“It’s a little chilly out here, aint it?” Emilio said, his smile peaking through his turned up hoodie.

“”A bit,” Melody said, chuckling.

“You haven’t been out here long? Have you?” he said, in a concerned tone.

“Nah, it wasn't that bad. This hoodie is pretty thick so it's okay,” Melody said, pulling at her hoodie with her fingers.

“So do you want to walk for a bit or do you want to sit and talk for a while.”

“We can walk for a while to warm up a bit,” she said, getting up. As she turned away to brush off any excess debris on her back, Emilio’s smile snapped into a sinister stare, watching her carefully like a predator stalking his next meal. But before Melody could turn around and notice, he slapped a smile back on her face, and motioned her with his hand to start walking. And they did walk and talk about many things. Tv shows. Old cartoons that they had both watched when they were younger. Whenever Melody smiled, Emilio smiled back. Her chuckle would be matched with his. Melody didn’t really notice anything weird about it, but to an onlooker you couldn’t tell if he was mocking her, or mimicking her. Whenever she had turned her back to him, he held a sort of face that would make any child run for their mother. This dead eyed stare that if Melody caught, she would have never considered him a friend of hers anymore. He was everything that would have reminded her of her father if she would catch him watching her like that red handed. But for now, she lived in blissful ignorance, finally able to talk to someone who she thought understood. After a while, Melody slows her pace, thinking carefully in the words that’s coming out of her mouth.

“Thank you for coming over,” Melody said, grinning through the sadness in her eyes.

“It’s no problem. I’m here for you,” Emilio said, looking at her, shrugging his shoulders with his hands buried in his pockets.

“I just hate my life sometimes, you know,” she said, glaring at him.

“Yeah I know what you mean,” Emilio said, sighing.

“Like, who allows a stranger to look through your shit. And she acts like I’m the problem for even being there.” she said, raising her voice. 

“Hey,” Emilio said, snapping his fingers, “Uniquely Human is on tonight. Did you want to take the bus back home to my place so that we can watch it together?”

“It’s getting pretty dark out though. I don't want to come back when it’s pitch dark out,” Melody said, looking at the dim sky. It was mostly overcast today, so she reckoned that in another hour or so it would be too dark to be out.

“I’ll go with you back,” Emilio suggested.

“It’ll be too dark, I don't want you to be jumped on your way back.”

“What? Look,” Emilio said, rolling up his sleeve and showing off his arm muscles. “Ain't nobody gonna jump me.”

“Muscles can only do so much when you’re being robbed at gunpoint,” Melody said, shaking her head.

“Then stay the night if you’re so concerned for my safety,” Emilio said, smiling ear to ear. He pulled his hands out and shrugged them in the air. “It’s your choice.”

“I can’t do that,” Melody said, giggling at the thought of it.

“Why not? I got snacks. If you’re scared of my parents, don't worry. They’re on a cruise and won't be back until next week. The place is ours. We can make a little area on the floor and just watch movies and stuff.” Emilio said, looking carefully at Melody’s facial expressions.

“No, it's not any of that,” Melody said, in thought. “How about we watch it tomorrow? If you don't have anything to do anyway.”

“No, that's fine,” He said, rubbing his hands on his sweatpants with a nervous smile. “Just make sure you don't watch it tonight.”

“You too.” Melody said, smiling. “I just really prefer to sleep in my bed, that’s all.”

“No, I get it. I can’t sleep well in new places either,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Is around noon good?”

“Yeah that’s good,” Melody nodded. Shortly after that the streets filled with darkness and the flickering light of the streetlights, Emilio hesitantly walked Melody home. After watching her reside back into the apartment, he left with his fists clenched in his pockets. He kicked every pebble and crumpled up soda can that was in his sight as he made his way back to the bus stop. When he got there, he made sure to text her the time he would be coming to get her. Noon tomorrow. She only responded with a thumbs up emoji. Tomorrow was a new day, and a day for Emilio to get even closer to Melody.

The next day, as Emilio opened the front door of his home and motioned Melody inside. Melody observed the sleek wooden pillars and dark walls that decorated the hallway. Pictures of Emilio and his family from various different ages of his life were displayed on the walls along with potted plants that Melody questioned if they were real or fake. As she heard his keys rattle on the side table, she couldn’t help but to feel overwhelmed.

