They'll Never Hear a Word We Say: Part Twelve

Sam and Mel spent the rest of their seventh grade year not speaking to each other. They never spoke over the summer either, though Mel had heard from Mikey that Sam wasn't in Mystery Island for once. Mel was miserable, guilty, and still extremely angry with Krystal. She never even had the chance to tell Sam that it was Krystal who had said all of those things, not her.

    Well, she did have the chance to, and she still did, but she couldn't pluck up the courage to tell Sam. Not even in a letter. And now that eighth grade was coming up, she was getting even more worried. Worried that she'd be going into eighth grade with no friends. Without her best friend.

    On the first day of eighth grade, Mel was sitting at her desk in class, when Chad came running up to her.

    "Mel, Mel, I just heard... Have you heard?" the red Lupe questioned, looking eager and a little worried.

    "Heard what?" Mel asked, not bothering to look up from her work at him.

    "About Sam..."

    "Sam?" Mel then glanced up at him. "What about her? Did something happen?"

    "Well, no... But... Mel, Sam's... I just got word that Sam is moving."

    "W-What...? She's moving? But why? How? Where?! And why's she coming to school this week, then?"

    "She's moving to Mystery Island. Apparently her owner loves it there so much and hates it here so much that she's making her whole family move, leave everything they have behind. She's at school this week to say goodbye to her friends and everything. She's hysterical," Chad explained.

    "Moving..." Mel sat there, blankly staring past Chad. How can she be moving? Mel thought. She can't be.. No, not now. She can't.

    "Yeah. In a week. So if I were you, I'd say sorry, or goodbye, or whatever you need to say to her. Before it's too late, y'know?"

    "Sure..."

    "Uh, are you sure you're okay? Well, bye, I guess," Chad finished. He then padded back to his desk.

    From then on, whenever Mel and Sam saw each other passing by in the halls, they would look into each other's eyes, and time seemed to freeze. Mel could see that Sam's eyes were full of sadness and misery. She had to tell Sam about what Krystal did, but she just couldn't. It would seem so strange, talking to her after several months of not speaking with her at all.

    Mel's mind wandered, and she began to wonder if Sam still thought of her as her best friend. What if she still did? Was it possible? After thinking about it for a while, she decided that it was seemed perfectly plausible for Sam to still consider her as her best friend. After all, Mel considered Sam hers.

Tuesday

    It wasn't until the next day that Mel noticed that Krystal and Sam weren't hanging out anymore. She never saw them talking at lunch or in class. They were always on the opposite side of the room from each other. Mel never even saw them make eye contact. The occasional dirty look was shot from Sam to the red Krawk, but other than that, they never interacted with each other. Mel wondered what had happened with them. Was it a fight? Or did Sam finally realize that Krystal was just a good-for-nothing backstabber?

    Well, whatever had happened, Mel hoped it was the latter.

Thursday

    Mel looked across the cafeteria at Sam. The faerie Uni was talking with Mikey. She looked like she was telling him something important. He was nodding. Then Mikey got up, and to Mel's surprise, he started to make his way towards her.

    "Mel, uh... this is going to sound really random, but anyways, Sam wants me to ask you if you still think of her as a friend. Even though all that stuff has happened," the green Shoyru said.

    "Well, yeah... I do," Mel replied, taking a bite out of her big juicy apple.

    "Good. Then go to her house tomorrow afternoon. Yeah, that's all she wanted me to tell you... I don't know what she's up to; so don't come asking me about it. Well, see ya later, Mel." Mikey waved, and then walked off back to his group of friends.

    What was that all about? Mel thought. Is Sam still my friend? But... why did she have Mikey come and tell me to go to her house tomorrow? Why didn't she do it herself?

    Whatever the reason was, Mel tried to quit worrying about it. She would find out tomorrow.

Friday

    Sam wasn't at school the next day. Mel started to worry, since she wasn't supposed to be moving until Monday, but she just shrugged and decided that Sam was probably just helping her owner pack up or something. But why wouldn't she be at school that day? It was the last day of school before she would be moving.

    Mel shook her head. She cleared her thoughts and started to concentrate on what the teacher was saying. It was quite hard though, as Garret was throwing balls of paper at her head, and her friends were whispering her name, trying to get her attention.

The Letter

    Mel sat at the kitchen table in her Neohome, eating a bowl of Mixed Fruit Noodles. It was two thirty. She was planning on going over to Sam's house at three o'clock. In the meantime, she was enjoying her midday snack.

    The yellow Usul couldn't keep her mind off of what Sam might have wanted. Was she going to apologize for blaming Mel for saying all of those horrible things last year? Or did she just want to say how disappointed she was in her best friend? Endless possibilities flooded Mel's mind, one idea leading to the next. She wasn't aware that she had been sitting there for well over a half-hour until she heard her owner coming through the front door with the groceries for that week. Mel saw that it was now three o'clock, so she went to the front door and started to put her snow boots on.

    "I'm going to Sam's house, Kim," Mel told her owner. "I guess she wants to see me one last time before she moves away."

    "Oh... all right. Just make sure you're not out too late tonight, okay, Mel?" Kim told her, wearing a worried look on her face. Mel nodded, and went out the front door.

    Sam lived close by, but the walk to her house seemed like a day long. The snowfall was fierce that afternoon, and it was already starting to get dark. Mel watched the sun setting as she walked, the orange and purple colors swirling and smearing together in the sky.

    Mel's heart started to beat faster as she neared Sam's house. She was actually a little nervous, despite having been friends with this Uni since first grade. What would Sam say? What if she was still mad at her? Mel's mind was still boggling with excitement and confusion.

