Melinda and Her Freckles, Part 1

Melinda woke up. She still wasn't feeling that hot, especially since last night. All she remembered was holding a bottle for about an hour, or was it all night? Some people she didn't know showed up, and that's all well because they were Amy's girls but she still hated being around them. Actually she hated everything about them. But that's another story, or rather several stories about the same thing, for another time.

She didn't even look in the mirror this morning. Deliberately, she brushed her hair while looking at the ceiling and didn't care enough to use the bathroom. Maybe she had to use it but she could not be bothered. A vacation! Forget that. She spent the first three days of her vacation mostly lonely or miserable. It was Amy's idea, and Melinda requested off work early enough to make it a reality. But she wasn't having fun. She never had fun at the beach.

Melinda dragged herself toward the side door of the beach house and pulled it shut, not bothering to look it as someone had broken the lock the night before. So she stumbled down Fourth Street towards the boardwalk, thankful it was only a few houses away. The sun hit her in the eyes like bricks and she didn't care what she was wearing or what was showing...she needed something to eat. She walked for several store fronts, oblivious of the early hour and wondering why so many had not yet opened. After passing by a few closed pizza shops and avoied the stares she knew she was attracting, Melinda at last found what she was looking for. Dolly's Pizza, famous Dolly's Pizza, open at 10 AM. She made her way to the front counter and looked around for a clerk, not that she had any particular desire to talk to one, but she had to do so in order to get a slice. Finally, a young girl of about 16 came up to the register and upon seeing Melinda, did a double-take. Melinda was used to it. In a moment the girl came to her senses. "Hi, what can I get you?"
"Just a plain slice, please," replied Melinda, massaging her head.

The girl kept staring at her. Melinda looked up. The girl lightly jumped and scurried away to place the order. It always happened this way. To clear her mind, Melinda turned around to look at the shore. Bad idea. A few people had since gotten in line behind her, and in front was a young boy about her age. As soon as they locked eyes, the boy stared and stared at Melinda until she pretended she wasn't paying attention to him. With her back turned to the counter, she suddenly picked up a whisper from the kitchen, only a fragment of a sentence:
"--have to see this girl's freckles, I'm not kidding--"

Melinda seized up. She was used to it, but it always made her cringe, especially so early in the morning and on an empty stomach. Sure enough, she turned back around to see not one, but two young girls behind the counter, gazing at Melinda and taken aback when she stared straight back. The slice was ready and on the counter, but no on acknowledged it. Finally, one of the girls pointed to the slice and mumbled something about "two dollars", and Melinda was safely out of there.

It's not like she wasn't expecting it, but at the beach, it couldn't be helped. Melinda was seventeen, had bright red hair, and the possibly most freckles in the entire world. She had started getting them shortly after she was born and by age 3 her whole face was freckled. By age 8 her entire body had them, and once she reach her teen years it reached such a point that most people, every day regular people, would stare at her in public, or even ask awkward questions about her freckles. It wasn't that unusual of course for a person to have a lot of freckles, but in Melinda's case it went very far beyond that. Her entire face, ear to ear, was one mass of dark red freckles. Lips, eyelids, ears, neck...they were all covered. She tried wearing make-up through the years but it did nothing to cover her freckles. Besides, they took over her arms and legs as well, invading her hands and fingers, and even splatting all ten of her toes. She had never met anyone else with as many freckles, and it seemed that nobody else did either, which is why they always stared when Melinda came around.

Sitting on a bench across the boardwalk, Melinda looked at the sky and ate her pizza trying to think about nothing. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the young boy from the pizza line, sitting on the next bench and watching her. As soon as she looked at him, he looked away and pretended to be watching the sky too. Melinda wanted to eat her pizza and think about nothing, but even the boy's presence made her feel so self concious that she could no longer think straigh. Melinda had enough. Acting on a wim, Melinda put her pizza down and walked straight over to the boy. He noticed her immediately and looked straight at her, puzzled and a  lttle scared.
"Hello," said Melinda to the boy.
"...H-Hi" the boy blurted out.
"I noticed you watching me once or twice today. Anything I can help you with?"

She clearly surprised the boy by her comment, and she was slightly proud of it. While the boy stuttered to find a response she looked around to make sure they weren't overheard. She was possibly about to make a fool of herself but she was up to her wit's end with people staring at her freckles.

The boy seemed to come to his senses. "S-Sorry, I didn't mean to stare, I really..." But his voice trailed off. Melinda finished the sentence for him.
"My freckles, right? You were staring at my freckles? Just tell me."

The boy was so surprised by how forward Melinda was being, and he just stuttered more. It was actuall kinda cute, Melinda thought to herself, and so was the boy, and she may have a different opinion of him had he not just been discovered doing the same annoying thing everybody else does.
"Yeah, I was staring at them...s-sorry. That was stupid. It's just..."
Melinda cut in. "You've never seen this many freckles before, am I right?"
The boy slowly nodded. Melinda giggled. It was the first time her face had broken into a smile all morning. The boy seemed to let his guard down as Melinda did hers. She spoke again. "So..."
He blurted it out. "Do you have freckles everywhere?" Then he seemed to catch himself. "Oh my god, sorry, I didn't mean it come out like that..."

But Melinda laughed it off. "Yes, I do." She found it easier to talk about her freckles once she let her guard down, and she was surprised that it was her own gutsy move, approaching the boy that led her to this point. "What's your name?" she asked.
"I'm Tom," he said without taking his eyes off her face. Or her nose, or her cheeks. She noticed that his eyes scanned her face as he spoke to her. No doubt, checking out all my freckles, she thought to herself.

"Well, I'm Melinda, and if you don't mind I'd rather do something then just have you stare at my freckles. Want to take a walk?" the words shot out of Melinda's mouth before she thought about them, but they echoed her thoughts. Her morning grumpyness, plus the sudden stares and comments, times the boy watching her on the bench, well that equalled something new. Melinda wasn't going to care about it today, and if that worked out, she would try not caring about it some more.

"S-Sure," the boy replied, surprised by her invitation but accepting it anyway. Melinda led the way back down the boardwalk away from her beach house, and Tom fell into step next to her. It only took a few seconds for their conversation to continue, but they picked up right where they left off. A few more people gaped at Melinda's freckles as they walked by, but this time she smiled.

To Be Continued....