<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="postlink" href="http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn24/SociallyToxicBeauty/86e7ec34-6f46-4224-a245-9c92f1db7b35.jpg">[ img ]</a></div><br/><br/><span style="color: #0000FF">"You've done nothing, but that isn't the point....you've had to have noticed the way people looked at us..." </span>Melda flinched when Jin raised his hand, mostly out of habit. She managed to stop herself as Jin wiped away some of her tears. His hands gripped her arms firmly,<span style="color: #0000FF"> "Don't misunderstand, I enjoyed having you around today....I can't overlook the possible danger I've put you in..."</span>Jin dropped his hands and Melda looked back at the ground.<br/><br/>Jin was probably right, but the thing was everyone had already seen them together. Everyone had already made their assumptions. Those assumptions and ideas wouldn't fade if Melda and Jin never spoke to one another again--it was too late for that.<span style="color: #0000FF">"Do you understand now? Being around me will only cause you more issues? That can't be something you would be okay with, it just doesn't make any sense to me,"</span>Jin said. A moment passed and he spoke once more, almost as if it were an afterthought,<span style="color: #0000FF">"What happens when I'm not around, and they come for you. What then Melda?" </span><br/><br/><span style="color: #BF0000">"They'll come after me either way," </span>Melda muttered, still a bit upset. She looked up at Jin once more,<span style="color: #BF0000">"You don't understand. People always mess with me anyway. I get cornered in bathrooms, hallways, staircases, elevators--I do my best to not be alone or away from teachers, but sometimes not even that helps. For the first time ever there was someone who actually repelled the others, for the first time I had some peace." </span>Melda brushed some hair away from her face, still clearly trying to pull herself together.<span style="color: #BF0000">"I...I've never had a good day before--not since I started school here, and today was the first time I did,"</span>she admitted.<br/><br/>There was a short moment of silence, but Melda seemed nervous and agitated.<span style="color: #BF0000"> "I just...I just want to go home,"</span>she finally said with a tinge of exhaustion. With that she began to walk, attempting to accept her fate once more. For the first time in a while she had hope, but now it was gone once more. She understood Jin's reasoning, even thought she didn't agree with it. However, she couldn't force Jin to stick around and she couldn't force her company on him--no matter how much she wanted to.<br/><br/>Eventually they made it to her house, if you could call it that. It was more a mansion than anything, surrounded by high gates and a driveway. Melda entered the code for the pedestrian walkway, the door giving a slight beep to signal access. She opened it, motioning for Jin to walk in first.<span style="color: #BF0000">"You'll have to come in with me. My parents aren't going to believe me if I tell them I was just hanging out,"</span>Melda explained. With that, the two of them walked towards Melda's home. She opened one of the large mahogany doors with some effort. She always complained the doors were to heavy to her parents, but they insisted they were perfect to know if she was going to sneak out. Of course it was a joke as Melda was a rather well-behaved child to the point where her parents tried to encourage her to let loose--and both of her parents were rather reserved.<br/><br/>The doors lead to an expansive entry way with victorian couches on either side to allow guests to sit and take off their shoes. They used to have a butler, Richard, who would take everyone's items at the door, but he had died a year before. Melda had rather loved him, as he had more or less taken care of her since she was a small child. Melda's parents had tried to hire new help, but Melda had thrown an uncharacteristic fit about it and so they held off to wait for her to stop grieving. She never had though.<br/><br/>Their shoes softly tapped against the marble flooring and Melda sat down on one of the floral pattern pattern couches to take her shoes off.<span style="color: #BF0000">"I'm going to go upstairs real quick and change. I'm not really fond of the school uniform, ya know?"</span>she explained as she sat her shoes in a hidden closet nearby. She then disappeared upstairs.<br/><br/>A little further down from the entry way was a parlor area where Melda's parents were. Her father was a rather imposing figure, especially for an elf, while her mother looked much like Melda. At the moment, the two were in a heated debate about Melda--her father stood next to the fire place, his frame leaning against the mantle as he looked down at the fire, the flames causing shadows to flicker across his stone face. Her mother sat in a similar patterned chair as the couches in the entry way, her expression just as guarded and cool.<br/><span style="color: #FF40FF"><br/>"We can't just let her keep going to that school, Iric. She is falling apart--I know we've worked hard to get this far for equality, but why must it be at the expense of Melda's well being? Every day I come home wondering if I'm going to find her dead--whether it be by her classmates or her own hand---We cannot keep sending her. When is the last time you've seen her give a smile? A real smile!?" </span>the woman asked. Her words were emotional, but her voice seemed rather soft and monotone, as if she had never spoken above a whisper before. The man, Iric, gave a sigh, rubbing his eyes some--the only sign that he wasn't a rock.<span style="color: #FFFF00"> "Do you think I don't know that, Fiona? Do you believe I enjoy seeing Melda come home every night crying? All I am saying is that we should give it a little more time. Melda hasn't protested yet, she hasn't given up yet--if we pull her out of school now, she will feel as if she failed us...she will think that we gave up on her ability to integrate into the school. She won't see it as us helping her, she'll see it as us thinking her weak..."</span><br/><span style="color: #FF40FF"><br/>"Her friends don't even talk to her anymore, they think she's a traitor. She hasn't made any friends here, either. She is completely isolated--and she doesn't even talk to us anymore. It isn't good for a girl her age to not have friends. It certainly isn't good for a girl her age to not be able to confide in anyone. It isn't healthy. I know Melda wasn't very social before, but she still had friends--she still went out and did things. It's only gotten worse since Richard died," </span>Fiona replied with a sigh. Silence engulfed the room and it seemed neither one had much else to say. Instead they both seemed to be lost in thought.