Chapter 1
9 Years Ago...
Madeline's POV :
“Are you out of your mind?” I whispered to the person who was on the other line with me “You seriously can't ditch me, Tuc! Not today” I almost cried as I uttered the last few words.
You see, the day was high school promenade and I was supposed to be going with my partner, Tucson Hunt. He was known for his looks and popularity but I should've known of his intentions.
“Maddie listen to me for God's sake—”
“I don't need your goddamn explanation, Tucson Hunt. Don't try contacting me ever again. We're over” Even though Tucson and I never had feelings for each other and never would have, I was very proud of choosing him — or him for choosing me for promenade. It was supposed to be the best day of my life instead it turned out to be the absolute worst.
Rumours had it that, Tucson had ditched me because of another girl. I knew he was a playboy but I didn't know he would ditch me this way, not after we were really good friends now. It was entirely horrible. Nobody does that, not on promenade. I was beyond pissed off.
The call ended and I quickly barged outside of the ladies room. The heavy smell of alcohol engulfed me and I practically gagged as I walked outside to get some fresh air. I had a pair of cigarettes in my frock's pocket and I was grateful for it. Lighting it up and taking a big drag out of it, I released the breath I'd been holding for far too long.
“You good?” I heard a voice from behind me. Turning around, I saw a girl I couldn't recognize.
“Yeah..” I sighed “My b- partner ditched me”
“That sucks.” The girl sighed and stood next to me, caressing her hair between her fingers “I can relate because my partner ditched me too, for his parents' stupid fishing trip to somewhere”
I giggled at the excuse and the girl chuckled next to me. I quickly regained my posture and cleared my throat to continue speaking.
“What's your name? I haven't seen you around” I asked, gathering up courage and taking another drag before killing the smoke.
“Lena Hills” We shook hands and I introduced myself “Madeline Miller”
“Well, Madeline, I suppose we both have something in common now” I sighed and nodded at her reply. She seemed like a good girl to me and to be honest, I really needed a friend at the moment “Don't you have any friends?”
“Long story” I sighed “In short, my three best friends left me because I'd started ignoring them for Tucson” Lena seemed confused and I realized I hadn't told her the name of my partner “My partner who just ditched me”
“Oh! That bastard. What excuse did he give you?” Lena asked me to which I just blinked because I didn't listen to his explanation.
“I-I didn't listen to his elaboration. You see, I was beyond pissed off” I confessed.
“Yep, makes sense.” With that, she stuffed her hands in her pocket and we walked just outside our school.
“Do you live far from here?” Lena asked.
“No, I live pretty near. The Arlo street” I stated and Lena's eyebrows raised to a mere forty five degree angle.
“Wow, so you're filthy rich” Lena and I chuckled at her words and soon after, I had reached my street just by walking.
“You wanna come inside? I have ice cream” I grinned as we arrived right outside my house. The swimming pool outside my house was looking bluish and glamorous as ever, sparkling in the moonlight.
“Yeah sure. I could really use some ice cream in this fucked up time” And so with that being said, we entered the house which was said to be the dream of every girl — well not mine, because my parents were hardly home and I looked like a lonely sixty year old grumpy always doing nothing but sitting quietly inside the most enormous house on the street.
“Wow, your house comes straight from a movie or something” Lena confessed and I chuckled before giving her the tour of my house.
“So just as you enter, there's the kitchen... Then to the right of the kitchen is my bedroom which is a blessing because of my late night cravings...” Chuckling, I continued walking around “This is my mom and dad's room” I stated as we reached the master bedroom a bit far away from mine. “This is the first living room” saying this, I went upstairs with her to show her even more “This is my dad's library and to the left of it is my mom's office where she gives cooking classes to girls”
“Wow! Your mom's a chef?” Lena inquired.
“Yeah, she is” I grinned and started walking further “This is the sports room” I entered and exited the huge room and then went back downstairs “And I'm sure you know what the roof looks like”
“Of course... Wow, I'm jealous” Chuckling, she crossed her arms on her chest.
Lena seemed like a good friend to me. From the moment we had today in common to the moment she seemed genuinely interested in getting to know me, I felt at home.
“You shouldn't be jealous in fact, I'm not that proud of my house. It's just... Too big”
Lena hummed and she sat silently on the couch placed next to the kitchen. The kitchen was my favorite place because it contained my heaven — food.
“Which flavor do you want? I have chocolate brownie, cookie dough, vanilla, dark chocolate, strawberry cheesecake, blueberry, mint choc—”
“Woah woah woah. Stop there, Maddie. I'd like cookie dough” We both laughed hysterically at my weird behavior but before I could make a fool out of myself, I took out the cookie dough and strawberry cheesecake ice cream for myself and Lena.
“So.. Lena, tell me about yourself now” I asked, opening the bucket of ice cream.
“Hm... Well I'm just a normal seventeen year old who's in the same school as you.. my mom is a doctor — a neurosurgeon and my dad's a lawyer. I have a big brother and he's a soccer player and he'll be choosing soccer for his career too” At the end, Lena grinned at me. I nodded after processing her words.
“That's so cool!” I mentioned. Noticing I was still in my promenade clothes made me puke the ice cream out. I was not in the mood for any more drama.
“Hey, I gotta go now. My mom would be home any minute now and she'll explode, thinking I was one sec late” Lena chuckled before grabbing her iphone from the couch. Going out, she kissed me on the cheek and i hugged her back, sending her away with a wave.
Lena went out too soon and her ice cream tub was sitting there on the table. Now that we were really good friends, I wondered I'd call her over the day after, to finish her ice cream and we could watch some movies. The plan made me grin ear to ear and I immediately went next to the kitchen—my bedroom.
I changed into my PJs and sat on the bed, opening my instagram on the phone. As soon as I did, I noticed Tucson had posted something on his profile.
My heart sank as I saw he had a picture with his friends — most of them being girls — in a place that looked like a game arena.
He ditched me for a random friends' night? I-I thought we were more than that.
I wanted to text him or maybe call him to tell him how fucked up he was and how he had ruined my day but I decided otherwise — to erase him out of my life forever.
I just wished it'd be easy...
