Love at the Door

Melina sat on the roller coaster, curiously looking around. Louis and his friends had ensured no one else joined, so it was just them and Melina on the ride. Everyone was strapped in with their safety

harnesses.

Just as the roller coaster was about to take off, Louis and his group quickly unbuckled their safety restraints and ran off, leaving Melina

alone in the seats.

Melina sat on the giant roller coaster alone while Louis and his friends laughed hysterically.

“Hahaha, look at her! She’s such an idiot!”

“She actually thought we brought her here to have fun. How can anyone be this dumb?”

“A person with a fear of heights, riding the scariest roller coaster in the country? This is going to be an unforgettable experience!”

“Who does she think she is, going after Linda’s man? She’s so out of her league.”

“Quick, record this! Her eyes are tearing up. She’s about to cry!” This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

In reality, Melina’s eyes weren’t red, and she wasn’t about to cry, but her nerves were suddenly on edge. She heard them saying it was a tall roller coaster in their mockery.

She quickly turned to Louis and said, “I’ve never done anything to hurt any of you. I have a severe fear of heights. This isn’t something to joke about.”

Having a severe fear of heights and being startled like this could cause dangerously high blood pressure, possibly even a fatal stroke. But Louis didn’t understand the seriousness of it. Hearing her words

only made him laugh more.

“Scared? Good. You should be scared! How dare you bully someone as kind and sweet as Linda? Today I’m going to teach you a lesson you’ll never forget!”

It was Linda again. Melina barely knew Linda and had no interest in getting involved with her, She never even bullied her. Melina wondered how it was her fault that Linda liked Andrew. She was Andrew’s lawfully wedded wife.

Melina stopped talking. She knew asking Louis for help was useless. She looked around, hoping to get the attention of a staff member, but Louis and his group had already sent them away. Desperately, she started fumbling with her safety harness but didn’t know how to unbuckle it. She began to panic.

No one knew how severe her fear of heights truly was.

When she was young, there was a time she went into the mountains: looking for medicinal herbs and accidentally fell from a high cliff. The mountains back home were steep and treacherous. All she could feel was pain throughout her entire body, unable to move.

She remembered the sensation of her blood slowly draining from her. As a child, she knew that she would die if she did nothing.

She was an orphan, so no one would come looking for her if she went missing. She would lie there, deep in the mountains, bleeding out quietly until death claimed her.

That was the first time Melina had ever truly experienced fear. The mountain was so tall, and all she felt was despair.

Just before she lost consciousness, she saw Joanne. The teacher, who had taught in the mountains for 20 years, had come to find her despite having a limp.

She heard Joanne calling her name.

“Melina!”

Snapping back to reality, Melina suddenly realized someone was indeed calling her name.

The next moment, someone sat beside her as if shielding her from the fear and malice surrounding her.

The mocking laughter quieted down.

Melina looked over and saw Andrew beside her. She couldn’t understand why he was there.

Before she could ask, the roller coaster shot off like a bullet.

Her breath caught in her throat, and it felt like she was falling from that mountain all over again.