Valedictorians

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Valedictorians Part One By Chris

Robin's grandparents had immigrated to the United States from Spain in the sixties eventually settling in Atlanta. There they had their only child, Alejandra. They tried to raise her in all of their finest Spanish traditions

and they were hoping that one day she would return to Spain to find a good Spanish husband. But being raised in America she naturally became more American than Spanish. Then she met a very nice southern boy at the University of Georgia, whose name was JP. His parents gave him only initials

as that was the way JP's father was named and his father before him. He was a nice boy raised to be a Southern gentleman. He grew up on a farm and for centuries his family had made their living off the land. When he saw Alejandra, he instantly fell in love with her Spanish looks, the long black hair, and the brown eyes. It took him a year to get her to go out with him and he treated her like the young lady that she was. He even tried his best to learn her native tongue, even thought he butchered it badly but he kept trying until he had it mostly mastered. He spoke it with a deep southern accent and that gave Alejandra hours of laughs. But the effort that he made also convinced her that he was the one for her and at the end of their senior year, she accepted his proposal. Now her parents laid down the law and threatened to send her back to Spain to live with her father's sister. But for the first time in her life, she stood up to her parents and they gave in as they knew it was that or lose their only child forever. They didn't like JP and let him know it but that didn't stop JP from showing them his respect as they were his wife's parents. JP's parents on the other hand fell in love with Alejandra. Alejandra soon presented her husband with a beautiful baby girl that JP convinced Alejandra to name Robin. This pissed off Alejandra's parents even more but they loved their granddaughter and as Robin grew, they saw how much JP loved both his wife and daughter and they finally began to accept him. Robin turned out to be a very bright girl who excelled at everything that she did. She was a challenge to both of her parents but they kept up with her. Robin and her father even came up with a bastardized version of Spanish that used both southern slang and Spanish words and sometimes the words were a combination of both languages. Alejandra fussed at them both when she heard them talking this way but she didn't fuss much, it was something that bonded the two together and that wasn't a bad thing. But hearing her beautiful native language torn to pieces made her

put up a little fuss. They would always tell her that they would stop but as

soon as she turned her back to them the two co-conspirators went back at it only talking quietly now. Alejandra would smile to herself and then start to

hum a favorite Spanish song so that she could drown them out. Robin was so smart that she could have skipped a grade or two but her parents agreed that she was better off staying with her friends and they kept her mind occupied by adding to her school work at home. So when she was accepted to the advanced high school that only took the best children from the Atlanta area, they enrolled her immediately.

When Robin entered the school that first day, she entered with a lofty goal. She wanted to graduate at the top of her class. To do that, she needed to know who her competition was for this honor. There were children of all races, colors, and religions at the school and they were all smart. She had been there for only a few months when she figured out just who her main competitor would be. The funny thing was that they both looked very similar. The girl, whose name was Melody, had the same dark skin tone as she

did. Robin's came from her Spanish heritage while Melody's came from her Italian heritage. They were both slim and tall and they both wore wire rimed

glasses that they had to keep pushing up on their noses. They both had shoulder length black hair with Melody's hair having a slight curl to it while Robin's was straight. They also both dressed in jeans, tennis shoes and common blouses, nothing fancy at all as they were more concerned about their grades than their looks. Given that they were so similar, one would think that they would eventually become fast friends but they ended up with their own set of friends.

They both leaned toward the sciences so they were often in the same classes the first year but they usually sat at opposite ends of the room but

both on the front role. Robin kept her eye on her and always compared her grades on tests to Melody's. They were always within a point of each other. Robin knew that it would be close and she started to study harder. She also changed her elective for a foreign language, that she would start her sophomore year, from German to Italian. She figured that would help her to understand her competition just a little better.

It during the summer after her freshman year that she began to blossom as a woman and the breasts that she thought she would never get, popped up over night. At the same time she discovered her sexuality. One hot summer night, she found that she couldn't sleep. She twisted and turned in her bed but sleep wouldn't come. Then a now familiar urge began to come to her. Since her mother had insisted that she be raised as a Catholic she had been taught never to touch herself but this night, the urge was too much. Her budding breasts were aching and she pulled up the old threadbare nightgown that she was wearing. Her fingers were trembling as they touched her nipples and she felt them grow hard. She teased them with her fingertips and she heard herself moan. This felt so good and right to her that she had to continue. She began to pull on them and that felt even better. She teased and pulled on them more and more until they began to get sore. She then realized how wet her cotton panties had become. She stopped what she was doing to make sure that her parents had not heard her or were up and then she let her left hand, as she was left handed like her father, go down her stomach. She let it slip under her panties and she felt her pubic hair. As her fingers got closer to her pussy she felt a pang of guilt but then her pussy was demanding attention and this time the urge was greater that the guilt trip her church had pounded into her head. Her fingers went on down and as they touched her clit, her body exploded into a world of pleasurable feelings. She had never felt anything like that in her life. She found it hard to breathe as she twisted in her bed. When she finally got herself back together, she felt her pussy and found that it was soaked with juices. She first thought that she had peed on herself but when she sniffed her fingers she found that they didn't smell like pee but it did

have a strong aroma. She brought her fingers closer and she let her tongue touch the juices that were on her finger and she liked what she tasted. She clambered out of bed and got a clean pair of panties and then she snuck to the bathroom. She striped naked and washed her pussy and then rinsed out her panties. She didn't want her mother to find them like they were.

The next day she went onto her computer the first thing and googled her way through the internet until she found a good site on masturbation. Being the good student that she was, she had to study up on what she had done and what her body had done to her. She found that boys wasn't the only ones who cum when they have an orgasm and juices that she felt were from her pussy as she came. She even learned a few new ways to masturbate and she couldn't wait to try them. She came to the conclusion that her church was wrong about one thing; there wasn't anything wrong with masturbation. That night she couldn't wait for her parents to go off to bed.

As soon as she heard the first snore come from her parent's room, she threw her covers off and stripped out of her nightgown and panties. She then got the towel that she had put into her room and as she lay back on the

bed, she put the towel under her butt. She lay there for a moment as her mind wandered, as the article she had read on the internet had said that some women thought about a fantasy as they masturbated. She tried to think of some cute boy but nothing happened when she did that. She tried different things then Melody came into mind and she felt something inside of her stir. This disturbed her at first but then she went with it. She pictured Melody in her mind with her dark skin tones and her wavy black hair. She moved her fingers to her budding breasts and she started to tease them. This excited her and she began to rub her nipples harder and then she pinched them. This caused her a little pain but lots more pleasure and she had to bite her lower lip to keep from moaning aloud. She kept Melody clothed in her mind but she could see her breasts in the blouses that Robin had always seen her in. Robin continued to caress her breasts as she felt her pussy begin to get wet. She knew she was on her way. She wanted to reach for her pussy but she resisted the urge for a moment more but then her pussy was getting wetter and she was rubbing her thighs together to get some friction against her clit. That helped but not enough and she moved her

left hand down to her pussy. It combed through her black pubic hair and then she felt her clit. It was starting to come from its hood and she caressed it a second. Her fingers went on to her pussy lips and she found them very wet. She moved her fingers up and down her slit and she felt her fingers getting coated with her juices. She brought her fingers up to her nose and smelled them and she liked the scent. She stuck out her tongue and she licked her fingers clean, enjoying the juices that came from her pussy. She then moved her fingers back to her pussy and she began to stroke her pussy lips harder. Her fingers went faster and faster as she pulled on her nipples with her right hand. She had her legs splayed out wide as she continued to stroke her pussy lips. As she got more excited, she moved her fingers to her clit and she started to rub it. She wanted to moan out loud so bad but she knew she had to keep quite. She rubbed her clit harder and faster and then her orgasm hit and it was a stronger orgasm than the previous night. She pulled her legs together and turned to her side as her left hand stayed on her pussy. She twisted and turned as the orgasm passed through her body. Finally her body relaxed and she knew that she was onto something. Soon she was asleep and her dreams were full of Melody.

