Page 30 of On The Edge
The final time was when Kai and I were going to pick Melody up from the band room and we heard her.“They’re nothing to me. Nothing.”
Her voice screams those words in my mind every night. Every night I have the same nightmare, and Melody is always at the forefront of the horror show.
The guys and I are playing at a sold-out show. I’m singing and the guys are playing behind me, we’re rocking the showfantastically like we always do. Just as the last note rings out… there’s no applause. No cheering.
Just silence.
The silence stretches on for a beat too long before the ‘boos’ start. Thousands of people screaming at us, throwing things at us on stage, but I can’t see any of them. The stage lights are too bright and blinding. There’s no security so people start rushing the stage and take us down. Mobs of people attack my best friends and I. In the dream, I’m always knocked down as I try to protect the guys, and right before I pass out from the agony of the mobs fists and kicks, I see Melody. Smirking and standing over me telling me I’m nothing, we’re all nothing. And she spits on me before turning her back on us.
Then I wake up. Every night.
Every. Night.
My face scrunches up as I try to shake the nightmare loose to actually get some rest.
I’m sure there’s some psychological bullshit that I need to talk to someone about, but instead, I think that having Melody see just how much we’ve accomplished, howsuccessfulwe are, and how little she means to us, to me, will help that. Fix whatever part of my psyche she broke.
I just need to see her jealous. I need to see her hurting. I want her to feel how I’ve felt for years. The sleepless nights, the torment, the anger.
I need her to know that she’s the cause of it all.
My chest heaves with my need for vengeance, for retribution, even if the others don’t feel the same way. I didn’t tell them everything, just what Kai overheard. They didn’t need to know just how awful she was. Is.
My eyes flash open. I look over at the girl who’s responsible for all my strife and for the briefest of moments, it all goes away.
When I look at her sleeping face, she looks just like she did in high school. Trusting, kind, sweet. She used to look at me like I was her savior. Like she might’ve loved me.
One of the big problems was I saw her look at the others like that as well.
Melody’s eyes are covered with heavy make-up that looks so much harsher in the bright light of the plane. She looks older, like we all do, but her lips still look so pink and plush. I used to have the filthiest fucking dreams about her lips.
Secretly, I still fantasize about her on her knees, sucking my cock like she’s done it for years. Gets me off every single time.
But I’ll never tell anyone that.
Kai’s looking at her too, like he doesn’t know what to believe–or if he even cares about what happened anymore–and his hand rests on her upper thigh. My eyes narrow as I watch his fucking pinky slip just under the hem of her mini-skirt. I take a deep breath in through my nose as the familiar, and totally un-fucking-welcomed right now, possessiveness engrained in me for her comes flaring back to life.
“Kai,” I snap through my teeth. He looks at me lazily, like he already knows what I’m going to say, but doesn’t move his hand. “Stop touching her.”
Kai just rolls his eyes. And doesn’t move.
Scowling at him, I wince in pain. Reaching up to touch my eyebrow, I sigh in relief that there’s no blood. But I’m sure my fucking eye is probably black now thanks to Adam.
“How can you just forgive her? Did she even apologize to you? Or are you just giving her your loyalty blindly like a good dog?” I turn my head so I’m looking right at Adam, and readjust into my seat. His eyes narrow at me and the fire that has been missing from him for so long is back. With a vengeance.
“Why are you being such a dickhead?” His stare looks extra menacing because of his eyebrow and lip piercings, but I’veknown this little shit since we were five years old, so he doesn’t scare me.
“Because!” I yell, banging my hand down on the armrest, and they all look at me with frustration. I do my best to take a deep, regulating breath and try again, my voice softer and more confused this time. “Because…she was just using us. And really, do you think it’s a coincidence that she’s come back into our life now, right when we’ve got tons of money and fame? She’s going to use us again. Mark my words.”
“You’re the one that drugged andkidnappedher. We’re crossing state lines by taking her to New York. This was your choice, and again, the three of us just went along with it like idiots.” Markus puts his head in his hands. I know he’s at his wits end, but I’m not getting over this. “Fuck, we’re all accomplices.”
“Yep, you are. So better get good with it fast.” I lean back in my chair and look out the window at the blinking lights of the city below. “She and I have unfinished business.”
Kai raises an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”
“That little miss Melody has some explaining to do and some trust to earn. How she does that is completely up to her.”
It’s fuckingfour in the morning by the time we actually roll up to our penthouse. It’s this gorgeous skyscraper with a doorman and round the clock security. I love living in the heart of the City. It’s freeing and energizing.
