Just the two of us

Chapter 8- Maddox

It was the morning after my parents told me they would be leaving to New York for business.

What a load of shit, I think to myself.
I mean I get flying back and forth can be tedious, but did they just forget the parenting part altogether? Paying the bills is not something that'll excuse them for not being here almost all the time. That's the bare minimum. Never once in my life when I can remember have they ever actually cared about me or my life. I've become so used to them not caring about me that when me and Natalie slipped into a deep conversation i got surprised because I've never had someone interested in me.

Oh fuck, Natalie.

I don't know what came over me when I was rude to her yesterday. That was absolutely uncalled for. My parents didn't teach me shit, but at least they taught me manners and being unnecessarily mean was not what I wanted to do. I decided to go to her place and apologise in person since that would be the best way to say sorry to someone as feisty as Natalie.

I've known Natalie for almost 5 years. I've never been friends with her but she's always one to stand out from the crowd, especially because of the clothes she wears. I think she fashion sense is absolutely impeccable. Baggy jeans, oversized T-shirt's and sweatshirts- that's a vibe if you ask me.

I've observed her sometimes while we're in the bus. She usually sits 2 seats ahead from Cameron since the milkshake incident. Honestly I don't really blame her for wanting to be away, I'd be careful too if I sat in front of an asshole like that.

I decided to go get ready and go to her place first thing in the morning. I wasn't sure if there would be violence involved so I put on a thick brown crewneck and some jeans.

It was almost 11 am so I prayed that she would be awake because grumpy Natalie is probably the worst one.

What my eyes saw after the door opened was not something I expected to see.

Natalie ofcourse, woke up from her sleep because of me, but the bed head version of hers was absolutely adorable.

Hair tied in a low loose bun, a sleeveless crop top looking almost like a bra and sweatpants, and a face with a very annoyed expression. Her skin was glowing. Not sure how a person can achieve that when they just woke up.

"Maddox. Here was shout at me again?"

I scratched the back of my neck in shame, "I'm so sorry, Natalie, I really didn't mean to shout at you."

She crossed her arms, "Uh huh, uh huh very believable."

"No seriously, I'm really sorry. My parents just came back to town and I knew my dad was going to lecture me about how I'm not doing enough for college and then tell me about another business trip of theirs. I just got so annoyed because I knew what was coming and I took it out on you."

She immediately straightens after hearing what I say.

"I'm sorry, that seems like a lot of pressure."

"It is, but it doesn't excuse my behaviour. I'm sorry." I put forth my hand as an invitation for a handshake.

"I forgive you...Maddie." She says laughing as she takes my hands.

"Hey, shut up Freckles."

"Honestly, Freckles is kind of a cute name so I don't really mind." She shrugs.

She walks into the house, gesturing me to come in.

"I'm assuming you didn't have breakfast, so you can just have it here if you haven't already."

"How'd you know i didn't eat?"

"Maddox, I could literally hear your stomach grumble from hunger. It's either that or constipation. I crossed out constipation because that's just gross."

"What are you making?" I asked, quickly changing the subject, slightly embarrassed by the fact that my stomach was growling.

"Does pancakes sound good?"

"Sounds awesome," I said as I leaned back from the kitchen top and she grabbed the pancake mix.

"Where's your mom?"

"Oh, she's at the store right now."

"I'd love to visit it once."

She looks up and smiles, "I could take you there one day if you want. It's the cutest place. The interior is wood, there's daisies and sunflowers everywhere around the shop and it just overlooks a small lake and there's some empty easels and paints where you can just try out anything you want."

"The shop sounds incredible. No wonder you love it so much."

She smiles as she flips the pancakes.

Perfectly done.

"Perfect, just like me." She says.

"Too cocky, Freckles."

"It's the truth, Maddie. Deal with it."

I grab two plates and we get it over to the dining table with some maple syrup as she puts 4 pancakes in my plate and only one in hers.

"Why'd you take only one?" I ask.

"Oh, um, just not hungry." She says as she looks down at her plate, contemplating whether to eat that one pancake or not.

I can notice something's wrong with the way she fidgets with her fork and takes minuscule bites of it.

I don't push on the subject a lot because I can see she doesn't want to talk about it.

We talk about school, my parents leaving, the shop and almost every other thing in our lives.

Never in a million years did I imagine that I'd be having breakfast at Natalie Campbells houses, talking about what's good and bad in life.