Used

Seven-thirty came and went with no sign of Frankie. Eight o'clock passed with no sign of him either. At nine-thirty Frankie called from a club downtown.

"Where are you?" I asked angrily.

"I think the question is, 'where are you?' I thought I told you to be at the club for seven-thirty." Frankie told me just as angrily.

"Um, no. You said you'd pick me up at seven-thirty." I corrected him.

"Well tonight's been shot. Thanks Melody-Anne. I'll see you tomorrow." Frankie hung up on me.

"Stupid jackass." I muttered and slammed the phone down.

I let out an ear-piercing shriek of anger and threw myself down on my bed. I stayed there for all of two seconds before getting up and going over to my mirror. I looked at my delicately sculptured face for a moment before shattering the glass with my fist. Thousands of reflections of my tormented eyes and gaping mouth looked back at me angrily. I ended up cutting my knuckles pretty bad but I didn't care. I got a handful of kleenex and wrapped up my hand as my brother Kyle burst into my room.

"What's going on in here?" Kyle asked anxiously.

"Nothin'." I replied, my back to him.

"Mel, let me see your hand." He walked over to me and held his hands out to me to reveal my injury.

"Just go away Kyle. I'm fine." I insisted and then flinched as I moved my hand.

"Mel, don't do this to me. What'd you do to your hand? You know mine's killing me." He grabbed my arm and spun me around. I couldn't fight him. He was my brother, my twin, and he was right.

"I put it through the mirror." I admitted and bit my lip as Kyle peeled the kleenex off my bloody hand. "OW!" I gasped.

"Sorry," he apologized. "Jesus! You're gonna need stitches." He said as he realized how bad the cuts were.

"Really?" I looked down at my hand and cringed. "You know who's fault this is? And don't say mine."

"Frankie's right? What happened? You guys get your signals crossed again?" He asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"I guess. Frankie forgot he was going to pick me up and was waiting for me at the club. Christ!" I clenched my hands into fists and then cried out in pain.

"C'mon Mel, I'll drive you to the hospital. And I promise I won't say anything to Jeff about this. He's out right now anyways." Kyle grabbed me a jacket out of my closet and led me downstairs.

"Thanks Kyle. You know how much it means to me that Jeff doesn't find out." I leaned closer to my brother and kissed his cheek gently. "I love you Kyle."

"I love you too Mel, and that's why I think you should cool it off with Frankie for a little while." Kyle whispered.

"Don't you start too. Please." I whined and we left it at that.

The drive to the hospital was in total silence. I ended up with twenty-five stitches across my knuckles and was given some pills to take for the pain. When I got home I found Anissa in my room.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded and slammed my door closed behind me. She opened her mouth to reply but nothing came out.

"Well?" I snapped and stood facing her with my hands on my hips.

"I came to apologize." She managed to reply weakly. "And to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine." I sat down beside her on my bed.

"So what'd you do to your hand?" She asked carefully.

I thought about how to answer without incriminating Frankie.

"I fell and busted my hand through my mirror." I lied calmly.

"Oh my God! Are you okay?" She asked anxiously.

"Yeah, I'm fine. So is there any other reason that you're here?" I eyed her suspiciously.

"Um, yeah. I was talking to Billy, and he said that him and the guys were gonna come up from New York next week, and one of them kinda wants to meet ya." Anissa trailed off.

"What? Why?" I crossed my arms.

"Well because I showed them a picture of you and was kinda talking about you when I was there. So he's interested." She confessed.

"You told him I had a boyfriend right?" I cried.

"Well, yeah, but . . ." She let me figure it out myself.

"Anissa!" I whined. "How could you?"

"Because this guy would be so much better for you than Frankie. He's tall and muscular, and he's got this messy blond hair that you just have this urge to fix up. His eyes are such a light brown that they're almost a yellowish colour. Oh Mel, he's just so hot! Trust me you'll like him, and if you don't you never have to see him again, I promise. Besides, he's rich." She hinted with a gleam in her eyes.

"Money isn't everything." I protested, but Anissa had already caught me with her scheming.

"So you want to at least meet him? It can't hurt right?"

"As long as there's no way Frankie can find out. I don't want him getting mad at me for nothing. Because there is nothing to get mad at. I'm just meeting some friends of yours right?"

