by Everly James
It was Melody’s turn to say “Mm.”
“Mm?” Dylan shrieked. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“She doesn’t live five bedrooms over.”
“Okay, right, I was just saying that to make a point—”
“She’s my roommate.”
“Oh my God!” Dylan shrieked. The sound of the blow dryer stopped followed by the creak of a door opening.
“What?” Marcy asked. “What happened?”
“Melody’s boning her roommate. A girl.”
“I am not boning my room—”
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know anyone was up here.”
Melody dropped her phone in surprise, whipping her head around and steadying herself with her hands. The phone hit the concrete below with a spectacular shatter.
Ellie was standing behind her holding her quilt and a small canvas bag that was heavy with its contents. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. And now it looks like I’ve broken your phone?”
Melody swung her legs over the ledge and brushed off her bottom. “Don’t worry about it.” She smiled. “That conversation was going absolutely nowhere.” She pointed at the bag. “What’s in there?”
“Just a book and some illicit snacks,” Ellie replied. “Junk food. We’re not technically supposed to have it, but…”
Melody laughed. “I have a supply of Twizzlers hiding underneath my bed. Your secret is safe with me.”
Ellie gaped at her.
“What?”
She reached inside the canvas tote and pulled out a crinkling, shiny bag of Twizzlers. “Same.” Ellie grinned at her. “You want to share some?”
“I’d love to,” Melody said. Marcy and Dylan’s chants of Girlfriend! echoed in her head. She tried to ignore them.
“Help me with the blanket, would you?”
Together they spread Ellie’s patchwork quilt over the tarpaper on the roof. Melody sat down primly, her legs to the side as if she were wearing a skirt and not jeans and Converse.
Ellie sat cross-legged on the blanket and opened the crinkly bag of treats. “You make me feel so casual all the time.”
Melody reached across and took three Twizzlers, sticking all of them in her mouth at once. “Do I still make you feel casual?” she asked through a mouthful of fake strawberry-flavored goodness.
Ellie laughed so hard she put her hands up to cover her face. “No, no. I mean, you’re just so, so…elegant.”
Melody looked down at the blanket with a shy smile. “You’re going to make me blush, Ellie.”
“You know what I mean. You stand up straight, you have this whole skincare routine that makes my cheap moisturizer look like trash.”
Melody nodded. “It’s all part of my disguise to make me appear human and not like the reptilian alien that I am.”
Ellie guffawed. “I’m just saying, I’m just a girl from this tiny little town, and you’re this cosmopolitan woman.”
“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Trust me. If you only knew…” Melody trailed off. “You came up here to read. I interrupted you.”
Ellie waved a hand in front of her face as if swatting the comment down. She reached in the bag and pulled out her well-worn copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
“What’s that?” Melody asked.
Ellie glanced at her. Melody’s brown eyes were shining, as usual. “That’s funny.”
“What’s funny?”
Ellie held the book up. “You don’t know that I’m reading a Harry Potter book? Oh, wait! You have different covers in Europe, don’t you?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
Ellie gaped at her. “You’re joking.”
“I’m not. I’ve never read those books.”
“You what?”
Melody shrugged. “When I was interested in it, my mom refused to allow me to read it. I tried begging Herschel to sneak me a few copies of the series but—” Melody stopped.
“He’s a family friend?” Ellie asked.
She let out a deep breath of relief. She’d nearly given away that Herschel was her bodyguard and butler. “Right. We were close; he was like…an uncle to me. Still is.”
Ellie seemed to go along with the story, which relieved Melody. “Anyway, I threw a fit about it but nothing moves my mother. She’s like Mount Everest. She just gets taller and scarier every year.”
Ellie laughed. “It sounds like I would like your mother.”
“You wouldn’t,” Melody said emphatically. “So, time passed, and so did my interest. And I just never picked up the books.”
Ellie hefted the book in her hand as if weighing it. “I’m starting to think that reptilian thing wasn’t a joke.” She reached out and touched Melody’s cheek. Her skin tingled at Ellie’s light touch. “Just checking.”
There was a tense silence, their faces only inches away from one another’s. Melody’s heart was beating so fast she was sure it was going to fly out of her body at any moment.
A car alarm went off somewhere on the streets below them.
Ellie pulled away from Melody. She cleared her throat. “You know, I brought the whole series with me. It’s kind of like my security blanket. Well, my second security blanket, you know. Since I have this literal blanket.” She patted the quilt beneath them. “I’m babbling. Um. Yeah, I could loan it to you?”
Melody giggled. “That sounds awesome.”
“My grandmother read me the books when I was younger. The first three, anyway. My mother had to have surgery when I was in fifth grade, and my grandma came to stay with me. She told me she’d read me a book on a picnic we were taking. It was this glorious September day. The sky was blue, the air was crisp, and the crop dusters were flying over the fields around us. I still remember that motorized sound cutting through the bird noises.” She paused and closed her eyes.
Melody stared at her, the city lights reflecting across her creamy skin. Ellie was beautiful like this. Even more beautiful than she was in daylight. The moment felt more intimate than if they’d both been naked.
