Chapter Text
It was a Tuesday morning when Melissa met Francesca, more affectionately known as Chessy, for the first time. 4:25 am, to be precise. She came into Melissa’s world in a gush of fluid and blood, and the second she was placed on Mel’s chest, she knew Chessy would be her new best friend.
Chessy didn’t always feel the same, however. Her mom was cool, sure. Way cooler than the rest of her friends' moms. But she was still a mom— and that was the most uncool thing anyone could be in the eyes of a teenager.
“Whatcha doin’?” Mel asked her daughter, sitting down next to her with a plop on the couch. She leaned over to try to see Chess’ phone screen, and in return, she received a grunt and a cold shoulder. They used to be so close. When Chessy was little, Melissa was the only person she wanted. It used to drive Joe wild. That and the fact that Melissa tore from A to B during delivery, and according to Joe, her vagina would never be pretty again.
Mel didn’t give a shit about that, though. She barely even gave two shits about Joe. She had her miracle baby, something the doctors told her would never happen, and no one was taking that away from her.
“Is it a boy?” She asked, and Chessy rolled her eyes.
“No ma, it’s not a boy,” she grumbled.
“Oh, a girl then?” Mel smiled. She didn’t care if her kid was gay, straight or identified as a cat, as long as she was happy.
“Mama, stop,” Chessy begged, hiding her phone as Melissa tried to get closer again. She managed to get a smile out of Chessy when she tickled her side, and that was her biggest accomplishment of the year.
“It’s almost time for housewives,” Melissa said excitedly, and Chessy stood up.
“Yeah, I’m pretty tired, ma,” she said. “I think I’m gonna go to bed early.”
“You feelin' okay? You got a temperature?” Mel asked worriedly, and Chessy shook her head, backing away.
“Nah, just tired,” she yawned. “Night, mama.”
“Night princess,” Mel said, wrapping herself in a blanket as she prepared for her favourite show.
The truth is, Chessy wasn’t going to bed. Well, she was going to pretend to be in bed when Melissa inevitably checked in on her, and then she was going to climb out her window and go to a party. Her first party.
The captain of the football team invited her as his date. And she wasn’t in love, of course not, she wasn’t stupid. She did know that the captain inviting you was a big deal. And she was excited.
She pulled on a pair of low-rise jeans that showed off a sliver of her belly and a Led Zeppelin t-shirt. She applied gloss to her lips, winged her eyeliner the same way her mama taught her, and fluffed up her curly red hair. If she was going to inherit anything from her mom, she was happy it was her hair. Oh, and her boobs.
They certainly got her a lot of attention from the football team.
Melissa came upstairs right on time, popped her head in and smiled at the sight of her sleeping child.
“Sleep well, my little Cannoli,” she said before leaving the room and heading to her own bed.
Melissa was cool, for sure. But even she wouldn’t approve of a party on a school night, and Chessy knew it. She waited a few minutes before grabbing her phone and climbing carefully out of the window. Her heart raced; she had never gone behind her mother's back like this before, and it was exciting.
The walk to Tyler’s house wasn’t long, and it was a relatively warm night. And as soon as Chessy walked into the house, she was immediately handed a drink. She sniffed it; it was strong— she couldn’t be quite sure what it was, but she needed some liquid courage.
“Babe, you came!” Tyler said, his big goofy grin on his stupidly handsome face as he walked towards her. “You look hot.”
“T-thanks,” she said, looking up at him as he backed her against the wall.
“Feel that?” He asked, grinding against her. “I’m so hard for you, Chess.”
Chessy gasped, and an unfamiliar flood of need and want pooled between her legs. She wanted him. So she followed him up the stairs to his bedroom, where he took her virginity. It was slow at first, and it was everything Chessy imagined it would be. But then he got rough, and when she opened her eyes, she noticed a couple of other guys in the room too, filming them.
“Good little slut,” he said as he pounded into her. “Chessy Schemmenti is a little whore, just like her mom.”
Chessy saw red, and she shoved him off her, grabbed her clothes and ran. She hid in the bathroom while she got dressed, and she noticed blood between her legs. She cried; she wasn’t a whore. It was her first time, and it was supposed to be beautiful. And her mama wasn’t a whore either; she hadn’t even been in a long-term relationship since the divorce.
Chessy fled the bathroom, and people laughed at her all the way to the door. They were watching the video. The video of her, butt naked, while Tyler Wyatt fucked her missionary. It was everywhere.
