4 Chapter 4. Her tempting lips

MELODY'S POV

"I'm sure Seth hates me right now."

"Yeah, he should. I'd hate you too if I was in his shoes."

Kristyn hissed, she was quite a chatterbox, a very HONEST one in this case.

"Kristyn!"

Felicy gave her a stern look as she handed her, her glass of hot chocolate.

"What! Mel just like left him there feeling stupid after he kissed her."

Kristyn was actually frowning at the fact that I was stuffing my face instead of thinking up a solution.

The first thing I did after silently shutting the door behind me was change and then raid the refrigerator.

I had a weird habit of eating when I'm stressed, confused, frustrated or just want to give up.

A quick inventory of the contents yielded the ingredients for a fairly presentable Cobb salad. While the eggs boiled, I diced up a thick slice of smoked ham and shredded a pungent wedge of cheddar to sprinkle on top of the fresh greens. After laying everything in a pretty glass bowl, I grabbed the dressing and a large spoon to start devouring my new distraction.

"But you're not helping, she needs advice right now, not criticism."

Felicy took my side again. Why? Kristyn's right. I shouldn't have left like that. Sigh, I think I put in too much salad cream.

"I just like froze, I felt like things were moving a little too fast."

"Seriously? And instead of just telling him that, you just walked away. The poor guy must have thought you probably made a mistake by going on a date with him."

Kristyn barked and swirled around to head to her room, her hot chocolate sloshing dangerously close to the rim of the cup.

Sigh.

I'm such a nervous wreck. I finally broke free from a toxic relationship last semester, but I didn't think I was afraid to date again. Seth was so sweet and he looked genuinely happy on the date, so why was I—a fool?

Wow, even my thoughts are against my judgment.

"But do you like him?"

I looked up at Felicy, she was still in the room sucking the life out of some leftover tomato skins from my salad.

"Yeah, I do. A lot."

"Then, what's the problem?"

"The universe is against me."

I shrugged and laughed awkwardly, she arched an eyebrow at me, not smiling at all.

"It's easy to blame unseen forces for our mistakes or things we thought we could handle. Sometimes it's not that we're clumsy, foolish, or unprepared, it's actually a learning process so we don't repeat the same mistake twice. You said Seth wanted to say something to you before he dropped you off, that means he still wanted to give you guys a shot even if he was unsure if he'd messed up or not. Now stop feeling like you're a total idiot—wellll, you kind of were but stop feeling like that. You've gotta make it up to him. Apologize, or better yet tell him what's going on. If he really likes you, he'll listen."

She tossed the red skins in the garbage can and ruffled up my hair, yawning and heading for her room. That's her way of saying goodnight, making sure Kristyn and I look like porcupines before we sleep. I put my empty bowl in the sink. An apology first thing Monday morning, you can do this.

***

SETH'S POV

On Monday morning, I was at my locker getting a few books for my first lecture, Melody didn't call or send me a message, not even a single text throughout Sunday.

"Hey, Seth."

I recognized her voice immediately, I thought she wasn't going to talk to me. I pressed out a smile.

"Hi," I muttered. She seemed tensed, fidgeting with her hands.

"I'm really sorry about Saturday night I—"

I was afraid to hear something like it was all a mistake or I don't think we're gonna work out.

"It's fine. I guess I was moving too fast and..."

"N-no it's not that, I had a great time Seth and it was all thanks to you."

Now, I'm even more puzzled. She was explaining and still, She wasn't saying anything at the same time, she probably doesn't want to talk about it.

"Don't force yourself, it's okay if you don't want to talk about it."

I looked down at her, She looked really sorry, am I missing something here?

"Actually, I haven't exactly had a lot of luck in my past relationships, it's either a toxic relationship or an abusive one, I didn't think I had any trauma left over from any of them but I didn't consider if I was ready to start another relationship yet, it's not your fault at all, I just...I should have said something."

