Madison Laden (Destination Fear)

Part 6 (school's reaction)

Madison's POV

It has been a week since Brushy Mountain and we were a couple days from out next location. I just finished my schoolwork for the day because they told me they were skipping 8th and 9th periods today for something really important but didn't tell me what. I texted the group chat with Hunter, Jackson, Ellie, and Ava but they didn't respond to it. I was getting kinda frustrated, and because I didn't want to take it out on the guys, I plugged my headphones into my phone and put the song Enemy by Imagine Dragons on repeat. It was one of their new songs and it was really good. I sat down on the couch in the front where the others were and just sat there staring out the window. I felt myself start drifting off despite my efforts to stay awake. I eventually fell asleep with my head against the window and my music on full blast in my ears.
(A/N: if you haven't listened to Enemy by Imagine Dragons yet you should because it is soooooo good!)

Dakota's POV

I saw Madison come out of the girls' room and she look pissed. We watched her sit down on the couch with her headphones in and looked out the window. She eventually fell asleep despite it looking like she was trying to stay awake. I looked at the others who were all already looking at me. "What's wrong?" Tanner asked. "I don't know she was fine when I went to check on her earlier." Chelsea stated looking at Madi. "Well since she's asleep let's see what she's listening to." I suggested and the guys nodded their heads and Chelsea gave me a 'you better not wake her up' look. I tiptoed over to her and carefully took her headphones out of her ears and walked back to where the rest of us were sitting. I turned the volume down and unplugged the headphones from her phone so we could hear the music.

Oh, the misery
Everybody wants to be my enemy
Spare the sympathy everybody wants to be my enemy
E,e,e,e
Look out for yourself
My enemy
E,e,e,e
Look out for yourself

We finished the song and then turned the phone off. "It's a good song." We all agreed. "I'm gonna go put her in bed." I said and stood up, walked over to her, picked her up, and carried her to her shared bedroom. I went back to the front and hung out with the others until she woke up.

Hunter's POV

I got to school and met up with Ava, Ellie, and Jackson. We were all missing Madi, she's been gone for about 2 weeks which is the longest we've been apart since we became friends. We went to first period and took our seats. When the morning announcements came on through the intercom, we were all shook. They went through the normal things such as the pledge and lunch options before they came to their biggest announcement which was the last.

"The school administration has decided that from now on when there is a new episode of the tv show that our fellow student Madison Laden is in, we will not have classes 8th and 9th periods so we can watch her show and show our support for a fellow student. Today the very first episode is coming out so we will be skipping the last two periods of the day. Thank you and ah e a good day." The principal finished and the intercom cut off. Ava, Ellie, Jackson and I have most of the same classes, so we could talk about this hopefully and see how we feel about this.

(A/N: I just realized that I named the school mean girl the same name as one of her friends so I'm changing it to Ashlynn.)

I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried about everyone in the school watching the show. It's not that I'm not happy for Madi, I'm just worried that kids might make fun of her when she comes back. Just then Ashlynn scoffed and said, "Unbelievable. I can't believe they are making us watch that losers show!" That's when I lost it. I would also be lying if I said I didn't have a little crush on Madison, so I get kind of protective of her even if no one notices it, I do. "She's not a loser. And maybe watching this show will prove to you that ghosts are real, and maybe you'll see what they're going through every night at these locations and also what SHE goes through every night in her own home because she has been living with things like shadow people in her house all her life! One time she even woke up to a shadow figure standing above her while she was sleeping. She slept in the living room for a month after that!" I said while the other 3 nodded. "Oh really? Shadow people? Has she maybe ever considered that it was a nightmare? Mmm" Ashlynn fired back. "No because we've all seen it too." Ellie said as they all stood up and moved behind me, in front of Ashlynn. I think the teacher was too shocked by what was happening or was having fun watching to see what we would say next to stop us. "I'll believe it when I see it." Ashlynn said. I then pulled out my phone and pulled up the most recent picture of the shadow man at her house I got when we were hanging out. I turned the phone around shoved it in her face, "there's your proof." I said. "Okay that's a little creepy but that doesn't prove her house is haunted or that ghosts exist, it could just be Halloween decorations at the end of a hallway. You're going to have to try harder." She sneered. I then pulled up the picture only I knew about. It was of 3 long, deep scratches on her back. We were hanging out just the two of us, and after a while she said she needed a shower so I stayed in her room while she showered. Eventually she pulled the door open and her face was pale. I rushed over to her and she told me to get my phone and take a picture of her back. I didn't know what for but I did it anyway. When she pulled her shirt up, I saw the scratches. "Okay, those could be some of those gorey Halloween tattoos." She said. "But they're not. I was there when it happened. She was in the shower. She didn't want to scare her parents, so she made me not tell anyone. I had to help her bandage them up, I can vouch that they were real. And they were deep too. She didn't even tell her brother, and she tells her brother everything." I bit back. Eventually the teacher got us to stop going at each other and we go to the lesson, but not before giving each other dirty looks.