CHAPTER SEVEN:
SCIENCE FAIRS & PARTY DATES

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SIX LONG MONTHS PASSED by in the wake of Connor Chambers' death. That's one-hundred and eighty-two days since Shay and Sebastian lost their father, since they started forgetting what his voice sounded like, how he used to smile and laugh, how he lived. In the time since their dad's funeral, Melody Chambers had been on three business trips, each longer than the last. But their flighty mother seemed to have no regards for their feelings anymore, she simply packed her bags whenever she'd feel like it, running in and out of their lives without a care in her emotionless world.

Early one Friday morning in the tiny utensil town of Forks, Shay woke to someone screaming downstairs. In her disoriented state, it took her a minute to realise the shouts were her brother's, and in an instant she was wide awake and rushing out of the room. Racing down the stairs two at a time, she turned the corner into the living room to find her mum with suitcases stacked around her legs and her brother blocking the entrance to the hallway.

"Sebastian, move out of the way!" Melody demanded, an angry scowl twisting at her features.

"No, mum, you can't keep doing this to us!" he cried, his eyes pricking with tears. "You promised me you'd come to my Science Fair tonight, you promised!"

"I did no such thing," Melody rolled her eyes. It was then that she noticed Shay standing on the bottom step, watching the scene with a frown. "Shay, thank god you're up. Tell your brother to move out of the way, I have a flight to catch."

"You're going on another business trip?" Shay mumbled. Her heart sank with disappointment the moment she saw her brother's quivering bottom lip, throbbing at her mother's blank stare as she took in her son's sadness with unfeeling and uncaring eyes. "But you promised Seb-"

"Not you too!" Melody groaned. With a huff, she gathered her bag's into her hands and forced Seb out of the way, her sights set on the front door. "Look, Sebastian, there'll be plenty of stupid Science Fairs for me to go to. I'm sure your sister can take time off work if this one's really that important to you."

"How long will you be gone then?" Shay whispered, anger bubbling up her throat and threatening to suffocate her with its bitterness.

"I don't know," she shrugged. She threw open the front door, sighing in relief as she saw that her taxi was waiting. Relief that she could get away from her own kids. "I'm going now, see you whenever."

Before Shay or Seb could say anything, she was out the door and in her taxi, leaving them behind again. Inside the Chambers household, there was silence. But the moment Melody's taxi was out of sight, Seb let out a shout of frustration, grabbing onto the nearest object - a picture frame - and smashing it against the floorboards. Shay finally moved from the bottom of the stairs as tears of disappointment rolled down Seb's cheeks, and he sank to the floor beside the mess he made, picking a picture of their father out of the pile of fractured glass.

"I'm sorry, daddy," Seb whimpered as he clutched the paper to his chest, looking up through blurry eyes as Shay neared him, arms wrapping around his tiny twelve-year-old frame.

The brother and sister were quiet save for Seb's cries, Shay rocking her brother back and forth until his sob's eventually ceased. Then they continued to sit in silence, Connor's picture between them and their mother leaving a sour stain on their hearts.

"I really thought she'd come this time," Seb sighed. "Stupid me."

"You're not stupid, buddy," Shay insisted, running a hand through his hair and forcing him to look up at her. "And I know it's not the same, but if you want, I can come with you tonight? You shouldn't miss your Science Fair because of her."

"What about your work?"

"Cora will understand," she reassured him.

Silence again. Then Sebastian was saying something that Shay never thought she'd hear from her younger brother. "I wish mum will stay on her business trip and never come back."

It was that moment. Those thirteen words that Shay thought about as she, Alice and Bella roamed Port Angeles together. The high school girls were trying on dresses and looking to Shay for her opinion, despite it being obvious that she hadn't the faintest clue how to shop. The memory came out of nowhere, sparked by a poster of a Science Fair that was being held in Seattle in a couple of weeks. Shay had paused before the hastily plastered piece of paper that was stuck to a bookshop's window, her brother's angry shouts echoing in her ears as Alice and Bella shared a confused glance, freezing in the middle of the sidewalk alongside her.

"Shay?" Alice frowned, reaching for the older girl's elbow with a gloved hand. "Are you okay?"

Shay snapped out of her trance, forcing a smile as she turned to the two girls. "I'm fine."

"You sure?" Alice prodded as they continued on their way. She was met with an unconvincing hum as Shay pretended to be interested in the contents within another shop's window.

"Do you like science then?" Bella spoke up, searching for a lighter topic as the air grew thick with tension.