"Sure, whatever you want Mel." Anissa's smile spread so far across her face, that for a second I thought it would push her cheeks right off onto the floor.

At ten-thirty Anissa headed home and I started to pack my things for the trip to Ottawa the next morning.

My phone rang at eleven and I snatched it up.

"Hello?"

"Mel?" It was Frankie.

"Who else?"

"What are you doing right now?" He asked curiously. I could hear girls talking in the background.

"Nothin'. Where are you?"

"At a pay phone outside the club, why?" He sounded distracted.

"Pay phone? What about your cell phone? Nevermind, I don't want to know." I replied shortly.

"Okay, whatever. Anyways, meet me at your front door in ten minutes." He instructed.

"Frankie, its eleven o'clock. And I'm going on a trip tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, I know. So meet me there okay?"

"Why?" I wanted to know.

"Just be there." He hung up.

I looked at the phone dumbly. I hung it up and paced back and forth across my room.

"Kyle!" I ran out of my room and down the hall towards my brother's room. I burst into his bedroom and caught him half-naked. He was wearing his boxers and socks, but nothing else.

"Mel!" He snapped and I grinned at him.

"Nice bod Kyle. Put your clothes back on." I stated.

"Pardon me? Could you explain please?"

"No. I don't have time. Just get dressed."

Kyle groaned and threw his jeans and a t-shirt back on.

"Okay, what?" He asked as I grabbed his arm and dragged him into the hall.

"Frankie's coming over in five minutes. I don't know why, well, I have an idea. But I want you to keep an eye on us just in case." I pushed Kyle into the living room downstairs. "Just watch and if I need you, I'll call okay?"

"Yeah. Okay." He sat on the couch and watched out the window for any sign of Frankie's red fiero. I walked over to my front door and waited for Frankie's arrival.

I heard a car screech to a halt in front of my house, so I opened the door and stepped outside to meet Frankie. He threw the passenger side door open, pushed a half-naked girl out of the car and told her to get lost. I ran over to her and helped her to her feet. She was crying and her clothes looked like they'd been ripped off of her.

"Are you okay?" I asked in shock.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She replied, pulled away from me and walked off down the street, lamely attempting to put her clothes back together.

"Frankie!" I cried angrily and went over to his car. "You stupid asshole!"

"Get in." He demanded and gestured to the seat beside him. "Now." He added with a jerk of his head.

"No. First you will explain to me what the hell that girl was doing in your car." I snapped and awaited his reply with my arms crossed over my chest.

"Get in here right now!" He screamed, yanked me into the car and peeled off. I pulled the door closed so I wouldn't fall out and then jerked on the steering wheel so he jumped the curb and had to stop the car.

"Stupid bitch! What is your problem? Are you trying to kill me or what?" He went to slap me across the face, but I caught his hand and twisted his wrist around so that if he tried to pull away, I could snap his wrist and break it. He knew he was caught, so he calmed down a bit.

"Answer my question Frank." I stated firmly. He cringed slightly when I called him 'Frank' instead of 'Frankie.'

"I picked her up at the club and she was all over me so I had to put her in her place." He replied smugly.

"You raped her to put her in her place?" I cried and put pressure on his wrist. He let out a little yelp and changed his answer.

"Well, she was all over me at the club and since you weren't there, I figured I could get a quickie in before I saw you after." He grimaced as my face began to turn red and the pressure on his wrist steadily increased. "Mel! My wrist! Let go before you break it!" He cried in agony.

"Did you rape her? Yes or no?" I asked with a nasty tone in my voice that told Frankie if he said 'yes', he could say 'bye' to his wrist.

"Mel, I didn't rape her. She consented." He squeaked out his answer and I let go of his wrist.

"You cheated on me?" I was in total shock. My entire body went numb.

"Well yeah. Don't tell me you haven't cheated on me." He smirked and rubbed his wrist gingerly.

"Is this the first time? Or have there been others like her?" I asked in a near whisper. Tears were threatening to spill down my cheeks. I was trying desperately to keep them from coming as fast as they wanted.

"No, it wasn't the first time. I'm a guy, what do you expect? Me to be loyal?"

