Melissa

"You must be new here," said the blonde, taking my hand and shaking it, "Hi, my name is Sherilyn Hawkins, "then nodding towards the brunette, continued, "And her name is Jenny Rodgers...what's your name?"

"My name is Tommy Blake," I genuinely smiled, "And it's nice to meet the both of you."

Sherilyn had one hand, while Jenny took the other one, and pulling me along with them, smiled and said, "Come on, we'll show you where the office is."

~~~~~~

These two girls were very pretty and both of them were built extremely well, and save for the tight jeans they were both wearing, accenting the succulence of their asses, I was having not too difficult of a time staying focused on what they were saying to me.

"Where are you from?" Sherilyn asked, "And what school did you go to?"

"Actually, I grew up right here and went to Jefferson, across town," I replied, "But when my Dad remarried, we moved over here."

"Who did he marry?" Jenny asked, "Is it anyone we know?"

And when I mentioned Linda's name, Sherilyn looked at Jenny with a knowing smile, and then back at me, and said, "So, you're Melissa Hanson's new step-brother that we've all heard about, oh, my!"

"Ooo, and she was right, girl," Jenny giggled, "He really is a hunk."

"Mmm, Hmm," Sherilyn grinned, then giggled, "Come on, Tommy, you handsome thing, let's get you to the office so that you can get registered," with Jenny giggling on the other side of me.

~~~~~~

"Welcome to Warner High," smiled Mrs. Powers, the school secretary, handing me my class schedule, "I hope you enjoy it here."

"Thank you, Ma'am," I politely replied, "I'm sure I will."

~~~~~~

"I'm going to be late to class," Jenny smiled, as she and Sherilyn escorted me out of the office, "You've got this period free, Sher; why don't you show handsome, here, to his first class?"

"Oh, you can count on it," Sherilyn giggled, "Bye."

Then she turned to me, and taking my hand, said, "Come on, cutie. You've got first period Creative Writing, with Miss Matthews."

~~~~~~

Everything had gone well that morning, and I was beginning to feel a little better about being in a new school. It was lunchtime and Jenny and Sherilyn had not left my side except to go to their own classes, which, it turned out that I had at least one class, History, with the both of them.

But at the time I was sitting there having lunch with them when suddenly, this really big guy stood at my table wanting to know what I was doing messing with his girlfriends.

"We're not your girlfriends, Johnny Banks," Jenny angrily said, "We never have been so; quit picking on him just because he's new."

"What's the matter, punk," he growled at me, "Are you too chicken-shit to talk for your self, you gotta let these bitches do all your talking for you?"

"You're real brave aren't you?" I laughed, standing up, "Does it make you feel like a bad-ass picking on a couple of girls?"

"How about I just pound your ass right here, huh?" he replied, trying to shove me, but instead, I grabbed him in a thumb lock and flipped him over the table and onto his back.

"I'll kill you," he spat, rushing toward me, only to receive a hard front kick to the groin, accompanied by a spinning back fist to the face, which knocked him to the floor, unconscious.

About that time a male teacher, Mr. Morris Green, appeared, wanting to know what was going on, as well as who started the fracas that had just occurred. Both Sherilyn and Jenny stood up in my defense, telling him what had happened, and that it wasn't my fault as I was simply defending myself.

"Well, Mister Blake," he asked me, "Is what they're saying the truth?"

"Yes, sir," I replied, pointing at Johnny, who was lying in the floor holding his balls, "He came walking to our table talking trash on the way over, and then tried to assault me. I didn't want to do this, but he forced my hand, I swear."

"I can see that," he began to laugh, helping a still foggy minded Banks up off of the floor. "Come with me, Mister Banks," he chuckled, "It's only the first day of school and already you're in trouble. Let's see what Ms. Carter (the principal) has to say about this." Then looking at Sherilyn, Jenny and me, he smiled and told us, "She'll probably want to talk to the three of you as well so; you'd better come along, too."

