1 A Dream of the Past

"And the princess lived happily ever after," said Melissa's mother, as she leaned down to give her young daughter a kiss on the cheek.

Melissa smiled sleepily, and murmured a goodnight to her mother. As she started to fall asleep, she heard her mother say, "Good night my little princess... I love you."

With a gasp, Melissa woke up, drenched in sweat.

It was that dream again... the one of a past memory of her mother, right before she had died.

"Good night my little princess... I love you."

Again, it played over in her head... the last words that her mother had spoken to her.

A tear rolled down her face, as she thought 'Why? Why did she have to die?!'

It had been three years, yet the pain from her absence was still strong.

Sometimes she wished she had someone to talk to about her mother with, but the only one she could speak to was her father, but that was the one thing she couldn't bear to bring up to him ever since she saw him sobbing one night as he clung to a picture of her mother.

The world was so cruel and unfair... Melissa knew this better than most people.

Glancing at her clock, she saw that it was just five minutes past 6am. School started at 7am, and it was a thirty minute walk away, so she had to hurry. Throwing off her blanket, she jumped out of bed and stretched. Yawning, she stepped towards her dresser and pulled open a drawer. Rummaging through it, she pulled out a pair of jeans and a tank top. She walked to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, took a quick shower, threw on her clothes, combed her hair, then rushed downstairs. Checking the clock in the kitchen, she saw that it was now 6:25am... just enough time to grab a bite to eat. Grabbing a pack of poptarts, she popped them into the toaster, and started munching on an apple as she waited for the toaster to ding. She couldn't stand cold poptarts... she had to toast them or she would rather go hungry.

"Hey hon, aren't you suppose to be heading to school?" Asked her father as he entered the kitchen.

"Still got three minutes," she responded with a grin, just as the poptarts popped out of the toaster.

"Need a ride?" He asked, as he poured himself some coffee.

"No thanks, I'm good," replied Melissa.

She didnt want to take up her dad's relaxation time, as he was suppose to start getting ready for his morning job about half an hour from then. Grabbing her poptarts and back pack, she kissed her father on the cheek, and proceeded to the front door. "Bye dad, I love you!" She called out while she was walking out.

"Love you too!" He yelled back, right before she shut the door.

It was a ritual of sorts... she rarely saw her father,  as he was working two jobs to support them. Never knowing if she would suddenly lose him too like her mother, she always made sure to tell him that she loved him every single day.

Though today she was a bit behind in her schedule... if she only knew what laid ahead of her in the near future, she would have spent a little more time with him that morning.

Twenty-five minutes later, she was nearly to the school when she saw them... James and Joan. The evil twins, as she called them in her mind, even though they were only close friends with no blood relations. Their close friendship began through Melissa... with their bullying of her.

 It was three years ago when she first met them. Due to her depression from the loss of her mother, she often zoned out, oblivious to what was going on around her. She kept to herself, prefering to be alone instead of chatting with the other students. Because of this, events occurred on her first day of school  which spiraled downhill as time wore on.

Events that to this day, three years later, were still having a huge and negative impact in Melissa's life.