As the summer went on, she made it a habit of masturbating most every night. She also got the "talk" from her mother. Robin knew when her mother had sat her down for this talk that her mother had discovered that her panties weren't as clean as they use to be. Robin listened carefully about boys and stuff but she didn't mention that it wasn't boys that got her panties wet. That was something she kept to herself.

Soon summer was over and it was back to school for her sophomore year. She didn't have any classes with as Melody went toward the physics classes and Robin went with her first love, mathematics. Robin masturbated a little less and she tried to think of other girls but when she really needed to get off, she thought of Melody. But Melody was still the one she was competing with so she didn't dare try to be friends with her. It was easier and less confusing to just think about her when the need was there. It was easy for her at the moment to put Melody in a place in the back of her mind and leave her there. When the school year ended, she was still on track to finish on top of her class but Melody was right with her.

That summer she went to a math camp that a college up north was holding and she found out that Melody went to a physic camp on the west coast. Robin had fun and met a lot of new kids at the camp and she also met a few recruiters for some of the Ivy League school. She had been thinking of where she wanted to go to school and she liked Harvard and Yale but it was MIT that she really wanted to go to. She talked to the other schools but she kept her options open.

Her junior year started with Robin and Melody having the same home room. This is where they started the day and it lasted a half hour. The teacher there let the students talk if they were quite as a lot of the kids spent this time to study. Robin took a basic physic class during the first semester. Melody had taken the class the previous year and was taking the next level physic class this year. When Robin got about half way through the

semester she came upon a problem that she couldn't solve. She worked late into the night trying solve it but she just wasn't getting it. Finally her mother made her go to bed but Robin hated finding something she couldn't solve. The next morning, she knew what she had to do. She hated asking for help but learning was more important so she swallowed her pride and got up and went to the desk that was open beside of Melody, who was busy studying.

"Excuse me Melody but I was wondering if you could help me with a problem?"

Melody smiled at Robin as she turned in her seat, "Sure, what problem is it."

Robin felt her heart flutter and she hated it but she got her mind back where it was suppose to be and said, "It's number four, I've tried and tried but the answer would not come to me."

"Well let me look at it and see what I can do." Melody said as she took Robin's book from her. She read it and then she scribbled some things on her notebook as Robin waited patiently.

"I had a problem solving this problem when I had this class last year. The tricky part is finding the right formula to solve it and it isn't the one that you think it should be. See you have to use this formula and I bet you were using this one." Melody told her as she pointed to the formulas that she was talking about.

"Yea, I was." Robin said as she blushed slightly.

"Don't worry, I tried using that one too and stayed up half the night trying to make it work then out of frustration, I tried this other one and it worked. So I more lucked out getting it right than actually knowing how to solve it." Melody said and that made Robin feel a lot better.

"I do appreciate the help." Robin said as she took her book back.

"I know and I know that you would help me even though we both want the same thing." Melody said and again Robin blushed as she realized that Melody wanting the same thing that she did, to finish at the top of their class.

"Yes I would, all you have to do is ask." Robin said and she found that Melody could be a friend if she would allow it but she felt safer with her being just a fantasy.

The next day when she came into home room, Melody called out to her and Robin came over and sat beside of her in the desk that she had sat in the day before.

"How did you do on your homework yesterday?" Melody asked her as she settled in her seat.

"I got a hundred, thanks to you." Robin replied. "I really do appreciate you helping me yesterday."

"No problem, but if that is what puts you over me in the end, I may regret it." She said with a smile.

"I think that it will take more than one grade on homework to put me

over you." Robin said.

"I don't know, I have a feeling that it will be close but why are we

worrying about it now, we may be lucky to make it into the top ten or at least I may be lucky, I think you will definitely be there." Melody said.

"Oh, you'll be there but like you said that is a long ways away." Robin said.

"True so where do you want to go to college?" Melody said as she changed the subject.

"I'm looking at a lot of colleges but I really want to go to MIT. But it's hard to get in there." Robin said and she noticed that Melody smiled when she mentioned MIT.

"You're not going to believe this but that is where I want to go. It

would be nice for both of us to go there. Then at least we will know someone

when we get there." Melody said.

Robin replied with, "I would love for both of us to go there, maybe even room together." Then Robin wondered if she should have said that or even why she said it but then again she knew why she said it.

"That would be great. I think it would be cool to room with you." Melody said.

Robin then changed the subject before she said anything more. But she did sit with Melody for the rest of the semester during home room. They got to talk a lot and learn about each other. They found out how similar with grandparents coming over from Europe with Melody's from Italy and of course, Robin's from Spain. They still hung out with their own groups for the rest of the day but during the morning they talked to just each other. It was a start to a friendship between two people fighting against each other for the same thing.

The next semester they didn't get to have home room together and didn't see much of each other. But that didn't stop Robin from keeping up with what Melody was doing and when they did see each other in the hallways they did stop and talk a minute. This only helped to fuel Robin's fantasies but it didn't stop her from wanting to beat her in the end.

At the end of the school year, they both went to respective camps only they changed coasts this time as Robin went to the west coast and Melody went up north. Robin enjoyed her camp and learned a lot but she missed home and she couldn't wait for school to start again. She thought about approaching Melody when school started back to try to get closer to her but something held her back. She was afraid that after thinking about her for the past couple of years that Melody would reject her and that she just couldn't handle.

Her senior year started and Robin tried hard to think of Melody as nothing more than someone she had to beat. The only time that Melody wasn't anything else was late at night when Robin was alone in her bed and thoughts other than school entered her head. She didn't have any classes with Melody but she did see her from time to time in the hallways. They spoke but it seemed that there was a wall between them. They both knew what was at sake and that made being friends that much harder. But they were nice to each other and Robin knew she would help Melody out if it was needed as she knew that Melody would do the same. Robin kept her work up and she excelled at everything but then all she was doing was studying. Her classes were hard but weren't too hard. Winter soon came and then spring and the last day of school was approaching.

Robin started to get nervous and irritable, what she wanted was at hand but she had no clue as to whether she had achieved her goal that she had set for herself four years ear;ier. The seniors took their finals a week

before school actually let out. She took her finals and then she had to wait. That was the hardest part as there was nothing she could do, her fate was out of her hands now. Her mother pointed this out to her a number of times before she got a call from the principle, Miss Wilksburg to come to the school. When she arrived at the office, she found Melody sitting in the outer office waiting.

"I wonder what this is about." Robin asked as she sat in the seat beside of Melody.

"I suspect that it is about who got the top spot. I talked to Wilson

earlier in the day and I found out that the rest of the top ten was called in earlier in the morning so that leaves us two." Melody said.

"Sort of what I figured, so if the rest of the top ten has been announced, then that leaves the last two spots to us." Robin said as she stomach started to churn.

"Yea, just as we wanted it to be. I guess whomever gets called in first comes in second." Melody said.

"Well, if I don't get it then I am glad that it was you that beat me. You deserve it." Robin said.

"You do too. Good luck." Melody said and she put her hand out to Robin.

"Good luck to you too." Robin said as she took Melody's hand and she

held it for a second longer than was really necessary. She felt her stomach churn more but for a different reason this time.

They were still holding hands when Miss Wilksburg came out of her office smiling. "Robin..." she started and Robin felt her heart sink as she knew she came up short but then Miss Wilksburg finished her sentence, "and Melody come on into my office."

They both looked at each other as they finally let go of each other's hand and got up to follow Miss Wilksburg into her office.

"We have something that has never happened here before but it seems that you two finished tied for Valedictorian." Miss Wilksburg said and

she paused as the two girls looked first at her in shock and then at each other.

