THE NEXT DAY**
Axel came out of his room putting on a mask, he was dressed in his usual outfit.
He glanced at Melanie’s door and his mind drifted to last night.
He could hear her cries as it was so loud throughout the night.
“Why would you date someone like Ace in the first place?” He shook his head and went out of the house.
****
Melanie was still lying in bed, her face was puffy and her eyes were very red. There were visible eyebags beneath her eyes.
Her mind went to the discussion she had with the stranger the previous day.
***
“How did you end up here?” He asked, taking his attention back to his phone.
“Actually, I was with my boyfriend and…”
“He dumped you here?” He cuts her off, staring at her.
“No. He needed to attend to something so…”
“He left you here. What’s the difference?” He muttered.
Melanie bit her lips.
“So dumb”
***
“He was right, I’m so dumb. I should have known then” Melanie mumbled to herself.
She sat up and cleaned her face with her hands. She picked her phone to find a lot of missed calls from Ace, Paisley never called her, not even once.
She dropped the phone on the bed and stood up gently. She made her way to the bathroom and rinsed her face, staring at her pitiful self in the mirror.
She took her eyes away and managed to bathe before dressing up because she had a class by 10pm.
****
MONASH UNIVERSITY***
“Melanie!” Lauren screamed when Melanie entered the class.
“C’mon!” Lauren waved her to come over.
Melanie walked to her slowly and sat beside her.
“What happened? I was actually worried thinking you’ll miss your class today, the Lecturer will be here soon” Lauren said.
Melanie didn’t say anything as she rested her head on the table.
“What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?” Lauren asked.
The Lecturer entered and Lauren kept quiet. Melanie raised her head from the table and tried her best to listen attentively to the Lecturer.
***
“Aren’t you going to tell me anything? You were sad throughout the class” Lauren said immediately the Lecturer left the class.
“Paisley, I found her kissing my boyfriend,” Melanie said slowly.
“What?!” Lauren shouted.
“It hurts, so very much,” Melanie said in tears.
“They have been doing it for a long time and I wasn’t aware of it, she was my best friend, he was my first love. My heart aches a lot” Melanie cries.
Lauren pulled her to her chest and rubbed her back softly.
“It’s okay, you’ll be fine,” she said.
“Lauren, I don’t know what to do. I can’t just think straight, I feel like my heart is ripping out of my chest”
“You just have to be calm, stop the tears, huh? You have to prove to them that they ain’t worth your tears. A friend that dates your boyfriend behind your back or a boyfriend that dates your best friend behind your back, are they worth your tears? Of course they aren’t, so cheer up” Lauren said soothingly.
Melanie held her to herself as she cried in her arms.
“Wow! Who’s that handsome dude?”
“He’s so cute”
“I feel like fainting right now”
Different murmurings filled the class when Ace entered. He eye searched the class till he sighted Melanie.
He walked to her.
“Melanie, we need to talk,” he said.
Melanie pulled away from Lauren to stare at him.
Seeing the tears on her face, Ace felt bad immediately.
“Talk about what? About you cheating on me with my friend?”
“Melanie, I know you’re mad right now, but let’s talk outside please” Ace said.
“And why should she talk to a cheater like you?” Lauren interrupted.
“Who are you?” Ace asked.
“I’m her friend and I don’t tolerate cheaters like you” Lauren said harshly.
“Let’s go, Melanie” Lauren held Melanie’s hand, dragging her out of the class.
“Melanie, you can’t just walk out on me. We still have some things to discuss” Ace went after them.
He held Melanie’s hand and she turned to him in anger. Without thinking twice, she hit him on the face.
“Don’t you ever try to touch me again or I swear it, I’m going to kill you” she warned with blazing eyes.
“Melanie,” Ace mumbled in shock. He’s never seen her act that way towards him.
“You know what, I’m breaking up with you this instant. I don’t want to have anything to do with you, I don’t want to see you ever again!” Melanie shouted.
She glared at him before walking away with Lauren following her behind.
“Are you okay?” Lauren asked.
“I don’t know,” Melanie mumbled.
“It hurts more than I think,” she added.
Lauren sighed.
****
MELANIE’S APARTMENT***
“I’m fine, Mom. I was just stressed last night” Melanie said to her Mom over the phone.
“Are you sure? Do you want me to come over?” Mrs. Brown asked.
“You don’t have to, Mom”
“How’s Paisley? Is she there with you?” Mrs. Brown asked.
Melanie’s countenance changed and she sighed.
“Let’s talk later, Mom,” she muttered and hung up.
She threw her phone to the bed and packed her hair into a bun.
“If only you knew what she did to your daughter, Mom,” she whispered to herself.
Her stomach grumbled and she rubbed it slowly. She never ate anything since the previous night as all she did was cry.
“I should get myself something to eat” she left the room.
On her way to the kitchen, Axel was also coming in at that moment, he was putting on a mask.
Her eyes grew wide and she rushed to the kitchen in fear.
“What’s with her?” Axel scoffed as he made his way to his room.
***
Melanie breathed heavily as she touched her chest, her heart was beating fast.
“I almost forgot I live with an assassin” she rubbed her chest.
“Wait… Ace was here last night, how?” Her eyes went to the door.
“There’s only one way to find out” she marched out of the kitchen boldly.
Just as she got to the door, she felt her leg shaking.
“Face your fear, Mel. You just need to ask something”
She raised her hand to knock on the door and suddenly stopped.
“Oh gosh,” she rested her back on the door.
“He’s so scary,” she bit her lips.
The door opened abruptly and a scream left her lips when she found herself falling.
Her back rested on something hard and her heart skipped a beat.
“The assassin?!” Her mind screamed.
“What are you doing?” She heard the familiar voice.
“Huh?” She got to her feet to face him and her eyes nearly popped out of its socket.
“You… The assassin?” She pointed a finger at him.
The hot stranger is the assassin? Her roommate?
TBC
