Chapter 1
MELODY
Penysville was my hometown, and I could say I had only been away from it for short vacation periods when I was very young. My family was very close friends with another family that lived a few buildings down from ours; they had a son named Seth and a daughter named Lea. If I was born in Penysville, my parents couldn’t say the same. My mother taught singing and diction, while my father worked in insurance. They moved there a few years before I was born because, compared to the small village where they lived before, in a bigger city, my mother had more work opportunities. In fact, besides working for a school, she also gave private lessons. Seth and Lea’s parents, however, had lived there for generations and were the first friends my parents made when they moved.
I have a very vivid memory of the summer when I was 14. As I mentioned, I had never taken big trips outside the town, and the longer, more distant ones we always took together: me, my mother, my father, Seth, Lea, and their parents. But not that year. My parents had only planned a trip to my grandparents, about 400 kilometers away, in my parents’ hometown for my 14th summer. Surely important, but nothing like the big trips we took in previous years. Seth and I hoped to take a plane again to go somewhere exotic; we had expressed it as a wish when we returned from the previous summer’s vacation, not to mention it was my turn to sit next to the window.
At that time, I had no idea that this wouldn’t be the only summer I wouldn’t spend with Seth and Lea; many more would follow. So many that, eventually, the vacations with them became a childhood memory and were forgotten over time. Moreover, Seth, who was a year older than me, changed schools, and I no longer had the opportunity to see him, just like Lea, who was younger and had always attended a different school.
Why had Seth and our pre-14 summers suddenly come back to mind? Because I had him right in front of me with a shocked expression as he asked for two tickets to a romantic movie.
«Mel?» he asked, shocked to find me on the other side of the counter.
«Seth?» I asked, equally shocked to see him after so long.
One small detail I had left out was that when I was younger, I had an unspoken crush on him. I never thought we’d see each other again, but I realized now that I had secretly hoped that when we did, he would turn out to be an unattractive guy. But of course, I wasn’t that lucky and found myself facing a Seth with the same features from my memories, only more mature, taller, and sexier. Wonderful, my elementary school crush had turned into a pheromone dispenser. Great job, Mel, choosing to work as a cashier at the city cinema was a brilliant move.
«How long has it been? I can’t believe it! How long have you been working here?» he asked cheerfully, leaning against the counter to speak better through the microphone attached to the glass that divided us.
«Just a few weeks» I replied, giving an awkward smile, then turning toward the computer screen to see which available seats I could assign him. «I have two central seats in row J» I proposed, returning my gaze to him, finding him gesturing toward a beautiful girl in the popcorn line who wasn’t giving him much attention.
«The world is really small sometimes» he said, amused, turning back to me.
«I think it’s more the city» I replied awkwardly, craning my neck to see the line forming behind my childhood friend. «Is row J okay? Otherwise, I have side seats in row H»«Let’s go with J; no one wants to hear complaints about watching the movie all crooked» he chuckled, indicating his companion with a hand.
«Imagine that» I replied, quickly selecting the seats and printing the tickets. «Enjoy the movie» I said politely, handing the tickets to Seth and looking past him to let the customers behind him through.
Once the line cleared, there wouldn’t be much activity for a few hours since the last show wouldn’t start for about two more hours.
«Hey, Mel, all good? Did you have any problems? I saw a bit of a line forming there for a moment. Did the program give you trouble?» Leon asked, opening the door to the booth where I was.
«No, sorry, everything’s fine. I just ran into a childhood friend I hadn’t seen in years. We exchanged a few words» I replied, bending down to grab the water bottle I had placed on the floor, taking a sip.
«Good to hear. When I saw the line forming from the counter, I was worried the system had frozen again» he chuckled, leaning against the door frame.
Leon was very friendly; he had been working here for almost two years and had done practically every job inside the cinema. Being a very small cinema, it didn’t have many employees. They increased the staff during the summer months or holiday periods, but for the rest of the time, it was at a minimum. So Leon, being the youngest and most experienced, had been with me for the first two days in ticket sales to explain how everything worked. It wasn’t too difficult; the program was simple and intuitive, only that sometimes it froze and didn’t register the assigned seats, causing errors or assigning double seats, creating chaos in the theater.
Leon stayed with me to chat a bit longer until his phone vibrated, signaling that it was time to prepare the concessions for the intermission rush.
