The Branded Ones

Chapter 3

Melissa Stevens didn’t want to go to the Formal after-party, yet there she was pulling her red Hyundai Getz up outside the old Queenslander. Already after eleven-thirty, she’d been grumbling to her friend Nadia non-stop since they left the hotel venue. The place had managed to squeeze two hundred seventeen-year-olds into its monochrome themed ballroom and she had had enough.

She was dreading the after-party so much her body had started rebelling: stomach a bag of snakes, heart banging on ribs and clammy palms slick on the steering wheel. As much as Melissa tried, it was impossible for her to relax. If not for Nadia threatening to stop hanging out with her for good if she refused, she’d prefer to go home and get into bed with her phone to admire all the photos being posted from afar. Her jitters weren’t healthy, she knew that. It was so easy for beautiful Nadia, though. The boys loved her. Melissa’s awkwardness only seemed to attract the wrong kind of attention.

A group of girls having a smoke by the picket fence out front took a step closer to the vehicle and gawked at them both through the windscreen. Melissa unclipped her seatbelt and glared back.

She stepped awkwardly from the car, ready for them to laugh at her sausage-squeezing dress. She always pretended she didn’t care about wearing labels but the truth was she hated shopping malls and avoided them as much as possible; too many bright lights and annoying fake-smile shop assistants. Her wardrobe basically consisted of bits and pieces her mum gave her and whatever Nadia nicked from her part-time job at Chloe.

Chloe.Her gorgeous friend emerged from the passenger side with the flare and poise of a Hollywood A-lister. Draped in a sleek silver dress that showed off her amazing figure, Nadia knew exactly how to turn it on. A small tattoo – two stylised hands entwined – on Nadia’s ankle caught Melissa’s attention. When had that happened?

Nadia always said she might as well enjoy the perks of working in retail, even if it was destroying her soul, and constantly tried to get Melissa to try on something new to help release her from her self-imposed fashion chrysalis. It was a losing battle. Both of them were judged whatever they wore. Melissa, because she didn’t give a s**t, and Nadia, because outwardly she was as close to perfection as a girl could get.

‘Come on, Lis, don’t worry about those bitches.’ Nadia gave her wrist a flick to set her bangles in place and disrespect the other girls at the same time. ‘Let’s go in.’

The greeting party watched in silence as Nadia sauntered up the path towards the front door. Melissa in her usual role as entourage followed close behind. Nadia was beautiful and she knew it. Everyone yearned either for her or to be like her.

They reached the front door. The sooner they got inside – giving Nadia a chance to have a few drinks and flirt – the sooner Melissa would be able to say how boring it was so she could go home. She didn’t even know whose place it was.

Melissa turned and gave the girls still gawking on the nature strip a final stare. Their phones illuminated their makeup-caked faces as they sent out texts, no doubt sharing that Nadia and her lame wing-girl had arrived. Perhaps she worried too much but she’d been at school long enough with those cows to know that whatever they were saying wasn’t kind.

When Nadia had told her there was going to be a party Melissa knew why. She had her ‘P’ plates and Nadia knew Melissa could never say no to her, so she was a sure bet to get a ride.

Despite their many differences they’d been inseparable since they were five years old. Even though her friend would be pissed off if she knew, Melissa felt compelled to go with Nadia whenever there was a party to stop her doing something stupid. She watched her friend stop beside a front window to dab on some lip-gloss in the reflection.

‘How do I look?’

‘You look great Nards. Please don’t leave me by myself this time.’

‘Only if I get lucky.’ Nadia opened the door and they were hit by a wall of rap music.

Melissa grabbed her arm and held on tight.

‘Come on, you stress too much. Relax and you might have a good time.’ Nadia shrugged her off and entered the fray, shaking out her dark, silky mane.

Melissa shut her eyes for a second. ‘God, help me.’ Curse-filled lyrics thumped from the speakers. She didn’t get rap at all. She was more into raw, acoustic ballads by singer-songwriters like Ed Sheeran. She fought the urge to turn around and head back to the safety of the car.