She didn't tip her head to meet my gaze, she probably thought I was really angry or hurt. On the contrary, I was worried, worried I'd gotten too carried away at the moment. So many questions pulsed through my head on Sunday, why didn't she just tell me what I did wrong, why did she just leave?

But now I understand. It's not easy for a girl to open up about being in an abusive relationship but I'm scared. Although she's apologizing it also seems she's trying to say that she's not ready for a new relationship so I should just forget about her.

It'll hurt, a lot but I'll go with whatever decision she makes.

"Melody, I understand, so...is this the end? do you need some more time to think about it?"

She smiled and then leaned forward to peck me.

It was already time for the first lecture.

"No, we're good. We'll talk later Seth."

***

I think I liked Melody more and more. We had another date on Friday at some fancy restaurant.

Blonde hair. Eyes the velvet blue of the evening sky. cheekbones and her slender figure accentuated in the sleeveless dress she wore.

I was mesmerized. She noticed me staring a few times and would immediately turn pink to her ears.

Haha, she was so adorable.

***

"Hi Seth, are you already home?"

Melody asked as soon as I picked up her call,

"Yeah, do you miss me already?"

"You wish."

I could picture a wry smile kicking up the corner of her lips, she loved to acknowledge her cockiness for some reason.

I folded that memory into a smile and tucked it away for safekeeping.

I was glad she decided to give us a chance.

The laugh that followed after her statement was cute.

"Well, if you aren't missing me, I'm missing you a lot, I literally can't get you out of my head or my dreams."

I think that's the most honest I've been about my feelings so far.

"Aww, that's so sweet."

"I need your help."

"Sure. What's up?"

"My twin sisters Serena and Soteria's birthday is on the 28th."

"Tuesday?"

"Yeah, and I have no idea what to get them. Can you help me out?"

"Cool, I'll be free by 1."

***

MELODY'S POV

"How about shoes? girls love shoes," I suggested. Seth dragged in a breath, ready to decline.

"Well Soteria would love those but Serena isn't into fashion, she just likes keeping it natural."

"Okay, but first let's go get a pair of shoes for Soteria."

Well, we went through a lot of shoes and I mean a LOT.

Soteria seems to be a very picky person. All her shoes must be pink, if there are additional colours it has to be either white, gold, or silver. They must be a designer brand and she mustn't have seen them anyway else, obviously because if she's seen them she already has them in her shoe closet.

Yeesh! what a sybaritic sister he has, and she's just turning 14! Well, Angels are rare creatures in Asgard so I can imagine. Maybe Seth's parents treasure her a lot and that's why she grew up to be so picky, being able to get whatever she wants.

Sigh.

What did I get myself into? I wanted to spend more time with Seth not this, we've been searching for about two hours and there hasn't been any conclusion so far.

fifty-five minutes later, we found a perfect pair of shoes.

"Now, Serena."

"Does she like music?"

"Sort of."

"Um, what about animals? you said earlier that she loves nature?"

"Of course she does, it's all she talks about."

"Then how about getting her a pet?"

***

At the pet shop, we saw a lot of animals but...

"Turtles?"

"She's a goldfish murderer I don't want to buy anything else water related."

"How about kittens?"

"No, she's allergic."

Damnit!

I looked around and saw some cute puppies at the back.

"Then how about puppies, trust me she's gonna love em!"

"Okay."

We finally picked out a German shepherd puppy, 3 weeks old. Well, Seth and I still had fun- sort of. The most satisfying part of the day was when Seth forgot to close the door to the cage and all the basset hounds pups in it got out and swarmed all over him -ha!

I took lots of pictures, it's gonna be my profile picture for a loooooong time.

***

We passed by a stall for instruments on the way out of the mall. I went in to check it out.

"Let me guess? you play the guitar."

He guessed as I headed straight to the stringed instruments section.

"Yeah."

I stopped in front of an electric guitar. It looked awesome, but even with my whole year's allowance, I couldn't afford it.

"Do you like it?"

