MADDY

THE NOTE

-one week later-

I've been allowed to go back to school for the past couple of days now. Luke didn't seem to be in the house when I woke up for school. I thought that was kind of odd since he's always on my ass about getting ready. Without fail he always rushes me out the door every day. I managed to leave on time and be at school on time.

I go through the day as normal until the second to last hour. It was one of the more boring classes so I constantly would zone out in class. Mr. Barkson always taught us like he was a professor in college. He would never let anyone disrupt his class. He would even get mad when the ladies from the office would come in during class. It was even very rare for him to not get mad with the office staff.

My attention was grabbed when Mr. Barkson was given a note during his lecture when the older lady from the officers entered the room. He stopped talking and looked at the note to see the name. He made eye contact with me and walked over and gave me the note. I could tell something was off since I never get notes from the office in class and when looking at the teacher you could tell when his face dropped and his face went white. He stood there for a second in silence before continuing talking trying to act normal to try to not cause a commotion with the other students.

It was a handwritten note saying

"Madeline Summers to check out immediately for a personal family emergency" I grabbed my textbook off of my desk and put it in my bag that sat slumped over on the floor. I quickly zipped it and then headed to leave the classroom. While walking in the small gap of space between the desks I could feel all of the classroom staring at me until I left.

I slowly walk towards the office. I saw Luke in the office windows. He sees me and doesn't say anything when he walked through the office doors. He tried to quickly walk to the car but I stood a few feet behind him. I silently followed him to the car. The car ride is only a couple of minutes but it felt like an hour. The longer the silence the deeper the pit in my stomach grew. I started to feel sick.

We entered the house he walked in first. By then I had an eerie feeling that something bad had happened. I had been fighting that feeling even though I had a sinking feeling since I got the note in class. I was refusing to even think about what this possibly could've happened.

"Maddy" he stopped for a second "you're going to need to sit down"

"Luke, what's going on?" he looked to the floor, seeming upset and not knowing how to properly say what he is wanting to tell me. He looked pale and dazed like he hasn't slept in weeks.

"You know when Mom passed away..." He stopped trying to collect his words. I just sat on the couch waiting to know what's going on. "After Mom's passing Dad didn't know how to handle it... he started working two jobs, started drinking, and popping pills" Even though our father wasn't there for us and had a bad addition he always made sure everything was paid for and that we could still have food and a roof over our heads.

"Yeah, I was there for all of that. It's not like he kept it from us." I say angrily.

"Maddy Dad passed away" there was a moment of silence "I got a call this morning...."

"How?-" I couldn't even continue to say anything before Luke interrupted me.

"There was a car crash a couple of towns over and I had to go up there and ID his body" he cries. I didn't say anything, I stayed silent. I felt like the world had stopped for a second. Time slowed down and everything was in slow motion. I couldn't catch my breath. For a second I felt like I couldn't move but wanted to run. I wanted to leave, leave this house, this town, everything.

"Maddy!" I hear Luke yell. He stands still near the stairs at the bottom. I was near the top when I paused for a second.

"WHAT?" I say louder.

"COME HERE"

"NO, I WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE" I enter my bedroom and slam my door. I felt like for a second that my door was going to break. A few framed pictures on my wall fall to the floor. I sit on my bed and hold my head in my hands.

"WE NEED TO TALK" he opens my door and enters my room.

"LEAVE" I stand up and point to the door.

"NO I'M NOT LEAVING"

"WHY?"

"WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS"

"NO WE DON'T. HE WASN'T EVEN A GOOD FATHER. HE WAS GOOD FOR NOTHING, HE NEVER DID ANYTHING BUT DRINK AND POP PILLS. WE ONLY SAW HIM IF HE WAS LEAVING TO GET MORE IF WE WERE LUCKY AT BE HOME OR AWAKE BY THEN. HE'S BETTER OFF DEAD ANYWAY! EVEN BEFORE MOM DIED HE WAS STILL A GOOD FOR NOTHING. HE WAS JUST DEPRESSED THAT HE DIDN'T HAVE A PUNCHING BAG ANYMORE AND THAT HE!! HAD TO TAKE CARE OF HIS!! KIDS AND HE DIDN'T EVEN DO THAT. I WON'T FUCKING MISS HIM WE'RE LUCKY!!! WE'RE LUCKY THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF HIM!!! ANYMORE!"

"Maddy, you don't mean that," he says calmly. I almost regret saying all of that but it just all starts coming out.

"YOU KNOW WHAT LUKE I DO MEAN ALL OF THAT. WE ARE LUCKY THIS ENTIRE TOWN IS LUCKY. THE WORLD IS LUCKY HE'S NOT HERE ANYMORE. EVERYONE IS BETTER OFF WITHOUT HIM HERE." I started to hit Luke in the chest with both hands in fists. After a few more seconds of yelling, I fall to the floor crying. Luke sits on the floor and holds me.