Two boys huddled under a lone light in the hallway exchanging pills. Melissa rolled her eyes and pushed past. The lights were out in the living room. Heaving, sweaty bodies pressed against her as she fought her way across it. Laughter and squeals competed to be heard above the thumping beat. She finally found some space to breathe by a window, feeling somewhat violated by her close encounter with the gyrating throng. She looked outside at the blue evening sky, aglow with a full moon. The familiar round face was calming, as was the realisation she was basically anonymous in the darkness.

Nadia had vanished, as usual. Resigned to another night alone listening to crap music and watching people getting drunk and dry-humping each other, Melissa picked her way further through the crowd and found an unoccupied chair in a corner. Perfect, she thought, all alone, just like me. She waited in the shadows: eventually Nadia would notice she was missing.

Melissa was thirsty but from where she sat she could see the path into the kitchen was blocked by two footy players she knew from school. It was hard to tell if they were arguing or just trying to get their point across over the noise. Beyond them the benches were piled with packets of chips and drinks.

Nadia reappeared in front of her and impatiently beckoned. ‘Keep up.’

It was just as crowded in the kitchen but this time their arrival, or at least Nadia’s, was greeted with shouts and cheers. It was hugs all round for Nadia. Even Melissa got a couple of high-fives. She knew it was only because she was with Nadia but that didn’t matter; at least the others acknowledged her. This lot were much friendlier than the girls out front. A lot drunker, too.

Nadia grabbed a bottle of vodka off the bench and pulled two plastic cups from a sleeve.

As she filled the glasses Melissa shook her head and glared. ‘I can’t have one. I’m the sober driver, remember?’

‘Chill, one won’t hurt.’ Nadia stuck a brimming glass in Melissa’s hand and raised her own. ‘Cheers!’

Nadia chugged it back while Melissa took a reluctant sip. The vodka burned her throat and she gagged. Everyone stared like she was from another planet. She couldn’t stop herself from letting out a loud, spluttering cough.

‘You’re so soft,’ Nadia said with a grin, and grabbed the cup off her.

Melissa watched her take a gulp from the glass and top it up with lemonade from a bottle beside them.

‘Here, this’ll be better.’ As Nadia handed it back someone caught her eye from across the room. She scrunched her nose in disdain. ‘Oh yuck.’

‘Nadia!’ A tall guy with sandy-coloured hair flopping into his eyes wandered into the kitchen and made a bee line straight for her.

Nadia studied her drink with the intent of a scientist looking through a microscope, trying to pretend she hadn’t heard or noticed him. Amused, he waited patiently for her to look up.

Melissa found herself smiling at Nadia, too, until she received a scowl in return. Nadia finally raised her gaze and locked on the boy’s for a contemptuous moment. As he went to say something she brushed past him abruptly and was swallowed instantly by the seething mass of bodies.

Melissa found herself standing by herself. Except technically she wasn’t because strangely the boy didn’t follow after Nadia. Instead, his expectant gaze was now fixed on her. She had the uncomfortable feeling that she was being sized up like prey.

‘Hi,’ he said.

‘Hi.’

‘Are you having fun?’

‘Dunno. Yeah, I guess it’s alright,’ she shrugged, trying not to look like she cared one way or another. ‘I’m kind of bored, to be honest.’

‘Is that right?’ He smirked. ‘You come here with Nadia?’

Melissa nodded.

‘That girl’s such a f*****g pain in the arse.’ He suddenly took a step forward, his body pressing against hers as he reached behind her. Although his insult about her best friend made her bristle, the closeness of his torso and the creamy coconut scent of his hair made her think about s*x.

He took a step back, a clean glass in hand. ‘Sorry, I needed this.’

Melissa pursed her lips and tucked in her chin.

He raised an eyebrow. ‘You want one?’

‘One … what?’ She turned around and watched him take a can of rum and coke from the fridge.

‘One of these?’

‘Oh, no, thanks. I’ve got one.’ She held up her glass of diluted vodka. "And I’m driving.’

He nodded. ‘Probably the right choice then.’

She watched him twist the cap off and pour the drink into a glass on the bench beside them, wondering why he bothered when anyone else would just neck it straight from the bottle. This was her opportunity to escape and she took it.

