They'll Never Hear a Word We Say: Part Five

Since Mel and Sam weren't in the same class that year, they naturally had to make new friends. It was quite easy for them to do this, since they were so popular anyway. There were about four girls who were following Mel around, wanting to talk to her and be her friend. But the yellow Usul ignored them all, and instead chose to befriend a different Neopet, who didn't bother her and seemed very kind.

    Her name was Kira, and she was a yellow Cybunny. Mel liked her because she was laid back and optimistic. She was also very playful, so she and Mel got along just fine. Kira was sort of quiet, though, so Mel did most of the talking whenever they hung out. They also sat right next to each other in class, so they got to talk a lot and laugh at the boys who showed off and did dumb things.

    At first, Sam and Mel didn't talk about their new friends to each other during recess, since they thought it might endanger their friendship, but eventually during one recess, Sam's friend, Krystal, followed her over to Samel. Mel looked up at the red Krawk. She wore a proud look, and looked to Mel like she was overconfident. Mel personally didn't like her much at first glance. Krystal seemed like the opposite of Kira, who she adored.

    "Oh... Mel, this is Krystal," Sam said, pointing a hoof in the Krawk's direction. Mel made herself smile, but it was a weak smile, a careless smile. Krystal did the same. "And this is Mel, I'm sure you know."

    "Oh, yes. I've heard lots about Mel. Not just from you, though. Garret talks about her an awful lot," Krystal chuckled, as she sat down next to Sam. "So, I've noticed this is where you guys go every single recess. You just sit under this tree the whole time. Why?"

    "Well, it's kind of a long story. You see, last year we started coming here, talking about things, and we decided to give it a name, and it sort of stuck," Sam explained.

    "You gave the tree a name?" Krystal sneered. "That sounds a little stupid."

    Mel was greatly offended by this. She really disliked Krystal now. How could she just barge in and pretend like she's Sam's best friend? Mel thought. I'm Sam's best friend! And who does she think she is, making fun of Samel? Mel coughed loudly and shot an annoyed look at Sam. The blue Uni sighed.

    -

    "I know she's a bit harsh, but she's all I've got," Sam explained that afternoon, on the walk home from school. "And if she hasn't softened up by the end of this week, I'll ditch her. By the way, when are you going to introduce me to your new friend?"

    "I don't know, most likely tomorrow. She's kind of shy," Mel said. "But really nice. I think you'll like her."

    -

    The next day at recess, Mel led Kira over to Samel. "I want to introduce you to my friend, Sam," she told Kira, dragging the Cybunny along. "Don't be shy... she's very nice. I promise."

    They neared the big pine tree, where Krystal and Sam were sitting under. They were giggling softly. Krystal glared over at Mel and Kira, and Mel could hear her say quietly to Sam, "What are they doing here?"

    Sam looked at Krystal with a puzzled look on her face. Mel frowned as she stood in front of the blue Uni and red Krawk. But Sam smiled up at her as usual.

    "This is Kira, who I was telling you about," Mel informed them. "And Kira, this is Krystal, and Sam."

    Sam waved excitedly with a wide smile on her face. Krystal grinned slightly, and then looked over at Sam with a disapproving look. Kira and Mel sat down across from them. The four pets just sat there in silence for a few moments.

    "Nice weather, isn't it?" Sam coughed, breaking the awkward silence. Great big gray storm clouds were coming their way, and the mountains in the distance looked lonely and mysterious. Everything around them seemed to be quiet. There were suddenly no more screams of laughter coming from the pets on the playground. The only sound they could hear was the soft whisper of the wind. Mel and Kira exchanged curious looks, as Sam and Krystal did the same.

    Krystal snorted spontaneously and stretched her arms out. "Don't you people ever talk about anything?" she gibed, standing up. "Come on, Sam. Let's go."

    Mel watched in disbelief as Sam got up and walked away with Krystal. Sam had never just left Mel all by herself like that before. The Usul shook her head and wiped her nose with her coat sleeve, staring down at the ground. Not only was Krystal so demanding and controlling, not to mention outrageously impudent, she was also stealing her best friend!