"Yes! I've never cheated on you! I loved you!" I looked away from him as a tear began to roll down my cheek. It was followed by another and then a million. Sobs racked my body and I could do nothing but sit there and cry right in front of Frankie.

"Look, I made a mistake. Forgive me." He said smugly and looked to see if there was any traffic before reversing off the grass.

"How could you? I thought you loved me!" I sobbed and sniffled loudly.

"I do. It was just an accident." He replied and started driving off towards a field filled with abandoned barns known as 'Make-Out Palace.'

"Where are we going?" I wiped the tears out of my eyes and looked around.

"Where do you think?" Was Frankie's ground out reply.

"No! Let me out right now!" I reached over and stepped on the brake pedal.

"Christ! Mel!" He shouted and his fist ripped across my cheek like a jagged piece of rock. I shoved my door open and was just about out before Frankie grabbed my arm and dug his fingers in so hard I cried out. I sat back down in my seat and he reached across me to close my door. I kept my mouth shut as tears coursed down my face, burning my cheek where Frankie had ripped it open with his rings.

We drove in silence until we reached the field. Frankie drove over to a grove of trees and parked the car. He pushed his door open and pulled me out of the car. I knew what was next and all I could do was cry. Frankie took his belt off and tied my wrists together over my head. He directed me to the trees where he hooked the belt on a branch above my head. I was doomed and there was nobody around for miles to help me.

"Frankie, please." I whispered as he opened the fly on his jeans.

"You're gonna beg me now? This is a first." He smirked and put his hands on my hips. He squeezed me gently and then undid my shorts.

"Frankie, don't. Please don't!" I whimpered.

"Too bad. You've already asked for it. I have to deliver. Think about how many disappointed customers I'd have if I listened when they changed their minds." His eyes gleamed in the moonlight. I refused to let him get away with this and decided to fight back with all my might. I knew if he knocked me out, he'd leave me alone, so I started to kick his shins and knees but he stepped backwards after the second hit.

"Oh, its like that is it?" He grinned and dropped his jeans. He stepped out of them and then fought with me to tie my legs up. "So you like it rough now huh?" He smiled evilly.

"Let me go!" I brought my knees up and nailed him under the chin. He fell onto his back, stunned. I worked my feet back and forth to try and get out of the trap Frankie had me in.

But I hadn't hit him hard enough, he sat up and glared at me with a look on his face I'd never seen before. He grabbed my legs and tied his jeans tighter before stepping into my legs like a hula hoop. I was wrapped around him, and no matter how hard I tried to be brave about what was next, I just couldn't do it.

"I hate you!" I sobbed. He shrugged.

"It'll pass. It always does." He pulled my panties down and opened his boxers.

He was gentle despite the circumstances and I hated him throughout the whole thing. He opened my blouse to press kisses all over me but I didn't care.

When he was done, he dressed himself and untied me. He went over and sat in his car, waiting for me to get dressed. I sat on the ground and cried until it hurt.

Frankie came over with his 'I'm sorry' face and helped me get dressed. I knew he wouldn't touch me again that night so I let him dress me. He picked me up in his arms and was about to take me over to his car, but I jumped out of his arms before he got there.

"Mel!" He was shocked at my sudden change.

"You are a stupid cock sucking asshole. I hate you." I retorted, turned and ran as fast as I could towards the nearest barn. He jumped in his car and chased after me. He caught up with me in seconds and threw me down on the ground. He sat on me, holding my arms out at my sides, and leaned closer to my face.

"Take that back Mel. You know what I was sucking on wasn't no cock." He growled.

"I wish it was." I muttered. Frankie let out a sigh and pulled me into a sitting position. He wrapped his arms around me and held me close.

"I'm sorry, Mel. I don't know what got into me." He apologized and kissed my hair. His kisses made their way to my mouth and I turned away. He grabbed my chin roughly and turned me back to face him. He kissed me long and hard in his way that melts me. I lost it and relaxed as his kiss captured my very soul. I felt his hand loosen its grip on my wrists and reach for my hip. I wrapped my arms around his neck and began to kiss him back passionately. He smiled and tightened his grip on me. He pulled my body up tight against his and I could feel him getting aroused again. I let out a groan and pulled away from his mouth.

*the end - for now...*