“Oh,” Emilio said, waving his hand in the air, looking around. “Yeah, it can be a bit much. My mom really likes to fill up any empty space with whatever.”

“I can understand that,” Melody said, shifting the small bookbag on her shoulders. “My niece and nephew do a lot to make sure that the floor stays cluttered.”

“You must miss them a lot, with them being away and all.”
“Love them to bits, even if they're messy black holes,” Melody said, looking down and sighing. “I like your house though.”

“Thanks.” Emilio said, pointing towards an open room. “To your right is the living room, to the right is the kitchen. If you go straight there’s the bathroom in the back. We can go into the living room so I can pull up the show.”

As Melody and Emilio walked into the living room, Melody was met with even more plants covering the corners of the room, and in the corner near the archway, was a little cat condo, where a small black ball rested on top.  As Melody rested her bag beside the large, plush couch, she noticed something ticking her leg. She turned around to see the cat rubbing up against her, meowing lightly.

“She wants to be picked up,” Emilio said, picking up the remote on the coffee table and turning the TV on.

“You’re so light,” Melody said, holding the cat up by their armpits, glaring at their face before pulling them in for a hug. “It’s Coco, right?”

“Yeah, she’s really cuddly,” Emilio said, sitting down at the end of the couch.

“I can tell,” Melody said, chuckling as the cat snuggled itself into her arms. She gently lowered herself onto the middle of the couch, making sure that her movements didn't disturb Coco to want to leave immediately.

“Would you own a cat if your apartment allowed it?”

“I don't think so. Aaron and Kimmi are already enough already. I don't know how it would be with a pet. Plus, I would feel guilty if I left them in the apartment when I worked.”

“But you’d give Coco a little playmate. What about that?” Emilio pouted.

“No,” Melody chuckled. “Plus I’d be going off to college eventually, I couldn’t leave them alone with my sister.”

“I get that. Maybe you’re able to get one later on,” he said, pausing to look over at her. “You ready to watch?”

“Yeah,” Melody said. Coco stirred for a bit, only to get up once the show was starting to lay down in the open section of the couch between the two. 

They watched the show, all the while with little snickers and comments in between. While Melody instinctively commented about the shows she watched by herself, she felt better knowing that she had someone else to talk to while watching the show as well. All the while took turns getting attention from both Melody and Emilio, before they knew it the credits were rolling.

“That was a pretty meh episode,” Melody said, stroking the cat pressed up against her shoulders.

“Yeah, like all that buildup for nothing,” Emilio said, turning on the cable tv and switching to a random channel. “You hungry? We can check out the snacks in the kitchen.”

“Oh yeah,” Melody said, getting up with Emilio. Coco laid frustrated on the couch as the two walked into the kitchen. It was clean, with shiny countertops and a slight scent of citrus in the air. Melody wondered how she could not notice when they first came in.  They walked on to the side of the kitchen covered with tall doors which almost reached to the ceiling. The light peeked through a large window, with the curtains withdrawn, showing a view to the backyard. 

Emilio pulled the two doors open, revealing a stocked pantry, with all sorts of canned foods on one side of it, bags, and boxes of other foods on the other. It was surprisingly organized by color and what vegetable was in the cans.

“There’s chips, cookies, soda,” Emilio said, reaching down to pull out a water bottle from a large pack on the bottom shelves showing it to Melody. “Water, help yourself. Haven't had the time to restock the fridge unfortunately. Hope you can manage lukewarm shit.”

“It’s okay,” Melody said, looking up at the variety of snacks available. Something piqued her interest, a giant bag of cheddar and sour cream chips. She walked forward to get a gist of how high it was, then got on her tippy toes trying to reach her precious snack. She struggled for a bit, only to feel a presence behind her. She stopped her attempts as she felt Emilio grazed himself lightly against her as he reached up and easily got the bag that she struggled to get. She caught a whiff of his cedarwood cologne and tensed up as he brought the bag to her face.

“This is the one you wanted right?” he said, practically whispering in her ear.

“Yeah, thank you,” she said, grabbing the bag from him and feeling him retreat. She turned around to find him resting against the island counter, with the bottle water to his mouth.

“My mom has to use step stools to get up there if me and my dad aren't around,” Emilio said, twisting the bottle cap tightly. “I can get you a bowl or something.”