‘Hey, where are you going?’ He called after her.

As she turned the corner, Nadia grabbed her shoulders and redirected her down the hall into a bathroom reeking of vomit.

Melissa attempted to shake free of Nadia’s vice-like grip. ‘What’s wrong with you? Let go! You’re hurting me.’

‘You know what Jared Collins is like. This is his party, you i***t. We’ve just got to try and stay away from him.’ Nadia dropped her hands to her sides.

Melissa didn’t have a clue what Jared Collins could have done to upset her so much. This boded well for her plan of escape.

‘Swear it.’

‘Okay, fine! I won’t go near him. If it makes you feel better, I told him his party sucked.’

‘Yeah?’ Nadia laughed. ‘Well, you’re right. It does.’

Despite knowing one another for years, Melissa never completely understood how Nadia’s mind worked and she rarely agreed with the choices she made. The tattoo, for example. Everything Nadia did held an air of mysticism. She could walk through a room as though daring anyone to get in her way, simply by acting aloof. Her soulful, brown eyes sometimes seemed sad, hiding a deeper truth behind the impregnable facade, but most of the time they were steeled to conquer whatever obstacle lay in her path. Melissa realised she’d always been a bit envious. Next to Nadia, she felt painfully short and plump as her own mother rudely liked to point out. She also had a shock of crazy, curly brown hair that took forever to grow. Her skin was milky white and burned from any contact with the sun, whereas Nadia’s skin was caramel, turning bronze over summer. This only made Melissa appear all the more pale and anaemic when they were together. Melissa had resorted to fake tan once and turned orange as a result. She wished she had some colour, even a couple of shades darker than snow white would at least mean she didn’t stick out like a beacon when they went to the beach.

plumpNadia didn’t talk about family much. Melissa knew her father had walked out the front door one afternoon ten years ago and hadn’t been seen since. Her mum, while still present, was bat-s**t crazy and everyone knew that.

Melissa headed back to the kitchen and waited at the door. Jared wasn’t there anymore. ‘It’s safe.’

Nadia helped herself to another drink.

Melissa caught a glimpse of Jared through the window. Sitting on the steps, he was flanked on either side by his mates Leon Ross and Trent Pollock – three tall basketballers joking around and cracking up. Leon was expertly flicking popcorn into the air and catching it in his mouth, while Trent dug his elbow into Jared’s side, trying to point out something going on in the garden beyond.

Melissa felt mortified when Jared suddenly twisted his attention away from Trent and stared straight back inside at her, his face creasing with amusement. She just as quickly turned away, only to find Nadia had abandoned her, yet again. Encouraged by the vodka, Melissa turned back and dared to give Jared a little wink. His grin widened and she was grateful the dim lighting hid her blushing cheeks.

Nadia reappeared at her side and thrust a second drink into her hand. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Jesus, you gave me a fright. I’m not doing anything.’

‘Liar!’

Melissa held up the glass and sculled.

She didn’t know how they had happened really, the extra drinks. The room started to spin. Her usually sharp mind blurred. Faces lurched in all around her — laughing, mocking faces. Melissa stared down into the bottom of her cup and thought about the boys she’d seen at the beginning of the night sharing drugs. Had her drink been spiked? Nadia wouldn’t do that to her, surely? The music cut in and out. A girl lurched toward her and blurted, ‘You’ve got beautiful hair’, before running sticky fingers through it. Nadia refilled her drink and told her to enjoy herself.

You’ve got beautiful hair’,‘I’m driving –’

Nadia blew on her face. ‘Not anymore!’

Melissa found everything hilarious. She completely lost it when someone tripped and face-planted on the floor.

The boy looked up, his nose bleeding. ‘Shut up, cunt. It’s not funny.’

She raised her hands in surrender and backed away. What had happened to Nadia? Gone. Again. Story of her life. A hot surge of irritation propelled her towards the back door. The night cool air caressed her hot cheeks. She clumsily worked her way down some old wooden steps, one… two… tripped on three and grazed her leg on the gravel. Couldn’t feel a thing. The garden was blissfully quiet and all but empty apart from some girls sitting chatting on the lawn. It was a welcome sanctuary, but the crisp night air failed to clear her mind or give her a better sense of orientation.