«Hey, Mel!» A voice behind me made me jump. I turned around quickly, finding Seth laughing on the other side of the glass.
«Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you!»«You nearly gave me a heart attack!» I replied, holding a hand to my chest and laughing along with him. «What are you doing here? Your movie isn’t over yet?»«Yes, it’s intermission. I have to be quick. I was talking to Lea, and she’d love for you to come to her birthday party in a few weeks» he explained, hurriedly pulling out his phone.
«I can see you’re really invested in the movie» I teased, drawing a laugh from him.
«Her friends have already seen it; she just didn’t want to come to the cinema alone» he shrugged, still laughing. «If you give me your number, I’ll send you all the details»
For a moment, I stared at him, trying to process everything. «THAT GIRL WITH YOU IS LEA!?!» I practically yelled into the microphone, making him jump. After a moment of confusion, he nodded.
«Wow, I would never have recognized her. I thought she was your girlfriend» I blurted out.
«As if! She’s just as bratty as she was when we were kids. She just grew taller» he shrugged and leaned against the edge. «Come on, what’s your number? I need to drop her off soon, and I have plans with my friends»
Caught off guard by this revelation, I quickly gave Seth my phone number. After he made a quick call to save his number, he rushed toward the theater as the lights dimmed.
After the show ended, Seth and Lea waved goodbye from a distance as they rushed out, while I wrapped up my last few tickets for the final show, finally ending my shift for the day.
The next day, as I chatted with my friend about the encounter, I noticed a message from Seth pop up. Since our reunion, we’d been exchanging silly messages about cute animal videos—me being on Team Cat and him on Team Dog. «Is it Seth again?» my friend asked, peering over my shoulder.
«Yes, he thinks dogs are better. I need to find a great cat video to set him straight» I replied, laughing and scrolling through my phone.
«You know this whole conversation is a bit crazy, right?» she asked, shaking her head.
«Yes, but I need to bring him back to the right side. He used to like cats, but somehow he’s fallen into bad habits» I said, selecting a video to send.
«You realize that this conversation you’re having has been dragging on for days?» she asked, looking at her phone. Then she nudged me to show her a video that would be perfect to send to Seth.
«Send it to me so I can forward it to him» I replied, resolutely scrolling to forward the video.
«I need to get him back on the right track; if we hadn’t stopped seeing each other, he wouldn’t have fallen into this bad habit» I said, determined.
«The bad habit of watching funny dog videos?»«Exactly! Do you think it’s normal for him to like dogs and not cats?» I asked seriously, placing my phone away as we entered the café, finally able to sit at a table.
«Seriously, Mel, from the pictures you showed me, he’s really good-looking. Are you really going to keep talking to him about dogs and cats?» she asked, sitting down across from me and picking up a menu to start browsing.
«He’s definitely out of my league, and remember I’m happily taken» I replied, picking up a menu as well and starting to see what I could order.
«He asked for your number; it seems to me he doesn’t feel the same way. And your concept of happiness tied to being in a relationship needs to be revised»«Lea wanted to invite me to her party; he just asked for my number for that» I replied, continuing to scan the menu while ignoring her dig about my happiness.
I knew she wasn’t being mean; she had been telling me for months that something was off in my relationship with Trevor, but in the end, it was my thing. Mine and Trevor’s. If we were fine with our relationship as it was, I didn’t understand why it shouldn’t be okay for others.
«The number for Lea I don’t think you have in your contacts, though, and the messages you’re sending aren’t for her» I decided to outright ignore what she was insinuating, choosing a smoothie with almond milk, banana, mixed berries, and a sandwich described as “Hawaiian style» for my pre-shopping lunch.
After a quick lunch, we started wandering around the mall, not really knowing what to buy. I had asked Victoria to come with me, but since she didn’t know Lea either, she couldn’t really help me find a gift. Seth had been very vague in giving me advice on what I could get her.
«What if I sent some pictures of these bracelets to Seth?» my friend suggested in front of yet another display case where we had stopped to see if something would inspire us. «Maybe he can tell us more than just his sister’s favorite color» «I’ll give it a try» I muttered, grabbing my phone and taking pictures of some bracelets and necklaces on display that seemed cute and suitable for Lea.