She cried all the way home, she cried as she snuck in through the back door, trying to be as quiet as she could, and she cried when she climbed into her bed. She cried herself to sleep, hoping she would wake up and it would have all been a nightmare.
At 4 am, she woke with a startle; it wasn’t a nightmare. It was real, and now she was actually having nightmares about it. Her whole body hurt. She was sore between her legs, her breasts were sore from all the biting and squeezing Tyler did, and her head hurt from crying so much.
She padded across the hall, barefoot and in her pyjamas. Her makeup was smeared across her face. She completely forgot all about it, and all she wanted to do when she got home was sleep. Now all she wanted was her mama.
She snuck into the bedroom across from hers and peeled back the covers, climbing into the bed. She was about to cuddle up to Melissa when she felt a hairy chest instead. The man grumbled, and Chessy screamed.
“Jesus!” Melissa exclaimed, turning on the bedside lamp. Her hair was a mess, and she was naked. As was the man beside her. “Chess, what the hell?”
Chessy didn’t say anything; she just cried, looking between her mom and the man. Tyler was right, her mom was a slut. And this was all her fault.
“Captain Rob, I think you should leave,” Mel said, but he was already pulling his clothes on.
“I’ll call you,” he said as she pulled on her own pyjamas.
“Sweetheart,” Mel said, her robe hanging loose around her as she wandered into her daughter's room. “Why are you wearing makeup?” She asked, her arms folded as she leaned against Chessy’s door frame.
“Why are you such a whore!” Chessy answered back, and Melissa was completely taken aback.
“Excuse you?” She said, “So I had a guy round, doesn’t make me a whore, kid. And I’d appreciate you not taking that tone with me.”
Melissa examined her daughter in the soft glow of her own bedside lamp, and she noticed the hickey immediately. The hickeys, the smeared makeup and the crying. And then she curiously looked down and noticed the blood. Her whole demeanour softened, and she rushed to Chessy’s side.
“Baby, what happened?” She asked, grabbing her daughter's face and forcing her to look at her. “Did someone hurt you?”
Chessy didn’t say anything; she just sobbed as Melissa pulled her into her arms and rocked her like a baby.
Melissa took the rest of the week off work, and she didn't make Chessy go to school. There wasn’t a lot they could do. She willingly went to Tyler’s room; she wanted him to take her virginity. But she didn’t ask to be filmed, and she was heartbroken about it.
Melissa was heartbroken, too. All she ever wanted to do was protect Chessy, and she couldn’t even do that properly. She felt like a terrible mother.
It had been a month, Melissa was back at work, but her priority was Chessy. And Chessy was able to enrol in online lessons, which meant she could stay home. She was so worried about people seeing her; her confidence was wrecked.
“What do ya say we go bowling?” Melissa suggested. Chessy was feeling better, more like herself, and she just wanted to put the whole thing behind her now and try to move on.
“What if someone sees me?” Chessy asked, and Melissa stroked her hair.
“I know a guy,” she hinted, and it made Chessy laugh. She hadn’t laughed or even smiled since the incident, and Melissa felt warm and fuzzy knowing she could make her kid laugh again.
“You love bowling,” Mel reminded her, pulling her into a hug, and Chessy nodded, snuggling into her mama. She had always been a cuddly, clingy child. The clinginess stopped once she reached puberty, and while Melissa was sad about the events that led to this, she was so glad she had her cuddly girl again.
She kissed the top of her daughter's head and squeezed her. “You ready, or do you wanna get changed?”
“Do I look bad?” Chessy asked, looking down at herself. She was wearing a pair of denim cutoffs and a brown tank top. The freckles on her shoulders matched her mother's, and her hair was in loose curls cascading down her back.
“No, darlin', you look beautiful,” Mel said softly. Her own hair was in a ponytail, and she was wearing jeans, blue ones and a Philadelphia Eagles t-shirt that clung to her body. She slipped her feet into her white sneakers and grabbed her car keys.
“I’m gonna whoop your ass,” she teased, and Chessy laughed again.
“In your dreams, old lady,” she joked, and Mel gasped.
“How dare you? I’ll have you know I’m only a few years older than you,” she played along, and Chessy laughed even harder now, her whole face lighting up at their playful banter.
Everything was going to be okay, Mel thought as she watched her baby girl grin from ear to ear.