Josie and the Pussycats
Alexandra Mellows Out
Chapter 2
The old green and teal van, known to its owners affectionately as the Mystery Machine, plowed down an old beaten highway alongside a tall cliff that soared above the crashing waves of the North Sea.
“Well, gang, we’re on our way to solve the mystery of the Deadly Druid of Haunted Abernethy Forest in good old Scotland,” enthusiastically announced Fred Jones, the blonde, ascot wearing driver of the van.
“De-de-de-deadly?” stammered Shaggy Rogers, the scraggy goatee sporting gourmand, from the back of the van.
“Ha-ha-ha-haunted?” added his talking Great Dane life-partner, Scooby Doo, who was next to him.
“Oh don’t be so superstitious, you two. It’s only a local legend,” said Velma Dinkley, the spectacles and turtleneck wearing brains of the group, from the passenger seat.
“Yeah, but what about that treasure map we found at the pub?” asked the very attractive nubile redhead of the group, Daphne Blake. She was sitting in between Fred and Velma. “Don’t you find the idea of discovering riches beyond our wildest dreams exciting?”
“No way, man. Like no treasure is worth facing a deadly druid. It gives me the creeps!” Shaggy said, shivering at the mere thought. “Can’t we like just go to another pub and order more haggis?”
“Mmmmm. Raggis! Rum!” Scooby agreed.
“Oh I think I know something you two would like more than haggis,” Velma said. She then extracted an orange cardboard box from the glove compartment and held it up in front of the two. “Would you help us solve this mystery for a Scooby Snack?”
“Like no way,” Shaggy said, shaking his head.
“Reah. Ro ray, Relma,” Scooby agreed.
“What about two Scooby Snacks?” Velma asked seductively.
“All right, we’ll do it!”
“Scooby Dooby Doo!” Velma proceeded to shake out four Scooby Snacks from the box, which were then ferociously consumed by Shaggy and Scooby.
“Fred, watch out!” Daphne screamed. A similar looking pink van sporting the Josie and the Pussycats logo had just sped through a red light at a three-way intersection and onto the highway the Mystery Machine was traveling down. As the pink van barreled straight for the Mystery Machine from the right, Fred pulled hard left on the steering wheel.
His quick response had saved them from colliding with the other van by mere inches. Unfortunately, due to the van being in the left lane of a British highway, it had also taken the Mystery Machine straight off the road. The van started rolling down the cliff side as the occupants inside screamed for their very lives. When the van hit the craggy shore below, the sound of a thunderous explosion roared down the highway.
“Oh, I wonder if they’re setting off fireworks!” Melody exclaimed from the back of the Josie and the Pussycats tour van. She was sitting next to Alexander, who was shaking nervously while taking quick drinks from his Coca Cola like it was a bottle of Scotch. This was one ride he was not enjoying.
On top of Melody’s juicy, round thighs was Sebastian. He had been comfortably nuzzled into her lap and enjoying a soothing petting from the blond beauty’s skilled fingers for much of the trip. He had in fact been in such a trance from her touch that he hadn’t really noticed the extremely dangerous driving the van was currently engaged in.
One seat up from Melody and Alexander were Josie and Alan. They were sitting scrunched up next to each other with Alan’s large arm draped comfortably over Josie’s petite shoulders. Josie was a bit concerned about the driving as well but felt safe in Alan’s strong arm. It certainly gave her a good reason to snuggle up closer to him anyways.
In the front passenger seat was Valerie. She currently had a frown on her otherwise cute brown face. The source of her displeasure was the driving of the woman at the wheel, Alexandra.
Alexandra had offered to drive the group to the campsite as a gesture of kindness towards Alan, who usually did the driving for the band. She was hoping this would help her get on his good side in anticipation of the advances she would be able to make on him during the camping trip.
However, the plan, like all her plans, had backfired miserably. Josie, as Alexandra would certainly have done in the same situation, had simply used the opening to get in close to Alan. As Alexandra constantly eavesdropped in on the couple’s near-cuddling with the use of her rearview mirror, the dark haired girl’s temper continued to re-enflame to ever higher levels of animosity. This increasing rage coincided with the acceleration of her usual aggressive driving to near homicidal disregard for the rules of the road.