I didn't think any of this strange until, from out of the corner of my eye, I saw Melissa sitting with her girl friends, who, like her, were every single one, laughing like the evil bitches that I perceived them to be. And it was then that I knew she had set this whole thing up.

~~~~~~

"Mister Banks," Ms. Carter said, once we were all in her office, "You haven't even been here a whole day and you're already starting trouble. Go sit in detention until I decide what to do with you."

"Yes, ma'am," he sulked, and on the way out, he looked at me and said, "I'm really sorry, man, but Mel...."

Don't worry about it, bro," I politely interrupted him, standing to shake his hand, "I know who put you up to this, and it'll be alright, I promise."

"You know what?" he smiled, shaking my hand, "You're an alright guy...I thought you should know that."

"Thanks," I smiled, "I really appreciate that," and then Mr. Green escorted Johnny out of Ms. Carter's office.

"Is there something I should know, Mister Blake?" Ms. Carter suspiciously asked, "You and Mister Banks got real chummy, real quickly just now...what gives?"

It was then that I explained to her about Melissa and everything that had taken place between us at home before the school year had started. I also told her that the reason that things were the way they were between Melissa and I, was because she hated the fact that my father was married to her mother.

However, once I was finished, I also, as humbly as possible, pleaded with her not to do anything to Johnny Banks; assuring her that I would take full responsibility, and therefore would willingly suffer the consequences, for anything Banks might do for the rest of that school year.

"You're a very forgiving young man," she smiled, "And I don't know why I'm doing this, but I'm going to grant your request provided that you keep him out of trouble, do you understand me, Mister Blake?"

"Yes, ma'am," I graciously smiled, "Thank you, again, Ms. Carter. God's going to bless you for this..."

"You're welcome, young man," she pleasantly smiled, "I think you need to go to class for now, and I'll handle things where Mister Banks is concerned. Is that good enough?"

"Yes, ma'am," I grinned, "Bye," and then I took off to go to class."

~~~~~~

Chapter Two

"Holy shit," Sherilyn gasped smiling, "That was the wildest thing I've ever seen."

"I know," Jenny giggled, "Where did you learn to fight like that, Tommy?"

"Look, you two," I politely replied, "I really rather not talk about it if it's all the same to you."

"But that was absolutely amazing," Sherilyn smiled, "You ought to be proud."

"I'm not," I solemnly replied, "Hurting someone is not something to be proud of."

"I think I understand," Jenny quietly said, "My father said the same thing, and acted the same way when he came back from serving over in Vietnam. Come on, Tommy," and then she took me by the hand, "I'm in your next class."

~~~~~~

The rest of the day was spent learning what would be required of me to graduate. Hell, I wasn't really worried about it, because I had always made straight "A's" in all of my classes ever since first grade.

~~~~~~

I came home to an empty house, as both Dad and Linda were still at work and wouldn't be home until after five o'clock. So; in order to keep up, I took the few homework assignments to my room and got them finished in a matter of about an hour.

After that I changed my clothes and started my workout; and it felt damn good to be able to work out the day's frustrations on my kick-bags and wooden training dummy. With every punch and kick that I delivered, I imagined Melissa's face on my respective gear. I know it sounds wrong, and although I have never, and would never hit a woman, it made me feel better to deal with the situation that way instead.

"Jeez, what a bitch," I silently said to myself, punching and kicking my bag as hard as I possibly could; so much that I eventually wore myself out.

~~~~~~

That night at dinner, Melissa, as usual, was nowhere to be seen. However, I'd heard her come in earlier that afternoon not too long after I got home. Little did either of us realize that there would come a reckoning one day soon, and that we would both be forced to face it?

~~~~~~

That night after supper, and once I'd waited enough time for my food to digest, I decided to swim some laps in the pool so that I would sleep well. I had swum about five laps when I saw my father standing at the edge of the pool.

"Can you spare a few minutes?" he asked, "I need to talk to you, son."

"Sure," I smiled, "Let me get out of the water and dry off first."

~~~~~~

"Okay, Dad," I said, taking a seat opposite him at the patio table, "What can I do for you?"

"It's about your sister," he replied, "And the fact that you two don't get along."

"First of all, she's not my sister," I pointedly told him, "And secondly, I've tried to get along with her, Dad; I swear I have, but she won't let me."

"Are you sure that you've put forth an honest effort to try and get along with her?" Dad asked, "I mean, she's not that bad, is she?"

"Come on, Dad," I said, "She sent one of her goons to kick my ass at school today. I'll bet you didn't know that, did you?"

"As a matter of fact, I did," he laughed, "Linda called me at work after your principal called her to tell her what took place today at school."

"Well," I said, "If you already know what happened then why are we having this conversation?"

Look, Tommy," Dad began, "You have to understand how she feels after losing her father the way she did."

"Hell, Dad, if anyone understands, I understand completely, I really do," I explained, "But I've already tried to talk to her and she's treated me like total shit so; no, I don't have to do anything where that...girl...is concerned. I'm going to try and stay out of her way until I graduate and go to college. Then I won't have to deal with her anymore...end of story," and then I rose from my seat, walked over to the edge of the pool and dove back in to finish swimming my laps.

I hated the fact that I had just spoken to, as well as treated my father the way I had, but I'd had enough of Melissa and her infantile bullshit, and I wasn't going to put up with it anymore. I know that it didn't sit well with the parents, but that's just the way it was back then, case closed.