Ellie opened her eyes. “Well, now I know those crop dusters were spraying pesticides that will probably mean I’m dead from cancer at the age of seventy.” She pulled the top off a Twizzler and ate it. “But, memory is a funny thing, isn’t it?”
“It is.”
Ellie smiled at her. “Are you close with your grandmother?”
“Not exactly,” Melody said. “My father’s mother died a long time ago. And my mother’s mother, well. She doesn’t speak to my family.”
“What happened?” Ellie asked, curious. “I mean, if you want to share.”
“Let’s just say she didn’t approve of my mother marrying my father. She’s…well. She’s a racist.” Melody shrugged.
“Her loss,” Ellie said. “To not be able to know someone as special as you.”
Melody smiled. Their hands brushed as they both reached for more candy. They spent another hour on the roof before Melody said it was too cold for her.
“Thanks for this,” Melody said. “I needed it.” She checked her watch. “Oh no! It’s after midnight.” She flashed a mischievous grin. “Looks like we’re breaking some rules here.”
Ellie shrugged. “This place is a little uptight. I don’t mind a little rule-breaking when it’s something as simple as this. Thanks for being up here with me.”
“Of course,” Melody said.
They stood at the door awkwardly.
Melody’s heart was pounding. Then she thought she might as well go all in. “Do you have a boyfriend?”
Ellie’s face froze in shock at the question. Then she laughed to break the tension. “No. I’m…I’m gay.”
Melody smiled. “I like hearing that.”
Ellie blushed furiously. “Um, I’ll loan you that book. Um, the Parry Hotter—sorry, Harry Potter. And the stone. The sorcerer’s stone. Book. Yes. Lend it.” Ellie was so embarrassed she turned around and flung open the door.
An alarm sounded, as loud as an ambu
lance blaring down the road. Ellie glanced at Melody. “Oh God! What do we do?”
“We run!” Melody said, grabbing her hand and tearing down the hallway, around the corner, and into their bedroom. They shut the door behind them and collapsed onto Ellie’s bed, laughing riotously.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The next morning at breakfast, everyone was talking about the alarm going off at one in the morning. Melody and Ellie kept nudging one another under the table as their spoons scraped the ceramic bowls.
“Woke me up from a dead sleep,” Herschel said, clearly irritated. “Took me an hour and a half to recover from it.”
“Did you two wake up?” Constance asked. “I didn’t see you in the hallway.”
“Didn’t hear it,” Melody and Ellie said at the same time. They grinned at each other.
A hush fell over the room and everyone looked to see who had walked in. It was Jason.
“Morning,” Jason said. He put his two hands together rather sanctimoniously and stared at the room in pensive silence. “Last night, someone triggered the roof alarm that turns on at midnight and turns off at seven in the morning. If anyone has any leads on who might have done this, please let me know. It is in violation of one of our most important rules: curfew.”
A few people muttered but stopped when they received a death glare from Jason. “In other news, we’re doing an apple harvest this week.”
Several people cheered, though it seemed a little half-hearted.
Jason smiled for the first time all morning. “You old-timers will know how exciting Apple Day is around here. We pick apples that go to the food bank, then come back here for an apple-themed feast. It’s a ton of fun and I hope to see you all at the feast. Alright, back to eating! Tons of work to be done today, as always.”
People settled back into their conversations.
“You two have the day off today, don’t you?” Constance asked.
Melody glanced at Ellie. “You have a free day, too?”
Ellie smiled. “I do. Sounds like you do as well?”
Melody nodded.
“I’m planting today,” Herschel said. He looked miserable.
Melody turned back to her breakfast. “I need to go buy a new phone.”
Ellie laughed uproariously.
“Did something happen to yours?” Herschel asked.
“I dropped it. In the toilet,” Melody lied.
Herschel let out a long-suffering sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Ma’am—”
“Okay!” Melody said, interrupting him and standing up. “Ellie, you want to head into the city with me today?”
“Oh—okay,” Ellie said. “Let me just finish my breakfast and I’ll be right up.”
“Actually, let’s meet downstairs in the foyer in ten. Sound good?”
Melody and Ellie went their separate ways, and no one asked why Herschel called Melody “ma’am.” The potential for crisis was averted, at least for the moment.
Melody ran back downstairs with a sweater in her bare arms and her purse draped across her shoulder. She waited for Ellie to come out of the kitchen, which she did a few minutes later.
“I’m just going to grab my bag and a jacket,” Ellie said. “You look cute.”
Melody grinned. “So do you.” She paced the foyer as she waited for Ellie, who returned in short order.
They stepped out in the New York City autumn sunshine.
“Can I ask you something personal?” Ellie asked, as they dodged a pile of abandoned dog poop on the side walk.
“Anything,” Melody said.
“Why do you have a United States accent?”
Melody laughed. “I grew up speaking English; then I went to an international school. There were kids from all over the world, but we loved watching American television.”
“Like what?”
“Well, I used to practice my accent by imitating Julie Bowen on Lost.”
“She’s barely in the show!”
Melody shrugged. “I thought she was hot.”
