Chapter 17 Redemption House

Mel and I ran three blocks away from the school. I had no intention of heading back to class that afternoon. It was way too warm, and someone might have snitched. I couldn’t believe Lewis tried to throw me into the fountain. I couldn’t believe Mel went full ninja and knocked him out with one punch. Mel was running faster than I was, and I was having trouble keeping up. My energy was low. That’s what happens when all you’ve eaten is a granola bar.

“Can we talk?” I said while slowing down.

She stopped with her back turned to me. She’d let go of my hand after we lost sight of the school. I could see her fist still formed. She didn’t have to help me back there at the school, but she did anyways.

“Hey, listen. Thank you for getting me out of there.” I approached her. “How’d you know I was there?”

She turned and glared furiously at me. It almost looked as if she wanted to punch me in the mouth, too. In all fairness, I did deserve it.

“I know you’re angry,” I began. Mel had been more sad than angry when we’d last spoken. Though feelings sometimes took a while before they properly set in. I had a feeling this was the case.

I tried putting a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged me away.

“I’m more than angry. You’re an asshole, you know that, right?”

“I know,” I said honestly. “Can we just . . . Can we just go somewhere and talk?”

“Redemption House is around the corner. Buying me coffee would be a start,” she told me.

All right, it was a start. I bought her a coffee, and we sat on the top floor that overlooked the park beside our school. It was a nice view. Mel sat across from me, arms crossed, and looked uninterested in the coffee I had gotten her. Maybe it was a mind trick. Maybe she was pissed. Possibly both.

“So . . .” I began.

“So.” Mel shot at me.

God, I’d known it was going to be a difficult conversation, but I had no idea that I would be having the conversation right then. I tried thinking back to all the things I had written in my notebook, but my brain seemed to erase it all.

“There’s a lot to talk about,” I said.

“Yeah, there is,” she replied.

It wasn’t going to be easy. I stirred my coffee thoughtfully. If I could have gone back in time and changed what I’d done and what I’d said, then I would have. But life isn’t that easy. We have to own our mistakes because that’s the only way to grow. It was the only way I would regain any type of trust from Mel. God, I was an idiot. Mel’s trust was one of the most important things I’d had, and I just threw it all away. I was stupid, I was selfish, I was arrogant and self-centred. I made everything about me.