Alexandra then made a sharp turn on the cliff-bordering road much faster than she should have. Thankfully, the van was able to catch traction instead of wiping out over the bluff, the tires squealing loudly as it did so. “Weeeeeeee! This is fun!” Melody squealed excitedly.
“Ahhhhhhhh!” Alexander cried in terror.
“Would you watch it, Alexandra?” Valerie asked her. “You’re going to kill us.”
“Yeah, I’m certainly going to listen to backseat driving from you, Val. You’re a terrible driver!”
“Right, my driving is worse than yours, Alexandra. You just blew three stop lights!”
“And if you were driving, it would take us three years to get there. You drive like a grandma!”
Valerie’s expression changed from one of displeasure to one of absolute infuriation. “You know, all you do is complain. Complain about my driving, complain about our music, complain about our fans, complain about the hotel. Alan is our roadie, Alexander is our manager, but what exactly is it that you do? Why are you even here?”
Josie reached up and squeezed Valerie’s shoulder. It was her way of telling her to tone it down a bit. Valerie simply ignored her and waited for an answer. “Hey, cats, can’t we all get along?” Alexander chimed in, hoping to alleviate the tension as well, despite his sister’s driving scaring the life out of him. He was also ignored. Alan decided not to come to her defense, and Melody was too confused about why everyone was acting so angry to say anything.
“It’s called constructive criticism, all right? You guys would be lost without me.”
“Right… There’s nothing constructive about your criticism, Alexandra,” Valerie said. “How exactly was trying to douse us with water for the umpteenth time constructive?”
“That was an accident, honest,” Alexandra said. Sebastian snickered from Melody’s lap. “Don’t make me turn you into a black and white hand bag, you stupid fur ball!” Sebastian gulped and buried his head in between Melody’s luscious, milky thighs.
“And another thing,” Valerie went on, “if you hate our music so much, then why are you wearing panties from our line of underwear?”
“What panties I wear is my own private business, you weirdo!”
“Hmph! Well, it still makes no sense.”
“I have the same pair of panties,” Melody added, sounding much more happy and relaxed than anyone else in the vehicle. “I would’ve worn them today too if I didn’t forget to wear underwear today,” she explained with a giggle.
Suddenly, all of the Coca-Cola that Alexander had just sucked down from his bottle exploded out of his mouth. The syrupy liquid sprayed across the back of Josie and Alan's heads. “Ha ha, sorry,” Alexander apologized embarrassedly as Josie and Alan turned back to give him annoyed glares.
“Good thing I’m wearing shorts today, huh? Ha ha ha ha he he he.”
Josie half whispered to her, “Melody, that’s too much information.”
“You think so?” she asked back curiously, not understanding what was wrong with it. Alexander coughed nervously into his hand.
“Yeah, you’re going to give Alex a heart attack,” Valerie said dryly.
Suddenly, Melody looked concerned. “Oh no, should we call an ambulance?” she asked, thinking he was having an actual heart attack.
“I’ll be fine, really.”
“Are you sure? Do you need mouth to mouth resuscitation?”
“Yes!”
“Alexander, behave,” Josie chided him.
“Yeah, Brother, lay off!” Alexandra barked at him. She honestly didn’t know why she cared, but for some reason, she didn’t approve of him trying to take advantage of Melody’s naiveté like that.
“It was just a joke, everyone, really. I’m fine, Melody,” he said before laughing nervously.
“Hmmm, I don’t get it,” Melody said, putting her hand on her forehead. She had seemingly missed the punch line of Alexander’s supposed joke.
As the group continued to banter away, Alexandra uncharacteristically became quiet. Normally, Valerie’s comments wouldn’t have affected her. However, while she continued to spy through the rearview mirror, she had caught a glance of Josie and Alan momentarily holding hands and interlocking fingers. This made her grimace. She grimaced even more when a few minutes later she spotted Josie running her fingers up and down Alan’s thigh.
Despite the danger inherent in Alexandra’s extremely aggressive driving, the group managed to make it safely to the campsite. Alexander paid the fee, and Alexandra parked the van at their reserved spot.
