The next morning, Melissa woke up feeling lighter — not better, not healed — but a little less suffocated. Maybe confronting Alec was the first stitch in sewing her heart back together. Maybe.
She got dressed and walked to the courtyard where the music club had arranged an informal "jam session" — open mic, casual performances.
Ginny had dragged her into it, of course.
"You need fun," Ginny had insisted, linking arms with her. "Not brooding in the dorm all day."
Melissa wasn't ready to sing or play anything, but she promised she'd go watch.
When they reached, the courtyard was already alive — guitar strings, soft laughter, sunlight scattered over wooden benches.
Ginny spotted someone waving from a distance.
"Dayne!" she called.
Melissa's eyes followed.
Dayne was sitting cross-legged on the grass, guitar in his lap, a messy notebook beside him.
He looked... peaceful.
Different from Alec's intense, burning presence.
Dayne had a calming glow about him. Like sitting under a tree on a warm afternoon.
"Yo, ladies!" Dayne grinned, patting the grass beside him. "Come, come."
Ginny plopped down immediately. Melissa hesitated a second, then followed.
"You're not performing?" Ginny teased.
Dayne fake gasped. "Me? A public menace to music? No way. I'm just here to fake support and drink bad coffee."
Melissa chuckled.
It felt easy around Dayne.
No pressure. No pretending.
The jam session started. A few students went up — someone sang "Let it Be", another strummed an indie song.
At one point, a senior boy attempted rapping, causing a wave of giggles across the courtyard.
"Give him credit," Dayne whispered to Melissa. "He's brave."
Melissa nodded, smiling genuinely.
"You should go up," Dayne nudged her lightly with his elbow.
"No way," Melissa shook her head.
"Come on," he insisted. "You look like you have a beautiful voice."
"That's not how it works," Melissa laughed.
"But you do," Dayne said seriously, looking at her.
Melissa looked down, hiding her blush.
After a while, Ginny got up to get snacks, leaving Dayne and Melissa alone.
A silence stretched between them — not uncomfortable, but charged somehow.
"Hey," Dayne said, voice softer. "I know it's none of my business... but if someone hurt you before, it doesn't define you."
Melissa stiffened slightly.
Dayne leaned back on his elbows, looking up at the sky.
"People like to think they can break others and walk away clean. But they can't. Their dirt stays with them. You? You're still pure."
Melissa stared at him, heart squeezing painfully.
How could he see her so clearly when she'd spent so long hiding?
She didn't answer.
Instead, she plucked a blade of grass and twisted it between her fingers.
Dayne didn't push. He just sat there beside her, offering silent company.
And for the first time in what felt like forever, Melissa didn't feel like she was drowning.
Maybe healing wasn't loud.
Maybe it was this — sitting under the sun with someone who didn't demand anything from her.
Across the courtyard, Alec leaned against a tree, unnoticed.
His eyes were locked onto Melissa and Dayne.
His fists clenched slowly.
He had messed up once.
But he wasn't ready to give up just yet.
Not when he saw someone else stealing the smile he thought he had lost forever.