Melody

In the time it took us to reach Old Bullworth Vale, I'd prepared a farewell speech for Annabelle. I kept going over it in my head and would often move my lips like I was reciting it while Anna and Mary-Sue gabbed about the next chapter in our lives.

Mary-Sue had plans to see the rest of America before possibly settling in another country like Canada. Annabelle hoped the idea of her arrest would scare her folks into returning to Italy. She spoke highly of her cousins and old friends back home and at times I felt my fists ball up on their own.

My homelife wasn't as exciting as hers and if she left the country, I knew she'd drift to nothing more than a memory. I also knew that I would be the same to her.

Miranda parted the back doors and a rush of wind swept leaves and twigs inside the van. She heaved a solemn smile yet her eyes barely set on ours as she said, "We're here."

I looked toward Annabelle who turned her head to Mary-Sue with a gleam that I knew would haunt me for the rest of my life. She wrapped Mary-Sue in a hug, not minding her dangling her arms at her sides instead of reciprocating.

"I'll miss you," Annabelle told her through the golden locks across her face, her eyes shut. Right when Mary-Sue lifted her hands to touch her back, she drew away and faced me. Taking a deep breath that tugged the corners of her mouth, she said the same to me and my stomach recoiled.

I watched her take a deep breath while her gaze wandered around the vehicle as if she was sealing everything into her memory like a photo in a locket.

My fingers twitched while waiting for her to hug me too, but she never did. She instead smiled and sprung up, and I gripped my skirt's hems on my knees. Anna stood at the doors and hopped beside Miranda.

When Miranda asked if we wanted to stretch our legs, at first I was adamant about staying put -- it was bad enough seeing my friend return to a life that held no space for me -- but when Mary-Sue agreed I felt obligated to go as well.

We stood hunched forward and trudged toward the edge, our shoes heavy and loud against the metal slat. Miranda took our hands to aid us, but my foot rolled and strained my hip like those things called rubber bands.

We had parked in the middle of a quiet neighborhood where the road was obscured by dense clouds hovering at our level. The house looked abandoned though it was quaint and full of yard decorations on mowed grass.

The heavy double doors groaned and squealed shut with a boom that scattered woodland creatures. With her gloved hands, Mary-Sue held her scarf over her face.

Miranda led us to a gray colonial-style house with a faded blue machine parked in the open garage. It wasn't my family, yet the closer we strolled across the lawn, the faster my heart thumped. I held my pulsing chest to keep my heart from jumping out.

We let Anna step to the door and knock, and that she did. She pounded the door with as much vigor as someone my age. I had to keep pushing away the feeling that she was eager to leave me behind, but moments like that made it inexplicably difficult.

The rustle of branches against the windows kept us from standing in silence. She started to knock again, but the door swung open. A man in a tattered, stained tank and pajama bottoms stood there with heavy eyes and an overgrown beard.

"Can I help you," he asked, looking us over from one to the next. I was sure we all looked like chaperoned children with a sales pitch he was evidently not interested in, but we gave our attention to Anna who merely stared at the towering, doughy figure who held an unwelcoming expression.

"We're looking for Mr. and Mrs. Battles," Miranda said, resting her hand on Anna's back. "I'm from Bullworth Academy, here to drop off their daughter."

"Robert and Mary," he asked, his bushy brows drawn in.

"Roberto and Marie," Anna corrected him and her Italian accent was as clear as day. He spared her a glance before returning his attention to Miranda.

"Well, I don't know where they went. They sold me the house months ago for dirt cheap, seeming real anxious to go wherever they went." The world seemed to lose motion and activity when he told us that. The smile that once seemed unmovable instantly faltered from learning that her parents abandoned her.

Miranda heaved an Oh, and Anna let her gaze wander as her jaw hung. Me and Mary-Sue side-eyed each other, neither knowing what to say or do as Miranda asked, "You sure they didn't tell you anything?"

"Ma'am, I didn't ask questions. I'm new to this town, but I could tell something odd was afoot from the neighbors to those people. It seemed like they were driven out and, as sad as it was, it wasn't any of my business." Anna drooped her head and wrapped her arms around herself. She spun on her heels and with the attention then on her, she stomped toward the van.

The man apologized and though Miranda assured him it was okay, her tone was bleak. 

From the dark skies and foggy earth to the solemn expressions from those around me, I felt engulfed in dreariness. I wasn't ashamed of mentally leaping into the air and clicking my heels, knowing Anna would be with us on our trip to Chicago, but I had regret for causing her to miss the chance to see her family.

They exchanged goodbyes before he ducked behind the closing door. Miranda looked at us and sighed so heavily it straightened her posture.

We knew from where we stood with Anna weeping into her palms on the van's bumper, that it was a long road ahead in terms of helping her find closure. I didn't think about my family much, so her pain was foreign to me.

I was never close with my pa because he always thought of me as a monster with uncontrollable tendencies, and my mother was too passive for me to love. Even with time, I never forgave her for leaving so coldly when she and he figuratively dumped me on Happy Volts' steps.

And when I vowed vengeance, that never changed either.