Ellie laughed. They passed a group of tourists snapping photos of the brownstones that had freshly-cut flowers in window boxes outside. “So…you’re gay, too?”
“Bisexual,” Melody said. “With a preference for women.”
“Ah,” Ellie said. Their shoulders bumped each other’s. Ellie kept glancing at Melody to see how her deep skin sparkled in the sunshine.
“Ooh, hot dogs!” Melody said, running in her espadrilles to a food cart. “This is exciting! I’ve never bought a hot dog off the street before.” She reached in her purse and shoved money at the man behind the cart. “You want one?”
“We just had breakfast…you know what?” Ellie said, catching Melody’s excitement and changing her mind. “Of course I want one. I never turn down free food.”
They walked away a few moments later, each with a hot dog in hand.
“Mm, these are amazing,” Melody said. “I never get to eat hot dogs at home.”
Ellie laughed. “There are better hot dogs than these in New York City, I promise you.”
They crossed the street as cars honked at them to hurry up, and made their way over to a park bench.
“Have you spent a lot of time in New York?” Melody asked.
“Four years in college here.”
“Did you like it?”
“I loved it. I’m so happy to be back.”
Melody finished her hot dog and balled up the cardboard and wax paper, tossing it into a garbage can lined with pigeons. They cooed as the wrapper flew over them, hoping it was food. “Do you think you’ll stay after this semester at the Block?”
Ellie chewed thoughtfully. “I’ll probably head home for a few months to save some money. If I get asked to stay on another semester at the Block, I might do it.”
Melody nodded. “It is a nice place. I like it. It’s so different from where I’m used to being. I mean, the rules are similar. But I enjoy the change of pace. It’s a bit more exciting than being at home.”
Ellie had a bit of hot dog bun left over, so she broke it into tiny bits and threw it onto the ground for the birds to eat. Melody laughed. “I love these little guys.”
“Do you not have pigeons in—where is it that you live again?”
“A tiny throw away country, remember?” Melody demurred. “We don’t have pigeons at my parents’ property, which is where I spend most of my time. Where is it you come from?”
“This small town in upstate New York,” Ellie said. “There’s more snowfall by the foot than people.”
“That sounds nice,” Melody said.
Ellie laughed. “Not exactly. Everyone knows your business, and I mean everyone. You don’t know what that’s like, I bet. You’re so cosmopolitan.”
Melody laughed, knowing that she related to Ellie’s frustrations more than she could possible let on. “I’m familiar with the concept.”
“What do you think you’ll do after this?”
Melody’s smile faded. “My parents have big plans for me.”
“Oh, going into the family business?”
Melody nodded. “Basically.”
“I understand that. My parents own a hardware store back home. My twin brother has been helping my dad run it for the last few years.” She threw more bread on the ground.
“Does he like it?”
Ellie laughed. “Hates every second of it.”
“Why doesn’t he leave?”
Ellie shrugged. “Same reason you’re staying with your parents’ business, I guess. I’m happy that the pressure isn’t on me to stay at home, though. Really, really, beyond happy. I studied art in school. Ceramics. I’d love to do that full-time, but I need to be realistic. I’m hoping to get a desk job here in the city. Maybe after I’m done each day I can devote myself to my passions.” Ellie looked at Melody. “If you could do anything in the world, what would it be?”
Melody looked surprised. “I haven’t really thought about it. Travel, I guess.”
Melody gnawed on the inside of her cheek. “I guess…I would be a writer.”
Ellie clapped her hands together excitedly. “What would you write?”
“Travel articles about different places I visited,” Melody said. “I want to see the entire world.”
Ellie smiled. “I love that. I think you’d be just perfect at doing that. I can tell.” She glanced around at the park. “I’m thirsty. Want to go get a drink?”
“I’m fine with just spending the whole day eating and drinking our way through New York, honestly.”
“And getting your new phone,” Ellie reminded her. “Are you sure you don’t want to go on a tourist trap tour? I know this city like the back of my hand. I’m an excellent tour guide.” She cocked her hip to the side and tossed back her hair. “And on your left, we have the Statue of Liberty.”
Melody laughed. “I think a low-key tour of all the parks we can visit on foot would be perfect.”
Ellie looped her hand through Melody’s arm. “Let’s hit the town, lady.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
“I just don’t understand why you’re not excited about tomorrow,” Ellie said, bouncing a ball against her headboard and catching it in midair.
“I’m telling you, just talk to the veterans.” Constance was sprawled out on the floor eating cheese puffs that she’d snuck in under her jacket from the store.
“They cheered yesterday in the dining room!” Ellie protested.
“It was ironic cheering. Apple Day is exhausting. It’s why Jason hires out to cater the meal for tomorrow night; it has to be fancy because people used to revolt after the apples were picked. It was a nightmare for them.”
“What do you think about all this, Melody?” Ellie asked.
“Just a second,” Melody said, her nose deep in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. “Hermione’s stuck in the bathroom with a mountain troll.”
“She doesn’t know what happens next?” Constance asked from her position on the floor.
“She’s never read any of them or had any of it spoiled for her,” Ellie said. “It’s a bit of a miracle.”