~~~~~~

The next day at school, Sherilyn and Jenny were both waiting for me in the senior parking lot when I pulled into school. And from the way they were acting, one would've thought that I was some kind of celebrity or something.

"Good morning, handsome," Sherilyn cooed, kissing me on the cheek, "How're you this morning?"

But before I could answer, Jenny threw her arms around my neck, kissing my lips, then, with a smile, said, "Hi, sweetheart how is our boyfriend today?"

"Our boyfriend" I asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's like this," Sherilyn giggled, as she began, "Last night Jenny and I had a long talk, and we've decided that we both want you to be our boyfriend, but you can't date one of us without making the other one jealous so; we've decided to share you with one another."

"Yeah," Jenny softly replied, as she snuggled under my right arm, while Sherilyn took the left, "We're going to share you...I hope that's okay."

"Do I have a say in this?" I asked grinning.

"No," giggled the both of them at the same time, then Sherilyn added, "If you go out with one of us, you're going to have to take the both of us along with you on a date."

"What if I don't want to go out with either one of you?" I teased, "Then what?"

"Oh, Tommy," Jenny suddenly pouted, "That is so mean."

"I can't believe you just said that," Sherilyn replied, turning to walk away, "If that's the case then you don't deserve either one of us. Come on, Jen."

"Whoa, wait a minute," I grinned pulling them back toward me, "I was only teasing...I'd be proud to be seen with either one of you anywhere, okay?"

"That's better," Jenny giggled, smacking me on the butt, "You're such a brat."

"Definitely a brat," Sherilyn smiled, her arm around my waist, "Come on, baby, let's get you to class."

~~~~~~

When I got to my first class that next morning, and after kissing both of my girls, you could've heard a pin drop when I walked into the class room. All of the guys in class were giving me dirty looks, and all of the girls in the room gazed at me with unfamiliar looks on their faces and in their eyes.

Still though, I thought nothing of it at the time and kept to myself for the entire first period. But the funny thing about it was that I was treated the same way in every single one of my classes that morning, and for the life of me, I couldn't understand why until lunch break came.

~~~~~~

I was sitting at a table in the cafeteria with Jenny on one side of me and Sherilyn on the other side, minding my own business. All of a sudden I looked up to find none other than Johnny Banks standing at our table with a silly grin plastered across his face as the whole cafeteria went silent.

"Hey, Tommy," Johnny grinned, extending his hand in friendship, "How're ya doin today, buddy?"

"Oh, hey, Johnny," I smiled, standing up and shaking his hand, "I'm doing real well. Please, join us for lunch if you don't have any other plans."

"I'd love to," he chuckled, taking a seat across the table from us, "I don't know if you know this, or not, but your sister is spreading some pretty fucked up rumors about you around school."

"Oh, really," I said, my curiosity piqued, "First of all, she's not my sister. Her Mom and my Dad are married, and secondly, what rumors?"

"Well, it's like this, he began, "She told the guys on the football team that you were a fag, and the only reason that you're hanging out with these two (referring to Sherilyn and Jenny) is to put up a smoke screen to try and fool everyone."

"Is that right?" I laughed, "Well, as you can plainly see, it's not true, and you can tell the guys on the football team that if any of them have a problem with me, or my two girlfriends, then they can come and see me about it, okay?"

"I wouldn't worry too much about any of them," he chuckled, "After the thrashing that you gave me yesterday, which I truly deserved, I don't think that they want to mess with you; but I would still watch my back anyway if I were you."

"Thanks, brother," I grinned, "I really appreciate the heads up."

"No problem," he smiled, "You're a good dude, and once again, I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday, as well as the fucked up things I said to you."