"What does that mean? Who gets to be the valedictorian?" Robin finally asked what they both wanted to know.

"Well, we thought about trying to find a way to decide who would be the top student but then decided that maybe it wouldn't be fair to the one that didn't win. So we decided that you both would share the honor. So you both get to give a speech at graduation. What I would like to ask you to do though is to work together on the speech. Try and decide on a common theme and maybe one of you can start and the other finish it. Do you think that you can work together and make a decision without me making it for you?" Miss Wilksburg asked.

Robin looked over at Melody and saw that she seemed agreeable so she spoke up, "I can't speak for Melody but I think that we can work together."

"Yes we can work together, Miss Wilksburg. We may have competed with each other for the past four years both wanting what we both ended up getting, but that doesn't mean that we hate each other, I like Robin just fine and would love to work with her." Melody said.

"I'm happy to hear that. You two have three days to work on your speech and I need to see it, so if you can get it to my by Friday morning then we can review it before graduation on Friday evening. And let me be the first to congratulate our Valedictorians for the class of 2000." She said as

she came to both and shook their hands and gave them both a quick formal hug.

"I can't believe it, we did it. We are graduating at the top of our class! You know how hard that is to do at this school?" Melody exclaimed as soon as

they got outside of the office.

"I believe that I do." Robin said very somberly as if it was no big deal. Then she watched as Melody turned to her and gave her a look that seemed to ask if Robin had any emotion inside of her at all.

Robin couldn't hold the straight face any longer as she burst out laughing and she grabbed Melody and hugged her as she burst out with, "Hell, we did it!"

They both danced around in the middle of the hall hugging each other

and crying a bit as the relief of knowing all the hard work of the past four

years had [aid off in the end. Then as the emotion wound down they slowly stopped dancing and hugging each other and then they looked at each other as they separated. Robin looked at Melody and felt a little embarrassed but she also had to say that she enjoyed being that close to Melody. She also noticed that Melody was blushing as much as she was.

Robin wasn't sure what to say and she saw that Melody was just as silent as she was. They both were just standing there looking at each other.

Robin tried to think of something to say but there wasn't anything in her head. She just looked at Melody as Melody looked back to her and to Robin it seemed like they were talking without talking. But finally the silence got too much and it was Melody who the one to say something.

"I guess I need to call my mother and let her know. She wanted to come with me but I wouldn't let her because I was afraid that you would beat me."

"The same for me too and I know my mother is dieing about now. So do

you want to come over to my house in the morning and work on our speech?" Robin asked.

"Sure, that will be great and then Thursday you can come to my house." Melody said.

"Sounds cool," Robin said as she gave her number to Melody and she waited as she put it into her cell phone and then Melody gave Robin her number and she stored it into her phone. They then started out the door.

When they got to their cars, Melody put her hand on Robin's arm stopping her. She then turned serious as she said, "You know, if I couldn't win, I was hoping that you would be the one to beat me. And I really mean that."

"I know that you do and I felt the same way. I also thought of you as a friend even if we didn't hang together." Robin said and then she opened her arms without thinking about what she was doing.

Melody came to her and Robin wrapped her arms around her and hugged her tight as she felt Melody putting her arms around her and pulling her in tight. They hugged for what seemed like forever to Robin and she could feel Melody's body against hers and it felt so right. She didn't want to stop hugging her but she knew that she had to and she gently started to let Melody go but Melody held on for a moment longer before releasing her. Again when they parted, Robin felt the heat in her face and she knew she was blushing but she could see the same redness on Melody's face. They then went on their ways but Robin couldn't help but to think of how Melody felt against her the whole way home.

She waited until she got home to tell her mother about finishing tied with Melody for Valedictorian and she was just as excited about it as Robin was. They then called her father who immediately suggested that they would take her out to a nice dinner that night, anywhere Robin wanted to go.

They talked on the phone for a bit then she and her mother talked for a while. But then Robin needed some time to herself and while her mother wanted to spend the afternoon with her she understood her daughters need to be alone for awhile. So she took up the time by calling all of the family

about her daughter's accomplishment.

Robin, meanwhile, went up to her room and closed and then locked the

door. She went to her bed and she lay down and she thought about what she had done and she wanted to feel happy about being the first in her class but

her mind went more to Melody and the thought of spending the next couple of days with her. That thought made her happier than the fact that she was the tops in her class. She felt her body stirring and she wanted to masturbate but now that she was actually going to be with Melody and the competition no longer being an issue between them she was afraid to think about her in that way for fear of it not happening. All the time that she had fantasized about Melody, she never dreamed that it could come true because she figured that whoever didn't finish top of the class would hate the other one for the rest of their lives but now that wasn't the case. And now she knew that it was never the case, Melody was rooting for her to finish first if she couldn't finish in the top spot. She ended up curling up in a ball and tried to take it all in. Eventually she fell asleep and didn't wake until she felt her mother gently shaking her.

"Are you okay honey? You never sleep during the day." Her mother asked as she sat on the edge of her bed.

"Yea, I'm fine. I just had a lot to think about." Robin said and her

mother gave her a look that said she wasn't quite buying her answer.

"You sure, there's nothing you want to talk about." Her mother pressed.

"No, I'm fine." Robin said as she sat up in the bed and hugged her mom.

"Okay then, you need to start getting ready as your father will be home soon and you know how he is about having to wait for us to get ready to

go out." Her mother said as she kissed her on the forehead and got up.

"Oh Melody will be come over in the morning so that we can work on our speech, then I'm going to her house Thursday, is that okay." Robin asked.

"Sure that's fine honey, I want to meet the girl that is just as smart as my little girl" her mother said as she reached out and pulled Robin from the bed. Then she continued with, "Now get on into the bathroom and get cleaned up and put something nice on. You know you get to pick where we are going to eat but it can't be fast food. It must be someplace nice. So do you

have any idea as to where you want to go?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Robin said with a smile and her eyebrows arched.

"That's what I figured. I'll call them now and make reservations." Her mother said.

Robin laughed as she went toward the bathroom. She had her favorite restaurant and anytime she got to chose where they ate, that is where they went. It was an upscale place that served a variety of dishes. Her mother could order a Spanish dish, her father could get his steak and Robin could get her pasta.

When her alarm went off the next morning, Robin rolled over and groaned. She looked at the clock and it said six AM. "Damn, why did I set the alarm so fucking early, I don't have school today." She said to herself as she shut off the alarm and rolled onto her stomach. She was almost back asleep when remembered why she had sat the alarm. "Shit, Melody is coming over this morning!" She said aloud as her eyes popped open.

Robin jumped out of bed and put her robe over her nightgown and ventured out of her room. She was heading down the hall when her father came out of her parents bedroom with her mother closely following behind. They both gave her a funny look as they headed toward the kitchen for their lifeline, a hot cup of coffee.

"What's got you out of bed so early?" Her mother asked her as she entered the kitchen.

"Melody is coming over so that we can write out speech this morning remember." Robin said as she went over to her mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek and received one in return.

"She's not coming anytime soon is she?" Her mother asked as a worried look came over her face.

"Oh no, she's not going to be here until nine." Robin replied.

"Then why you up so early, not that I mind, just asking?" Her father

chimed in.

"Oh I just wanted to get an early start and to clean up my room, it is a mess." Robin said and she noticed that comment got both her parents attention as she never volunteered to clean her room. She then realized that

maybe she had said too much.

"Well, if that is what it took to get you to clean your room, I would have invited this girl over long ago." Her mother said with a laugh and Robin breathed easier as she entered the bathroom.

