Chapter 2

Melody groaned as she turned off her alarm. She stretched and let out a small yawn before rolling out of bed. "Shit," she whispered to herself after catching a glimpse of the clock and realizing that she was late. Melody raced around her room, throwing on the first clean clothes she could find and stuffing things into her backpack.

Dressed in a pair of jeans, a light blue button up shirt, and a black hoodie, Melody ran to the school hoping that she would make it to practice on time. The coach's biggest pet peeve was tardiness. The other team members glared as she ran into the locker room five minutes late. Melody ignored them and quickly changed into her uniform, shoving her bag into her locker.

The team walked into the gymnasium. The coach immediately ordered twenty laps as punishment for Melody's tardiness. The girls knew better than to complain, and started their laps in silence.

After a couple of laps around the gymnasium, Melody noticed a man in his late twenties sitting in the stands. He had short brown hair and ice blue eyes. Stacy Erickson couldn't stop smiling at him. She even managed to bend over to tie her shoe right in front of him, giggling with her friends.

Melody assumed that he was Stacy's boyfriend. Stacy always flirted with the teachers, and everyone knew that she liked older men. Melody tried to ignore them, but she could feel the man watching her. It sent chills up her spine. Something about him wasn't right. Every second that she felt him watching her, the knot of nervousness in her stomach grew larger.

Derek watched as Melody ran around the gymnasium, impressed by her speed and endurance. Twenty laps would have left Derek sitting on the floor struggling to catch his breath, but Melody didn't seem at all fazed by the exercise. She was faster than the other girls, and led the pack.

Kidnapping her would prove to be quite the challenge. She was more athletic than he thought she would be. Would he be able to catch her if she ran? He would find out.

Derek couldn't help but smirk when a short blonde bent down to tie her shoe in front of him. She was obviously attempting to seduce him, wiggling her ass ever so slightly as an added effort.

Maybe he would kidnap her instead. She was definitely cute. By the way she acted, however, he could tell that she wasn't the brightest girl around. He would get bored with her in a week. No. Melody was the one he wanted. She was perfect.

When practice was over, Melody disappeared into the locker room. Derek waited in the common area of the school and sat down at a table, attempting to blend in. He didn't want to scare Melody. At least, not yet.

Melody walked into the common area dressed in her street clothes, and sat down a few tables away from Derek. She dug a book out of her bag, leaned back in her chair, and seemed instantly lost in whatever mythical land she read about.

Derek watched with amusement as she read her book. Her facial expressions gave away every emotion that the words on the page made her feel. She didn't seem to even notice Derek.

Derek smiled again, thinking about what he was going to do to her once he got her alone. It would be a challenge, but that's what Derek liked about it. He liked that it wasn't going to be easy. He liked that he was going to have to work at it. That's what was going to make it fun ... For him at least.

Noah couldn't help but chuckle at the girl standing next to him. Her name was Melody Reynolds, and she was easily one of the most beautiful girls in school. There were other, more popular, girls but they were nothing like her. Other girls were either smart, athletic, or artistic. Melody was the only girl that possessed all three qualities.

Melody was standing at the mirror next to Noah, attempting to put on her stage makeup for their first performance of the school play. Her hands were visibly shaking, and her eyes were wide with fear. Noah found it adorable.

"Nervous?" he asked, unable to hide the smile on his face.

Melody looked surprised by his question, but nodded her head. "Unbelievably," she replied with an unsteady voice.

"You'll do great," he assured. He wanted to say more to the girl but saw his friend waving him over from the other side of the dressing room. He gave Melody another smile, promising himself that he would talk to her again before the night was over, and walked over to his friend. "What do you want?"

"Why were you talking to her?" Jake asked with a look of disgust on his face.

Noah shrugged in response, unable to wipe the goofy grin off of his face.

"No," Jake ordered in a stern voice, grabbing his friend's shoulders. "You can not like her!"

"You don't understand," Noah said as he turned his head back to look at the girl standing at the mirror.

"We're talking about Melody Reynolds! You know that, right?" Jake asked as he shook Noah's shoulders, forcing his friend to look back at him.

Noah just nodded and smiled, turning his head to look at the girl once more. "I know," he admitted, blushing as Melody caught him staring at her. "I'm going to invite her to the party this weekend."

"Have you lost your mind?" Jake asked, his tone serious. "Why don't you take Stacy instead? You'll definitely get laid with her as your date, plus she won't try to kill you."

"She's not that bad," Noah argued with a laugh, defending his crush.

"She's weird. She's always off by herself reading those books. She doesn't talk to anyone," Jake argued back, listing off the reasons why he could not allow his best friend to date this girl.

"That's because no one talks to her. Give her a chance," Noah pleaded, knowing that his relationship with Melody would always be strained if he didn't have the approval of his friend.

Jake shook his head and sighed. "You realize that I'm about to let you commit social suicide, right?" he asked with a small chuckle.

Noah nodded and smiled, pulling his friend into a quick hug. "Thanks man," he said, relieved that he would have a guilt free conscience when he asked Melody out later that evening.

Melody couldn't wipe the smile off of her face as the stage lights dimmed and the curtains were pulled together. The applause coming from the audience was deafening. The play had gone perfectly and the audience seemed to love it.

"I told you that you would do great," Noah said as they tried to find their way off stage in the dark.

Melody blushed, still thinking of the kiss they had just shared. She was glad that Mrs. Smith cast him as the male lead.

"So," Noah started, more nervous than he thought he would be. "My friend Jake is having a party tonight for the cast and crew. Would you like to be my date?"

Melody was glad that they were lost on the dark stage, otherwise Noah might have seen her mouth hanging open with shock. "Ya," she responded quickly, her excitement embarrassing her. "I'd love to."