The van had been lightly packed in anticipation of the trip. They had only brought with them sleeping bags, some chopped wood for a camp fire, some food for a cookout later that night, and a few other items. Since it was in the middle of the blistering heat of July and the forecast had been for clear skies, the group had decided to really rough it without the use of tents. Alexandra had of course protested this decision, wishing to get Alan alone in a tent with her, but she had been out-voted.
The group, however, did not spend much time at the campsite. Everyone, save for Alexander, was very excited about the prospect of discovering the supposed buried treasure. In short time, Josie, acting as navigator, had found the actual location in the forest depicted by the starting point of the dotted line on the treasure map. Remarkably, the line appeared to correspond to an actual trail through the woods.
All six youths, plus one cat, started trekking down the trail. The scenery was indeed beautiful. The bright Scottish sun shining down through the leaves of the tall thin trees combined with the tranquil sounds of the forest made for a very pleasant hike.
However, after about twenty minutes of hiking, it became apparent to Josie that the map was less than completely accurate. “I think this map be a bit off,” she remarked. “There was supposed to be a turn towards some hills a while ago. But I think we’ve been traveling in a straight line for far too long, and I don’t see any hills.”
“Maybe we should ask that guy,” Alan said, spotting an old man walking in their direction from far down the trail. He had a thick white beard and wore a green uniform with a wide brimmed hat. “He looks like a forest ranger.”
When he came near, Josie asked him, “Excuse me, sir, do you know how to find the Woodcock Hills?”
“Aye,” he said in his very thick and rather creepy sounding accent. “Ye can use the neist trail aff to the left aboot fower hunder meters aheid.”
“Thanks!” Josie said.
As Josie turned, however, the man grabbed onto her shoulder. “But I wadna gae up that way, lassie,” he said in an utterly disturbing voice.
“Gay up that way?” Melody asked before snickering like a child.
“He means go, Melody. He wouldn’t go up that way,” Valerie told her, a bit embarrassed. “That’s how some Scottish people say it. It’s called a brogue.”
“Ohhhhh,” Melody said. The old man just continued giving the group an unnerving stare with his dark beady eyes.
“Why shouldn’t we go that way, sir?” Alan asked.
“That pairt o’ the forest be cursed. Cursed by the ghost o’ the Deadly Druid.”
“You really believe a ghost haunts the forest?” Valerie asked skeptically.
“Aye,” he said again in his eerie tone of voice.
“What about those rumors of buried treasure?” Josie asked. “People must be constantly going up there to look for it.”
“Thare’s na treasure, my wee lass.”
“Hmmm,” Valerie said.
“I’se just say I canna stap ye lads frae hikin up that way, but an I were ye, I wad gae back till whar ye cam frae,” he said. He then marched off in the direction he had been walking without another word.
The group just stood speechless for a moment before Alexander spoke up, “I could barely understand that guy, but I think he was telling us to go back. So yeah, great idea!” He then started to hurriedly sprint in the other direction.
Alan grabbed the collar of his shirt, forcing him to run in place for a few seconds. “We came this far. We may as well check it out. All of us.”
“I had a feeling you’d say that,” Alexander moaned. “I wish my lawyer was here. This has to be some kind of kidnapping charge.”
The group marched on ahead until they found the second trail the ranger had referred to. As they traveled deeper and deeper into the woods through the new path, the trees became even taller and more closely packed. The extra shade made the scenery much darker, and the forest suddenly took on a more ominous and sinister quality.
Josie, realizing the darkness presented an opportunity, stealthily slinked her wrist around Alan’s arm as they walked along. Alexandra quickly noticed. Not to be outdone, she went and took Alan’s other arm quite forcefully as she growled at the redhead. Josie scowled back. Wishing to avoid a confrontation, Alan lowered himself to fiddle with his already tied shoe-lace. While doing so, he had unlatched both females from his arms.
Valerie, who had been watching the three, just shook her head in amusement. She then commented, “You know, I’ve been thinking about this whole thing, and it doesn’t make sense.”
“You mean about the ghost?” Josie asked.
“No, not that. Legends of ghosts are very common in the U.K., and druids more than likely lived in this part of Scotland at some point during the Roman Empire. A legend about the ghost of a druid seems to make sense. However, that old man said there wasn't any treasure. Something seems off.”