When she got to her room, she looked around and for the first time in her life, she saw what her mother had always seen, clothes everywhere and her books opened. She set about picking up everything and then she dusted her shelves that hadn't seen a dust cloth in years. Once that was done, she got the vacuum cleaner out and ran it over her carpet. She was quickly working up a sweat as she worked but she wanted her room to look neat. Around eight, she had everything about in order, so she grabbed her best pair of shorts and her favorite tee shirt and headed for the shower. When she got out, she dried her hair and she tried to do something with it but she was blessed or cursed with straight black hair and there wasn't anything she

could do with it. So she got some hair clips and pulled it off her shoulders

and put it up. She played around with it for a few minutes then finally gave

up. She put a little perfume on but not much as she knew they would be working close together all day. Once she got done, she went down stairs to find her mother. She found her in her study where she ran her translation business, translating business documents from English to Spanish and visa versa. They talked and Robin tried hard not to keep looking at her watch but

it was hard but then she finally heard the doorbell ring and she about jumped out of her skin. She told her mother that she would get the door before her mother had a chance to even think about getting it.

"Hi, come on in." Robin said as she opened the door. She took a long

look at Melody came into the door. She was wearing blue jean shorts that were slightly tight around her rear and her tee shirt while loose didn't hide the swell of her breasts which were about the size of her own breasts.

"Thank you," Melody said.

Robin was still staring at Melody's behind when out of the corner of

her eye, she saw her mother come into the room. She should have known that her mother wouldn't stay hidden long.

"Mom, this is my friend Melody," Robin said as she hoped that Melody

didn't mine her calling her a friend then she continued with the introductions, "Melody this is my mom."

"It is very nice to meet you Mrs. Dotson." Melody said as she stepped forward and shook her hand.

"It's nice to meet you to Melody and you can call me Alejandra." Her

mom said.

"Thank you Alejandra." Melody said.

"Come on up to my room so we can work on our speech." Robin said quickly to keep her mom from starting a conversation. This of course earned her a frown from her mother but she knew her mom would get over it.

"Congratulations on finishing number one in your class." Alejandra called out to Melody.

"Thank you Alejandra, I appreciate that but it was only because I was trying to beat your daughter but she was doing the same thing to me." Melody called back as Robin pulled her up the stairs by the arm.

"So how are you doing today?" Robin asked as she took Melody into her room.

"Pretty good and yourself?"

"I'm good." Robin said as she stood in the middle of her room as Melody looked around.

"I can't believe how clean your room is, mine is a disaster area. My

mother keeps threatening to bring in a dump truck and throw it all away." Melody said with a laugh.

"Well to tell you the truth, I got up at six this morning so that I could clean it up." Robin confessed.

"I feel honored, but now I will have to clean you mine before you come over tomorrow." Melody said.

"Nah, leave it messy, that way I can see how you really live. Beside

after you leave today, mine will be back to normal." Robin said smiling.

"I'm glad that you said that, I really didn't want to clean my room tonight." Melody said laughing.

"Well let's get started," Robin said as she brought Melody over to her computer and she sat down and Melody sat in the office chair that she had brought from her mother's office downstairs.

"Do you have any ideas as to what you want to say?" Melody asked as she sat down.

"Not a clue, how about you." Robin said as she raised her hands showing that they were empty like her mind on that subject.

"No, I was hoping that you would have some ideas so that I could steal them." Melody said with a laugh and she put her hand on Robin's arm and that

made Robin lose her line of thinking for a moment.

"You know this will really look bad on us if we finish at the top of our class and then can't come up with a decent idea as to what to do our speech on." Robin said as she got her brain back to working.

"We'll come up with something, I just don't want it to be like all the other speeches that everyone will be giving, you know, "We are going to make

this a better world... etc." Melody said.

"Yea, I don't want that either but knowing what we don't want doesn't help us write this speech." Robin said.

"Sure it does, it gives us a place to start. So fire up your computer and lets start putting some ideas up so that we can come up with something."

Melody told Robin.

They then started to work, it was slow at first as the ideas were slow in coming but eventually they started to flow. First they put ideas down and

then they started to think of phases or lines that they liked and they put those down. Before they knew it, Robin's mom was knocking on the door asking them if they wanted to stop for lunch. It was only then that Robin realized that they had been working for over three hours.

They decided that a break was just what they needed so they went on down to the kitchen to find Robin's mom already frying up some hamburgers. Robin went to the fridge and got out the lettuce and tomatoes. She cut up the tomatoes as Melody sliced up the lettuce. When everything was ready, they all three sat down and started to eat. Robin's mom then engaged Melody in conversation leaving Robin to eat her lunch in peace. Robin knew that her

mom would do this and there wasn't anything she could do about it. The only thing she wanted to do was make sure that her mom didn't start telling stories on her, that wouldn't do at all. It was an hour and a half before she could get Melody away from her mother and could get her back alone in her room.

"You know your mother is pretty nice." Melody told her as they sat back down.

"Yea, she is most of the time, but she still likes to treat me like a child sometimes." Robin told her.

"Tell me about it, I swear my mother thinks I am still eight and not

almost eighteen. I hate it but soon we'll both be at MIT and away from home. Then we can be a little freer, except for all the studying and stuff."

Melody said as she stared right into Robin's eyes.

"It will be nice to know that you will be there too. I won't be so alone and I'll have someone to talk to when I need to. Do you know what dorm you will be in?"

"Yea, I got my card the other day but now I can't think of the name of it, it is right on the tip of my tongue but I can't think of it." Melody said. Then she added, "I wish they would let freshmen pick their roommates, I wouldn't mind rooming with you."

Robin felt her heart start to beat faster on hearing Melody say that, and then she replied with, "I would like that too."

She then searched around her desk until she came up with the card that had the name of the dorm and the room number on it. "Here is my card." She said as she handed it to Melody.

"Holy shit! We are in the same dorm and same floor and if I'm not mistaken we are real close to each other." she said excitedly.

"That's great!" Robin echoed as she hugged Melody.

They hugged each other for a moment or two before parting and Robin could feel that now familiar heat go through out her body and she could see signs of the same thing from Melody. They both sat there for a moment before Robin got them back to the reason Melody was there and that was to come up with a speech. They worked for another hour and then they decided it was time to start writing but before they could do that a decision had to be made.

"So do we make this into two parts with one of us giving the first part and the other giving the second so that we have two speeches but one theme or do we do it another way?" Melody asked.

"I was kind of thinking of separating it into more than two parts, maybe four or more depending on how it goes. That way we write one speech but we take turns giving it. Maybe read a paragraph at a time. How does that

sound?" Robin asked.

"I like that, so we'll start writing with that in mind and see where we end up. But we need to get it into gear as we only have the rest of the day today and tomorrow to write it and practice it. I'm not the best public speaker and I need to go over it a few times." Melody said.

"I know what you mean, I will be lucky if I don't faint when I get up there and then you will have to give the whole speech." Robin said with a laugh.

"You'd better not; I will skin you alive if you faint on me." Melody

replied quickly.

"I make no guarantees." Robin said.

"Well you had better not! So anyway let's get to writing." Melody said.

Robin printed out the notes that they had taken and they both read over them silently as their minds began to work. Then one or the other of them would start to come up with something and Robin typed it in. Robin was thankful that they were good at typing and cut and pasting as she ended up doing a lot of both. About five Robin's mom called up and asked if they wanted to order out for a pizza, and being teenaged girls, they of coursed declined the offer and then before her mother could reply they called back down that they changed their minds and decided they wanted some pizza. Then Alejandra heard giggling coming from Robin's room.