"What?"

"You were looking at that poster for a long time," she supplied at Shay's confused stare. "I just assumed you liked science."

"Oh, I don't, but my brother does," she smiled. Alice and Bella shared a pleased glance, happy that the tension was fading. "He used to love going to Science Fairs. Maybe I'll take him to that one."

The rest of the day passed quickly. Alice and Bella had each found a dress to wear to their graduation party, and had talked Shay into buying a dress of her own when they caught her admiring it on one of the shopping racks. It was only when the sky turned a pretty pink hue that they decided to head home, piling into Alice's porsche for the drive back.

The car was silent apart from the soft music coming from the radio. Shay let the tune wash away her woes as she rested her head against the back-seat window, watching the scenery passing by. Alice watched her through the rearview mirror, gaze flickering from the road to the brunette beauty sitting behind her. Both girls had a brilliant day together. Apart from that moment where she saw the Science Fair poster and thought about the woman waiting back home for her, Shay had been full to the brim with happiness. She learnt more about both Alice and Bella - the latter of which was sound asleep in the passenger seat, faint snores mixing with the music - to the point that she was comfortable enough to call them her friends.

"So," Alice spoke up, careful not to wake Bella as she brought Shay's attention away from the window. "Did you have a good day?"

"It was great," Shay smiled, prompting a grin to tug at Alice's lips too.

"Good, I'm glad," she gushed. There was a moment where neither of them knew what to say, caught between feeling nervous and awkward. So they simply sat in silence for the rest of the ride, Alice stopping at Shay's house first to drop her off.

"Thanks again for today, Alice," Shay said as the younger girl helped bring her bags up to the front porch. "I had a lot of fun."

"We should do it again sometime," Alice smiled brightly, though her stomach was fluttering anxiously. Please say yes, her brain begged.

"I'd like that," Shay nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she lingered on the steps.

"Okay," she beamed, over the moon. "I should go. I need to drop Bella home and my family's waiting for me."

"Oh, of course," she agreed, smothering her disappointment to see Alice go. "I guess I'll see you around."

Shay watched Alice head back to her car, reaching into her coat pocket for her keys. Her mum must've went somewhere since her car wasn't parked in the driveway and all the lights inside were off except the one in Sebastian's bedroom.

Just as she was about to head inside and call it a night, she heard Alice call out, "Hey, Shay?"

"Yeah?" she called back, spinning around a little too quickly to be casual.

Alice had her porsche door open, but something was stopping her from getting inside and driving away. Something that she'd wanted to ask Shay all day, but was too nervous to do so. But she didn't feel right just leaving, she'd regret it too much if she didn't at least try. And god only knows the teasing she would face from her siblings if she chickened out.

"I was uh, I was just wondering..." Shay frowned, hearing the tremor in Alice's voice and heading back down the porch steps, coming to a stop just a few feet away from the porsche's headlights.

"What is it, Alice?" she asked, arms crossed over her chest to protect herself from the wind that was slowly picking up.

"I was hoping you'd like to come with me to my graduation party," she blurted out quickly. If she was human, she knew her face would be bright red from embarrassment. "As, you know, as my date. Only if you're comfortable, of course, 'cause I completely understand if you don't want to. You know what, just forget I asked-"

"Alice, you're rambling," Shay chuckled, though inside she was screaming with delight. "I'd love to come to your party."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Okay," Alice grinned, struggling to contain her excitement. "I'll text you the details tomorrow then."

"I'll be waiting," Shay winked.

She quickly turned on her heels and racing inside, heart hammering in her chest as she closed the front door behind her, hearing Alice's porsche drive away. Shay stood there for a moment, back pressed to the door and a wide smile spread across her face. Then with a content sigh, she slowly moved into the kitchen, dropping her shopping bags onto the dining table as she noticed the note that was pinned to her fridge.

Shay and Sebastian,

I've gone back to work. Don't know when I'll be back.

Mum.

Rolling her eyes, Shay scrunched up the paper and threw it in the trash. She wasn't going to let Melody Chambers ruin her good mood. Not tonight, anyway. She had a shopping trip and a date to tell her brother about. So with a shout up the staircase for Sebastian to come down and have pizza with her, the house phone clutched in one hand and the television remote in the other, she forgot all about the note from her mother that resided in the trash can, if you could even call the two sentences she hastily scrawled on the back of a receipt a note. Shay had a feeling she wouldn't be seeing Melody for a long time.