“Maybe it’s a secret treasure,” Melody said.
“You could be right, Melody, but the druids were Celtic religious men, judges, and teachers. I don’t see why they would bury treasure. I mean they’re not pirates.”
“No, really, Val?” Alexandra asked mockingly.
“Yeah, really, Alexandra,” she answered dryly.
“Maybe it’s pirate booty then,” Melody said. “Arrrrrrr, matey!”
“You already have more than enough booty,” Alexandra smarted off.
“Thanks, Alexandra!” Melody chirped.
“That wasn’t a compliment!”
“He he he he he!”
Suddenly, the group met a fork in the road where the path split off into two different trails, one going to the left and one going to the right. “What gives?” Alexander asked.
“Hmm, let me see,” Josie said before pulling the map back out and unfolding it. She then gave a confused expression. “This intersection isn’t on the map.”
“Let me see that!” Alexandra barked, ripping the map away from her. She looked at it for a moment and grimaced, trying to figure it out. She couldn’t see an intersection either but still remarked, “Oh, I see.”
“Really?” Valerie asked suspiciously.
“Yeah, both ways can work. I say we split up. Alan and I will go that way,” she said, pointing to the right. “And Josie and everyone else can go that way,” she said, moving her finger to left.
Josie frowned. Thankfully for her, Alan spoke up. “I think we should break up into more equal numbers for safety,” he said, taking his usual role as self-appointed leader. “Josie, Valerie, and I will go the right. Alexander, Alexandra, Melody, and Sebastian will go to the left. And we’ll all meet back at camp in an hour.”
Alexandra opened her mouth, “But…”
“Thanks for the help, Alexandra,” Josie cut her off while ripping the map back out of her hands. She then hooked her arm around Alan and started strutting off to the right.
“Ohhhhh,” Alexandra muttered to herself.
“Come on, Alexandra, lets gay up this way,” Melody said to her. Josie and Valerie snickered, hearing the comment, as they continued to walk further away.
Alexandra rolled her eyes harshly. “Just stick to American English, dumb dumb.”
“He he. Ok.” Alexandra then started walking along side Melody and Sebastian down the path.
Very reluctantly, Alexander began following the two women and one cat from behind. “How about we just go back to the campsite? I think we’ve gone far enough.”
“Shut up, Chicken Little! There’s no way I’m letting Josie beat me to that treasure!”
“Jeez, Sis. You need to calm down a bit,” he told her.
“Says you!”
“He he hoo hoo! You’re so funny when you’re mad, Alexandra,” Melody said.
Alexandra turned to look at the cute, smiling blond. “Am not!” she protested.
“Am so,” Melody cheerfully retorted before giving Alexandra an even bigger smile.
For a moment, Alexandra considered shooting back with something harsh. However, Melody staring her down with that utterly joyous and adorable smile was somehow affecting her ability to think of a comeback. Finally, after an awkward silence, Alexandra grunted, “Whatever.”
For some reason, she wasn’t filled with murderous rage anymore. However, it wasn’t long before the familiar feelings of depression began to re-engulf her.
“Why do I always end up paired with you two?” Alexandra sighed loudly. “Why can’t I ever be paired up with Alan? It always has to be Josie… Always.”
“I don’t know. Why am I always paired up with you, Alexandra?” Melody asked. “Hmmmm?”
“Maybe it’s because opposites attract,” Alexander said, finally catching up to the two girls. “Melody is nice and sweet, and Alexandra is Alexandra.”
Melody cracked up loudly into incessant little giggles. “She so is.”
Alexandra wasn’t amused. “Watch it, Brother. You don’t want to me to hurt you. And as far as this being a group of opposite personalities, if this was the Wizard of Oz, you’d be the Cowardly Lion.”
“I’d rather be the Cowardly Lion than not have a heart, Miss Tin Girl,” he shot back.
“Yeah right,” Alexandra snarled. “Being the most beautiful and the cutest of the group, I’m obviously a natural choice for Dorothy,” she said haughtily.
“Oh, I want to be Toto!” Melody chimed in.