When the pizza arrived, it was Robin's father who brought it up and Robin had to introduce him to Melody. They talked for a few minutes then Robin's father make his exit. Robin got up and moved the pizza to the center

of her bed and they both sat on the bed and ate their pizza and drank their cokes. The speech and high school was soon left behind and they just talked as they got to know each other again. They had a short period in high school

when they had made a start at being friends but that was interrupted. Now they had a chance to begin again. Robin liked talking to Melody and in her she found some of the same traits that she had. They made her want to know more and more. And Robin sensed that Melody was trying to do the same thing. They had the pizza half eaten before they knew it and then Melody realized that time was slipping away from them so they got back to work. They wrote until they thought that the speech was written.

"Oh god, its nine already, I told my parents I would be home early. They are going to kill me." Melody said as she looked at her watch.

"Shit, I didn't realize that it was that late, you know we have been at this for twelve hours today." Robin told Melody.

"It really didn't seem that long to me." Melody said.

"Me either, it's been fun. I can't believe I'm saying this but I really enjoyed writing this speech. It won't be fun giving it but it was fun writing it." Robin told her.

"Don't worry; I will be right beside of you so it won't be so bad." Melody said and she gave Robin a little smile that warmed her heart.

"I'm glad." Robin replied as she smiled back.

"I guess I had better be going before my mom starts to look for me. What time do you want to come over in the morning?" Melody said as she started to stand up.

"About nine?" Robin asked.

"Sure, that sounds good." Melody said as they started out the bedroom door.

They stopped by the living room where Melody said her goodbyes to Robin's mother and father and thanked them for having her there. Of course, Robin's mother insisted on talking a bit but luckily she didn't talk

long. Robin then walked Melody out to her car.

"I really did enjoy today." Melody told her as she leaned back against her car door and Robin was standing in front of her.

"I did too." Robin said and then she stepped forward and held out her arms. Melody naturally fell into them and they hugged. Robin pulled Melody against her body tightly and she felt Melody's head lay on her shoulder. Robin felt like she never wanted to let go of Melody but soon she felt Melody begin to pull away from her. They then stood there for a long moment and just stared into each other's eyes as their hands rested on each other's hips. Robin so wanted to lean in and kiss her but she was afraid. Then the moment was gone and Melody let go of her so that she could get into her car. Robin was left standing there regretting the lost opportunity. She stood there looking down the street where Melody had driven off until she saw the porch light come on and she looked around to see her mother standing at the door. She then slipped her glasses back up on her nose and headed back inside.

The next morning she was a nervous wreck as she got ready to go over

to Melody's house. She woke up early and she couldn't go back to sleep. So after having breakfast with her parents, she went back to her room and emailed Melody the speech and then downloaded it to a CD just in case it got

lost in cyberspace. She then went down to her mother's office and bugged her until it was time for her to leave.

She felt the butterflies in her stomach as she knocked on Melody's door. She tried to get them to settle down but then she heard Melody's voice saying that she was coming and they started up stronger.

"Hi there." Melody said as she opened the door.

Robin felt her face break out into a big smile as she replied, "Hi there yourself."

"I got your email and have the computer set up to get started." Melody said as she grabbed Robin's hand and pulled her into the house. "My parents are at work, so we have the house to ourselves until about five. That way we can practice the speech in peace." She continued as she went into the

kitchen where the computer was set up in the corner.

"Sounds good, hopefully we can finish with the speech quickly as I know that I need all the practice I can get."

"You'll do fine." Melody said as she squeezed Robin's hand. Then she

let go as she sat down at the computer and Robin pulled up a kitchen chair and sat beside of her. "But first here is the card that I got from the university with my rooming information, did you bring your card?" she asked.

"Oh yea, let me get it out of my purse." Robin said as she reached down beside of her for her purse. She fished the card out and handed it to Melody.

"I was right! We are in the same suite. Not the same room but we are

close to each other." Melody cried out.

"Cool!" Robin squealed and she leaned over and gave Melody a hug. She hugged her longer than was necessary but Melody didn't seem to mind and she sure didn't. But the hug did end and they were back to reality.

They worked on the speech for most of the morning putting the finishing touches on it. Then they read over it as each picked out the parts

they wanted to read. There was one part neither really wanted to read so Melody solved the problem by deleting it. They went over it a time or two more they broke for lunch.

"I hope that you don't mind leftovers, that's all that I have to offer." Melody said and Robin could tell that she wanted to make hamburgers or get a pizza like Robin's mom did yesterday but Robin could tell that just wasn't

possible in this household.

"That sounds great to me. We have them all the time at my house." Robin assured her and then she went to the fridge to help Melody with the food. She warmed up some of the food in the microwave as Melody pulled out a skillet and reheated a couple chicken breasts.

"This is good!" Robin told Melody.

"Thank you, Mom cooked most of it last night but I did help. The bad

thing is this is what I'll have tonight too." Melody said with a laugh.

"Sorry, I have a little money; we could have gotten a burger if you wanted." Robin said.

"No, my parents don't believe in paying for something when you can fix it yourself." Melody said and she momentary let a frown come across her face but then she smiled again.

Robin started to inquire into this a little more but she could tell that Melody didn't want to talk about it, so instead she said, "Well this taste great." And she took another bite to emphasis that.

"So are you ready to start practicing?" Melody asked after they had eaten and washed things up.

"I guess so." Robin said as she leaned over Melody as she printed out two copies of their speech.

"Let's go into the living room, there's a mirror there that we can use to pretend we are looking out over the audience." Melody said as she headed toward the living room.

"You mean I have to look at myself as I talk." Robin said suddenly getting a little nervous.

"You know you do, you took speech class too." Melody said, "I may ever heckle you as you talk just to help you get prepared." She added.

"You do that and I'll kick your ass all over this living room." Robin said with a laugh.

"In that case, I'll keep my mouth shut." Melody said laughing.

"You're up first, so start it out." Robin said.

Melody read over the first part and then she looked up at the mirror

and started to speak. Robin watched her carefully and saw the poise that she had and when it was her time she tried to do the same. She messed up a couple of words but she made it through her first part. They each had another part to go through and Robin thought that she did better on her second part. Once the first reading was done, they both made a few changes to make it read easier then they went through it again. They took a short break as they both read through their parts trying to memorize the main points. Then it was back at it again. They went through it about ten times before they were satisfied that they knew it.

"I guess we are as ready as we are going to be." Robin said as they went to the kitchen to get something to drink.

"You'll do fine, just practice a little more tonight and you will be

ready." Melody told her as she handed her a glass of cheery cool aid, which they both drank down quickly as all the practicing made them thirsty.

"Thank you," Robin said as she put her empty glass down and then she

added, "And you'll do fine too."

"Well, we have an hour until my parents come home, what do you want to do until then?" Melody asked.

Robin knew what she wanted to say but instead she said, "Let's go to

your room and see just how messy it really is."

"Okay, but remember that I warned you about the mess." Melody said as she took her glass and started for the back of the house. When she got to the only door that was closed she again said, "You've been warned." And then she opened the door and Robin had to admit to herself that indeed when her room was at it's worse, it was better than Melody's room. She walked in and saw clothes everywhere. Then her saw the books and notebooks spread all across the room and on her bed, which of course was unmade.

"Well what do you think?" Melody asked with an embarrassed giggle.

"I have to say that in this case, you beat me hands down. You are the queen of messy rooms." Robin said and she laughed hoping that Melody would take what she was saying in fun like she meant it.

"I told you so!" Melody said and then she did a little dance as she sang a line from the Queens song, only she sang "I am the champion." Then she burst out laughing.

Robin laughed with her and then she stepped in front of her and did a little dance with her. Robin was thankful that Melody couldn't dance any better than she could but they were both feeling good and since they were alone in the room, neither cared. They danced around and then Robin took Melody's hand and lifted it up as Melody twirled around and then Melody did the same for her. They were both laughing and feeling carefree for the first

time in a very long time. There was no more pressure to do well.

