Chapter 1

Melody set her history book aside, glad to finally be done with her assignment. She had spent the last four hours working on the homework that had been assigned to her for the weekend. She wanted to get it done early so that she would be able to concentrate on her performance in the school play. She was the female lead, and very nervous.

Melody looked at the small alarm clock on her nightstand. It was only eight o'clock at night, way too early to go to bed. She slowly stood from her bed and walked over to her computer desk, sitting down on the uncomfortable wooden chair.

Melody pressed the power button on her oversized desktop computer, sighing impatiently as she waited for the old machine to start up. She desperately wished that she could afford a newer computer, a laptop perhaps, but knew that she was lucky to have the one that she did.

Melody smiled as her computer screen finally came to life, and quickly typed in her password. She logged onto her favorite chat room, using the username 'Classical_Melody'. Almost immediately, a pop up appeared on her screen.

LonelyGuy: Hey

Classical_Melody: Hey

LonelyGuy: How are you?

Classical_Melody: I'm good. You?

LonelyGuy: Good. A/S/L?

Melody immediately knew that 'A/S/L' stood for age/sex/location, and didn't think twice about giving a random person on the internet her information.

Classical_Melody: 18/F/USA

LonelyGuy: Wow! Really? I'm 18/M/USA. What state do you live in?

Classical_Melody: New York

LonelyGuy: I live in New York too! Weird.

Classical_Melody: Really? What town?

LonelyGuy: New York City

Classical_Melody: Oh, I live in the northern part of the state.

LonelyGuy: What's your name? I'm Zach

Classical_Melody: Melody

LonelyGuy: Can I see a picture of you Melody?

Melody sent him a link to one of her online profiles. She had to wait a few minutes for his reply.

LonelyGuy: You're cute.

A small smile grew on Melody's face. Men always seemed to appreciate her petite body and accentuating curves. Her black hair traveled to her mid-back and contrasted with her pale skin, yet it was her blue eyes that stood out the most.

Classical_Melody: Thanks. Can I see a picture of you?

LonelyGuy: Sure. What's your email address?

Melody sent him her email address, and waited for his picture to arrive. She wasn't expecting much. She had chatted online with more men than she cared to count. All of them had sent her a picture. None of them had impressed her.

However, after opening his email, Melody had to admit that Zach was different from the rest. He was wearing a polo shirt and slacks, looking very relaxed and casual. He had shaggy blonde hair, was tall and very good-looking. His stomach was flat and his short-sleeved shirt was showing off his biceps. His athletic frame was intimidating, but the smile on his lips set her at ease.

Classical_Melody: You're not too bad yourself.

LonelyGuy: Thanks. So do you just go to school or do you have a part time job as well?

Classical_Melody: Unfortunately, I'm too busy to have a job.

LonelyGuy: How so?

Classical_Melody: I'm taking all college courses, which means a lot of homework. As a soloist in the school choir, the lead in the all school play, and a player on the varsity volleyball team, I have practice of some sort almost every night. So even though I would like to have a job to earn some money, I don't have any spare time.

LonelyGuy: Wow! You're very ambitious. You must be very smart to be able to take all college courses.

Classical_Melody: Well, I won't be able to afford to go to college after graduation. I need to learn as much as I can, while I can.

LonelyGuy: I'm sure that you would be able to get some sort of scholarship. So what's with all the extracurricular activities?

Classical_Melody: I just like to be out of the house as much as possible. So do you have a job?

LonelyGuy: I'm a cashier at the local grocery store. It sucks!

Classical_Melody: At least it's something, right?