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about," I told him, "If anything, I should be apologizing to you."

"You apologizing to me?" he said, "I don't think I understand that one."

"I should've tried to talk my way out of it," I replied, "Instead; I used violence when I shouldn't have."

"How about this," Johnny grinned, "How about if we become friends and just forget about it?"

"I'm' sorry, but that's impossible," I told him.

"Oh, really," he angrily replied, "And why is it impossible?"

"Because," I teased, "We already are friends."

"You're a smart ass," he laughed, "But like I already said, you're also a good guy, and hell yes, you can be my friend for as long as you want."

"Cool," I grinned, "That's going to be forever then."

~~~~~~

That afternoon when I got home from school, I was sitting in the breakfast nook enjoying an afternoon snack when none other than Melissa came in and sat down across the table from me.

"Hi," I smiled at her, "How're you this afternoon?"

"Just who in the hell do you think you are, God dammit?" she angrily asked, "You need to have your ass whipped, you stupid dickhead."

"Look," I quickly replied, "I don't know what it is that you think I've done to you, but whatever it is; I'm sorry, Melissa."

"Fuck you," she spat, "You're such an asshole...and the really sad thing about it is, that you're too fucking stupid to see it...you dickhead."

"What's the matter with you?" I asked her, "I haven't done a single thing to you, and you damn well know it."

"You don't have a clue," she angrily said, "Because you're too fucking stupid to see it."

"Is that right? Well, then try this on for size," I sneered, "You think you're only one who knows what it feels like to lose someone that you love? You're not. I lost my mother when these two assholes ran into her on the driver's side of her car, doing seventy-five miles and hour. Yeah, it hurt me, too, and I was messed up for a while..."

"...But then I realized that all of the hate and anger in the world wasn't going to bring her back, and that the best way to deal with it...for me, anyway...was to live my life to honor her, because if I know for a fact, that if she was alive and saw me acting the way I did, she would've kicked my ass..."

"...So, why don't you think about that the next time you want to be a shitty, hateful, bitch to me, or anyone else for that matter. In the mean time, I'll stay as far the fuck away from you as I can; but you'd better damn well stay the hell away from me until you decide that it's time for you to grow up...you make me sick to my stomach. Oh, and one more thing, you better start treating your mother better, because as soon as you turn eighteen, she can legally throw your hateful ass out of here, and I wouldn't blame her one bit if she did."

"Oh yeah?" she growled, "Well, fuck you, and go to hell you...." and then I turned and walked away, leaving her still ranting and raving like a lunatic, casually stopping at the refrigerator to grab another snack and a soda on my way to the basement....my refuge.

"Crazy bitch," I chuckled to myself, as I locked my door behind me once I was downstairs.

~~~~~~

To this day I still don't know if I had anything to do with it; but you can only imagine my shock, a pleasant kind of shock, but shock none the less, as I sat down that night to eat dinner, and Melissa appeared and joined us at the table, giving us all a very wonderful surprise, especially Linda. By reason of her action, I began to consciously consider that perhaps Melissa was to "Extend the first Olive Branch" so to speak, and I gave a second consideration to maybe trying again to at least befriend her.

However, from the first time I met her, yes I thought she was hot, but pushing all of that aside; I sensed it ran deeper than just her father's death, and that I felt something darker, more sinister had been at work. The more I thought about it, the more I grew aware of something far worse than I'd originally thought. But then suddenly it hit me like a ton of bricks, someone close to Melissa had deeply hurt her, who it was I don't know, and again, I don't know how, but I knew just as sure as I knew my own name that it had nothing to do with her father's death, that much was certain. This was something way different, something that I feared for reasons I didn't know, but it still concerned me, regardless.

And I also now knew that I could never again be angry with her, ever so; I chose instead, to pray for her. I asked God to take away the demons that some yet to be discovered, evil degenerate had left behind to purposefully haunt her; making her feel like she needed to take all her pain, anger, and frustration out on not only those around her, but more importantly, those who loved and cared for her the most.

~~~~~~

The next day, Melissa began to join us for meals, and although she didn't have a lot to say to anyone, especially me, I was still grateful to God that she at least gave my Dad the opportunity to see her more often. I also hope that perhaps he might get the chance to at least try and get to know her a little better, regardless of the fact that whenever he would speak to her, she only gave either a grunt, or one-to-two word responses to his questions.