Changes

    Over the next few weeks, a lot of things changed. Sam and Mel no longer met every single recess at Samel. Instead, Sam would go off with Krystal to play wall ball with Chad and Mikey, or something of the sort, which left Mel with Kira. She didn't mind spending time with Kira, because Kira had become a very good friend to her. The problem was that she just couldn't stand the thought of Sam being with Krystal all of the time, instead of her.

    Worst of all, Sam still hadn't ditched Krystal like she told Mel she was going to ages ago. Krystal had completely taken over Sam. Krystal could get her to do whatever she wanted her to do. This worried Mel, because she knew for a fact that Krystal didn't like her. She was afraid that somehow Krystal would hypnotize Sam into disliking her as well. But after she thought about it, it seemed quite silly, because after all that she and Sam had been through together, how could a petty little Krawk like Krystal make Sam change her mind so quickly about something she felt so strongly for, even if it seemed like Krystal could get whatever she wanted?

    Mel glared at Krystal and Sam from across the playground. They were laughing and having fun with Mikey and Chad. The yellow Usul sighed and looked over at Kira, who was sitting next to her on a small bench that they had scraped the thick layer of snow off of. Kira frowned.

    "You keep looking over there," she uttered in a worried voice. "Glaring, actually. You really dislike Krystal, don't you?"

    "Hate," Mel corrected her, without taking her eyes off of Sam and Krystal, who were giggling so loudly that she could hear them all the way from across the playground where she was sitting.

    "But hate is such a strong word," came a voice from behind them. It was Garret. He sat down between Kira and Mel on the bench. He was holding a basketball in his hands. Mel could see little drops of sweat rolling down from his forehead.

    "How can you be sweating and panting like that in this cold?" Mel demanded, as she cocked a brow at the yellow Eyrie. "And, I don't care if it's a strong word. I hate her."

    "Yeah, I never liked her much either. She's so bossy. And evil. Actually, I don't even know her," he chortled, spinning the basketball around in his large Eyrie claws. "But from the looks of her, she seems so... malicious. But Mel, you should come play basketball. It'll get your mind off of that girl. And don't you think you're overreacting a bit? I mean, it's not the end of the world that she stole your best friend in the universe--"

    "SEE? YOU'VE NOTICED IT TOO! I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE! EVERYONE'S AWARE OF IT, ACTUALLY, EVERYONE EXCEPT SAM!" Mel screamed, standing up from the bench. Her eyes were flaming. Every ounce of fury that she had been keeping up inside of her like a Bottled Faerie was exploding. "SHE'S SO... UURGH! I HATE HER! SHE'S RUINING MY LIFE!"

    Garret and Kira sat there in silence, looking down at their feet. Garret had a slight smile on his face, and his eyebrow was cocked in such a way he looked like he was going to chuckle.

    "What are you laughing about?!" Mel yelled. She kicked Garret in the shin, and he wailed and held his leg in pain. Mel then stormed off towards the water fountain, sobbing painfully. Kira bounded off after her.

    Mel's tears fell off of her cheeks and landed in the water fountain that she was leaning over. It was the hardest she had ever cried before in her life. Even harder than when she and Sam found out they weren't in the same fourth grade class. She felt Kira's hand on her shoulder and suddenly felt a little comforted. The yellow Cybunny walked her over to the swing set, while Mel was still sobbing in her arms.

    -

    "Mel..." Sam murmured. They were on their walk home from school. "I could have sworn I saw you bawling your eyes out at recess today."

    "And?"

    "I'm worried... what were you crying about? Are you angry with me? Just tell me what's wrong," the blue Uni insisted, frowning at her friend.

    "You don't know?" Mel snorted, kicking the snow with her feet as she walked.

    "Well... no. I don't think so."

    "It's Krystal, and honestly, Sam, I thought you were smart enough to have figured that out by now. Everyone can see that she's taken over you. She's a monster," Mel hissed. Even though Sam was her best friend and she could usually tell her anything, Mel just couldn't admit to her that she was jealous of her and Krystal hanging out all the time.

    "What?" asked Sam in disbelief. "A monster? So that's what you do now, go around saying awful things about people you don't even know? I thought you were different, Mel."

    "Maybe I am now," she replied coldly, and turned the corner of her street hastily without saying goodbye to Sam.

To be continued...