Never Saw This Coming

Baby Daddy.

Maddy

The doorknob rattles. "You have to unlock the door for me, Maddy!" Nova's voice comes from the other side of the door. I open my eyes, my body turned straight at the door as I sit on my chair. "Oh yeah," I say. I get up and unlock the door before running back towards my chair. I close my eyes again, per Nova's instruction, and sit down. "Okay, I'm ready!" I say. A couple of seconds later, I hear the door open and close. I obviously cannot see anything, but I hear my best friend's footsteps inch towards me.

I tap my foot impatiently against the ground. "Okay, open!" she says. I open my eyes slowly and look up. My mouth falls open and I stand up immediately. I grab her hair and admire the new color. "Wait, it looks so fucking natural on you," I say with a smile. Her hair is long enough that it reaches just above her waist. She smiles, "Do you like it though?" I nod, playing with her hair still. It's straightened even though her natural hair is already somewhat straight. "It looks so good," I say honestly.

She had to dye her hair brown for the show that she starts filming in two months. She didn't have to dye it until later but she decided to do it now just to get used to it in case she didn't like it, but I can tell that she does. It looks good on her. The brown look fits, nothing too crazy from her naturally auburn hair. She places her hands over her chest. "Thank God, I didn't want to be the only one who thought so," she tells me. I follow her onto my bed, we both jump onto it at the same time. "You haven't shown Valdez?" I ask.

She shakes her head, pulling her phone out from her back pocket. "He's busy right now and I'm going over later anyway. I didn't even tell him I was dyeing it," she says, smiling. "You didn't? Oh my God, why?" I question curiously. She tucks a strand of her long, now brown hair behind her ear. "I wanted a genuine reaction. Let's see if he even notices," she raises her brows. I scoff, "He notices every single, tiny, different thing about you," I say, truthfully.

We all know this by now. Valdez can sense when something is wrong with his girlfriend no matter how hard she tries to hide it. He even catches it before me. It's interesting really. He knows her really well. She blushes at my statement, probably knowing it's true. "Have you been studying for midterms?" I ask, switching the subject. She nods, "Yes, ugh I just want to take them and then enjoy spring break," she says, laying flat on her back now. It's Friday and we all start taking midterms on Monday. Luckily, we test all next week — and I work as well— and then we're off on Friday. One week off. I need this more than anything.

I've been working a lot, my off days only being Mondays and Fridays. Also, I like doing good on my midterms so school has been stressing me out with all the studying I've been doing. I'm also working on my bathing suits for my final project. So far, they're coming along nicely. I wouldn't be surprised if I finished them by the end of this month. I'm not putting any pressure on myself though since I know a lot of people in my class are still in the very early stages of this project. Some of them haven't even started. I think I might go out tonight to shop for some fabric though.

Before I can respond my door opens and closes quickly. My eyes widen and so do Nova's. We forgot to lock the door. I get off the bed quickly, hearing heavy breathing coming from inside my dorm room. I pick up my roommate Natasha's softball bat. Maddy, Nova mouths. I inch towards the edge of the wall that connects the small hall between the actual room and the door. When I reach it, Max stands in front of the door, his back pressed against it. My shoulders drop back down, not so tense anymore. "Why do you have a bat?" he questions, his voice in almost a whisper.

"What the hell are you doing in my dorm room?" I ask. Nova appears next to me, staring confusingly at Max. "Oh, hey, Nova," he says, not moving. She smiles only. He looks back at me, "Janae. I'm hiding from Janae," he pants quickly, speaking like he just ran a fucking marathon. "Why?" Nova questions for me. "She's mad because she thinks I got her pregnant, so I ran out of her dorm when she accused me," he says easily. Both Nova and I's mouths fall open. I step forward towards him and pull his arm, getting him away from the door.