Chapter 16
to arrive, “the nights are always so warm.”
Shane smiled over at Melanee, “I love summer too,” she said, smiling cheekily, “cos
all the girls walk around in skimpy clothes!”
“Shane,” Melanee said, turning around and thumping him lightly, “you’re acting like
a hormone driven teenager!”
“I am a hormone driven teenager!” Shane said, with a laugh.
“Shane, hunee,” Melanee said, giving Shane a pathetic look, “you stop being a teenager
when you reach 20!”
“Well I'm a teenager at heart,” Shane said, smiling, “just like you are!”
“Shane,” Melanee said, rolling her eyes, “I am a teenager…19, hello!”
Shane was about to say something, then just laughed instead, “whatever,” he said,
looking over Mel’s shoulder, “where are they all?”
Melanee looked at her watch, “not very punctual your friends, are they?” she said,
closing her eyes and leaning on Shane’s shoulder, “although my friend’s late too,
I suppose…”
Shane rested his head on Mel’s, and sighed comfortably, “oh well,” he said, “we can
just sit here and relax till they arrive.”
“Hello lovebirds!” they heard someone yell behind them, “I was about to apologise
for being late, but I'm sure you guys didn’t mind being all alone!”
Mel and Shane spun around, to see a smiling Bryan, holding on to a girl. Behind him
were Mark, Kian, both with their girlfriends and then Nicky was at the back talking
to Gillian!
“Gill?” Melanee screamed, when she saw someone resembling her old friend Gillian,
“oh my god, Gill!”
“Mel?” Gillian said, turning away from Nicky, “oh my god, no way, is that really
you?”
“Yes!” Mel squealed, running up to Gill and flinging her arms around her, “it’s been
way too long.” All the guys watched with smiles on their faces.
“Hey, Nicky,” Shane said, calling him over, “why was Gill with you, I didn’t think
you guys knew each other?”
“You know Gill?” Nicky asked, a little shocked, “I only met her a couple of days
ago, myself.”
Shane looked at Nicky, “so, you didn’t bump into her here, then?” he asked.
“Erm…no,” Nicky said, still a little confused, “I asked her to come with me tonight,
and it turns out she was already coming here…freaky, huh. How does she know Mel?”
Shane looked at Nicky then back to Gill again.
“Shane?” Nicky said, looking at him strangely, “I didn’t realise that you and Mel
even knew her, but that’s pretty cool, cos now I won’t have to make any stupid introductions.
You know how they go, ‘Gill, this is my friend Shane. Shane, this is my girlfriend,
Gill.’ They are always so awkward…”
Nicky trailed off as he noticed Shane’s expression.
“You…you’re going out with her?” Shane said, finally, after a few minutes of silence,
“but I thought you only met her a couple of days ago?”
“Erm…yeah, I did, but I asked her out last night,” Nicky said, “do you have a problem
with that, Shane?”
“Oh, Erm… no,” Shane said, quickly, hiding the fact that his was breaking inside,
“I just thought you had a bit of a thing for Mel, that’s all.”
Nicky looked over at Mel, and smiled, “yeah, well, I wouldn’t take her away from
you, man,” he said, putting his hand on Shane’s shoulder, “I'd never do that to a
friend… not that she’d leave you, or anything.”
“What?” Shane said, frowning slightly, in confusion, “what do you mean take her away
from me?”
“Well, you know,” Nicky said, laughing a little, “I wouldn’t steal my friend’s soul
mate, that’s not the done thing!”
“Nicky, what are you on about?” Shane asked, “Melanee’s not my girlfriend or anything.
Well she is, but not like that!”
Nicky just looked at Shane and smiled, “Shane, stop denying yourself,” he said, “you
and Mel…you’re destined…”
“Nicky, we’re just friends,” Shane assured, a little besotted by Nicky’s words, “honestly,
there’s nothing more than friendship between us…”
“Wow…” Nicky said, slowly, “you’re in denial…”
“Nicky!” Melanee yelled, running up to him and flinging her arms around him, interrupting
their conversation, “I'm so happy for you and Gill!”
Shane looked at her, amazed.
Either she didn’t care at all about Nicky, or she was holding her emotions in very
well.
Melanee let go of Nicky, then turned to Shane, “Shane, hunee, can I talk to you,
for a second?”
Yep, sure,” Shane said, smiling, “hey guys, just go in, we’ll meet you in there soon,
okay.”
The guys all nodded in agreement and went into the club, leaving Mel and Shane outside.
“Come here, you,” Mel said, holding out her arms to Shane.
Shane fell into them and started crying desperately.
He didn’t really know why, for he hadn’t even gotten to know Gillian, so it wasn’t
as if he had, had something taken away from him.
Yet Shane had an uncontrollable urge to cry.
“Shhh, it’s alright,” Melanee said, soothingly, as she rubbed Shane’s back, “we’ll
find the perfect match for you one day, don’t worry.”
Shane looked up at Melanee, and realised that he had never loved her as much as he
did at that moment.
As far as lost chances were concerned, Mel had lost just as much as Shane. She had
really fallen for Nicky, he thought, yet she continued to think only of Shane and
how he was feeling. Shane stared into Melanee’s eyes.
Almost as though someone had come up to him and hit him with a SledgeHammer, Shane
suddenly realised what Nicky was talking about.
He couldn’t believe he hadn’t realised it earlier, she was perfect. She knew everything
about him and together they made the perfect being, they completed each other.
They were soul mates.
Shane touched her face and looked at her, a way he had never looked at her before.
Then he kissed her.
He kissed her with a violent passion that he had never experienced before.
Much to Shane’s disappointment, Melanee pulled away quickly.
“Shane, I…” she said, lost for words, “this can’t happen…”
Shane looked at her, and saw the shock and concern in her eyes.
“Mel, I don’t know…what that was,” Shane stuttered, not knowing how to explain his
feelings, as he had no idea himself.
They both stood now, for the first time in their lives, in an uncomfortable silence.
“We should probably go inside,” Melanee said, after a while, “they might start to
worry.” “Yeah,” Shane said, quietly, “we probably should.”
As they walked into the club, Melanee had a realisation that things would never be
the same again for her and Shane. No matter how much they told themselves it didn’t
mean anything, they both knew it did.
This was a new road in their relationship, one that Melanee never expected to go
down and Melanee felt sick to her stomach, as she thought about the consequences
of this one incident.