They twirled each other around a few times then Melody tripped on her feet as she spun around and fell against Robin, who caught her. They laughed a minute at Melody's clumsiness. Slowly the laughter died down and Melody adjusted her glasses back on her nose. She looked up at Robin, who saw something in her eyes. Melody then stood up but she didn't pull back from Robin. So she pulled Melody in closer as she wrapped her arms around her body. Robin stared into Melody's brown eyes and then without thinking about what she was about to do, she moved her head forward and closed her eyes. Her lips touched Melody's lips a little off center and she felt Melody

press her lips back against her. This was Robin's first kiss and it felt like she was in heaven. The kiss was soon over and Robin felt like she couldn't catch

her breath and when she opened her eyes she saw that Melody was staring back at her. Robin wanted to say something but she didn't know what to say. So instead she pulled Melody back in and she saw that Melody was coming willingly. This time when their lips touched, it was a perfect fit. Robin felt Melody's fingers gripping her tee shirt at her shoulders. Robin had her arms

around Melody's waist and she pulled in harder and she felt Melody's breasts

press against her breasts. Robin kissed her harder but then their glasses were starting to hit so she broke off the kiss. She then took off her glasses and threw them on the bed. She pulled back from Melody and she reached up and slowly took Melody's glasses off. She tossed them on the bed and she pulled Melody back to her. She wasn't completely sure of what she was doing but after three or four years of thinking about doing just this, she just did what came to her. She put her hand at the back of Melody's neck and she pulled her back in close and their lips met again. She felt Melody's hands at her back and she felt them gripping her as their lips pressed against each other's. Robin parted her lips slightly and she could feel Melody opening her lips a bit. Their lips moved around as they kissed. Robin's body began to heat up and she felt her breathing becoming shorter as she pressed her lips against Melody's lips. Soon she had to break off the kissing to catch her breath and as she opened her eyes, she saw that Melody's breathing was much quicker than it was before the kissing began.

Robin's legs began to shake from the excitement of actually kissing the girl she had thought so much about for so long. She pulled away from Melody and she saw the disappointment in Melody's eyes and that made her heart swell. She went to the bed and moved their glasses out of the way then she picked up a pair of panties that she noticed had been worn. She grasped them in her hands and she felt her pussy get excited just knowing that Melody had worn them. She saw Melody come to her and she could see the redness on Melody's face as she realized that she had her panties in her

hand. But as Melody leaned over in front of her, Robin dropped the panties and pushed her down on the bed and she fell on top of her. They both giggled for a moment as they looked into each other's eyes. Robin moved over some so that her body was completely over Melody's and her legs were between Melody's legs. She settled in and she put her hands under Melody's shoulders and to the back of her head. She then lowered her head back down until their lips touched again. This time she felt Melody's hand at the

back of neck holding her in place. Robin kissed her with her lips closed at first but then she opened them. Melody was a little slower to do so but she did. Robin kissed her the way for a few moments then she got her courage up and moved her tongue to the edge of Melody's mouth. She moved it around the edge of Melody's teeth and was beginning to wonder if Melody wanted her to do use her tongue when she felt Melody's tongue tentatively touch her tongue. Robin let out a moan as she felt Melody's tongue circle the tip of her tongue. It felt so erotic and she pressed her hips down against Melody's hips. When she did this, she heard Melody moan and that made her press down harder. The kissing was becoming much more passionate now as their lips pressed against each other and their tongues doing their own dance. But they finally had to break off and catch their breath. Robin rolled off of Melody and lay on her back and she felt Melody snuggle up against her.

"I have wanted to kiss you for so long, it is all I have thought about." Robin confessed and she held her breath waiting for Melody's reaction.

"Me too," Melody said softly.

"Really?" Robin said as she turned to her side and Melody turned on her side so that they were facing each other.

"Yes really, I have always thought that you were cute and I can talk to you. It was just this undeclared competition that got in our way. Plus I didn't know that you felt the same way as I did." Melody said.

"I do feel the same way. You seem to be the one person that I think about all the time. Finishing tied for first in our class was the best thing

that has ever happened to me." Robin said and then she kissed her tenderly.

"Me too!" Melody said.

"I'm home, where are you Melody" they heard coming from the front of the house.

"Oh shit, my mother is home early." Melody said as she jumped up and

she pulled Robin up.

"I'm here in my bedroom with Robin; we are practicing our speech for

tomorrow night. We'll be right there." She called out to her mother and then

she whispered to Robin, "Where are our glasses?"

Robin looked around and found their glasses. She gave what she thought were Melody's to her and she put the other pair on. She thought they had gotten dirty as everything was just slightly blurred but she could still see out of them. She then looked over at Melody and she saw her trying

to refocus her eyes. It was then she remembered that she and Melody had the same style glasses and obviously very similar prescriptions. Before hey could change glasses, Melody's mom came into the room.

"Mom, this is Robin, she is the girl that I told you about. The one that finished tied with me for the tops in our class." Melody said quickly.

"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Vicente." Robin said as she stepped forward to shake her hand.

"It's nice to meet you too, Robin." She said to her and then she turned her attention to Melody, "You need to get ready, you know your grandparents will be here soon."

"Yes mother, Robin was just leaving." Melody told her mother.

"Yes, I need to get home, my mother will be wondering where I am." Robin said taking Melody's hint.

"Sorry about my mom, she tends to be a little too direct sometimes, especially when her parents are coming over." Melody apologized.

"Don't worry about it, parents can be that way." Robin assured her and she took Melody's hand and squeezed it but then quickly let go of it before Melody's mother could see them.

"This has been the best day of my life." Melody told her.

"Me too, the very best day." Robin said.

"See you in the morning, then?" Melody asked.

"I'll be there." Robin assured her and then as she was about to get into her car she remembered the glasses. "Here you might want these." Robin said as she took off the glasses off her face and handed them to Melody.

"Thanks, you know I could almost see out of them." Melody said with a giggle as she put her glasses on and looked around for a second as everything came back into complete focus.

Robin laughed with her then said, "Now I know where to go when I need an extra pair of glasses.

Melody's mother then appeared at the front door and called out, "Melody!" as she pointed to her watch.

"God, tell me it's August and not May, please." She said to Robin, then she hollered to her mother, "Coming mother."

"I've got to go, see you in the morning." Melody said as she turned to get into her car.

Robin, seeing the glare coming from Melody's mother, decided to haul

ass out of there so she jumped into her car and backed out of the driveway. But as she drove home all she could think about was the way Melody's lips felt when she kissed her. How her body felt as she lay on top of her. All those things were going through her head as she drove and before she knew it, she was sitting in her driveway and her car was in park. It almost scared her that she drove all the way home without knowing it, her mind was somewhere else. But as quickly that fear came it also went and she was back to thinking about Melody, even when she entered her house and her mother called to her, she didn't hear a thing, she just went on to her bedroom and laid down on her bed. Her mind was soon gone into that other world, where she could stay with Melody and there wasn't anyone there to chase her away like Melody's just had done.

"Honey, you okay?" Robin's mom said as she entered Robin's room having not got an answer from her knocks on Robin's door.

"Sure, everything's fine." Robin said quickly as she turned and sat up in her bed. "Why are you asking?"

"Well, you didn't say anything to me when I asked you haw the speech

writing went when you came home, you just walked on by. And just now when I came up to get you for supper, you never heard me knocking. So something has to be wrong." Her mother said.

"Just a little worried about my speech, I guess." Robin said and while that was true, it wasn't why she had tuned everything other than Melody from her mind.

"You'll do just fine. Now get up and get ready for supper. Your father will be home any time now." Her mother said as she turned to go out of the room but then she turned at the door and Robin was afraid she was going to pry further but she seemed to have changed her mind and went on out much to Robin's relief.

"Hey there!" Robin said when she got to the principal's office the next morning and found that Melody was already waiting for her.

