Sam held all of what used to be a long ponytail that dove till Sonny's shoulder blades in one hand while the other held the murder weapon. "I feel like I just killed someone," he said with a petrified face.
Tony said, "Yup, Mrs. Rose is gonna kill you. Both."
Everybody in the house had a face of mild gloom except Sonia. She ran a hand through her short hair and smiled, "I look so pretty..."
"Actually... you look much better!" said Becca from the bed, "You finally look like a boy!"
"Yeah... but in a cool way?"
"Girls are always cooler than boys," she casually remarked. The room chuckled.
Evie took the dustbin in the corner of the room and held it to Sam, he dropped the hair in. Melissa, from beside Rebecca, said, "She's right though, you look so much more like yourself now. Ethereal almost. In a grungy sorta way."
"Aww... Don't make me blush!"
"Sorry! I forgot that was Maddy's job! Please don't tell her..." she begged dramatically.
They laughed and the gloom disappeared.
Joel interrupted the smiles and said, "Okay, we need to leave before Mrs. Rose returns."
And they got to packing Sam's blue suit jacket and Rahul's light blue college interview shirt into a garment bag while Sonny changed into the suit's trousers. She stuffed everything she thought she needed and hurried out of the house to escape her mother's wrath. The wrath that she will surely suffer for chopping off the hair her mother invested "blood, sweat and tears" in, when she returned after dinner with the Perez's.
*****
The six friends hung out at the diner they had breakfast at and managed to finish a fourth of the assignments they had hoped to complete by 7:30 pm. Sonia changed into her brothers' clothes in the small bathroom of the sparsely populated diner, the shoulder of both the jacket and the shirt fell below her shoulders. She cuffed the sleeves of the shirt over the suit's in the 'Ted Mosby' style, combed her newly cut hair, put on her everyday black watch and her mother's pearl studs and tried to clean her white-soled black converse till someone knocked on the door.
She got out a few seconds later and presented herself before her friends and gave them a spin as they shot her compliments. Jake got up and leaned against their table as tied her dad's purple tie. While Jake looped the loops, Joel held out a tiny bottle in his palm and said, "Here!"
"What's this?" she asked, her smile fading in confusion.
"Some random perfume sample, I found in my bag."
Jake added, "We can't figure out if it's expired or not, but it smells good."
"Cool!" she said shrugging and spraying it on herself once Jake was done with the tie. She gave it back and asked, "Shall we go?" The rest of them got up in response, with a bouquet in Evie's hand.
They reached Maddy's at 8:03 pm and before Sonia could jump out of the car and onto the pavement, Melissa held her shoulder from behind the passenger seat and said, "Sonny, take a deep breath before you ring the bell and give Mr. or Mrs. Perez a handshake before you give the flowers to Maddy if Maddy's not the one who opens the door."
"Okay. Thanks guys!" she said and got out. Jake gave her the flowers Evie passed on and she took them, closed the door and said "Bye!" before turning around and walking to the front door.
She stood in front of the door, took a deep breath, rang the bell and waved goodbye to her friends as they drove away before Mrs. Perez opened the door with Maddy a few steps behind her. Sonny held her right hand out and said, "Good evening Mrs. Perez. I'm Sonia Rosenberg."
Mrs. Perez shook her hand with a tight-lipped smile and said, "Welcome Sonia." She stood aside to let Sonny in and that's when they saw Maddy's widened eyes. "What's the problem mija?"
The train of Maddy's thoughts halted seconds before they ran over Sonny and her eyes quickly went to her mom. She said, "Nothing Mama! I'm just- I've never seen Sonny in a suit before." Her eyes went back on Sonia and she stuttered, "Uh... You look amazing."
Sonny smiled believing the compliment was 100% honest, "Thanks. These are for you," and handed over the bouquet that surprisingly matched her white off-shoulder frock with a prints of small cherries all over.
"Come on Sonia," said Mrs. Perez, leading her to the dining room to their right. Maddy took a few seconds in the hallway, staring down at the flowers. What has she done? What happened to her beautiful hair? It was there today morning!
Her mom called out to her and interrupted her thoughts again, "Maddy! Call your father!"
"Yes Mama!" she countered and went to the living room. She stood in front of the TV her father was watching from his reclined chair and said, "She came Dad."
"Who?" he asked, leaning to the side to see the screen.
"My date," she replied, fed up.
"You're dating a girl?!"
"That's what Mama was ranting about to you all this time! Weren't you paying attention?!"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry. I forgot for a second, mija. ..Don't tell your mama."
She crossed her hands over her chest, the bouquet faced down in her hand. I know you weren't paying attention, asshole.
"Wait, did she bring you that?"
"Yeah."
"Seems like a gentleman."
"Then come and meet her," she said snatching the remote from the table in between them turning off the TV.
"You're becoming just like your mother," he said getting up.
"Good," she said and stormed off to the kitchen, passing by Sonny but not paying her any mind. She sat there alone at the filled dining table, left to the head chair Maddy sat on 6 hours ago, fidgeting with her clear nails.
Maddy took a vase from one of the cupboards, filled it with water and put the bouquet in, pissed off at how she saw the evening getting ruined in her mind.
"Stop your attitude, Maddy," scolded Mrs. Perez beside her, putting the last of the dishes into a bowl.
Maddy didn't reply, she took the vase and placed it in the space between her and Sonny's placemats with a thud while she made space for the colorful vase.
Sonny got scared seeing Maddy's grimace and asked meekly, "...Are you mad?"
"Not at all! What made you ask?" she asked with a fake cheerfulness.
"N-nothing."
She whispered, "Good. By the way, why did you cut your hair?"
"Because... I kinda panicked and did something I had always wanted to?"
"For fuck's sake," she said and returned to the kitchen.
Yup, I'm fucked. Maddy will kill me before Mamma does.
-------
AN: I hope you liked the two chapters!!! If you did, please leave a vote and let me know!
Next chapter comes out Monday.
XOXO,
Perse
YOU ARE READING
Maddy and Me
Roman d'amour"I really do love you. It didn't start in a good place, I admit, but these feelings I've grown for you are very much real!" said Maddy, crying. "And how am I supposed to know if that's true? This entire thing could just be in my head! Maybe you foun...
