that law enforcement was looking for Doug and that they didn’t have any plan on just getting him out of this mess. Melissa looked at Dawn, Zander, and their moms and realized how awful this must be for them. She didn’t believe what had happened was their fault. The girl had never thought her relationship with Doug had just affected her, but just how much it had impacted others was a little surprising.

There was a plan in place, she couldn’t go anywhere outside the school alone. Her parents had apparently met with some of her friends, this was news to her. While details were left out, she did know that those that had been interviewed had given her parents a sense of ease. Still, it took until near the end of the meeting before her parents gave their verdict.

Then it was getting changed, out to dinner, spending more time with her family. This morning she had seen them off. They had managed to get a flight out and were leaving. While excused, it left Melissa not arriving back at the school until lunchtime.

First, the girl went to her room and dropped off a few things, then it was straight to the cafeteria where it was likely her friends would be. The weather had become unusually overcast with dark clouds that indicated rain was possible. Most were avoiding the outdoors due to this sudden change.

As indicated, they were at the table always occupied by that group. As she entered the cafeteria, the eyes of the few left at what was once Doug’s table bore into her. The rich kids at Sasha’s table and Lance’s table seemed to quiet down. All eyes were on Melissa, it seemed. Apparently the interest of the moment.

“I have something to tell all of you,” More importantly she had the attention of her friends, at that table. “First of all, for those of you that helped yesterday, thanks.”

Letting the length of a few heartbeats pass before Courtney finally asked, “Well?”

“I can stay,“ Mel commented casually then a broad smile crossed her lips. The girl couldn’t have faked the relief on her face if she had tried.

There were a number of congratulations, that’s great, and other such words from the table. Most of the rest of the cafeteria had gone back to what they were doing by this point. Doug’s former table whispered to each other for a moment and then walked out.

Jason had walked into the cafeteria as Mel made her announcement, he smiled softly to himself. He was happy for her. She deserved to be happy. He just didn’t know how to deal with the feelings that had been slowly growing regarding the girl that was making that announcement. He would congratulate her later, right now, lunch in the rec room sounded like a good option.