"Hi there yourself," Melody said with a sweet smile that made Robin's heart skip a beat.

"Do you think Mrs. Wilksburg will like our speech?" Robin asked as she sat down beside of Melody and she felt Melody's leg touch hers.

"I don't know but I think we are about to find out." Melody said as Mrs. Wilksburg came out of her office and motioned them to come on in.

"So how did the speech writing go, were you two able to combine it into one speech?" she asked them.

"It went well, and yes we did. Here it is." Melody said as she got up and handed over a copy of the speech to Mrs. Wilksburg.

That's good, give me a minute to read it." She said as she started to read.

When Melody sat back down she put her hand on Robin's knee and she left it there. Robin wanted to put her hand on top of it but she was afraid that Mrs. Wilksburg would see her so she just smiled at Melody as she looked over at her. They both watched as Mrs. Wilksburg picked up her ink pen and start to mark something only to put it back down. She did this about

four times before she finished with the speech. Robin looked over at Melody and signed her relief only to see Mrs. Wilksburg start to read the speech again. Robin wanted to let out a loud groan but she kept it in. She looked over at Melody only to see a big frown on her face. Mrs. Wilksburg read the speech real slow this time and Robin was about to snatch it from her long bony fingers.

"This looks great girls, you did a fine job but I knew that you could." She told them and this time Robin did sigh and she heard Melody do the same.

"Thank you Mrs. Wilksburg," they both said as they got up to go hoping for a moment alone before practice for graduation got started.

"Give me a second and I'll walk with you to the auditorium for graduation practice and we can talk about MIT." She told them.

"That would be great." Robin said lying through her teeth.

Mrs. Wilksburg walked between them as they went to the auditorium and that didn't sit well with Robin but there wasn't a damn thing that she could do about it. When they got there, it was about time for the practice to start and they had to find their assigned spots. With all the other students

around them as well as their friends they didn't get any time to talk until it was over.

"I hate to say this but I got to run. Mom said that I was to come straight home after practice, but we'll see each other tonight." Melody said

as they got to her car.

"That's okay, we got all summer and I need to get back to the house.

All my relatives are coming in. I think my mom invited everyone in my family

and even some that's not." Robin said with a laugh.

"I know the feeling; I think everyone with any Italian in their blood is going to be at my house today." Melody said with a sad smile. Then she gave Robin a quick hug and she was gone.

Robin was disappointed that they didn't get to talk any but again she thought of the long summer that she would be able to spend with Melody and that brought a smile to her face. She got into her car and went to face her own crowd at home.

By the time she got to school that evening, her nerves were going crazy. She hadn't had much time to go over the speech that afternoon with all of her relatives at the house and that bothered her. She always wanted to be prepared for what was in front of her. In this case, she wasn't sure that was the case, her mind was more on Melody than the speech but the time was now so she had to do the best that she could. She looked around for Melody as soon as she got there but she had trouble with all the students running around. Her friends kept coming up to her wanting to talk and to congratulate her on being top in the class and she made a point to remind them that Melody was also the top student. It wasn't till it was almost time to start the ceremony that Robin saw Melody with her parents and a bunch of her other relatives. She waited patiently for Melody to break

away and come to her.

"Hey girl!" Melody said as she came to her.

"Hi. God am I glad to see you." Robin said and she held out her arms

and hugged her not caring who was watching. She was nervous and needed a hug and Melody hugged her tightly.

"Not a little nervous are we?" Melody asked as the hug ended.

"More than a little and I have missed you." Robin confessed.

"I missed you too. I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed the last

couple of days." Melody said smiling.

"I've loved them too." Robin said and she started to hug her but then the teachers came up and started to get them in position, ruining the moment.

They were put into two lines with Robin and Melody at the end of each line and since the lines started at the door and then went down opposite sides of the hallway, Robin ended up about as far away from Melody as she could be. It was only when they both got to the door were they brought back together and the teachers had warned that they were to be no talking as they walked down the into the auditorium. But Robin did give Melody a big smile which she received in kind. Robin then looked into what she had always

thought of a small auditorium and found it pack to the gills. She had never seen so many people in her life. It looked like all of Atlanta had been packed into the little auditorium.

"Now I know I'm glad that you finished first with me. That way when I pass out up there, you can finish the speech." Robin whispered to Melody. And this caused Melody to giggle and got them both a stern look from one of the teachers that were spaced along the aisle.

When they finally got to their seats, Robin was at last seated by Melody on the end of the first row. Robin put her hands in her lap as the Mrs. Wilksburg got up to talk and then as she introduced the guest speaker which happened to be the Mayor of Atlanta, she saw that Melody had moved her right hand to the top of her thigh. Robin slipped her left hand over until their hands were touching. She felt Melody move her pinky over her pinky and they interlocked them together. Robin began to feel better about everything with Melody there beside her and their little fingers locked together. Everything was just right in her world. She tried to concentrate on what the mayor was saying but her mind was on the girl sitting beside her. >From time to time, she would glance over at Melody and at times she would catch Melody glancing back at her and that make her heart just melt.

But finally the Mayor ended his speech and Mrs. Wilksburg got back up and began to talk about the two valedictorians. This embarrassed Robin to

no end having someone talk about her but it was something she had to endure. Then it was time to get up and go up on the stage. She felt Melody let go of her pinky but then she felt her take her hand and squeeze it and that gave her the confidence that she needed. Since she was at the end of the aisle, she led the way up the stairs to the stage. She got to the podium

and made room for Melody. Their notes were already there as Mrs. Wilksburg had placed them there for them when she introduced them. Melody started first and gave the first part of the speech. Then as she ended, she slid over and it was Robin's turn. She looked over the crowd and felt her knees go weak, but then she felt Melody's hand on her back. She picked up her notes and without looking at them, she began to speak. Her voice was low at first but she quickly picked up the volume and she spoke like a professional. Before she knew it, she was at the end of her part and Melody took over. As she began the last of her speech, she again felt Melody's hand on her lower back. She didn't need it this time but it felt good to have it there. Then the speech was over and they got their applause which

did make Robin feel better about everything. They returned to their seats where Robin moved her hand over and they intertwined their pinkies.

They didn't get to sit long before it was time to stand up and the students from the rows behind them began to file out to receive their diplomas. All the other students got in line and then the top ten got into the line. Robin was the last in line with Melody in front of her. Robin slipped her hand to Melody's side where no one could see it and she soon felt Melody's hand cover hers. They stood this way until they got to the stage and they had to drop their hands to her side. They made their way across the stage and they received their diplomas. When they got back to their seats, Mrs. Wilksburg gave the final speech and they moved their tassels to the other side of their caps and then they were high school graduates. When Mrs. Wilksburg finished, all the caps went flying into the air and everyone cheered. Robin turned to Melody and they stared into each other's eyes for a brief moment and then they hugged. Their hug lasted much longer than the other students did and it meant much more. But their friends began to gather around them so they had to break off their hug and they were slowly pulled away from each other by their respective friends.

Robin found herself father and father away from Melody and then her family arrived and they all gathered around her telling her how great her speech was and how proud they were of her. She did see Melody one more time that night but she was surrounded by her family and they could only exchanged smiles and shrugs as they both knew that they were caught in the grasps of their families. Most of the other students went out that night to celebrate their graduation but Robin was stuck with her family and so was Melody, so seeing her later that night was out of the question.

Robin did send Melody an email first thing the next morning and she checked her email for Melody's reply several times that day but she never got one. She sent another one Sunday morning but again there wasn't a reply.