“No, you’d be the Scarecrow, dumb dumb,” Alexandra told her. “Sebastian would be Toto.” Sebastian meowed and shook his head. He didn’t like the idea of playing a dog.
“But I wanna be Toto! Why would I be the Scarecrow?”
“Because you don’t have a brain.”
“Hey, I have a brain! At least last time I checked,” she said before tapping on her skull with her knuckles a few times.
“Is it still in there?” Alexander asked teasingly.
“I think so,” Melody answered before giggling some more.
“You know it would probably be a good thing for the rest of us girls if you pretended like you had one once in a while. You know the dumb blond is the most sexist stereotype there is, right?”
“How can a stereo be sexy? Does it need good curves?”
“I said you’re a stereotype!”
“Silly, Alexandra, I’m not a type of stereo. I’m a Pussycat,” she said before snickering at the thought.
“Ugh!” Alexandra grunted. “I wish I had an 8-track to shove in you right now.”
“Oooh, that would feel funny!” Alexander gave Melody a curious look, his interest suddenly peaked. He was glad his thick sunglasses hid his complete expression. Alexandra simply rolled her eyes again. “But if I’m a stereo, then you’re a skunk!”
“I am not a skunk!” Alexandra yelled.
“But you look like one,” Melody retorted before giggling.
“She’s got you there, Sis,” Alexander said.
“Shut up, oh dear brother of mine,” she shot back before swinging and punching him hard in the arm.
“Ouch!” he yelped. “Hey, that was uncalled for!”
“I warned you! Deal with it!” she snapped back. “Anyways, a girl as utterly gorgeous as me could never resemble a lowly disgusting skunk.”
“But you have the same hair,” Melody said, pointing to the white streak that ran down Alexandra’s shiny black head of hair. “Sebastian too.” She then placed a finger on her chin, “Gee, I wonder if you both go to the same hairdresser.”
“Yeah, that’s it,” Alexandra said, deciding to side step the true explanation for the resemblance. Sebastian meowed loudly in agreement. “But Sebastian and I do not look like those disgusting, smelly rodents. My white streak is elegant. It accentuates my lovely dark locks,” she said, running her fingers through her hair over her head to further drive home the point.
“But I think skunks are just so cute!”
“You’re not helping,” Alexandra said. A faint rosiness on her formerly completely pale cheeks contradicted her words. “And what kind of girl finds skunks cute?”
“I do! I think they’re just adorable. Oh, I wish I had one as a pet.”
“You’re crazy. Skunks are stinky, crass, and mean. They’re pretty much the biggest jerks of the animal kingdom.”
Uncharacteristically, Melody seemed a bit incensed at the comment. “There’s no such thing as a mean animal, Alexandra. Some animals may seem mean, but all they need is some loving and petting. I give them that, and they always come around to me,” she explained, now sounding serene and happy again.
“You wouldn’t want to pet a skunk, Melody,” Alexander told her. “Believe me, you’ll get a nasty surprise,” he said, patting Alexandra playfully on the head. Alexandra again swung around and hit him in the arm, this time twice as hard.
“Ouch! You’re going to leave a mark!”
“Good!”
They kept on traveling down the trail. It seemed to drag on and on. Still, Alexandra forged ahead. She was absolutely determined to find the treasure before Josie did.
Suddenly, the group heard noise from far off in the distance. It was a loud clacking that kept echoing through the dark woods. “What’s that?” Alexander asked, a cold chill running down his spine.
“Whatever it is, it’s getting closer,” Alexandra remarked. The clacking was indeed getting louder.
“Oh, there must be danger,” Melody said, lifting up her blond locks to show her cute wiggling ears. Alexander gulped very loudly. “Maybe they’re wrong though. It just sounds like a cute horsey,” she deduced.
Indeed, the group could now make out the distinct sound of galloping hooves. As the clacking became louder and louder, they just stood still and looked off to the left through the trees in the direction of the noise. Suddenly, a black horse appeared several hundred feet away. On top of the horse, holding the reigns with his hairy hands, was the same man wearing a white hooded robe from earlier that day. The hooded man and the horse then crossed the trail right in front of the group.
