Chapter 2

The loft in Central NY was small, but that didn’t bother Melody. It had a charm and character that she liked.  She woke up to the buzzing sound of her phone in the morning. Her first few nights were a bit rough. She couldn’t sleep very well. But today was another chapter for her. She had a job interview at the costume department of a theatre.

Melody had change a lot since her days in high school. She didn’t have that ‘baby’ face anymore, she was now a woman. Her black hair was now brown, and neatly curled. She wore blue contacts over her brown eyes. She always wished she was born with blue eyes, like her fathers. Her teeth were pearly white and straight. But it wasn’t just the obvious changes that had happened to Melody. She became a stronger person. Hurtful words wouldn’t bring her down. But in the process she became more stubborn. More eager to protect herself from hurt.

She gave herself a smokey-eye look and put on some mascara as well as blush and lipgloss. She left her hair down and put on a cute white beret. She wore a leather jacket with a top and jeans. She also put on a cute pair of ankle boots, then threw on some gold jewelry, and her look was complete.

Melody walked to the nearest train station, to catch a train into the main city. As she was walking, she couldn’t help but wonder about the dreams she had been having lately. Why were her past memories coming back to haunt her now?

---

Melody’s lips still tingled from the kiss. It was something unexplainable. Bruno held her hand as they walked back towards the dance. Three guys began to approach them, but Melody couldn’t tell who they were.

“Brunnnoooo!” shouted one of them. They all ended up shaking hands and talking. Melody stood there, feeling a bit awkward in the group. One of them eyed her, making her feel even more uncomfortable.

“Did you do it?” asked one of the guys. Bruno nodded. “I don’t wanna talk about it now though.”

“Oh, don’t want her to know the truth, hey!” said the tallest one.

“I don’t believe you. You didn’t do it” Said the third.

Bruno nudged him on the arm slightly. “Don’t talk about this now, dude.”

“No, I don’t believe you.” He replied. He turned to Melody, who was trying not to make eye contact. “Ugly duckling. Did he kiss you?”

Melody popped her head up. Another hateful comment coming her way. It was nothing new, but they all hurt the same. She didn’t know how to respond. She just stood there, confused. The taller guy grabbed her wrist, and she pulled it away. Bruno held her back.

“Back off. The deal’s off.” His voice was stern.

---

Melody came back to reality when she found herself standing in a puddle. Her boots weren’t made of quality material, and she felt her feet soaking. The boots were destroyed.

“Shit,” she muttered. She tried to shake some water out but it was no use, they were damaged right through.  She looked at her watch, and the train would be ready to board in fifteen minutes. There was no way she’d be able to make it home to get a new pair of shoes, and she couldn’t go into the interview looking the way she did.

She walked into the nearest shoe store she could find. She browsed through all the shoes, the heels, the boots, but she couldn’t find anything she liked. Just when she had given up, a pair of high-tops caught her eye.

---

Melody sat at the train station, listening to her iPod. She twiddled her fingers together as she became nervous. What if they didn’t like her? Then where would she work? The thought scared her a bit. But listening to her music took her into her own little world. Someone took a seat next to her, and she turned her head.

He looked like a young man in his early twenty’s. He had thick, black curly hair. He wore a plaid shirt, jeans and black converse. Melody momentarily noticed these things before looking back down at her iPod. It began to freeze, and the song she was listening to kept repeating a second of it over and over.

“You wouldn’t know how to fix an iPod, would you?” she asked him.

He turned to face her, and her jaw nearly dropped. It was Bruno Hernandez. Apart from the fact he lost his afro, he hadn’t changed one bit. He still had his father’s big brown eyes and those dimples. He did look more charming though. She was speechless. She felt odd being right next to him after all these years.

“You’re asking the wrong guy, sorry. Technology isn’t my thing.” He smiled at her.

She was confused – Did he not know who she was? She had changed a lot since their last encounter many years back. She was angry with him, for what he did to her. She held a grudge for years over it. It was because of him that she was the way she was.

**

Bruno looked at the girl. Her blue eyes were entrancing, and he couldn’t help but notice her beauty. She seemed familiar. She looked at him weirdly though. He couldn’t help but wonder why.

“I’m sorry, Do I know you? You seem... familiar” his voice was relaxed. She simply looked at her iPod and was tapping it. It reset itself. ‘Good’ she muttered under her breath. She didn’t seem concerned with Bruno. He was determined to make some conversation with her.

“I like your shoes.” Said Bruno. She looked down at her shoes, looked back to Bruno, gave him a polite smile and continued to look at her iPod. She seemed to be stubborn.

“You know, I’m not a creeper or anything, just tryna make some conversation.”

“I know, Bruno.” She said. Her face became expressionless; like she gave away something she wasn’t meant to. Bruno was so confused. He couldn’t match her face to anyone that he knew.

“I knew it, I had to have known you from somewhere. I’m so sorry, I must be going blank… what’s your name?” he asked. She bit her lip, thinking about what to say.

“You know I just downloaded this song called Low by T-Pain and Flo Rida. It’s a good song.” She showed attitude in her voice.

This girl was a mystery to Bruno. No girl had ever spoken to him the way she did. But he liked it. It made him want to speak to her more. He simply looked at her, analyzing her facial features while she ignored him. He was sure if he had seen blue eyes like her, he would’ve remembered them. Nothing about the girl rang a bell.

His phone began ringing and he looked down at the caller I.D – Phil came up on the screen.

“Talk to me” he said.

“Bruno, I just got off the phone with our reps and they wanna hear the songs for the E.P”

“I still gotta write one more song though. I can’t release an EP with three songs on it. That’s bullshit.”

“You’ve got a couple of weeks, chill my man!” Phil was part of Bruno’s production team, the Smeezingtons. “I’m just giving you a heads up, okay?”

Phil hung up the phone. Bruno was smiling –Maybe the move to New York was worth it in the end. Maybe this could lead to other oppourtunities for him.

“You’re releasing an E.P?” asked the girl.

“Oh, so nooow you’re interested?” responded Bruno. She gave a chuckle, and Bruno thought it was cute. Her chuckle turned back into an expressionless face. “Yeah, I guess you could say that. I moved out here in hopes of being a singer, but I guess fate had another idea for me. I just worked with a guy called Cee-Lo Green, you heard of him?”

“Of course. You’re very lucky you got to work with him. I’m sure you’re very talented.”

“Well I mean, I have written some big hits. Thriller, Purple Rain…” he tried to make a joke. It didn’t seem to interest her. “So what’s a girl like you doing today at this lovely, clean train station…”

That made her chuckle a bit – the station was far from that. Graffiti covered the walls and it was incredibly crowded.

“If I told you, I’d have to kill you.” She still wasn’t making eye contact.

The girl intrigued Bruno so much. She seemed moody and a bit arrogant. Bruno could sense there was another side to her though, one she chose to hide. He saw right through her act.

The train pulled up and a rush of people went towards it. She looked at Bruno.

“It was nice seeing you Bruno. Good luck with the rest of your life or whatever.”

She stood up and walked towards the train. Bruno simply stood up, and stared, baffled.

“Hey, don’t I even get a name?” he shouted out.

She stepped on the train, and turned to face him.

“That, Bruno Hernandez, is a mystery.”

The train doors closed and it whooshed off at full speed. He bit his lip, thinking over the events that had just occurred within less than five minutes. It’s something he wouldn’t be forgetting any time soon. He looked at the board with all the trains and where they were going. That girl was heading to somewhere in Brooklyn.

“Somewhere in Brooklyn…” muttered Bruno.