She wasn't worried at this point as she figured that Melody was tied up with

her family. Monday she went with her mother shopping for some clothes as her father had gotten her a job at the manufacturing plant that he worked at. It wasn't a glamorous job but one out on the plant floor bring supplies to the machine operators. The warehouse was hot and it was going to be a hard job but her father thought finding out what the real world was like would do

her good. Robin was actually looking forward to it but she didn't like having to wear steel toed boots. She wasn't much for style but she would have liked

something that looked halfway decent. They were able to find some that at least didn't look like men's boots but still not quite what she wanted. They

then went to find some jeans and shirts that were airy so that she could let

her skin breath and sweat. When they got home, she again checked her email and still no reply. Now she was beginning to worry, but she didn't know what

to do. She sent off another email this time she asked Melody if there was something wrong and to please email her back.

Tuesday she checked her email first thing to find no answer. She frowned and then went to get ready for her first day of work. Her father got up early with her and took her into work. The plant started at six AM, to take advantage of the cooler air of the morning and her father didn't have to be in the office until eight AM. He showed her around and then handed her over to the floor supervisor. She had met him when she interview for the job and liked him. He was like a friendly grandfather but her father warned her that he could turn into a bear if you didn't work. But if you worked, he was the nicest supervisor you could hope to ever have and he would do anything to help you out. Her father had many stories of how he had help his workers out of a jam, whether it be money or personal problems.

He was there for them. Robin planned on getting on his good side and stay there. So she paid close attention as he showed her what her job would be. This was the first time that they had tried something like this and if it worked then it would open up a full time position for someone. So Robin knew

she was working for herself and also for some future person.

Once everything was explained to her, she was left to do her job. It

started slow until the machine operators got use to someone getting their stuff for them, then when they realized how much easier she made their jobs, they put her to full use. By nine the factory was getting warm and she

was starting to sweat. By eleven when they stopped for lunch, she was soaked in sweat and she was beginning to wear down. When her mother came by to pick her up at three that afternoon, Robin knew what real work was like. She actually fell asleep on the way home and her mother had to wake her up. She went straight into the house and took a shower. She then went straight to her bedroom and fell onto her bed and was asleep before her head hit the pillow. About six, her mother came in and woke her up for supper. Robin felt a little better but she knew she would have to go to bed early every night if she was going to be at work at six AM and then work in all that heat. After dinner, she checked her email and found nothing from Melody. She sent off another one to her but she was beginning to think that it wasn't going to do much good. If Melody was going to answer her, then she

would have answered the first one.

The rest of the week went a little better as far as work went. She began to get accustomed to the hard work and the heat. But she did hate to have to work on Saturday, she had always had her weekends off but now that had changed. Of course, she was getting paid for it and that helped her

disposition as far as that went. By Sunday, she still had heard nothing from

Melody and now it was really bothering her. She went from being afraid something had happened to her to being pissed at her. She really thought that they had something started but now she was beginning to wonder. So she decided that it was time to find out. Once she got back from Mass and had eaten lunch with her parents, she headed over to Melody's house. When she got there, she saw Melody's old car parked at the side of the house which struck her as funny but as far as she was concerned, it only meant that she was home and they could talk this out. She had to know what was going on between them, if anything at all. She pulled into the driveway and put the car into park. It was only then she realized how scared she was. She wanted to start the car back up and leave figuring not knowing was better than finding out that Melody wanted nothing more to do with her. But she had come this far and she knew that she had to go the rest of they way. She got out and went to the front door and after sucking up her courage, she rang the doorbell. A minute or two later the door opened and there stood a man that appeared to be the same age as her father. He had the same dark skin tone and wavy black hair. His eyes that lay behind his glasses were identical to Melody's so she knew that this man was Melody's father.

"Ahh.. I'm Robin, a friend of Melody's, may I speak to her." she asked.

"She's not here." He told her bluntly.

"Do you know when she'll be back?" Robin pressed not liking the tone

that he was using with her.

"She's not here and please don't bother me anymore asking for her." he told her and then he shut the door.

Robin wanted to bang on the door and demand to know where Melody was but she knew that it wouldn't do any good. All she could do was to keep emailing her and hope that she would answer her. She went back to her car and sat there for a second feeling more depressed than she had ever in her young life. It was like her world was ending and there wasn't a damn thing that she could do about it. But it still bugged her that Melody wasn't emailing her back. That wasn't like her unless Melody didn't know how to tell her that she didn't want anything to do with her anymore. But that just didn't feel right to her. She then saw Melody's father looking out the window at her, so she started the car and backed out of the drive.

The following week she emailed Melody every evening but she never got a hint of a response. She was getting more pissed off at Melody each day that she didn't get a response but she was still worrying a bit about her too. She decided to try and contact a couple of Melody's friends from school

and see if they knew anything but she came up with nothing there. Either they didn't know where she was or they weren't telling. But from what Robin could discern, it sounded like they really didn't know but they didn't seem as worried about her as she was. But then again, they hadn't kissed her like she had. The next week the emails were down to three or four and she knew she was beginning to show her frustration with the whole situation and she knew that she couldn't let that happen. But it was showing in the way she reacted

to her family and also in the emails that she was sending to Melody. After about a month of this, she was down to one email a week. She was determined to keep sending Melody emails until she got an answer. The summer slowly went by, work was fun in a way and she lost about ten pounds which was a good thing and she could feel and see muscles she never knew that she had. Then two weeks before school was to start, Robin started out on a traveling vacation to Massachusetts. They made a stop in Washington D.C. and visited all the places there, spending two days at the Smithsonian.

Robin wanted to spend yet another day there as she only got to see half of what she wanted but it was time to move on. They made it to campus a day early and they stay at a hotel off campus and spend that day touring the campus.

The next day, Robin moved into her dorm suite. It was a tearful goodbye with her parents but once they were gone, she felt good to be on her own. But she wasn't alone for long as her roommate moved in that afternoon. She introduced herself as Kelly and Robin barely got her name out when Kelly started talking and she never shut up. She talked nonstop and

Robin could barely get a word in edge wise. She soon decided the only way she was going to survive was to tune her out and she did. She had inherited that ability from her father who could tune someone out but still know when to say something. So she put that into work as she went about putting up her

stuff and arraigning her side of the room. It was early evening when the third suite mate arrived. Her name was Alicia and she was to be Melody's roommate. Robin kept an eye and ear out for Melody but she never showed.

The next day Robin woke up early and got her shower in before the other girls got up. It was going to be weird sharing a bathroom with three other girls but if Melody didn't show up soon it would be only two. Today was registration and everyone had to be there. Robin was getting worried about Melody and even though she was mad at her for never writing her back, she still wanted her to go to MIT like she always wanted to do. Soon the other girls had gotten up and they went off to find some breakfast. When they returned about nine, Robin noticed that Alicia's door was open and she was sure that Alicia had closed and locked it when they left. They all entered the room carefully and they found a suitcase on the other bed. The realization that Melody had arrived was just coming to her when she heard Melody's voice and then that of her mother's voice. Robin turned around just

in time to see Melody with her mother and father enter the room all carrying boxes of stuff. She started to say something to Melody when she just happened to see an engagement ring on Melody's left hand. Robin looked up at Melody for an explanation and but Melody looked at her mother as if trying to say something but Robin was too heartbroken to see anything but the pain in her chest. She quickly excused herself and walked out of the room. When she got down the hall a few steps, she took off running before she burst into tears. She made it to the end of the hall before she felt the

first of the tears burning down her cheek. She skipped the elevator and hit the stairway door hard. The first stairs she saw headed up so that is the way she went. The tears streamed down her face and when she got to the top floor, she noticed a couple of girls staring at her as she ran past them. She didn't know where she was going she just wanted out of Melody's room. She went to the end of the hall and saw a door that said it went to the roof. She banged on it and it opened, so she ran up one last flight of stairs and the shoved the next door open and she was on the roof. It was at this point she let it all out.

To be continued...

Please let me know what you think of my story. I welcome all comments good or bad. You can email me at numlfl@hotmail.com