    Finally, the yellow Usul was walking up Sam's driveway. She went up to the front and knocked firmly on the door. She waited a few moments, but no one answered. She knocked again, this time a bit harder. After waiting, still no answer. Mel looked through the front window. The family room she once had sleepovers, arguments, and played games in, was now empty. Not a piece of furniture was in sight.

    Mel banged on the door again. "Sam!" she called. "Sam! Are you there? Sam, please... please... answer, Sam..."

    She waited for footsteps, the sound of a voice, anything, but she heard nothing. Just the sound of the wind howling, and the soft patter of snow landing on the ground.

    Could she have left already? Mel thought. No, no, she wanted me to come here this afternoon. Maybe I'm late? Oh, no, what if I'm too late? Mel was devastated by the fact that she could have been too late, and had left Sam waiting for her. She imagined Sam begging her owner not to make her leave, telling her that her friend Mel was supposed to come. And then picturing Sam's owner, shaking her head, and urging her to leave. Telling her that she had waited for Mel long enough.

    Mel jiggled the doorknob, desperate to get inside, just to make sure Sam wasn't playing a prank on her, but it was useless. No one was there. But for a quick second, she swore she could have smelled the scent of cinnamon and honey dancing around her nose. It was the same smell that she had always remembered Sam's house smelling like.

    Melanie hung her head as she turned around, starting to walk towards her home, when she noticed a white piece of paper slightly sticking out from under the doormat. She bent down, picked it up, and was shocked when she saw her name written on the envelope. She eagerly tore it open, pulled out a piece of wrinkled notebook paper, and started to read.

    Dear Melanie,

    I pray that you find this letter. And if you came today, that means that you still care. That you still think of me as your friend. Maybe even your best friend. I want you to know that you're my best friend too.

    If you are reading this, then that means I am already gone. You probably heard that I wasn't supposed to leave until Monday, but my owner suddenly forced us to move out today. I imagine you were worried that you had been too late, that I had left just before you got here, but don't worry. I left early this morning.

    I'm sorry that we never got to talk again. I don't think I even remember the last time we spoke. Sometime last year, wasn't it? It's amazing what can happen over stupid words. They're just words, after all. And what's even more astonishing is that it happened when none of those words were even true.

    I found out that Krystal was lying about the things you had supposedly said about me late last year, thanks to Garret. So I ditched her right away, and found some new friends. I suppose you already know that I didn't say those things Krystal told you that I had said about you, either. That was just her speaking for herself. I can't believe that I ever trusted her, that I ever considered that backstabber as my friend. I should have listened to you from the start, Mel. And I'm truly, deeply sorry for that. I was wrong, and you were right. But that's just the past, and I try to forget about it, but it's hard, it really is.

    I wish that we were still as close as we used to be. But I guess that doesn't matter now, does it? I was miserable the whole summer without you. But I just couldn't find it in myself to tell you about everything. It just seemed strange, somehow.

    Well, before I start rambling too much, I guess I should just get right to the point of this letter. I must be leaving very soon, anyway. So, I just want you to know that you are my best friend in the universe. We've been through so much together, so many heartbreaks and other problems, and you've always been my best friend.

    And all of a sudden, all these memories of us that I thought were long forgotten are zipping through my mind. I can just see us right now, making snow angels and snowmen in the middle of the street. Drinking hot cocoa, and you, showing me the picture you had drawn of us that one day in first grade. Wow, we were so young back then. I wish that everything could be how it was when we were in first grade. We didn't have any problems. There was no drama, and no one to tear us apart like Krystal did. Everything was perfect.

    I see us, in Miss Valstak's class. Oh, I remember that like it was just yesterday. I had gotten in trouble for squeaking my wet snow boots in class, remember? I'd gotten sent to the principal's office. Oh, and then you came in after school. I remember you, hugging me. And then you told be that you'd always be there for me.

    At that moment, I KNEW that you would be my friend forever. You had always been there for me since then, so why couldn't you be there for me from then on?

    And then... then, there was Samel. Oh gosh, I can't even think about Samel without crying. That was one of the last places I went before I had to go to bed yesterday. I cried so much when I saw our names carved in the trunk, I really did. Promise me you'll keep a lookout for Samel, all right?

    All these times of us together are just playing in my mind. Like the Cool Kids Club, and our sleepovers together. Or when you gave me that necklace that matched yours. I'm keeping that forever. In fact, I'm wearing it right now. Oh, and the first time we put on makeup together... or the last time we hugged. There are so many things I wanted to say to you, Mel. I guess that's why I'm writing you this letter, though.

    My owner's yelling at me now. I have to go very soon. But I don't want to stop writing. I don't want to leave Terror Mountain behind. I don't want to leave YOU behind, Mel.

    You remember that time in first grade, when we imagined ourselves being best friends until eighth grade... or when you pinned that picture you drew of us on my bulletin board, and you had me promise we'd be friends forever?

    I know that we have been separated so many times, hurt each other too many times to count, but I can still feel it, deep down inside, that we still ARE friends. And we will be. Forever.

    Our bond of friendship is so strong now. It's been through so much, so that's why I'm so confident that it will never break. Though I'll be moving far away, and we'll probably never see each other again, you should know that I will NEVER, ever forget you.

    You were my first best friend.

    And you'll be my best friend forever. I promise.

    Love, Sam

    Mel's bottom lip trembled. She felt a lump in her throat. But no tears came.

    She didn't cry. She couldn't.

    There were no more tears left to cry for Sam.

    She had already shed them all.

The End

Author's Note: I really hope you enjoyed my series. I worked so hard on it, so I really truly hope you liked it. Neomails are definitely appreciated. Thanks everyone!