Fourth position

Melody woke up this morning from a nightmare. It was her father again. It had been a long time since she had a nightmare about him, as her mind had been closed with thoughts about the competition.

Melody couldn't understand why she would see her father the night before the competition. It was like a bad omen, and it added to her anxiety. She was surprised when she woke up on her bed in her room. Melody remembered leaving her room because she was unable to sleep, and then Hunter had come to join her. She had felt sleepy, but she could not remember how and when she fell asleep.

Melody was sure that he was the one who brought her back to bed, and she didn't forget to thank him in the morning. Rebecca and his grandparents had something to attend to, so they were unable to come with her.

Morgan has said that he would bring her and Arianna also wanted to come with her, but Hunter told them not to worry. He was the one who brought her to the competition. She was happy that he was with her, but even his presence could not calm her down.

Melody was sweating buckets as she walked off the school campus. She was done with the last stage of the competition. She should have been relieved, but no, she was anxious. Her muscles were wound tight with anxiety and her heart was pounding loudly in her chest.

It wasn't like other competitions, where the winners would be called out immediately. This time, before the results would come out, it would be in three days time. Only the winners would receive a message to resume.

Rebecca would be the one receiving the message, as Melody doesn't have a phone and Rebecca used her number and email address.

Hunter was the only one that followed her, and he had been waiting for her in the car. It was Saturday, and he did not go to work. He got down from the car when he saw her approaching.

Hunter could see the anxious look in her eyes. He wished that there was a way to make things alright and easy for her. He wished she did not have to go through this. He could have asked the school to give her a spot, but he changed his mind at the last minute. Hunter knew that she wouldn't appreciate it if she finds out, not that she ever will if he does it. If she won, he wanted it to be that she won because she did well, not because he bribed the judges.

“How was it?” Hunter asked as he drove them home. She has been quietly staring out of the window and has not said a word.

Melody turned away from the window to look at Hunter. She gave a small shrug of her shoulder, “okay, I guess”

“You are supposed to be happy that you were among the last set of people competing for the scholarship. In life, failure is normal. What matters most is the ability to bounce back. You can take this as a lesson and come back to do better next time”. He wanted her to understand that one could not always win.

No one was perfect, especially not her and he knew that she had given it her best shot. He also wished that she would be among the winners. He would not like it if she broke down and Hunter could see that she was close to it.

Melody nodded at his words. Her heart began to calm down eventually as they got close to Hunter's house. She was leaving everything to God. She has done what she could and has also given the competition her best shot. Melody just hoped that she would get in. She did not want to disappoint anyone.

Time rolled by and with each passing day, Melody began to calm down, but that was until the night before the announcement. She thought that she wouldn't be able to sleep, but Hunter has over worked her by making her join him in his gym room.

She couldn't turn him down. Rebecca had also joined them that night. Though Melody could not understand why anyone would jog and exercise at night, she enjoyed the section even if it was tiring. It took her mind off things that by the time she was ready to go to bed, she fell asleep immediately her head touched the pillow. She did not wake up until the next morning. When she did wake up, it was from a loud scream from Rebecca.

Melody jumped from her bed when she heard a loud scream beside her ear. Her eyes were wide with panic as she looked around to see if the mansion had caught fire but nothing. It was just Rebecca jumping around in her room with shining eyes. Happiness practically oozing from her pores.

“What's going on?” Melody asked with eyes still wide with shock.

“You got in '' Rebecca yelled as she bounded over to Melody who was still on the bed and grabbed her hands. She shook Melody as she repeated her earlier statement, “you got in”

“Got in to what?” Melody asked, confused. Her brain was still fogged with sleep. She had woken up because of Rebecca's scream, and now the girl was saying something about her getting into something she could not understand.

“The competition. You are among the top five winners. You came in fourth position and….”.

Melody's head became clear instantly, and her mind went blank as Rebecca's words registered in her head. Today was the day the results would be coming out. She had been so tired from her workout yesterday that she just went straight to bed. She slept through the night without so much as changing positions, and now she woke up to the news that she came in fourth position in the cooking competition.

Melody felt her eyes clouding with tears and even if she wanted to stop it, she couldn't. She burst into hot tears. Tears of happiness and gratitude to God. The anxiety of the past few weeks quickly gave way for the joy that came with winning to fill her heart.

“Awnnnn, don't cry” Rebecca said as she gathered Melody into her arms and hugged her tight.

Rebecca grew up with everything at her beck and call. She had never had to work hard for anything, but she could understand how Melody was feeling at that moment. She had watched Melody try hard to learn everything she was taught, and watched her struggle with anxiety about failing. More than once Rebecca has seen her wipe a lone tear or two silently when she thought that nobody was watching her.

Rebecca's eyes clouded with tears too as Melody continued to cry in her arms.