Melissa squatted down and dropped her head between her knees. She groaned. ‘Nadia? Where are you? Can you please come and find me? I’m gonna spew up.’

‘Hey, are you OK?’

She lifted her head and tried to focus. ‘Everything needs to stop spinning.’

A hand reached out and took hold of her elbow. She wanted to cry at the kindness.

The voice attached to the helper sounded familiar. Melissa gazed up. ‘It’s you! Oh my god, you are so hot.’

so‘What?’

‘Sorry. I wasn’t meant to say that out loud.’ She let out a giggle.

‘What are you doing out here by yourself? Everyone else is out the front.’

‘Why aren’t you, Jared? It’s your party, remember?’

‘Maybe I was looking for you.’

Melissa blinked. ‘Me? Why-?

‘You seem like a good person.’

She swayed as he pulled her to her feet, sliding his arm around her waist to steady her. A lightning bolt zapped her groin.. ‘Thankoo… I mean, thank you. I’ve got to find Nadia.’

.youJared flicked his hair out of his eyes. ‘Wouldn’t you rather stay and hang out with me?’

Cute. So, so f*****g hot. Melissa shook her head to try and rid herself of the thought. Nadia had made her promise to ignore him. But it was hard to do when his body was pressing up against hers, again. ‘OK, I will then.’ She flung out an arm. ‘Stuff her.’

fucking hotCould Jared tell how drunk she was? Of course he can, dummy. Only weird, geeky boys ever talked to her at parties, never ones she felt attracted to. That Jared actually wanted to stay and talk to her was nothing short of a miracle.

Of course he can, dummy.‘Come with me.’ He shifted his hand to the small of her back and encouraged her to start walking. Once Melissa had found better balance, he guided her further into the garden toward an outdoor sofa beneath the umbrella-like canopy of a jacaranda.

‘I’m not going to bite.’ Jared tugged at the edge of her shirt, indicating she should sit down next to him. He looked up into the branches. ‘Awesome out here, don’t you reckon?’

‘Yep.’ Melissa’s tongue felt thick and cumbersome.

‘How long have you known Nadia?’

Nadia! She sat up and swung around in alarm. ‘Have you seen her? She keeps ditching me.’

Maybe this was a test and Nadia was watching them, silently daring Melissa to break the promise she made to steer clear of this boy. Which, technically speaking, she kind of had.

‘Um, I’m not meant to be talking to you.’

Jared frowned. ‘Says who?’

‘I…’ She hesitated. Melissa couldn’t think of one good reason why on earth she shouldn’t be. He had come to her rescue and was looking after her. ‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘Are you feeling cold?’

‘No, I’m fine.’ She felt mad. Jared seemed like a perfectly nice guy. Nadia was an i***t. ‘But why doesn’t she like you?’

Jared sighed and said nothing for a moment. ‘It’s complicated.’

‘Isn’t everything where Nadia’s concerned?’

‘You’re not wrong there. She really said she doesn’t like me?’

Melissa nodded with regret. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

‘f**k. That’s bullshit. I really don’t know what to do about it.’

He looked sad and Melissa felt sorry for him. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders. ‘What happened?’

Jared looked down at her and raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s probably best left between me and her. Look, I don’t want to sound like a d**k, but can we change the subject?’ With his thumb he tilted her chin up.

Melissa’s phone buzzed in her pocket and she fought the urge to check it. After a short pause it started buzzing again. ‘I’m sorry.’ It was all she could manage as she fished it out and turned it off without checking the screen.

‘Ah, don’t worry about it.’ His hand still on her face, he brushed his finger over her bottom lip. ‘Why don’t you tell me something about you?’

‘Like what?’

‘I don’t know. Like, what you would rather be doing instead of being at this boring party?’

boring‘I can’t believe I said that.’

‘I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive you.’ Jared leaned in and kissed her, softly. He tasted like soft drink. He pulled away for just a moment to properly take her in. ‘I’m not such a bad person, Melissa.’

She wanted more. Nadia was going to kill her.