Page 1 of Remember Me?

Chapter One

Melody: Present Day

Cold air rushes through the automatic doors immediately blasting her face, forcing Melody’s eyes to blink rapidly to adjust to the atmospheric changes around her. The scent always hits just right, full of hope and possibilities. The excited chatter of travelers with their eager, hopeful faces, all looking forward to whatever destination they had on their itinerary.

Quickly checking her email for her ticket, she walks up to the line for the kiosk and prints her pass. The lines are relatively short, and with only a backpack and a small duffle bag housing a few days' worth of clothes and toiletries, she can quickly make her way past security.

The bathroom is always her first stop after the security check. Something about being rushed to get her things out of those stupid little gray boxes always gets her adrenaline pumping. Frazzled, she bunches all her personal items in her arms, shoes balancing precariously atop her laptop; wallet, and keys barely hanging on for dear life between her fingers. She did not want to be that person. We all know the one. The one who decides to shuffle their way into their jackets at a glacial pace, not a care in the world, not bothering to even glance at the pile-up they were leaving in their wake. Nope, she will not be that person.

Once in the bathroom, she can ready herself in peace. She adjusts the cap on her head in an attempt to tame the unruly mass of thick curls from her last day of school. Rolling her shoulders she releases the tension of the last few months. These had been, by far, the hardest.

She was officially adulting, and she hated every minute of it.

Finding the words to express her first year teaching at West Grammar Middle School was surprisingly difficult, considering she spent her entire life surrounded by the written word. Something was the closest thing she could come up with to culminate the rollercoaster of a shit show that just came to a close.

She lets out a self-deprecating laugh as she recalls her bright-eyed and bushy-tailed self at the beginning of the school year. She really had no idea what she had gotten herself into, but she was definitely going to need the entire summer to process it, and maybe a smidge of alcohol, with a dollop of therapy to boot.

Melody can still feel the remnants of her day clinging to her, the empty candy wrappers and soda cans, half-torn notebooks, and crumpled-up pieces of paper littering the floor of her classroom. Desks that were once perfectly lined up to face the board were left askew and one was even turned on its side.

How does that even happen? More importantly, how did she not notice?

She brings her hands up to rub her face, aggressively trying to scrub that disastrous sight from her memory. Maybe if she tries really, really, hard, she can pretend it didn't happen. She moves back to tie a hoodie around her waist, ensuring her simple cotton dress wouldn’t ride up too high, then quickly lacing up classic white high-top Chucks at her feet.

“Well, that's as good as it's gonna get.” She mutters under her breath, not all that satisfied with the way the fluorescent lights brought the, ‘I had a shitty day’ out in her eyes. Hollowing out her already pale skin in a way that looked more like a horror story than a simple bad day.

Melody’s cell phone dings as a notification flashes on her screen. Quickly, she makes her way out, pausing only to smile at a young woman with a stroller passing through the bathroom door, she pulls out her phone.

A broad smile lit her face when she saw Duke’s name flash on her screen. They have been dating for over a year, he is quite handsome, if I do say so myself, with a mop of curly blond hair a smidge too long, framing playful blue eyes and a happy grin permanently painted on his face. You wouldn't think by looking at him that he is over 30. Duke, a veteran teacher with ten years in the trenches, took Melody under his wing and made her feel like she could be a fantastic educator.

He was wrong. Teaching was fucking hard.

Pulling her phone up for a closer look at her messages. Miss me already, Duke? You just dropped me off, silly boy. A smile tugs at her mouth.

Duke: Can't wait to see you tonight ;)

Wait, is that an eggplant emoji and a wink? Frowning, she brings up her message thread with Duke.

Message has been deleted.

Duke: Have a great trip, love.

“Did I really just read what I thought I read?” She asks aloud, her gaze shooting around the airport hallway, seeking validation from someone.

Anyone.

People were just moving right along, coming and going, utterly oblivious to her plight.

Seriously Duke? Again?! I refuse to deal with this right now.

He is a flirty guy, social, continually teasing the other teachers, waitresses, and store clerks. She would be lying if she said there had never been any suspicions of infidelity. Deleted messages and hushed phone calls out of earshot always left her with a sinking feeling. Maybe it was because he had been unfaithful before, even if it was just once at the beginning of their relationship, before things were ‘clearly defined.’ Insert eye roll here.

They say ignorance is bliss, well, right now, she berates herself for that ignorance. Sometimes it’s just easier to play dumb, and sometimes, the end result is quite blissful, at least until there is an eggplant emoji involved. Considering her options, she decides just to leave the message on read and put her phone on airplane mode.

Now, where can I get a drink?

Graham

_________________

---