The bus arrived back at the Abby Lee Dance Company early Sunday morning. All the girls were sleeping on the bus in the back snuggled up around Brooke. Brandon and the moms were sitting up front talking quietly.
Once the bus pulled up in front of the entrance in the parking lot, all the moms got up and started shaking their kids awake. Maddie was the first to be woken up. "Hmm?" She replied groggily, burring her face into Paige's shoulder, who was lying right beside her.
"It's time to get up." Melissa replied, shaking her lightly again. Maddie opened her eyes and looked up at Melissa, who was now shaking Mackenzie awake. Maddie got up and grabbed her iPhone and reached up into the over head compartment on the bus pulling out her Summer Cottage Vera Bradley bag.
After Maddie grabbed her bag she walked off the bus and turned on her phone. Right when her phone turned on she got a new text message. She looked down to see who it was and the screen said the message was from Nick.
"Heard you did amazing at Energy! :) Love you!" The message read. Maddie smiled reading the message until the very end. Her eyes widened and she had to read over the message about five times before she believed what it actually said.
"Thanks! Love you too! :)" Maddie replied to his message a minute later.
Minutes later Melissa came off the bus with Mackenzie. They all got their suitcases and then headed towards their car. Thirty minutes later they were home and Maddie grabbed her suitcase and went up to her room.
Maddie opened the door to her room and shut it behind her, once she had walked in. She threw herself on her bed and buried her face in a pillow that was lying nearby.
Maddie sat up a few minutes later and got off of her bed and started to unpack her suitcase. She refolded all the clothes she didn't wear and put them back in her dresser. After she had unpacked Maddie walked back down stairs and into the living room. She saw Melissa reading a book and Mackenzie watching Victorious on the television.
Maddie walked out of the livign room. No one seemed to notice her and even though it was only nine in the morning, Maddie walked into the kitchen and opened the freezer. She pulled out some chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and put two scoops in a bowl. Maddie sat down at the kitchen table with her ice cream. She placed the spoon in the bowl and took a bite of it.
Minutes later she was done with her ice cream. She rinsed out her bowl and put it in the dishwasher before making her way down the hall towards the living room again. Maddie peeked her head in around the wall and saw that Mackenzie was now lying down on the couch asleep. Maddie looked over at Melissa who as sitting in the chair and saw she had fallen asleep also. Maddie walked over to the couch and pulled the blanket down that was lying across the back of the couch and laid it over Mackenzie's sleeping form.
After she had covered Mackenzie up with a blanket Maddie walked back up to her room. She laid back down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Ever since Brooke had told her that her and Nick were a lot like Brandon and herself, it worried Maddie. She loved her friendship with Nick and she didn't want it to be ruined like Brooke and Brandon's.
Hours later Maddie woke up to someone shaking her. Maddie opened her eyes and saw Mackenzie.
"Wake up Maddie! There is someone here to see you!" Mackenzie giggled.
"Who is it?" Maddie responded while she sat up. She guessed she had fallen asleep a few hours ago and was just now waking up.
"Someone special." Mackenzie answered. Maddie rolled her eyes and stood up from her bed. She smoothed down her shirt and checked her reflection in the mirror before following Mackenzie down the stairs. She walked down the hall to the front door where she was greeted by a familiar face and voice.
"Hey Mads." The person Maddie recognized as Nick said.
"Hey." Maddie responded. "What are you doing here?" She said with a smile on her face. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist giving him a hug.
"I just came to tell you how amazing I heard you were at Energy." He said, smiling he picked her up and spun her around causing Maddie to laugh.
Maddie may have been fifteen but she was only just above five feet. Nick had about seven to ten inches on her height compared to his. Nick sat Maddie down a minute later and Maddie led him into the living room. Melissa was no longer sitting in the chair and Maddie guessed that she had gone to go make lunch in the kitchen.
Nick sat down on the couch and Maddie sat next to him. "So I heard you won your age division at Energy." Nick said. Maddie nodded her head and gave a small smile.
Nick didn't say anything after that and neither did Maddie. They sat completely quiet next to one another in an awkward silence. Maddie was twirling a piece of her hair around her finger trying to pass some time, waiting for Nick to start talking again. After ten minutes passed and the two of them sat there in complete silence the whole time Maddie was starting to sense that something was bothering Nick.
"Okay, what's wrong?" Maddie asked, letting go of the strand of hair she was twirling and turning her head towards Nick.
"Uhh..." Nick responded, clearly not knowing if it was a good thing to tell Maddie what he was about to say.
"Just tell me. Please Nick?" Maddie said, batting her eyelashes and giving him puppy dog eyes.
Nick smiled, and let out a little laugh before he began to talk. "So, have you heard that Brandon and Brooke broke up?" Nick asked, feeling stupid right after he said that. Of course she knew she was with both of them the whole weekend.
"Yeah. I feel really bad for Brooke. Brandon totally crushed her heart." Maddie said, her cheeks becoming a shade of red just thinking of how angry she was with Brandon.
Nick nodded. "So, now I'm guessing Brooke told you that you and me are a lot like her and Brandon before they started dating?" Nick asked, a light shade of red brushing up on his cheekbones. Maddie nodded her head. "Yeah. Everyone keeps saying that if we would ever date, our relationship would end the same way. With us hating each other." Maddie said, looking away after she said the last part of her sentence.
"Well, whatever does happen between us....We will just have to prove them wrong." Nick said looking at Maddie.
Maddie looked into Nick's bright green eyes, seeing nothing but love, trust, and hope in his eyes. Maddie gave him a small smile. She noticed that Nick was starting to lean in and close his eyes slowly.
Maddie's blue eyes widened. "Nick!" She yelled. Nick's eyes snapped open and he realized how close he was to her. "I- I-I'm s-sor-ry!" Nick stammered, not believing that he almost kissed one of his best friends. Just then Melissa walked in to the room from coming out of the kitchen. "Maddie lunch-" Melissa froze when she saw the freaked out expressions on both Nick and Maddie's faces.
"I'm just going to go now. See you at dance tomorrow Maddie." Nick said before practically running towards the front door and almost falling out of the house. "Bye!" Maddie yelled, before turning back to Melissa.
"What just happened?" Melissa asked, looking at Maddie carefully.
"Nothing! Nick just wanted to tell me good job for winning my division at Energy." Maddie said, before getting up and slipping past Melissa into the kitchen.