His breath fanned against my ears, I'm sure they turned bright red in response. Dude! give a heads-up before marching into my personal space like that. I inched away slowly.

"Yeah, it's cool. c'mon let's go."

I was on my way out but Seth held me back.

"If you want it, I'll buy it for you."

"No, it's fine. I already have a guitar." —that's almost dead but he doesn't need to know that. Seth didn't seem to budge either, I tugged at his sleeve.

"C'mon let's go, I wanna pick up a few supplies then head over to the recording studio."

"Are you sure?"

"Uh-huh."

***

Seth drove me to the recording studio a walkable distance from the campus.

"Will you take long in there?"

"It depends on how many students I find in there, but roughly 45 minutes, so I'll see you on Monday."

I was about to get down when I heard his conclusion.

"Don't worry, I'll wait for you."

"Seriously? Seth, the campus isn't far from here I can walk back when I'm done."

"It's okay, I don't want to leave your side yet."

He said and unleashed a slow smile in my direction. I swallowed hard.

Just one smile, just one, and there are flutters in my tummy, clammy palms, and weak knees. Always making me feel as if I was riding the Tilt-A-Whirl at the county fair.

"Wow, your eyes. They turned violet again."

His gaze dropped to my lips and lingered there for a while.

It was obvious what he was thinking but he was hesitating, for reasons that were obvious right now. I could imagine the myriad of questions that clouded his thoughts.

I really want to kiss her but what if she runs away again? I don't want to make her feel uncomfortable? she looks so tempting rii.... okay, okay okay maybe that last one is what I wish he was thinking about.

I leaned forward and kissed him, he was taken aback at first but he kissed me back longingly. I pulled away after about a minute because I was out of breath and if we continued I don't think I would have my recording processed before the end of the day.

"I'll be right back."

***

"So why'd you guys need to get a recording of the lyric sheets you already submitted?"

Oh, that. I knew he'd be curious.

"Professor Salvador said if we could get an amazing recording of the variations of our lyrics based on the tune he composed for us to work with by the end of the week, we'll get 50% of our final grade in one go. Of course, there were other options but I have full faith in my song."

I looked at Seth, he seemed interested in it. Why? I mean it's just a lame recording for now anyway, I have to add background effects, check out the frequency because that will determine the pitch, and play it with my guitar...still so much to do before Monday.

"Can I listen to it?"

"Sure."

It's just my voice, but I'm sure I don't sound like a duck.

I put it in the CD player and pushed the play button.

Thirty-six seconds into the song and Seth already seemed impressed.

"You can really hit high notes. I love your voice, and I'm sure you'll do great on your project."

***

"See you on Monday babe."

I feel like I got to know him a bit more today. He's so comfortable to be around and he listens to what I have to say and to think I almost lost him on the first date.

Anytime I remember that day, I'm like—I WAS SUCH AN IDIOT AHHHHHH!

I love the way things are going now. I had barely stepped into the room but I could already hear Felicy's shriek resonating over the walls. What is it this time? She's always so excited about little things.

"Finally, you're back!"

"Why are you so pumped?"

"That's why."

I tipped her head behind Felicy and saw two packages, the first was quite flat with the other about a 3 feet tall package right next to it.

"Are those for me?"

"Uh huh and guess who sent them!"

Kristyn said handing me a bouquet of orchids. I read the card,

YOU SEEMED LIKE YOU WANTED IT, SO I GOT IT FOR YOU.

SETH.

"Please open the package, we've been so restless since they got here."

Felicy said.

I opened the package, NO WAY!

Seth got me the guitar, but it costs over thirteen thousand Asgardian dollars, Ω13,000! The other package was a speaker.

I wonder what Seth's parents did for a living, they were a few children whose parents were sect leaders, alphas, aristocrats and not excluding the twin princesses with polar opposite personalities, he's not a werewolf, he's a vampire, I'm assuming probably a descendant of an aristocrat or something.

"WOW, he's so rich!"

Kristyn exclaimed once she saw the price tag.

"I've gotta call him."