48. Not A Friend
**Ester**
Our eyes met. Melissa smiled. “Well, look who it is! I was wondering where you were.”
I stared at her until I realized what I was doing and snapped out of it. “Hey.” I gave her a smile of my own. Then I turned to Anna. “What’s going on? I thought I was supposed to help you get prepared.”
Anna clasped her hands together. “Don’t take it to heart, but I thought It would be good to have more than one opinion. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Our young vixen is ready to go out there and break hearts.” Melissa wrapped her arms around Anna’s torso. “Her outfits are so scandalous. Bound to make a girl blush.”
Anna’s cheeks flushed red. “They’re not that bad. I just think it’s better to leave a good impression to get out of the friendzone.”
“Well, you’re definitely about to get into something.” Melissa winked.
I put on a smile despite not feeling it. “That’s fine! The more the merrier. Did you find anything that you liked?”
We went through all the options in her closet. She was hellbent that it had to be a dress, and not a two-piece dress either. Something soft and sporty while also being a bit sensual. Melissa picked up a dress that fell from its rack. She showed it to us. “What do you all think about this? This shade of green goes well with her silver hair.”
Anna took the dress from Melissa and gingerly observed it. “I completely forgot about it and only wore it once. Let me see if it still fits.”
She told us that she would be right back and carried the dress into the bathroom. I sat down beside Melissa on the foot of her bed. “Have you been here long?” I asked.
Melissa leaned back and shook her head. “Not long, about an hour, or more than that. Am I the only one who thinks she’s playing it too safe? Girls her age like excitement. They like to be swept off their feet.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. When I was her age I could tell when someone was trying too hard to be someone they’re not. It was kind of off putting.”
Why am I trying to engage in conversation with her? I don’t want to be in the same spot I was before. If I get too relaxed in my current position, then doubts will start to cloud my thoughts. I need to make decisions based on my knowledge of the future, not how I feel now. Melissa will betray, it’s prewritten. That’s if she’s not already working behind the scenes with my fiancee.
But…
As I’m sitting here now, talking about clothes and dates, I realized that I have to force myself to summon the anger. No matter what, I mustn’t slip into a state of comfort.
“I wonder what he’s doing…” She muttered under her breath.
“Hm? What was that?”
“Nothing.” Melissa sat up, eyes locked onto me. “Matter of fact, there is something I want to say. I heard through the grapevine that there is a rebellion underway.”
“Rebellion?” I don’t remember a rebellion. “Where did you hear that?”
“From a trusted source. Did you hear anything about that?”
It must have been from Sirius. “I never heard. Are you sure this source is credible? It could just be a bunch of rich guys complaining about having to pay taxes at a bar.”
“Nah.” Melissa shook her head. “From what I gathered it’s a bunch of different people. I would be surprised if there were aristocrats in the mix. I heard that they want to demand the king to step down and for the people to implement a new parliament. By force.”
By force… The people’s party…
With this new information, I could recall much more.
Not a lot was revealed to the public about the rebellion at the time. It happened just before the second disaster. Chester shut it down pretty quick, only locking up the people who led the rebellion as an act of mercy. A threat to the crown usually results in a death penalty for the guilty party. After it was taken care of, it was never talked about again.
There is one thing that perplexes me. If we’re talking about the same rebellion, then that means the second disaster is coming. And soon.
But that’s too quick. The fight with the demon general was just last month.
I drew closer to Melissa. “Do you know anything else?”
She shook her head. “No, that’s why I asked you. I wish I did, but only because I’m curious.”
Curious, huh? I raked through my memories for more information. This could be a good opportunity to get Melissa out of the picture. Once she’s gone, I won’t have to worry anymore about falling victim to her “friendship”. If I get cold feet now, it would be like spitting in the face of the one who gave me a one in a million chance at rewriting history.
Anna stepped out of the bathroom and stood in front of us wearing the dress. “I don't know. What do you guys think?”
It fit her like a glove. The matte fabric was a rich shade of dark green that went amazingly with her hair. Each spaghetti strap was tied into a bow that rested on top of her shoulders. It had a sweetheart top and hugged her waist, showing off just a hint of her cleavage and her slenderness. After passing her hips, the bottom of the dress flowed freely, stopping just about her knees.
I gasped. Melissa squealed.
“You look smoking hot!” Melissa exclaimed. “Are you sure you just want one girlfriend? If you keep up that grind, I'm sure you can get at least three.”
Anna blushed. “But I don't want three girlfriends!”
Melissa laughed, pushing herself off the bed. “Fine, fine. But I'm gonna have to do your hair to match the dress.”
I was grinning watching Anna's reactions, but then I realized something. I wasn't the only one Melissa's actions affected. I needed to get rid of her before she got too close to Anna.
“Actually,” I began. Both Melissa and Anna turned to me. “I do have some information. I guess I forgot about it but you helped me remember! I'll tell you later over the phone.”