“Ahhhhhhhh! It’s the deadly druid!” Alexander wailed. Waving his hands over his head in sheer terror, he turned and ran off the path deep into the woods. The horse, however, just continued to gallop deeper into the forest on the other side.
“Yeah, leave the women here, you coward!” Alexandra screamed at her brother. “We’re supposed to be the scared ones!”
“I’m not scared, Alexandra. You’re here,” Melody told her.
“Huh?” Alexandra asked, taken aback a bit.
“You’re always so brave and confident. You make me feel safe,” Melody explained before smiling warmly at her.
“Well, um, you should be… Yeah, uh, anyways, let’s go find this treasure already, stupid druid or no stupid druid. I don’t want to be stuck in this dingy forest all night.”
“Ok,” Melody chirped.
Alexandra then turned to her tuxedo cat on the ground. “Sebastian, you go track down Alexander and lead him back to camp. God knows he’ll probably get lost with his sense of direction.”
Sebastian shook his head up and down. He then trotted off into the forest after Alexander.
Back on the other trail, Alan, Josie, and Valerie continued to stroll along. Their walk had so far been uneventful compared to that of the other group. That didn’t stop Josie and Alan from thoroughly enjoying it however. They had seemed to be getting closer and closer to each other with each passing second.
Watching them, Valerie smirked. She thought that if something were to suddenly appear in front of them on the trail, they would walk straight into it. They were certainly staring at each other much more than their surroundings.
“Say, if you two want to go on ahead without me, I’d be cool with that,” she told them.
“Don’t you want to come with, Val?” Alan asked her.
“Stop playing coy, you two,” she said teasingly. “I’ve seen the way you two have been looking at each other. I know when I’m being a third wheel.”
Josie giggled and blushed a bit. “You sure you’ll be ok though? That druid may be lurking around somewhere.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m a big girl. Besides, I want to get a closer look at this device,” she said, referring to the druid’s “laser gun” that she was holding and had been examining during most of the hike. Thinking that it may be of some use to them somehow, she had brought it with. “The technology is just fascinating.”
“Well, all right,” Josie agreed. “Thanks, Val, you’re the best.”
“Don’t mention it. You two just don’t have too much fun now,” she teased again. Josie giggled even louder.
“See you back at camp, Val,” Alan said.
“Bye!” Josie said.
Valerie waved to the two lovebirds and then started trekking in the opposite direction. She walked for a long while but stopped when she spotted something. It was far off in the distance up on the edge of a tall hill to her right. It was also moving. Squinting, she could see a horse and a white robed man riding on top of it. “Well, hello, Mr. Druid,” she said. She then flipped the switch on the gun, aimed it in his direction, and pressed the trigger. The stone on the back of the device glowed an eerie neon green as the dial on the gun ran to the “V”. “Interesting,” she remarked.
Sometime later, Alexandra and Melody were still trudging through the trail. It had been most of the same: trees, grass, shrubbery, some fallen leaves, and not much else.
The only difference was the path had been traveling up an incline for some time. Alexandra was beginning to get frustrated. “Is this stupid trail going to go anywhere? And Josie just had to take the map!”
“Well, it has to go somewhere. Everywhere goes somewhere,” Melody said before emitting another trademark giggle.
“More words of wisdom from the giggling guru.”
“Guru? Is that when you dip the bread and vegetables and stuff into cheese? Golly, I just love cheese!”
“That’s fondue, you goofball.” Alexandra then heard what sounded like a moan from deep in the forest. “Shhhh, I hear something.”
“Really?” Melody asked at her regular volume.
Alexandra put her hand over Melody’s lips. “Quiet, ding-dong. Shhhh, listen.” Indeed, both women heard the faint sounds of human voices. Some sounded like giggles. Others sounded like moans. Alexandra took her hand and moved back Melody’s hair to behind her ear. It wasn’t wiggling.
She then walked off the trail and into the woods in the direction of the voices. Melody followed closely behind. After walking some distance, they reached the edge of the very steep hill they were on. Alexandra stopped and stood behind a tall tree that was near the edge. She then peeked around the corner.
She grimaced deeply the moment she saw them. Deep down in a valley nestled in between two hills were Josie and Alan. However, currently, they were more like a singular mass on the ground. With Josie straddled on top of him and their lips locked together, the almost completely undressed couple was rather preoccupied.