“It doesn't matter,” she said, watching him walk to a cabinet and take out a bowl. She placed the bag on the counter as Emilio went for it, opening up the crisp packaging and poured an ample portion into the bowl.

“You can take that back into the living room,” he said, handing the bowl over to her. “I need to search for a clip. You can watch whatever.”

Melody nodded, taking the bowl of chips to the living room, where Coco sat on the top of the couch, glaring at her. Melody pets Coco, quickly slouching on the couch. Coco then slides down the couch, placing herself on Melody’s lap, directly between her and the bowl of chips in her hand. As Melody placed the bowl on the coffee table in front of her, leaving her with an extra hand to pet the adorable little kitty some more, while she flipped through channels finding something to watch. It took several minutes of searching, until Melody finally settled on a cooking competition show. It was around that time that Emilio also entered the room, placing his hands on the couch cushions, displacing them as he leaped into his seat from the back of the couch. He nestled in right next to Melody, leaving about an inch of space between them. Melody tensed up once again, but didn’t say anything. As Coco shifted her attention seeking behavior over to Emilio, Melody took her chance to shift over some more, adding a couple of inches between the two. The distance at least seemed reasonable to her, anyway. 

“Hey my mom watches this show a lot,” He said, pointing a finger at the screen as Coco pranced from Melody to him. “Hey, Coco!” he said as Coco laid out on his lap, accepting any form of pets that it could get.

“She is really cuddly,” Melody affirmed, dusting her hands on her pants, bringing the bowl to her lap and popping chips into her mouth.

“Yeah she is,” he said, picking her up and bringing their faces together. “You’re a little attention whore, aren’t ya. You’re a whore, aren’t ya!”

“Why are you calling your cat that?” Melody said, confused, stopping from popping more chips into her mouth.

“What?” he said, raising his voice. “Because she is? I mean she barely knows you yet she’s all over you. Sorry if I offended you by calling her that. I call her that all the time,” He said, lowering the cat back onto his lap.

“No, I’m not offended or anything, I was just asking,” Melody said, shrugging her shoulders. She had already decided for herself that she would go back home not too long after that. And once the show she had put on had ended ten minutes later, she had said that it was around the time she should be heading home. But as Melody gathered her things and took the bowl she had into the kitchen, Emilio stopped her. 

“Hey I know that you don’t do stuff like this, but would you want to go with me to a party next weekend?” he said, leaning against the kitchen archway with his arms crossed.

“I don't think I would feel comfortable doing that,” Melody said, her mind racing. She didn't want to be caught up in something she shouldn’t.

“I completely understand that, maybe we can come early, before the rush of people come in. That way you can say that you’ve actually been at a party and check it off of your bucket list.”

“I don’t have that in my bucket list,” she chuckled, walking back to him after placing the bowl in the sink.

“It would be nice to see you there, that's all. I think Mateo is going as well if that helps a bit,” Emilio glared at her, shrugging his shoulders. Her eyes widened.

“Really?” she asked, fidgeting with her hands, looking away.

“Yeah, so you’ll have two people you’ll know well there. We can always leave early if it gets too crowded or rowdy. I just think it would be nice to go, that's all.”

“I can go for a little bit,” Melody sighed. She looks away for a moment, in thought. “I just can’t stand being around people like that.”

“Don’t worry I’ll be there,” he said, getting off of the wall to approach her. “You’ll be safe, I promise.”

“Thank you. For looking after me,” Melody said, looking at him.

“That's what friends are for, right?” Emilio said in a low voice, motioning with a hand out of the kitchen. “Ready to go now?”

“Yeah,” Melody said, taking a quick glance around, “Ready when you are.”

As Melody escaped the kitchen, past Emilio and to the front door, Emilio paused and stopped her.

“Before we go, can I have a hug?” he said, walking up to her but still kept his distance. Melody turned around to glance at him, smiled, and presented her arms out for an embrace. 

“Sure,” she said, as their bodies met for a quick moment. She thought that at that moment, maybe it wouldn't be that bad going to a party. Emilio wasn't as bad as Mateo had put on. Maybe she could meet more friends there, people who made her feel less lonely. She actually looked forward to it, seeing Emilio and Mateo, the latter of which she hadn’t interacted with since the last day of school. He was a real friend, the first in what seemed like years. She gleaned thinking about it on the bus ride back. Maybe it wasn’t bad being with other people. Maybe it isn't bad opening up?