Meeting Paul

Arianna was the first one to recover, “oh fuck, can someone please tell me what the hell just happened?”

“ I think she got a panic attack” Zain said as she pushed her brown hair behind her ears and continued to stare at Melody with furrowed brows.

“What happened?” Rebecca also asked. She had seen a friend of hers and went over to say hi. She was having a discussion when Samantha came to call her. Her heart nearly left her chest at the condition she met Melody, and the first thought that rang in her mind was how she would explain to Hunter should anything happen to Melody. He would have her head.

“I don't know what happened. I just gave her the ID that she would be using to get in, and she panicked. I think she got scared of being caught” Arianna explained.

Rebecca nodded before grabbing Melody's hand and taking her to one side, away from the other girls.

“What happened?” Rebecca asked Melody in concern. She knew that Melody was a good kid and must not have done all this before.

Before Rebecca turned twenty-one, she had gone into a different club's with a fake ID and the same went for the other girls, but Melody was not like them. Melody was not used to this type of life and must have been scared. Rebecca blamed herself for stepping away to speak with someone. She should have been there with Melody.

Melody turned away to blow snot from her nose before turning back to Rebecca. Now that everything has happened, and her initial panic has disappeared, she could not understand what happened.

Everything went by so quickly, but still, she was still scared and did not want to go inside the club with them. All she wanted to do right now was return to Hunter's house and curl up under her cover.

It was impossible, they told Hunter they were going for a sleepover, and she couldn't leave alone. It was already so late, and she had no car, and what would she tell Hunter when she got home?

“I don't want to go inside” Melody said

Rebecca nodded in understanding as she pushed back Melody's blonde hair from her face, “why?” She already knew the reason, but still wanted to hear it from Melody's mouth.

“I'm not up to twenty-one and I can't use that ID. What if I get caught?” Melody asked, panic returning with full force.

“Shhhh '' Rebecca coed as she grabbed Melody's face between her hands and made her meet her eyes, “you won't get caught. That ID is for if they ask you, which I'm not sure if they would. You looked fabulous and matured tonight. Arianna did good with your makeup and no one would know you are not up to twenty-one. Don't panic, I will be going in with you and nothing would happen”

Melody said nothing. She stared into Rebecca's eyes to search if she was just saying it to convince her to go inside the club, but she saw that Rebecca was serious. Melody knew that there was no way she would be going home tonight. She only had one choice, and that was to enter the club with them.

“Fine,” Melody nodded before taking in deep breaths to calm herself down.

“You will be fine, trust me. Nothing will happen, I know the bouncers, and they won't stop us at the door” Rebecca assured Melody and waited until she nodded before taking her by the hand to lead her back to the girls. “Your makeup is ruined, let Arianna touch it up”

“Is she okay now?” Arianna asked when Rebecca and Melody got to her, she was still shaken and surprised with what happened.

Rebecca smiled at Arianna, “she is fine. Just help with touching up her makeup. Some is it was wiped off”

Arianna nodded and got to work quickly. It didn't take her too long to arrange Melody's makeup and restore it to its former glory.

“Come on, the line is short now” Rebecca took the ID from Arianna before taking Melody's hand in hers and leading her to join the queue

Melody continued to take in deep breaths as she tried hard to stay calm and not panic as the line kept moving. She felt Rebecca squeezing her hand in assurance, and she squeezed it back.

“Hey James, how have you been?” Rebecca asked the bouncer at the door when it got to their turn.

As the bouncer's eyes fell on her and Rebecca, Melody tried hard to keep her head up and not duck in fear. When his eyes fell on her, she held it and cringed inwardly when he smirked at her.

“I'm good Miss Winthrop, enjoy yourself” the bouncer, James, called back as he held the door open for them to pass through.

“Hi James” Arianna, Zain and Samantha greeted in unison as they also walked inside the club with Rebecca and Melody.

Melody cringed and tore her hand from Rebecca's to slap it over her ears as the noise from the booming speakers hit her ears. Her eyes slammed shut at the sharp intensity from the club's blue and red light.

She slowly opened her eyes when she felt a hand on her back and took her hand off her ears, but immediately regretted it. Melody was about to cover her ears again when her eyes fell on Morgan. Arianna, Zain and Samantha had already walked away to the stairs in the club that led up to the VIPs lounge.

He was smiling and making his way toward her, and he was already close. She did not want him to think that she was a village girl who had never been to a party before, when in fact it was correct.

“Hey Melody, I didn't think you would be coming with them," Morgan said referring to Rebecca and the girls when he got to where she was.

“Yeah, I didn't think so too” Melody said before she could stop herself and cringed again, this time, at her words, something she has been doing so often tonight.

Morgan smiled as if he understood her words, “come on, we are at the table over there” he said, pointing in the way Arianna and the girls went

Before they get to the top floor, Melody's calm has been restored. Her eyes have gotten used to the club lights and her ears to the loud noise. Melody took in her environment with bright eyes. She could see that everyone was having fun and the dance floor was jam-packed as people moved their bodies to the beat of the music.

She could see that she was the only one who was stiff and had to loosen up. She stiffened when they got to their table and her eyes fell on Paul. Melody didn't know why, but for some reason, the look he shot her way made her ansty. She did not like Paul at all. Not only because of how their first meeting went, but because he rubbed her off the wrong way. Her spirit did not accept him.