“I can’t… I can’t believe they’re doing that... That Josie…” she darkly muttered. Her voice then cracked a bit. “Buh… but it was Alan’s idea to split up with her, wasn’t it?” she realized. Melody looked around the tree and saw as well. Immediately, she understood. She suddenly looked very concerned as she watched Alexandra’s condition continue to deteriorate.
Alexandra took her eyes away. She then began to stagger back towards the trail with her head hanging low. She made it half way back but then began to collapse. A tree in front of her managed to break her fall. Melody ran up to her, grabbed onto her from behind, and held her. Alexandra just rested her head against the tree trunk as the tears began to pour down her cheeks uncontrollably.
“Alexandra, it’s going to be ok,” Melody said, trying to sound comforting. “It’s going to be all right.”
Alexandra didn’t respond but instead started sobbing miserably. Finally, she asked, “Why am I not good enough for him? Why?”
“You are,” Melody answered.
“It’s not true… not true at all...” She then went on sobbing.
Melody frowned. She couldn’t stand seeing Alexandra like this. It hurt her deeply. She then thought for a moment about what to do. Finally, the answer came to her, and she tapped on Alexandra’s shoulder. Alexandra ignored her, but Melody persisted and kept tapping. “Leave me alone,” she sobbed. Melody then put her hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle tug. “What do you want?” she spat off, half angry and half grief-stricken. Finally, Alexandra turned around, and that’s when Melody struck.
It was very quick, and Alexandra was caught completely off guard. When Melody’s supple lips planted against Alexandra’s, her eyes widened in shock. However, that feeling of surprise was quickly washed over by something else. It was a feeling that Alexandra wasn’t familiar with. For a moment, it was like she lost control and melted into the kiss. As Alexandra unconsciously closed her eyes, Melody stayed persistent. She continued to move her lips against Alexandra’s. She pushed her lower lip deeper and deeper into Alexandra’s mouth while also pushing Alexandra’s small frame up against the tree with her body.
However, just as quickly as that feeling had come, it was overridden by the realization of what was happening. Alexandra opened her eyes and pulled her lips away from Melody. Melody seemed a little disappointed it had ended but still had a pleasant look on her face. She still looked concerned for Alexandra, but she now had a slightly impish smile as well. Alexandra’s expression, on the other hand, was one painted with confusion, shock, embarrassment, and a few other emotions she didn’t recognize. Those last emotions were expressed by the bright red blush currently lighting up her tear-stained cheeks.
“Did you… did you just kiss me?” Alexandra was finally able to blurt out. Her heart was racing so fast and she was breathing so heavy that it was almost too hard for her to speak.
“Yeah,” Melody answered very cheerfully.
“Wh-wh-why?” she stammered.
“Well, you just looked so sad, and I was thinking of a way to cheer you up. Then I decided I wanted to kiss you, so I kissed you. Is that weird?” Melody asked with complete childlike innocence.
“Yes!”
“Well, people do tell me I’m kinda weird. He he!” she giggled, seemingly not understanding why Alexandra had become so flustered.
“Just um… don’t do anything weird like that again, ok?”
“He he. Well, if you say so, Alexandra. I just hope you feel better. I don’t like seeing you sad. It makes me sad too.”
Alexandra didn’t respond and started walking back towards the trail. When she got back on it, she started walking back in the direction of camp.
“Aren’t we going to go find the treasure?” Melody asked.
Slowly, Alexandra turned to face her. Just seeing Melody look at her with those big blue eyes made Alexandra blush deeply again. Along with the blush, she gave Melody a very shy expression. That look caused the blond girl’s lip to edge up into a warm, inviting smirk. However, Alexandra quickly shrugged it off and turned to look forward again. “We’re going back to camp,” she droned.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t care about the damn treasure. Stupid Josie can have it. Stupid Josie and Alan.” She had tried to say that with anger. However, it came out sounding much more pathetic. The usual fire that was inside Alexandra had been completely snuffed out. Again, Melody frowned as she studied Alexandra’s condition. She was becoming very concerned for her wellbeing.
To Be Continued