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“Ok, ok, but then what?” Amanda laughs.
Melissa leans across the table. “Obviously you snap his neck. Bam, and the problem is gone.” She says it in the same cadence as that old advert, one that is barely a flicker of a memory in her mind.
“You guys aren’t imaginative enough.” Bradley argues. “What’s the point of any death scheme that isn’t overly convoluted and brutal?”
The three of them all laugh. Zack just shakes his head. “You’re all horrible.”
“Oh, like you haven’t fantasised about killing someone before.” Melissa teases.
“Never in this much detail, no.” Zack says dryly. They all laugh again. “Ok, Melissa, we’d better get going.”
“I suppose.” Melissa concedes, getting to her feet. “C’mon then, newbie. Do you wanna take the rooftops?”
“Do we have to?”
Melissa elbows him, grinning. “Fine, fine, we’re going underground then. The Normbots have been out in force this week.”
She helps Zack to his feet, and they prepare to go. “Bye guys. Give Clover a fuck you from me.” Melissa ticks a salute off of her forehead.
“Bye!” Zack adds.
“Bye, Wildfire.” Bradley says, saluting back with a grin. “Bye, Wildfire’s best friend.”
Melissa freezes.
Zack turns to her. “Mel?”
She stays frozen for a good few seconds. Then she snaps out of it, with a vicious head shake. She whirls on Zack, her hair spinning around. “Don’t call me that!”
“Whoa, ok.” Zack holds up his hands. “But you said that I could-“
“We’re not best friends!” Melissa snaps. “Go away! Leave me alone!”
“Ok, ok.” Zack raises his hands, feeling utterly baffled. “But, we live to-“
“Leave me alone!”
With that, she spins around and storms out. Zack is sure that wind blows in her wake.
The three other kids watch her go, in stunned silence. “Whoa. What upset her like that?” Amanda says.
“You know what she’s like.” Bradley moves his finger in a circle next to his head. “I love her, but she’s mental.”
“Bradley.” Amanda says.
“Oh come on, ‘Manda, this is what she does. She gets into these rages and no one can get through to her.” Bradley says.
Zack frowns. “I… I think I know why she’s upset.” He says cautiously. “I’m gonna go after her.”
“Want a helmet?” Bradley asks.
“Har har.” Zack says dryly.
Amanda produces a helmet from under the table. “He wasn’t joking.”
Zack sighs. “I’ll be fine. She’s upset, but she’s not really angry at me. She’s just upset at the situation.”
“Well, it’s no skin off my back.” Bradley says.
So Zack waves goodbye to them, and leaves the resistance headquarters. He knows exactly where Melissa has gone.
He takes a deep breath and begins shimmying up the drainpipe. Once there, he starts carefully making his way along the roof, taking deep breaths. He doesn’t think that he will ever get used to travelling on the rooftops. But Melissa is entirely at home on them, as comfortable up there as she is on the ground. Perhaps even more so.
So he isn’t surprised when he finds her sitting on a rooftop, legs crossed, weapon clutched tightly in her hands. Her head is bowed.
He doesn’t get another step further before her head snaps up. “Oh my god, Zack, I thought that you were an enemy. I was gonna throw you off the roof.”
“Please don’t.” Zack jokes. “Can I sit?”
Melissa looks back down, glowering. “I told you to leave me alone.”
“I know. And I’m sorry.” Zack says. “But I want to talk about what happened. And we also live together, soooo… we can’t exactly avoid each other forever.”
“You could join the resistance.” Melissa points out bitterly. “A real resistance.”
“Do you want me to do that?”
“No!” Melissa snaps, loudly enough for him to recoil. “But- yes! But… I love you. You’re my friend. But I don’t understand why you like me. I’m awful to you! I’m rude and I’m bitter and I get so angry, about stuff that isn’t your fault.”
“Because you’re cool.” Zack says bluntly. “And you’re kind, and you’re caring. And I know that you’re hurting.”
Melissa sighs. “Aren’t we all?”
“That’s true.” Zack says. “Can I sit?”
She wordless gestures next to her. He sits down, wincing as his legs dangle over the edge. “I’ll never understand why you insist on hanging out up here.”
“It feels safer.” Melissa says. “And all of bad stuff just feels miles away.”
Zack reaches for her hand. She snatches it away. “What upset you?”
She shakes her head, glaring at the ground. “It sounds stupid.”
“I guarantee you, I’ve said stupider.”
Melissa giggles weakly, then hardens. “Bradley called you my best friend.”
“I know.” Zack says. “Why did that upset you?” He has an idea, but he lets Melissa speak.
“Because… because Milo’s my best friend. He is, I’m going to find him. He’s not lost.” She insists, her hands tightening on a weapon. “Milo is my best friend. And calling you my best friend… it just feels wrong. Like I’m betraying him.”
She scoffs. “It sounds so fucking stupid. But I can’t help but feel like, if I called you my best friend, that would be like saying that I don’t think I can save Milo. It would be like accepting he’s gone.” She hesitates. “When Bradley said that, I panicked. Because I felt like even him saying that, meant that Milo was gone.”
Zack sighs. “You know that’s not true, right? Just saying words won’t do anything.”
“I know! I know, and that’s why it’s so stupid! Because I know it’s true, I know that just saying stuff and thinking stuff won’t make any difference to Milo’s situation, but it still feels so terrifying! It still feels like it does! And I hate it.” Melissa puts down her weapon and wraps her arms tightly around her self, digging her fingers into her arms.
“Melissa…” Zack sigh. His heart aches for her. “I get it. And I know how much it hurts.”
“I have to prioritise him, over everyone. Over you.” Melissa says, avoiding eye contact. “I have to.”
“And I get that too.” Zack says. “I know that you’ll prioritise him. And I’m fine with that.” He reaches for her hand again. This time, she lets him take it. “And we don’t have to call ourselves best friends, if that upsets you. It’s ok if we do, it won’t hurt Milo. It doesn’t mean that you’re not best friends with him, you can have two best friends. But it’s also ok if you don’t want to.”
Melissa sighs. “Thanks, Zack.” She leans over to rest her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s ok.” He puts his arm around her.